Quite the Catch (7 page)

What
would he like? Hard question because home cooking wasn’t something he enjoyed
much these days. He thought about things his long-dead mother once prepared,
dishes his grandmother made, and foods he’d enjoyed when invited somewhere for
a meal. On his own, he lived on a steady diet of bologna, hot dogs, hamburgers,
and barbecue. When he had time to hunt, which wasn’t often, he added a little
venison, some squirrel or rabbit, and wild hog. He loved catfish and spoonbill
in season, but he lacked many opportunities to fish.
Roast beef, casserole, pork chops, fried chicken,
he thought, and
remembered the succulent taste from the past. Once in
awhile
,
he indulged in a good steak but he hated to ask her to spend money on an
expensive cut. “I don’t know,” he said after what seemed like a long time. “I’m
not picky. I guess just pick up some bologna or a frozen pizza or something.”

Tina
snorted. “Maybe you live on bachelor man food but I can cook and I enjoy it. I’m
not buying any chicken nuggets or fish sticks either. If you don’t know what
you like, I’ll make suggestions.
Meatloaf?
Spanish rice?
Roast beef?
Ham steaks?
Or how about pork chops with stuffing? If you don’t tell me, you’re
gonna
’ be stuck with pot luck.”

He
couldn’t remember the last time he’d eaten meatloaf so he chose that. “Meatloaf
with mashed potatoes, brown gravy, peas, and maybe a hot roll,” he told her.
“Do I get dessert?”

She
rolled her eyes heavenward but he pegged it for an act. “Yes, you’ve been a
good guy so I’ll do dessert. I suppose you want ice cream?”

“No,”
he said. “Ice cream I can buy anytime. You wouldn’t happen to know how to make
a chocolate wacky cake, would you?”

Tina
faced
him
,expression
bright.
“I would. My grandmother gave me the recipe. It’s the first cake I ever baked.
So you’re in luck.”

“Good,”
he said. He slipped into the same lighthearted style she’d been using. “It’s
the least I should get if I’m washing dishes.”

They
laughed,
then
she sobered. “Rest afterward, though,
okay? I don’t want you to overdo it while I’m gone. I’ll be back as soon as I
can but don’t worry. I can take care of myself.”

Joshua
wasn’t as certain. She tucked her list into the purse beside the pistol and
picked up a set of keys. As she turned to go out the back door, he stopped her.
“Wait a minute, Tina.”

“What
is it?”

“If
you’re going to so much trouble for me, the least I can do is this,” he said
and kissed her.

For
a moment, her lips lay dormant,
then
she lowered the
purse to the floor, the keys beside it. Tina’s arms rested on his shoulders and
she kissed him back. Holy Jesus, her mouth tasted delicious, sweeter than any
forbidden apple in the
garden
of Eden. Her response
kindled fire in his veins and what he’d meant as a soft, almost friendly
gesture shifted into high gear.

His
mouth sought hers with hunger and she responded with a needy greed. Joshua
kissed Tina long and deep, never letting up until his world rocked and his head
spun dizzy. He released her and she stood still for a moment, a dazed
expression on her face. Then she smiled, the glory of it reaching from her mouth
to her eyes. She touched his cheek in a fleeting caress,
then
she departed, leaving him unable to do anything but stand still and watch her
go.

Chapter Seven

Her
mouth burned and every nerve ending throughout her body tingled with delicious
sensations. The unexpected kiss rattled Tina but she liked it. It upped the
stakes and made what began as a kind act into something much more. When she
picked Joshua from the Poteau River, she hadn’t expected to do more than save a
life, maybe offer some much needed aid. Even after she brought him home, she
never thought this would happen. Tina didn’t deny he’d attracted her or that
they shared some sense of connection, but this wild, burning fire hadn’t been
in the plan.

Focus,
woman, focus.
She started up the old truck and bumped it down the long lane to the road. If
she let her thoughts fly free, she’d never accomplish her drive along the river
or the trip into town.
I can’t start
daydreaming like a lovesick teenager.
But she wanted to and she knew it.

Tina
didn’t yield to temptation. She steered her mind back to her errands with the
same skill she used to drive the old truck. On a normal outing, she’d drive the
half mile to the blacktop, then over to 59 Highway, then into Poteau, but
today’s routine wasn’t ordinary. She ambled along the back roads to each public
river access and drove along the water anywhere it was possible. A few
fishermen were out casting lines along the way. At the first access, an old man
frolicked with his dog. Further along, a couple picnicked on the tailgate of
their pickup.
So far, so good,
she
thought and headed into town.

She
made the health food store her first stop and picked up three ounces of comfrey
powder. The clerk scooped it from a huge glass jar and bagged it. To avoid
undue attention, Tina picked up some vitamins and an ounce of dried balsam.
Tina fueled the truck at a convenience store,
then
headed to the supermarket. She bought everything on her list and added several
other items, things she thought Joshua might enjoy. On a whim, she visited the
used clothes shop and picked up several faded pairs of blue jeans in his size. She
added a few colored T-shirts too.
He’ll
feel better in ordinary clothes, I bet.

On
the way home, she decided to check the river again. A nagging sense she had
dogged her throughout town so Tina yielded to it. Temperatures were lower than
two days earlier when Joshua made his leap and she rescued him but the sun
shone over the landscape. The first spots yielded nothing more than before but
at the last access point, she noted a couple of pickup trucks far more battered
than hers. Three men stalked up and down the bank, poking into the tall weeds
with long sticks. One of them peered into the wooded area opposite and turned
to comb through the trees nearest the parking area. Although they made no
effort to conceal their movements, she thought they had a furtive area and a
distinct unsavory aura.

Ignoring
Joshua’s warnings, she parked the truck on the farthest side of the gravel lot
from the men. She hatched a plan and to implement it, she dug behind the seat
and pulled out Gramps’ old quilted flannel jacket. Tina put it on and buttoned
it to collar. Then she put an old ball cap on her head. It covered most of her
hair and she peered at her reflection in the rear view mirror.
Not perfect,
she thought,
but it would do.
Then she gathered up
the ancient metal tackle box she’d never bothered to remove from the truck and
picked up her grandfather’s old
Zebco
rod and reel.

Tina
made no effort to be quiet or to blend into the surroundings. She whistled an
old tune as she shuffled toward the river bank, doing her best imitation of an
old man’s paddle-footed gait. With her shoulders humped, she hoped they’d take
her for what she pretended to be, a senior citizen casting a line in the water.
In high school, she’d been part of several drama productions, and in college
she had a supporting lead role, so she called on whatever acting skills she
might possess. Although she kept her head down and did her best to appear to be
staring out over the river, Tina cut her eyes to the right to watch the men. Maybe
they weren’t the same ones but her suspicion increased as she eavesdropped on
their conversation without remorse.

“Look
what I found,” one of them called as he lifted a filthy, weather-faded shirt
from the weeds. “You think it’s his?”

“Shit
if I know,” his friend replied. “I don’t really remember what the son of a
bitch wore. I want him, not his fuckin’ clothes.”

The
third man spoke up. “He’s dead, got to be. That shot nailed him and the fall
should’ve killed him anyway. I won’t be happy until we turn up his dead body,
though. Then we can be sure.”

“Yeah,
Curley, that’d be best. Lonnie’s
gettin
’ antsy
hanging around camp but now he’s afraid to split in case he gets caught.”

“He’d
better stay put. If the marshal’s dead, then no one will know about our camp. If
he’ll hold out another week or so, then he can go and no one will be the
wiser.”

The
one who had found the shirt walked downstream and plucked something else from
the edge of the river. “Here’s a shoe. I bet it’s his. Where else would it come
from?”

Curley
snorted. “River’s running high, you idiots, so it could be from any damn place.
Maybe it’s his and maybe it
ain’t
. Keep searching. I
want his fuckin’ body.”

“Probably
still in the river,” one of the other men said. “They’ll pull a floater out
somewhere downstream and it’ll be him.”

“And
he’ll have no identification,” Curley retorted. “So it’ll take
awhile
for the authorities to figure out who he was. That’s
good for us and for Lonnie.”

“We
ain’t
doing much good here so let’s move on,” the
second man said. “Besides, we’ve got company.”

Tina
watched as the trio turned to stare at her. She reeled in her line and cast it
again, the way she’d watched Gramps do many times. Her focus remained on the
water.

“Just
some old fart,” Curley said. “Benson, you’re fuckin’ paranoid. He must be deaf
as a board anyway ‘
cause
he hasn’t even noticed us.”

“He
might.”

“
Naw
, I doubt it. He’s out fishing, probably to get away
from his woman. Let’s get the hell out of here, though, before he does catch
on.”

“If
he notices, I’ll just shoot the poor old bastard,” Benson said. “Then he won’t
blab about us or the way we were going over everything
lookin
’
for something.”

Curley
punched Benson with enough force to put him on the ground. “Fuck no! That’s the
surefire way to draw more heat. The fucking cop’s dead. Kill someone else and
Lonnie may not be able to get away after all. And if he’s caught now, we’re all
in a shitting mess together because we helped him.”

“Aided
and abetted,” the third man said.

“Shut
up, Jim,” Curley said. “Let’s go.”

The
men piled into the old trucks and peeled out, spraying gravel across the lot. Tina
held her breath until they traveled down the road far enough that she could no
longer hear the engines. When she exhaled, her legs shook, aftereffect of the
close encounter with the wicked men. She had no doubt they were the same who
were helping the fugitive Joshua had been
tracking,
or
the ones who’d pursued him. If they’d realized she was a woman, not an old man,
she could have been in trouble. Her purse, with the pistol, remained in the
truck floorboard.

“That
was stupid,” she said aloud. If she’d heeded Joshua, she wouldn’t have put
herself in harm’s way. For one moment, she considered not telling him but
realized she couldn’t. He needed the information she’d gleaned so she would
confess all, but Tina figured he would scold her.
I deserve it and I’ll try not to fuss.

At
the cabin she unlocked the back door and entered. The clean dishes were lined
up in the drainer but the kitchen loomed empty. “Joshua?” she called.

When
he didn’t answer, she put away the groceries and picked up the bag with the
items he had requested. Tina walked into the living room but he wasn’t there. She
peeked into the bedroom and bathroom. Perplexed and more than a little anxious,
she mounted the narrow stairs and checked the upper floor.
Nothing.
“Joshua, where are you?”

There
was still the basement, and if he wasn’t there, she had no idea where else to
look. Maybe he decided to leave but Tina doubted it.
He wouldn’t go without a word or a note or something.

As
she descended the steps into the living room, a clatter from the kitchen caught
her attention. Panic struck as she remembered she’d left her gun inside her
purse, now resting on a kitchen chair. Afraid the men had followed her back to
the cabin, although there wasn’t any real reason why they could have guessed
she was connected, Tina picked up a heavy book as she passed a shelf. It would
make a better weapon than her bare hands, if necessary.

Tina
took position outside the closed kitchen door and listened. Heavy footsteps
moved across the floor,
then
she heard someone open a
cabinet. Water gushed from the faucet, and judging from the series of sounds,
someone filled the percolator. When the robust smell of coffee reached her
nose, she pushed the door open a crack. Joshua stood with his back to her as he
plugged in the pot. Her relief lasted about ten seconds,
then
shifted into irate irritation.

“Where
were you? I looked everywhere except the basement,” she cried. “I was afraid
those men found you or something.”

Joshua
wore one of Gramps’ flannel shirts over the sweats. When he turned around and
grinned, Tina almost melted. “I went outside for a walk around the perimeter,”
he told her. “I wanted to get a feel for the place, to see how close we are to
the road. I saw you come back so I headed for the house. I didn’t mean to upset
you.”