Chapter 103

I was still standing by the phone when I thought of the papers I took from Ronny Davis’ wallet. I pulled them out of my hip pocked and unfolded them.

This is a copy of the very same list I found on the island. I flipped back and forth, to see the names marked off.

I turned back to scan the Ds to see if Ronny Davis was listed. He wasn’t, but Ronald Davis was listed. I started pulling drawers out on the kitchen cabinet, and the third drawer I opened, had a phone book for Stewart and Collins Counties.

Ronald Davis was listed in the Stewart directory – 2105 River Cove Road.

I called the courthouse in Collinsville.

“Sheriff’s Office.”

I wasn’t sure who she was, and I couldn’t place her for shit.

“Hey, this is Josey. Is Sheriff Glass in her office?”

“Hey, Josey. I’m Gina and and I’m new here. Just a second and I’ll get her on the phone.”

“Thanks Gina. I knew I didn’t recognize your voice.”

“Come see me, sometime, Josey ... Here’s Sheriff Glass.“

“Josey, what have you been up to lately? Don’t you love me anymore?”

“Hey, Mona. You know I’ll always love you. I’ve just been busy.”

“I love it when you call, you always make me feel good. Now, tell me what’s up. I know by now, you never call unless you’ve got something happening big-time.”

“Mona, I’m at the Old Glendale Farm, and we have serious problems again.”

“JOSEY?”

“Rondo was over here checking the place out. We haven’t had a chance to come back since the day I filed the papers at the Stewart County Courthouse. He saw three men entering the house, and they had keys to the locks. I had just gotten back from my trip to Iowa when he called me at the office. I headed this way as soon as I hung up. When I arrived, we decided to call them out. He was at the back of the house and I went around to the front. I rapped on the front porch with my gun and one of them came to the door. He was talking with the others in the house and they finally came out to look around. When they were out on the walkway, I yelled for them to drop their guns.

“They started shooting at me as they ran back toward the steps. I shot one in his upper leg, then hit one in his chest. The third one made it to the top of the steps, then turned to shoot at me again. I killed him and Rondo came around the house just as the one with the bullet wound in his thigh rolled over to point his gun at me. Rondo put his gun to the man’s head and told him to drop it.

“He dropped his gun and we cuffed him to the iron rail at the front steps and went in to call the operator. She connected me to the Sheriff’s Office and they sent the deputies right out.”

“I suppose you met the Acting Sheriff, Brad Hampton?”

“Yes, and we had some words. But, listen to this - it was his step-son who I shot in the upper leg. Before they arrived, I pulled his wallet and found three sheets of paper folded and tucked into a photo slot. I just now pulled them out, and you can probably guess what those three sheets of paper are?”

“Josey, have the Stewart County Deputies left already?”

“There was one out front with the coroner, the last time I looked out.”

“What happened to make you blow-up at Brad Hampton?”

“I didn’t say I blew-up at him. He got smart with me as soon as he arrived and saw his step-son handcuffed, lying on the ground, bleeding. He told me I didn’t have any authority in Stewart County and there may be an investigation about me killing the two men and wounding his step-son. I’d just about taken all his crap I was going to, and I told him that I own the damn farm and we found some trespassers. When we called them out, they came out with guns.”

“Did that cool him off? He’s a snarky bastard and I hope they don’t appoint him Interim Sheriff.”

“He cooled off really quick when I threatened to call you. He even asked me not to call ... almost like he was begging.”

“Tell me whose name you found on the list. I know you’ve found one, you always save the best for last, no matter if we’re in bed or on the phone.”

“I’d love to be there with you now, but I have a date with a certain Stewart County Sheriff’s Department Employee - Elizabeth Evans at 5:00.”

“Do you really? Have you dated her before?”

“Only once. We went to the Country Club and ate, then we went over to stay a few hours at a room I have leased in Stewart.”

“You have a room leased there? Is their a back door?”

“That’s the first thing she asked, too. Yes, there’s a back door. I rent it from Gloria Medlin, the woman who manages Dixie Furniture in Stewart.”

“I don’t know her, but I’d love to know where that room is.”

“Would you really? Who would you like for me to invite over while we’re there?”

“I met a friend of yours not long ago when I had to stop by the bank there in Stewart. I knew her Mom, and we had her uncle arrested in this Drug Cartel mess. She and I really had a good conversation and she asked me to come back sometime and have lunch with her.”

“OH WOW – MONA! You know Phoebe – huh?”

“I sure do and we had a really interesting talk about our mutual friend, Josey Ruiz, too.”

“And?”

“She brought it up, and I jumped in head first. She told me she’s staying with Stella and Kellie Montague out at their farmhouse, but she would love for us three to get together somewhere secluded and quiet, so we could talk.”

“Talk?”

“That’s what I asked her – and she said – talk you out of your clothes. Damn, Josey, she’s hot for your ass and I can’t blame her - or you. That girl is a knock-out.”

“Call her and tell her, you know of a place that’s really quiet and private there in Stewart - and we’ll get together one night.”

“Now that we have the dirty-deeds set up with you, me, and Phoebe - tell me the rest of your story about Ronny Davis.”

“I looked on this list for his name. I doubted I’d find his name, and sure enough, his wasn’t listed. BUT - do you know of a Ronald Davis there in Stewart who lives at 2105 River Cove Road?”

“The name doesn’t ring a bell, but if you’ll hold on just a sec, I’ll get Shirl to call it in to the State Police and we’ll run a check on him.”

“Sure ... if you want to, connect me with Gina and I’ll flirt with her until you come back.”

“When you meet her, you’ll want to -connect- with her for sure. You just stay on the line and I’ll be right back as soon as I have Shirl working on this.”

“Tell her I said HI.”

I wasn’t sure if she even heard that last part - until she came back.

“I told Shirl you said HI – she said Hi back - and come see her. She’s going to bring the report to me as soon as they run his name through the court records.”

“Will that take very long?”

“No, it’s fairly quick now, since we have teletype machines, compared to the past when it took days, and then the bundles of files had to be sent by mail, or courier...

“So, tell me - what do you intend to find out from Elizabeth.”

“She dated Ronny Davis in high school but they broke up about the time they graduated, after he tried to make her take her bra and panties off one night. She said he got really ugly with her.”

“Just thinking back over what you’ve told me so far about today, it sounds as if he and his friends were looking for something, and either didn’t know what it was - or where it was. Did you get that impression?”

“That’s exactly what I thought. They had keys to the place - even the shop, because it was unlocked when Rondo got there, the same as the front and back doors of the house.”

“Was there anything missing from the shop? Or could you tell?”

“That long metal Quonset Hut shop is crammed full of restored, antique tractors and farm implements. Plus, I bought two diesel, fifth-wheel trucks through my Chevy Dealership Ashton, with two thirty-four foot, lowboy trailers for hauling bagged seed to the field. We have one of the trucks loaded with bagged cottonseed and tarped down inside that shop, just waiting to start planting cotton as soon as it dries up after this rain.”

“So, they looked inside your shop building, but didn’t take anything?”

“So far, we haven’t found anything missing. But - we had only been in that shop once until today, and that was the day Rondo and I went to look the place over after I filed the papers.”

“That was the day you caught Brent Jones sucking and fucking his sister-in-law, right?“

“Yes. I’m sure that story has made the circuit with all the County Sheriffs in Mississippi by now.”

“I’m sure it has. You’ll have to tell me all the juicy details when we meet with Phoebe.”

“I’ll do that, and you’ll laugh like hell, too.”

“Here’s Shirl. Hold on while I look this over. She’s pointing to some pages she has marked.”

“Pages?”

“Yes, pages. It looks to be at least forty to fifty pages ... Shirl just told me there’s forty-two pages.”

As I stood waiting while she put me on hold, I heard the unmistakable sound of the GMC diesel gearing-down as it neared the shop. I stretched the long curly, phone cord as far as I could, and looked out the kitchen window. I saw Chuck step down out of the truck behind the shop, just as I saw Rondo drive the other truck out the front door and stop.

They met behind that truck when Rondo walked back toward the shop. I saw him pointing to the place about mid-way of the trailer where the men had cut the tiedown rope.

“Josey?”

“I’m here. What have you found?”

“We have a hell of a mess on our hands. I’ve already called the State Police and the FBI. Both agencies have men on the way. From what we received on this report, not only is Ronald Davis involved in the laundering of drug money, so is the Acting Sheriff of Stewart County, Brad Hampton.”

“Damn! This really is a mess. Makes me wonder now, if any more of his deputies are involved.”

“Good point. I’ll make sure they check that out too.

“I’m sure there will be investigators from both agencies contact you. They may even ask you to stay away from that house until they have checked it out top to bottom.”

“Mona, I don’t know the law as well as you do, but that farm belongs to me. I should be able to go anywhere on the place, including the farmhouse, any time I want to, or have to.”

“I’m sure you’re right, to a certain extent. But, your farmhouse is the scene of a killing and it looks like it may be involved some way, in the drug dealings. Have you found out who farmed the land last year?”

“No, I have not. But I’ll drive into Stewart and check with the ASCS offices and ask them. I’d just about bet you, that whoever it was, is a part of that drug operation, some way - some how.”

“I’m sure you’re right. Call me and let me know who farmed the land, as soon as you find out.”

“Will Do. Love you Sheriff.”