Page 31 of Coveted Justice

9

It had literally been years since Tanner had made the drive, but in a way, it felt like yesterday. He pulled into the parking lot of the old honkytonk, closed during the day. This was the place where he and his friends had met for so many years.

They’d meet on a Sunday morning once a month, the sour smell of beer and sweat still hanging in the air after the partying the night before from the patrons. They’d push several tables together and sit in a circle, talking about law enforcement and sharing information. It was the best thing he’d ever done while a sheriff, and although he’d moved on in his career, he missed it a bit. The challenges, his friends. Working together on a case and catching the bad guy. There had been a satisfaction in a job well done and getting to work with some of the best lawmen around didn’t hurt either.

When he’d called Logan after meeting with Abby, his longtime friend had suggested they all meet up at this place once again. Just like old times. One call to the owner and he’d gotten the okay. They simply had to be out by five when the employees came to open.

Memories flooded back as he pushed open the door and all the smells hit his nostrils. Nothing had really changed. The chairs and tables were newer, but the floor was still the same worn gray tile. Even the drink specials on the chalkboard looked the same. Had they even changed in the last twenty years? Probably not, although the prices surely had.

Logan, Jason, Jared, and Reed were already there along with Dare, Griffin, and Seth. Evan was in Florida with his wife Josie who had just had her appendix out. They’d wanted to come to the fundraiser but the surgery had been a surprise, to say the least. One day she’d had a pain in her side and that night she was in the emergency room. They’d had to cancel their trip at the last minute.

“I don’t know about you, but this seems damn familiar,” Seth declared, popping open a can of soda. Just like in the past, there were several cans in the middle of the table along with a few bags of snacks. Tanner’s stomach growled loudly, and he realized he hadn’t eaten yet today. Life had intervened. “I feel thirty again.”

“I haven’t felt thirty in a long time,” Tanner replied with a laugh. “Maybe I feel forty, though. If it wasn’t for my lower back bothering me again.”

“It’s my knee,” Dare said, slapping his thigh. “I swear it can predict a rainstorm.”

“Christ, are you guys going to complain about old age?” Griffin groaned. “We’re not that old. Fifty is the new thirty.”

Tanner didn’t know what deal Griffin had made with the devil, but he didn’t appear to have aged in the least. Not one day. He still looked exactly like he did twenty years ago. Griffin always said that the secret was all the healthy food and exercise that Jazz had him doing. He hadn’t had sugar in years. True to that word, Griffin was carrying a water bottle with him and ignoring the snacks on the table.

Frankly, if Tanner couldn’t have ice cream every now and then he wasn’t sure that life was truly worth living. He’d take a few wrinkles for bacon, too.

“I wouldn’t mind being fifty again,” Tanner said. “But I sure as hell didn’t feel thirty then or now.”

“I wouldn’t be thirty again for all the money in the world,” Reed declared. “I was still young and dumb. Hopefully, I’ve smartened up a bit. I do miss being able to stay up all night, though. These days if Kaylee and I stay up late to watch a movie, I’m paying for it for the next few days.”

“I don’t mind a nice regular bedtime, either,” Dare said. “I need my beauty sleep.”

“Jesus, I agree with Griffin. You guys sound pathetic. We’re not that old,” Jared said with a groan. “Hopefully we have many active years left.”

Jason nodded in agreement. “With any luck, we’ll all live a hell of a lot longer. Long enough to really have something to complain about.”

Tanner nudged Logan who was sitting at the table sipping on a soda. He hadn’t said a word.

“Got nothing to say about growing older?”

Logan flashed his famous grin. “I’m just happy to be looking at the green side of the grass these days. What’s the saying? Every day is a gift, and I love presents.”

Logan Wright was, indeed, a man living his best life.

“How about we get started?” Reed said, sitting down across the table. “We all know why we’re here so let’s get to it. Tanner, what did Abby have to say when you talked to her?”

As succinctly as possible, Tanner outlined his conversation with his ex-wife. The men looked slightly horrified when he told them that Abby was driving under the influence of her sleeping pills. When he finished the story, no one spoke up right away until Logan broke the silence.

“I’m just going to ask the indelicate question straight out so we can get it out of the way. What are your feelings about Abby as the killer? Whether it was on purpose or an accident? What are your thoughts?”

Tanner had expected the question, and he had given it quite a bit of thought since finding out about Marty’s death.

“Abby isn’t a murderer,” he said. “She might want to make her husband’s life difficult, but she wouldn’t want to kill him.”

Reed’s brow quirked. “Are you saying she’s not capable of murder?”

“We’re all capable under the right circumstances,” Tanner replied. “But I don’t think she shot her husband. Not just because of an argument. Hell, she and I fought like cats and dogs and I’m still alive and kicking.”

“If Abby isn’t the killer, then we need to find the person that did this,” Jason stated. “Does Abby have any ideas as to who might have wanted her husband dead?”

“She said that his business associates are shady. They also are being sued by their neighbors.” Tanner pulled out his phone and tapped at the screen. “She sent me a list of Marty’s friends and family that we can talk to in addition to the others that she suspects might have a motive. You all should know, however, that technically Abby has motive as well. She and Marty had a prenup agreement. If they divorced, she would walk away with significantly less than if he died. There’s a large insurance policy, I’m told. Abby is the beneficiary.”

---