Blind Tiger by Sandra Brown

“When was this?”

“Oh, it’s Thatcher now?”

Davy spoke over his brother, but Laurel addressed Mike’s question. “That was Thatcher’s purpose for coming here the night you saw him in the yard. He cautioned me about Landry. I didn’t take him seriously. I should have. Croft made it clear that he and Landry are committed to squashing the Johnsons.”

“Do they realize how many Johnsons there are?” Davy asked. “They’re like cockroaches.”

Musing aloud, Laurel said, “I wouldn’t be surprised if Croft’s and Landry’s operation isn’t just as large. They’re more discreet, but ambitious and every bit as ruthless as any Johnson. I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that they initiated all the trouble last night.”

“Exactly what did Mr. Croft propose?”

“The upshot was that he and Landry have a pool of moonshiners producing for them, and they want me to become one of them. An ‘or else’ was implied.”

“You’re not thinking of joining them?”

“Absolutely not. I haven’t worked this hard to pay middlemen ten percent. I suppose we should be flattered that they considered us enough of a threat to bother. Croft even admitted how good our liquor is and how well it sells.”

“What happened after your grandstanding?”

“They complimented me on the pie business’s expansion and left.”

Mike frowned. “I don’t like it. These men aren’t fools, Laurel. They were too dignified to go tearing down shelving looking for your stockpile of ’shine. They backed off, but they’re drawing up another plan of attack. Mark my words. Next time I doubt they’ll be so polite.”

“Then we’ve got to move our whiskey to another hiding place away from the house,” Davy said. “Safer for the whiskey, safer for Laurel.”

“That would require careful planning,” she said. “First, we have to find a place, and we can’t do that tonight. Not with the county already a powder keg. And forget delivering to Ranger tonight. It would be too risky.”

“Don’t worry about us,” Davy said. “We know to be on the lookout.”

“On the lookout for what?”

Mike smacked his twin on the side of his head. “You never could keep your friggin’ mouth shut.”

“On the lookout for what?”

Mike shot his brother a drop-dead look, then said to Laurel, “The other night, a truck loaded to the gills with whiskey was hijacked between here and Ranger. The poor bastard was dragged from his truck, blindfolded, manhandled into the woods, pushed to his knees, and told not to move or speak. He had a gun held to his head while all his whiskey was taken from his truck and put into the other vehicle.

“He never saw how many of them there were, but they made short work of it. When they were done, he thought he was dead for sure. But he was threatened with the removal of body parts a man holds dear if he was seen on that road again. He was ordered to spread the warning to anyone whose ambition was to get rich selling ’shine in the boom towns. He was left there with a drained gas tank. But he lived to tell it.”

Laurel said, “The Johnsons are hijacking now?”

Davy and Mike shared a look, then Davy said softly, “He was a Johnson.”

“Lawmen don’t terrorize,” Mike said. “They would have identified themselves, confiscated the liquor, and placed him under arrest. Had to be a competitor who plans on taking over.”

Laurel lowered herself into a chair at the kitchen table. Hearing of this on top of Thatcher’s warnings this morning, and the visit from Croft and Landry this afternoon, left her rattled. She needed time to assimilate all this and plan her next course of action. But in the meantime, people for whom she was responsible were more vulnerable than she. “Lord, I hope our stills aren’t cooking tonight. And you absolutely cannot make the trip to Ranger.”

Mike said, “We’re going.”

“I forbid it.”

“Our contact up there is waiting and watching for us,” Davy said.

“He’s not a patient man,” Mike said.

Davy added, “Neither are his thirsty customers.”

Laurel said, “Tonight they can get their whiskey from someone else.”

“One of Croft’s deliverymen would be waiting for just such an opportunity to wedge in. In which case, you’ll be handing Croft exactly what he’s after.”

Davy nodded in agreement with Mike. “That would be bad for our business.”

“So is being hijacked,” she said.

Mike placed a hand on her shoulder. “We’re making the delivery, as scheduled. Nothing to fret about. We’ve thought of a way to throw them off track.”

Davy winked.





Fifty-Two



Darkness had fallen by the time Thatcher returned to Barker’s from Pointer’s Gap. The auto garage was closed for the night. He needed to return Barker’s borrowed rifle, but he was relieved that he wouldn’t be delayed any longer than necessary.

He stabled the pinto and saw to it that he was well rewarded for his patience and endurance that afternoon. He stored the saddle and tack, went down the row of stalls to make sure that all the horses were content. Not all were. He calmed the restless ones with soft talk and stroking, then secured the stable with his own sixth sense of uneasiness.