Retribution Road, Jon Coon [top business books of all time .txt] 📗

story of the drug bust was on the national news. Carol quickly dialed Gabe at the RV and told him to watch. The three-minute report showed the boats going airborne, the crews being arrested, and then the mountain of cocaine bricks. It ended with an interview of Captain Tom Bright, who discussed the recent drug fatalities and finished with a strong warning against using the hard-hitting coke.

Carol called her father back and answered his questions about Paul. Her dad offered to fly over from Texas, but Carol suggested he wait until there was news. She was still on the phone when, a few moments later, Gabe knocked on the porch door. Emily answered. His two stout black labs, Smith and Wesson, dropped on the southwestern-patterned area rug in front of the river-stone fireplace, having been told many times the new couch was off limits. Gabe, however, was allowed to sit on the couch, and did so.

Emily pounced down beside him. “Wasn’t that cool? Grandpa on TV. I remember when you were on after the bridge fell in, but you didn’t say much. He got to say a lot.”

“He’s a pretty cool guy. That’s for sure.”

“I talked to him last week. He said we can come and pick out horses before school starts. I can’t wait. He’s going to bring them home for us. How cool is that?”

“Now that the barn is done, that’s perfect.” He smiled almost as much as she did.

Carol came around the bar from the kitchen. “That was my dad on the phone. Have you heard anything?”

“About what?” Emily asked.

“Your brother has moved, and we don’t know where he’s gone,” Carol answered. “Don’t worry. It may be nothing. But we need to find him.”

Emily frowned. “Well, have you heard anything, Gabe? Is he in trouble or is this just another one of his stupid stunts?”

“Like your mom said, it may be nothing, but we’re concerned, and hopefully we’ll hear from him soon.”

Carol nodded her thanks to Gabe and blotted a tear Emily didn’t see before saying, “I made an apple pie today. I had to do something. I was going to save it for tonight, but it looks awfully good. Anyone interested in pie for breakfast?”

“Ice cream?” Emily asked.

“Never. We never have ice cream in this house, you know that.” Carol laughed. They always had ice cream.

“Oh, Mom.”

“Come help me serve. Ask Gabe if he wants coffee.”

“That would be nice, thanks.”

The conversation continued until the pie and ice cream were gone, and Carol said, “Okay, Gabe and I need some adult time, Emily, and your room needs the clothes picked up and the carpet vacuumed. Scram.” With mild protest, Em hugged Gabe, then pranced off to her room, affectionately known as “the princess suite.”

Carol invited Gabe out onto the large front porch. She looked back to make certain Emily was out of earshot, then closed the door and curled up next to him on the nicely padded loveseat swing. She wrapped her arms around her knees. “Have you really not heard anything?” she asked quietly. She looked at him expectantly.

“Nothing. We went to the house. They cleared most everything out in a hurry, but there were drug traces in the carpet and bedroom. The place still reeked of pot.”

“I never should have . . .”

“That wasn’t really our call, as you might remember. You didn’t throw him out. He bailed.”

“What about the dead girl?”

“Not his girlfriend. The girlfriend has several tats. None on this one. She still hasn’t been identified, but soon. Immersion distorts everything, but her teeth are good. Dental will ID her in time. We got the autopsy today. She OD’d on wicked-strong coke. Heart failure and brain damage. Dead before the truck went into the water. Hard to tell how long she was submerged.”

“Coke doesn’t usually kill. What happened?”

“This stuff does. Customers want a bigger bang, like the new pot with ten times the THC. This stuff has got the bang and there’s a lot of demand. Until it gives you a heart attack or a stroke or both. They might as well be selling rat poison.”

“I hope Paul’s all right.”

“I’ve got to be honest. It doesn’t look good.”

She took his hand. “I know you have to do your job, but . . .”

“The job is to find out what really happened. Let’s just pray Paul wasn’t involved.”

She nodded, then asked, “What’s next?”

“The lab guys are trying to chemically map the drugs. When they’re done, I want to talk to your dad, see if there are similarities.”

“What about finding Paul?”

“With a couple days’ head start, they could be anywhere. If they were dealing, we have to assume they’ve got money. If he had anything to do with that girl’s death, he’ll be laying low, so it’s going to be hard. But we’ll find him.”

“You’re the best. I know that.” She squeezed his hand and then released it. “Have you heard from Alethea?”

“Not in the past couple weeks. She’s on book tour and it’s going pretty well. I think Cas is with her. That trip to the hospital slowed her down, but she says she’s doing better. The new house is coming along. I stopped to check on it this afternoon. The storm did a lot of damage to her property. It’s going to take some work to clear the downed trees and make it livable again.”

“Do you really think she offered to trade her own life to save Emily? That’s so unbelievable.”

“I don’t think we’ll ever know, but it wouldn’t surprise me. That’s just who she is.”

“I wonder.”

“What?”

“Who she really is.”

“Well, she’s the person who saved me after Katrina. Without her I’d have ended up in a padded cell. And I guess she’s one of the two folks I completely trust. You are the other, and sometimes I’m not so sure about you.” He laughed. She hit him in the ribs with her elbow.

“Let’s pray that she’s with us for a lot longer because, well, life is just better with her in it.”

“But that