went to him once. He needed to borrow three hundred dollars. Leland was a week late paying it back.
DVora looked down, blotting at a shampoo splotch on her smock. Jim Albert sent a man out to the house to break all the windows in our truck. He told us the next time it wouldnt just be the truck. Leland came up with the cash, and we never saw him again.
She raised her eyes to me. That Jim Albert was a man to be feared, Mace. What if someone else couldnt pay what they owed? That would be a reason for murder, wouldnt it?
It sure would, DVora. I felt like kissing her.
And theres more; about Emma Jean and the wedding. Her eyes darted around the shop, as if she expected Emma Jean to jump out from behind a chair. She came in a few days ago while Betty was out to lunch. She sat right in that chair and told me she was having second thoughts about going through with it.
I jumped at that. Did she say why? What else did she say?
DVora turned her head toward Wanda. Still drying.
She leaned in close, cupping a hand around her mouth as she broke Emma Jeans confidence. Shed found out Jim was cheating, DVora whispered. She was so mad, she said she didnt know whether she wanted to marry him or murder him.
Maddie was pacing outside her Volvo by the dumpster at the Booze n Breeze when I arrived.
It was the first time in history my teetotaler sister and the drive-thru liquor store had been forced into such close proximity. When I called Maddie to tell her I found out some things that could help cut Mama loose from jail, she insisted upon meeting me at the Booze n Breeze. It was her maiden trip to Jim Alberts store, a den of sin in my sisters mind.
The stores about two miles east of the courthouse square in downtown Himmarshee. Thats far enough not to offend the good citizens who gather in the square for lunch, eating out of paper bags on benches under oaks strung with Spanish moss. But its also close enough so those same citizens can swing by for a nip on their way home from work.
In her black pantsuit, serious pumps, and reading glasses on a silver chain, Maddie looked every inch the school principal. Frown-ing, she glanced at her watch as she saw me drive up.
I parked on the weedy shoulder along Highway 98, and waited as a truck loaded with Brangus and Charolais cattle roared past. Then a battered pickup, its gate held shut with a length of rusty chain, clattered by. Six Latino farm workers in the back clamped their hands over their baseball caps, guarding them from the wind.
When I crossed the road and met Maddie by the dumpster, she stared at me so long I started to get nervous.
What? I asked her. Do I still have sleep crud in my eyes? I know theres nothing stuck in my teeth, because I havent had a bite to eat all day.
Whatd you do to your hair, Mace?
I put up a hand self-consciously, and felt nothing but smooth where there had been snarls that morning. Maddie grabbed my chin and turned my head this way and that.
It looks good, she finally said. It really does. She sounded shocked.
DVora cut it, I mumbled.
My sister at a beauty parlor? Maddie took a step back. So that explains this awful foreboding Ive had ever since Mama was arrested. The world really is coming to an end.
Very funny, Maddie. I snapped at her, but secretly I was pleased. A compliment from Maddie is rarer than a three-legged cat.
I told her all about Jim Albert, including his mob ties and the fact that Emma Jean had been furious after shed found out he was running around with another woman.
Jimmy the Weasel, huh? That cheating lowlife was an insult to the weasel, Maddie said.
Lets go on in, I told her, and see what else we can learn about him.
There was no wall in front, since the whole idea of the Booze n Breeze is to let shoppers motor past and get a good look at the libations. The businesss motto is, you never have to leave the drivers seat to tank
DVora looked down, blotting at a shampoo splotch on her smock. Jim Albert sent a man out to the house to break all the windows in our truck. He told us the next time it wouldnt just be the truck. Leland came up with the cash, and we never saw him again.
She raised her eyes to me. That Jim Albert was a man to be feared, Mace. What if someone else couldnt pay what they owed? That would be a reason for murder, wouldnt it?
It sure would, DVora. I felt like kissing her.
And theres more; about Emma Jean and the wedding. Her eyes darted around the shop, as if she expected Emma Jean to jump out from behind a chair. She came in a few days ago while Betty was out to lunch. She sat right in that chair and told me she was having second thoughts about going through with it.
I jumped at that. Did she say why? What else did she say?
DVora turned her head toward Wanda. Still drying.
She leaned in close, cupping a hand around her mouth as she broke Emma Jeans confidence. Shed found out Jim was cheating, DVora whispered. She was so mad, she said she didnt know whether she wanted to marry him or murder him.
Maddie was pacing outside her Volvo by the dumpster at the Booze n Breeze when I arrived.
It was the first time in history my teetotaler sister and the drive-thru liquor store had been forced into such close proximity. When I called Maddie to tell her I found out some things that could help cut Mama loose from jail, she insisted upon meeting me at the Booze n Breeze. It was her maiden trip to Jim Alberts store, a den of sin in my sisters mind.
The stores about two miles east of the courthouse square in downtown Himmarshee. Thats far enough not to offend the good citizens who gather in the square for lunch, eating out of paper bags on benches under oaks strung with Spanish moss. But its also close enough so those same citizens can swing by for a nip on their way home from work.
In her black pantsuit, serious pumps, and reading glasses on a silver chain, Maddie looked every inch the school principal. Frown-ing, she glanced at her watch as she saw me drive up.
I parked on the weedy shoulder along Highway 98, and waited as a truck loaded with Brangus and Charolais cattle roared past. Then a battered pickup, its gate held shut with a length of rusty chain, clattered by. Six Latino farm workers in the back clamped their hands over their baseball caps, guarding them from the wind.
When I crossed the road and met Maddie by the dumpster, she stared at me so long I started to get nervous.
What? I asked her. Do I still have sleep crud in my eyes? I know theres nothing stuck in my teeth, because I havent had a bite to eat all day.
Whatd you do to your hair, Mace?
I put up a hand self-consciously, and felt nothing but smooth where there had been snarls that morning. Maddie grabbed my chin and turned my head this way and that.
It looks good, she finally said. It really does. She sounded shocked.
DVora cut it, I mumbled.
My sister at a beauty parlor? Maddie took a step back. So that explains this awful foreboding Ive had ever since Mama was arrested. The world really is coming to an end.
Very funny, Maddie. I snapped at her, but secretly I was pleased. A compliment from Maddie is rarer than a three-legged cat.
I told her all about Jim Albert, including his mob ties and the fact that Emma Jean had been furious after shed found out he was running around with another woman.
Jimmy the Weasel, huh? That cheating lowlife was an insult to the weasel, Maddie said.
Lets go on in, I told her, and see what else we can learn about him.
There was no wall in front, since the whole idea of the Booze n Breeze is to let shoppers motor past and get a good look at the libations. The businesss motto is, you never have to leave the drivers seat to tank
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