Read Online Two Bits Four Bits by Mark Cotton - Free Book Online

curved to the left down toward a
slow-moving pumpjack flanked by two large rusted steel tanks. We
rolled past the pumpjack and Norris slowed the car as we came to
the top of another low hill.
    “I’ve been watching this
place out here,” he said, nodding toward an abandoned farmhouse in
the distance.
    “We got a tip that
something was going on. Sounded like maybe they were setting up a
meth lab. I’ve been wanting to look inside, but thought it might be
a better idea to watch the place for a while.”
    He turned the car around
in the soft red dirt, and in a few minutes we were on the highway
leading back to Elmore.
    “So, who do you think shot
Russell Chilton?” I asked.
    Norris scratched his
head.
    “Hmmm...Let’s see, now. A
rich guy who is rumored to fool around, gets shot in his own pool
while his wife sleeps so soundly she doesn’t hear the shots outside
her bedroom door. Then, when you talk to her about it, she tells
you not to trust the police, and points you in the direction of one
of the shadiest characters in town, and tries to make her dearly
departed spouse sound like Public Enemy Number One.”
    “So, you think Kandy did
it.”
    “Let’s just say there’s
more to the story than what she’s giving you. Whether she did it or
somebody else, I don’t know. But I do know that this town just
loves a scandal, and I think this situation is sure shaping up to
be a good one. So, you’re going to be working for Kandy’s defense
team?” His smirk told me what he thought of that idea.
    “I’m not working for
anybody. I just told the lady that I’d ask around and see if
anything turned up. And, I’m not planning on keeping anything from
Clemmer and Puckett.”
    “Well, if you do, you’d
better not let Puckett find out. He’s liable to go off on you and
get physical. That boy’s got a temper that’s gotten him in trouble
more than once.”
    “Chip on his
shoulder?”
    “More like ‘roids in his
bloodstream, I hear. He spends most of his free time down at
Hardbodies watching himself in the mirror while he pumps iron.
Clemmer does a pretty good job of keeping him in line though. And,
Clemmer is a tough old bastard himself, but only brings it out when
he needs to. Stays pretty low-key most of the time
though.”
    “Are they
clean?”
    Norris
shrugged.
    “As far as I know. But,
that doesn’t mean much. Being a dirty cop isn’t something that
people gossip about over coffee down at Lita’s. Is there a chance
they might be taking some money from Benny Shanks or Sandy Doyle’s
Odessa bunch to look the other way? Sure there is. That’s the
nature of the job. But, back when we had the Trans Pecos Drug Task
Force, I worked with them on a few operations and they never seemed
to hold back anything. And, for the most part, we were successful
at getting pretty big quantities of product when we conduct our
raids, which probably wouldn’t have been the case if they were
tipping people off in advance.”
    “That’s true,” I
said.
    By the time we parked back
at the Sheriff’s Office, I had decided to pay Benny Shanks a visit,
since his name kept coming up. I thanked Norris for the visit and
told him I’d be in touch when he offered his help if I needed it
during my time in Elmore.
     
     
    * * * *
     
     

CHAPTER
FIFTEEN
     
    The Pumpjack Club was
located on the outskirts of town on Highway 385 leading to Odessa.
The building was a large fabricated metal building that could have
easily been mistaken for a farm implement dealership were it not
for the big neon sign out front that mimicked the motions of a
working pumpjack with a cowboy riding it. Mounted along the side of
the building at regular intervals there were three large,
industrial-size evaporative air conditioners, euphemistically
called “swamp coolers”, sitting on stands constructed from
four-inch pipe. There were blacked-out plate glass windows along
the front of the building, and a glass front door also blacked out.
A piece of plywood