This is part four of The Ties that Bind, a Deep South mystery. If you’re here by mistake, you can find the rest of the parts here.
Recap part three: Lee has an uncomfortable conversation with his father and finds a clue at the missing girl’s trailer
In part four: Lee interrogates Rico and wonders at the state of his soul.
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Photo by Leonardo Yip on Unsplash
He was the runt of the litter but a pretty mean pup,
Get Sam on the scent, and he’d never let up.
-Sturgill Simpson
Violence awaited him.
Lee knew men like Rico. Tough enough to collect from the girls and not snitch to the police, but too dumb to know when they should break. He would try and talk to Rico, but knew intrinsically that it wouldn’t work. But he couldn’t afford to let Rico stonewall him. Lee didn’t typically feel a sense of urgency on his cases because the missing persons were usually running. This one was different, and he could hear the clock ticking. Rico would require pressure.
He walked to the Land Cruiser, slid into the driver’s seat, and slammed the heavy steel door. The thud coincided with his heart dropping into his stomach. It had been a while since he’d hurt anyone. There was the occasional fist fight while working a case. But hurting, someone was different. His father had called it “breaking,” and Lee had been very good at it. The Gift allowed you to see truth, which meant being able to see strengths and weaknesses in men. Sometimes it was strength of character, like with Sheriff Loxley. It was also the ability to see soft spots. Lee was adept at seeing physical weaknesses that could be pushed on. Or struck. Or stabbed.
He pushed down a sudden wave of nausea as he sat in the Cruiser and took a deep breath, trying to steady his hand as he inserted the key into the ignition. He would have to become Boss Black’s son again.
He disconnected that part of his soul that dreaded what was coming. He hoped he would be able to find it again when he was done.
A resolve cold as iron settled in his heart. He turned the key over and the Land Cruiser roared to life. He typed in Suds-n-Shine Laundromat in Fort Payne, AL and kicked up gravel as he sped down the drive. Part of him hoped Rico wouldn’t be there. Part of him knew he would be.
Thunderclouds amassed in the sky as he drove southeast Highway 35.
Dark clouds. Dark deeds.
The sundering of his soul brought some relief. His father had always called the conscience a nuisance and would often work at silencing Lee’s. When he was young, Boss Black would make Lee watch as his thugs would beat men who owed the Boss money. Then he would watch men’s faces go slack as Boss Black would - in chilling detail - describe how he would torture their family, while making it abundantly clear that paying up was the only recourse available.
By the time he was in his early teens, his father had him working the men, too. Since he was half the size of his father’s thugs, Lee had to work twice as hard. He’d strike a man’s face until his own blood was mixed with his victim’s. He was given first crack to soften them up. Too often, Lee looked for his father’s approval when he joined them in the room. Too often, Boss Black would give an appraising look followed by disappointment, like Lee had just finished mowing the lawn and missed a spot. Lee was like every young man, desperate to make his father proud, no matter the means.
When Lee’s gift manifested at 18, his father taught him how to use it to enhance his “technique”. Lee became adept at applying pressure to those soft spots. He would build his victim’s pain gradually, like a tidal wave. Eventually Boss Black used Lee exclusively. He would walk into the cellar where Lee worked and the man being tortured would be bloody and quivering in the chair. Broken.
That was when Lee noticed his hands starting to turn black. Violence had stained his soul in a way he hadn’t expected, and it wasn’t until Sarah that he had tried to salvage what was left of it.
He shook his head to clear his thoughts as he pulled into the parking lot of the laundromat. He climbed out of the Cruiser and strode inside with the detached sense of purpose that had once been a hallmark of his personality. There were a few patrons sitting on the benches waiting for their respective cycles to finish. He walked up to the attendant and asked for Rico.
“He’s out back having a smoke,” the sleepy teenager replied.
“Thanks.” Lee turned to go outside.
“Rico doesn’t like having his smoke breaks disturbed,” the attendant warned him.
Lee smiled a cold smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “Oh I’ve just got to ask him something.”
“Can’t say I didn’t warn you. He’s a prick.”
“Thanks all the same,” Lee replied as he walked out the door, going to the back of the building. Sure enough, Rico was out back smoking a cigarette by himself, and scrolling on his phone.
“Hey Rico! How have you been, man? Long time no see. Hey, can you help me out with something real quick?” Lee bulled forward into the conversation, not giving Rico a chance to collect his thoughts.
“You know that lady who deals pills over across the lake in Scottsboro? Have you seen her? It’s been a day or two and she owes me.”
Rico stiffened at the question. “I don’t know any ‘ladies across the lake.’ And you need to get on. I’m having a smoke break and I don’t like to be disturbed. Especially by narcs.”
Well he could have had it the easy way.
Lee quickly closed the distance and drove his fist into Rico’s solar plexus - the bundle of nerves at the base of the sternum - knocking the wind out of him and doubling him over. A quick knee to the face turned Rico off like a light switch. Lee let him fall over and pulled him to the back wall of the building, out of sight. He calmly walked back to the Land Cruiser, drove it to the back, and loaded Rico up into the trunk. He bound him with zip-ties, stuffed a gag in his mouth, and headed back to his cabin.
Rico woke up tied to a chair in the woods. His wrists and ankles were lashed to the chair. There was a ratchet strap across his chest that was snug to his body. Lee stood in front of him with his hands in his pockets.
Rico started to speak, but Lee held his hand up before he could say anything.
“Listen Rico. My question is still the same. I know you know the lady I asked about. Truth is, I only care about getting to her so I can find her kid. She reported her daughter missing a few days ago and hasn’t been seen since. I imagine you know where she hangs or at the very least you know how to reach her. That’s all I need. Give me that and I won’t hurt you.”
Rico spouted a cacophony of expletives and insults at Lee. Spittle flew from his mouth and he bucked against his bonds. After one particularly violent movement, the chair tipped to its side and fell over, knocking the wind out of him, again.
Lee sighed and picked the man up. As Rico was gasping for air, Lee got eye level with him and spoke very softly. “That was your one shot Rico. Look at my eyes.” Rico’s widened in fear. “Yeah, you know what I’m capable of. I can see all those places to hurt you that you don’t even know about. But I’m feeling generous. I won’t use this Gift of mine just yet. I’ll just do run-of-the-mill pain for now, and if you give me what I want, you go to sleep and wake up back at work and you can keep on living.” Lee paused, activating the gift so the gold rings glowed. Rico pissed himself. “If I have to use my Gift, then you won’t be going back to work. Understand?”
Lee stepped behind the chair and tightened the ratchet strap one click, the webbing compressing Rico’s chest and straining his ribcage. Lee walked back to the front and punched Rico in the stomach. Rico couldn’t double over from the pain, and the combo of the punch and the chest compression made him throw up.
“You’re hurting, Rico. Your nervous system is freaking out. You’ve got at least one cracked rib, and the only thing your brain can think about is getting oxygen. If you can’t breathe, you can’t talk. So, I’m going to let you catch your breath and then answer my question. If you refuse, the ratchet gets tightened one click and I hit you again. We will repeat this process until you answer me or I lose patience. I must warn you that I’m a very patient man.” Lee paused, “So, Rico, what will it be?”
Seven clicks later and Rico’s chest was close to collapsing. He was coughing up blood and his voice was weak. He whispered something and Lee leaned in close.
“Eddie.” Rico’s breathing was labored.
“Eddie who? There’s a lot of Eddies out there, Rico.”
“Eddie Stevenson,” Rico rasped.
“The used car guy?” Lee asked. Eddie Stevenson had several used car lots in the county area and was on the city council.
Rico nodded. Lee used the Gift to confirm the truth before walking to the back of the chair and loosening the ratchet strap. With a sound of rushing water, Rico sucked in the fullest breath he’d taken in over an hour. He started to weep.
Lee picked him up, put him in the back of the Cruiser, drove back into town and deposited him - unbound - back at the laundromat. He pulled out a cigarette from Rico’s pack and lit it. He took a long drag, the cherry a single bright point in the shadows, before putting the filter on Rico’s lips.
“Thanks for your help, Rico.”
Lee climbed back into the Cruiser and drove off. As he settled into the road hypnosis that comes with driving when your mind is elsewhere, he glanced at his hands. Even though he tightly gripped the steering wheel, his knuckles were black instead of white. The skin was split across three of them and blood still seeped out. With the black skin behind, the dark of night settling in, and a broken man behind him, his blood looked black.
Lee’s jaw tightened. He was drawing ever deeper from that well and he knew at some point, there would be no redemption available. Once again he felt he was teetering on a precipice. Damnation and Redemption separated by a choice. Years ago, de hadn’t intended to try and clear his ledger by helping the sheriff. Really he was just trying to stave off the darkness that was at the edge of his mind. It only takes one bad deed to damn a man, how many good deeds to redeem him? In trying to find this girl, Dove, had he now gone too far? Can evil be done in the service of good? He only hoped he could find the girl in time. He had the growing sense that their salvations were inextricably linked.
He eventually pulled back up to the cabin. He grabbed the chair and tools from the yard and put them back in their places. The crickets and cicadas had a call and response going, and Lee stood there for a moment, letting the pulsing buzzes and chirps reverberate through his ear canal, down his spine, and into his chest. He carried the droning inside with him, and collapsed onto his bed, into a fitful sleep.