Divine Justice

'I mean if the manifest says fifty boxes, there's only thirty that show up.'

'Do you know why?'

'I'm not looking to get into trouble.'

'I'm not the police, Shirley. I just want to find my dad.'

'I've been poor all my life. You see this town now, it's doing good. Everybody is happy. Why shouldn't I get my piece? You know.'

'I know. It's only fair.'

'Damn right it is. I wanted to go to college. My brother got to but not old Shirley. We didn't have the money.'

'I'm sure,' Annabelle said patiently.

Shirley took another swallow of wine. Now she didn't even appear to remember that Annabelle was there. She seemed to be talking to herself. 'And was I supposed to know that Josh would get killed when he went hunting deer? Rory just said to make Josh go and then call him. And so that's what I did. How was I to know? You tell me that.'

'You certainly couldn't have known. But about those boxes?' prompted Annabelle.

'There's a big drug addiction problem up here. People'll do anything to get their pop.'

'Is that what's in the missing boxes. Drugs?'

If Oliver ran into the middle of a major drug ring he's probably already dead. But if he isn't, he might not have much time.

'Prescription pills. Throws off a lot of damn cash.'

'How are they transferred? I mean from the missing boxes with the pills to wherever they're going?'

Shirley lit up another cigarette and eyed Annabelle shrewdly. 'Missy, we got us a bunch of drug addict miners go to get their methadone pop over at the clinic every morning so they can get back and hit seven a.m. shifts at the mines.'

'Okay,' Annabelle said. 'But how does that tie in with anything?'

'They start out about two a.m. I know that because I've seen 'em. It's less than an hour drive each way, and it takes about a minute to get the pop. Anybody sees them and asks why so early, they tell 'em they can't sleep, just go to the clinic and shoot the breeze. But I know for a fact that doesn't happen. What happens is those boxes get driven a good ways from here and are dropped off at designated spots.'

'Okay, but where do they pick them up?'

Oliver might have found that out and gone there.

Shirley stood and stumbled down the blackened timbers to her car.

'Shirley, where are you going?'

'Where I'm going is getting the hell out of here. I'm done with Divine. Should've left a long time ago.'

Annabelle raced after her, grabbed her shoulder. 'Please, Shirley, it's my dad. Please. He's all I've got left.'

'I already said way too much. Booze talking.'

'Can't you tell me something? Anything? To at least point me the right way?'

Shirley hesitated and then looked at the ruined trailer and then back at Annabelle.

'Okay. But you'll have to think about it real good.'

'All right.'

'When is a bottom changed into an ass?'

Annabelle immediately looked puzzled. 'What?'

Shirley let out a drunken giggle. 'Like I said, you think about it. When is a bottom changed into an ass? You want to find your daddy bad enough, you'll come up with it.'

She staggered to her car and got in.

'Are you okay to drive?'

Shirley poked her head out the window. 'Hell, honey, I been driving drunk since I was thirteen.'

Shirley peeled off and Annabelle raced to the van, which was hidden down the road and behind some trees. When she got there she found four men waiting for her instead of just two. And the new pair had guns.

CHAPTER 69

DINNER CAME right at six-thirty; two trays pushed through the slots. Knox and Stone took them, sat down on their cots and started to eat.

Knox pointed at the carrots on the plate. A few moments later the toilet flushed and the vegetables spun down the metal bowl and out of sight.

Stone was cutting his meat, which was a little difficult considering he only had a flimsy spoon to work with, when his eye caught on the edge of white poking out from under his plate. He nudged Knox with his elbow as he slid the piece of paper out. He unfolded it and began to read, while Knox looked anxiously over his shoulder.

I was the guard at the door when the nurse finished with you. I was a friend of Josh Coombs. Tomorrow in the rec yard. Just follow my lead. Flush this note.

Knox and Stone glanced at each other. Knox took the note, read it once more and then sent it sailing down into the prison's sewer to join the drug-laced carrots.

'What do you think?' Knox said in a low voice as they resumed eating. They both tapped their feet against the floor to cover their conversation.

'I saw him glance at me when he was at the door. And he nodded. Didn't know exactly what was going on, but I was hoping.'

'Follow his lead?'

'He'll have to cover himself. And we'll do exactly as he says when the time comes.'

Twenty minutes later something hit their door. 'Trays,' bellowed a voice.

They pushed them through and sat back on their cots.

'Why do you think they're even keeping us alive?' Knox said. 'They don't know that folks won't show up for me.'

'Anybody comes near this place, they'll know long in advance. Then they either kill us or hide us. Plenty of places to do that here.'

'So why not kill us now? Not that I'm glad they're not,' he added hastily.

Stone thought about being left in the mine with the snakes. He was certain now that had been Tyree's handiwork. 'Killing is fast, a second of pain and then it's over. We're free of this place. That's apparently not good enough for Howard Tyree. He wants to control us, every second of our lives. I'm sure he'll kill us at some point. But in the meantime he's looking forward to making our lives as miserable as they can possibly be.'

'Guy sounds like a serial killer.'

'He is, only on the wrong side of the bars.'

Knox stretched out on his steel cot. 'So now we wait?'

'I don't see another option right now, do you?'

Their door was hit with a hard object. 'Hands through the cuff door,' yelled a voice.

'Aw shit, what now!' moaned Knox.

Stone whispered, 'Just remember that we've been drugged, so act punchy.'

'I'm so tired I won't have to act.'

They were cuffed, stripped, searched and probed. This had quickly become almost as natural as taking a piss. Both men hung their heads and acted as listless as possible without overdoing it.

They were herded down the hall, guards and Tasers on either side while they shackle-shuffled along. They climbed stairs until there were no more stairs to climb. Stone figured they were in the west tower of the prison but he couldn't be sure. His usually reliable internal compass wasn't working all that well in here.

The room they were brought to was circular-shaped with a table and two chairs in the very center. Three- inch-wide slits in the wall revealed the dark outside. A fluorescent light bubbled overhead. They were placed in the chairs and the guards stood back, waiting.