Total pages in book: 112
Estimated words: 106839 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 534(@200wpm)___ 427(@250wpm)___ 356(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 106839 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 534(@200wpm)___ 427(@250wpm)___ 356(@300wpm)
I look for tracks, but it hasn’t rained in over a week and I’m out of practice in this skill, so as I turn and go back down the mountain, I find myself wishing I had brought a dog with me.
I almost get one and go back up, but then I see Collin coming down his porch steps. “Hey!” I call to him.
He raises a hand back at me. Then he starts laughing. “What the hell are you wearing?”
I look down at myself, then back up at him. I forgot about my costume. “I took Rosie to the Ordinary for lunch. So…” I shrug. “When in Rome.”
Collin chuckles. “You took Rosie… you and Rosie?”
“Is that weird?”
“Well.” Collin pauses to think. “Not really, actually. It’s just surprising. I didn’t know you were interested.”
“Well, neither did I, but turns out I am. She’s a very rare gem. Did you know she’s got jobs all over Trinity County and she wears costumes for all of them?”
Collin beams an amused smile at me. “I did not know that.”
“Well, she does. She’s got a printshop in Bishop, Collin. She writes a lonely-hearts newsletter or some such thing. And it’s going big-time now because it’s gettin’ inserted into the Disciple paper every weekend.”
Collin makes a face of confusion. “She writes a what?”
“You know. Those ‘desperately seeking’ personal ads? Only more old-timey. I wrote one. It’s going in the paper this weekend.” Collin has now been rendered speechless, but his face says what his mouth doesn’t, so I clarify. “I wrote one looking for Rosie. And then in the next issue, she’ll write me back.” He still looks confused. “It’s a romantic thing. Fuck’s sake, Collin. I’m courtin’ her.”
Now he bursts out laughing. He laughs so hard, he bends over, grabbing his stomach.
“What? Why is that funny?”
Collin straightens up, still laughing. “You’re courtin’ her? Oh, Amon. I need to record this shit. It’s gold.” Then he points to my outfit. “This is above and beyond, brother. Above and beyond.”
“Whatever. Anyway. I just followed Sawyer into the woods and—”
“Dammit, Amon,” Collin interrupts, his face all business now. “I fuckin’ told you not to bother that man. Just leave him alone.”
“You and I both know this is about Blackberry Hill. And he’s doin’ it right under our noses. We need to figure this out because those men are dangerous, Collin. I know we got the upper hand that last time, and we haven’t seen them since you threatened Ike Monroe, but it’s not a forever thing. It’s a temporary truce as they circle the wagons and call for reinforcements.”
Collin sighs, but doesn’t disagree. “I know. That’s probably all true. But this isn’t about us, Amon. It’s about Charlie. If Charlie’s involved, then he’s taking care of things.”
“You give him way too much credit. He’s a dirty, two-faced politician, only worse. Because he was never elected. He’s nothing but a corrupt bureaucrat.”
“As I well know, Amon. Trust me. But you know why I put up with it. And I’m tired of saying this—he’s paying the bills right now. His contracts keep us afloat.”
“I get that. But it doesn’t mean we have to let his man use us to rile up Blackberry Hill or whatever the fuck he’s doing. I’m not saying we need to interfere with Sawyer, I’m just saying that sticking your head in the sand never made anyone’s life better in the end. We need to find out what he’s doing, even if we never do anything with that information.”
Collin sighs and I know him well enough to interpret this sigh as giving in. “Fine. We’ll track him.” He shoots a look over his shoulder, then lowers his voice. “But we’re not gonna interfere and we’re not telling anyone else. It’s me and you and that’s it.”
“Let me change and get the dogs. We’ll go now.”
“No. I gotta run into Richmond this afternoon for a meeting.”
I raise my eyebrows. “With Charlie?”
“Who else.” He points a finger at me. “Don’t take a dog into those woods without me. We’ll do it tomorrow.”
I sigh, but give in because I basically got my way, even if it’s not on my schedule. “Fine. Tomorrow morning, but we’re doing it first thing, so don’t make any other plans.”
Collin agrees. Then smiles at me. “Who ya gonna be tomorrow? Daniel Boone? Or James Joyce?”
“James who?”
Collin raises his eyebrows. “You skipped school that day, didn’t you?”
“What are you talking about?”
“That day in Mr. Coswell’s English class when he told us to absolutely never, ever read James Joyce’s letters to his wife because they were not for Trinity County eyes.”
I laugh. “Let me guess. Everyone left school that day looking for those letters on the internet.”
“He nearly got fired for that remark.”
“Where the hell was I?”
Collin shrugs. “Probably hungover in Revenant.” Then he winks at me. “But I know what you’ll be reading tonight. And you’ll be penning smutty letters to Rosie by tomorrow.”