CHAPTER 17
AS STONE PASSED DOWN the main street of Divine, he quickly observed that the shops seemed prosperous and the customers happy-looking. It was hard for him to reconcile this image with that of broken-backed, gnarled-handed, dirty-faced miners with the coal-caked lungs having breakfast in Rita’s Restaurant. And then his thoughts refocused on what he’d seen on the TV.
Leads. People of interest. Ties between the two murders.
As he glanced through one storefront window he saw it. Ubiquitous for so many decades, it was now rare to find one anywhere, at least one that worked. Yet Divine apparently was a bit slow in following the rest of the country’s lead.
He slipped inside and looked at the payphone on the wall and then at the sign behind the front counter: “Appalachian Crafts.” The store’s shelves bulged with sculptures made from wood, stone and clay. On the walls were paintings and photos of mountains, valleys and little tin-roofed shacks clinging to the sides of hills. Behind the counter a large, red-faced woman was pecking keys on her computer.
She looked up and smiled. “Can I help you?”
“I just wanted to use the phone. Do you have change for a five?”
She gave him the money and he retreated to the rear of the store and loaded the quarters in the phone’s slots. He dialed the one person he knew had a truly untraceable phone number: Reuben. This was because he didn’t have a phone in his own account but rather used minutes of piggybacked phone time from hundreds of different people. Stone had always assumed it had been something Milton had shown him how to do.
The big man answered on the second ring. He nearly shouted when he heard it was Stone. After telling Reuben that he was fine and that he would not under any circumstances tell him where he was, Stone asked him about the investigation.
“Guy named Joe Knox from CIA has talked to everybody but me. Real bulldog apparently. He knows you and Carr are one and the same. He knows you’re on the run. If they find you you’re not going to trial, Oliver.”
“That had already occurred to me, Reuben. How is everyone holding up?”
“Okay. Alex is being a shit about all this, though.”
“He’s a federal agent, Reuben. He’s caught right in the middle.”
“Well, he did tell Annabelle to burn the letter you left behind. I guess I should give him some points for that.”
“Tell him I appreciate that. I really do.”
There was a brief pause and then Reuben said, “Oliver . . .”
“I’m not going to tell you that I did it, Reuben. That would do no good at all. I just want you to know that you were a better friend than I deserved. All of you were. And I’ll be watching the news. If it even looks like any of you will be harmed because of this, I’ll turn myself in.”
“Listen to me, we can take care of ourselves. They can’t touch us. But if you turn yourself in to the cops, CIA will swoop in, scream national security, and your ass will disappear.”
“Let me worry about that. And I know it doesn’t do you justice, but thanks for everything.”
Reuben started to speak but Stone had already hung up, replacing the receiver with a smack of finality. It’s like I just cut off my right arm. Good-bye, Reuben.
He glanced up to see the shopkeeper staring curiously at him. He had been speaking so low that there was no risk of being overheard.
“Call go through okay?” she said pleasantly.
“Just fine. Thanks.” She kept staring at him so he finally said, “You have some nice pieces.” Pointing to a painting on one wall, he added, “Who did that one?”
The woman’s face fell. “Oh, that would be Debby Randolph.”
“She’s talented.”
“Yes.” She added quickly, “I’m Wanda. Haven’t seen you around here before.”
“I just got here. Came in late last night with Danny Riker.”
“Danny?” she said, startled. “Heard he’d left town.”
“Well, he’s back, but I think it’s just temporary. So how’s business?”
“Really good, especially on our Web site. Lot of folks like the Appalachian stuff. Takes ’em back to a simpler time, I suppose.”
“I think we could all use a bit of that. Well, thank you.”
“I’ll help you.”
“You sure?”
“Got nothing else to do right now.”
They went into the stables and Danny grabbed a shovel after tethering his horse to an iron ring stuck in cement in the ground.