CASCADE - Chapter 19

debt

March 17, 2023

DEBT

Colvin and Clay drove into town to meet Mason Boggs. It was dark when they arrived at the Starlite Bar and Grill. Mason was sitting at a booth in the back. He was a large, round man with a round face and a rough beard. He was wearing a stained West Virginia Mountaineers baseball cap. He had a Big Timber in one hand and a phone in the other. Colvin and Clay slipped into the booth opposite Mason, who looked angry.

“What’s this opportunity you got, Colvin?”

Clay complained, “No, what’s up, Clay, like I ain’t even here?”

“Shut up, Clay.” Mason bellowed as he took another sip of beer. “I ain’t got time for niceties. You boys are lucky I even showed up.”

A young waitress approached and asked, “Can I get you boys something?”

Colvin replied, “We’ll have the same.”

“All right, two Big Timbers coming up.”

“We have a job for you, Mason.”

“I got a job.” He grumbled.

“You have a job, as a demolitionist destroying these mountains, and the company you work for has one foot in hell.”

“Screw you!” Mason barked, “What makes you all high and mighty?”

Colvin looked away and then back at Mason. “Your Job,” Colvin said with air quotes, “You will never pay off your gambling debts.”

“How do you know what I owe?”

“This is a small town, Mason, and a large sum has legs. Word travels fast.”

“You have my attention. How am I going to get my answer back to you?”

Colvin wrote a phone number on a napkin and slid it over to Mason. He proposed, “Say yes, and I will pay off your debt. ‘No’, and you will look over your shoulder until you or your debt disappear.”

Colvin put down twenty and tapped the table twice. “Don’t wait too long, Mason.” Colvin and Clay walked out into the moonlit, momentarily illuminating Colvin’s thoughts. “Asher, I have started down the path. You will be avenged, brother.” Looking over at Clay, Colvin predicted, “There isn’t any way he will say no.”

Clay opened the car door and said, “My only concern is that he lost his religion, and he isn’t getting it back. That boy is crazy.”

Colvin informed, “I need to check up on Mama. I have not seen her since Asher’s funeral.”

Colvin and Clay drove a short distance to Colvin’s Mother’s house.

The front door opened, and Colvin, hugging his mother, comforted, “How are you doing, Mama?”

“I’m doing ok. I’ve been trying to keep busy. Where have you been? I’ve been worried about you, Colvin.” She touched Clay’s arm. “How are you doing, Clay?”

“Fine, Mrs. Miller.”

In the living room, Rebecca picked up the remote, lowered the volume, and sat on the well-worn sofa beside Colvin. The lamp beside the couch cast an elongated halo on the grey wall. They spent the next twenty minutes catching up. Rebecca remembers, “Someone was asking about you, Colvin. He said a call to the owner of the building that burned down in town came from this house.”

Surprised, Colvin disclosed, “Mama, I called the woman who rented the building. She lives out in California. Mama, Clay, and I did rent that building, but we moved out days before the fire. No need to worry, Mama.”

“I’m worried, Colvin”. Rebecca started to cry, “With Asher gone, I just don’t know what I would do without you, Colvin.”

Colvin hugged his mother and said reassuringly, “Mama, everything is fine.”

“You’re not in any trouble, are you, Colvin?”

“No, Mama.” He inquired, “Who was asking questions? You know I don’t like it when you open the door to strangers.”

“I know, honey.” She moved a pillow to her lap and continued, “He gave me his card. It’s on the kitchen table.”

Colvin walked into the kitchen.

His mother was still talking. “He was a lovely man, Asian, and very polite. He was interested in the picture of you, Clay, and Asher. He was even interested in the picture of Grandpa Patrick.”

Colvin took the card from the table. He saw an FBI logo on the top left and read, “Liam Doyle, Special Agent, Charleston, West Virginia.” His phone number followed that. Colvin put the card in his pocket and looked at the photos on the shelf above the table. “Damn,” he thought to himself. “You sure he was an Asian man, Mama?” he questioned as he walked back into the living room.

She answered, “Well, he looked Asian.” She looked at Clay and asked, “Do you want some leftovers? It won’t take me long to reheat them.”

“No, Mama, we’re fine.” Colvin nodded to Clay and motioned to the door. “Now you know how to reach me, Mama. Let me know if that man comes around again asking questions. I want to meet him.”

“In the car, Clay turned to Colvin in anger. “I thought you said this was airtight. That’s what you said.”

Colvin hit the dashboard with his fist and yelled, “Damn it!” Deep in thought, Colvin calculated, “That computer is gone. They only know the general location. They are trying to put the puzzle pieces together. They will be looking for us, so we have to be smart. We cannot come into town during the day. By the time things are set in motion, it will be too late for them, and we will be long gone.” Colvin reaffirmed, “There will be so many things happening simultaneously, they won’t know which way to turn.”