Free Red Dog Saloon by R.D. Sherrill Page B

some,” Stevie admitted. “It was something to do on the
weekends.”
    Sam
pressed on, detecting he was hitting a nerve. Beads of sweet began forming
on Stevie's brow as the sheriff continued his line of questioning.
    “Any
idea why someone from back in the Red Dog day would want to see your old
friends dead?” Sam asked with his eyes fixed on Stevie.
    “No,”
Stevie stammered in an obvious lie. “What makes you think it has anything to do
with the Red Dog?”
    “We
have evidence is all I can say… compelling evidence,” Sam revealed. “We also
have reason to believe whoever is doing this isn’t through.”
    “What
does that mean?” Stevie asked as he swallowed hard.
    “That
means we think someone is looking for payback for something that happened at
the Red Dog,” Sam declared. “Any idea of what that could be?”
    Stevie
sat silently, nervously shaking his head, denying he knew the killer’s motive.
    “Well
someone is pretty mad … mad enough to kill,” Sam declared.
    “I
don’t know what it would have to do with me,” Stevie said. “I haven’t hung out
with that group in years. I’m a totally different person now.”
    “You
know there are some things for which there’s no redemption,” Sam said in a
serious tone.
    Stevie
was in a state of panic, something he was trying, unsuccessfully, to keep from
his visitor. He had to get out of there or he would break down. He wasn’t built
for this kind of stress.
    “I’m
sorry sheriff but I don’t know anything else,” Stevie said as he
stood up from the table and glanced at his watch. “Now, if you
don’t mind, I need to be picking up the kids. It’s almost time for school to
get out and you know how the traffic is around the campus.”
    Sam
realized Stevie was heading down the same road of denial as Eddie did the night
he was killed.
    “Something
happened at Red Dog years ago, something very bad,” Sam began. “I think you
know what it is.”
    “I
don’t know what you’re talking about sheriff,” Stevie claimed as he grabbed his
coat as if he were about to go out the door.
    “There
was a girl,” Sam blurted out.
    Stevie
stopped dead in his tracks. He forgot to even breathe. His worst nightmare was
coming to pass. Someone knew what happened.
     “A
teenage girl," he pressed on. "Something very bad happened to
her that night.”
    Stevie
turned around to face the sheriff and spoke in a pleading voice. Tears were now
rolling down his cheeks as he shook like a leaf.
    “I
have a wife and kids, sheriff,” Stevie began. “I can’t ... I mean she
would leave me if she ever found out.”
    Stevie’s
words had confirmed his suspicions. He also knew Stevie would likely be in the
crosshairs of the killer if his theory was right and the killings were payback
for what happened to the teenager many years ago.
    “We
can protect you,” Sam declared. “You just need to tell me what happened back
then so we can figure out who’s behind this. And better yet, who may be next.”
    Stevie
refused his offer, shaking his head frantically.
    “I
can’t sheriff,” Stevie said. “If my family ever found out, well, let’s just say
I’d rather be dead. And what makes you think it’s a who anyway?”
    “You
very well may be next if you don’t let me help you,” Sam said in a
foreboding voice. “And I assure you, whoever is doing this is very much flesh
and blood. There’s no such thing as ghosts.”
    “I’m
sorry but I just can’t,” Stevie said as he pulled on his jacket and walked out
the door. “I’ve got to pick up the kids.”
    The
sheriff followed Stevie as he quickly walked to his car and started the
engine. He leaned down into his window to offer one last plea.
    “You’re
making the wrong decision,” Sam argued. “Let me help you.”
    “I
don’t have a choice,” Stevie responded as he backed out of the drive barely
missing the sheriff’s foot. “The decision is out of my hands.”
    Sam
watched as Stevie sped out