Hell's Half Acre by William W. Johnstone

Author:William W. Johnstone
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kensington
Published: 2016-12-05T05:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

It was fixing to be a bad morning for Sheriff Jess Casey.

His gunfight with Tom Lurker had drained him emotionally and physically. Stiff, achy all over, his dicey knees throbbing, it took him several minutes to get out of his cot and shuffle to the stove.

The little calico cat that had decided to adopt him, stared at Jess with accusing eyes.

“Kept you awake all night, huh?” he said. “Well, I was hurting last night. Maybe something to do with the weather.”

As a breed, cats do not accept apologies gracefully. The calico walked to the front door and scratched to be let out.

“Right,” Jess said. “Go catch a mouse for breakfast and catch one for me while you’re at it.”

Disdainfully the cat stepped through the door and merged with the early morning hubbub on Main Street.

Jess made up the fire, set the coffee on to heat, made a short toilet and dressed. He was sitting behind his desk, drinking coffee and smoking his first cigarette of the day when the door opened and a large man in a loud checked suit and red vest stepped inside.

“Are you the new law?” the man said. He had great bushy sideburns, a florid face and an abrupt manner. He might have been a jolly man but he wasn’t that morning.

“Sheriff Jess Casey. “What can I do for you?”

“You are a son of Erin?” the big man said.

“Way back, I guess.”

“Good. Then that is a point in your favor.”

Jess tried again. “You have a problem . . . Mister . . . ah . . .”

“Burke’s the name. Patrick Burke. Burke by name, Burke by nature, my late wife always said.”

“Are you Lillian Burke’s father?” Jess said, surprised.

“I am. And that is why I’ve come to see you.”

“Coffee?” Jess said.

Burke stepped to the stove, picked up the coffeepot in a speckled hand the size of a ham, lifted the lid and sniffed. He made a face and said, “No, thank you.”

“Then please take a seat,” Jess said.

“I will stand on my own two feet,” the big brewer said. “What I have to say will not take long. My daughter has disappeared.”

Alarmed, Jess sat forward in his chair. “When?”

“Two nights ago. Lillian left to visit a girlfriend and never came back.”

“Who is her friend?”

“It doesn’t matter. I spoke to the girl, she’s of a respectable family, and she told me she hasn’t seen my daughter in at least a week.”

“Is there anyone else she might have visited?” Jess said.

“No one that I know of,” Burke said.

Jess fought a mental battle with himself and decided to keep quiet for now about Lillian’s opium addiction. A man like Burke could go off half-cocked and cause more harm than good.

“I’ll look into it,” Jess said.

“Sheriff, since her mother died, Lillian is all I’ve got,” Burke said, shedding his brusque manner like a suit of armor. His voice breaking, he said, “If anything has happened to her . . . I . . .”

“I’ll find her, Mr. Burke,” Jess said.

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