For a moment no one spoke. Burke pressed his lips together and unhooked his gun belt.
'I'll do it.' Surprising himself, Tucker stepped forward. 'I'm already wet.'
Burke set his gun belt aside. 'It's not your job, Tuck.'
'It's my land.' Turning, he took Caroline by the shoulders. 'Go inside.'
'We'll go in together when it's finished.' She kissed his cheek. 'You're a good man, Tucker.'
He didn't know about that, but as he slipped into the water, he was certain he was a stupid one. Burke was right, it wasn't his job. He didn't get paid to deal with this kind of horror.
He eased his way through the cool, dark water toward the hand, white as bone, fingers curved beckoningly.
Why did he feel it was his responsibility to drag a dead woman out of the water? She'd been nothing to him in life, shouldn't she be less than nothing to him now?
Because the pond was Sweetwater, he realized. And he was a Longstreet.
For the second time, he curled his fingers around the lifeless wrist. As the head rose, he watched her hair float and spread toward the surface. His stomach lurched. He tasted acid in the back of his throat and ruthlessly forced it down. Using his feet to tread, Tucker hooked an arm around the torso.
There was silence on the bank, the kind so deep you could hear your own heartbeat. A graveyard silence, he thought while he struggled against the weight that was trying to drag him and his burden down.
His grip slipped, and when he shifted and tightened it, her head lolled back on his shoulder. Tucker stiffened, but it wasn't revulsion that filled him. It was pity.
Tucker looked toward the bank. White faces stared back at him. He saw Dwayne, with an arm around Josie. Their eyes looked huge in the flood of light. Burke and Carl already hunkered down, ready to reach out and take the burden Tucker was dragging over. Caroline, her face wet, stood with her hand resting on Cy's shoulder. Burns stood back, observing, as though it were a moderately interesting play.
'Something's tied to her legs,' Tucker called out. 'I need a knife.'
'That's evidence, Longstreet.' Burns stepped forward. 'I want it intact.'
'You son of a bitch.' Tucker managed to haul her another foot. 'Why don't you come on in and get your fucking evidence yourself?'
'I'll help you, Mr. Tucker.' Before anyone could stop him, Cy was running over and slipping into the water.
'Christ, boy, get back from here.'
'I can help.' Slick as an otter, Cy paddled over. 'I'm strong enough.' His face blanched when he swam close, but he reached down to take part of the weight. 'We can do it.'
'Keep your eye on the bank,' Tucker told him. 'And try not to think.'
Cy scissored his feet. 'I'm thinking about what an asshole that FBI man is.'
'Even better.'
It was a short and grisly swim. When they reached the bank, both Carl and Burke hooked hands under Darleen's arms.
'Look the other way,' Tucker ordered Cy. 'There's no shame in it.' He would have done so himself, but the angle was wrong. So he saw what had been done to the body. As it was dragged effortfully out and onto the grass, he saw everything. 'Go on over with Caroline now, Cy. No.' He caught the boy's head before Cy could turn it. 'Don't look this way. Go over with Caroline. You did good.'
'Yessir.'
Tucker hauled himself out. He sat there a moment, his feet dangling in the water. 'Dwayne, give me a smoke.'
It was Josie who brought him a cigarette, already lighted. 'After that, I figure you deserve a whole one.' She laid her cheek against his. 'I'm sorry it had to be you, Tuck.'
'So'm I.' He took a greedy drag. 'Burke, don't you have a blanket to put over her? This isn't right.'
'If you civilians would go into the house,' Burns began, 'this area will remain off limits until the investigation is completed.'
'Goddammit, we knew her,' Tucker said wearily. 'You didn't. Least you can do for her is cover her.'
'Go on, Tuck.' Burke reached down to help Tucker to his feet. 'There are things we gotta do. It's best if you went on while we get to it. We'll be as quick as we can.'
'I saw what was done to her, Burke,' Tucker said in a raw voice. 'You can't be quick enough.'
'You will stay available,' Burns put in. 'You and your brother. I'll need to question you shortly.'
Saying nothing, Tucker turned away to walk with Caroline and Cy back to the house.
Caroline wasn't much of a cook, but she heated up some soup to go with the roast beef Delia had sliced. Soup, it seemed to her, was one of those nerve-soothing foods. By the way Cy plowed through his, she decided it worked.
Dwayne scraped his bowl clean, then seemed embarrassed by his appetite. 'That was mighty tasty, Caroline. I appreciate you putting a meal together.'
'Delia did most of it before she left for the Fullers'.'
'We do appreciate it,' Josie put in. 'Though I don't know how Dwayne can eat with that fat lip. Run into a door, honey?'
'Tucker and I had a tussle.' He reached for his iced tea. He didn't feel much like getting drunk tonight after all.
'Tucker hit you?' Smiling a little, Josie rested her chin on her hand. 'That man's been using his fists more these past few weeks than he has his whole life. Now, what could y'all be fighting about? Don't tell me you've taken a shine to Caroline here?'
Josie winked at Caroline to include her in the joke.
'Nothing like that.' Uncomfortable, Dwayne shifted in his chair. 'We just had a disagreement, that's all. That's how it happened. We started wrestling and ended up in the pond. Guess we stirred up the water quite a bit between that and racing to the far bank and back. Then Tucker… he practically bumped right into her.'
'Don't think about it.' Josie rose to put her arms around his neck. 'It was just bad luck. Bad luck all around.'
'That's a mighty cold way of putting it,' Tucker said as he stepped into the kitchen.
Josie kept her cheek against Dwayne's hair. 'It's the truth. Sometimes the truth's cold. If you hadn't been wrestling around in the pond, you wouldn't have found her. She'd still be dead, but she might've stayed down. Then the two of you wouldn't be looking so peaked.'
Tucker dropped into a chair. He knew his temper was on edge, but Josie's carelessness pushed a dangerous button. 'We won't look 'peaked' for long. Darleen's going to be dead forever.'
'That's just my point. Finding her like that only made things hard on you.'
'Christ, Josie, you've got the sensitivity of a codfish.'
She straightened at that, eyes hot, cheeks pale. 'I've got plenty of sensitivity when it comes to my family. Maybe I don't give two
'Josie.' Wincing, Dwayne reached for her hand, but she shook him off.
'That's just what she was, and her being dead doesn't change it. I'm sorry for Happy and the rest, but I'm just sick about how you and Dwayne came to be involved. If you think that makes me cold, Tucker Longstreet, that's fine. I'll just save my sensitivity for someone who appreciates it.'
She slammed out, leaving the smoke of her temper lingering in the air.
'Maybe I'll go after her.' Dwayne rose awkwardly. 'Smooth her feathers.'
'Tell her I'm sorry, if you think it'll help.' Resigned, Tucker rubbed his hands over his face. 'No use slicing at her for being what she is.'
'Mr. Tucker, you want a beer?'
Tucker lowered his hands and gave Cy a wan smile. 'About as much as I want to breathe right now. But I think I'd do better with coffee.'
'I'll get it.' Caroline opened a cupboard for a cup. 'We're all on edge, Tucker. She's just worried about you.'
'I know. Did Delia go over to the Fullers'?'
