Thin Slice of Life

Chapter 37

Trinny waited until she got to O.B. Hadnott’s door at the Sea-Gun Inn before she fell to pieces. The Ranger sat in his jockey shorts and a T-shirt, completing a report about the incident at Shady’s, when a light, frantic tapping on the door intruded on his concentration. Recalling the last time he had heard that knock, O.B. took a moment to pull on his gabardine trousers and a pearl-snap shirt. He opened the door and Trinny fell into his arms, crying and chattering in a frantic mixture of Vietnamese and accented English. Her eyes darted around the tiny room, as though seeking unseen enemies. Because O.B. didn’t have any more idea than the man in the moon what to do in such a situation, he simply held her and stayed quiet. Which, as it happened, turned out to be the right thing to do after all. He escorted her to the swaybacked couch in front of the television and eased her down, holding her all the while. Not that he had a choice; Trinny clung to him with all the strength and tenacity she could muster. Finally, he began to pick up salient details as Trinny’s hysterical crying jag ran its course. There had been a shooting…no, an execution…two men…bound and blindfolded. Bao—out of control, screaming. Like a demon. “Now, he find me, he find me, he kill me, CHAPTER 37 259 |37 too….” She was babbling, but O.B. managed to make out something about Matagorda and money and planes and Mexicans. Then Trinny said something that commanded all his attention : “Tonight.” She said. “Tonight it all happen.” The money, Bao, Mexicans…. Whatever it was, it was coming down tonight. O.B. knew he was going to have to hurry. But there was the little matter of the terrified woman in his arms. Hadnott rocked her in his arms instinctively, making shushing noises. “Now, honey, no one’s going to find you. And no one’s going to hurt you. I promise.” As pleasant as it was to cradle the small, warm female bundle in his embrace, even a female as clearly terrified as this one, his mind began to shift gears as habit and training took over. A material witness to a double homicide…Hadnott thought to himself what he dared not confirm to Trinny. She was right; Bao most certainly would kill her if he even suspected his deeds at the Sea-Tex packinghouse had been overseen and overheard. Bao certainly had nothing to lose now. Senator Cudihay was ready to give a statement attesting to the Colonel’s criminal enterprise and his involvement in the murder of Neddy Pomade. Charlie Sweetwater could testify about the kidnapping by Bao’s employees— slightly ambiguous evidence, but certainly enough to throw a spotlight onto Bao and his crew. There was the tape of Bao and his lieutenant harassing and threatening Nu Dang and his wife—maybe inadmissible, but that would depend on how good Bao’s slimeball lawyer was. Then there were Bao’s two soldiers, cooling their heels in the Rockport jail. With a little come-to-Jesus persuasion, Hadnott felt certain he could entice them to…. Stupid, he thought. You ought to go back to Paducah and chase sheep rustlers, you numbskull….Suddenly he knew exactly who Bao had capped at the warehouse. He had no doubt that the man on the night desk at the Aransas County Sheriff’s office would have a sudden attack of amnesia regarding just who, precisely, might have bonded Ho-Dac and Le Loi out in the early morning hours. And, no doubt, the accompanying paperwork had evaporated, too. Never mind. The murders trumped everything. If Hadnott could get a warrant—and he didn’t have any doubts about that— he felt certain a forensics team could find enough evidence to put Bao in the warehouse at the time Trinny said. Presumably, the body 260 37| of the second man was still washing around under the Sea-Tex pier. Trinny had seen Bao drag the victim out of the warehouse door to the wharf, and heard the splash. Now, if only Bao was still hanging onto the gun…. He realized Trinny was speaking and forced his mind back to the here-and-now. “…What?” he said belatedly. “I say, even if you Texas Ranger...