Chapter 7: A Death Before Sun Set

A Death Before Sun Set

For two days Sara, Angie's friend from Lubbock, had called the number that Angie had left her. The problem was that number belonged to Stan Willus. Until Silvia came along Stan had neither an answering machine or a cell phone nor a reason to have either one. It didn't take Silvia long to get frustrated trying to hunt him down when she needed him and insisted that he catch up with the times. Stan still wasn't used to the - as he called them - electronic leashes. He rarely had the cell phone turned on and rarer still checked the answering machine. Added to this was that when he was staying with Silvia there was no one that needed to get a hold of him — or so he thought. And Stan had been staying at Silvia's since returning from the ranch. After leaving yet another message on Stan's machine, Sara called Jake to voice her concern. "Jake I still can't get anyone at that number." Sara could not hide the worry in her voice.

"I know, Sara," Jake returned, "I called a friend of mine last night. He's a Texas Ranger, he should be in Sanderson right now. And do you want to hear something funny?"

Sara was much too stressed right now for one of Jake's jokes, "No, not really, do I have a choice?"

Jake laughed, "Well, my friend Jack Rimes knows this Scott character that Angie took off after."

"Really! Is he a good guy?" Sara asked.

"According to Jack she couldn't have picked better. In fact he spent almost an hour quizzing me about Angie to find out if she was good enough for Scott." Jake could hear the relief in Sara's voice even through the phone. Sara had been very worried that her friend was getting in over her head with someone she really didn't know.

Stan and Silvia met at seven that morning for their usual breakfast together at the Café. Samantha Miller had once again threatened Stanley with waitress duties if Angie failed to show. The three of them enjoyed joking with each other and speculating on how Scott and Angie's weekend had gone. With Angie coming back today Stan would have to stay at his place tonight so after leaving the Café he had decided to stop by and turn the air conditioning on so the house would be cooled off later when he got home. As he walked through the door he saw the light blinking on the answering machine.

Out in the pick up Silvia sat waiting on Stan to come back out of his house. She was already running late. They had spent over two hours at the Café. The nurse that was watching Silvia's mother would be wondering where they were. After fifteen minutes had passed she turned off the ignition and went into the house. There sat Stan, on the phone with a worried look on his face. He motioned for Silvia to sit down as he listened and wrote down notes on the yellow legal pad. Silvia could see two 806 area code numbers and she knew that meant Lubbock or the surrounding area. She also saw the name J. D. Tatum and beside his name Stan had drawn a skull and crossed bones. If all of that wasn't enough to cause alarm at that very moment Stan wrote the name Jack Rimes down. Jack Rimes, a Texas Ranger, was well known to Scott and Stan. They had gone to college together and every year the three of them went hunting together. So when Stan's voice exclaimed "He's here, right now!" Silvia knew if the Texas Ranger was being called in, something was going on and she knew that something couldn't be good.

Stan hung up the phone looked to Silvia and said, "We have to drop this tape by the Dallas' office." Stan popped the micro cassette tape out of the answering machine walked down the hall and turned the air conditioning on and he and Silvia headed to the Sheriff's office.

At the Terrell County Sheriff's office the morning had been very busy. It had started off like any other lazy day in Terrell County. Jason Adams was leaning back in his chair with his feet propped up on his desk, day dreaming about being a deputy in one of the more populated counties but all that ended when Jack Rimes showed up. Jason was used to seeing the Texas Ranger at the start of hunting season but this wasn't hunting season and the look on his face said something bad was about to happen.

"Where's Dallas?" Jack's booming voice reverberated throughout the Court house.

Jason had been trying to get his feet down and between the look on Jack's face and the urgent tone of voice he used it almost caused him to go over backwards. Jason tried desperately to get his feet on the floor so that he could stand up. He pointed to the Sheriff's office even as Jack was going through the door.

For the next hour and a half there was a flurry of faxes and computer printouts leading to Jason being sent to the Café with a picture of J. D. Tatum. It took Sam only seconds to recognise him and tell when he had first shown up. When Jason called that information in to the office he was then sent to the local Motel to find Tatum. On the other side of town Tatum was pulling into Silvia's driveway.

Breakfast Monday morning was a little subdued. The past two and a half days had been heaven for Scott and Angie. Their first weekend was coming to a close. Angie needed to be at the Café at eleven. They cleaned the summer kitchen together then sat at the table drinking their tea. When it got light enough they would go and feed the livestock then turn them into the house pasture since they wouldn't be coming home till the next night. Yesterday they had discussed the wedding and Angie moving to the ranch. The only problem they hadn't worked out was the ranch at Matador that Angie's Dad had left her. Right now it was in the hands of Sue Bell but with Scott helping her Angie was sure she could revive her father's dream.

Scott and Angie drove back to Sanderson still feeling that honeymoon bliss. They drove in to town a little after nine. After checking in with Sam, Angie and Scott were headed to Silvia's house so Angie could change clothes. As they turned the corner a block from her house, Juan D'Silva flagged Scott down. "Scott, do you know that guy down there at Silvia's in that Ford pickup. He pulled in there about five minutes ago, I tried calling Silvia but she didn't answer."

"Oh No!" Angie's face went white as a ghost.

"Ang, who is it baby?" Scott had an idea who it was. And since Angie seemed to be petrified he decided to act. "Juan, get in there and call the sheriff. Get him here quick, there's trouble." Juan headed into his house at a dead run. Scott reached back and got the binoculars off the back seat of the crew cab pick up. "Angie, look through these and tell me who that is."

"I don't need them. That's J. D. Tatum's truck," Angie's voice was as cold as ice.

Scott dropped the binoculars and pulled the .45 long Colt revolver that was in the driver's side door pocket. Juan came back out of his house with his Winchester lever action rifle. "Scott, the sheriff and a deputy are going to close off the other two streets." Juan checked to make sure there was a round chambered in the rifle. "Oh yea, Scott, Dal said to tell you that Jack Rimes was with him and he'll be here in a second too."

The Sheriff, Deputy, and Texas Ranger all slid to a stop right behind J.D.'s truck, blocking him in. Jack Rimes was the first to spot the man. "Ease out from under the Jeep." Jack's booming voice could make the hair on the back of your neck stand up. Stan and Silvia had been in the Sheriff's office when Juan's call had come in. After hearing where the trouble was they had followed the Sheriff back to Silvia's house.

Angie wanted to go and see. It was all Scott could do to keep her back until Jack signalled it was clear.

Jack was watching the man that had crawled half under the red Jeep Cherokee. He could see the Browning Hi-Power clone in the holster the man had. The way it was on his belt he used the cross draw method and he was left handed. The man under the Jeep was taking his sweet time coming out from under the vehicle. Jack watched as the man's left hand came out from under the car and moved towards the pistol. Jack took the last few steps and jacked a round into the 12 gage, pump shotgun. Since the man still seemed determined to remain horizontal, Jack placed the barrel of the shotgun right on the zipper of the man's blue jeans. "You are fixin' to get castrated asshole."

"Ok! Ok! I'm coming out," the man called out from under the Jeep.

Jack reached down and pulled the pistol out of the holster. When the man got out from under the car he started to get up. "Stay right there, roll over and put your hands behind your back." Jack handcuffed the man, then he and the deputy pulled him to his feet. "What were you doing under there?" Jack asked.

"I ain't saying anything." The man grunted then spit in Jack's face. Jack took out his handkerchief and slowly wiped the spit from his face. He refrained from cold cocking the jerk but this jerk's health and welfare had now become a major concern for Jack, but not in a way that Tatum would find good for him.

The deputy had finished searching the man, "His name is James David Tatum from Matador."

Stan and Silvia had joined the growing crowd of folks wanting to see what all the excitement was about. Angie could be held back no more and went over to see what was going on. Scott holding her hand could feel her trembling. Just as we got to where Jack was standing "Jack!" the sheriff shouted, "He's put something on the brake line. There's some putty looking stuff and a small black box with a blinking light on it." There was a burst of murmurs, exclamations, and threats uttered by the crowd

Tatum had a grin on his face, one that Jack was tired of. Suddenly Tatum's crotch ran into the butt of Jack's shot gun. He fell to the ground puking his guts out. A collective groan came out of the crowd of onlookers, but oddly enough it seems no one had seen anything happen to the man that was now laying on the ground rolling in his own vomit. Angie told Jack what she thought of Tatum and Scott filled in what he suspected Angie's step mother's involvement was.

Jack decided to err on the side of caution and called his boss to ask for an explosives expert. Twenty minutes later Jack got a call informing him that an explosives expert with the Department of Public Safety or DPS was on his way from El Paso and would be there when he got there. Jack hollered at the Sheriff, "Dal, if you'll get all these people out of here I'll take this jackass and lock him up." Looking at Tatum he said,"I sure hope the judge ain't down on the river fishing it might be 4 or 5 days before your hearing." Jack turned and winked at the Sheriff.

Dal nodded his head, "I think he just left."

Scott looked at Jack and asked, "Can Angie go in there and get her some clothes out?"

"Scott, you need to stay away from the jeep but go ahead, just don't touch the Jeep till the bomb guys get here." Jack shook his head realising that the rumours of Scott being in love were not rumours but fact. He then turned to his prisoner, "You are not getting your nasty ass in my truck."

"There's a water hose over there Jack, we can hose him down then put him in my car," the deputy called out.

"Thanks Jason, that's a good idea." Jack dragged the handcuffed Tatum to the middle of Silvia's front yard then picked up the hose. Jason turned on the water; the first blast was hot, the sun having heated up the water left in the hose. But the warm water didn't last and soon the cold well water was being generously sprayed all over Tatum. "Sure seems a shame for them high dollar lizard skin boots to get all wet. Don't you think Jase?" Jack laughed then stuck the hose in the top of each boot filling it to the top with water.

Jason noticed the cell phone on Tatum's belt and said, "Don't get that cell phone wet Jack it will tell us who he's been talking to." Jason watched and laughed as Jack finished filling the boots then pulled the cell phone off and put it in his shirt pocket.

"You small time deputies are real smart ain't you?" Tatum grumbled

Jason smiled at Tatum, "I'm the only small time deputy around here. The man with the water hose, the man whose face you spit in, is a Texas Ranger." The look on Tatum's face brought laughter from the three lawmen. He looked like he was going to throw up again. "Are you going to get sick again?" Jack asked the now dejected Tatum.

Tatum knew he had really screwed up. Small town cops were one thing but if the Rangers were involved he would be very lucky not to end up with a needle in his arm. He thought about the reason he was here, an idea of how to save his own neck was starting to form, he had one chance, one card to play; he hoped it would be enough.