Cleats in Clay Read online

  Bobby filled his mug and then watched as she took out her frustration and worry on the defenseless dough. “Do you get these kinds of grass fires often?”

  She shook her head. “Not often, but they can be bad when we do. ’Specially now. We’ve been in drought conditions for two years. Had a burn ban runnin’ the last six months just to try and prevent any accidents.”

  “Burn ban?”

  “No campfires, burning trash, outdoor welding. Things like that, ya know.” Her hands stopped moving and she turned around to look at Bobby. “I know, it’s not really none’a my business, but what’s goin’ on? I’ve never seen Odis so… concerned about anything before.”

  Bobby leaned back against the counter, not sure how much he should answer. But earlier, Odis had seemed ready to tell her, so maybe he wouldn’t be talking out of turn. He could at least tell her some of it, he decided as he squared his shoulders. “It’s Tuck. We’re both worried about him.” He studied her to try to gauge her reaction. “He was out late at the house last night. Wasn’t supposed to work today, but….”

  Gertie didn’t show any huge reaction as she digested his words. “Were he and—have Odis and Tuck been more than just friends?”

  Bobby nodded.

  “But they had some kinda falling out a few years ago, so now they’re… but I thought you and Odis…?”

  Bobby watched the expressions on her face change as she tried to put it all together. She finally settled on looking perplexed. “What are ya tryin’ ta tell me?”

  Before he could think of an answer, they heard the vestibule door close. Bobby hurried back into the dining room.

  With a furtive glance at the kitchen doorway, Odis handed the cell phone back to Bobby. He looked truly worried now. “Bonehead’s there,” he nearly whispered. “Or at least he was. Nobody knows now.”

  “What do you mean?” Bobby asked quietly as he leaned down.

  “Might as well say it for the whole house,” Gertie said from the kitchen doorway as she dried her hands on a dishrag. “Plant yer butt in that chair.”

  With a chagrined look, Odis sat with the others at the dining table. “The explosion this mornin’—let me back up,” Odis said before taking a deep breath. “Word got to the sheriff’s last night that the Thurson brothers were plannin’ to do some meth cookin’ today. So department decided this mornin’ to make a preemptive move and bust the lab.” Odis looked right at Bobby. “They did call Tuck in on it.” He shook his head. “The sheriffs showed up with some DEA they scrounged up. Then it’s all a clusterfu—I mean, nobody knows, after the explosion and the grass fire started.” Odis shrugged. “Choppers say it looks like over a hundred acres is scorched, ten acres is afire, and it’s still spreading. At least there’s no wind to get it really moving.”

  “Then”—Gertie leaned forward—“cops got there before the explosion?”

  Odis nodded.

  “Who all’s hurt?” she asked.

  “Ambulances took three out to Hutchinson, but Chrystil still don’t know who or how bad they’s hurt. Found one of the brothers dead, the other’s still missing, and there’s more missing, they think, but they’re all too busy dealin’ with the fire to search the wreckage very hard.” He looked at Gertie. “They’re settin’ a fire break to keep it from spreading east. Into town,” he added at the end as he looked at Bobby.

  Gertie sat back and quietly tried to breathe.

  “How many more are missing?” Bobby asked.

  Odis shook his head. “Don’t know. Two of the cell towers burned out, and it’s all a fu—screwed-up mess. They still got the radios, but it’s limiting communications. Chrystil said she hasn’t heard Tuck talkin’ on it, but that don’t really mean nothin’, I guess.”

  Gertie finally found her voice. “What about your house?”

  Odis deflated more. “Fire’s already burned through there. Just hafta wait and dig around the pieces later.”

  “Damnation. I’m sorry, Odie. You and Bobby’s a stayin’ here,” she announced firmly, expecting no argument.

  “Appreciate it,” Bobby said in thanks.

  Gertie shook her head. “Not a second thought.” Then she turned back to Odis. “At least it’s one of the Thursons that’s dead. Them boys have been nothin’ but a heap’a trouble since the day they’s born. They brought it on themselves,” she said with a firm nod.

  “Don’t say a thing like that,” Odis said. “They ain’t exactly had an easy life. Town should’a done more when their pa ran off.”

  “We tried. You might be too young ta recall, but their mama’d have nothin’ to do with help. Too stubborn for any charity. Right up to the day she passed.”

  Bobby couldn’t think of anything to say. He didn’t know any of these people, but he agreed with Odis that nobody deserved that kind of ending. He pondered the news. “Where’s this hospital?”

  “Hutchinson, other side of town from Walmart,” Gertie said.

  Odis looked over at Bobby. Bobby frowned and said, “Think we should go out there? Or call?”

  “No point in goin’ out there unless we knew fer sure… Chrystil said she’d call when she had more news.”

  Bobby sighed heavily. “I just hate waiting around.”

  “I know,” Odis agreed.

  As Gertie got up and returned to the kitchen, Odis and Bobby shared worried gazes.

  Chapter 17

  AFTER a few minutes, Gertie stormed back into the dining room. “Okay, now,” she said, easing into a chair and mustering her strength. “What exactly in the hell’s goin’ on?” She looked right at Odis. “I can get along with the idea of ya bein’ with a man, but yer stringin’ along two men? I could smack you for that kind of disrespect.”

  “It ain’t like that,” Odis defended. “You’ve heard of a ménage à trois?”

  “What?” Gertie leaned back in her chair, stunned. She glanced over at Bobby. “Are you guys bullshittin’ me?”

  Odis chuckled. “Language, Gertie,” he teased.

  “Oh screw you,” she said with a sigh. “Can’t expect me ta be composed when ya throw shit like that at me.”

  Odis squirmed, trying not to laugh. Bobby just shook his head.

  “How—” Gertie struggled to compose herself. “I mean, how’s such a thing even happen?”

  Bobby and Odis traded questioning glances as if they were mentally drawing straws to see who had to answer. Bobby turned to Gertie. “Well, do you want the long or the short answer?”

  Gertie brought her hands up to smooth her hair. “Oh good Lord.” She sighed. “Suppose we start with the short answer.”

  Bobby nodded. “I guess the ball really got started rolling when Tuck picked me up at the airport yesterday. He was jealous of me, jealous of Odis, things got intense, and we kissed. And the funny thing is, I didn’t feel like I was cheating on Odis just because I kissed Tuck. I was only cheating because Odis wasn’t there too.”

  Odis jumped in. “Same with me the other day. We three sat down last night and talked it all out, and the three-way seemed like the best solution.”

  Gertie just shook her head. “I guess—there’s just some things beyond what a sixty-year-old woman can comprehend. So. I’ll leave you boys to do whatever it is ya feel like ya need ta do. But. Don’t none of ya come cryin’ to me if it all falls apart,” she said, staring right at Odis. “And don’t be askin’ me for no advice on it either.” Gertie stood and returned to the kitchen.

  Turning a sharp gaze to Bobby, Odis asked, “How the hell’d that even come up?”

  “While you were on the phone, we were in the kitchen. She knew something was up, and cornered me about it.”

  “Oh.” Odis softened. “I guess I sorta started it by sayin’ things were complicated earlier. At least she took it well.”

  “Really? Sounded to me like she decided not to take it at all.”

  “Nah, that’s just Gertie. For her, that answer means, ‘Leave me alone and let me chew on it awhile. I’ll get back to ya.�
�”

  Bobby chuckled. “Well, you prob’ly know your sister.”

  “She’s fine. She’ll come around. I’m more worried about what John’s gonna say about it all.”

  “He seemed cool with me and didn’t seem too bothered when I told them you and I made out.”

  “What?” Odis sat up straighter. “When was this?”

  “That first night when I had dinner here. He even seemed upset he missed out when you shared your ‘good shit’ with me—his words.”

  “Well, I’ll be damned. John Hasting, a cool dude. Who’d have guessed?”

  “Why’d you say it like that?”

  Odis grinned. “They didn’t tell ya? John’s the pastor of the Lutheran church next door.”

  “Well, I’ll be damned,” Bobby echoed. “If you’d asked me what I thought he did five minutes ago, I’d have said accountant or stockbroker. I’d never have guessed a man of the cloth.”

  “Yep, he is.”

  “Come to think of it, where is John?”

  “On Saturdays he does a thing at the retirement village. I’m sure he’s there. With the fire, he may stay longer, ’cause it’s on the west side of town. I bet the word ‘evacuate’ is floatin’ around over there, if it’s as bad as it seems.”

  As they sat with anxious faces, one loud, sharp bark sounded from outside. “Damn dog.”

  They heard the back door open before the rapid clattering of toenails on tile heralded Heimdalla’s arrival. She ran right up to Bobby and planted her rump down beside him. Bobby reached down and patted her head.

  Odis chuckled. “I’ll get more coffee,” he said as he rose to his feet and grabbed the mugs.

  Stroking Heim’s head, Bobby tried not to think about her house. Odis’s house. His island. He strained to overhear the conversation in the kitchen. He missed the first part of it, but Gertie’s voice clearly said, “If she pees on my carpet, yer payin’ for the steam-cleaners.”

  “Fine,” Odis agreed as he carried the mugs back to the dining room.

  Bobby glanced up when Odis set the mug in front of him. “You said the fire had burned through already?”

  “Damn you. I was tryin’ not to think about it.” Odis fell into the chair next to him. “Yeah, it’s gone,” he said with a whisper. “And all yer clothes and shit was there too.”

  “I’m not worried about that,” Bobby said. “It’s all replaceable.”

  Odis tried to keep his face from scrunching up. “Your box too.” His voice weakened and seemed to flutter. “The algiz box. That prob’ly won’t be….”

  “Shit.” Bobby reached out and took Odis’s hand. “Prob’ly not.” He squeezed Odis’s fingers. “But that’s not something I need. I have all that right here,” he emphasized with another squeeze of Odis’s hand as he looked at the duffel bag on the table, then turned his gaze back to Odis. He looked back down at Heim, though—the pain he saw on Odis’s face was causing a tight lump in his throat.

  “I know,” Odis said as he wobbled his head and tried to pull himself away from the depressing thoughts of loss. “I’m bein’ a pansy.”

  “You have every right…,” Bobby said, letting the thought trail off. He better shut up now, or they’d both end up bawling like fourteen-year-old girls. There’d be time for mourning later. But not right now. Not with—

  The phone rang with an echoing electronic song that jangled throughout the whole house.

  “Odis, grab it,” Gertie yelled from the kitchen.

  He jumped to his feet and rushed to the office. Bobby debated whether to follow, but Heim put her head on top of this thigh, so he reached down and patted her instead.

  Good news, good news, Bobby chanted to himself. Yes, we definitely need some good news now.

  Gertie ran into the dining room, drying her hands as she sat next to Bobby, quietly sharing his vigil. Bobby noticed she still had some kind of pasty herb-looking gunk under her nails.

  After a century of the clock ticking away slow seconds, Odis returned with a tight expression. “It’s not bad news,” he told them as he grabbed his coffee.

  “Well?” Gertie asked impatiently as he took a sip.

  “Josh, Hampton, and one of the DEA agents are the ones at the hospital. Not in bad shape, it doesn’t sound like. Mostly banged up. Fire departments from Hutchinson and Jenkins are on the way out. Jenkins crew are goin’ to the scene ’cause they still have at least three missing.” Odis’s voice got quieter. “Tuck is one of ’em.”

  Bobby frowned. “Do they know if Tuck was at the house?”

  “Yep. He and Hawk was gonna cover the back. Hawk’s missing too.”

  Gertie hissed something under her breath.

  “Were they actually inside the house?” Bobby wondered aloud.

  “Don’t know. They weren’t supposed to be, but if things got FUBAR….” Odis let the thought trail off as he fingered at his coffee mug.

  “I hope Gina’s okay,” Gertie said. “They just had that bad scare a few months ago when they thought Hawk had that heart attack. Lord knows she don’t need another one.”

  “Let’s hope, then,” Odis said.

  “Pray and hope,” Gertie said as she stood up. “I’m….” She hesitated, then just nodded her head. “I’m goin’ back to the kitchen,” she announced as she walked away.

  Odis and Bobby sat at the table, trying not to look at each other. Neither wanted to voice the morose thoughts they struggled to avoid thinking. Bobby glanced up, wanting to say something, when he saw that scrunched look on Odis’s face again. Yet he couldn’t think of anything reassuring. It seemed all words led to dark places best avoided. So he offered a smile he hoped was warm and then gazed back down at Heim as she curled on the floor at his feet.

  Bobby drank his coffee, eyeing the printout still on the table. He read the inscription again but still made no sense of it. With a heavy sigh, he gave up trying to decipher it. Then the aroma of baking perked his nose. The scent of vanilla baking. Cookies, maybe. The thought brought a small smile to his face.

  A few minutes later, Gertie emerged from the kitchen carrying a big plate of chocolate-chip cookies and a french press of fresh coffee like she did for fancy guests. She set the press on a coaster on the dining table. “I know you boys would prob’ly prefer beer or somethin’, but we don’t have any. Beer don’t go with cookies, anyway,” she said with a shrug before returning to the kitchen.

  Bobby grabbed a cookie from the plate, watching it slump as he brought it to his mouth. It was still all warm and gooey. And delicious. He looked over as Odis absently nibbled at one of the cookies. He didn’t smile, but he didn’t look quite so stressed now, either.

  The phone rang again. Odis was out of the dining room before the third note even chimed.

  He returned a few moments later with a gray pallor.

  “What is it?” Bobby asked as he jumped up and rushed to Odis’s side.

  “They found two charred bodies. One’s in jeans, it looks like, so they think it’s the other brother. The other’s in uniform, but it’s so badly burned… they aren’t sure….”

  Bobby grabbed Odis and wrapped him in his arms as Gertie walked briskly from the kitchen. She saw their consoling hug and froze. “No.” Her face turned white as her body slumped. “Dear Lord, no.”

  “Two bodies,” Odis repeated. “Inside the house.” His face went blank. “They weren’t supposed to be inside,” he whispered as he buried his face into Bobby’s chest.

  Gertie turned and dragged herself back into the kitchen. As Bobby tried to shut himself off, to stay strong and not feel anything, the world suddenly got very noisy. He heard Heimdalla breathing. The grandfather clock in the hallway ticked in loud, slow clinks. Water gushed in the kitchen, and the momentary squish of the soap dispenser echoed. A motorcycle growled as it passed by outside.

  Odis clutched tightly at his back, as if he was trying to hold himself up. Bobby pulled him over to a chair and sat him down as Gertie slowly walked through to the office with wet
hands. “I’m making some calls,” she said to no one in particular as she passed by.

  Odis wouldn’t release his grip, so Bobby half squatted and half kneeled on the floor. As Bobby hugged Odis tighter, he sniffled. Bobby moved his mouth by Odis’s ear. “You said they weren’t sure.”

  “If it ain’t Tuck, then it’s Hawk. And if one of ’em was in the house….” Odis loosened his arms and pulled back to stare into Bobby’s face. “Aren’t they supposed to go in pairs?”

  Before Bobby could answer, Gertie inched back into the dining room. She stopped partway in, just staring down at Heim sleeping. “Alice is bringin’ Gina over. Couldn’t reach John. What about the fire?”

  “Fire break’s holdin’ up. It’s moving more or less south now.” Odis sniffled again. “Choppers are dumpin’ water and seem to be slowin’ it down. If the wind don’t pick up, they think it might die out soon.”

  “Well.” Gertie took her gaze off the floor. “Lunch’ll be ready in a minute.” She went back into the kitchen.

  Bobby stroked the back of Odis’s hand. “He’s cautious, right? Follows protocols? I bet he didn’t go in the house,” Bobby said firmly, trying to believe it himself.

  “If… Hawk’d almost be worse. He’s kinda the town hero. Has been since high school. The golden boy quarterback. Firm but compassionate cop. Always there with a smile to pitch in when somethin’ needs done.” Odis brought his hands up to his face and clutched his cheeks. “Shit.” A sudden glaze of guilt enveloped his eyes as Odis dropped his hands and pulled back from Bobby. “While it… we were in the shower,” he said with a cringe.

  “That doesn’t have anything to do with—”

  “Yes,” Odis hissed as he pushed Bobby away. “While we… somebody died.”

  Bobby fell back onto his butt on the floor. “Odis,” he said without trying to get up. He just gazed up. “Odis.”

  “It was so wrong.”

  “How can it be wrong? We didn’t know.”

  Neither man turned when Gertie rushed from the kitchen, carrying a giant glass baking dish with some kind of steamy cheese casserole bubbling inside. She set the dish on more coasters on the dining table. “Lunch is ready,” she announced, suddenly noticing Bobby sitting on the floor. “Macaroni-chicken casserole,” she told the despondent-looking Odis. “Get yerselves up here and eat.”