Page 29 of Small Town Beast 2: Saverin’s Duet (Sins of the South)

THIRTEEN

LORRIE

Saverin caught his girl up easily in his arms. “Is there somewhere she can take a lie-down?” He growled to Absalom. “She hasn’t had anything to eat or drink all day.”

“You can take her home,” nodded Absalom. “I appreciate your coming, Bailey, and I hope there won’t be any hard feelings.”

“I have business with Hiram,” Saverin snarled.

“Hiram will be dealt with. You have my word.”

But Saverin dug his heels in. “He took something off my girl and I’ll be wanting it back.”

“Ah,” said Absalom. “She mentioned something about a wallet.” He checked his watch and then turned to Lorrie with an unreadable expression. Absalom wasn’t one to show his hand, but Lorrie’s suspicion that he had something planned for Hiram and his posse deepened as he said calmly,

“Lorraine, I want you to go with Saverin to the West Wing. The room with the green door. I’m sure Saverin knows the way. You can stay there with Tanya for a minute, right?”

“Are you sure, Abi?”

“I’ll be a few hours down here, and when Tanya wakes up she’ll want company. Y’all two seemed to get along. Fair?”

“Alright.” Absalom kissed her on the top of her head and pressed a key into her hands before gesturing to his right-hand man, Shadrac. “Bailey’s taking his girl to have a rest, and some food. They’re staying in the West Wing. Make sure nobody bothers them,” he instructed.

“It’s nearly eight o’ clock,” said Shadrac.

“Yeah,” said Absalom, meeting his Second’s eye. “I’m aware of that. Bailey? You know the way through this house better than we do. I’ll leave you to it.”

Saverin gave Absalom a deeply suspicious look, but considering that Absalom had offered him a chance to go home, he accepted the offer with a grunt of thanks.

“What about the old woman?” Crash pointed out, irked. “I am not taking her back to my house. My daughter is there and I’ve baby-sat this psychotic bat all goddamned day. Saverin, she’s your problem.”

“I want to go home,” Tanya’s mother protested, throwing herself at Absalom’s mercy. “These dirty devils kidnapped me!”

Absalom raised an eyebrow.

“Tanya’s got a score to settle with her,” said Saverin. At her name, Tanya murmured and shifted in his arms.

“I can’t go off giving off bedrooms to your mother-in-law, Bailey. My men worked hard tonight and they need good sleep. Can’t she stay upstairs with your girl?”

“Absolutely not.”

“The old gardener’s house, maybe. It’s got a bed in there,” Absalom suggested.

“It’s also got mice,” said Shadrac.

Absalom looked at Saverin.

“Good,” said Saverin.

Lorrie always been in awe of Saverin Bailey, and as they walked through the dark halls of the house she struggled for conversation. Luckily he spoke first. “So you and Absalom?”

“Yes. We’re getting married.”

“What does his wife think of that?”

“She asked him for an annulment. He only married her to get support from the Snatch Hills.”

“I hope he treats you right.”

Lorrie laughed, rubbing the diamond ring with the tip of her left thumb. “I said the same thing to your girl.”

“Tanya has been through a lot. No thanks to Absalom.”

“I’m very sorry. Abi can be really relentless when he wants something.”

“We have that in common I guess.”

“Where are we?” Mumbled Tanya.

“We’re almost there, darlin’. Lorrie, do you have the keys?”

“Right here.” Lorrie unlocked the room with the great skeleton key.

The scent of cedar and a fainter odor of lemon oil washed over the three.

The room was the master bedroom of the house: a thick door, made of solid oak, opening to a space that was nearly half the size of Absalom’s trailer.

Lorrie’s jaw dropped at the furniture and a lavish oil painting of Florin above the bed, set into a hardwood frame.

The paneling on the walls was a deep green, darkening the room significantly.

Lorrie swept her cellphone flashlight over it all, impressed by the lush carpet and armchair, the giant TV and more oil paintings of scenes from Florin.

It was a beautiful, cozy-looking room. Under the cedar and lemon oil was another scent, like a woman’s hair product, but very faint.

She had never seen a space so fine. “Amazing,” she breathed.

Absalom had indeed planned to retire here tonight. There was a covered dish next to the bed with a pitcher of water. Saverin laid Tanya out in the enormous bed. “Lock the door after me, Lorraine. Tell Tanya I’ll be up directly.”

“You’re headed back down? I know she’d feel better if you were here when she woke up.”

“I need to help Absalom get a handle on some things. Ah…don’t leave this room.” Saverin then did something strange. He knelt down next to the bed and fiddled with something there. A drawer hissed open. Lorrie caught the flash of gunmetal; Saverin put the weapon in his pocket.

“I don’t know about any others,” he told Lorrie, shaking his finger at her. “Roman’s probably got dozens all over this house. This is just one he showed me, alright? Before you go yapping to Absalom.”

“Ha. Be careful with that,” said Lorrie nervously. She knew Absalom would have never let Saverin in here with her if there was a secret gun under the bed only Saverin knew about.

“Roman’s a sly fox,” Saverin said, hunting in the drawer for bullets, which he found. He was polite enough not to load the gun inside the room

“So is Abi.”

“Yeah, well I knew Roman better than most of his brothers. He’s always got a plan B, C, D, E, and F. I reckon the only reason your man took this house was because Roman let him.”

“Never underestimate Absalom.”

“We’ll see.”

“What do you need that gun for?”

“Lock the door, Lorrie.”

Lorrie locked it behind him. She sighed deeply as his footsteps faded down the hall, muffled by the heavy thickness of the door.

Behind her, deep inside the room, a light turned on.

Lorrie spun in a flash, but the stranger was there, standing next to the bed and bearing down with his gun. Her jaw dropped. There was nowhere to run. He had her.

“Easy,” the man said. Very much older than she remembered, with threads of gray in his curly hair.

But he’d had it all shaved close to the scalp when she knew him.

Lorrie, like most women, had always been terrified of Roman McCall.

He was a giant, a freak of nature who rarely spoke, and whose displeasure brought ugly consequences.

Of all at the Harvest he’d been one of the hardest workers, and a right hand to his father, Duke, despite his mixed blood.

He never bought her candy but had always greeted her with politeness. So much time had passed since then.

“Sit,” he said.

She sat on the edge of the bed. Hard.

“Don’t bother screaming,” he said. “No sound passes through this door whatsoever.”

“W-w-what do you want?”

Roman smiled. “The girl sitting in my bedroom asks me what I want? Take it easy. I don’t want a damned thing from you, Sweet Lorraine.”

“Well, why are you creeping up on us like this?”

“Again, you’re in my bedroom.”

“You know what I mean!” she shrilled, looking down at Tanya, who was somehow fast asleep.

“I was expecting Absalom,” Roman admitted.

Oh, no. Lorrie’s heart nearly stopped. She stared at the gun. “Were you the one who put the bomb on his truck?”

“Yes.”

Her breath came in bursts. “P-please don’t kill him. He only wants what’s best for everybody. He’s not a bad man. He—”

“Spare me.”

Lorrie shut up at once. Roman cast a curious eye over her from top to bottom.

“You’ve grown up since last I saw you,” he said.

“I was surprised you cast your lot in with Absalom, of all people. Saverin’s brother used to have a thing for you.

” His eyes went tight at the corners. “I always hoped he’d have the courage to tell you. Sam…”

“Sam Bailey didn’t like black people. I wouldn’t have anything to do with him,” Lorrie said. “I won’t speak ill of the dead and he was nice to me, but that’s the truth of it.”

“Interesting how it all worked out,” mused Roman. “Absalom didn’t seem like a hero to the downtrodden, in my estimation. Just your average Green Tree roughneck, I thought. Strong arms. Weak minds. Then all of a sudden he’s running around talking like Karl Marx.”

“Who?”

“Nevermind.” Roman laughed to himself. “Just like you told Saverin— he ain’t one to be underestimated. But I guess he never talked much back then. It’s always the silent ones.”

“What do you want from us?”

“I brought something for your man.” Roman gestured to a chair in the corner of the room. Slowly Lorrie walked over and picked it up. It seemed like a package of documents.

“What is this?” she whispered.

“Terms and conditions,” said Roman. “I’ll let him have what he wants, if he gives me what I want.”

“Which is what?”

“Eternal peace and quiet. Everything else…I’ve parted with already.” He looked around the room as if committing it all to memory one last time.

“How did you get up here?” Lorrie blurted, thinking ahead. If Roman was able to move through the house undetected, then Absalom could never be safe here.

“I built this house,” Roman answered dryly.

“Don’t fret. Your man won’t have nothing to fear from me as long as he keeps up his end.

It’s all in that little packet. Make sure he reads it.

I guess he already found the bomb, so he’s a step up already.

” He looked down at Tanya sleeping on the bed.

“Saverin…I never would have thought,” he muttered.

And it seemed to Lorrie as if he smiled to himself, a wry, sad smile.

“Goodbye, Sweet Lorraine,” he said. He walked past her and opened the door she had just locked.

Then he stepped into the hallway quietly, shutting it behind him.