“Annie was going to tell my wife!”
“He’s grasping now,” Hank said.
“No, I’d say that’s about the gist of it. She had it in her to use blackmail to get what she wanted,” Duke pointed out.
“Annie wanted me, and she was willing to do anything to get me.”
“And why would she want a broken-down cowboy posing as a mechanic for a race team owned by the men she used to have in her bed?”
He knew the excuse provided was going nowhere fast. He pursed his lips and tried to think like a Hinman. What could he say to dig himself out of this hole?
“Tell you what, Sam. I’m gonna cut you some slack. We know you killed Annie. You admitted as much. Tell me why, and we’ll call it a day. This is just between men. No one is here but you and us. You tell us the truth and convince us it’s like you say, and you can walk out here without a hassle,” Hank said. “But I never want to see you back here. If I do, I’ll kill you and bury your body on this land in a way no one will find you.”
“In other words, he’ll kill ya, bury your corpse, and pour a slab of concrete over you so no one will ever think about where you’re buried. It’s a burial he once watched on television,” Duke explained, making a mockery out of him and the situation. “The show didn’t warn viewers to avoid trying this at home, so he’s always wanted to attempt something similar.”
He didn’t think twice about taking Hank’s deal, as much as he wanted to knock the hell out of Duke for making fun of him. More than anything, he wanted as far away from the Hinman ranch as possible. Columbia, Tennessee, was starting to wear on him. “I needed the money.”
“Try again,” Hank encouraged him.
Sam looked down at his boots. It wasn’t until right then that he came to terms with the real reasons why he’d been interested in the position. He’d wanted Annie’s approval. As much as he denied what he felt, even to himself, he cared what she thought. How twisted was that? Pretty fucked up.
“I may have been in love with her,” he finally admitted.
“Who?” Duke asked, making the confession more difficult.
Sam cleared his throat. “Okay, guys. This is hard for me. I love my wife. I do. But she isn’t anything to look at. You know. She’s got broad hips, big thighs, and doesn’t really know how to please a man in bed. At one time, she was a gorgeous thing but she let herself go. Ya know?
“Then I had this young girl paying me all sorts of attention. She was beautiful, sexy, and smart. Had a good business head on her shoulders. And good hell, I don’t have to tell you how Annie could please a man in the sack.”
“So you cheated on your wife, traded her in for a younger model, and then fell in love, right?” Hank didn’t let up.
“I reckon so.” A beat later, he said, “If I tell you the whole truth can I go? You’ll never have to worry about me again. Okay?”
“Why’d you kill Annie?” Hank asked, not giving him an answer either way.
“She told me she’d never love me. She told me she only slept with me to control me. Said she learned that part from the two of you. In her words, ‘give a man the best sex he’s ever had, and you’ll own him for the rest of his life,’ and she said she knew from experience. She said women felt the same way.”
“Annie was always warped,” Duke told him.
“But she didn’t deserve to die,” Hank pointed out.
“I guess you
may be right,” Sam agreed. He pointed to the spot where he’d slit her throat. “She was standing right over there, propped up on the four-wheeler, her legs spread over the seat. She told me she came to watch me do it. She wanted to see me kill Julie.
“She said she knew Carl didn’t have the balls to do the job right. He couldn’t finish it. Then, she said, ‘Come here Sam, let me pump you off, and then you can go kill the girl and we’ll part ways.’
“I tried to make a play for her and she squinted her eyes, turned her head, and said, ‘I just don’t have the stomach for fucking you. The thought of you being inside me makes me sick to my very core and always has,’ and that was hard to take.”
“And you snapped, didn’t you?”
“Yes,” Sam admitted. “I always assumed she was using me, but I guess I thought somewhere deep inside, she loved me a little, too. I guess I should’ve asked.”
“Well here’s a little something for you to remember,” Hank began, motioning for someone behind him. “I’m ready to snap, too. That doesn’t mean I have a right to kill you. Even though it wouldn’t bother me in the least to put you out of your misery and save your wife and kids the embarrassment and shame of what’s coming your way next.”
Sam glanced over his shoulder and shrugged. “I guess you lied about keeping things between us.”
“I said things would stay between us. I didn’t elaborate on the us factor, or let you know Agent Dickerson and his men were already in the barn taking notes. You didn’t ask,” Hank said smugly.