Neither Dani nor her uncle said a word as they drove out of Rock Hollow. One of Rucker’s deputies followed them to the county line. When the cruiser did a U-turn, Otis managed to guide the Civic through the twists and turns of the narrow mountain roads without giving rise to one thought having to do with driving. His mind was filled with the faces of the women he and his niece had just left behind. He felt his normally cool demeanor slip away until he lost any sense of himself. Without warning, he blurted out, “Fuck!”
Dani turned from the passenger-side window, frightened by her uncle’s outburst. She felt the same outrage he did, but she didn’t like the fact that he couldn’t keep his emotions in check. If he was unable to maintain control, that could only mean something was horribly wrong and she wasn’t overreacting. She so wanted to be overreacting.
Otis pulled over to a small scenic overlook, awkwardly grabbed the gearshift, and pushed the car into park. “We are in way over our heads on this thing,” he said.
Dani nodded. “How could a thing like this be happening?”
“How ain’t the right question, little deputy. Why this is happening is what needs to be explored.”
“There are so many of them.”
Otis unbuckled his seatbelt. “Too many of them.” He exited the vehicle.
Dani did the same and followed him to a small stone wall at the edge of the overlook. She watched the haze smother the peaks of the Tennessee hills below.
“State police should be all over this. A thing like this just don’t go unnoticed. Must be at least eight different jurisdictions involved.”
“Ten, if you count the two missing girls in Georgia,” Dani said.
Otis nodded in a daze. “Right, ten.” He bent down and picked up a rock. “And where are the feds?”
“You heard those women, Uncle Otis. They’ve been shut down. Most of them say they’re being watched.”
Otis threw the rock as hard as he could and watched it sink into the valley below. “I know these men, Dani, the lawmen that are supposed to be looking out for these women. They can’t all be bad, they just can’t. I gotta believe some of them are just as turned around on this thing as I am.”
“Well, Rucker ain’t one of them, that’s for sure. The man just about had us arrested.”
“I don’t count Rucker as a lawman. He’s an ass with a badge.” Otis looked back up the road.
Dani rose up on her toes and leaned over for a better view of the slope coming up the mountain. “What about Laura? Rucker’s liable to come down on her for having us in her house. The other women will have their own problems to deal with when they get home, too.”
“Rucker’s not that stupid. He knows if anything happens to her I’ll turn suspicion his way. He’ll keep his distance. For now. As for the others, I can’t make no promises there. I’d advise them to get as far from these parts as possible until we can get a handle on this, but they’d have to go clear to Memphis to get out from under this. Not to mention no mother is going to leave a missing child behind.” He covered his face with his hands and groaned. “This is one towering mountain of shit, little deputy.”
Dani felt her stomach turn. “You’re scaring me, Uncle Otis. I ain’t never seen you not know what to do.”
He turned to her and tried to fake a smile, but he couldn’t. “The only thing we can do is take things one step at a time. Our first priority is Baptist Flats. We gotta make sure our own house is in order.”
“Yes, sir,” she said, a little more at ease hearing the growing confidence in his voice.
“State boys are in town for the next couple of days dealing with the Son Crow situation. They’ll be staying at your motel. Find out what room, and have a sit-down with them.”
“Me?”
“You gotta get information out of them without letting on what we come across today. Trust is not something we can afford to give out at this point in time, given what we know about the behavior of law enforcement personnel in these parts. As far as me and you are concerned, we’re the only honest cops in these parts until we can verify otherwise. You hear me?”
Dani bit her bottom lip and nodded. “Yes, sir, but why me?”
“Why you what?”
“Why do you want me to talk with the state police?”
He sighed. “A number of reasons. For one, I’ve gotta deal with Friar and Randle. They run around in the same circles as cops from these other jurisdictions, and I need to know what they know and how much I can trust them.” He hesitated and then said, “And as much as you hate to hear about your being pretty, it’s a fact, and that fact will be enough of a distraction so that you can work them state boys like a steel guitar. They’ll be telling you secrets from the third grade by the time you get through with them.”
She shook her head. “That don’t sound like you want me to do police work. That sounds like you want me to host a cocktail party.”
Otis grimaced. “Little deputy, I just left a houseful of mothers who ain’t got no idea what’s become of their children, and we’re the only two people that might be able to get them some answers. If you want me to strategize and formulate a plan that will put your needs above theirs, you’re shit out of luck because I ain’t got room in my head or my heart for such a thing. If you think I treat you differently because you ain’t got a dick and balls, you’re right. That don’t mean I value you any less, you hear me? You want to know the truth, you’re head and shoulders above those other two idiots I got working for me.”
She smiled and kicked the dirt. “You mean that?”
He walked to the car. “Wouldn’t have said it if I didn’t. While you may not have a dick, you most assuredly have balls. That’s ninety percent of what it takes to be a cop.”
She stood motionless, soaking in her uncle’s odd compliment, and only rushed to the car after he honked.