Free Rough Men by Aric Davis Page A

and Will saw that it was Alison.
    “Hey, babe,” he said. “We’re on our way. Come up with something else you need us to get?”
    “No. How are the roads?” Alison’s voice was muffled, riddled with static.
    “Really bad.”
    “Well, don’t hurry home, but get here. The news just said the mall was closed. That means that’s its officially graduated to really fucking nasty out.”
    “I believe it. This is like twenty eleven all over again.”
    “Don’t even say that, mister. That was horrible. We’ve got enough on our plate without a full-blown blizzard.”
    “Yeah well, I think that’s what we’ve got. I’m going to let you go. We’ll see you soon. Only, probably not too soon.”
    “Tell your brother to drive safe.”
    “No need, he is.”
    “Tell him from me.”
    Will hung up the phone. “She says not to kill us.”
    “Check.”
    The wind was moving the snow fast enough that they could see drifts appearing out of nowhere, using a tree or the side of a building to take root and form into massive piles.
    “You doing OK?” Will asked.
    “I’m still driving.”
    “I mean with everything else.”
    “No, Will, not really. Sorry for that, but I’m being honest.”
    “I said I’d understand if you didn’t want to go on from here.”
    He gave his head a shake. “I’m not talking about that. I’m talking about you signing on with Jason. That fucker—he should have been tried for rape in that last B and E when he got busted, remember?”
    “Yeah.”
    “And what happened there?”
    “He never got charged with it.”
    “You’re missing the point. The girl refused to testify, and there wasn’t enough evidence beyond what she told the police initially. It never occurred to you that he might have threatened her family?”
    “No. I don’t know. I didn’t exactly follow what happened to him. To any of them. I had my own life to worry about, and then I had Alex.”
    In front of them, the wind shoved a GMC Denali right off of the road. The big truck was catching enough wind on its large frame that its four-wheel drive had ceased to matter, and the thing slid horizontally off the highway as though moved by a god.
    “Jesus,” Will said, “did you see that? That’s fucking nuts.”
    “They’re going to be waiting for a wrecker for a while too. Anyways, though, like I was saying, there’s a reason Jason served the maximum possible sentence for that B and E, and his time had nothing to do with a little smash-and-grab. He made a sixteen-year-old girl blow him, and when it came down to her word against his, she decided not to talk.”
    “None of that matters now. He did his time, and he’s the only person who can help me find out who hurt Alex. If that gets a little blood under my fingernails, then so be it.”
    Isaac shook his head and went back to watching the road. Vehicles were pulled over and stuck on roadside culverts as they traveled. When the two brothers pulled off the highway, they both let out sighs of relief.

T wo days after the worst of the blizzard, the plow trucks were clearing and salting the streets, the sun was shining and suggesting winter might finally be coming to a close, and Will received three phone calls. The first was from Lou.
    “How you holding up, buddy?” Lou exclaimed into the phone, before Will could even say hello.
    “I’m doing OK. Alison seems to be getting better as well. I think my brother is going home pretty soon too, now that he can. I know he meant to only be here for a day or two, but the snow had other plans. Plus, I think he’s enjoying the little vacay from work and his old lady.” Isaac was sitting across the kitchen table from Will as he spoke and flipped his little brother a middle finger and a grin.
    “That’s great, great stuff. Any word from the law? Have they said if they have any leads?”
    “Nope. Nothing on releasing Alex’s body, either.”
    “I already told you this, but I can start making waves on that, light a fire under