Switcheroo Read Online Free Page B

since
the added weight of her belly sent a jolt through my lower back.
    At eleven thirty Kim and I had
finished our drinks and I promised to call from the office with Georgie’s
whereabouts next week. Since I was low on brain cells just like the rest of these
mutts, I switched to coffee. Kim excused herself so I could talk to Tammy.
    Tammy came over to our table,
tossing her apron in a nearby hamper on the way.  She slid fluidly into a
chair.  She had on faded black jeans and an unbuttoned white shirt with a white
spaghetti strap thing on under it. I managed to start talking, in spite of
myself.
    “Rust Stover, nice to meet you,
Tammy,” I said, doing my best Dale Carnegie imitation - How to make friends and
get laid more often. “I’m very sorry to hear about your ex-husband.”
    “Husband, actually.  We were gonna
get divorced, but now we don’t have too. I guess things have a way of working
themselves out.” She said sadly. Perhaps other people who had wronged her
before had also suddenly died. Maybe she was a gypsy.
    We passed a few minutes talking
about Kim’s situation. I found myself calling it a ‘case’, since I  was working
on it, although that implied I might actually get paid. I left out the fact
that I had not had a real case in about a year and had never done any real
detecting, other than spying on secret lovers for suspicious minds. I could not
think of a delicate way to introduce the subject of her unreasonable, or
perhaps reasonable, fear of being killed by the bikers who killed her husband,
Travis McHenry. It sounded like a Springer show theme. The direct approach is
best.
    “So you think these guys that
killed Travis want to hurt you too?” I sounded like Cosby interviewing a six
year old. She seemed slightly taken aback, so I explained. “Kim was telling me
about your situation.”
    “If they find me, they will
definitely want me dead if they cannot have my truck.  I think they might kill
me anyway even if I hand ‘em the keys.” She looked at me wild-eyed, showing a
little fear.
    “What makes you think they don’t
already know where you are?” I wasn’t trying to scare her, but that question
came out wrong. Oops. Fear shadowed her face, interrupted from time to time by
flickering light from the mirror ball.
    “Well, I’ve been careful, that’s
why.  Billy pays me cash plus tips and I’ve only been here for a week.  I moved
out of my trailer and in with Grandma Tuttle.  I have no phone number, and no
cell phone. Really, no one could find me easy.” She looked at me smugly,
waiting for me to talk. I was enjoying watching her delicate jaw move, barely
hearing what she said.
    “Why do they want that truck so
much?” I attempted to arch one of my eyebrows intelligently, fooling no one.
    “Well, I’ll tell you,” she said
quietly. “But this could take a minute.”
    Her accent was distracting, but
then, so was the rest of her. I settled in with my shitty coffee to listen.
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     

 
     
    Chapter
5
     
     
    Travis McHenry had married Tammy
Tuttle on an unfortunate Sunday about two years ago.  This shotgun wedding had
followed a brief courtship during which Tammy had been charmed from a barstool
by Travis. A lanky but somewhat handsome construction worker, Travis had
latched on to Tammy and actually wore shirts with collars and buttons to try to
attract her.
    Travis had changed after being
forced into wedlock by Tammy’s bun-in-the-oven.  It wasn’t long before Tammy
realized he was not going to stand the test of time.  Even with a baby on the
way, Travis kept going to all the trashy places he took her when they were
first dating, only now he went by himself. They had settled into Travis’s
single wide trailer, but Travis seemed to show no ambition or any desire to
plan for a better life for his new family.
    After Hannah Grace had been born,
Tammy returned to waitressing