Divine Justice

"But we're not twenty years old anymore, Carr."

"Call me Oliver, Carr is dead."

"Okay, but we're still not twenty."

"It's all in the mind, Knox. It's all in the mind. If we don't believe they can break us they never will."

"Yeah, sure," Knox said, clearly unconvinced of this.

"You got any family?"

"Son and daughter. My boy's in the Marines stationed in the Middle East. My daughter's a lawyer in D.C."

"I had a daughter. But she died. How about your wife?"

"Dead."

"So's mine."

" Brunswick, Georgia? Claire?"

Stone didn't say anything.

"Guy named Harry Fi

Stone stared at the ceiling, slowly flexing his limbs against the thick leather bindings. "Harry's a good guy. Knows how to cover your back."

"I'm sorry about your family… Oliver," he murmured.

"Get some sleep, Knox. Just get some sleep. You're going to need it."

Stone closed his eyes.

A few minutes later an exhausted Joe Knox did the same.

CHAPTER 64

"WE'RE RUNNING OUT OF TIME," Caleb said.

The three of them were sitting around an old picnic table in a small clearing off the main road to Divine. A meal A

"I'm open to suggestions," she said.

"Maybe Alex can help," suggested Caleb as he carefully picked the skin off his piece of chicken.

"Help what, screw things up?"

"We talked about Alex, A

"What do you expect him to do, come ru

"You can always ask."

"Why me?"

"Okay, I'll do it," said Reuben. "Anything to help Oliver."

A

A minute later she said, "Alex?"

"A

"I-" She stopped. "We need a favor."

Five minutes later she clicked off.

"Well?" Reuben and Caleb asked together.

"He's going to help us. He's coming up here, in fact."

Reuben slapped Caleb on the back, almost sending him headfirst into a tub of potato salad.

"I knew it. Friendship is thicker than official duty."

"Yeah, well, we'll see, won't we?" she murmured. "But in the meantime we can't just sit on our butts. We need to keep digging away."

Reuben tossed the bones of his chicken breast into the woods, wiped his mouth and balled up his napkin. "I'm ready to roll. I'll do a recon of the area, see if anything hits me."

"And me and Caleb?"

"Talk to some more people in town. And Caleb stays with you. Remember there's a killer on the loose. We'll meet back here later."

"I'm worried about that reporter," said A

Caleb said, "Well, maybe we have to convince him it would not be in his best interests to follow any of that up."

A

Reuben drove off on his Indian while Caleb and A

"The sheriff told me that Willie Coombs' mom works at the courthouse as the clerk. I want to see if I can get a word with her."

Caleb looked around and his eyes brightened as his gaze fell on the library.

"I think I see something I can do," he said. "But if you need a bodyguard, I can hang with you. Like Reuben said, there is a murderer on the loose."

She gave him a gracious smile. "I appreciate the offer, killer, but I think I'll be fine. The sheriff's office is just right next door."

Caleb headed off and A

Shirley Coombs looked up from her desk when the door opened. A

"I'm really sorry about your son."

Shirley eyed her suspiciously. "Did you know Willie?"

"No, but Sheriff Tyree told me what happened."

"Parents aren't supposed to outlive their children," she said in a hushed tone and then lit up a cigarette; her fingers shook so badly she was barely able to work the Zippo.

"No, ma'am, they're not."

"Lost my husband too. In an accident," she said quickly. "And my daddy in a mine cave-in."

"God, that's awful."

"Yeah, life is just awful, ain't it?" she said sarcastically. "What can I do for you?"

"I was hoping you could tell me something about my dad."

"I never met him," she said immediately.

A

Okay, that was a lie.

She looked over at the stack of boxes.

Shirley said, "Got a lot of work to do."

"I'm sure. I'm really worried about my father."

"Somebody told me he was heading out of town."

"Who was that?"

"Don't recall. Probably heard it over at Rita's."

"You're friends with Abby Riker?"

At that moment an interior door opened and Judge Mosley ambled out. He wore a suit and held his driving cap in one hand.

"Shirley, I'm-" He broke off when he saw A

"Well, who is this?"

A

"Ben seemed to be a very interesting man," said Mosley. "I wish I'd gotten to know him better. I hope you find him. Well, I have to be off."

"Up to the prison, Judge?" said Shirley.

"That's right." He turned to A

"I'm sure."

"Rehabilitation is the key," he said. "Although not many of the folks at Blue Spruce will ever see the light of day as free men, they still deserve some respect and dignity."

"That's what Josh thought," blurted out Shirley.

They turned to look at her.

She reddened. "My husband. He was a guard up there." She glanced at A

"Exactly," said Mosley. "I would be the first to admit that Howard Tyree is not exactly sold on that concept, but that's why it bears repeating. And my weekly presence I hope lets everyone see that common ground in fact can be reached."

"Howard Tyree?" said A

"He's the sheriff's brother," answered Shirley. "The warden up at Dead Rock."

Mosley smiled at A

Shirley snapped, "They call it Dead Rock because a bunch of miners got trapped in a cave-in. Never could get to them. Sealed up in there and they built a damn prison on top of them. And one of 'em was my daddy."

Tears smeared Shirley's mascara while A

"I can see that," replied A

"Well, good day, ladies."

After he'd gone, A

"Sorry I couldn't help you," Shirley said gruffly.

Oh, you already have, lady.