Tribes of Time, page 5
“He’s usually out there by 3:30 and done by this time. He likes to get things done before the sun gets too hot.” Haines began to rise and head for the door to go see if he could be of any assistance to Cyrus, the least he could do for such a breakfast prepared for him.
“Where you going? Just sit right there and Cyrus will be along.”
“I was going to see if he needed any help.” Haines replied. Ella looked him up and down and shook her head. She could tell the most laborious work Haines had done was probably office work, his hands were too manicured.
“You ever slopped hogs or milked cows?” Ella asked Haines.
“Not in the last 30 years I haven’t, but I’m sure it’s just like riding a bike.” Ella broke out in a real belly laugh at that response.
“And when was the last time you rode a bike, 30 years?” They both broke out in laughter and Haines realized he wasn’t going to win this battle of words. Just then the back door creaked then slammed shut. Cyrus walked onto the screened back porch, stopped his feet and stepped into the kitchen.
“While I was out there working hard, I could hear y’all in here having yourselves a good old time.” Cyrus walked over to the sink and washed his hands, then dried them with a dish towel draped over the goose neck faucet.
“We were just talking about Haney going out there to help you with the chores; he thinks he’s a country boy after one day.”
“If you’re that interested in helping round the farm, we can castrate some boars later.” Cyrus said, and he and Ella enjoyed another raucous laugh; Haines just sat there smiling and feigning that his feelings were hurt. The three ate breakfast and conversed about how things have changed since they were young, and how kids nowadays don’t have any manners or respect for their elders. Haines related how many of his students didn’t possess any social skills and their main avenue of communication was through electronic devices; even if they were in the same room with the person they were texting. Eventually the conversation turned to what needed to be done today. Haines started out by saying they should ride into town and speak with the Sheriff, and see what he knows or if he knew anything at all. He then asked where the Davies kids were. He was informed they were staying with relatives in North Clackalacky, South Carolina for the summer break.
Haines had processed what needed to be done for damage control. He figured they would initially deny any wrong doing, but if they were cornered, and evidence could irrefutably prove they were the culprits; he would assume all of the blame. He sat down with Cyrus and Ella and explained his plan in extensive detail. Haines did not want the Davies immersed in a legal mess nor did he want them to leave two young boys without a father. In the worst case scenario, he would be arrested and convicted, but at least he would not be abandoning a family.
“That sounds good to me, but I don’t like it how you’re gonna takes all of the blame if we get caught; I shot two of them.” Cyrus said to Haines as he was looking out of the kitchen window.
“That part is not up for discussion or debate. The rest can be adjusted as the need arises; just as long as the main portion of our alibi stays similar.” Haines reached across the table and grabbed Ella’s hand; he knew she feared for her family and husband.
“Miss Ella I need your help in keeping Cyrus grounded with the decision I’ve made. I have less to lose and to be honest; I initiated the shooting of those men.”
“He heard what you’re saying; Cyrus is just a proud man and doesn’t know how to express his feelings. I know he will follow your advice, but it will cause him some sleepless nights.” All three sat silently for a while watching the sun creep over the horizon. The low lying fog was receding back into the tree line as the temperature rose. It was quite soothing; yet carried with it a foreboding feeling.
“Well let me get the truck ready and we can go into town to get that belt for you, then we can go over to see the Sheriff.” Cyrus walked out the back door and began to remove the clutter from the passenger floorboard; which he generally used as a makeshift depository for trash that accumulated throughout the day. As he was cleaning out the truck he got a jolting revelation that his clothing was still left out at the crime scene. As he was moving the trash he discovered that his wallet was not on the seat. He usually takes out his wallet and places it on the seat while he drives; he does this to reduce the pressure on his sciatic nerve. He quickly removed the remaining trash and went to find Haines.
He found Haines sitting with Ella on the front porch enjoying a cup of Sassafras tea. “We have a problem, a big problem.” Cyrus said as he stepped up on the porch. Both Haines and Ella looked at him with definite concern.
“We talked about this already, are you having second thoughts?” Haines inquired.
“Nah suh I haven’t, but there’s another situation that we need be fixin’.” Cyrus then began to tell them what he believed happened.
“When they stopped me on the Interstate and pulled me out of the truck, I think my wallet was dropped on the ground. They pulled me across the seat from the passenger side, while I fought them like hell.” Haines thought about this for a minute and surmised that the wallet could’ve been deposited on the ground and the men didn’t see it in the commotion. He thought the first thing they need to do is go back to the spot where Cyrus was first accosted.
“Okay then, we can postpone going into town until we retrieve your wallet. Can you remember exactly where you were stopped?”
“Yeah I can, it was just past the Sycamore.” Haines and Cyrus walked out of the door and jumped into the truck. They took off down the lane and made a right onto the Interstate. Both men were having their own racing thoughts of what could happen if the wallet was found in the same area as the bodies.
“We have to get there before anyone else does, then go into town to see the Sheriff. Did you burn the clothes you were wearing already?” Haines asked Cyrus as he was scanning the roadway for any other vehicles.
“Yeah I did last night out in the burn pit. Everybody knows I burn rubbish at night after cleaning the pasture.” Haines thought to himself that it was a smart move, to maintain a sense of normalcy. If it had seemed out of the ordinary for Cyrus to be burning at night the Sheriff would definitely hone in on that. Cyrus’ truck rounded a bend in the roadway in the vicinity of his attack. He slowed his vehicle and pointed to a large Sycamore tree about two hundred yards away.
“Right up there by that big tree.” The roadway was void of any other vehicles, so Cyrus pulled off the road into opposing traffic and stopped the truck. Both men jumped out without wasting time in closing the doors.
“What color is your wallet?”
“It’s a long black leather wallet, the kind you use for checkbooks.” The shoulder of the road dropped off rather abruptly, and then meshed into weeds and thistles. Both men took different directions and were walking side to side looking into the brush. Haines pushed aside a bramble bush and caught the glimpse of silver. He reached down and pulled on a silver chain; which was attached to a black wallet. He picked it up, and opened it to see if it was Cyrus’ or just another discarded wallet. Once he opened the wallet he saw a Tennessee Driver’s License with the likeness of Cyrus.
“I GOT IT! Let’s get out of here.” Haines blurted to Cyrus.
“Wait we gotta get my clothes too. You wait here and I’ll be right back.” Cyrus then took off trotting into the tree line along the slough to where he was disrobed. He saw his clothing in a crumpled pile. When he picked them up he could still smell the strong odor of ammonia from being urinated on. He turned around and ran back to the truck. Once he got into the truck, he reversed headings and sped for home.
“I thought we were going into town to speak with the Sheriff?” Haines asked.
“We are right after we burn these clothes.” Just as Cyrus’ truck rounded a blind corner out of view, the caravan of Vernon and his men pulled up and spread out along the Interstate in the vicinity they had just vacated. The men exited their vehicles and walked in the direction of Vernon’s cruiser. Once the crew had assembled around him, Vernon began reiterating their plan.
“Aw’right y’all, remember to keep your distance of two arm lengths across as we search this sector. If y’all see something don’t touch it, just mark it with the yellow ribbon tape. Once we visually clear this area we’ll bring the dogs through”. Vernon reached into his back pocket and removed his pack of Red Man Chewing tobacco. He reached in and took a four finger pinch, rolled it into a ball and placed in his left cheek. He took a few chomps on it to get it moist and the juices flowing. As he stood there watching his men disperse, he raised his right hand and pushed up on the brim of his Stetson; placing it so it sat back on his forehead. He then walked over to Deputy Bougalaise who had an area map laid out on the hood of his cruiser.
“What you think about this area Billy?” Vernon asked as he turned away and spat into the dirt, and then wiped his mouth of the spittle that dribbled down his chin.
“Knowing them boys, I reckon this is the best place to start. If we don’t find anything here we can go search catfish wallow three bends down.”
“I’ve been giving this a lot of thought. I’ve known Cyrus all my life, and I just can’t see him standing up to Del and Cecil. The way I figure, that city nigra is involved in this thicker than ticks on a mangy dog.” Vernon was correct in his statement about knowing Cyrus all his life. Cyrus was just two years older than Vernon, and they used to fish and play in this same slough together as young boys. Only after Vernon got around the age of 12 years old did their relationship change. Cyrus used to stand up for Vernon when the other white boys teased and taunted him for being a string bean. On numerous occasions, Cyrus even fought his battles. Then one day their relationship changed and Vernon became distant and acted like all the other crackers in town. One day Cyrus was walking home from Junior High School when Vernon and some other white boys pulled alongside him. Cyrus thought nothing since he was friends with Vernon, but then the other boys in the truck told him to “prove it”. Cyrus didn’t know what they meant by it, so he just assumed Vernon was going to ask him if he needed a ride. He was surprised when Vernon got out of the truck and walked over to him. Vernon then kicked him in the groin, dropping him to one knee and then called him a “filthy nigger”. All of the boys whooped and hollered as Cyrus lay on the ground gagging from the excruciating pain. Vernon just turned and walked back to the truck like it was nothing. From that day forth Cyrus never trusted Vernon. About 15 minutes after the search party entered the slough they spotted a Ford Bronco down in the grove. They radioed for Vernon to come to their location. Vernon immediately recognized the vehicle as that of Delbert Cutts. He walked around the vehicle and searched for any sign of what may have happened to the occupants. He then radioed for the K-9 officer to meet at his location. Vernon then instructed everyone to back track out to the main road in the same pathway they came in. Once the K-9 arrived, he said “Let’em at it.” The handler slackened the lead and the dogs worked their way around the vehicle, and then headed inland towards the mangroves.
CHAPTER 7
PLENTEOUS
V
ernon, the K-9 handler and Billy followed the dogs into a pecan grove as they pulled and bayed forward, while they followed a scent trail. The group stopped in an area that had some blood stains on the leaves in a fairly large pattern. Vernon radioed for the Crime Scene Unit and gave them their location; he then marked the area with yellow tape, and the handler continued onward. As the dog led them in one direction, the team could see obvious signs that there had been recent activity. There were spent shotgun shells, small arms shells and drag marks. Vernon directed the team to halt their forward progress and called for everybody to meet at his location. Vernon saw that there were several drag marks, pools of blood and immediately assumed they had stumbled onto a homicide scene. He knew Delbert and the boys had lit out after Cyrus because of the incident at the mill. Cyrus was at home and Del and the boys were still reported missing; not to mention finding his vehicle unattended in the grove. When everyone had assembled at the location Vernon gave instructions.
“As y’all know Del and the boys left town about a little after 11:30 am yesterday. They haven’t been home or contacted anyone.” Vernon wanted to collect as much forensic evidence and material before the elements contaminated them.
“I want everybody to scour this area and collect whatever piece of evidence you can, I don’t care if you think it’s just trash; y’all here me?” The teams fanned out and began searching the area; which was rife with physical and trace evidence. Some of the teams located what they believed to be brain matter, and other small pieces of flesh. Everything was photographed and then collected. While the crews were collecting evidence, the K-9 Officer yelled out. “Hey y’all over here, I think I may have something!” Vernon yelled for everyone to keep doing what they were doing and he would go check it out. When he arrived at the location the dog hit on, he heard a constant low frequency buzz.
“What’s that sound?” Vernon asked the handler.
“Sheriff it’s not only the buzz, do you see the green flies?”
“Yeah, and what’s so special about that?” Vernon asked.
“Those are green Blow Flies; they arrive about 1-2 hours after something has died.” The handler’s dog was scratching in one particular area, and then sat down indicating he had hit on something. Vernon walked over and looked at the area where the dog scratched. “What else can you tell me, other than you think there’s probably a body down there?” Vernon had more than a little to be concerned about; he knew his Klavern used these sloughs as their dumping ground. Vernon scanned the group of searchers for his Klavern members and then called a side meeting.
“Before we go digging around over there, any of y’all wanna tell me anything?” He was implying if they had gone “Coon hunting” without telling him and laid out some bodies over there. The men looked around at each other shaking their heads no. Vernon adjusted his belt on his hips and turned to walk away. As he did so, he called for Billy.
“I want you to call over to the University of Tennessee and ask for Dr. Janine Hearne. Don’t tell her any specifics; just ask her to call me on my cell.” Vernon continued walking back towards the plot of ground which he believed to be a grave; whose grave he did not know at this point. The call Billy Bougalaise was entrusted to make was to a notable Forensic Anthropologist at the University of Tennessee, who’s renowned for her Body Farm research; which measures the rate of decay based on weather, insect activity and other natural elements. Her team had worked with numerous Federal agencies in excavating and piecing together complicated crime scenes. The down side of having her involved, would be the fact it could take several days, while she methodically excavated the grave; trowel by trowel. Each one meticulously documented on a flow sheet. If this was the grave of his men and brother-in-law, he wanted it done correctly by an outside source to dispel the aura of impropriety or manufactured evidence. He knew he was taking a gamble bringing in Dr. Hearne; they had bumped heads numerous times over his political beliefs and ideology. It was fitting he chose her because it was public knowledge they hated each other and that she would not assist him in anything illegal. Vernon got on the radio and informed his men that they needed to tag and bag anything they were working on now, but needed to stop after that and set a perimeter. Vernon did not want any further contamination of the scene. He went back up to the road and leaned against his vehicle. He was contemplating about the call he would eventually have to make to Clara. It wasn’t definitive that Cecil was in the grave, but the odds favored that he was among the dead. While he was thinking about what he was going to say, his phone rang. He looked down at the screen and saw that it was Clara. He cursed under his breath and answered the call.
“Hey Sis.” Vernon said into the receiver with his best attempt of sounding normal.
“You said you were going to call me as soon as you heard or knew anything!” Clara screamed into the phone. Vernon could tell she was on the verge of hysteria.
“I did, and I will as soon as we know anything. Right now we don’t know anything other than he’s missing at this point.”
“Don’t fucking bullshit me Vern, this is my husband you’re talking about; not some piece of shit street dealer.”
“Sis, why would I call you at this point in the investigation? I wouldn’t dare call and give you partial information to get you even more worried.”
“I just hate hearing about this from someone else and not from you.” Vernon could feel his ears getting hot and turning red.
“What do you mean hear this from someone else?”
“Some of the women folk got calls from their husbands saying they probably won’t be home for dinner because you guys found Delbert’s truck and a possible grave.” By now Vernon was beyond livid at the information leak within his ranks. He would definitely have to deal with this once he settled Clara down.
“We did find Del’s Bronco out here in the slough, but that’s all we know at this point.” Vernon knew had to alleviate her worries and get to the bottom of his leak.
“Clara as soon as I know something more concrete, I’ll call you, don’t listen to those cackling hens.”
“I’m trusting you Vern; I don’t want to hear from the evening news that he’s injured or dead.” She was doing everything she could to hold back the feeling of dread creeping into her soul.
“You have my word; now just wait for my call.” Vernon ended the call and abruptly turned to his men; obviously beyond composure.
“Which one of you motherfuckers called your wives or girlfriends?” he yelled at the men standing around him. He scanned their faces for a brief moment before continuing.
