Read Online The Redeemers by Ace Atkins - Free Book Online

a bad time,” Anna Lee said. “We need to slow down, make some sense of things. I don’t want anyone else hurt by us.”
    Quinn nodded and told her that was bullshit. Anna Lee put her fingers up to her mouth and shook her head, looking good as always in faded Levi’s, cowboy boots, and an old trucker’s jacket over a scoop-necked black sweater. The sweater down low enough to show off her perfect, delicate collarbone and the thin gold chain with the gold cross around her neck. Quinn reached out a hand and she shook her blonde head.
    “I sleep fine,” Quinn said.
    “That’s a hell of a thing to say.”
    “It’s the way I feel.”
    “I feel awful,” Anna Lee said. “It’s wrong.”
    “Never felt wrong to me,” Quinn said. “I came back here for you.”
    “You came back to bury your Uncle Hamp,” she said. “And then got this old house, and all your family troubles, and, before anyone knew it, you’d blown away a half-dozen evil folks at Hell Creek.”
    “Yeah,” Quinn said. “But I came back to see you. Lillie Virgil told me that today. She’s known a long time.”
    “Of course she has,” Anna Lee said, smiling just a bit. Quinn walked up on her, closing the space, putting his hand around her narrow waist and sliding a hand into her back pocket just like he’d done back in high school. She could change what she wanted and lie to herself, her family, and Jesus, but there had never been a damn thing that could come between them. Everything that Quinn had done since stepping back in Tibbehah County had been a big game. She was why he was here, and she had to feel it the same as he did.
    “Come inside.”
    “God damn you.”
    He pulled her in close, inside his coat, and she stayed there for several moments, shivering, before speaking. “Is Caddy OK?” she said.
    “No.”
    “Is she going to get help?”
    “I don’t know,” Quinn said. “I’m trying to talk her into it. It’s the best for her. And best for Jason. She’s ripping that kid’s guts out.”
    “I’m sorry,” Anna Lee said, moving in closer under the jacket. “I’m real sorry.”
    “You know what?” Quinn said. “I’m glad it’s out. Who the hell do I need to impress around here? I’m glad you told him.”
    “Luke’s leaving town.”
    “When?”
    “He’s gone,” she said. “He told me about what happened with Caddy and then with you. He’s packed and gone to Memphis. He said he’s not coming back and we’ll work out visitation. It’s no bluff.”
    “Good.”
    Anna Lee pulled away, away from Quinn, and stepped back to stare him down with those hard brown eyes. “Are you sure?”
    “Yes, ma’am.”
    “Now what?”
    “Reminds me of a fella back home who fell out of a ten-story building.”
    “We don’t have ten-story buildings in Jericho.”
    “You know what he said?” Quinn said.
    “What?”
    “So far, so good.”
    “That doesn’t give me a lot of comfort, Quinn,” Anna Lee said. “Slow and easy. OK?”
    “Yes, ma’am,” Quinn said, pulling her even closer, kissing her. “I’ll do my best.”

7.
    J ohnny Stagg had been holding court in his red vinyl booth at the Rebel for nearly two hours, glad-handing and arranging favors for county employees and the like, by the time Larry Cobb showed up, wanting two eggs sunny-side up and two pieces of well-done bacon with no toast. Cobb told Stagg he’d been trying to watch the carbs and that he and Debbi had been on this diet they learned about from watching Dr. Phil, wanting to know if Stagg ever watched the program.
    “I don’t watch a lot of TV, Larry,” he said, taking a sip of coffee. “If I do, it’s the television news or a good ole-fashioned Western.”
    “Me and Debbi watch Dr. Phil and that other guy, the one who knows Oprah, too. He’s the real doctor, wears scrubs and all. He talks about how exercise and good eating can add ten years to a man. Debbi and me been working our whole lives—hard work—to earn what we got. Last thing I