Cathy Lee looked over at Joe Ray, who was snoring lightly, lying on his stomach with his face half buried in his pillow. Juan was in the other bedroom, quiet for a change. Usually he snored loud enough to rattle the leaves on the trees, which was why Cathy Lee had her and Joe Ray's door shut.
Cathy Lee crawled out of bed, crossed the bare plank floor, and peeked out the window.
Her heart gave a jump.
A sheriff's department car was parked out there in the shade of the big willow tree. She knew there was enough incriminating evidence in the meth lab to get all three of them locked up for years. She glanced behind her. Maybe she could slip out the back, run out on Joe Ray and Juan. She was sure they wouldn't hesitate to run out on her. The truck was parked out in back of the house, and she could get in and drive away.
But the big engine turning over would make a lot of noise. Somebody would surely hear it. And the sheriff's car might give chase.
She watched the car door open and a tall, broad-shouldered sheriff's deputy got out and looked around. It was hot, and he'd left his Smokey hat in the car. A young guy with a buzz cut, real good-looking. Kathy decided maybe she could handle him, go out and see what he wanted (not that she didn't know), and divert him from looking in the outbuilding.
Careful not to wake Joe Ray, she put on her white terry-cloth robe, making sure it was open enough to reveal cleavage. Then she did what she could with her hair and sidled out onto the porch without slamming the door.
The deputy looked at her and smiled. It made him look ten years younger. Maybe this would be easy.
'Mornin', ma'am,' he said. 'I'm Sheriff's Deputy O. E. Simmons.'
'Mornin' to you, Sheriff's Deputy O. E. Simmons. I'm Cathy Lee Aiken, an' I'm at your service.' She almost smiled and saluted, but figured that might be too much.
He didn't respond as she thought he would. His smile stayed stuck on but dimmed, and she realized he simply had one of those faces, was one of those people who smiled through everything because that was the way their features were set. And on second glance, he didn't look so young. Not if you paid attention to his eyes.
'Anybody else in the house?' he asked.
She was looking at the big 9mm handgun perched on his hip. The eyes and the gun. Best not to lie to this man. 'Two fellas. Joe Ray an' Juan.'
'That's three.'
'No, sir. Joe Ray is one fella.'
'Uh-hum.' He moved in closer to her. There were crow's-feet at the corners of his eyes, as if he'd squinted into the sun too much.
He didn't react as she took the three sagging wood steps down off the porch to meet him, letting the robe part to reveal a lot of leg. His eyes told her he wasn't interested in her in the way she wanted. Out of the shade of the porch roof, she was the one squinting into the sun, at him. Are you gay, Deputy O. E. Simmons?
'You come here to see one of 'em?' she asked.
'If one or both of 'em might own the truck we found out in the swamp.'
Cathy Lee breathed easier. When they'd gotten the F-150 retitled and painted a dark blue (her favorite color), Joe Ray and Juan had ditched the rusty old Dodge off the road in the swamp about a mile from the house. That shoulda been the end of it. Something given up to the swamp you could put out of your mind as gone for good. She guessed there hadn't been enough time for the saw grass to grow up where the truck had mashed it down, and somebody'd spotted the old hulk and reported it to the state police.
'We got a problem?' a voice asked.
Joe Ray had awakened and stumbled sleepy eyed out onto the porch. He was shirtless and barefoot but had pulled on his old jeans. There was a rip in one leg, revealing a dirty knee.
'It's about the old Dodge truck we left in the swamp,' Cathy Lee said. She looked at the deputy. 'Have we broken some kinda law?'
Simmons looked puzzled, still with the smile that wasn't a smile. 'This wasn't a Dodge. It was a near- brand-new Ford.'
Joe Ray had started down the porch stairs and almost fell. He looked panicky for a moment. Cathy Lee realized she was standing with her mouth hanging open.
'Somethin' wrong?' the deputy asked.
'We got that truck all legal,' Joe Ray said too defensively.
Simmons narrowed his eyes. These two were acting as if he'd happened onto a Mafia meeting. 'You the one left it stuck out there in the mud?'
'I don't know nothin' about it. My friend Juan was drivin' it last night.'
'Where would he be?'
'In the house, fast asleep. Musta had a late night.'
The deputy rested his right palm on the top of his black leather holster and glanced off to the side.
'What's in that outbuilding?'
'Gardenin' tools. That kinda stuff,' Joe Ray said.
'I never noticed any plantin' around here when I drove in.'
'I hear somethin' about a truck?' Juan asked. He'd come out onto the porch. He was barefoot, like Joe Ray, but wearing a white T-shirt with his jeans.
'The Ford truck,' Joe Ray said. 'You know.'
'I was on my way home from Rodney's Roadhouse last night,' Juan said, 'an' got it stuck in the mud. Woulda thought that was impossible with that big Ford, it havin' four-wheel drive an' all, but I missed a turn an' drove it well off the road. I gave up after tryin' to get it out an' walked the rest of the way here. Truck's still where I left it, I guess.'
'Yeah, I saw it,' the trooper said. 'Need a tractor or somethin' with a winch to pull it out.'
'You got that right.'
'You have a snootful when you left Rodney's?'
'Two beers, is all. You can ask Rodney.'
'I've always trusted Rodney. Weren't drinkin' behind the wheel, were you?'
Juan's smile was sheepish. He hadn't been high on booze last night, but on something else. 'I can honestly say no, officer.'
'I don't know a damned thing about that truck,' Cathy Lee said.
Anger flashed in Joe Ray's eyes. 'You rode in it enough. You even got yourself-'
'Best not go there, Joe Ray,' Cathy Lee said.
'We can show you where we left the old Dodge,' Juan said, tumbling to what might be a dangerous development. Showing a little cooperation and changing the subject. Maybe they should invite the cop inside, where he or Joe Ray could get close to a gun. Not that they wanted to kill a sheriff's deputy, but if it came down to that…
'Uh-hm.' Simmons looked from one of them to the other. 'Forget the Dodge. I gotta say I'm curious about the Ford truck. Big F-150.'
'It ain't stole,' Joe Ray said. 'You can check.'
'Already did. I wonder if we looked in the cab, we'd find some beer cans or liquor bottles. Maybe even some illegal substance.'
'Not on your life,' Juan said, using a forefinger to cross his heart.
'Truck's not very far from here,' the deputy said. 'Let's go see.'
Juan shrugged. Joe Ray looked worried.
'Seemed far enough when I was walkin' it last night,' Juan said.
'You can stay here, ma'am,' the deputy said to Cathy Lee. 'We' won't be more'n fifteen, twenty minutes.' He looked at Juan and Joe Ray. 'I'll drive, since you've got no vehicle. I apologize, but you two'll have to sit in back, where we usually transport prisoners.' Without averting his gaze from them, he walked over to the car and opened a rear door.
Joe Ray and Juan glanced at Cathy Lee and ambled over to get in the backseat. They both had their thumbs tucked in their front jeans pockets. Joe Ray, leaning over to enter the car first, got a look at the steel grille separating the front and back of the interior, and the absence of inside door handles. There was a control for the window to go up and down, but he knew it would be dead.
