You Gotta Die Sometime by Jay Cameron Parker

Author:Jay Cameron Parker
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Jay Cameron Parker
Published: 2023-04-08T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Some guys in white coats put Caroline on a stretcher and carried her off while the local police chief questioned me. I showed him the badge and gave quick brief answers, mimicking Thibodaux’s southern accent. I told him I was more concerned with the girl's condition than the stiff in the hallway.

One of the cops found Vincent Hoover’s identification in Thibodaux's pocket and held it up to show his boss.

“He was an agent playing both sides,” I said. “He’s wanted in connection with the homicide of another agent in Chicago. The girl was a witness to the murder. I was assigned to protect her and get her back home to her folks. He found out we were here, and well, things went south from there.”

“Vincent Hoover,” the chief said nervously, “sounds phony.”

“Everything about him was,” I said. “He nearly killed the girl and me; in the end, he had the gun, and I had the necktie. The necktie won.”

The chief picked up the machine gun and studied it.

“Where’d the Chicago typewriter come from?”

“From the German at the department store gun counter. I assume he’s the one who called you.”

The chief nodded and placed the gun under his arm. The chief had a weird walk, like his muscles didn’t work the way they should. I picked up the .45.

“This is mine. Hoover got ahold of it and tried to kill me with it.” I removed the empty cartridge and showed it to the chief. I grabbed the box of ammo from the floor, opened it and took out a handful of bullets, and loaded the gun. "If it had been loaded, you'd be standing over my corpse now."

The chief shrugged, studied the machine gun, and said, “Well, this wasn’t cocked. It wouldn’t have done her any good either.”

The police chief reminded me of Barker. He had that same weathered and tired look about him. But he also had an eye twitch, and one of his legs continually shook as if it would give way at any moment. He seemed more annoyed by the mess than concerned. Like he just wanted to get the whole thing over with. He returned to Caroline’s room and looked nervously out the window.

“It looks like the river’s moving into town,” I said.

“It sure the hell does,” he said, running his hand over his wrinkled face. “In ’22, we had a bad one. The worst of it is the river rats. They go running for higher ground, you know. The boy scouts are on their way with clubs and bats.” He shook his head and awkwardly scratched it. “So, you’re a prohibition agent? Yeah, you know, I keep this town dry; you won’t find any booze here. We’ve been doing really fine without the help of prohibition agents snooping around.”

“I’m sure you have. Like I said, this was just a stop on our way to her folks.”

“We don’t have bootleggers here or anything else like that.”

“I haven’t seen anything hinky since I’ve been here. Listen, you obviously have your hands full.

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