Page 107 of Highball Rush
I sat on a crate up front, my back knotted with tension. Callie was tucked under my arm, her legs pulled in, like she was trying to disappear into me. We’d left Cash at home. There was enough to worry about without having our attention divided.
Callie and I had stayed home all day, relying on my family to be our eyes and ears in town. Lee Williams was definitely here. June had discovered that he’d taken a room in the shabby Bootleg Springs Motor Inn just on the outside edge of town. Jonah and Shelby had spotted him at Moonshine Diner around noon, having lunch. Leah Mae and Jameson had kept eyes on him while he wandered around downtown, acting like he was just another tourist. Everyone else had been on high alert, watching.
After that, our little team of Bodine-Tucker-Thompson-McAllister spies had lost track of him. Callie and I had spent a tense hour not knowing where he’d gone. Had he left town? Not knowing why he was here, or whether he knew about Callie, made it worse. There was no way he’d come back to Bootleg just for a visit. But without knowing why he was here, I didn’t know how worried we needed to be.
He’d turned up later, driving in from the other side of town. I had a feeling he’d been exploring the area.
It stood to reason he didn’t know Callie was here, and that the Kendalls didn’t know either. My family and I all had our ears open to the town gossip. Not a single person had been heard whispering that Maya was Callie. That Callie Kendall was back in town.
I figured Callie was right and a few people had figured it out. Or at least they had strong suspicions. But if they did, they weren’t talking about it yet. Not where anyone could hear them.
More lawn chairs scraped over the floor and people took their seats. My heart thumped, adrenaline making me jittery. I wanted to scoop Callie into my lap and hide her from everyone. Coming forward with the truth meant it was only a matter of time before the world knew she was here. The more people who knew a secret, the harder it was to keep. And we were about to share our secret with an entire damn town.
My family sat up front with us. Devlin, resting his elbows on his knees with Scarlett by his side. Bowie and Cassidy, hands intertwined. This might have been the first secret town meeting Cass had actually been invited to. We tended to hold these when we needed to do something just outside the law.
Jameson and Leah Mae sat beside Jonah and Shelby. Jenny was on Callie’s right, with Jimmy Bob Prosser on the other side of her. George took up space for two, as did his father. George and Shelby’s mom sat with them, as did June and Nadine. Harlan, too. Hell, it might have been Harlan’s first secret town meeting as well.
It felt good to have them all here, sitting together. We weren’t all related by blood. Some hadn’t been here that long. But I felt the force of their support. We were a united front, here for a purpose.
Mayor Auggie Hornsbladt, dressed as usual in denim overalls and a cowboy hat, climbed onto a milk crate up front and spoke into a wireless mic. “Let’s call this meeting to order. Quiet down, now.”
The hum of chatter faded as people turned their attention to the mayor.
His eyes flicked to mine. Twenty minutes ago, we’d had an impromptu meeting with the mayor in a secluded corner of the barn while my brothers, George, and Devlin stood around acting casual, blocking people’s views. He’d gone white as a sheet, then teared up a bit and crushed Callie in a bear hug. We’d filled him in on the basics and she’d happily produced the DNA results that verified her identity. That had been easy to get. Apparently, June had a guy. I had no idea why June wouldhave a guywho did DNA testing, but I appreciated it nonetheless.
“Y’all, the purpose of this meeting is something that we’ve been waiting a long time for. Thirteen years ago, we lost one of our own. Callie Kendall disappeared on a July evening, gone without a trace. And for most of those thirteen years, we didn’t know the truth about what happened to her.”
Murmurs ran through the crowd.
“Recently, we got the terrible news that her remains had been found and identified,” Mayor Auggie continued. “It was over. We didn’t know the how or the why, but we knew her fate. Or so we thought.”
The murmurs grew stronger, a hum of discontent and curiosity filling the air.
Mayor Auggie held up a hand for quiet. “I have the very special honor and pleasure of bringing you this announcement. Callie Kendall is alive and well. And she’s here with us tonight.”
The barn erupted with noise. Voices, questions, people shooting out of their chairs, knocking them over.
“I knew she wasn’t dead!”
“Where is she?”
“Can we see her?”
“I don’t believe that for a second.”
“Is this a joke, because it ain’t funny.”
“What if it’s another fake?”
“Do her parents know?”
That last question made me whip around in alarm. Callie rubbed a soothing hand on my chest and Jenny reached across to give my leg a squeeze.
“It’s all right,” Jenny said. I wasn’t sure if she was talking to me or Callie. Maybe both of us.
“Now, now, let’s all settle down,” Mayor Auggie said, holding his hand up. “Settle down, now. We’ll answer your questions, but y’all gotta be quiet.”
George glanced around at the increasingly noisy crowd. He stood, unfolding from his spot on a crate to his full and rather impressive height. “Quiet please,” he bellowed. His voice echoed off the ceiling and the audience went silent. With a nod at the mayor, he sat down.
