The Dummy Line Read online

  As Tanner started to climb in, he heard another noise, and before he could turn, someone grabbed him from behind and slammed him to the ground, knocking the breath out of him, and ground his face into the gravel. Elizabeth was screaming. Tanner was being kicked in the sides. He struggled but couldn’t get up. He tried to turn to see who had attacked him.

  Tiny ran as fast as he could toward the Jeep. Sweat beat Tanner senseless and then turned his attention to the screaming girl. Sweat wasn’t expecting this little piece of good fortune. She was beautiful. His focus had been on the guy standing by the Jeep, and he had never known she was there until she screamed. Sweat reached across the seat to grab her, but she jumped back just out of his reach, screaming louder.

  Tanner managed to pull himself up and wrap his arms around Sweat’s waist. Tanner was way out of his league. Sweat outweighed him by more than a hundred pounds and had honed his fighting skills with years of bar brawls and knife fights. Tanner had been in one fight, and that had been in the seventh grade.

  Sweat spun around and dragged Tanner to the front of the Jeep where he elbowed him hard in the face, breaking his nose. Pain flashed like a white light through Tanner’s brain. Sweat then threw him into the grill of the Jeep. Tanner could barely see or breathe.

  As Tanner struggled to his knees, Tiny hit him in the back of the head with the butt of his pistol, knocking him flat on the ground. “Stay down or you’re gonna get killed,” Tiny advised sympathetically. Tiny didn’t like this at all. He wasn’t going to kill the kid, but he knew Sweat would without hesitation.

  “Elizabeth, get out of here! Run! Run, Elizabeth!” Tanner screamed as he lifted himself to his elbows.

  Sweat grabbed Tanner by the hair, dragged him to his knees, then forced his mouth open on the front bumper of the Jeep. Tanner could not move and was gasping for breath. He could taste the cold metal bumper. Sweat then viciously kicked the back of Tanner’s head, knocking out all his front teeth.

  Tiny dry-heaved and turned away.

  Elizabeth couldn’t see how badly Tanner was getting beaten. All she could do was scream.

  Sweat quickly went around to the passenger side of the Jeep to pull Elizabeth out. She frantically looked for something she could use as a weapon. She could hear her mother reminding her that she should always carry Mace in her purse. All she found in the Jeep was a car battery. Scared to death, she jumped to the driver’s seat and tried to find reverse, grinding the gears. When she let the clutch out, it was in fourth. The Jeep jerked and the engine died. She leaped out and started running down the Dummy Line. Her mind was racing. She ran blindly. She had no idea where she was going. She just ran as fast as she could.

  Tanner struggled to his feet out from under the front of the Jeep and then tried to tackle Sweat. Sweat grabbed him, punched him in the stomach, and then raised him up by the hair and punched him in the throat. Sweat then put Tanner in a head-lock that cut off his air. Tanner thrashed around. Sweat tightened his hold. Tanner was screaming but made no sound. His lungs were burning and felt like they were going to explode. Sweat held him until he quit moving. Then he threw Tanner’s body into the muddy ditch and turned his attention to the girl.

  Tiny was breathing heavily, about to vomit. “What about the girl?” Tiny gasped.

  “She’s mine. Man, this is my lucky day!” Sweat said, glaring down the moonlit road. He could barely make out her outline two hundred yards away, running wildly. I’ll catch her. Where’s she gonna go? he thought.

  “What about Johnny Lee? Reese told us—” Tiny asked.

  “Johnny Lee’s dead…you help Reese; I’m gonna catch that bitch and have me some fun,” he said, interrupting, and turned away.

  Tiny knew Sweat was serious and would not be denied. He watched Sweat start walking slowly and deliberately after the girl. They were supposed to help catch Johnny Lee’s killer. I gotta get focused. He looked at the blood on the Jeep’s bumper, and then slid down into the ditch to check on the kid. I sure hope he ain’t dead. Talk about bein’ in the wrong place at the wrong time. After confirming that the kid was alive and not facedown in the mud, Tiny went back to his truck for a beer in a desperate attempt to not think about tonight’s brutality, which seemed to have just gotten started.

  Elizabeth ran for her life, tears pouring down her face. Tanner was in trouble and she couldn’t help. She didn’t help. He was fighting for me and all I could do was scream. Twice she stopped and looked back. The second time, with her hands on her knees and the vapor from her breath glowing against the distant headlights, she saw someone following her.

  “Oh God! Oh God, help me!” she screamed, running as hard and fast as she could.

  “How you doin’, sweetheart?” Jake asked Katy, trying not to let her see his fear. She didn’t answer. She was crying quietly to herself.

  “Katy, we’re gonna get out of here and go straight to the police…someplace safe…I promise…just hang on, girlfriend.”

  Driving like a maniac, he was trying to put as much distance as possible between them and those lunatic rednecks. If he could just get to the county road, he’d feel better. As they rounded a bend, a deer jumped in front of them, but Jake never took his foot off the gas. He grabbed his cell phone. No service.

  “Shit!” he said aloud.

  “I’m sorry, Katy,” he apologized.

  “It’s OK. Just go, Dad. Go! I just wanna go home!” she exclaimed tearfully.

  “I do, too, sweetheart. I promise we are,” he said, giving her a quick look.

  When they approached the Dummy Line, Jake had two alternatives but really only one choice. A right would take them ten miles to the county road where there was one gate and he knew the lock combination. Turning left would take them several miles until the road dead-ended into several more miles of the Noxubee River swamp. That’s the reason the railroad had never completed the line—the swamp proved too vast and expensive to cross. A right it was.

  Jake stomped the accelerator. Although the Dummy Line was full of potholes, it was a fairly good gravel road. As they crested the last hill before the gate, he saw headlights. Jake immediately slammed on the brakes. He could see a half-mile ahead. Somebody was coming onto the property.

  “F-u-u…” He looked at Katy before he finished the word, “…dge!” Jake was unraveling.

  “What is it?” Katy said as she sat up to see down the road.

  “It’s not good.”

  “Is that the bad guys?”

  “I’m afraid so, but it’s OK…I’ve got another plan,” Jake said, lying.

  It made sense. The bad guys obviously knew this area. He immediately cut off his lights. Sitting in the dark, he tried to think of solutions. There weren’t many. We can’t go out this way. The road’s not wide enough to pass another vehicle. Maybe hide the truck, and we’ll hide in the woods until daylight. No, not with Katy in tow. Think. Think. Think.

  Jake slammed the truck into reverse and spun around. He sped back the way they had come, going past the turn that led back to the camp. As he roared by, he couldn’t see any lights coming down that old logging road. The thugs must be dealin’ with the mud hole.

  Jake knew that hiding the truck was going to waste time. The roads were so muddy that tracking it would be no trouble. Jake swallowed hard. Be calm; use your head, Jake, he told himself. That’s the only way Katy’s gonna survive.

  Mick Johnson drove slowly away from the camp, trying to piece together the evening’s events. He had met Jake eight years earlier at a National Wild Turkey Federation banquet in Birmingham. They had hit it off right away and turkey-hunted together every year since. Jake, ten years younger, was fun, but his job recently had grown incredibly stressful. Mick could see him changing. Jake had commented to him last year that he was thinking of a career change. Mick realized how much he liked Jake and how long it had been since they just simply talked. He made a mental note to have him over for some beers and steaks. Nothing was making sense. One minute he was sure Jake was in troubl
e, and the next he thought Jake might be off drinking and playing cards.

  Mick pulled off Highway 17 to search for Jake’s home phone number. He punched it in and hit Send but hit the End button before it rang. It’s two fifteen in the mornin’. This isn’t necessary. He stared at the clock, then decided to drive by the Bama Jama Club, a local honky-tonk known to have the occasional recreational poker game in the back. Mick wished the sheriff had been more assertive. But what could he really do? Mick knew Jake wouldn’t be there, yet he prayed he was. The highway was empty as he pulled back onto it, heading toward the bar.

  Ollie Landrum searched the radio stations for something familiar and soothing. He hated rap—couldn’t understand what they were saying. He hated country music—too twangy. He loved Otis Redding. He loved the blues—now that was music. Not finding anything, he switched off the radio, disgusted. All he wanted to do was sleep for about ten hours. He radioed Martha to let her know he was headed home. I really hope there’s nothing to all this.

  Ollie knew that hunting was vital to the county’s economy as a whole, but he couldn’t see the real attraction of it. Hunters had to get up too early. Once he had gone rabbit hunting with his jailer and some guys from the area. That one trip had been enough. It was more of a chance to listen to the football games than anything, and Ollie could do that at home, comfortably. He watched all the games on Saturdays, particularly the Southeastern Conference. They were reminders of his glory days. An NFL career had been in sight until an Oklahoma tight end chop-blocked him, totally destroying his right knee and his dreams.

  So, on his one hunting trip, instead of preparing for Sunday’s kickoff, he was hauling around a dozen yapping beagles that smelled to high heaven and occasionally shooting at a rabbit. Mostly, however, they all just talked—telling lies—and ate food he never ate at home, while listening to the dogs run. Maybe the real motivation for these guys was just to get out of the house and have a moment away from the grind. Now that was reason he could get his mind around.

  Ollie hoped he could relax the rest of the day. His wife was going to the IMAX theater in Birmingham with a group of kids from church to watch a National Geographic movie. He could hear the imitation leather couch calling his name. And then tomorrow was Talladega, the big NASCAR race that attracted hundreds of thousands of nutcases from all walks of life. The redneck fans were the ones who worried Ollie. He was thankful that the track wasn’t in his county. Ollie and the boys always got together to watch the race on TV and drink beer. He had actually gone to Talladega once. There were way too many drunks, and fights, and crazy white guys trying to relive their past. So he and his buddies watched the races at his house and barbecued ribs. They cheered like the drivers could hear them.

  After everyone had left the camp, R.C. hung around for a few minutes to finish the calendar girl tour. He turned out the lights but otherwise left the place just as he had found it, minus two Cokes and one really graphic calendar he found hidden in the cabinet above the refrigerator. After climbing back into his cruiser, he radioed Martha to tell her that he was headed home. He then found a talk show on an AM superstation. R.C. wasn’t really listening to the yammering about the U.S. military presence in The Sandbox; he was thinking of calling Chastity. He wanted to tell her that he had just studied dozens of calendar girls and that she definitely had the right stuff to be a Bunny. But she never could talk while she was working. At least that’s what the bouncer said every time he called. I’ll just tell her in person tomorrow night.

  R.C. was getting bored, and rather than go straight home, he decided to drive down a few of the old gravel roads. I wish it wasn’t so late and that Hooters wasn’t an hour away. Man, I could eat about twenty nuclear hot wings right now. All that heaving cleavage, tight butt cheeks, and tiny tank tops were more than he could resist; consequently, he was putting on ten pounds a year thanks to a steady diet of chicken wings and beer.

  He slipped his finger and thumb into his Copenhagen to get a big dip, while rooting around under the seat for an empty plastic spit bottle. When he found one, he nestled it between his legs, then eased his foot down on the accelerator.

  So, kids in the house with Momma. This shouldn’t be too hard, Moon Pie thought as he petted the friendly dog. He saw a trampoline and swing set in the back yard as he searched for the telephone line. He wanted to cut it to prevent a 911 call, just in case. He wasn’t sure he could tell the difference in the TV cable and the telephone line until he saw the BellSouth logo.

  Moon Pie had never snatched anyone before. He preferred the word snatching to kidnapping. Kidnapping sounded so federal. But he was more than willing to try it. Moon Pie was thorough, which greatly aided his criminal career. He took the hands-on education he had received growing up on a soybean farm to become the most successful marijuana grower in northeastern Mississippi. He was the first to apply modern fertilization techniques and to control the pH levels of his soil. He had installed grow lights with a drip irrigation system in two giant chicken houses, boasting yields to twice those of his competitors. Moon Pie struggled with managing the expenses, however, and consequently always found himself a little short. No matter how much money he made, Sheree, his girlfriend of six years, always seemed to spend a little more. She was extremely high maintenance.

  After locating the master bedroom, he worked up a plan. The unknown was how many children were in the house. He eased up the porch stairs and studied the locks. One dead bolt. I’ll just kick it in, he thought as he set down his bag of tricks. Then it occurred to him that he could simply knock the glass out with a hammer, reach in, and turn the lock. He put a spider web of camo duct tape on the glass to prevent it from shattering, then carefully broke the glass. It always surprised him how little noise it made.

  She was awakened by a sound she couldn’t place. She wasn’t even certain that she had really heard anything. She lay very still listening, warm and comfortable. She thought she heard a board creak, but the old house was full of sounds. Then the heater turned on, drowning out any odd noises. She relaxed.

  Moon Pie stepped inside and walked quickly and quietly down the hallway to the master bedroom. Bursting through the door, he took her by surprise. Just as she started to scream, Moon Pie’s hand slammed over her mouth. He held her down on the bed and pointed his .40 Glock right between her eyes, the night-light from the bathroom illuminating the pistol. He climbed on top of her and straddled her. Then he lowered his face to within inches of hers, smelling her as he moved the pistol to the side of her head, being certain she could feel the cold steel.

  “Don’t say a word,” he whispered forcefully. “Is there anyone else is in the house?” he asked, knowing he couldn’t believe her.

  Her eyes were wide with terror. Moon Pie was feeding off her fear. She shook her head. “No!”

  “Your husband killed somebody important to me, and now you have to pay!” he said in an intense whisper. “That’s how it works.”

  He saw confusion and fear in her eyes. She violently shook her head and tried to speak, but he wouldn’t let her. He took duct tape with one hand, stretched it, and tore it with his teeth. He laid a strip over her mouth as he moved his hand away. She struggled to loosen his grip. He forced her arms behind her and began taping her wrists. She fought hard. He ran another strip all the way around her head covering her mouth. She was trying desperately to talk. He then taped her ankles. She was completely immobilized. When he was sure her nostrils were clear, he stood, catching his breath.

  She was wearing panties and a tank top. Moon Pie admired her athletic body. Still breathing heavily, he slowly looked around and decided to check out the rest of the house. He searched every room and didn’t find another person. The kids must be spendin’ the night somewhere. He went back downstairs to the master bedroom.

  “Let’s go for a ride,” he said, picking her up and throwing her over his shoulder like a sack of feed. He walked to the front door, glass crunching under his feet. He shut the front door and walked strai
ght down the driveway to his vehicle. She wasn’t very heavy—a buck thirty, maybe. He’d adjusted the interior lights so they didn’t come on and betray his presence. He could tell she was about to freak out. She was terrified. He was in charge. He could feel the power, and it aroused him.

  The rear seat of the Tahoe was down, so when he threw her in the back, there was plenty of room. Moon Pie climbed on top of her, grinding himself into her. Her squirming only excited him more.

  “We’re gonna have us a little party,” he whispered in her ear, then licked the tears streaming down her cheek. “But not here. I’ve got somethin’ special planned for yo fine self.” He lifted her shirt and licked her stomach. He got off her, closed the door, and then hopped into the driver’s seat. Pulling off his surgical gloves, he cranked up and drove off. He lit a Marlboro, taking a good long drag. Blowing the smoke out, he picked up the radiophone and hit Send.

  Beep-beep. “Yo dog.”

  Beep-beep. “Talk to me.”

  Beep-beep. “Got her and she’s a gem. One fine piece of ass!”

  Beep-beep. “Can you take her to Johnny Lee’s trailer?”

  Beep-beep. “Sure. I’ll be there in about two hours. I gotta drive slow so I don’t get pulled over.”

  Beep-beep. “The key’s on the ledge over the door. Call me when you get there.”

  Beep-beep. “You got the guy yet?”

  Beep-beep. “No, but we’re close.”

  Moon Pie hung up and dialed his girlfriend as he rubbed his crotch. The line was busy. She was on the Net. That pissed him off. She’s in a chat room in the middle of the night with a bunch of freaks, he thought. She’d only surf the Net when he was gone. It drove him crazy. That’s it! I’m gettin’ rid of her.

  No matter how many Walkie Talkies he drank sitting in the truck, Tiny couldn’t stop thinking how he’d gotten into this mess. A while back, his first cousin had promised him a job at the Indian casino. He could earn an honest living. Sure, he’d be a maintenance man, but it would be a new start and he could live with his cousin until he got settled. His cousin had a double-wide in a huge trailer park called Sunshine Village in Montgomery. Tiny liked the name. Why ain’t I gone already?