Free Birdsongs by Jason Deas Page A

she threatened to show them around the town and county if he did not sign over the house to her. He obliged. He was in the midst of a race for Sheriff of Gladdis County and Tilley, Georgia was after all still in the Bible belt.
        After the case ended, Jane called Benny and asked him to go out for a celebratory dinner. The dinner resulted in a romantic relationship that evolved into a marriage. The marriage lasted two years. Something in Jane’s heart, maybe the high school sweetheart history, or God knows what, could not sever the tie of her feelings for Chuckie. They eventually wound up in bed again. Chuckie and Jane would never know that Vernon was the one who tipped Benny off. This bit of information began the close tie between the two men.
        One afternoon after Vernon witnessed Jane slithering behind the door of the Chief, Vernon placed a call to Benny. Benny walked in, once again ill advised by Chuckie’s secretary to find the two practicing what looked like some form of Kama Sutra. To Benny’s dismay, Jane did not apologize or feel shame. Jane looked him straight in the eye and said, “Have your stuff out of my house by the end of the day.” Benny did just that, moving his few belongings to the houseboat he used as an office. The houseboat was nameless during the previous couple of years and the next day Benny named it the Jane Says . Jane thought that Chuckie would take her back but even though they had a history, she was just another piece of ass. Upon discovery of this information, she fled town. The relationship between Chief Neighbors and Benny James, to say the least, was a tense one.
     
     

Chapter 21
     
        Benny’s phone rang again and it was Chuckie Neighbors.
        “Hello,” Benny answered.
        “Benny, this is Chief Neighbors. How’s it going bud?”
        “Would you please can the fucking pleasantries, Chuck. You know I’m not your bud and never will be so don’t insult me with that bullshit.”
        “I like a straight shooter Benny,” Chief Neighbors responded. “Vernon mentioned that you were hoping to help with this serial killer stuff and he talked me into letting you provide us some assistance.”
        “First of all Chuck,” Benny said with blood seeping down his gums once again. “Let me begin by saying fuck you, you pompous ass. I don’t have to help. I am not hoping to help. I am not asking for your permission to help. I am going to help because you need my help and if you weren’t such a self-righteous dick, you would be on your knees begging me to help. Without me, you are going to look like the epitome of the small town, clueless, hick Chief of Police on the national news. You know and I know, just like I told Jerry Lee, I am going to be the one who solves this case. Are we straight?”
        “Yeah,” the Chief said taken aback. As he mentally formulated a comeback that he was about to speak into the phone, Benny slammed his end down.
        Wanting to throw the phone in the lake to follow Jane’s chair, Benny resisted. He took a few deep breaths and told himself he shouldn’t expect anything less from Chief Asshole. He and Vernon had plans for the day to investigate the two murder victims. Because of the two phone calls, he was late. The two men knew they might not uncover anything through the investigations, but it was worth a shot to get some sort of lead; and sometimes geese lay golden eggs. Benny dialed the phone he had not thrown in the lake to let Vernon know he was running late. Vernon, flexible as usual, told Benny to get there when he could. Benny put on what he called his visiting apparel that he wore any time he wanted to question someone and look professional. He hated this type of clothing, but he knew people responded better to finely dressed interrogators.
        The first victim was a young construction worker named Ryan Mableton. Vernon went over to his fiancée’s apartment to question her. The two lived