Cold in July by Joe R. Lansdale Read Free Book Online Page A

him.
    Russel looked at his watch. “I didn’t think your boy got out
until three-forty-five.”
    I swung at him with everything I had. He rolled his head
like a boxer to avoid it, but I caught him some on the jaw and the punch was
hard enough to move his head and send his cigarette flying out of his mouth.
    I brought the left around and tried to coldcock him, but he
blocked that with his right forearm and stepped back out of range of any more
blows.
    “You hit pretty hard for a frame builder, Dane. You got to
watch dropping your shoulder and roundhousing though. Gives your punch away,
takes half the sting out.”
    “You sonofabitch,” I said.
    “Could be,” he said, and he got out a fresh cigarette and
lit it. I stood there breathing heavy as I watched him take a puff and put the
lighter back in his pocket. I watched to see if his hands were trembling. They
weren’t. But mine were.
    “Been to the cops yet? That’s what I figured you’d do. Go
straight to them. I think you’re of the opinion that I’m threatening you and
your family.”
    I wanted to tear back into him, but he’d taken my shots so
easily, I figured, sixty or not, he could mop up the parking lot with me.
    “I told you once to stay away from my family. I won’t tell
you again.”
    “Careful, Dane,” he said. “You keep threatening me like
that, I may have to lodge a complaint.”
    I walked back to my car and drove it over to the far side of
the lot and got out and walked through the side door. Once inside the glass
door, I turned to see if he was still standing there.
    He wasn’t, and the Ambassador was gone.

 
    11
     
                
    I left a message for Ann at the school, told the
receptionist to tell her everything was all right and not to worry, but to meet
Jordan and me at the police station.
    At the station, Jordan was restless and I bought him a Coke
and a package of those round peanut-butter-filled crackers. He drank some of
the Coke and used the can to mash the crackers into the table. That seemed to
bother Price. You would have thought it was his table. I didn’t make Jordan
stop.
    “Who was there first?” Price asked. “You or Russel?”
    “Russel.”
    “Did he do anything to you?”
    “No. He said he thought my son got off at three-forty-five
and I took a swing at him.”
    “Did you make contact?”
    “Yeah.”
    “Did he hit you back?”
    “No.”
    Price did the reshaping number with his hand and face again.
“You still got nothing, Mr. Dane. The worst he could be accused of is
loitering. That’s a big parking lot. He could have been planning to go in one
of the stores on the other side of it; maybe he was having a smoke before going
inside. He could try and press charges against you for taking a swing at him.
You’ve admitted yourself that you did.”
    I didn’t even feel like arguing anymore. I could see where
this was going. “For what it’s worth,” I said. “I got his license number.”
    “I’ll run a check on the computer. Give me the number. It
won’t take but a minute.”
    I gave him the number and he went away with it and came back
in about two minutes. I was watching the clock.
    “Local car rental. All legal.”
    “I guess that leaves me where I was.”
    “I’m afraid so. I know how you feel, but I can’t arrest a
man on another’s say-so. Even if the one accused is an ex-con. If we arrested
everyone that might commit a crime, the jail would be full long before
sundown.”
    “I get the picture. But you still intend to have someone
watching the house tonight?”
    “That’s right.”
    I collected Jordan and we went outside to wait on Ann.
Jordan told me a story about a little blue rabbit that could run fast, and
about five minutes later Ann drove up. I told her to follow us to our favorite
Mexican restaurant and I’d tell her the story there.
     
               · · ·
     
    Ann went through all the arguments I had given Price, and I
gave her all of Price’s arguments back.