Deep Down Dead Page 10

Using the moon to light him, JT had brushed a small patch of earth clear of leaves. He and Dakota were now crouching in the middle of the space, a small pile of twigs and branches beside them. I watched as JT selected two sticks from the pile.

  He showed them to Dakota. ‘These two right here, they’re perfect for making fire. One flat, one round, and they’re good an’ dry.’

  She looked up at him, eyes wide. ‘Could you show me?’

  I clenched my fist tighter around the flashlight. Maybe it was the eager tone to her voice, or the way she looked at him like he was the most interesting person in the whole damn world, but whatever it was I hated it. I didn’t want her looking at JT that way, and I sure as shit didn’t want him encouraging her. Not when I knew he’d soon be gone.

  He smiled at Dakota. ‘Well, the first thing we need get ourselves is a little bed for the end of the round stick in the belly of the flat one, like this.’ He used his thumbnail to gouge a hollow in the middle of the flat stick. ‘Then we lie the flat one on the ground and press the end of the round one snug into the hollow. Next thing we need is a little of that tinder.’

  ‘Can I do it?’

  ‘Sure you can. Nice and close to where the sticks join.’

  Dakota sprinkled a handful of ripped up leaves and small twigs over the flat stick. ‘And now?’

  With the free end of the round stick between his palms, JT rolled it back and forth, pushing down as the other end rotated in the hollow of the flat stick. It looked awkward, the plasticuffs limiting his movement, but he still managed. I guess I could have fastened the cuffs tighter. I wished that I had.

  Dakota peered closer. ‘Is it working?’

  He kept rolling the stick. ‘We just need ourselves a little more friction.’

  I hobbled over to them, cussing my hurt ankle beneath my breath.

  Dakota grinned up at me. ‘JT’s showing me how to make fire.’

  ‘There are easier ways.’ I pulled the Zippo from my pocket, leant down and lit the tinder. Flames sparked into life. ‘There you go.’

  JT didn’t speak. Instead he got to heaping the twigs and branches around the flames. But Dakota stared at me. I pretended to ignore her disappointed expression, and after a short while she turned away and looked into the fire.

  I moved back a few paces. Guilt gnawed at my conscience.

  JT stood. He came over to me, leant close. ‘I figured it’d take her mind off—’

  I held up my hands. Fought to keep my voice to a whisper. ‘Well don’t think. Don’t speak. Hell, don’t even look at her.’

  Shaking his head, JT walked around to the other side of the fire. He picked up his shirt and without a word or a glance at me, lay down and arranged the material over himself as best he could. He closed his eyes.

  I put my hand on Dakota’s shoulder. ‘Come on, honey. It’s time to rest.’

  We lay down; Dakota next to the fire, me real close beside her. I wondered how much time had passed since the crash – one hour, two? Debated whether I should keep her awake longer. Decided against it. She’d need her rest for whatever the dawn brought. Switching off the flashlight, I put my arm around her. ‘Sleep tight.’

  I heard a mosquito buzzing close to my face. Somewhere in the distance an owl hooted. I felt Dakota’s body go rigid.

  ‘It’s too dark, Momma.’

  ‘It’s just for tonight, sweetie.’

  She wriggled closer to me, gripped my arm, her fingernails digging into my bare skin like claws. ‘I’m scared.’

  ‘You see those stars up above us?’ JT said.

  Shit. Couldn’t he just stay quiet?

  ‘Yes,’ Dakota said.

  ‘They’re nature’s nightlights. While we’re sleeping they’ll be watching over us. Keeping us safe.’

  Dakota was quiet a moment. Then she said in a small voice, ‘I’m still scared.’

  JT exhaled. ‘How about I keep watch then? You and your momma get some rest, and I’ll promise to stay awake. Could you sleep then?’

  I felt her hair moving against the crook of my arm. A nod. ‘I guess.’

  In the gloom, I watched him sit up and reposition his shirt around his shoulders. ‘Good. That’s what I’ll do. Ya’ll sleep well.’

  I lay still in the darkness, staring up at the stars and listening to Dakota’s breathing as she relaxed into sleep. She barely knew JT, yet she trusted he’d keep her safe, just as I had all those years before. If I’d never sat next to him at the bar, never asked him what he wanted, and never agreed to help him, then things would have been different, better. At least that was what I’d always told myself.

  15

  With the dawn came a pale sunlight. It reached through the gaps in the tree canopy, burning holes in the ground mist surrounding us. JT was awake, sitting on a fallen tree a couple of yards from where I lay.

  I sat up. As I did, JT’s blue shirt fell from my shoulders. I frowned, wondered how it had gotten there.

  ‘You were shivering in your sleep,’ he said, nodding towards his shirt. ‘Thought you needed it more than me.’

  ‘Did you stay awake all night?’

  ‘Promised didn’t I?’

  He held my gaze longer than was comfortable. Didn’t do him no good. I looked away. I didn’t want to think about promises. A promise is just a disappointment bought on credit.

  The fire had burnt itself out. Black cinders and a few charred sticks were all that remained. It’d been dead a while. The dew had formed over the ashes, over us. My jeans and singlet felt damp against my skin. I shivered. Beside me, Dakota sighed in her sleep. I watched her for a long moment, checked the rhythmical rise and fall of her breathing, wondered how her head would be feeling when she woke.

  ‘You got a plan?’ He was testing if I still worked the way he taught me. Interesting.

  ‘Always.’

  ‘So you gonna tell me?’

  I met his stare. Despite my determination not to get drawn into whatever drama he’d gotten involved in, I had to ask. ‘Why’d you let Merv pick you up?’

  Silence. From the look on JT’s face I guessed that there was a whole lot more juice for the squeeze than he was willing to let on. I wondered again what more he knew about the three rednecks who’d been holding him captive. Something about that set-up still felt out of whack: them not expecting me, Merv not being present, those boys attacking me. I just couldn’t figure out the why.

  I tried to keep my tone light, teasing. It didn’t quite work out. ‘Come on, spill. You could have kept free if that’s what you’d wanted. Hell, you could have run out of here while I was sleeping, but you didn’t. Why?’

  He held my gaze, but still said nothing. Stubborn – just as I remembered him.

  I raised an eyebrow. ‘I read in the file that you didn’t speak when they arrested you either.’

  JT shook his head. ‘This isn’t about what I did, or what they charged me with. You’ve got to ask the right questions, Lori. Didn’t I teach you that?’

  He’d taught me a lot of things, some I wished I could forget.

  I gazed down at Dakota snuggled close to me. The mentor I’d known hadn’t been shy of physical contact, but he’d never have launched an unprovoked attack in a public place like an amusement park. ‘What did they do to make you take the law into your own hands?’

  A smile twitched the corners of his lips real brief before disappearing. ‘Now that’s a better kind of question.’

  I waited, but he didn’t give me an answer. Beside me Dakota mumbled something in her sleep. She always did that as she woke. We’d need to continue the conversation later.

  I stood. My muscles felt board-stiff, my limbs ached deep into the bone – the aftershock of my run-in with Merv’s three rednecks, rolling the Silverado, and a night sleeping under the stars I guessed. ‘We need to get moving.’

  JT glanced at the cooler. ‘Got any food left?’

  I stepped over the remains of the fire and handed him his shirt. ‘Some.’

  ‘We shoul
d eat first.’ He nodded to Dakota. ‘Or at least she should.’

  ‘Don’t tell me how to raise my child.’

  He put up his hands in a clumsy surrender, waved his shirt in front of him like a flag.

  I didn’t smile. Turning away, I knelt beside Dakota, put my hand on her shoulder and woke her with a gentle shake. ‘Wake up, honey.’

  She blinked awake then frowned, obviously confused by her outdoor surroundings.

  ‘It’s okay. You’re safe.’

  She focused on my face. ‘Momma?’

  ‘Right here, sweetie. It’s time for breakfast.’ I opened the cooler, looked at the food inside – one yogurt, a tub of ice cream and some peanut butter cups. I handed her the ice cream. She smiled.

  I looked over at JT. ‘Yogurt or peanut butter cups?’

  He shook his head. ‘You have it. I’m good.’

  ‘You should eat.’

  He shrugged, took a few peanut butter cups, and strode the short ways over to the battered path the Silverado had cleared as it plunged off the road. He squinted up the mountainside. I knew he’d be analysing the best route. Figured I could use his help on that.

  We ate quickly in uneasy silence, no talking. The only noise came from the stream below and the birds above us in the trees. Under different circumstances the tranquil surroundings would have been perfect. Right now they were anything but. We needed to get help and get home. Fast.

  Once we were done, I packed the peanut butter cups and water into my carryall. Standing, I turned to Dakota and held out my hand. ‘Time to go.’

  She gripped my hand, her fingers cold against mine. I rubbed them warm, and helped her to her feet.

  JT strode back to us. He gestured to the right of the path cleared by the Silverado, where the undergrowth was less dense. ‘That looks to be our best way up to the road.’

  Dakota let go of my hand and stepped towards him. ‘Thank you for keeping watch.’

  He nodded. ‘No problem, kiddo. You sleep okay?’

  Dakota smiled. ‘I did.’

  ‘Glad to hear it.’

  Enough. We had forty-eight hours to get JT back to Florida, it was time to get gone. I nodded at JT, took Dakota’s hand again and set off in the direction of the Silverado.

  We walked through the trees, closer to the injured truck. If Gunner and his boys had decided to come after us I hoped to hell that they’d driven on past. Dakota was still woozy with sleep, I felt unsteady on my sore ankle, and, with his hands cuffed in front of him, JT moved all awkward. If it came to another showdown I did not fancy our chances. The smart money would be on them.

  The damage was worse than I’d feared. I doubted the vehicle would recover. If it did, the surgery wouldn’t come cheap: busted wheels, dented bodywork, fender ripped off, windshield shattered. As I totted up the problems the dollar signs kept on rising. Damn. I hoped the insurance would cover it.

  It also gave us an immediate transport problem. Even if the vehicle had been operational, it was stranded on its roof near the bottom of a steep bank a couple of yards from the riverbed. We’d need a tow truck, and perhaps a crane, to pull it free. For that we’d need help. As I’d figured last night, our best option would be to hike down the hill to the gas station and for me to call Quinn.

  I could organise a rental car to get us back to Florida, and leave Quinn to fix up the recovery of the Silverado. He’d have to take the cost from my percentage of JT’s bond. Shit.

  We climbed the steep bank to the highway. JT up front, his blue shirt tied across his waist. Dakota next, holding the tail of JT’s shirt real tight, like a baby elephant following its parent, and me behind her, with the carryall and her rucksack.

  As we started our hike along the mountain road I thought about the events of the previous night: JT being held by those three rednecks, but with no sign of Merv; my having to fight them off; the crash. Most of all I thought about the uneasy feeling I’d had at the ranch. It still hadn’t left; was lurking at the bottom of my belly.

  I blew out hard, and tried to forget about it. I’d caught my fugitive and time was counting down to the summary judgement. We’d got five states to cross, less than forty-eight hours to do it, and no vehicle. Surely my luck had to change soon.

  It did. Just not in the direction that I’d been hoping.

  16

  The gas station seemed a lot further on foot. We moved as best we could down the mountainside, following the crumbling blacktop. As the temperature rose, moisture formed a shiny film across our skin. The sweat ran down my spine, under the waistband of my jeans, and into my panties. Damn humidity. I slapped my forearm, killing yet another mosquito trying its luck.

  ‘How much further, Momma?’

  Honestly, I had no idea, but that wasn’t what Dakota needed to hear. She’d fallen behind again and with every passing minute her grumbling was getting more persistent. I stopped, waiting for her to catch up. ‘Not too long now, sweetie.’

  She looked at her watch, then up at me. ‘But you said that thirty minutes ago and we’re still not there yet.’

  I forced a smile and starting walking again. ‘Then we’re a lot closer than we were.’

  JT fell in step beside me. He pulled a pack of cigarettes from his pants’ pocket, took one and put it between his lips. Holding out his hands he said, ‘How about you give me the lighter?’

  Taking the Zippo from my pocket, I ignored his outstretched hands, and lit the cigarette instead. ‘How about you quit talking?’

  JT glanced at Dakota and raised an eyebrow. ‘Gets riled easy, huh?’

  Dakota giggled.

  I stared at JT, held his gaze. Him skipping bail, it just didn’t fit right. ‘You wanna know something?’

  He shrugged. ‘Hardly matters if I do or I don’t, I reckon you’re gonna tell me anyways.’

  I ignored the jibe. ‘I don’t get it. The mentor I had, he never would’ve turned fugitive.’

  JT shook his head. ‘Things change. Ten years is a long while.’

  ‘You expect me to believe you broke bad? I don’t buy it.’

  He frowned. ‘Well, y’see, Lori. Good. Bad. They’re relative terms.’

  ‘Justice ain’t.’

  He paused for a long moment, then nodded. ‘True. But it has its price. You know that.’

  Sure, I knew it. We both did. I gave JT a shove, pushing him ahead of us. ‘Shut up. Keep walking.’

  Dakota gasped. ‘Momma. That’s rude.’

  Well, shit. My daughter was taking JT’s side? That I did not need. I looked at her real serious. ‘If you’d done as you were told last night then we wouldn’t be walking now would we? I’ve had quite enough of your smart mouth, Dakota Anderson. Now be quiet.’

  Dakota’s cheeks flushed crimson. Immediately I regretted my outburst. The heat and the situation were getting to me. I reached out to her. ‘Sweetie, I—’

  She shrugged me away and trotted a few yards ahead. From the rise and fall of her shoulders I knew she was crying.

  JT stepped closer. He nodded towards Dakota. ‘You want to be thinking about the lessons the kid is learning from all this. Why’d you bring her with you?’

  I refused to look at him. ‘Quit worrying. We’re none of your concern. If you wanna be thinking on something, think about how I ended up doing this in the beginning.’

  ‘I wasn’t the one who left.’

  True. But he was the one who said we were done. And him letting me walk away like that, it told me he never really cared for me anyways. So I didn’t speak, knew there was nothing I could say that’d make things right. Broken bones hurt for damn sure, but even that kind of pain had nothing on the damage JT did to my heart.

  ‘You sure seem to have done—’

  ‘Momma, look!’ Dakota called. ‘We found it.’

  She was right. Around the corner, a couple of hundred yards down the hill, was a two-pump gas station. It wasn’t fancy. The pumps out front looked like they came from the last century, and the forecourt had weeds gr
owing up through cracks in the asphalt. But the handpainted sign outside the squat wooden one-storey told me they stocked beer, cigarettes and household essentials. I was pretty sure that they’d have a phone too. I smiled. ‘Good job, sweetie.’

  We hustled down the hill with renewed energy. It wouldn’t be long now. One call to Quinn and in less than an hour we should have ourselves a new ride and be on our way back to Florida.

  Before we stepped on to the forecourt I beckoned JT and Dakota to stop. Looking JT straight in the eye, I untied the blue shirt from around his waist and hung it over his wrists, covering the cuffs. ‘Don’t try anything funny.’

  ‘Yes, ma’am.’

  It was hard to tell from his expression whether he was mocking me, but I reckoned he was. I raised one side of my jacket, showed him the holster. ‘I’ve got my taser, and I will use it on you. Don’t make me do that.’

  He raised his chin: a defiant pose. ‘Sure.’

  I took hold of Dakota’s hand. ‘Keep close, honey.’

  She nodded.

  We stepped off the blacktop and crossed the forecourt. Through the grimy window on the far right of the store building I thought I glimpsed a face peering out at us. Next moment it was gone.

  I pushed open the door and we entered the store. It wasn’t a big space. Long and narrow with shelving around the outside, and a couple of displays along the centre creating a middle aisle and one either side. There didn’t seem much order to the arrangement: candy bars were stored alongside motor oil, magazines beside bread, and a large display of Furre Babies – the latest kids’ fad: talking toy owls, mice and rabbits – stood directly across from the doorway. I nodded to the candy and smiled at Dakota. ‘You wanna pick us something nice?’

  She grinned. ‘Cool.’

  ‘You stay right here and do that.’ I turned to JT. ‘You come with me to the counter.’

  The counter was at the far end of the store. Sitting behind it was a pimply-faced teen with a shoulder-length mullet sticking out from under a grubby Miami Dolphins cap. He was hunched forward, his elbows resting on the register as he muttered into his cell phone. Ending the call, he turned to the left and stared at the screen of a portable TV. He didn’t look up as we approached, just kept on watching and chewing gum.