Read BBH01 - Cimarron Rose for Free Online Page B

stabbed her to death with a screwdriver this
morning… Harley's truck was found in a pond a half mile away.'
    I saw Lucas Smothers walk down the circular stairs in the
center of the courthouse, a possessions bag in his hand.
    'We've got no physical evidence to put Moon in that store,'
Marvin said.
    I stared into his face and the knowledge there that I didn't
want to accept.
    'That crazy sonofabitch is going to get out, Billy Bob.'
    'Lucas's deposition—' I began.
    'It won't hold up by itself.'
    'Does Moon know that Lucas…' I could feel the
pinpoints of sweat breaking on my forehead.
    'You already know the answer to that… I'm sorry. We
thought we had this guy halfway to the boneyard,' Marvin said.
    Lucas walked toward us, his face uncertain in front of Marvin.
    'How y'all doin'? Is my dad outside?' he said.
     
    I sat alone in my office with the
blinds down and tried to
think. I kept seeing the grin on the face of Garland T. Moon, the latex
skin, the liquid blue eye; I could almost smell the breath that was
like fermented prunes. I pulled open the blinds and let the sunlight
flood into the room.
    The secretary buzzed me on the intercom.
    'Mr Vanzandt and his son are here to see you, Billy Bob,' she
said.
    Jack Vanzandt, the college baseball star who'd fought in
Vietnam and had come home decorated and had made a fortune in the
Mexican oil business, then had lost it and made another fortune in
computers. He'd called yesterday, or was it the day before? Yes, about
his son, the one who had been expelled from Texas A&M.
    'Bad day for a talk?' Jack said.
    'Sorry. It's been a peculiar morning,' I said.
    Jack still lifted weights and worked out regularly on a speed
bag and played polo at a club in Dallas. He was well mannered and
intelligent and made little of his war record. Few found any reason not
to like him.
    His son was another matter. His blond, youthful face always
seemed slightly flushed, overheated, his gaze turned inward on thoughts
that swam like threadworms in his green eyes.
    'Darl had a fistfight with a Mexican kid. We'd like to just
shake hands and forget it. But it looks like the family found out we
have a little money,' Jack said.
    'What about it, Darl?' I asked.
    'At the American Legion game. Kid scratched all over my hood
with a nail. I asked him why he did it. He said because of the cheer we
were yelling in the stands. So I told him it was a free country, people
can say anything they want 'cause that's why we got a First Amendment.
Wets don't like it, they can swim back home.'
    'What cheer?' I asked.
    '"Two-bits, four-bits, six-bits a peso, all good pepper
bellies stand up and say so."' His eyes smiled at nothing. He rubbed
the thick ball of muscle along his forearm.
    I looked at his father.
    'The Mexican boy had to have his jaws wired together,' Jack
said.
    I took a yellow legal pad and a ballpoint pen out of my drawer
and pushed them across my desk toward Darl.
    'I'd like you to write down what happened for me. Just like
you're writing a school essay,' I said.
    'I just told you what happened,' he said.
    'Darl has dyslexia,' Jack said.
    'I see,' I said. 'I tell you what, I'll get back with y'all
this afternoon. I'm sorry I'm a little distant this morning.'
    Darl Vanzandt played with the high school ring on his finger,
his cheeks glowing with peach fuzz. His eyes seemed amused at a private
thought. Then he looked me straight in the face and said, 'My father
says Lucas Smothers is your woods colt.'
    'Go to the car, son,' Jack said.
    After Darl was gone, his father extended his hand.
    'I apologize. Darl has serious emotional problems. His
mother… It's called fetal alcohol syndrome. He's not always
accountable for the things he says and does,' Jack said.
    'Don't worry about it,' I said.
    'I really appreciate your helping us, Billy Bob.'
    He squeezed my hand a second time. His grip was encompassing,
long lasting, the skin moist and warm. After he was gone and I was
seated again behind my desk, I found myself