Read Online Justice Overdue: A Private Investigator Mystery Series by Rayven T. Hill - Free Book Online

“Want some bread with your beans, Varick?”
    “Beans? Canned beans? Is that all you got here? No real food? Don’t you have any meat?”
    “I like beans,” Otis said. “Sometimes I catch a rabbit, maybe the odd fish, or a duck, but I don’t have a fridge here, Varick. How am I supposed to keep stuff fresh in the summer? Winter time I can freeze it, but right now … it’s beans and bread.”
    That was going to change too. Varick had no desire to eat beans every day. Steak. Now that’s food. A moose or a deer would last him a long time. If he was going to stay here awhile he was going to be comfortable. And comfortable meant this small cabin only had room for one. Otis had to go.
    “Haven’t you been able to scrounge up any food from the campers?” Varick asked. “There should be lots of opportunities around here. Just like we used to do years ago.”
    Otis stopped stirring, set the spoon on a small table beside the stove and turned away from the sizzling meal. “I gotta be careful. The game warden has been here a couple of times. I don’t know how he found this place being it’s so far from any roads and trails. He seemed like a decent guy, though. We’re a long way from any campers, but if there are reports of stuff stolen …” Otis paused. “I just don’t want him to report me being here, that’s all. This is government land.”
    “What do you do here in the winter?”
    “Only been here one winter. Mostly I just lay back, take it easy. Maybe do a little hunting, fishing.” Otis laughed. “And a lot of sleeping.” He glanced around the cabin. “I like it here. I have enough wood piled up for the winter and it’ll be nice and toasty in here.”
    Varick thought a moment before asking, “Got any money, Otis?”
    Otis dished out the beans onto plates. “I got a couple thousand stashed away. I don’t buy much. Too hard to lug it back here so it oughta do me awhile.”
    That was good news. Varick’s small stash had dwindled and he would need money if he wanted to make this place his home for a while.
    Otis pointed toward the ceiling where a toboggan rested across the rafters. “In the winter I can bring stuff back here with that, but in the summer, it’s not so easy. Besides, I would run out of money real fast if I bought steak and beer every day.”
    “What about in town?” Varick asked. “Surely there are some houses there you can liberate stuff from?”
    Otis shrugged. “It’s a small town. You can’t be breaking into houses every day. Sometimes I rob their gardens, grab some corn, potatoes, and carrots, from the farmers, but money’s hard to come by. Folks ain’t rich around here.” He set the plates on the table, grabbed a loaf of bread from the cupboard and removed four slices. He dropped two on each plate. “Food’s ready.”
    Varick crawled off the cot and sat at the table. The food wasn’t half bad, likely because Varick was famished. He hadn’t eaten for a while. He wolfed it down in silence. When they finished, he pushed his chair back and stood. “Gimme a smoke.”
    Otis pointed to a cupboard beside the stove. Varick found the cigarettes, lit one and breathed the warm smoke in. It tasted good. They always tasted good after a meal. He’d already chain-smoked the pack he’d bought from the truck stop. Nerves maybe. He didn’t smoke much but he liked one now and then and didn’t want to get in the habit now. Otis’s money wouldn’t last long at that rate.
    Varick waved the cigarette in the air. “You have more?”
    Otis pointed to the cupboard. “A couple more cartons. They need to last me awhile, so take it easy.”
    “No problem,” Varick said, and then turned toward the door. “I’m going outside.”
    “Be right out soon as I wash up.”
    Varick stepped out in the bright moonlit evening, lounged back in the lawn chair, and closed his eyes. The weather was pleasant enough and he hoped it would stay that way awhile. He wasn’t looking forward to the winter,