Free Fraidy Hole: A Sheriff Lester P. Morrison Novel by Warren Williams Page B

by. Said you were looking for a missing girl, a student.”
    The men shook hands all around then Lester said, “The girl we’re lookin’ for is Melissa Parker. We understand she dated one of the football players, a boy by the name of Carlos Sanchez. Y ou think we could talk to him for a minute?”
    “Sure thing,” Blankenship said, “He’s number 81 out there. I’ll call him over. Oh, wait a minute. Watch this.”
    On the field, Sanchez was lined up as a wide receiver on an imaginary line of scrimmage, about twenty yards to the left of the quarterback. The boy with the ball nodded. Sanchez took off, sped ten yards, planted his left foot for a cut, and ran full out toward the far right corner of the field. At precisely the right moment, the quarterback heaved the ball through the air in a beautiful arching tight spiral and hit the streaking receiver in perfect stride.
    “Whooee! You see that?” the coach said, grinning madly. “That ball went fifty yards in the air. You mark my words, that quarterback is gonna be a good ‘un. Hell, people from Oklahoma University are supposed to be out here tonight, just to get a look at this kid.”
    Lester raised an eyebrow. “OU? But this is just eight-man football isn’t it , coach? You telling me a university like that would travel clear out here to the end of No Man’s Land, to a little ol’ high school like this, to watch a kid play eight-man football?”
    “Damn right they would,” Blankenship said, his tone defensive. “If you remember, OU took another kid from an eight-man team, just a couple years ago it was, and he played for the Sooners as a freshman. Helped them win another Big 12 Championship is all he did. Turned out to be one of the best defensive ends they ever had.”
    Lester asked, “What’s the difference between eight-man football and eleven-man, other than the obvious?”
    Roy explained . “The length of the field is the same, at least here in Oklahoma, but not as wide. Instead of the standard fifty-three and a half yards, we cut it down to forty. As far as the positions are concerned, eight-man ball eliminates two tackles and a wide receiver on offense along with two defensive backs and a lineman on defense. As you might guess, a lot of boys play both offense and defense.”
    “What’s the quarterback’s name?” Lester asked as Roy motioned for Sanchez to join them.
    “Boomer Kingston. His first name’s Greg, but everybody calls him Boomer. That’s what his daddy hung on him for a middle name. You know his daddy don’t you? Big Bill Kingston? Kingston Ford? Everybody knows Big Bill He played for OU back in the day.”
    John Blankenship grinned. “Yeah, and if you stand still for a couple of minutes, he’ll tell you all about it. He’ll be here tonight, you can bet on that. That ol’ boy never misses a game. ”
    The Kingston boy threw one more ball then turned to trot off the field. He was a big kid, tall with well developed arms and thick muscles in his thighs. His dark shaggy hair was long and hung almost to his shoulders. Deep set eyes, dimples in his cheeks, and a cleft in the middle of his chin added to his teen idol good looks. The long hair bothered Coach Blankenship, but with the natural talent of throwing a football that the kid possessed, he let it go. A winning season far outweighed a couple inches of extra hair.
    Carlos Sanchez , on the other hand, was thin as a rail, stood no more than five foot six, had skinny legs, and didn’t look anything like a typical football player. He removed his helmet to reveal a head of close-cropped hair that looked oddly out of place with the tuft of fuzz jutting from just below his lower lip. Beads of sweat stood out on his forehead and trickled down his face. His eyes darted back and forth between the coaches and the S heriff.
    “What’s up , coach?”
    Lester did the talking. “Son, have you seen Melissa Parker since school yesterday?”
    Carlos hesitated for only a moment before