Page 50 of Small Town Hunter

“That’s sad.”

“Yep. Not long after he was supposedly healed, he got busted for stealing pills. Painkillers. Morphine. A bunch of other shit. Worst of all, he was dealing to other Privates.”

She’s quiet, watching me.

“To make a long story short, they decided that despite his pedigree, or maybe because of it, they had to make an example of him. So he was court martialed, sent home, and his family disowned him. I tried to find him after that, but he dropped off the face of the earth. And I was still on tour.”

“Do you think he blamed you for getting hurt?”

“No. He wasn’t that kind of man. If anything he blamed himself.” Now for the rest of it. “Once I got back home out of nowhere Zacky called me up. He tells me he married a girl from high school– Jess. And she’s pregnant. We get back in touch, he seems like he’s doing alright…he’s doing construction, getting paid…Happy about the kid…”

Trina’s eyes soften with pity.

“Not long after Jess gave birth to their daughter, Zacky overdosed. Turned out he never kicked the habit. While he was in the hospital, he asked me to forgive him. Nobody came to see him. Nobody cared. I gave him my word that I would take care of his kid no matter what. He had no one, Trina.”

“Oh, Crash, that was so—”

“Please don’t,” I cut her off.

I don’t want pity orI’m sorry– not from her. “Just telling you the facts.”

“So your wife…Jessica?” Trina says, picking up quickly.

I nod. “I got military benefits. She and Ruby would be set for life. What I didn’t know was that Jessica was picking up where Zacky left off with the drug habit. That was how they met.”

“Oh,” says Trina, wide-eyed.

“Because of that, Ruby wasn’t born healthy, and then when I found out, shit basically hit the fan. I offered to pay for Jess’s rehab, but she wasn’t interested. She started taking Ruby and running off. I’d call the police, they’d say I needed a court order. I put in a court order, it went nowhere. Jess’s daddy is a Judge. He daddy offered me ten thousand dollars to let the whole thing drop and give up Ruby as a ward of the state.”

I told that pompous bastard where he could put his ten thousand dollars, but I don’t tell Trina that.

“Didn’t Zacky’s family want anything to do with the baby?” Trina asks in horror.

“They tried, but Jess won’t cooperate. I keep in touch with them sometimes. They never much liked Jess and they seem to think of Ruby as a painful obligation.”

“That poor baby girl.”

“I know. I need the money for court, to get Ruby away from her mother. That’s why I’m out here — uh — working.”

Trina bites her lip. “Can I see her?”

“Ruby? Sure.” I show Trina a few pictures.

“She’s mixed!” Trina exclaims.

“Yeah. Zacky was Black.”

“Oh…wow.” Trina sighs. “What a cute little girl. Is she with her mama now?”

“Unfortunately,” I admit. “I didn’t have a choice. There’s not much I could do short of kidnapping. I just need to make sure Ruby is okay. Everything else is secondary. That’s why our little adventure…” I take her hand. “You understand, darlin’?”

Trina stares down at our linked hands. The light of a red sunset glows on her small face through the window. When she looks up, she’s composed. “You’re right— you should go back and make sure the baby is okay,” she says firmly.

She takes a deep breath. “I can make my own way.”

Our waitress passes our table with a mango margarita in a glass damn near the size of a bucket. “Excuse me, what is that?” Trina asks her, pulling her hand gently from mine.

“Mango marg, honey. You want one?” says the waitress, looking at me.

---