Read The Double-Jack Murders: A Sheriff Bo Tully Mystery (Sheriff Bo Tully Mysteries) for Free Online

care of him. It really breaks my heart to give him up, but there’s nothing else I can do. So I asked myself, who could give Clarence a nice home? That’s when I thought of you, Batim.” He shot a look at Pap that said if you grin or say one word you’re dead. The old man had rolled his eyes toward the sky at first but now appeared perfectly sober. They walked back to the truck. Tully picked up Clarence and set him on the ground in front of Batim. The two of them looked at each other.
    “He seems like a nice little dog,” Batim said.
    Clarence wagged his tail. Batim reached down and picked him up. Tully held his breath. The dog continued to wag. Batim scratched him behind the ears. “Well, sure, I’ll take the little guy. I really appreciate you thinking of me, Bo.”
    “It just occurred to me that you and Clarence had a lot in common.”
    “So, other than Clarence, what brings you up this way?”
    “Oh, Pap and I are picking up Dave Perkins to go camping with us. We’re heading up into the Snowies. Going to spend a few days at the campsite on Deadman Creek.”
    Batim shook his head. “I don’t reckon that’s a wise move. Kincaid was born and raised in those mountains. He’s like a wild animal. You’d be a lot safer in town, Bo.”
    “Batim, I’m not running off to hide from Lucas Kincaid! If he happens along, I’ll deal with him. By the way, you seen anything of Lucas?”
    “Sure. He stopped by and visited shortly after he brokeout and killed them two guards. If I knowed at the time he had his mind set on killing you, Bo, I’d have put a bullet in him myself.”
    “I appreciate the thought. Any particular reason he stopped by?”
    “He wanted to pick up that stinky old cap of his, the red-and-black plaid one with the earmuffs that tie up on top. He gave it to me down at the jail when he was going to be locked up. I tossed it up on a shelf in the woodshed and forgot about it, figuring Lucas would be gone about forever. Suddenly, he’s at my door and wants it back. Says it’s his lucky hat. That raised a sweat on me, I can tell you, because for a moment I forgot what I done with it. Then I remembered. That’s why I’m still alive, I reckon. That stupid cap apparently means a lot to old Lucas. By the way, I don’t think Lucas has ever got next to a bath in his entire life. The smell of him almost buckled my knees. He stops by here again, Bo, you want me to kill him for you?”
    Tully pondered the favor for a moment. “I guess not, Batim. That might complicate matters. I appreciate the offer, though. Of course if he were to threaten you, don’t hesitate.”
    “Gotcha. Thanks for Clarence, Bo. I really appreciate it.”
    “Think nothing of it, Batim. I’ll miss him but I know he’s going to a good home.”
    They drove back toward Famine and to Dave Perkins’s House of Fry. As usual, the parking lot was full. The House of Fry offered the best and cheapest breakfast within a hundred miles.
    “How about you buying me some breakfast while Dave gets his stuff packed?” Pap said.
    “If I know Dave he had his stuff packed and ready to go last night. Nothing he likes better than a camping trip.”
    “He don’t seem to like violence. You ever notice that? A fight starts or something, he walks away, gets in his car, and drives off. I seen him do it more than once.”
    “I don’t blame him. You’re probably the one in the fight, Pap, or at least the one who started it.”
    “Not always! I just think it’s strange a grown man like Dave walking away from a fight.”
    “Hard to tell,” Tully said. “I think he worked for the government for a while, but he never says anything about what he did before moving to Famine. I suspect it was something that caused him to lose his taste for violence. There are folks like that, you know. Come on, I’ll buy you breakfast.”
    “You’re just saying that because Dave never charges us. I think I’ll have the chicken-fried steak and hash browns with gravy.