Page 41 of Left Behind

“Hey, Louis! My usual,” he yelled.

Louis waved to indicate he’d heard and came back carrying a dark ale in a longneck bottle and a bowl of pretzels.

“Hey, Gus. How’s the family?” Louis asked.

“Good. My oldest boy cut himself on some glass. He took a shortcut through the woods on his way back to the house and tripped and fell on it. Four stitches. We reckon it was from that wrecked car up there by Cameron’s place.”

“Sorry to hear that,” Louis said. “I’ll say something to Cameron. He’ll want to get that cleaned up.”

Gus nodded. “Yeah, I heard him and that big dog of his found the driver. That dog’s something. I remember when Cameron and Ghost tracked down that man who took your Lili.”

Louis nodded. “That was a nightmare we won’t soon forget.” Then he glanced at Junior. “They’re bringing your order out now.”

“Thanks,” Junior said, and as soon as the bartender moved away, Junior leaned back to let the server deliver his food, took a bite, and then moaned in delight. “Dang, these are good.”

Gus glanced at him and nodded. “Yeah, they do good stuff here.”

It was Junior’s opening. “I couldn’t help but overhear what you said about your son. Hope he’s gonna be okay.”

“Oh sure. Kids are resilient.”

“Right,” Junior said. “So, there was a wreck, and a body was recovered? How sad.”

“Oh, she ain’t dead. They just found her.”

Junior’s heart sank, but he plastered on a smile. “Oh my God! A miracle. And right here in this hospital! Amazing.”

Gus nodded. “They happen now and then.”

Junior was in shock. Daddy wasn’t going to like this one bit. He sat there eating his nachos, knowing he wasn’t going to have time to get that funnel cake after all. This was stuff Daddy needed to know now. He finished his food, waved two twenties at Louis, gave him a thumbs-up, and walked out.

Chapter 7

Louis picked up the money and then glanced at Gus Walters. “Saw you talking to that dude who just left. What were you saying?”

Gus shrugged. “He just heard me talking about my boy, asked if he was okay, and how sad it was about the wreck and a dead body being found.”

Louis stilled. He already knew through the family that they had purposefully not made mention of this in any of the papers for a reason.

“And…?” Louis asked.

“Oh, I just said she wasn’t dead when they found her.”

Louis’s skin crawled. “What did he say?”

“Something about it being a miracle, then he finished eating and left.”

“Oh, yeah, a real miracle,” Louis said. “Give me a nod if you want a refill.”

“I’m good. I’m gonna quit with the one and get on home,” Gus said, and put some money on the bar. “My best to Rachel and Lili.”

“Thanks,” Louis said. He took the bills to the register, paid them with the money that had been left, put the change in the tip jar, then glanced up at the security cameras to see which ones were aimed at the far end of the bar.

A couple of minutes later, the next shift arrived, readying for the evening rush, and Louis clocked out, then went to the back room and called the police station, asking to speak to Sonny Warren. As soon as Sonny answered, Louis began to explain.

“Chief, it may be nothing, and it may be something, but I just had a stranger at the bar who fed me a line and then began questioning me about Pope Mountain, and people getting lost up there, and how scary it would be to get eaten by a wild animal. I got busy, and then Gus Walters came in and sat down beside him at the bar. I’m taking Gus’s order, and he tells me about his oldest boy taking a shortcut across Cameron’s land and falling on some glass from that wreck and having to have stitches. I walk off. See the dude head-to-head with Gus, then he pays and leaves. I ask Gus what they were talking about. Gus told him about the driver’s body being found in the woods and now the man knows the driver is alive. As soon as he found that out, he left.”

Sonny’s skin crawled. “Tell me he’s on your security footage.”

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