Read Online Savage Run by C. J. Box - Free Book Online
Authors: C. J. Box
Tags: Fiction, Literary, General, Mystery & Detective, Mystery Fiction, Conspiracies, Wyoming, Environmentalists, Pickett; Joe (Fictitious character), Game wardens, Explosions
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Britney Earthshare glanced at Joe from her place at the table and then looked quickly away She was already bored with him, he surmised.
"You may not do charred flesh," Joe said, "but do you know the guy who's fishing upstream?" "Tonk?" Raga asked. "Is he with you?"
Raga nodded yes. "Is he doing something wrong?"
"Probably not. I need to check his license, though."
Raga crossed his arms and Britney at the table, rolled her eyes.
"A driver's license?" Raga asked.
"Fishing license."
Raga said "Hmmm."
As he did, Tonk walked into the camp from the stream, pushing his way through the brush. He was talking as he entered, and had obviously not yet seen Joe.
".. . Fucking fast water threw my lures all over the place," he was saying. "Lost two good Mepps and a Rooster Tail and now I got--" Tonk saw Joe and froze in mid-sentence. Joe finished for him: "Now you've got a treble hook in your arm."
Tonk held his arm out and winced painfully and almost comically like a child will do when an adult points out an injury the child has forgotten. The No. 12 Mepps spinner had bitten deeply into Tonk's sinewy flesh. All four sets of eyes moved to it.
"It got hung up in a bush and when I pulled it back--look what happened. It came flying straight back at me," Tonk said, looking a little sheepish. "It hurts."
Joe advised Tonk to drive into Saddlestring and get the lure removed at the clinic. "If Doc Johnson isn't in you can get it taken out at the veterinary clinic." Joe explained. "The vet removes fish hooks from fishermen and their dogs all the time, and it'll cost you about half of what Doc Johnson charges."
Tonk nodded dully He was fascinated by the lure embedded in his flesh. Britney and Raga seemed to be fascinated with it as well.
Sharply Britney turned. "You said you were the game warden, right?"
Joe nodded. "I read somewhere that there was a game warden present when the exploding cow was discovered a week ago," she said. "And that the place where the explosion happened is close to here."
Raga was suddenly more interested in Joe than in Tonk's mishap.
"That was me," Joe said. "I was one of the first on the scene."
The campsite seemed to have quieted, and Joe was being examined by all three campers with a different level of intensity than just a moment before.
"That's why we're here." Raga declared. "To find the place where they claim Stewie was murdered."
It took Joe a moment to respond. "Who says he was murdered?"
Raga displayed a self-satisfied smirk. He shook his head as if to say I'll never tell you.
"Did you find his body?" Tonk asked, forgetting his own injury for a moment.
"All we found were his shoes," Joe said. "There wasn't a body to find."
"I fucking knew it," Tonk said, stepping forward to stand abreast of Raga. He spoke with the loopy intensity patented by generations of the drugged and dispossessed: "I fucking knew it, Raga!"
Joe stared back at Britney, who was performing surgery on him with her eyes.
"You found her body but you didn't find his, right?" she asked.
"The state investigator's report concluded that he had an accident with explosives," Joe said. "The sheriff agreed with that. Accident, not suicide. And definitely not murder."
Raga laughed derisively "Yeah, like President Kennedy's little 'accident."" Tonk agreed by nodding his head vigorously
"Stewie Woods is not dead," Britney Earthshare stated. Joe felt a chill crawl up his spine. Then: "Stewie will never be dead. They can't kill a man like Stew ie. "
Oh, Joe thought. That's what she meant.
"Just like they couldn't kill Kurt Cobain, or Martin Luther King, man," Tonk chimed in.
"I understand," Joe mumbled, not understanding. These three campers were not much younger than he was, but were so entirely different.
They asked for directions to the crater. Joe saw no reason not to give them. He pointed back toward the Hazelton Road, told them it
Britney Earthshare glanced at Joe from her place at the table and then looked quickly away She was already bored with him, he surmised.
"You may not do charred flesh," Joe said, "but do you know the guy who's fishing upstream?" "Tonk?" Raga asked. "Is he with you?"
Raga nodded yes. "Is he doing something wrong?"
"Probably not. I need to check his license, though."
Raga crossed his arms and Britney at the table, rolled her eyes.
"A driver's license?" Raga asked.
"Fishing license."
Raga said "Hmmm."
As he did, Tonk walked into the camp from the stream, pushing his way through the brush. He was talking as he entered, and had obviously not yet seen Joe.
".. . Fucking fast water threw my lures all over the place," he was saying. "Lost two good Mepps and a Rooster Tail and now I got--" Tonk saw Joe and froze in mid-sentence. Joe finished for him: "Now you've got a treble hook in your arm."
Tonk held his arm out and winced painfully and almost comically like a child will do when an adult points out an injury the child has forgotten. The No. 12 Mepps spinner had bitten deeply into Tonk's sinewy flesh. All four sets of eyes moved to it.
"It got hung up in a bush and when I pulled it back--look what happened. It came flying straight back at me," Tonk said, looking a little sheepish. "It hurts."
Joe advised Tonk to drive into Saddlestring and get the lure removed at the clinic. "If Doc Johnson isn't in you can get it taken out at the veterinary clinic." Joe explained. "The vet removes fish hooks from fishermen and their dogs all the time, and it'll cost you about half of what Doc Johnson charges."
Tonk nodded dully He was fascinated by the lure embedded in his flesh. Britney and Raga seemed to be fascinated with it as well.
Sharply Britney turned. "You said you were the game warden, right?"
Joe nodded. "I read somewhere that there was a game warden present when the exploding cow was discovered a week ago," she said. "And that the place where the explosion happened is close to here."
Raga was suddenly more interested in Joe than in Tonk's mishap.
"That was me," Joe said. "I was one of the first on the scene."
The campsite seemed to have quieted, and Joe was being examined by all three campers with a different level of intensity than just a moment before.
"That's why we're here." Raga declared. "To find the place where they claim Stewie was murdered."
It took Joe a moment to respond. "Who says he was murdered?"
Raga displayed a self-satisfied smirk. He shook his head as if to say I'll never tell you.
"Did you find his body?" Tonk asked, forgetting his own injury for a moment.
"All we found were his shoes," Joe said. "There wasn't a body to find."
"I fucking knew it," Tonk said, stepping forward to stand abreast of Raga. He spoke with the loopy intensity patented by generations of the drugged and dispossessed: "I fucking knew it, Raga!"
Joe stared back at Britney, who was performing surgery on him with her eyes.
"You found her body but you didn't find his, right?" she asked.
"The state investigator's report concluded that he had an accident with explosives," Joe said. "The sheriff agreed with that. Accident, not suicide. And definitely not murder."
Raga laughed derisively "Yeah, like President Kennedy's little 'accident."" Tonk agreed by nodding his head vigorously
"Stewie Woods is not dead," Britney Earthshare stated. Joe felt a chill crawl up his spine. Then: "Stewie will never be dead. They can't kill a man like Stew ie. "
Oh, Joe thought. That's what she meant.
"Just like they couldn't kill Kurt Cobain, or Martin Luther King, man," Tonk chimed in.
"I understand," Joe mumbled, not understanding. These three campers were not much younger than he was, but were so entirely different.
They asked for directions to the crater. Joe saw no reason not to give them. He pointed back toward the Hazelton Road, told them it
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