When Ghosts Come Home(57)

Winston was uncertain of what to say, of what he could say. He stepped back behind his desk and set his hands on the back of his chair, thoughts careening through his head. “Ed,” he finally said. “I need to tell you that I’m not going to win this reelection. I know that.”

“I know that too,” Bellamy said. “And I need to tell you there’s still time for you to do the right thing.”

“And what’s that, Ed? I’m working to get to the bottom of what happened to Rodney. Aside from that, what can I do? Go after Bradley Frye? That’s not going to make anything easier on anybody, especially you.”

“You can get on your belly,” Bellamy said. “Crawl through the jungle with me. I can do the firing, but I might need a spotter, and I might need some cover.”

“I’m the sheriff, Ed, at least for now. I’ve got to follow the law.”

The two men stood looking at one another for a moment, and then Bellamy put his hand on the knob and opened the office door. He paused before stepping through it.

“And I’ve got to protect myself, and that means I might have to go hunting, because I sure as hell am not going to allow myself to be hunted. Not anymore.”



For the first time in the nearly twenty years they’d spent working together, Vickie left at 5:00 p.m. sharp without saying goodbye. Winston expected it, so he wasn’t surprised, but it still troubled him. The whole afternoon—even the news of the bust down in South Carolina—had troubled him. Not long after she left, Winston locked up the office and climbed into the cruiser and headed back out to the airport. The light would be gone soon, and he was curious to know what Groom had been able to get done.

Once he’d arrived at the airport and trudged across the expanse of grassy field, he saw that the aircraft’s tail had been jacked up and the broken landing gear removed. Agent Rountree stood by the plane, talking with one of Winston’s deputies and a couple of mechanics that Winston didn’t know. Glenn stood back, watching the scene. Groom was nowhere to be found. Glenn looked back at Winston and nodded at him as he approached.

“Looks like things are moving along,” Winston said.

“I’d say so,” Glenn said.

“I thought you weren’t on airplane duty until after midnight,” Winston said.

“I’m not,” Glenn said. “I just wanted to watch them jack this thing up. I’ll be back out here at two a.m.”

Winston sighed. “Deputy Englehart isn’t going to be working with us anymore,” he said.

Glenn’s eyes fell from the plane to the ground in front of him. He shook his head. “Does this have anything to do with what happened out at the Grove last night?”

“It does,” Winston said. He sighed again. “I’ve got a bad feeling, Glenn.”

Glenn looked at him, and then he looked back at the ground. “I wish I could tell you I got a good feeling,” he said. “But I don’t.”

“Well, I’m on call tonight if you need anything,” Winston said. “And tomorrow I’m going to take Englehart’s spot out here on the runway. Hopefully we can get this plane out of here soon.”

While Winston and Glenn stood talking, Agent Rountree wandered over.

“Your pilot seems to know what he’s doing,” Rountree said.

“He’s not my pilot,” Winston said, but Rountree ignored him.

“Said the aircraft is okay to fly. He plans on taking off day after tomorrow and setting her down in Wilmington. There’s a hangar waiting for it. We’ll take it from there.”

“It looks like you’ve already taken it,” Winston said.

“Yep,” Rountree said. “I reckon so.”

“Did you manage to find any prints?” Winston asked.

“We’re on top of things, Sheriff,” Rountree said. “Don’t you worry.”

“Did you hear about that bust outside Myrtle Beach?” Winston asked. “Rollins and I were thinking it might be related. Sheriff down there thinks it might be too.”

“We’re on top of things,” Rountree said again.

Rountree walked past them and climbed into his car. Winston heard the engine start. He turned and watched Rountree back up and drive toward the parking lot.

Glenn broke the silence. “It’ll be nice to have that airplane out of here, Sheriff,” he said. “Regardless of where it goes next or what happens to it.”

“We’ve still got a murder on our hands,” Winston said. “I wish they cared half as much about that as they do about this damned plane or whatever was in it.”

“I know,” Glenn said. “We’ll figure it out.”

Winston didn’t respond. “Where’s Groom at?” he finally said.

Glenn looked over at Winston. “Marie came by here looking for you an hour or so ago. She’d been out picking up more campaign posters.”

“Really?” Winston asked.

“I told her you were at the office. Groom asked her if he could catch a ride back to y’all’s house.” Glenn looked at Winston a moment longer as if trying to predict how he’d respond, and Winston didn’t know quite what to make of it: neither Glenn’s look nor the news he’d just shared.