They buried Jeannie Royal during a dancing, swirling mist. A wind shook the leaves of the trees in the cemetery like maracas. Pastor Tom stood before the dense crowd of graveside mourners and attempted to lift their spirits with rote rhetoric he’d used at every funeral he’d ever officiated. Most of those in attendance had heard the words spewing from his thin lips so many times that they could mouth them from memory. A few even slyly mocked his womanly gestures, but held back their giggles so as not to incur the wrath of the pastor’s wife.
The church choir serenaded the crowd with an unfortunate rendition of “I Surrender All.” The notes were so sour the gigglers were unable to hold back any longer. The pastor’s missus shot them a snarl-filled glare and made a mental note of those she would be putting on kitchen duty for the next four spaghetti dinners.
Dani sat with her uncle a few feet from her aunt’s casket. Otis stared ahead stoically, absorbing the horrible awkwardness of it all. This funeral wasn’t for him. He wasn’t a godly man. He didn’t give a shit about words of comfort or the prayers or any of it. He was doing it for his wife because this was what she would have wanted. Once this day was done, he’d sooner dig up the casket and crawl in it with his Jeannie than spend any time of consequence with ninety percent of the folks at the funeral.
The graveside service done, Dani helped Otis to his feet and escorted him to Ruby and Rafe’s car. A gathering had been arranged at their diner for mourners to pay their respects. Otis had initially refused to go, but Dani talked him into it. He was still sheriff, after all. If he wanted to be an effective one, he’d need the townsfolk’s support. They’d take offense if he didn’t show up for the gathering. He popped two painkillers to help endure the pain of his mangled shoulder and soothe the angst brought on by the afternoon ahead of him.
Dani traversed the uneven terrain of the cemetery to her cruiser on the far side of the property in a pair of her aunt’s high heels. The black dress she wore was also her aunt’s. Everything she had on was just short of being comically too big for her, but she was able to work some magic with a belt for cinching and paper towels for stuffing. The outfit worked aesthetically, but it was far from functional. Her plan was to head to the station and change into her uniform before joining the gloomy potluck at the diner.
When she stepped around a crooked oak to get to her car, she was greeted by the sight of Stan Rucker and two of his deputies sitting on the hood of her cruiser. She slowed her pace and willed away the uneasiness building up inside of her.
“Little deputy,” Rucker said with a stiff smile.
Dani didn’t reply.
“Sorry to hear about your aunt. You tell Otis I pass along my heartfelts when you see him, you hear?”
“Something I can help you with, Stan?”
He snickered. “You can start by calling me Sheriff. I earn my paycheck, little deputy.”
“And you can start by calling me Deputy Savage. I’ve earned the respect, Stan.”
He set his jaw before saying, “Woman in Rock Hollow’s gone missing.”
“Sorry to hear that, but as you’ve pointed out, Rock Hollow ain’t my jurisdiction. Just like Baptist Flats ain’t yours.”
“I’m just here on a friendly inquiry. Nothing official. Some folks claim you was the last to see this missing woman. Well, they didn’t name you exactly. They just said something about a tiny little woman cop.”
He laughed along with his two deputies.
Dani smiled. “That welcome to Baptist Flats I didn’t tender to you is wearing thin, Stan.”
He removed himself from the hood of her car and ambled up to her with a shit-eating grin. He was a pinch under five foot seven, but he still towered over Dani. “I’m just gonna ask you flat out, little deputy. Do you know the whereabouts of one Bonnie Pike?”
“I don’t, but maybe you should check the train tracks.”
The phony smile disappeared from Rucker’s face. “If you think disappearing Bonnie is gonna fix things, you’re about to find out how wrong you are. She’s a Pike, but she ain’t the only one. You tilt your nose up them slopes there, and you can already smell them coming.”
She attempted to step around him, but he grabbed her arm.
“I didn’t dismiss you, sweetheart.”
She peered down at his brawny fingers wrapped around her elbow.
He let out a deep chortle and demanded the same reaction from his deputies just by giving them a sideways glance. They responded like well-trained dogs.
Rucker let go of Dani’s arm. “How about you give me a ‘Thank you, Sheriff Rucker,’ for taking the time to drive all this way and fill you in on a missing persons case? You seemed to be upset last time I didn’t call you up ’bout that girl who went missing. What was her name?” He paused for effect. “Farrow, was it? Kate Farrow. Poor little thing.”
Dani’s blood was boiling but she didn’t show it. Instead she smiled. “You mind if I take off my shoes?”
Rucker raised an eyebrow. “Your shoes? Why the fuck do I care?”
She stepped out of her aunt’s shoes and picked them up. “Well, I only ask because I can’t get leverage in the damn things.” She tossed them to one of Rucker’s deputies. The paper towels used for stuffing dislodged and popped free in the process. “Hold on to those for a second, would you?”
“Leverage?” Rucker asked. “What the shit are you talking about?”
She took the stance she’d taken a million times before in front of the heavy bag at the station. “You’re a bit taller than I expected.”
“What the hell you doing?” Rucker laughed.
“It’s this thing I do. It ain’t that big a deal. Hunch down a bit so you can get a good view.”
He furrowed his brow. Curious, he leaned forward and bent his knees.
“No, not like that. Lock your knees and lean more at the waist.”
He shook his head in disbelief and did as she requested. “You are a weird one, little deputy. I’ll give you that. Now let’s see this thing you do.”
Without warning, she delivered the best left hook she could conjure up and hit Rucker square in the temple. The force of it swayed him to the right, but his locked knees prevented him crumpling to the ground. Instead, he lurched forward and waved his arms wildly, trying to keep his balance. When he finally did hit the ground, he was so dazed by Dani’s crushing blow that he didn’t have the wherewithal to use his hands to catch himself. His forehead smacked the gravel roadway of the cemetery.
Rucker’s two deputies stood dumbstruck by their sheriff’s unconscious state. A few seconds passed before the one holding Dani’s shoes stepped forward. “Sheriff?”
Dani, her hand still balled in a fist, surprised herself. Her adrenaline was elevated so she had to restrain herself from jumping on Rucker’s back and raining blow after blow down on top of him.
“Sheriff?”
“He ain’t gonna answer,” Dani said with a slight rattle in her throat. She snapped her fingers. “Shoes.”
The deputy looked at her, momentarily confused by her request. When it registered to him what she had said, he tossed Dani the shoes.
She put them on and took the time to control her emotions.
The two deputies worked mightily to hoist Rucker off the ground.
“Get him out of my town,” Dani said walking to her cruiser. Behind the wheel, she grasped it tightly before leaning out the open door to say one last thing. “When he comes to, you tell him he’s not to come back to Baptist Flats. He does, and he’ll have to answer to Deputy Savage.”