Spencerville

less Terry knew, the better.
    Annie’s letter.
He didn’t have to read between the lines—it was all there in her own words. She was disappointed, perhaps hurt. She was concerned about his safety. She didn’t want to be a burden to him. He took all this at face value. What she wanted from him was a reassurance that it was still okay—the trip to Washington was nothing to be concerned about, Cliff Baxter didn’t worry him, she wasn’t a burden, she lifted his spirits.
    Still, she asked him to wait, and no doubt she meant it. Even if he wanted to wait, which he didn’t, Cliff Baxter’s actions were unpredictable.
She had a bad week with him.
    He recalled what Gail had told him about a firearm incident at the Baxter house, and it occurred to him, not for the first time, that Annie was going to kill her husband. He couldn’t let that happen. It didn’t have to happen. But if it was going to happen, she’d wait until Keith Landry was gone, so Keith had some time to make sure it didn’t happen. If Keith had played his cards right with Terry, she’d tell Annie that Keith Landry was going to leave, and, by the looks of him, he might not be back. That may have been a little manipulative, he admitted, but it was necessary. “All’s fair in love and war.” Maybe not all, but a lot.
    He crossed the line into Spencer County, and, within twenty minutes, he was in Spencerville. He drove past Annie’s house on Williams Street, but there was no car in the driveway. He went downtown and stopped at the bank, hitting the cash machine for the maximum, which was four hundred dollars in these parts. He drove around town for a while, but didn’t see her white Lincoln.
    Keith headed out of town, got on Highway 22, and stopped at Arles’s self-service gas station.
    Keith got out and pumped.
    Bob Arles ambled out of his office and waved to him. “How you doin’?”
    Keith replied, “Fine. How about you?”
    “Okay.” Bob Arles walked over to Keith. “Got yourself a new Blazer.”
    “Sure did.”
    “Like it?”
    “I do.”
    “You got rid of that other thing?”
    “Made a chicken coop out of it.”
    Arles laughed, then asked him, “Hey, did Chief Baxter ever look you up?”
    Keith glanced at Arles and said, “He stopped by last week.”
    “Yeah, he said he might. I told him you was in here one day.”
    “Thanks.” Keith finished pumping and put the nozzle back. He and Arles went into the office, and Keith paid for the gas. Keith inquired, “Does he come in here much?”
    Bob Arles’s expression changed. “Well… he did. We get a lot of city and county business here. But… uh… we had some problems.”
    “I think I might have heard about that.”
    “Yeah… a lot of people heard about that.”
    Keith went through the door into the convenience store, and Bob Arles followed him. There was no one behind the counter, and Keith asked, “Where is Mrs. Arles?”
    “She’s away for a while.” He added, “I guess you know why, if you know about that church meeting out by Overton.”
    “But why did Mrs. Arles leave?”
    “Uh… well… I guess she felt kinda… maybe a little nervous after she went and shot her mouth off.”
    “Was she telling the truth?”
    “Hell, no. I mean, you got to give a little to get a little in this here world. Women don’t understand how business is done.” Arles shook his head and added, “The chief and his cousin, Don Finney, who’s the sheriff, came in here and told me they was gonna get the city and the county to switch accounts to someplace else. You know how much of my business that is? I’ll tell ya. Damned near fifty percent. You know what’s gonna happen now? I’m out. Because she shot off her damned mouth.”
    “So you don’t see Chief Baxter anymore?”
    “Oh, he comes in, just like he used to, ’cause this is where the city has to charge it until the city council changes it. But he don’t say much to me, and what he says ain’t nice.” Arles added, “He says he got a bone to pick with Mary. I told him he won’t be seeing her around here for a while.”
    “Does he still help himself to whatever he wants?”
    “Hey, he never did that. He always paid. And if I wanted to give him a few things to munch on, so what?”
    Keith threw a few items on the counter, things to tide him over for the weekend. Arles went behind the counter and rang up the items.
    Keith said, “I’m leaving Spencer County. Monday.”
    “Yeah? For good?”
    “Yes. No work