Fallout (Joshua Stokes Mysteries Book 2) Read Online Free PDF Page A

hawk seemed to be staring at him. It surprised him that it was just sitting there, especially with the vehicle revving up in the front yard. Loud as it was, it should have scared him away. Joshua wondered what the significance of it was… it made him even more wary.
    It did not surprise him at all that it was Leonard in his yard and it appeared to be Tom’s oldest boy with him. Leonard kept revving up and letting off, rocking the truck back and forth. Lord have Mercy on my soul for having to deal with these idiots, thought Joshua as he walked toward Leonard’s truck.
    “Looks like you ain’t got Hook’s shirttail to hide behind now,” Leonard observed.
    “I don’t need nobody’s shirttail to hide behind, Leonard,” Joshua responded quickly “but it appears you need a boy to hide behind. Now, why would you want to get this here boy involved in grownups business?”
    “You involved me when you shot my daddy!” the squeaky voiced boy exclaimed. Joshua saw much of Tom in the boy’s features. They even shared some of the same facial expressions. The sneer on the boy’s lips made Joshua want to slap the piss out of him, but he retrained himself from doing so. There’s no hope for the human race, as long as idiots keep having young'uns, he thought to himself.
    “You need to just keep quiet, squirt, and let us grownups talk,” Joshua said flatly. “And Leonard, if you got a bone to pick with me, you come back by yourself and we’ll settle it like men.” Joshua heard a car coming up his driveway; it was Deputy Cook.
    When he pulled up and stopped, Cook stuck his head out the window and asked, “Is everything alright here, Sheriff?”
    “Yep, Cookie, they were just leaving. Ain’t that right Leonard and little Tom.”
    “This ain’t the end of it, Stokes. I will be back,” Leonard said grittily.
    “Anytime you’re feeling frisky, Leonard. Just leave the little ones at home next time,” Joshua replied, staring Tom’s boy in the eyes since he was the one closest to him. The boy sneered some more and Leonard revved his truck up and spun a rooster tail of dirt behind him as he circled around and headed out the driveway.
    “Them boys is up to no good, Sheriff,” Cook observed. “You better watch that one. Do you want me to stop him and give him a ticket?”
    “That would be just adding fuel to the fire, Cookie,” he responded, then said, “You didn’t ride all the way out here for nothing. What’s wrong?”
    “Our dispatcher, Ida Mae, says she has been fielding calls all day about an offensive odor coming from the little house down yonder behind the First Baptist Church. She tried to call you on your land line, your radio, and she said she paged you.” When Joshua did not respond, Cook continued. “It seems they haven’t seen any activity around there in a few days. It’s the one right there by the railroad tracks; Mr. Vices place.”
    Joshua knew where Cook was talking about. It was the home of Hook’s uncle Jesse. I hope nothing has happened to him and his wife, thought Joshua as he headed toward his patrol car. Supper at the Four-Mile would have to wait.
    “You follow me,” he told Cook. “We’ll go do a wellness check on them; they’re both up in age. I’m surprised no one has checked on them.” After he said it, he thought of Tom; Tom was Jesse’s kin. Jesse’s family had probably been dealing with Tom’s death, wake, and funeral. They probably had not been in the right frame of mind to check on them. Maybe they just plumb forgot about them in the confusion; it was possible. When he and Cook pulled up to Jesse Vice’s house and got out of their patrol cars, they could smell it; the stench of decomposition. Rotting human flesh has a distinct odor.
    “Damn it to hell!” Joshua mumbled as he got his pry bar out of the trunk. “We’ll probably have to bust the door in,” he told Cook. “Put some gloves on, just in case something has gone on that shouldn’t have.”
    “Yes,