Rain Gods (Hackberry Holland 2)

?Want to tell me what it is??

?Jack Collins, that?s his name. People call him Preacher.?

?What about him??

?He thinks you?re after him. He thinks you and me have met.?

?What?s your name??

?Collins killed the Thai women. He?s hooked up with Hugo Cistranos and Arthur Rooney. He thinks he?s a character out of the Bible.?

?Are you telling me you?re in danger, sir??

?I don?t care about me.?

?Collins is trying to hurt your family??

?You?ve got it all wrong. He thinks he?s protecting us. Collins says Arthur Rooney plans to kill us.?

?Let us help you. Meet me someplace.?

?No. I made this call because??

?Because what??

?I don?t want your blood on me. I don?t want the Asian women?s blood on me. I don?t want that soldier and his girlfriend hurt, either. I didn?t plan any of this.?

Nobody does, bud, Hackberry thought.

?Did you make a nine-one-one call about this some time ago and try to warn the FBI about Vikki Gaddis and her boyfriend??

?No.?

?I think you did. I heard your voice on the tape. I think you?re probably a good man. You shouldn?t be afraid of us.?

?Artie Rooney says he wants my wife shot in the mouth. I?m not a good man. I let all this happen. I said what I had to say. You?re never gonna hear from me again.?

The signal went dead.

Hackberry called Maydeen. ?Get ahold of Ethan Riser. Tell him I think we?ve got a solid lead on Jack Collins.?

?Ethan who??

?The FBI agent. Tell him to call me at the house.?

?Is there somebody out to get you, Hack??

?Why should I be a threat to anybody??

?Because you?re stubborn as a cinder block and you don?t give up and all the shitbags know it.?

?Maydeen, would you please?? He shook his head and closed his phone.

Throughout the day, Hackberry waited for Ethan Riser to call back. At the office, he cleaned out the paperwork in his in-basket, drove a sick female inmate from the jail to the hospital, ate lunch, shot a game of pool in the saloon, placed an ad for a road-gang guard in the newspaper (eight dollars an hour, no benefits, must not be an ex-felon), and returned home for supper.

Still no call from Ethan Riser.

He washed his dishes and dried them and put them away, then sat on the porch as the evening cooled and plumes of dust rose off the land and a purple haze formed in the sky. Occasionally, he sensed a hint of rain in the air, a touch of ozone, a shift in the breeze that was ten degrees cooler, a ripping sound in a bank of black clouds on the horizon. When he strained his eyes, he thought he saw lightning on a distant hill, like gold wires sparking against the darkness.