THE BANDIT QUEEN - Chapter 7

CHAPTER 7

Eden maneuvered her way to the eastern edge of Dallas and then through the suburbs to the small town of Rockwall. From the number of gated subdivisions they passed, she realized the town was on its way to becoming another satellite orbiting the huge area known as the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. As she drove into the center of town, she found herself wondering just where the original rock wall had been built. Deakin watched the street signs closely but never saw Live Oak Street. Finally Eden pulled into a gas station, filled her car with gas, and asked the attendant for a map. He pointed to a smeared map taped to the wall. Eden figured out that the largest grease spot designated her current position. From that point, she located the correct street. Next, she asked for a phone book and, still without saying a word, the man pointed to a pay phone stuck to the side of the building. Eden flipped up the book and looked up the name of Deakin’s father, Kimbrough. There were four names listed at three different addresses. Eden wrote them all down along with the phone numbers and herded Deakin away from the candy bars and out to the car. As she drove through the center of the small town, she saw a small sign that said Chamber of Commerce – Free Local Maps. She screeched to a halt and pushed Deakin out of the car. He returned a few minutes later with a handful of brochures and a city map. She drove directly to the address on Live Oak Street and pulled up in front of a large white house with a deep porch across the whole front of it. There was a sprinkling of chairs on either side of the front door.
Eden opened her door and walked around the car to the other side. There, she waited for Deakin to get out. When nothing happened, she leaned down and opened the door. Deakin sat inside the car and stared out the front windshield. Eden pulled lightly on his arm and Deakin turned a blank face in her direction. Like a sleepwalker, he stepped out of the car, let her slam the door, and then followed her up the wide walk to the front steps. He stopped there and refused to take another step. Eden left him there and walked the rest of the way to the front door. She pushed the doorbell but didn’t hear it ring inside. Then she knocked loudly on the wooden panels of the door. No one answered her knock so she tried again, much louder this time. Still, no one opened the door. She peered through the long windows on either side of the door and saw no signs of life. The house was fully furnished except for a human presence. She glanced at the mail box next to the door, saw no letters inside it, and then walked back to Deakin. She left him sitting on the porch steps while she walked around the house to the back yard. No barking dogs heralded her approach and nobody skittered away from her presence. She returned to the front, pulled Deakin to his feet and escorted him back to the car.
Eden then picked up her cell phone and called one of the numbers she’d copied from the phone book. The first one invited her to leave a message. The second one was busy. The third number was answered by a man Eden classified as a grandfatherly type. She calmly asked him if he was related to an Alexander David Kimbrough and crossed her fingers in the hope he wouldn’t have a heart attack or stroke. There was silence on the phone and then the man said,
“You’d better tell me who you are, girl. I don’t talk about Alex over the phone to nobody.”
“Uh, would you talk to me in person about him? I really have an important reason for asking. Are you related to him in some way?”
“Yes, yes, I am. Don’t come to the house. I’ll meet you at the café on the square. I go there every day about this time. How will I know you?”
“Medium-sized girl with long brown hair, green tee shirt, black windbreaker, and jeans. How will I know you?”
“Old fart with very little hair left, watery brown eyes, glasses, tan slacks, and navy sweater. I’ll be there in ten minutes.”
The phone went dead in Eden’s ear and she started the car. She drove back to the center of town and parked around the corner from the front door of the little café. She grabbed Deakin’s arm as he opened his door and said,
“I don’t think you should go into the café with me. I’ll talk to the man and bring him to the car. I want you to wait on that bench across the street – the one by the courthouse. We’ll sit where you can see us. You watch the cars and the people all around the square. Stand up if you see anything suspicious. Walk straight into the courthouse and out the back door. I’ll pick you up there. Otherwise, meet us at the car, okay?”
Deakin stared at her with great intensity. “Do you promise to tell me everything the man says to you? And I mean ‘everything.’ Cross your heart and hope to die.”
Eden twined her fingers in Deakin’s and held his hand tightly. “Cross my heart and hope to die. Stick a thousand needles in my eye. This is your story we’re unraveling so you get to know everything that happens. I promise.”
Deakin slipped out the door and walked to the small bakery on the corner. He stepped inside as Eden entered the café. After buying a small sack of cookies, he walked across the street to the bench in front of the courthouse. He glanced casually in the window of the café and saw Eden sliding into a booth where an older man already sat. Then he jerked his mind away from their conversation and watched the people who walked in and out the courthouse door. He spread a small pile of crumbs on the path by his feet and scrutinized the cars as they drove across his vision. No one stopped to look at Eden’s car and no one paid any attention to him as he ate his cookies.


Eden stopped inside the door of the café and scanned the tables. A waitress with a glass pot of coffee noticed her and gestured an invitation to sit anywhere. She discounted a table of four men with four coffee cups and four servings of pie. A couple of deputies sat at a table near the door with a radio set on the table between them. They glanced at Eden, smiled appreciatively at her and returned to their conversation. At the corner of her vision, a man moved and she looked in his direction. He was definitely an old fart with glasses, thin hair, tan slacks, and a dark sweater. She joined him at his booth and quickly glanced out the window to see if Deakin had taken his position. He nodded his head slightly at her and then smiled at a woman walking up the sidewalk to the courthouse. Eden smiled at the waitress as she materialized at her elbow and asked for a glass of orange juice. With a quick practiced glance, the waitress noticed the tension between the two people but didn’t comment about it. She returned with a glass of orange juice and two pieces of peach pie. Eden picked up her fork unconsciously and ate the triangular point of the pie.
The older man said quickly, “It’s bad luck to eat the point first. You should always save it until you eat at least one other bite.”
Eden smiled into his faded brown eyes and liked what she saw. “I’ve never heard that superstition before. Why did you meet me here? Is Alex Kimbrough related to you?”
The older man toyed with his pie and finally took a bite before he spoke again. “What’s your name? And why, after all this time, have you come asking questions?”
“Eden is my name and I ran into a big mystery out in California a few days ago. That’s the first time I heard that name. Now, will you answer my questions?”
The man blinked his eyes rapidly to dissipate some of the moisture collecting in his eyes and then said in a low voice, “Alex was one of my children. He disappeared from our lives years and years ago. None of us heard a word from him after his second year at college. Then, about fifteen years ago, we heard he’d been killed in California. We tried to get his body sent here to be buried but the police said he’d been burned to death in an accident and they’d already disposed of the remains. That’s how they referred to Alex, as ‘the remains.’ Some men from the government questioned us about Alex but we didn’t know anything. They didn’t believe we hadn’t heard from him in years. Finally, after about a year, they gave up and never came back. The news of his death was just like a period to a sentence. He’d already been gone so long. The wife and I think of him sometimes when the whole family gets together or when we look through some old pictures. The wound has healed. My wife is in poor health and I don’t think she could stand to have it torn open again. So, say what you have to say to me and it won’t go any farther. I can take it.”
Eden scraped the rest of the pie off the plate and then licked her fork. Her eyes never left the man’s face. “What’s your first name?”
“Wayne is my name and Fran is my wife’s name.”
“Wayne Kimbrough, would you consider leaving this café with me and driving away from all these people? I have some very important things to tell you and I don’t think you should hear them in public. What do you say? It’s your choice.”
Eden pulled money out of her pocket and set it down on the edge of the table. Wayne Kimbrough glanced at the money and knocked his knuckles on it, signifying his agreement with the amount. Then he stood up and said to the waitress,
“Molly, money’s on the table.” He ushered Eden past the deputies and out the door. He pulled his sweater closer as if he was suddenly cold and waited for Eden to move first. She walked down to the corner and turned to look at her car. No one loitered near it. Then, she glanced behind her at the courthouse and saw Deakin brushing crumbs from his pants.
“Don’t be alarmed, Wayne, but someone else will be joining us at the car. He’s just a boy but this is his story and he has to hear it from you.”
Wayne looked alarmed when Eden mentioned another person but his need to know about his son overrode his fear for his own safety. He followed in Eden’s wake with firm steps and his head held high. Eden glanced behind at him and said, with a small smile, “Don’t look like you’re walking to the firing squad, Wayne. It’s not going to be like that at all. We need you, we don’t want you dead or even hurt, okay?”
Wayne smiled ruefully and then looked up the street at the only car parked on their side of the street. Deakin leaned against the side of the small convertible with ill-concealed tension and watched the two people walk toward him. Then he unlocked the car and slipped into the tiny back seat. The older man dropped clumsily into the front bucket seat and Eden closed the door. Then she drove slowly away from downtown Rockwall straight to a children’s park she’d noticed earlier in the day. She helped Wayne climb out of the car and left Deakin to his own devices. She ushered Wayne to a picnic table near some swing sets and waved Deakin over to sit with him. Deakin shook his head and gestured for her to talk to him first.