Page 47 of Race With The Devil

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Tanner

I watched lamely, hands at my sides, as Unity rode off down the mountain.

At first I thought she’d suddenly remembered something and had to rush off. But when I saw Slayer, then Knoxie, follow her, I knew something was up, so I went, too.

“Where’d she go?” Knoxie was asking.

“What did you say to her?” Slayer accused.

“How’d you know I said anything?”

Slayer patiently closed his eyes. “Because. You were talking to her, then she suddenly ran out the door like she heard the ice cream truck.”

I trusted Slayer’s instinct. I, too, turned to Knoxie. “What were you talking about?”

He must’ve known what he’d done wrong but beat around the bush getting to it. “Uh, I was thanking her for sending her sister my way, you know, stuff like that. We discussed her stepfather’s trial. Some of us are going to show up as emotional support for Lyric, you know, put the fear of turning fifty into Gregario.”

I moved my hand like a crank. “And . . . ?”

Knoxie looked away. “And we talked about prison.” He exhaled deeply. “I said something like she’s really made big strides, you know, being who she is and all, having to testify in front of Gregario, and then getting over the fact that you did ten years for rape.”

I just fucking saw red. Now I know what they mean by that. I immediately lost whatever religion I’d managed to salvage throughout my dirty, gritty life.

To my credit, I didn’t throat-punch Knoxie. I kept my fists to myself, walking in ever-tightening circles while beseeching the sky for assistance in this worldly hell.

“Why did you say that?” Slayer asked. “Tanner was exonerated. His brother was the rapist. Slushy helped clear his name. Everyone knows that, even the Air Force.”

How the fuck did Slayer know all that? Well, it was his job. As I punched the air, I listened closely to Knoxie’s explanation.

“I was going to say that. I misworded my sentence, man. I figured she knew what I meant. I just left out the word falsely.”

Slayer slapped himself on the forehead. “Ai, yi, yi. Well, listen, you gabacho. You’re going to find that woman and set her straight. If this poor tonto del culo loses a great woman like that, a woman of such stature and shape, all due to a miswording of yours, you will be the one getting fucked by a fish, do you hear me?”

The tall, buff Knoxie was actually cringing back under the weight of the sicario’s anger. I stopped moving to admire him. He was saying pretty much what I wanted to say but was afraid to. I was afraid of my anger. In prison we didn’t stop to measure our words. We didn’t much, either, in the Air Force. I was just lucky I hadn’t gotten too pissed off lately.

Knoxie held up his hands. “Of course, of course, Santiago! Damn, I’m sorry, Tanner. You’re like a member of this club, all the help you’ve been, taking time out from your valuable schedule. I just, spoke like a dotard, a true and utter dotard. Let me make it right. Don’t you go calling her because she’ll just bite your head off. Who knows what space she’s in right now. I’ve dealt with abused women before. And if they start flashing back to an unsafe space, well, all bets are off. Best that I go talk to her first.”

That did make sense. Much as I wanted to take Unity by the shoulders and look her directly in the eyes, risking yet another form of shock and rejection, it was best if I, the culprit, didn’t confront her right now. Knoxie could explain it to her. Unity knew I was wrongfully convicted—I’d told her about Sonny, how I’d taken the rap for him. I just hadn’t explained what exactly the rap was.

“Go, go!” exhorted Slayer. “Ask Bellamy where Unity is likely to go. It is easy to see that Sporty a mile away, but she might go somewhere unusual, off the beaten track. I would, if I were her. Go, man, go! Tell her you blew it, big time!”

As Knoxie jogged off to his own Harley, Wolf and Beetle emerged from the building.

“Slayer,” he said, “you’d better get back in there. They’re starting to review your, ah, your job interview tape."

A look of horror flashed over Slayer’s handsome visage. “The tape!” He raced in a humorous manner back in the door, moving more side to side as though dodging land mines. It must’ve been the pointy-toed white shoes.

Wolf yelled at his departing figure. “They’re to the part where Ranger Vera puts on a Smoky the Bear hat and pretends to look for honey!”

I swear, I couldn’t even laugh at that in my current condition. Some rage had to come out of me—like I had to break Knoxie’s neck—in order to begin to process this mess. Unity was off and running like a terrified possum just at a moment when we’d had a big breakthrough in Lavinia’s case, when we were up against a ticking clock due to impending snow.

“Why’d Unity go tear-assing out?” Wolf asked.

I quickly googled the weather. Looked like snow was expected in three days up on the South Rim. “She found out I spent ten years in the big house for rape. Hey, listen, I know it’d be wisest to blaze up to Grand Canyon, but I’ve got a couple things to do.”

“Like iron things out with Unity over the bogus rape charge,” Wolf said, chipper, as though discussing his favorite brand of coffee.