Hour Game

'Who would know about it other than Bobby?'

'The person who built it.'

King nodded. 'And that person could presume that valuables would be kept in there. In fact, it might be the same person who built Remmy's. Bobby might have hired him to do his without bothering to tell his wife.'

Michelle said, 'Well, I guess we can rule out Remmy's hiring Junior to break into the house and steal what was in her husband's drawer. If she knew where it was, she could've done it herself.'

'Ifshe knew where it was. Maybe she didn't or couldn't find it on her own, and hired Junior to find it for her and make it look like a burglary.'

'But if she had hired him, she never would have called the police.'

King shook his head. 'Not true if Junior double-crossed her and stole her things while he was looking for Bobby's secret cache. And maybe Junior's not telling everything just yet because he wants to see how the cards fall.'

'Why am I suddenly thinking this case is far more complicated than people think it is?' said Michelle wearily.

'I never thought it was simple.'

They both turned in the direction of the van pulling up to the trailer.

King glanced at the occupants of the vehicle and then looked at Michelle. 'Lulu must have scored the bail. That's Junior Deaver in the passenger seat. Let's see if we can get the truth out of him.'

'With the way things have been going so far, don't hold your breath on that. Straight answers seem to be in short supply.'

CHAPTER 20

JUNIOR DEAVER LOOKED LIKE A man who made his living with his hands. His jeans and T-shirt were streaked with paint smears and seemed permanently coated with drywall dust. He was over six feet four, and his arms were thick and powerful, deeply bronzed by the sun, and bore numerous scars, scabs and at least five tattoos, by Michelle's count, covering a variety of subject matter from mothers to Lulu to Harley-Davidson. His hair was brown and thinning, and he wore it long and pulled back in a ponytail that unfortunately emphasized his graying and receding hairline. A small, bristly goatee covered his chin, and his bushy sideburns had been grown down past his Santa Claus cheeks. He lifted his smallest child, a six-year-old girl with beautifully soft brown eyes and slender pigtails, out of the van with a tenderness that Michelle would hardly have given him credit for.

Lulu Oxley was thin and wore a crisp-looking black business suit and low heels. Her brown hair was done up professionally in a complicated braid and bun, and she wore chic eyeglasses with slender gold frames. She held a briefcase in one hand and in the other the small hand of what looked to be an eight-year-old boy. The third child, a girl of about twelve, followed behind carrying a large school bag. All the children wore the uniform of one of the local Catholic schools.

King stepped forward and extended his hand to Junior.

'Junior, I'm Sean King. Harry Carrick hired us to work on your behalf.'

Junior eyed Lulu, who nodded, and then he very grudgingly took King's hand and squeezed. Michelle saw her partner wince before the big man let go.

'This is my partner, Michelle Maxwell.'

Lulu studied both of them very closely. 'Harry said you'd be coming by. I just got Junior out, and I don't want him to go back in.'

'I ain't going back in,' growled Junior. ''Cause I ain't done nothing wrong.'

As he said this, the little girl in his arms began to quietly cry.

'Oh, dang,' he said, 'Mary Margaret, now don't you cry no more. Daddy ain't going no place 'cept home.' The little girl continued to sob.

'Mama,' called out Lulu, 'come and get the children, will you?'

Priscilla appeared at the door, minus the gun, and shooed the older children inside before holding out her arms for Mary Margaret and taking the sobbing girl.

She glared at Junior. 'Well, I see they let anybody out of jail these days.'

'Mama,' exclaimed Lulu sharply, 'just go inside and see to the children.'

Priscilla put down Mary Margaret, and the little girl fled into the trailer. Priscilla nodded at King and Michelle. 'This slick-talking feller and his chickie come 'round asking a bunch of questions. Say they're working for Junior. I say you should fire a bullet over their heads and tell them where they can go.'

At the 'chickie' slur King automatically grabbed Michelle's arm to hold her back from throttling the older woman. 'Ms. Oxley,' he said. 'Like I said, we're here on Junior's behalf. We've already been to see Remmy Battle.'

'Well, la-di-da,' said Priscilla Oxley, who finished this statement with a snort. 'And how's the queen today?'

'Do you know her?' asked King.

'I used to work at the Greenbrier Resort over in West Virginia. She and her family came there right regular.'

'And she was… demanding?' said King.

'She was a royal pain in my fat ass,' declared Priscilla. 'And if Junior was dumb enough to steal from a witch like that, he deserves whatever he gets.'

Lulu pointed a finger at the woman. 'Mother, we have things to discuss with these people.' She looked up at the front door of the trailer where Mary Margaret was listening and trembling in her distress. 'Things the children don't need to hear.'

'Don't you worry about that, honey.' said Priscilla. 'I'll fill 'em in on all their daddy's shortcomings. Only take me a couple of months.'

'Now, Mother, don't be going and doing that,' said Junior as he studied his large feet. He was a good foot taller than Priscilla Oxley, though he didn't outweigh her by all that much, and yet it was clear to both King and Michelle that the man was terrified of his mother-in-law.

'Don't you call me Mother. All the things Lulu and me done for you, and this is how you repay us? Getting yourself in trouble, maybe going to the electric chair!'

On this, Mary Margaret's sobs turned into earsplitting wails, and Lulu erupted into action.

'Excuse me,' she said politely but firmly to King and Michelle.

She marched up the steps, grabbed a fistful of her mother's dress and pulled the larger woman into the trailer along with Mary Margaret. From behind the closed door they could hear muffled cries and angry voices, and then all became quiet. A few seconds after that, Lulu reemerged and closed the door behind her.

'Mama sometimes goes on when she's been drinking. Sorry about that,' she said.

'She doesn't like me much,' said Junior unnecessarily.

'Why don't we sit over here?' said Lulu, pointing to an old picnic table on the right side of the trailer.

Once settled there, King filled them both in on the visit to the Battles'.

Lulu said, 'The problem is that.' She pointed to the large shed behind the trailer. 'I've told Junior a million times to put a door and lock on that thing.'

'Old story,' he said sheepishly. 'Working on everybody else's house, ain't got time for my own.'

'But the point,' continued Lulu, 'is that anybody can get in there.'

'Not with old Luther back there,' Junior said, nodding at the dog that had emerged once more from the shed and was barking happily at the sight of his owners.

'Luther!' said Lulu incredulously. 'Sure he'll bark, but he won't bite, and he'll roll over like a baby when somebody brings him food.' She turned to King and Michelle. 'He has buddies coming over all the time to borrow tools. When we're not here, they leave little notes and let us know when they're gonna be bringing the things back, and sometimes they never do. And Luther sure as hell never stopped one of 'em.'

'They'll leave a six-pack as a thank-you,' offered Junior quickly. 'They're good old boys.'

'They're old boys all right, just don't know how good they are,' said Lulu hotly. 'One