chapter 22
MOON PIE WAS driving as he and Levi headed south from Columbus. They were listening to a CD of Hank Williams Jr.’s greatest hits.
Levi knew something was going to happen tonight. Moon Pie always used Hank to get himself worked up for a job, like an athlete pumping up before a game. Levi searched for something to talk about. He saw an envelope on the dash and grabbed it.
“See that FedEx logo?” Levi asked.
“Yeah, I’m not blind.”
“But do you see the arrow in the logo?”
“The what?”
Levi held up the envelope so Moon Pie could see it better, “In the second E. The arrow that’s pointing to the right?”
“Huh? Yeah, I see it.”
“Pretty creative, ain’t it?”
“You notice some weird shit, man.”
Levi wanted to ask where they were meeting the drug drop but decided to keep quiet for a while. He was just happy to be around Moon Pie and even happier to be out of jail. Full of nervous energy, he checked the glove box and console for pistols. He found several and worked the actions of the different semiautomatics, admiring their precision. One had laser grips, which fascinated him. When he held it in firing position, the red laser turned on, reflecting off the windshield.
“Those are sweet, huh?” Moon Pie offered as more of a comment than a question.
“Hell yeah. I’m guessin’ that anybody that’s got that red dot on their chest gets an immediate attitude adjustment.”
“If they’re looking at you, they immediately know the deal. But if you’re at a distance and it’s daylight and they don’t know you’re there…they may not see the dot. That’s frustrating,” Moon Pie stated flatly, with firsthand knowledge.
“If you ever saw it, though, it’d scare the shit outta ya!”
“That’s what I thought. Once while I was hid in the woods where the guy that killed Reese lives, I saw him messing around with some duck decoys in the back of his truck. Anyway, I was about seventy-five yards out, and I lasered him in the chest, hoping he’d see it and freak out…but he never did.”
“Maybe he’s color-blind?”
“Could be. I think he just didn’t notice it. I wanna kill him bad, but I gotta wait. I’ve been screwin’ with him off and on for a while, but some things I think he notices and others I don’t know.”
“Like what?”
“Just subtle shit that would mess with his mind. I’ve rubbed streaks of blood on his truck windows a couple times.”
“He had to see that.”
“Ya’d think. I mailed him an article about that night from the newspaper, and I burned the edges.”
“Is it gettin’ to be time to keep your promise to Reese?”
“Maybe. Patience pays, Grasshoppar. Besides, I want that sumbitch to suffer—mentally, you know?” Moon Pie’s eyes were fixed on the road ahead. “I’m not in a rush. I haven’t decided just how I’m gonna do it. Kill him…kill his wife…take the kid…kill him and the kid and then take his hot wife for a while? I ain’t done anything just yet because I know I’ll be the first on the cops’ short list of suspects. I ain’t as stupid as you look.”
“Low under the radar’s good,” Levi commented as he watched some headlights behind them. They’d been back there for a while, and paranoia was creeping in. They were driving on a desolate two-lane road that went down the west side of the Tombigbee River toward Aliceville, Alabama.
“We got company,” Moon Pie said. “Don’t turn around. Use the side mirror. They’ve been followin’ us since Columbus.”
Moon Pie’s heavily modified black Toyota FJ Cruiser had every accessory Toyota offered, plus a Warn winch, KC HiLites, and Buckshot radial mudders. It was quiet, almost impossible to get stuck in the mud, and very easy to maneuver—an outlaw’s dream machine. In the rear, hanging under the trailer hitch, was a set of red Truck Nutz that looked like giant bull testicles. Moon Pie smiled every time he saw them.
“Who you think it is?” Levi asked.
“That’s a stupid question. It’s the law. Gotta be. We don’t need ’em—not tonight with this drop and especially not tomorrow.”
“Whatcha gonna do?”
“Text Smitty and tell him tonight’s meet’s off. Tell him we got company.”
Levi’s thumbs went into action. He could text faster than he could talk.
“We’ll head to Aliceville and figure out if it’s the law actually followin’ us.”
“Then what?”
Moon Pie was growing aggravated with the questions. “That’ll depend on them,” Moon Pie said, jerking his thumb toward the car behind them.