Page 144 of Five Mountain Daddies

“What are you doing here?” Kristi asksher.

Cora keeps that smile plastered on her face. “Just wanted to talk toyou.”

Kristi shakes her head. “I got nothing to say abouthim.”

I raise an eyebrow. That’s about the most suspicious thing she could havesaid.

“Please, Kristi, I know you didn’t have anything to do with it,” Cora answers, not missing a beat. “But you might know somethingimportant.”

Kristi glances at me and back to Cora. “I don’tknow.”

“Go fucking talk to her!” someone insideshouts.

“Shut the fuck up, Nancy!” Kristi shoutsback.

Another woman appears at the door next to Kristi, sucking on a cigarette. She looks just like Kristi, except twenty years older and garishly done-up. Her hair is teased and big like an ‘80s model, but her eyes are vacant. She gives Cora a hardlook.

“Kristi’ll be right outside. Right,girl?”

“Okay, fuck, fine, Nancy.” Kristi steps away from the door and it slamsshut.

Cora looks back at me, totally bewildered. I just grin and shrug at her, not really sure what’s going on myself. But a minute later, just as Cora’s about to knock again, there’s a sound from theback.

“Aroundhere.”

We step off the little front stoop and follow around to the back of the trailer. Kristi’s standing back there, smoking a cigarette, a little white dog yapping at herheels.

“Stop it, Beyoncé,” she says, knocking the dog away. It bounds off and sniffs a corner of their tinylot.

Kristi stands there, arms crossed, cigarette in her mouth. She looks a lot younger than I first thought. She’s about Cora’s size, maybe a little smaller, and she might even be considered pretty if it weren’t for the hard years she’s beenliving.

“How are you doing?” Cora asksher.

Kristi shrugs. “Fine. Who the fuck is that?” She indicates me with a jab of hercigarette.

“This is Wyatt,” Cora says. “He’s an old friend ofAtticus’s.”

Kristi perks up and looks at me. “You’re that cop, aren’tyou?”

I nod. “Atticus talked aboutme?”

“Sure, sometimes.” She laughs. “He always thought it was funny that his old best friend turned out to be a cop and he turned out to be, well,him.”

I smile at her, not really finding it funny. She laughs again like it’s actuallyhilarious.

“Kristi, have the cops talked to you yet?” I askher.

She shakes her head. “Notyet.”

“Whynot?”

“Nancy moves around a lot. This is her third trailer in two years. I bet they don’t even know I’m fucking here, those idiots.” She sneers at me and I just smileback.

“You’re probably right. Still, you should get in touch withthem.”

“Fuck that. Cops always just assume you’re guilty, you know? I know a guy that got murdered. I bet they think I didit.”

“Did you?” I ask hersoftly.

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