Redemption Mountain by Gerry FitzGerald Page B

before the M.E. gets up here.” He pulled Natty closer. Her left hand tried to push his hand away, with no effect.
    Lester leaned in toward Natty’s face and did his best to affect a soft, intimate tone. “And I know you could use a little lovin’, Nat, stuck with that shit-heel wife-beating husband of yours.”
    â€œLester, stop this right now!” Natty yelled.
    He nuzzled her neck as Natty turned away. “How is old Bucko these days? I hear he’s back to visitin’ that big gal up in Northfork again. Just can’t stay away from her, I guess. You hear that, Nat?”
    Natty stopped struggling. Lester had given her the means to escape. “Lester, you take this any further than it’s already gone, then I’m going to have to go home and tell my husband everything that’s happened here. And what do you think Buck Oakes will do after I tell him Wayne Lester tried to rape his wife?” She could feel a slight relaxing of his grip on her shoulder.
    â€œAw, fuck you, Natty.” Lester got off the couch. “I ain’t afraid of Buck.” But Lester didn’t sound convincing as he gathered up his notebook and tape recorder. “Plus, he’s still on probation. Get in big trouble, assaultin’ a law enforcement officer,” he added. “But I guess I made a mistake here. Just takin’ a shot, Nat, you know, hoping that … Well, you can take off now.”
    â€œOkay, Lester, that’s good. You made a little misjudgment is all,” Natty offered, as she straightened out her clothes.
    The deputy looked relieved. “Thanks, Nat. Got a little carried away for a minute. You’re lookin’ real good these days, Nat, so I was just hoping, you know.”
    Natty smiled, trying to ease the large man’s embarrassment. “Thanks, Lester. But I am a married woman.” She was relieved the episode was over. Buck didn’t need any trouble with Wayne Lester. And she didn’t need any trouble with him, either, as he served on the county’s youth sports coaches board, which supervised the soccer coaches.
    Natty walked past Lester into the bedroom and said goodbye to her friend Birdie. She squeezed Birdie’s hand, then picked up the Pensacola picture and stuffed it into her pocket. She wanted a remembrance of Birdie, and her friend’s last image of life on earth seemed as fitting as anything else.
    In the hallway, she stopped to pick up her equipment bag. “Now I got to go, Lester. Take care of Birdie for me.” She left the grocery bag where it was on the counter and went out the front door. He followed her onto the porch.
    â€œSo, we’re okay, Nat, right? You ain’t going to say nothin’ about … You ain’t saying nothing to Buck?”
    Natty turned her head to reply as she walked to her car. “We’re okay, Lester. Take care of Birdie. I’ll see you.” She put her case in the backseat. But there was something else hanging over her now, something she couldn’t leave without knowing. She stood with her hands on the top of the open door and looked back at Lester. “Wayne, what you said in there, about that woman in Northfork. You just bringing up old news, or you knowin’ something?”
    The deputy gazed off into the distance, a new toothpick bobbing between his teeth. “Well, Nat, I can’t personally vouch for anything, but, you know, cops hear lots of stuff; some true, some ain’t.” He looked back at Natty. “So, maybe there’s nothin’ to it at all.”
    Natty gave Lester a brief nod of understanding. She turned the Honda around in the tall weeds in front of the house and drove past the white police cruiser, feeling as alone as she had in a long time.
    She ran out of gas a mile from Oakes Hollow. Natty sighed, then had to laugh at what was such a fitting end to the day. She pulled off her white nursing shoes and knee-high