Divine Justice

Bottom is a character, a weaver actually, whose head is transformed into an ass's head by Puck the Hobgoblin.'

They all stared at Caleb in befuddlement before Reuben said, 'Are you on some kind of librarian crack?'

'No, it means that drunk Shirley is actually fairly well-read because that's a scene from Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream.'

'Abby Riker's place,' exclaimed Annabelle. 'A Midsummer's Farm.'

'Sounds like a plan,' began Alex, but he stopped talking when Harry held up a hand. They all listened.

'There's someone out there,' hissed Caleb.

Harry and Alex pulled their weapons. Alex tossed a spare gun to Reuben, who took up position near one of the wide windows.

'Caleb, are you okay driving-'

They were nearly knocked over when Caleb rammed the accelerator and the van crashed through some bushes and hit the road even as bullets pinged against the sides of the vehicle.

Alex shoved Annabelle to the floorboard and then he ducked down.

Reuben slid open the window, took aim and fired behind them. Alex and Harry did the same from the other side.

Caleb hit a straightaway and pushed the van to its max.

'Eighty is all the juice this shit-can has,' he barked. 'Next time give me a decent ride if you want me to outrun the suckers. I can't make tomato sauce without tomatoes, for godsakes!'

Confused, Alex eyed Harry and then looked down at Annabelle.

She said wearily, 'You don't want to know.'

Over the next five minutes Caleb took hairpin turns barely on four wheels, cut down this road and that, and ran around one curve where the van's left-side tires were nearly kissing air over a vertical drop. He finally slowed.

'No lights back there for the last two minutes,' he said. 'Where to now?'

'The farm,' answered Alex. 'Fast, but without killing us, please.'

Keeping alert, they made their way slowly back and drove through downtown Divine. When they reached the other side they saw the red rooftop lights of the cop car that was parked on the side of the road near a long drop-off. Other vehicles, including a fire truck, were parked next to it. Men were milling about, and a fire hose extended down the slope.

Annabelle said, 'Stop, Caleb. That's Sheriff Tyree.'

Caleb pulled off the road and Annabelle climbed out of the van and hurried over to Tyree, who was standing there, hands in his pockets and seemingly studying his boots with little interest.

'Sheriff, what happened?'

He glanced at her and scowled. 'What are you doing around here this time of night?'

'Still looking for my dad.' She stared down the steep slope where she could see smoke rising and some men tethered to ropes looking over the remains of a car. Then she noticed where the dirt shoulder had been torn up. 'An accident?'

He nodded. 'Shirley Coombs, or what's left of her.'

Annabelle gave a sharp intake of breath.

He eyed her sternly. 'What?'

'I was talking to her not more than an hour ago.'

'Where?'

'At her son's trailer, or what's left of it.'

'What were you doing there?'

'I was driving by and heard somebody sobbing. It was Shirley. I was trying to comfort her.'

'Had she been drinking?'

Annabelle hesitated but then said, 'Yes.'

'Damn fool woman ran off the road.'

Annabelle looked around and saw the tire marks and then a bit of gray metal lying on the road under the glare of lights. She bent down to pick it up.

'Don't touch that!' snapped Tyree.

She stood quickly. 'But Shirley's car was red.'

Tyree grabbed her by the arm and hustled her away from the accident scene and across the road while several of the men looked on curiously.

She exclaimed, 'Sheriff, what is going on? That wasn't an accident. Someone hit her car.'

'I know that. I just don't want other folks to.'

'But why?'

'Because I said so, that's why! Now, what did Shirley tell you that would get her killed?'

Annabelle nervously licked her lips. Shirley had made it clear that she trusted no one in this place. So how could Annabelle?

'Ma'am, I want to get to the bottom of this whole thing. It's my town and I need to make things right.'

Annabelle had a great BS meter and it was making no noise. 'Come over here.'

She led him to the van and opened the back door, revealing the others inside. She introduced them one by one and said, 'Sheriff, you got some time to hear what we know? It's going to take a while.'

'Let's get on over to my office then. Too many ears 'round here.'

An hour later, sitting in Tyree's office, the lawman rubbed his face, stood and glumly stared out the window. 'So he's not your father but he did work for the government and has been underground for years. And you and your friends are FBI agents tasked with bringing him safely back?'

'That's right,' said Annabelle. She'd of course made no mention of Joe Knox being after Stone for the murders of Simpson and Gray. Yet she had told the lawman as much of the truth as she could, which for Annabelle was a new way to operate.

'You lied to me once and now I'm just supposed to believe you? How about I call the FBI in D.C. Will they know who you are?'

Alex stood and held out his ID. 'I'm not FBI. This is a joint task force. So how about you call my headquarters in D.C. and verify I am who I say I am. We'll wait here while you do. But if you're going to do it, do it now. We need to find him, fast.'

Tyree eyed Alex's creds and then shook his head. 'I believe you.' He stepped back to his desk and perched on the edge while Annabelle shot Alex a grateful look. 'And you think it has something to do with Abby Riker's farm?'

'The clue clearly referred to her place,' said Caleb.

'But you're not saying Abby has anything to do with it. That's crazy.'

Annabelle said, 'I'm not accusing anyone of anything. But her son is missing.'

'A drug ring operating out of Divine,' said Tyree. 'And if Shirley said the boxes were coming to the courthouse with some missing, the judge must be in on it too. Pretty slick, because who's going to check legal documents going to a courthouse? And using the miners going to get their methadone? Who the hell thought of that?'

There was a knock on the door and a man came in. Charlie Trimble was dressed in khaki pants and a striped button-down shirt.

'I know it's late but I saw your light on, Sheriff-' He broke off when he saw the other people with him.

'I'm sort of busy, Charlie.'

Trimble looked keenly at Annabelle. 'Ah, the daughter. Still looking for your father?'

Annabelle did not like the emphasis the man put on the last word.

'No, he's actually not my father.' She turned to Alex. 'He's the man I was telling you about. The reporter looking to make a fast scoop.'

'I see. At the expense of national security, I don't think so.'

'National security?' said Trimble, taken aback. He glanced at Tyree. 'What are they talking about?'

'Apparently Ben isn't who we thought he was.'

'I know that,' said Trimble excitedly. 'But I think I do know who he is. I've got the story all ready to go. But