::  Abomination ::

Chapter 1

Wednesday

The pain that was always just behind Bobbi Jo’s eyes was at crescendo level this morning. The incredibly expensive coffee maker she had treated herself to out of her second to last paycheck from the LAPD had crapped out after just a year. Thus her life-saving first pot of coffee was denied her. Then the shower this morning had pointed out, in no uncertain terms, that she would have to buy a new hot water heater. That would mean a trip to Jackson because she would be God damned go to hell if she was going to give Ted Wilson at the Western Auto one fucking penny of her money. Finally, the incessant bickering of the two strangers two tables away at Mary Sue’s Coffee Emporium was driving her to consider arresting them both and putting them in jail for the crime of pissing her off.

Everyone knew better than to piss off Bobbi Jo. Everyone knew to leave her alone first thing in the morning. Of course, this wasn’t really first thing. But then she had been on late watch last night. She had gone through the ritual of tossing Dooley’s ass in jail after he tried to punch Deter in the face. Not that there was anything unusual about Dooley trying to punch Deter in the face. He did it every Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday nights when he got so drunk that he forgot that he was 4’11" and weighed 98 pounds and Deter, all 6’6", 240 pounds of pure muscle and a former Marine to boot, would just shove his ass out of his way, usually breaking a table or two at the Dew Drop Inn. It was a ritual. Just like everything in the fucking town was ritual. Had she really grown so tired of LA that she had to return home? Was it guilt because she couldn’t bring her father back from the dead and make her mother see her as something more than the disappointing daughter? Or was she just running away from yet another failed relationship? Was her ex-boyfriend right and she needed to consider getting psychiatric help over her last case? Whatever the reason, she didn’t want to consider it. Not now. Not this morning. This morning was…was what? Just another day in hell. Just another day of looking over reports from her seven dwarfs, as she called her pathetic group of deputies, most of who would make Barney Fife look like cross between Matt Dillon and Stephen Hawking. Yeah and what did that make her? Snow White? Bobbi Jo never had any allusions about her looks. She sure wasn’t willowy. Not chunky really, just, just so damn unsatisfying all the way around. She closed her eyes as the pain throbbed, the first two cups of coffee doing little to ease it. Why couldn’t the damned Yankees just shut up?

"Oh come on. It wasn’t that bad."

"Are you insane? I swear to God it was like a German whorehouse in the room next door. All night long."

"And you have that much experience with whorehouses, German or otherwise?"

" ‘Oh honey, baby baby, and oops, sugar where did the time go, that will be twenty dollars,’ pretty much says all I need to hear to know what’s going on and what the hell kind crack was that?"

"What crack. I said you didn’t have that much experience with whorehouses. You know, as in you probably don’t have to pay for it and if you did it wouldn’t be at a whorehouse."

"Yeah, bull. You were making some derogatory comment about my manhood. I know it."

"Oh for Pete’s sake. I was not. You’re just upset because you didn’t get a lot of sleep last night."

"Yeah, well just remember…"

She tried to ignore the voices. It just pointed out one more thing she couldn’t accomplish in this fucking dead end of a town. She left her hometown nearly 15 years ago knowing it was a hellhole, a backward, bigoted place of secrets and pettiness. Two weeks after agreeing to work out her father’s term as sheriff, she made the mistake of trying to oust Miss Lorraine and her girls from their encampment at the only motel within twenty miles of Helensburg. Unfortunately, during that raid, they interrupted a naked state senator who was on his hands and knees in one of the bathrooms scrubbing it while one of the girls stood by and drank RC cola and talked dirty to him. Compared to LA it was tame but Donnie Ray (or ‘Bashful’ as she had pegged him) was damn near scarred for life and walked around for a week muttering ‘Wale gollllieeeeee’ like some demented Gomer Pyle.

"Well why didn’t you pound on the wall and ask them to be quiet?"

"Rabb, shut up."

"You think this is my fault don’t you."

"Gee. Let me think. Your car. Your fan belt." The smaller dark-haired man nodded his head vigorously and she wondered if they were brothers. They sounded just like her and Mimi when they got into it. "Yeah. I’m thinking it is your fault."

"Well if this town…." The eyes of the taller man, who sat so she could see his fine chiseled profile, flickered in her direction. He grinned sheepishly, as he realized that perhaps slamming the town in front of its sheriff wouldn’t be politically correct. Like she gave a shit what two Yankees thought. But then the other turned around and her morning headache was momentarily forgotten. He too smiled but it was a smile that seemed to say, ‘Just ignore him. I always do.’

He turned back to his food. "Good one, Harm. What were you going to say?"

"Shut up, Webb."

She firmly ignored the warmth spreading through her belly. Sheer willpower kept it from her face. It had been awhile. Over a year since she broke up with Tom Walsh because he couldn’t understand. Didn’t want to understand. Bobbi, let it be. We have bigger issues to deal with. Issues you won’t face! You have to face what happened to you! She is never going to love you the way you want her to. You cannot bring him back from the dead. If you do this, you are being stubborn for the sake of stubborn and I won’t play that game. She should have never dated a psychiatrist. An unforgiving one at that.

"I just don’t understand it. It’s just a fan belt."

"It’s a classic 76 Corvette, Harm. You think they have a lot of those in this neck of the woods."

Well that was bordering on insulting. Of course, the worst part of it was that he was right.

"Good one, Clay."

"What? Jesus, Rabb, did you learn nothing when you pulled off the interstate because you had to see the Traveling Wall. The roads here just aren’t really meant for any low-slung car. Why the hell didn’t we bring your SUV?"

"Well first off, I’ve never seen the Traveling Wall and I wanted to. It was cool. I think it is a great thing that they can bring it to these little towns."

"You can see the real one every damn day! Besides, it wouldn’t have been so bad if you hadn’t become lost."

"Will you knock it off! Whatever made me think you were a good choice?"

"Gee let me think. Oh yeah, Turner is on that TDY and Mac caught you messing with Manetti in the storage room.  I was all that was left."

Well now she thought it was going to get ugly. What was she witnessing? A lover’s spat? Parnell who should have been cleaning bathrooms at the grade school certainly thought so. His eyes were round and he was hanging onto every word. But then she didn’t have to worry about Parnell. No. The person she had to worry about was definitely not Parnell. Why the hell was Reverend Deniston here at Mary Sue’s anyway? What had brought him out of his sanctuary? Was he going to stand up and start quoting scriptures? Oh hell, maybe arresting them wasn’t such a bad idea after all.

"Well excuse me. Here I thought we could make a nice week of it and work out some of our differences."

"Please." Webb stood and pulled out his wallet. He tossed a ten on the table, turned and stomped out the door.

The other, Rabb, smiled ruefully at her, took out his wallet and deposited another ten before walking out. Mary Sue, looking like the two Yankees had probably stiffed her, ran out from behind the counter. Seeing the twenty dollars to cover nine dollars worth of food she looked at Bobbi Jo. "Should I send the change to the motel?"

"What for? They came to town in a Corvette, Mary Sue, they can afford it." Bobbi Jo drank down the last of her coffee and stood up. Time to face the mines. Hi-Ho, Hi-Ho. She climbed into her Cherokee and drove the two blocks to the street off the square leading to the ‘temporary’ police station. Ten years ago, the courthouse in the center of the square had been deemed unsafe for occupation. The county and state were still haggling over how much work needed to be done and who would pay for it and the building just stood there deteriorating even more. Until it was all settled, the circuit court had moved into the vacant glove factory on one corner of the square, the mayor moved into the vacant office over the drug store and the police department set up in an old garage just off the square. Thank goodness, as dumb as her deputies were at police work, several of them possessed the skills needed to make the building at least resemble a police station, complete with a small cell block and a fairly nice office for the sheriff. Of course, they had done it for her father, not her. But then she didn’t plan on sticking around long enough to build that kind of devotion

Just as she was pulling into her parking space out front she noticed a flash of red down the street. There was the Corvette sitting in front of Darnell’s garage. She wondered where it had been last night. She would have noticed a Corvette, because, as snide as the stranger had sounded, he was right. There were too many rugged spots on too many county roads in this part of the state and a ‘Vette would spend more time in the shop than on the roads. Plus, the owner wouldn’t dare go even a mile above the speed limit because her boys did love to fill the town’s coffers by stopping vehicles they didn’t recognize. No they didn’t have any Corvettes here in Helensburg or Crawford County. Plenty of muscle cars, that their owners put more money into than they did their houses or doublewide trailers.

"Hey Bobbi Jo. You see that Corvette down at Darnell’s! Sweet huh?" Horace, who being the smartest of her deputies and so ranked as Doc in her Seven Dwarf scenario, practically purred from his desk in the corner.

"When did it get there?"

"Late last night, after ya’ll went home. The two city slickers called the state police and Kenny done sent them to us. Darnell weren’t too happy bout leavin’ Jenny and all, but he done went out and got ‘em." Horace winked at her. "Kenny said he would stop out this afternoon and check to make sure it was okay with you."

"Lovely." Horace refused to fit completely into his Doc role. He saw himself more as Cupid. And she had to admit, State Trooper Kenny James was one fine specimen of a man, big, hunky, and truly fine, in a Greek God kind of way. Unfortunately, she wasn’t really attracted to Greek Gods. Particularly Greek Gods who blushed at the sight of a woman’s erect nipple through a sheer dress and quoted scriptures like they were the Burma Shave signs of the new millennium. If Tom had wanted her to get help from a therapist, Kenny would have her at daylong revivals that emphasized the laying on of hands. No, her vibrator was better than that. "Anything I should know?"

"No ma’am. We cut Dooley loose this morning. Told him to stay out of trouble like we always do. Made him clean up the cell this time. He had to do it twice."

She didn’t want to know the details. She went into her office and moments later, Happy, known to everyone else as Deputy Barnett, came in with a cup of coffee. "Thank you, Jimmy Bob."

"Welcome, Sheriff." He stood in the doorway and she fought the urge to roll her eyes.

"Uhm…sheriff?"

"Jesus, Jimmy Bob, what do you need to do now?"

"Well uhm…momma needs some yarn from Chesters in Jackson."

"Jimmy Bob, we have a perfectly nice Coast to Coast with plenty of yarn not two doors away from your house. Your momma used to buy it there all the time."

"Yass’m and ya’ll know that momma ain’t spoke a word to any Jenkins in nigh twenty years."

"Jimmy Bob, Fred Jenkins isn’t even related to the owners of the Coast to Coast!"

"Now, Sheriff, ya’ll don’t know that fer sure and momma ain’t taken no chances."

She rubbed her hands over her face and then realized that, mean as it was, she could use this. "Fine, but if you’re going to go into Jackson, you have to ask Deter if you can borrow his pickup truck. I need to buy a new water heater." Fortunately, as dumb as Jimmy Bob was he knew better than to point out that the Western Auto carried such things. "Sure thing, Sheriff. I’ll be back tonight."

It wasn’t like anything ever happened that they couldn’t handle.

Friday Morning

The pounding on her door matched the pounding in her head. The nightmare had been the worst yet and she could make neither hide nor hair of it. Jerking awake she glared at the clock and began cursing. "God Damn, motherfuckering bastards! What the hell can be so important that they have to wake me up at fourfuckingthirty in the goddamned morning!" She stumbled out of bed and started for the door to fling it open, but remembered just in time to put something on over the very short tee shirt she wore to bed. She had no doubt that it was one of her deputies and she knew if one of them saw her half-naked they would be useless for a week or more.

"What!" She flung open the door and glared at Ollie Farmer. Well old Grumpy didn’t look so grumpy this morning. He looked scared shitless.

"Sh-sh-sheriff."

"What is it Ollie?"

"Horace says ya’ll best come right now."

"Why didn’t he call?" she demanded even as she was hurrying back into her room to change into her uniform.

"Said to come get ya."

"Fine, what is it?" She managed to pull on trousers, shirt and her boots in less than five minutes. Glaring at her mop of long thick red hair, she just pulled it back and grabbed up the first hair band she found. That it was the red, white and blue scrunchie her seven- year old niece had made for her at brownie camp didn’t even register. She followed Farmer out to his squad car and climbed in next to him.

"You know them queers what had car trouble?"

"Queers? What the hell? Oh shit. Damn that Parnell."

"What? Everybody already knowed. Jess cause they had them separate rooms and all din’ mean nothin."

"Why did everyone know and what the hell does it have to do with anything?" Dear god, she was losing whatever intelligence she possessed.

"Wale, I guess everybody jessed knowed it and one of them done killed the other."

Her heart started pounding and she felt the decided urge to throw up. "How bad?"

"Oh real bad. Theys blood everywhere. Ain’t no body though."

"Huh?" They were already at the hotel and she groaned out loud. "Fuck. You people will never fucking learn."

She was out of the car before it stopped and she was already yelling at the top of her lungs. "Horace!"

He stepped to the door of the last room of the row of rooms and raised his hand. "Over here, Bobby Jo."

She yanked him out of the doorway and stopped dead. "What the fuck." The three deputies, two of them smoking, looked up from where they were standing staring down at the blood soaked sheets.

"Hey sheriff lookee here." Otis was showing more enthusiasm than she had ever seen of the man she thought of as Sleepy. "That there queer done killed his boyfriend."

"Get out."

"Huh?"

"This is a crime scene. Get out."

"Now Bobbi Jo, ain’t no call to take that tone. It ain’t like we don’t knowed who did it." Otis sought to assure her.

"Oh yeah? Knowin’ and proving are two different things."

"Aw sucks, Bobbi Jo. You think that we’s gonna have us an OJ here? Sheeeeeeeeet." Horace offered his two cents.

"Where’s the body?"

"Wale, we don’t rightly knowed that," Otis said.

"How do you know there is a body?" Bobbi Jo’s headache was reaching migraine proportions.

"Wale lookit all this here blood!" Jimmy Bob looked like he was speaking to the town idiot.

"Where’s the other one?"

All the deputies looked at their feet then at her and finally Horace cleared his throat. "We’ve got an APB out on him, sheriff. We thought we had him. It looked like he was comin’ back from dumpin’ the body and he saw us and ran away. Really sneakin’ little fairy if you ask me."

She hadn’t asked him and she didn’t like it. It stunk to high heaven and even if it was as they said, there would be hell to pay. "Have you searched the room?"

"Yass’m."

"And!"

"Oh. That there is his suitcase. Ain’t much in it though. Jess some socks and underwear."

"Wallet?"

"Din’ find one." Otis grimaced.

"Get on out of here. Stay out of the other room."

"But Bobby Jo!"

"Get out of the other room!"

She was now alone in the quiet dingy room. There was blood on the bed and blood on the wall. What the hell had happened? The blood pattern on the wall told her that a bullet had passed through a body, splattering the blood. Carefully, she walked over and found the hole right where the picture of a mountain scene with a lone deer looking at her hung against the wall. She stepped to the door and opened it. "Horace, get me the evidence kit."

Horace sulked but did as he was told. She didn’t care. This was all she needed. Christ. Twenty minutes later she found the pair of blue jeans that had managed to be kicked under the bed, most likely by her asshole deputies. She found the wallet in the back pocket. She started cursing all over again.

Friday Evening

There wasn’t enough coffee on the planet to make the pain go away. Bobbi Jo rubbed her temples and stared at the wood grain to the side of the blotter on her desk. "Just go and get them, Horace. Don’t say anything. Bring them back here." If she could do it herself she would but she had to stay here. Stay here and keep the damn lid on.

"I don’t understand, Bobbi Jo."

"I know, Horace. Just go and get him. Bring him, and whoever else is with him back here."

"Sheeet, why cain’t we jest do our job. You know you’re daddy always let us do our job."

"Did he, Horace? You have a lot of experience in homicides?"

"Wale we had the Bishop family case that we handled jest fine."

"Wale," she mimicked him brutally, her headache so great she just didn’t care anymore. "It’s not like Otis couldn’t have figured that one out now is it? I mean Pauley Bishop strutting naked down the road waving that hatchet singing 'look at me, I’m Lizzie Borden' and giggling like a damn prom queen." She buried her head in her hands. "Just go. Send in Jimmy Bob."

Without a word Horace left. He must have jerked his head or just pointed because she couldn’t hear a damn thing outside her door. Everyone was either at the crime scene or out there waiting for her next explosion. "Yes, sheriff?" Jimmy Bob whispered.

"You hear from the state crime lab yet?"

"Yass’m. Jess a minute ago. Ya’ll were talking to…"

"I know what I was doing. What did they say?" Jimmy Bob’s hangdog look made her feel like she had kicked her momma’s Sharpee puppy. "Please, Jimmy Bob."

"They said they would be out in the morning. They were up near Gaitlin County. There were a major pile up on the freeway up there and they had everybody up thataway."

"I assume it was an accident. You DID tell them we had a possible homicide."

"Yass’m."

Oh that admiral was going to love this. It had taken her all of fifteen minutes to trace the identification of one Harmon Rabb, Commander, USN, Judge Advocate General Corps. Five minutes later she was on the horn with a two-star. He had listened and the upshot of it was he was on his way down here. Just like that.

"Uhm…good evening Reverend Deniston." Jessup said too loudly. Maybe he wasn’t quite so Dopey after all. She quickly stood and went into the small bathroom behind her office.

As she was closing the door she heard the nasally rasp insist, "I need to speak with her, Cletus, I want her to know that we cannot allow this kind of abomination in our fair town."

"I kind of think she understands that, Reverend." Both voices were right outside her door and she knew that Cletus couldn’t keep the son-of-a-bitch out and the son-of-a-bitch wouldn’t leave until he had talked to her. Well let the prick wait. She washed her face and then decided to do something with her hair. She kept everything necessary here, though she had no idea why. Maybe because her daddy always had. She brushed her hair and decided to take the time put it in a French braid. Then, with an evil smile, she carefully applied makeup. She seldom wore it anymore. Why bother. Because she knew, even as she was applying the deep mauve lipstick, that it would piss Reverend Deniston off to no end.

Stepping back into her office, she spared a brief glance at Deniston. How could such an unimpressive man whip so many people into such hatred? "What do you want, Wayne," she snapped. He had been a little shit in high school; she was not going to offer him any bit of respect twenty-five years later.

His eyes raked over her body and she felt dirty. Dirtier than when she had worked vice. Almost as dirty as she had when she worked on the child pornography task force with the FBI and Treasury department. Dirtier than during the aftermath of her last case – and nothing should have been able to top that. She really would have to consider that job offer Stan Michaels was waving under her nose.

"You adornin' yourself for Pharaoh, Barbara Jean." She cocked an eyebrow. Oh he was spoiling for a fight.

"I’ll be sure to let the Judge Advocate General of the Navy know of your respect. Why are you here?" Not pausing to let him answer she turned her attention to Cletus. "Deputy Jessup?"

"Yes ma’am?" His eyes pleaded with her not to make him do anything that would upset the man between them.

"You bring in Miss Lorraine and her girls?"

"Yes ma’am they’re down the hall in the interrogation room." His eyes flickered to Deniston. "Deputy Monroe is with them, sheriff. We got them RC colas but that’s all."

"That’s fine. Tell Monroe I’ll be down in a minute."

Cletus practically fled.

"I will come down with you, sister, and offer them redemption," Deniston said.

"That’s why you came? I thought you wanted them to burn in hell."

He waved his hand and smiled dismissively. "I prefer to think it more as Samuel bade us in Chapter 20, verse three, When David returned to his palace in Jerusalem, he took the ten concubines he had left to take care of the palace and put them in a house under guard. He provided for them, but did not lie with them. They were kept in confinement till the day of their death, living as widows."

"Well that’s real nice, Wayne, and I’ll let them know your feelings on the matter, but I have important people coming to visit and I don’t have time for this." She made a move to exist her office but he stood in front of her and pointed his finger.

She stepped into his finger, causing it to nudge against her chest. His eyes widen but she made sure that he saw the anger in her eyes. "You calling me a whore, Wayne? Not a very safe thing to do."

"Daughter of Tamar. You think the good people of this town will not heed my word?"

"God I hope, Wayne. Do run someone against me. The election is next fall. Oh please get me voted out of office." She reached up and grabbed him by the wrist, exerting just the right amount of pressure in just the right spot. His knees buckled from the pain and he cried out. "Until that time, you fucking little bigot, don’t come back to this office unless you want to confess your part in my daddy’s murder." She pushed him back until he fell against the office chair. His eyes grew round with fear and hatred. Just as she walked out her door she turned back and purred. "If I remember my bible, Wayne, Tamar is listed in Jesus’ family tree." She walked out and down the hall.

She paused outside the interrogation room and took a deep breath. She reminded herself firmly that Miss Loraine had powerful friends in this town and this state and she couldn’t just go in and treat them like the nickel whores they were.

"Ladies? Where’s Cici?"

Loraine, who looked every one of her fifty years, boldly met her gaze. "Out of town."

"Where?"

"Now, Bobbi Jo, ya’ll know I don’t keep track of my girls that close."

"Now, Lorraine, honey, I know you know when one of them farts so don’t lets play this game. You’ve got information that I need and ya’ll are gonna give it to little ole me."

"Or what suga? Ya’ll gonna call your friend the governor?" Loraine parried and two of the whores giggled.

"No. Lorraine. What I will do is turn around and walk out this door."

"You think you scare me?"

"Me? No. I learn my lessons. Tell me what you heard ladies? First one who does, walks out this door. I suggest you then get into whatever transportation you can beg, borrow or…well I won’t go there. The rest of you can stay and face what’s comin. It’s no threat. I don’t even know what will happen except for one little fact."

"What’s that?"

"None of you will be whoring for a few days. Not until the missing men are found."

"You just forget your lesson, Bobbi Jo?"

"Again, no. You just won’t have anyplace to run your business."

The girls watched the tennis match. Back and forth and while they were used to threats, this one from Bobbi had a funny ring to it.

"Now why would that be?" Even Lorraine was beginning to show her discomfort.

"How much you pay Darpak to rent those rooms?"

"Going rate."

"Government rate?"

"What?"

"There are ten rooms to that motel. Two of them are closed for the crime scene. They won’t be opened. That leaves eight. At least one of ya’ll will be kicked out tonight. Trust me on this. Tomorrow? Well even doubling up, I expect I’m gonna have to ask Mizz Taylor if she will open up those empty rooms over her garage – and you know nobody in town will rent to any of you. So, none of you will have a place to sleep, let alone suck cock. And you know if any of the boys catches you in the street, I’ll run you up on charges so fast your tits will pinch. So. Which one of you virtuous maids happened to hear anything while ya’ll were just laying there restin’ your eyes – and with whom?"

"What are you talkin’ about Barbara Jean?" Lorraine snapped.

Even though she hated her given name, Bobbi Jo smiled sweetly then looked at her watch. "Oh my. Time’s just about out. Of course, look at it this way; we have three cells downstairs. You can flip for who gets the bed in each." She turned to go.

"Now hold up, Bobbi Jo." One of the black women called out.

"Donisha! You say a word…"

"Oh fuck off, Loraine. You thinks I’m afraid of you? I knowed they was different. The uptight little one smelled like a fed to me. You cheap ass trailer trash thinks you is something special? Sheeeeeeeet." She turned to Bobbi Jo. "I was bringing that pig Newton Chammers back to my room. I heard the fight. Din’ hear no words though. Jess the racket of shit bein’ thrown around. Heard me the shot clear as day."

"What time?"

"How the fuck would I know?" Donisha glared at Bobbi Jo like she was a real idiot. Had to be after two. Dew Drop was closed or Newt wouldn’t want his special bit of black lovin."

"What did you see?"

"Girl, you are one dumb cop to ask me that? Old Newt took off like it was his wife comin’ out of that room. Saw these two boys runnin’ out. Don’t know who they was, they had on robes."

"Robes?" The blood in Bobbi’s veins chilled. "What kind?" she whispered.

Donisha just snorted. "Yeah, girlfriend. You axe that question. Ya’ll know what kinda robes they was. Now that’s all I sayin. That’s all I’m ever gonna say. Lock me up or don’t."

"You see either of the men who were staying in the rooms?"

"NO!"

"You didn’t go to the door of the room."

"Fuck. You ain’t that dumb Bobbi Jo."

"Get out of here."

Donisha looked surprised but she grabbed her coat and scooted to the door. Just as she reached it Bobbi Jo nailed her with a stony look. "Hear me good, girl, you get out of town and don’t come back."

"Sheeeet. Like I would." Donisha opened the door and didn’t even bother to flirt with the county’s only black deputy. Rueben Hickock was, by virtual of having no other name available, relegated to the role of Sneezy, but he wasn’t stupid - far from it. He and Horace were the two men she could count on.

"Sheriff?"

"Yes?"

"Deputy Johnson just called in. He picked up those people for you. Said to warn you, they were in uniform and the big one was mad enough to spit bricks. The two women look like they can take care of themselves too."

"Thank you, Deputy. Wait outside."

She leaned against the door and didn’t say a word. Loraine kept glaring at the remaining women but none of them would meet her gaze.

"Bobbi Jo?"

"Tell me what you got, Li Ming."

"I had the room at the end, next to the guy that Donisha said she thought was a fed. I don’t know about that, but I know he didn’t like staying in his room. Seems like every time I saw him he was out walking around."

"Not much to do in this town, Li Ming."

"Yeah, the fags didn’t want to play with us that’s for sure," Loraine said with obvious false bravado. "I knowed they was fags the first time when the little guy talked all faggy to me."

Bobbi Jo did a rapid calculation in her head. It would only take Horace 15 minutes to get from the landing site over at Boggs’ fallow field back to town. She didn’t have time to spar with Loraine anymore. She went to the door. "Hickok?"

"Yes ma’am."

"Show the ladies downstairs. No, not Li Ming."

"You bitch! I want my lawyer." Loraine was madder than the mangy dog guarding Deter’s garage.

"Hickok. Tell Jimmy Bob to go and wake up Mrs. Preston. Tell her that Miss Loraine wants to see her husband."

"You got it sheriff."

When the room was empty, save for the two of them, Bobbi Jo studied her watch and Li Ming. She didn’t even bother to close the door. "Ten minutes and you can join your friends."

"It ain’t much but more than Donisha." Li Ming licked her lips.

"Nine minutes."

"The shorter one. He was kind of cute and Loraine is full of shit. He always spoke politely until Loraine got nasty with him and he said, ‘Lady, if you were the only human left to fornicate with I would choose a cow in the field.’ Loraine got really mad and when she wasn’t looking at him, he looked right at me and winked. Not like he wanted me to stop by later but more like he was letting me in on the joke."

Bobbi Jo had no idea what Li Ming’s story was but she knew the girl was educated. But then she had learned in LA not to make judgments about people without all the details. At least she did try. "So what else can you tell me about him."

"Like I said he was always outside when I saw him. Always looked a little nervous and bored. Sometimes the tall one went with him for his walks. Sometimes not. When they went together, they were always arguing, but not mean like. Just like real old friends who always got on each other’s nerves. Anyway though, the important thing…"

A door slammed open and they could hear voices floating down the hall. "I want to see who is in charge and right now!"

"Times up."

"Please Bobbi Jo. He always took his laptop. He never left it behind."

Bobbi Jo closed her eyes and then nodded. She remembered seeing a laptop in the coffee shop. It was resting on the floor between the men when they were at the table and when Webb had stormed out he had picked it up so naturally that she hadn’t paid conscious attention when he did.

"Okay. One last thing. Where’s Cici?"

There was real fear on the Mi Ling’s face "I swear to God, Bobbi Jo, I don't know.  She was there this afternoon and I don't know if she saw something and ran away or what."

"Go on. Get out."

"Thanks sheriff." She hurried out of the room.

Bobbi Jo wasn’t so quick to follow. She wasn’t sure what she expected. When she had talked to AJ Chegwidden on the phone she could hear his barely controlled rage in one sentence, "What the hell have the two of them gone and done." Then when she had described the situation fully and advised that they liked Webb for it, he had said tartly, "Not after all these years he didn’t." Had he known they were lovers and had just embraced the "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell" motto of Bill Clinton? Were they really lovers like everyone seemed to think? Or was she jumping to conclusions?

Part 2

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