Chapter 6
I don’t own Chuck
The three made their way from Tombstone to Odessa, Tx, the next day. The trip was uneventful, well…as far as anything Graham related was involved. Chuck asked Sarah about her favorite music and she had shrugged. Over the next several hours, Chuck introduced her to different kinds to find out what she preferred. Before the drive was over, she admitted she had like some boy bands in the 90s. Chuck told her he didn’t judge, but she told him it felt like he really did.
That night, in their hotel room, he turned on his music, and burst out of the bathroom into the main room, dancing, badly to, Everybody by the Backstreet Boys. It was horrific and Sarah laughed at him.
The nights in the bed had been interesting to both of them. They started on opposite sides, but always ended up cuddling in the middle of the bed. Neither really knew what to say, but neither of them felt awkward about it.
From Odessa, they continued their trek east to Shreveport, Louisiana. Casey told them he had a contact there and told them to remain in their room until he returned. Sarah told him she was a trained CIA agent and she would go where ever she wanted.
Chuck opened his mouth and both of them told him he would do what they said. Sarah led him to the room and said she would stay there to make sure Chuck was protected. Casey returned several hours later, smelling of alcohol, and grinning. Chuck and Sarah quickly deduced that his “contact” was an old drinking buddy, and Casey just wanted to be away from Chuck and Sarah, which they both found odd, since they were in separate vehicles. Casey muttered something about “lady feelings” and promptly fell asleep.
The next day they arrived in Montgomery, Alabama. Sarah had told Chuck that since it was to be their home base for a while, they needed to stay in a nice hotel. Chuck was a little upset about spending the government’s money that way. He heard Casey mutter something, which he swore was, “good man.”
After they checked in, Casey came over and told them they had a meeting to go to. Apparently before Casey and his contact had tied one on, actual business was conducted, and Casey’s contact had found someone for them to talk to. He gave them the contact information and where to meet her. When asked if he was joining, he grunted and gave them a look.
A few hours later found Chuck and Sarah seated in a diner, when a woman slid into the booth seat across from them. “I’m Pat,” she said softly. “I hear you’re asking questions about the Tisdale boy.” Chuck grinned. She was the same age, if not older than Graham. She chuckled. “I haven’t seen Wayne in…gosh, nearly fifty years, so he ain’t a boy no more.”
“No ma’am, he is not,” Chuck said to her. “What can you tell me about him?”
“He was a very angry child,” Pat told Chuck and Sarah. “He kept getting in trouble. He was the youngest of the three boys, and you know how older brothers can pick on others.”
“Pat,” Chuck said, and paused. “I feel like there’s something big here, that you’re not telling us.” Pat glanced around, reached into her purse, and pushed a folded piece of paper to him. “What’s this?” Chuck asked, unfolding it.
“That is a copy of the local paper in 1967,” Pat said. Chuck glanced at it. “It’s a story of three boys that had been missing over eighteen months.” Chuck looked at the names and his mouth dropped. “They were found in the river, decomposed, and no one was ever charged. Ronnie Tisdale was the middle Tisdale boy. The other two Terrance Roberts and Chris Mack were two kids that had been known to fight with Wayne.”
Chuck looked at Sarah and then back to Pat. “Are you saying he killed them?” Sarah asked. Pat shrugged. “What happened after he turned sixteen?”
“He disappeared,” Pat told them. “He just wasn’t at church one Sunday. When we asked his momma, she said, ‘Wayne had to go away.’ The older brother had already left Montgomery and no one that I know of has seen him. His momma died a few years later, and neither of them came to the funeral.”
“Do you have any idea where he went?” Chuck asked. Pat shook her head and Chuck frowned.
“I do know this,” Pat said, causing Chuck to look back up at her. “When Wayne turned thirteen, he got into some trouble. He got taken to the police station, and when he came home, it was some white guy that brought him back. It seemed every time from then on, whenever there was an issue, this guy was there.”
“Any idea of his name?” Sarah asked.
“Cecil, maybe,” Pat said. “I really don’t remember, it was years ago.
“You have been an amazing help,” Sarah told her. “Thank you so much.” Pat nodded at the two, stood, and left. “I wonder,” Sarah muttered, watching her go. “You know how I told you about Graham, and me. What if this Cecil or whoever was his Graham?”
“Sarah, are we to believe Graham killed three kids when he was just a kid himself?” Chuck asked her.
“He’s cold and calculating, Chuck,” Sarah told him. “He gets even with those that have wronged him.” Chuck shivered. “Don’t worry, I won’t let him touch you.”
Chuck looked her right in the eye. “Sarah, you’re the one that crossed him, not me.”
“He won’t touch me, I promise,” Sarah explained. She looked at the paper in his hand and shook her head.
“Want to get something to eat?” Chuck asked her.
“No,” she said, shaking his head. “I’m not hungry.”
“Finding out who he is, killing your appetite?” Chuck asked. She gave him a look. “Sorry, that was some unwanted gallows humor.”
“Oh, God,” she groaned, got up, and walked away, leaving Chuck sitting there.
“Murdered that one,” he muttered to himself.
“Come on Charles!” she called to him. Chuck got up and followed her.