The Holy Death

Chapter 27

Highway 26 over Mt. Hood was not particularly busy that day, and the snow had been well cleared from the road surface, so they made it over the passes with little effort, then down onto the basalt plateau that was Central Oregon. They were bored by that time, Jeremiah having taken the wheel and observing the speed limit, complete with one of his lectures on how speeding would not necessarily get them there faster. To distract himself, Scott began rifling through the collection of eight-track tapes.

"Hmmm," Scott said, "Let's see. We have Abba, the Bee Gees, Marvin Gaye, and, huh, Merle Haggard."

"Wait!" Jack cried from within his cage, "Merle Haggard? Which album?"

"'Mama Tried'."

"That there is a stone classic. Crank it up!"

"Oh geez," Grace said, "Really? Country Western?"

"Hey! Nobody disses on my Merle!"

"Hey, Jack," Scott said, "This isn't for your entertainment. You don't get a say, so shut up."

"Besides," Dawn said, "I'm trying to get some sleep. I haven't slept all night!"

"Oh, well, boo hoo, Red," Jack snarled. "I slept for a whole fuckin' year. Sucks to be you!"

"No, Jack," Scott said, as he took the shock collar remote from his pocket, "It sucks to be you."

Scott hit the button and Jack flopped around his cage for a few seconds. "Okay, okay!" Jack whined, "I get the picture already!"

Neither Dawn nor Grace could contain their laughter.

*

They passed Burns, heading down US 95, Jeremiah still driving and Dawn snoring peacefully away. Scott didn't know what Jack was doing, and he didn't really care so long as it wasn't anything stupid. Scott was sitting in the passenger seat, reading some old potboiler novel he'd found in the glove compartment. Grace leaned forward in her seat, gaining Scott's attention.

"Hey," She said, "I didn't know when I was going to mention this, but now is a good a time as any."

"What?"

"Before I left the sheriff's office, I ran a check a check on your brother through the local Law Enforcement Data System and through NCIC. It turns out he's in trouble. Big trouble."

"You mean bigger than death? That kind of big?"

Grace chuckled. "No, maybe not, but he has several federal warrants out for his arrest, for securities fraud, wire fraud, money laundering, and several more I can't even remember."

"Yikes!"

"Suffice it to say, but if he gets out of Mexico alive, he's looking at doing some hard time in a federal pen."

"I knew that guy was shady! Look, Grace, yeah, Doug needs to be held accountable for the things he's done. That means having his day in court, tried by judge and jury, just like everyone else. It doesn't mean getting whacked by some supernatural assassin. What this Santa Muerte guy is doing, that's not justice. It's vengeance. There's a difference."

"Then you know I'll have to arrest him, right?"

"I know, and I'm fine with that. I just want him to be alive enough to be arrested."