“So, it’s only your word on what happened,” Dare said. She played with the snack mix, looking for almonds.
“Gravy told me that Pensacola likes neat.”
Dare said, “This is a weird place, but I guess it’s no different than most Southern towns.”
We sat alone with our thoughts for several minutes. I tossed Big Boy a peanut.
“Some in this town will always see you as a killer, even if it’s declared self-defense,” said Dare. “They won’t ever forgive you.”
“Probably not,” I said. The pain was a dull, distant roar.
The waitress didn’t quite know how to deal with me, but she smiled when she brought us more snack mix.
“I read the newspaper. You killed a man, but Barry says they got it wrong that you’re some kind of hero,” she said, nodding towards the bartender.
“I’m not a hero,” I said, reaching out my left hand. “I’m Walker Holmes, publisher of the Insider.”
“I’m Heather,” she said, shaking my hand.
After she left, Dare said, “You still have your fans.”
I smiled, “Well, I’m kind of a big deal.”
We laughed. Damn it felt good to laugh again.
Dare hesitated to ask her most important question. I didn’t rush her.
She asked a different question instead. “Have you heard what Jace told the media?”
My stomach sank. Should I have trusted an enemy?
“No, what did Mr. Wittman say?” I asked.
“He refused to talk about the incident on the boat but announced that he and his daughter would be moving to Mobile, Alabama, as soon as the investigation was closed. He plans to enroll Julie in a preparatory school there,” Dare said.
“And Save Our Pensacola and the referendum?”
“The television station found some old codger who said they would continue the fight,” she said. “But without Jace’s leadership and charisma and Bo’s money the petition drive will fail.”
A minor victory for me.
Dare still tried to gather the nerve to ask her question. She set her jaw and looked at me.
“What about Sue?” she asked.
“Though I can’t prove it, I think Bo poisoned her,” I said. “He stole the money and cheated on her with Childs. Sue probably found out and was going to leave him, so Hines arranged for her to overdose on her meds, most likely by mixing pills into her food.”
Dare asked, “Did he tell you that?”
“Not directly, but when I called him out for it, he became even more enraged and pulled the gun on me.”
She nodded her head several times, accepting my conclusion as she absentmindedly touched each of the pearls around her neck.
“Thank you,” she said, wiping away a tear. “I’d hug you, but I would hurt you.”
I smiled and reached out to touch her hand. “Thank you for believing in me.”
“Do you need a ride?” she asked as she stood to leave.
“No, I’m going to sit here for a few minutes,” I said. “The loft is only a block away. Big Boy will get me home.”
“If not, please call me,” Dare said as she kissed my right cheek, the one without stitches.
I put on my Ray-Bans and enjoyed the afternoon sun. In my head, I started to compose my cover story about the demise of Save Our Pensacola. Wittman would hardly be mentioned.
My phone vibrated. Bree texted, “How are you?”
I replied, “Alive.”
“Where are you?”
“EOA.”
“Want company?”
I finally took a sip of my drink and replied, “Oh, yeah.”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
photo by Barrett McClean, Barrett McClean Photography
RICK OUTZEN is the publisher and owner of Pensacola Inweekly, an alt-weekly newspaper that published its first issue on July 1, 1999. Six years later, he launched his blog, aptly named “Rick’s Blog,” that quickly became one of the most influential blogs in the state of Florida.
His reporting for the Daily Beast on the Billings murders, a double-homicide that garnered national attention, caught the attention of the New York Times that then profiled him and his blog. He was also featured on Dateline NBC’s segment on the murders, “No Safe Place.”
Rick also covered the BP oil spill for The Daily Beast, earning international attention for unraveling the oil company’s spin on the disaster. He was interviewed by MSNBC, CNN, CBC-TV, and Al Jazeera English.
He was a finalist for the Sunshine State Awards for investigative reporting for his coverage of the failed turnaround effort of a middle school in the Escambia County Public School District.
Since 2003 Rick has been a regular contributor to Ring of Fire Radio, a show created by Robert Kennedy, Jr., and Mike Papantonio. The radio show was originally broadcast on Air America and is currently nationally syndicated.
In 2014 he self-published a digital book on his “Outtakes” columns: I’m That Guy: Collected Columns of a Southern Journalist.
Rick grew up in the Mississippi Delta and graduated magna cum laude from the University of Mississippi.
He and his family have lived in the Pensacola, Florida, area since 1982.
