Between the Living and the Dead by Bill Crider Page B

might have to if the paramedics couldn’t find them. Earl was too heavy for two people to try to move anyway. The paramedics would have a stretcher, and four people could carry Earl out of the woods. Even with four, it wouldn’t be easy.
    Rhodes walked over to a hickory tree and leaned back against the trunk. If any nuts had ever fallen from the tree, they were gone now. Hogs would have eaten them.
    After Rhodes had been standing under the tree for about ten minutes, he heard someone coming through the trees. He was still holding the Kel-Tec, just in case, and stood quietly, concealed by the trunk of the hickory tree.
    Buddy walked right past the tree and stopped when he saw Earl lying on the ground.
    â€œHe’s alive,” Rhodes said.
    Buddy twitched, but he didn’t panic. He turned around and said, “You sure are sneaky, Sheriff.”
    â€œI don’t mean to be,” Rhodes said, and returned the pistol to its place.
    â€œIt’s okay,” Buddy said. “Good thing I’m not the nervous type.” He looked down at Earl. “What’d you do to Earl?”
    â€œWasn’t me,” Rhodes said. “Hogs.”
    Buddy kicked a clod of dirt. “Should’ve known that, the way the ground’s torn up. He alive?”
    â€œFor now. What about Louie?”
    â€œLouie?” Buddy gave a short laugh. “I haven’t seen hide nor hair of him. That scutter might be in Dallas or Houston or Timbuktu by now for all I know.”
    â€œWe’ll get him,” Rhodes said.
    â€œMaybe he’ll come visit Earl in the hospital.”
    â€œAnd maybe I’ll win the lottery this week.”
    â€œYou buy a ticket?” Buddy asked.
    â€œNope.”
    â€œDidn’t think so. You don’t hold with gambling, since you put those eight-liners out of business.”
    â€œDidn’t think much of it before that, either,” Rhodes said. “Those eight-liners weren’t legal anyway, not the way they were being run.”
    â€œI know that,” Buddy said. “Just pulling your leg.”
    Just as Rhodes suspected. Everybody, including Buddy, had been hanging around Hack and Lawton too much.
    Buddy looked away from Rhodes, back in the direction of the pasture. “You hear that?”
    Rhodes listened and nodded.
    â€œGuess it’s the ambulance,” Buddy said.
    Rhodes wished he could believe that, but he didn’t. “I don’t think so. I think Louie’s doubled back and gotten his truck started.”
    â€œDang. You want me to go after him?”
    â€œNo use,” Rhodes said. “He’ll be long gone by the time you could get there.”
    â€œNow he sure enough’ll be headed to Dallas or Houston.”
    â€œOr Timbuktu,” Rhodes said.
    â€œYeah. That’s in Africa, right?”
    â€œWherever it is, we’ll get him.”
    â€œThat’s what you told me before,” Buddy said.
    â€œI still mean it,” Rhodes said, pulling out his cell phone. He called Lawton and told him to put out an BOLO on Louie.
    â€œYou get the license number of the truck?” Hack asked.
    â€œI didn’t think I’d need it,” Rhodes said.
    â€œYou ever a Boy Scout?”
    â€œâ€˜Be Prepared.’ I know.”
    â€œKnowin’ ain’t doin’,” Hack said. “We can get a license number from the records, though. Take a little longer, but not much since Mika’s here.”
    Hack was impressed with Mika’s computer skills, among other things. He’d been suspicious of having a female deputy when Ruth Grady had joined the department, but he’d been won over quickly. He thought highly of Ruth, and he’d admired Mika’s skills from the first.
    â€œShe’s workin’ on some fingerprints,” Hack said, “but she can take time to get that plate number. What happened to Earl?”
    â€œHe tried to run away,” Rhodes said. “Went