The Reckless Oath We Made - Bryn Greenwood Page 0,91

walked around his truck, running his hand along it. I figured he was having a conversation with one of his voices, so I left him alone. He went around the truck a second time, and stopped at the rear quarter panel, a few feet away from me.

“Thou art well?” he said.

“Yeah. I’m fine. I’m sorry we woke you up.”

He squatted and picked up Yvain. After wiping the dust off on his T-shirt, he held the book out to me in both hands, like an offering.

CHAPTER 35

Alva

That damn girl looked just like my daddy, with that same wide mouth and wild copper hair. Built like she could hunt bear with a stick, she was like the ghost of my daddy in more ways than one. Come to call me to answer for my misdeeds, remind me of the obligations I needed to put to paid before I died.

With the land paid off and the boys grown, I wasn’t particular broke up at the idea of dying. I was ready to meet my maker and, knowing what Tess had went through, I wasn’t of a mind to put myself through that, no matter how bad the coughing got. All the same, I figured it was best to know how much time I had left to put things in order, so I gone to see my doctor.

After my appointment was done, I had Dirk drive me to the convenience store up the other side of the valley.

“Why you wanna go there?” he said.

“Because they don’t know me.”

“Why you need to go somewhere they don’t know you?”

“Just drive, boy.”

I swear, he was dumb as a box of hammers. I made him wait while I went into the store and bought a prepaid phone. Clerk was one of them Paki fellas. Wasn’t even sure if he spoke English, seeing as how he didn’t say a word to me. Took my money, gave me my change. When I come out, Dirk looked over at the phone package like he figured to ask me another stupid question, but he musta thought better of it.

The first call was the easiest. To a man I did six years with. Like me, he’d moved on after he served his time, but he hadn’t got himself as far away from Van Eck as I had. We spent a few minutes shooting the breeze til I worked my way around to telling him why I’d called.

“Maybe you heard what happened to my niece, who was took hostage over at El Dorado while she was volunteering,” I said. “I’m real worried about that, you can imagine.”

“I can. I can. Tell you what, I’m a mite busy right this minute, but I’ll call you back,” was his answer.

“I’ll count on that.” There wasn’t no good to come of talking on a landline, so I give him the prepaid number and we said our goodbyes. An hour later, the prepaid rang, and, like I figured, he had some idea of who I ought to call next.

Wasn’t a fella we served with, but one whose son I looked out for. Lost four teeth and took seventeen stitches from a guard to protect that boy, because Van Eck told me he was like a nephew to him. The boy’s father was somebody important in one of the big Arkansas conclaves. Nobody to mess with, but my lungs right on schedule fired up to remind me that being alive was mayhap a temporary condition. If somebody wanted to come around some night and shut me up from asking the wrong questions, they might be doing me a favor.

This fella, Janzen, he acted like he didn’t have no truck with me, til I was forced to remind him how I helped his son.

“I appreciate that but,” he said.

“But what? This my family I’m talking about. Just like your boy. I’m trying to make sure my niece is all right. See if I can’t negotiate to get her back without involving no police.”

“Negotiate?” Janzen said, and he seemed a mite more interested in talking to me.

“I don’t aim to get something for nothing, and neither do I aim to cause no trouble. I just wanna find my niece. That’s my late brother’s daughter.”

It gone on that way into the afternoon, til I was down to the last prepaid card I had.

“I’m gonna have to call you back,” said a man who wouldn’t tell me his name. He’d called me, got my number from someone else. Somewhere in there I’d spoke