The Devil's Water: Scenic City Murder Series #1 (18 page)

Tasha wheeled and gazed at the young man standing before her. She thought he looked familiar but she couldn’t quite figure out why. Suddenly, it hit her like a lightning bolt. “Hey, didn’t I pull a gun on you one time?” she asked.

“Yes, ma’am. You sure did. You may have forgotten my name.”  He held out his right hand. “I’m Ray.”

Tasha shook hands with him, continuing to stare at his features. Ray looked a little different than he did that morning several months ago. For one thing, now he wasn’t scared shitless. Still, Tasha noted that the blonde peach fuzz on his chin hadn’t changed any. He looked like he could still be in high school. Tasha cringed at the thought. She must’ve been too drunk to notice or care the night she took him home. As she stood there, Tasha made an early New Year’s resolution. Men under thirty were, from thence forward, off limits.

“Like I was saying, you have an eclectic taste in music.” Ray repeated. He brought the glass of beer that he’d been holding up to his lips and took a gulp.

“Yeah, and you’re almost too young to be using words like ‘eclectic’”

“Hey, I just graduated college. Picked up my degree several days ago and am still partying. I know more than you might think.” He said smiling. “Let me buy you a drink.”

“Ray, I actually
teach
college kids your age and older. You’re too young for me.”

“Well once upon a time, I wasn’t.”

“Once upon a time only happens in fairy tales and life isn’t a fairy tale, Ray. I’m grateful I got to know you. You’re a nice kid. If you want to join me at the bar and talk, I’m fine with that. Let’s just keep it ‘no strings’.”

“Hey, that’s cool. No problem.”

Ray followed Tasha back to the bar just as Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance” began blaring through the speakers. “You like this song?” Tasha asked him.

“Well, I did when it came out. It’s sort of old now.”

“Like, how old?”

“I dunno. Several years. I mean, it’s almost a classic.”

Tasha took a seat on her barstool and motioned her hand for him to sit down. “See, this is why we couldn’t be an item, Ray. You and I are from totally different generations. Once you have the perspective of years, things won’t seem to be so old. I’m pushing forty and could almost be your mother.”

“Yeah, but I don’t want to have sex with my mother.” Ray said smiling.

“Oh bless your heart.” Tasha answered, taking his hand and holding it in her own. She looked at the young man sitting across from her and tried her best to not be patronizing. “Do you have a girlfriend, Ray?”

“I have a girl I see from time to time. We’re not really serious.”

“Could it get serious?”

“Probably. I really like her a lot.”

“Well, you ought to give it a shot. You never know. She could be just the one you need.”

Tasha turned toward the bar again and saw that Seamus Malone was standing at the other end blowing smoke rings with the chubby brown cigar he was still working on. “Hey, can I get a gin and tonic down here?” She asked.

Seamus cupped his hand to his ear, letting her know that he hadn’t heard her over the bass thumping of Lady Gaga.

“Gin and tonic!”

She faced Ray and smiled. It had been a long time since she had felt so sorry for someone. Yeah, he’d gotten his degree. Yeah, maybe he actually was smart. She’d been smart a long time ago, full of the energy of youth. Things could go terribly wrong in the blink of an eye.

“Thanks.” She said as Seamus Malone brought her the drink.

“Hey, you wanna shoot some pool?” Ray asked as “Your Song” began playing. Tasha hadn’t shot pool in years and kept her ramblings restricted to the bar and bathroom areas. She meant to say no but “Yes” came out of her mouth. She grabbed her gin and tonic and dodged the crowd as she walked with Ray back to a pool table. Several people were standing around. “Hey, I’m a bit rusty.” She said, hoping that Ray wasn’t expecting much.

“That’s OK.” He said, smiling back at her. “I’m just good for breaks, banks and angles. I don’t leave myself shit, ya know? I have been told that I make low percentage shots. I can’t set up for the next one though.”

Tasha grabbed a cue off the wall and chalked it up. “You wanna flip for the break?” she asked.

“Sure thing.” He said as he pulled a quarter out of his pocket. “Decide.”

“Tails.” Tasha called as she watched the quarter spin in the air. Ray caught the coin and laid it on his other hand. “Tails it is.”

Ray racked the balls and Tasha tried to remember everything she’d ever been taught about pool.
Hit ‘em dead on and even. Drive the stick into the cue ball
she thought as she pushed the wooden pool cue and slapped the cue ball into the neatly and tightly placed bundle of balls.  They separated uniformly and two balls, a striped and a solid, landed in opposite corner pockets.

“Damn, girl! You aren’t too rusty!” Ray yelled out from his barstool with a mouth full of pretzels.

“Nah, I’m just lucky.” She said as she rubbed chalk on her cue and surveyed her possibilities. She could tell right away that she was going to have more options if she chose the solid balls. She bent over and lined up her shot. Taking aim, she struck the cue ball on the bottom left, driving the yellow 1 ball into the side pocket. The cue ball drew all the way back to the other side of the table with the English she had applied. Tasha had left herself perfectly set up for her next shot.

“Are you sharkin’ me?” Ray asked laughing.

“Well Ray, I’ll fess up. My dad played a lot of pool and we used to have a pool table. I was raised playing.” She said as she made her next shot dead center into the leather pocket. Once again, she’d left herself with a perfect corner shot on the 6 ball. She drained it and proceeded to make all the rest of her shots as well.

“Damn! You ran the table!” Ray exclaimed. “You want to go again?”

Tasha looked at her watch. It was getting late. “Maybe next time.” She said, smiling at the young man. “I really need to get home.”

“No problem. Hey, I’ll walk you out to your car.”

Tasha and Ray put their pool cues on the wall and walked back up to the bar. Seamus Malone was still chewing on his stogie and talking to one of his customers. When he finished, he ambled over to where Tasha and Ray were standing. “What’ll it be, Tasha?” he asked.

“It’ll be the check. I’m hittin’ the road.”

The fat Irishman feigned a look of surprise. “You? I figured you’d close the place down.”

“Not tonight Seamus but surely some other time.” She said smiling.

She watched as Seamus walked over to the cash register and retrieved the bill sitting beside it. “Cheap night, tonight.” He said handing it to her.

Tasha surveyed the ticket and gave Malone some money.

“You have a good night, honey. Be safe driving home.”

The night air was cold, making Tasha wish she’d worn a coat. Ray walked beside her as she made her way to the car. “So I’ll see you around, I guess.” He said as she reached in her purse to retrieve her keys.

 “Sure. Now that I’m on Christmas break, I should be here most nights.”

She unlocked her car door and lifted the handle. Glancing back up at Ray, she thought, once again, how young he looked. “Listen, you take care.” She said as she reached up and put her hand on his cheek.

“Sure thing. Hey, can I have a hug?”

“Of course.”

Ray reached for Tasha and embraced her. Tasha noted that there wasn’t anything lascivious about it. She believed the kid genuinely liked her and that he really just wanted a hug.

“Bye, Ray. I’ll see you later.”

“Hey, I’ll be practicing my billiards and next time I’ll be ready for you.” He said.

Laughing, Tasha got in her vehicle and shut the door. Moments later, Ray watched as her car moved across the parking lot toward the exit. As she pulled out onto the highway, Ray turned and headed back toward Malone’s. He had no clue that he, along with everyone else that Tasha knew, were in terrible danger.

CHAPTER 35

It was 8:37 the next morning and, for once, Tasha Yoder wasn’t in the throes of a hangover. She’d gotten out of bed, made herself some breakfast and started working on her filthy domicile. She was mostly through the bathrooms. She had a good start on the bedrooms and kitchen when the phone rang. Tasha wanted to curse the gods since she had been so busy being a ‘good girl’. Instead, she walked over to the portable and picked it up.

“Hello, Tasha?” The voice said on the other end of the line.

“Yes” Tasha answered. The caller sounded familiar but she couldn’t quite place him.

“Good morning! This is David Campbell. I wondered if you had a minute to talk.”

“Oh, sure David. What’s up?” Tasha felt her pulse speeding up.

“Well, I was just wondering if maybe we could meet for a cup of coffee some time. You know, talk about the case or whatever.”

“Uh..well, yeah. I guess that would work.” Tasha said. Her heart was beating very fast and she was trying to control her breathing.

“Well, how about tomorrow? We could meet at Moe’s. You know where that is?”

“Oh yeah. I haven’t been there in a long time though.” She said.

“How about 10:30? Sound good?” he asked.

“10:30 it is.” She signed off the phone and wondered why the hell David Campbell was basically asking her for a date. She had to wait a full two minutes until her pulse slowed down.
My God. One of the cutest guys in Chattanooga was asking her out.
But why? She had to call Clutch and let him in on the news. She picked up the portable and dialed his number.

“Hello?”

“Clutch, this is Tasha. David Campbell just asked me on a date.”

“Well, that’s great news Tasha!” Clutch responded.

“Yeah, just out of the fucking blue. I’m glad I wasn’t drunk this morning.”

“Well, things work out for the best usually.”

Tasha noticed that Clutch’s voice seemed a bit too prepared. Like, maybe this wasn’t the first he knew about it.

“I think it would be wonderful if you two kids got together.” He said.

“Clutch?”

“Yeah, hon.”

“Did you know about this?”

“Well… Not exactly. I didn’t know he would call you.”

“Goddammit, Clutch! I told you I didn’t want a commitment. You knew I didn’t want you to meddle in this.”

“I’m sorry, Tasha. I just thought that it was clear the two of you were interested in each other and I wanted it to stand a chance.”

Tasha said nothing and there was silence on the phone line for almost a minute. Suddenly, she heard a bark in the background. “What the hell is that?” she asked him.

“That’s my new friend. His name is Lord. I didn’t name him. He came with the moniker from the shelter.”

“You got a dog?”

“Yeah. I figured I needed one with all the shit that’s been going on.”

“What kind of dog is he?”

“Well, mostly a shelter mutt but he has some Mastiff in him. I’m not sure what else. He’s gorgeous.”

“How is Happy dealing with Lord?” Tasha said, cutting straight to the point.

“Well… not that great but he always has room to improve.”

“Yeah, what’s that mean?”

“Well, Happy hisses at Lord when he is around him. I really didn’t think that much about it. I figured they would warm to one another as time went on.”

“And?”

“Well, Happy left a gift in the middle of the kitchen, not twelve feet from his litter pan, yesterday morning. He has never done that.”

“Sending you a message, huh?” Tasha asked.

“I guess so. I hope they’ll grow accustomed to each other.” Clutch replied.

“By the way, not to change the subject but… why in the fuck do you feel like my sex life is your business?”

“I don’t, honey.” Clutch answered tenderly. “The only thing I want is your happiness. I think David might be able to help you find a happier life. That’s all. I’m sorry if I overstepped my bounds. Forgive?”

“Well…OK. Just assure me you aren’t gonna pull some shit like that again. I gotta meet him for coffee tomorrow morning. We’ll see where it goes.”

“Alright. I’ll mind my own business from here on out. Just promise me you’ll tell me how things fared.”

“You’re really pushing it.” Tasha said, more than a little irritated.

There was another long pause on the phone line as both parties had come to a stalemate.

“Just have fun.” Clutch finally told her.

“Just stay out of my love life. I’ll let you know something tomorrow night. Ciao.” Tasha said as she hung up the phone.

CHAPTER 36

Moe’s coffee shop was one of the last of its kind. An independent coffee house, it had been around since 1968 but was getting crowded out by other major coffee chains like Starbucks. It served any kind of brew you might want from all around the globe. It was located in the heart of downtown Chattanooga and the baristas who worked there were just glad to have a job slinging mugs of java. They had full benefits and the promise of Moe Jorrel, the owner, that they would be around as long as he. Moe happened to be there the morning that Tasha Yoder entered his establishment.

“Hey Moe!” She called to him as she came in and found a table.

“Hey, do I know you?” the small Italian man asked, his brown eyes flashing and a grin on his face. Moe was playing with her and he had a wicked sense of humor. Moe’s mother had been of Italian descent and Moe’s father had been part Gypsy.

“Been a long time, Moe.” Tasha said. “I haven’t been in here in ages. I’ll take a House Blend with a gingerbread cream. No sugar. It’ll make me think of Christmas.”

“Christmas is on its’ way, darlin’. How long do you not have to answer to anybody?”

“We go back to school on the fifth of January, Moe. I ain’t accountable to anybody ‘til then.”

“Well, party hearty girl. Happy New Year and Christmas to ya.”

“Thanks, Moe.”

Tasha sat at her table sipping on coffee and watching the action outside. She hadn’t seen any sign of David but she figured he’d show up eventually. She blew the steam coming off her drink down in her cup and tried not to sneeze as the vapor entered her nasal passage. She noted that her cup of joe smelled like the holidays personified. She tried to not get too down on herself. My God. She was an ex-FBI. A federal agent. She had recommendations and ribbons and certifications. She had a storied career cut short by alcohol. That was her only sin. Alcohol. The Devil’s Water. Now she had no one to celebrate the holidays with and the solitude made her a little sad. Tasha switched her view from Moe’s parking lot to the front door hoping to get her mind on something else. Just then, a man with a smooth blonde coif entered the coffee shop. His pencil thin mustache and neatly combed hair made him look like the cover of GQ magazine. My God, he was good looking. He strolled to the counter and ordered something from Moe. In less than a minute, he turned back toward the tables and scanned the room. He was holding a Styrofoam cup in his hand that had steam rising from it. Suddenly, it hit Tasha that David Campbell had put a rinse on his hair. It looked fabulous.