But he knew she wouldn't stay if Cliff Baxter was still here, and she really didn't want her husband dead now that she had another option. But that option was to run off together, and Keith didn't want to run.
He lay, staring at the ceiling. It took him a while to realize he smelled her scent on the sheets.
It was a warm day, and he worked in the barn bare-chested. He wondered when and how they'd meet again, when they could make love again. He realized that he could take her away with probably no more than a few days' notice, and all this worry and fear would be behind them. They could be in Paris in less than a week. He wondered if she had a passport. No problem. He could get one for her within twenty-four hours. There were people who owed him favors.
Then, after a year or so, he would come back to Spencerville on his own and, if Baxter was still around, they should be able to settle matters at that point without bloodshed. Then Annie and he could return as husband and wife. "Good solution. Done."
At about quarter past ten, he heard a vehicle crunching over the gravel and went out through the barn doors.
Sitting in his driveway was a blue and white police car, and on its door was painted the gold shield of the chief of police.
The car was between him and the house, and Keith had no weapon with him. The driver of the car spotted him, and the car turned across the farmyard and came toward him. It stopped about thirty feet away, and he could see two men in the front seat. The passenger door opened, a beefy man in tans, wearing mirrored sunglasses and a Smokey Bear hat, got out and came toward him.
Keith walked toward the man, who he saw was indeed Cliff Baxter. They stopped a few feet from each other and stared.
Keith's eyes went to the car, and he saw that the driver had gotten out. It was Officer Ward, but Ward didn't move, just stood near the car, watching.
Keith looked back at Baxter. He recognized him after nearly thirty years and saw that, despite the potbelly, the man was still good looking and still had the same sneer.
Keith studied the man's face, but, with the sunglasses and the wide-brimmed hat casting a shadow on his features, Keith couldn't determine the man's exact mood or intentions, or if Baxter knew anything about last night. Keith found he was worrying about Annie and not himself. Keith said, "I was starting to think you wouldn't come."
Baxter's mouth twitched, and he didn't respond, but kept staring through his glasses. Finally, he said, "I don't like you."
"That's good."
"Never did."
"I know that." He looked over Baxter's shoulder at Ward, who was now sitting on the hood of the car, smiling.
Baxter said, "Never will."
Keith said to him, "It's very rude to wear sunglasses when you're speaking to someone."
"Fuck you."
"Hey, Chief, you're what they call trespassing unless you have an official reason to be here."
Cliff Baxter glanced over his shoulder at Ward, then stepped closer to Keith and said, "You're a fucking asshole."
"Get off my property."
"Why're you here?"
"This is my home."
"Like hell it is. You don't belong here."
"Chief, I've got six generations of my people buried in this county. Don't tell me I don't belong here."
"You're gonna get buried in this county, sooner than you think."
Keith took a step forward so that they were face-to-face. He said, "Are you threatening me?"
"Back off or I'll kill you." He put his hand on his pistol, and Keith could see Ward slide off the hood of the car and reach for his gun.
Keith took a deep breath, then took a step back.
Baxter smiled. "You're not as stupid as you look."
Keith got himself under control and said, "Say your piece, Cliff, and leave."
Baxter obviously didn't like the use of his first name and all that it implied. He took his glasses off and stared at Keith a long time. Finally, he said, "You're fucking with my boys."
Keith didn't reply.
"And you're fucking with me."
Again, Keith said nothing.
"Behind the school. Meet me behind the school. That what you said?"
"Yup. I was there."
"You're lucky I wasn't. You'd be laid out right now at Gibbs, stiff as a board, with that pink shit they use in your veins. And I'd spit on your face if you had a face left after I got through with you."
Keith didn't reply.
"My boys told me you was hidin' behind that preacher's skirt at St. James."
"You can leave Pastor Wilkes out of this."
"Yeah? Why? Anybody who fucks with me or my boys is automatically in it up to his ears and that includes God Almighty himself."
Again, Keith didn't reply but just shook his head.
Baxter continued, "And what the fuck were you doing at Baxter Motors?"
"Speaking to your brother about a car."
"Yeah? And about my wife. If you keep asking around about me and my family, you're gonna die. Understand?"
Keith noticed that Baxter's eyes were set close together, the sign of a predator in the animal kingdom, and his head swiveled from side to side as he spoke, as though looking for prey or peril.
Keith tried to picture Annie with this guy for twenty years but knew that there was another Cliff Baxter, the home model. Cliff Baxter probably loved her, though she'd never tell Keith that, and Cliff Baxter thought he was a protective and caring husband, though most people would say possessive and abusive.
Baxter asked, "Cat got your tongue?"
"Nope."
"I'll bet you got to take a piss right now."
"Nope."
"Nope, yup, nope, yup. You got nothing else to say?"
"Yeah, I do. How did you get out of the draft? Mental or physical?"
"Hey, fuckhead, I was a cop. I did my duty here."
"Right. So did the women and schoolchildren who sent letters and packages."
"You motherfucker..."
"Hey, Chief, don't talk the talk if you haven't walked the walk. You want to prove you have balls? I'll go inside and get my piece, or you take off yours. You call it. Guns, knives, axes, fists. It doesn't matter to me how I kill you."
Baxter took a breath, and Keith saw by his body language that he wanted to take a step back. All said and done, Baxter still had the only gun between them, and there wasn't much keeping him from drawing it. Except, Keith thought, Baxter probably had other plans for Keith Landry, something he'd been thinking about for the last few weeks. Baxter hadn't come out here to kill him, so there was no reason to give him a reason. Yet, Keith couldn't resist the opportunity to mess with his mind and maybe draw him into a fair fight. Keith said, "Okay? You want to have it out? I was about to take a break anyway."
Baxter smiled. "Yeah, we're gonna have it out. But you ain't gonna see it coming."
"Still the class bully."
"Yeah, and you're still the class asshole. Hey, remember I used to bump you in the hall? You'd like to forget that, wouldn't you? I used to eye-fuck your girlfriend, and you didn't do shit. I'd feel her up every chance I got, and you saw me and just stood there. You know what? She loved it. She wanted a man, not a fucking pussy. And, hey, by the way, if I ever see you talking to her, I'll cut your balls off and feed 'em to my dogs. I kid you not."
Keith stood absolutely still. There was nothing to say after that, nothing to do now except let the man dig his own grave with his mouth.
Baxter, on a roll now, continued, "Hey, what do you do out here for pussy? If I catch you fuckin' the livestock, I'll run you in. You farm boys're always fuckin' the livestock, that's why they're so skittish. Your brother used to fuck the geese down by the lake and damn near killed half of them. He was the goose fucker. I remember him. And your sister..."
"Stop it. Please stop."
"Say again?"
"Please stop. Look... I'm leaving in a week. I just came back to see to the farm. I'm not staying. I'll be gone in about a week."