Chapter 16: Amateur Sleuth

There was still ambient light in the sky when Stacy let herself out of the front door of her house. She was dressed in dark clothes. As she walked to her car she thought her gait was off. As if the 9mm she had tucked into her lower back was pulling her heavily to one side causing a limp. In reality her walk was perfectly normal. It was just her first time leaving the house with her concealed gun.

She slid into the driver’s seat and pulled onto the street slowly. She knew exactly where she was going after spending hours studying a map and all of the streets leading into and around Shady Groves. She drove carefully and deliberately until she arrived at a 7-11 about a half-mile from the mobile home park.

She parked on the side of the building and then went in to buy a Big Gulp. She couldn’t imagine how anyone could drink so much soda, but she felt like the huge cup of soda gave her a prop that helped her fit into the neighborhood zeitgeist.

She left the convenience store and walked down the street at a slow pace. She tried to keep her head facing forward and used only her eyes to scan her environment on the left and right. When she reached the Shade Grove sign she turned in, then the first right, and then the second left. Number Sixteen Elm Tree Way was the third trailer on the left.

Stacy knelt to her knee. She put her drink on the ground and made a show of tying her shoelaces. Jacob’s home was a double-wide. Parts of the mobile home were in great disrepair. The room had shingles flopping aimlessly in the light breeze, while the exterior walls showed large sections of peeling paint. Others parts were modernized and new. The windows showed a decal of a local dealer that installed high quality insulated products. Stuck into the ground was a sign of a well-known company that hosted home security systems. There was the obligatory sign, “This home protection by Smith & Wesson.”

Stacy retrieved her cup and continued to walk past Jacob’s home. She jumped in surprise when the door suddenly opened and two men barged out, letting the door slam closed. The first man out the door was very large. He had a garish scar across his face and his shoulder sloped downward at an odd angle as if it had been broken and never reset correctly. He had numerous tattoos running up and down his arms. The second man out was Jacob. He was medium height with straight floppy brown hair that was full of some kind of oily hair gel. It was parted in the middle and he had a habit of running his hand through his hair to keep it slicked back. His clothes were tattered and his jeans had a large hole in the knee.

Stacy gasped and then uttered, “Well, fuck me. I don’t believe it.”

The men heard her and looked her way.

“Did you say something?” asked the large man.

Stacy briefly stuttered, but was able to say, “No, just stubbed my toe and retying my shoelace. I’m visitin’ my cousin and out for a walk. Walls are too damn thin for when she wants to do the nasty with her boyfriend.”

“Ain’t that the fuckin’ truth. Name’s Jacob,” said the second man. He waved his hand and leered at Stacy as she finished tying her shoe.

“Well, I gotta go. Been gone about an hour. And I know he’s not a stud that can last that long.”

Stacy waved and tried to look causal as she continued on her path. She knew she shouldn’t, but she looked back and saw the large man giving her a long stare. She shuddered when she made eye contact.

“Oh, no. Damn it all. Just walk normally,” thought Stacy. She could not fathom how far Nikki had fallen if this is where she chose to live. Then again, she was with Jacob, who knew that large man. What was her game? Sure, she probably figured it would be hard to get back into society after a stint in prison, but this seemed too far below her station to be acceptable without some kind of ulterior motive.

Stacy turned and was less than a hundred yards from the entrance to Shady Grove when a new 4x4 dually screeched to a stop in front her path. The exhaust was already loud, and it was made worse by the driver’s incessant revving of the engine.

“Doesn’t seem like you are going to your cousin’s house. Can a I give you a ride?” The large man had rolled down the passenger window and stared menacingly at Stacy. His one eyebrow was crooked and seemed to run parallel to his bum shoulder.

Suddenly another car stopped next to Stacy. A man jumped out and leaned over the roof of his car as he yelled, “Where the fuck did you run off to? We’ve been worried sick about you.”

Stacy almost fainted. The man that was yelling at her was Walt. She just stared in disbelief without moving.

He yelled again, “Are you deaf? Get in the car.”

Stacy’s mind finally engaged and she trudged to the passenger door. Walt glared at the man, who made no effort to show his displeasure at being interrupted. When Stacy got in Walt’s car, the man flipped them both off, then squealed his four rear tires as he swerved around the front of Walt’s car.

Walt got into the car and slowly pulled out of Shady Groves in the direction of the 7-11.

“You OK?” he asked.

Stacy turned her head to speak but could not find the words. She was shaking violently. Walt turned on his blinker and entered the parking lot, then parked his car next to Stacy’s car. He gave her a moment to calm herself.

“Can you drive?” he asked.

Stacy finally found her voice but could not utter a sentence. “How ... what, I mean ... why...”

Walt interrupted her by saying, “If you are OK to drive, let’s get the hell out of this neighborhood. I’ll answer all of your questions when we get you safely home.”

Stacy nodded. She got of his car and into her car. Without conscious thought she started the engine and started driving. Walt followed closely behind. When they got to her house she parked in the driveway as usual. Walt pulled down a bit further on the street to park to avoid being seen by his sister, then walked back to her house. He caught up with her as the garage door opened.

Stacy walked through the furniture and boxes. Walt followed without commenting. Inside the kitchen Stacy quickly turned to face Walt and yelled, “What the fuck were you doing there?”

Walt calmly asked, “Do you have your gun on you?”

Stacy shook her head in confusion.

“Your gun?” asked Walt again.

She nodded and reached for her lower back. Walt approached her and took it from her hand as she pulled it from her waistband. He expertly released the clip and the racked the slide to remove the shell from the chamber. He caught it on the fly and inserted it back into the clip, then put the gun and clip on the counter top.