Devil in the Grass Read online

  Jack stared at the ceiling, slowly shaking his head. He remembered idolizing great football players like Joe Montana and John Elway when he was a teenager, trying to emulate the way they played the game. He appreciated their skill, but it was the fearlessness with which they marched onto the field that had mattered to him; they seemed oblivious to the adversities they faced and allowed their abilities to produce great results, unhindered by doubt. Jack worked hard to exhibit many of the same characteristics during his high school football days, and then later at the University of Florida. He’d grown into a person that his teammates looked up to, the one who didn’t back down. He was a gamer.

  Jack had fallen a long way from that standard these past few years. He didn’t blame anyone. He’d become soft and apathetic. He’d made a half-assed attempt to clean himself up after hitting what he thought was rock bottom. He realized now that he had never dealt with the root of his problems, he’d only masked the symptoms.

  The magnitude of his situation and the possible consequences hit him like a slap to the forehead. He picked up the Naples Daily News, which lay at his feet. It was the third time he’d read the front page since waking an hour earlier. His picture was prominently displayed with the headline beneath it:

  CULT LEADER SLAYS TWO IN CLEWISTON

  A Fort Myers man in his mid-twenties is the subject of a massive manhunt in connection with the slaying of a man and woman in the small town of Clewiston, near Lake Okeechobee Tuesday night. The suspect, Jackson Walker, is described as 6-foot-2, with dark hair and athletic build. He was last seen in LaBelle, east of Fort Myers.

  Walker, a local football star, played three years for the University of Florida Gators. Walker was later drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals and played three years in their system. He currently works as an intern for Sen. James Hunter.

  Walker is believed to be connected with a local Satanic cult called The Brotherhood of Set, based in South Florida. Not much is known about the cult, or whether it is associated with other Satanic sects within the country.

  Details and names of the deceased are being withheld pending further investigation. Anyone with information or knowledge of his whereabouts should call the Lee County Sheriff’s hotline. Walker is considered armed and dangerous.

  Jack threw the paper into the far corner of the room. “Fuckin’ hell! . . . Cult leader, armed and dangerous? Come on.” He shook his head. Jack possessed nothing more than the clothes on his back and a little cash in his wallet. Reading the newspaper again infuriated him.

  The Naples Daily was a small rag, but by now his story could be on WINK news, maybe even Fox TV, his history dissected and the media hounding anyone closely associated with him. He shook his head once again. This doesn’t look good. He stood up and paced the small room. He was not a devil worshiper, nor was he a cult leader; he needed to prove his accusers wrong.

  He’d known that there were risks associated with his involvement with Satanists. He blamed his naiveté for becoming involved with Sarah. It could have happened to any red-blooded American male, and he was paying a massive price for chasing that woman. Now he was accused of murder, facing a long prison sentence, and perhaps the death penalty. He would not turn himself in—not yet. He couldn’t get caught by the Satanists either; that would end badly. He shuddered.

  He was stuck in the middle of the largest swamp in the United States, sweating profusely in a small, dismal hut. If he were to give up at this point, he wouldn’t be able to prove his innocence. He owed that much to himself and his family. He needed time to figure things out. Why me? What were his assailants’ motivations? He didn’t think it a coincidence that the whole affair began shortly after he was hired by Senator Hunter. He had been drawn into some sort of conspiracy? To what end? Had he been preyed upon because of his apathetic state? He banged his fist on the table. Most importantly, he needed to become the Jack Walker he had once been. He could feel the fury building in him like he hadn’t experienced in a long time. He would need this emotion to get out of the mess he was in.

  Jack paced the room waiting for Janie to arrive. Janie worked for a Naples law firm, and had been hired by his Aunt Rebecca from Atlanta. Jack didn’t think that the situation was going to be resolved with legalities, but for the time being, he was out of options and had to trust his aunt. He lay down on the rusty cot. At least the bedsheets are clean, he thought. Aunt Rebecca took care of everything. The smell of the freshly laundered bedding gave him some comfort. He put his hands behind his head and closed his eyes, thinking about the crazy events of the past few months.

  2

  The Intern

  “TURN UP THE AIR, son, it’s roasting back here.”

  Jack guided the car onto the ramp to I-75 South, toward Naples. He merged into the slow-moving rush hour traffic before adjusting the temperature. Florida Senator James Hunter sat in the back of the town car with his personal secretary, Phyllis, without whom he seldom went anywhere. Jack had begun his internship with the Republican senator two months earlier; it was one of those get-your-foot-in-the-door jobs. He was willing to start at the bottom in a state senator’s office and work his way up. The position was a drastic step down from the professional football career he’d worked so hard for, but this was South Florida, smack in the middle of the worst recession since the Great Depression, and he was happy for the work. He missed the thrill of a big game, but it did him no good to lament the past. Hunter was a big Gators fan and felt sorry for Jack. He’d seen most of Jack’s home games when he was in college and had wanted to give the young man a break. Jack was thankful. The job varied from day to day and required many hats; today he was the driver.

  Hunter was all business at work—always in a stylish suit, his salt-and-pepper hair never out of place. After hours, it was different. Jack was often invited to Hunter’s home for a few drinks to talk sports, shoot the shit, and to watch that night’s big game, whatever sport it might be. It wasn’t a bad gig, but he wondered where it might lead. He figured his best bet was to work hard and move up through the ranks of the Republican Party. There were a few ex-athletes making it big in politics. Instant recognition fueled their political success. He would watch and learn the ropes. Hunter was a pro, and as long as he didn’t patronize him, Jack would work hard for the man. There were people who got off on hanging out with pro athletes, even has-beens.

  Jack picked up the senator and his assistant Phyllis at Punta Gorda Airport, a half hour north of Fort Myers. His boss’s next appointment was in South Naples, followed by a late dinner in Miami. Jack sighed. This is gonna be a long, boring night.

  The drive to Miami passed quickly with little traffic until they reached the downtown area. Halfway through the drive Jack saw out of the corner of his eye Hunter brush his hand along Phyllis’ leg. Phyllis’ eyes met Jack’s through the rear-view mirror. Jack turned his eyes back to the road, not wanting them to know he’d seen their private moment.

  His mind wandered as he settled into the drive. Jack had met Hunter’s wife, Debra, at a barbecue a month earlier. She was attractive and in her late forties, slightly plump, but well-proportioned. The two of them had enjoyed the afternoon—Hunter’s hand making a similar gesture on his wife’s backside, her head turning to meet his gaze, a knowing smile. Jack shook his head to clear the image. Who am I to judge? Yet it left a bad taste in his mouth.

  The evening in Miami was painfully long. The temptation of the South Beach strip was tantalizing, the art deco buildings and buzz of the street like a lodestone pulling at Jack. But he was no longer a celebrity, he was a normal guy now, a guy who needed to earn an honest living. He longingly remembered the many nights he’d spent in the chic nightclubs, being the playboy. He tried to banish the thoughts. The high life had done him no favors, and had left him with an empty wallet and a substance-abuse problem.

  His drug use had begun with weed in high school, but he’d cut back in college because it was frowned upon at the University of Florida. In his sophomore year, he suffered a s
eparated shoulder, which fostered a new addiction—pharmaceutical painkillers. He continued to take them for the rest of his college career and into his early days with Cincinnati. His mother had warned him before her death that she was concerned about his health, having seen how booze had ruined his father and their marriage. But professional sports are ultra-competitive, and all about money. Jack was lucky enough to be counseled by the Bengals’ team physician about the risks involved with painkillers and alcohol, and at the request of team officials, he was sent to drug rehab in his first professional off-season. It led to some bad press.

  Then came performance-enhancing drugs. The doctors guaranteed that his shoulder would recover and there would be no issues with drug testing, but deep down Jack knew that something wasn’t right. His instincts proved correct; indifferent play and substance abuse ended his short stay in the NFL.

  The realization that his dream was over was too much for Jack to come to grips with. Coke and Jack Daniels came after he was released. He still had some cash and he needed to be numb. Within six months, he had blown five hundred grand partying in Dallas, New York, Miami, Los Angeles, Toronto—wherever there was a party, he was there. It was a free-for-all until the money ran out. Once he could no longer afford his binge lifestyle, Jack tried to clean himself up. Every now and then he would buy some cheap Florida-grown pot you could get nearly anywhere, if you knew where to look.

  He stood in front of the Delano, a swanky restaurant one block from the water on Collins Avenue, where Hunter was dining. Jack made small talk with the front security for a bit, a large man with a good sense of humor who remembered him from his party days.

  “Jack Walker. No shit. Wassup, bro?” The two men clasped hands. “You got a table?”

  “No, man. I’m on the other side now.”

  The large man looked him up and down. “What you mean, bro? You are the shit!”

  “Not anymore. I’m washed up, cut, lost all my cash. Earning an honest living like you now.”

  “Never woulda believed it. Read somewhere that you were having problems, figured you’d work it out. Catch on with another team. Real sorry, man.”

  “That’s life, man. Here I am, no contract and working for a state senator, waiting for the man to finish dinner.”

  The security guard just shook his head. “I remember you draggin’ two girls in on your arm in the day.”

  “Wasn’t that long ago. Carter . . . right?”

  “You got it. Your college days were your best. You were a cult hero. It was like a switch flipped and you took off. If you coulda done that at will, you’d still be the shit. Loved watching that, you were the king of the comeback.”

  “To tell you the truth, I was always a bag of nerves, worried about making mistakes. We’d either have to be down and out, nothing to lose, or someone would have to knock the shit out of me to wake me up, piss me off, and then it was academic. They didn’t have the patience up in Cinci, or maybe I was just scared shitless most of the time.”

  Carter laughed. “Coulda paid me the big bucks. I’da knocked you upside the head.”

  Jack smiled, clapping the man on the shoulder. These conversations became tedious after a time, but Jack went along with them. He knew the day would come when the adoration ended.

  After chatting for an hour, he shook Carter’s hand and strolled across the street to grab a bite to eat on Lincoln Road. As he walked across the street, he received a text from Phyllis, asking him to have the car ready in fifteen minutes. He grabbed a couple slices of greasy pizza and a coffee, and retrieved the car.

  The drive home across Alligator Alley was long, straight, and boring, and late at night. He’d made the drive dozens of times to take in a Miami Heat or Dolphins game, not to mention the odd night out on South Beach. The only difference now was that he was getting paid and didn’t have a belly full of cheap beer. He closed the privacy panel that divided the front and back seats. The senator was asleep, and Phyllis was busy tapping away on her iPad. He anticipated that they might want some privacy. He downed the remainder of his coffee and tried to settle into a groove. His eyes were biting a bit, but he knew that would soon pass if he kept his mind occupied.

  He smiled. Earlier in the day he’d met a young clerk named Sarah Courtney while waiting for the senator as he convened his Naples meeting. Sarah worked for the Republican Party and dealt with Hunter’s office on a regular basis. The young woman was not beautiful in a conventional sense. She was petite and fairly short, with dark brown hair and Asian eyes. Jack couldn’t figure out exactly what the attraction was; perhaps it was the way she carried herself, her confidence. He took a deep breath and focused on the road.

  Jack had been sitting in the lobby reading a dated TIME magazine for the better part of an hour when Sarah walked into the room. He looked up over the corner of the magazine as she sauntered through, not giving her too much notice, but within a few seconds she was standing over him. He didn’t really see her as much as he felt her presence, her closeness . . . no . . . it was more than that—he could smell her. Jack lowered the magazine slightly, feeling a little uncomfortable. He was getting tired and didn’t really want to talk to anyone, but it felt like she willed him to raise his eyes and look at her.

  He was about to glance down at the magazine again in a fit of shyness when she lightly grabbed the edge of it and pushed it to the side. Her voice was deep.

  “You must be Jackson? The new guy . . . the football player?”

  He raised his eyebrows.

  “The girls in the office have been talking about you.” She backed up a few steps, placing her hands on her hips. “I don’t think you are as gorgeous as they say, but you certainly are cute.”

  Jack swallowed and muttered. “I am Jackson Walker, but I don’t know about all that other stuff.” He could feel his face getting warm.”You are a bit forward if I might say so.”

  “Well . . . maybe, kinda.” She eyed him for a moment, biting her bottom lip. “I’m new as well, maybe we’ll see each other around, unless the senator has you working too much?”

  “How busy do I look right now?”

  “Good point. Look, I don’t make a habit of asking guys out, but I’m new here and life’s been boring as hell since I started this job. It would be great to have a coffee next time you’re stopping by.”

  She’s pretty aggressive, but what the hell. “Sure, why not.”

  She grinned. “Gimme a call, here’s my cell.” She wrote the number on a small piece of paper, then turned and walked back toward the office, taking one last sideways glance. Jack was speechless, his mouth dry. He’d been checked out before, but never so blatantly. He wasn’t sure that he felt comfortable; actually, he didn’t know what to think. She was more than forward, she was on a mission. He was somewhat turned on by her demeanor. It wasn’t love at first sight, but it was clearly sexual, and undeniable, and strong. It stuck in his mind throughout the day.

  He tried to think of something else as the car rolled smoothly along the highway. Fifteen minutes later he whispered, “Damn it.” He hadn’t been with a woman in some time and the thought of her, the smell of her, was too much to resist.

  He picked up his iPhone and voice activated Sarah’s number, which he’d programmed earlier in the day . . . just in case. “Call Sarah Courtney.”

  The phone rang five times. He was about to give up when Sarah answered. “Hello?”

  “Hey, it’s Jack, we met earlier . . . ” There was a slight pause.

  “I was disappointed . . . I didn’t think it would take you this long.”

  What the hell! Cocky? No, confident. He smiled. “Couldn’t get free, still on the clock.”

  “Glad you called.”

  “Senator Hunter tells me I would be crazy not to ask you out. So . . . you free over the next few days?”

  “Well, tomorrow I have a prayer meeting. But Friday for lunch sounds good.”

  Jack hesitated. Prayer meeting. Lunch. Who goes to lunch for a date? “Sure. Can I
pick you up?”

  “I’m working a promo over at Bell Tower. There’s a place called the Blue Point Oyster Bar. I’ll meet you there. That okay?”

  “I can swing it, not workin’ Friday anyway. How’s one o’clock?”

  “See you then, I really look forward to it.” She hung up abruptly.

  Jack pondered the short conversation as he made his way back into Naples. Prayer meeting? He’d gone out with some religious girls—there were a million of them in the good old South. He didn’t know if he had the will or the patience to work his way around the bases, to go through a prolonged courtship, meet the parents. He was a good-looking guy and didn’t have a problem meeting women. He never sought them out; perhaps it was his strong, silent demeanor that drew women to him. His mother used to tell him that he had an honest face.

  Lunch, prayer meeting . . . maybe she was playing it safe. So be it. He’d been to the restaurant before, and the seafood was quite good. He’d have a few drinks, get primed, be cordial, say it was nice and be done with it, then he’d call his buddy Perry and see if he wanted to go sharking in the evening. Maybe he would get lucky.

  ****

  “Damn.” Jack hadn’t left himself enough time to get across town. If you got on the wrong side of the lights in the city of Fort Myers, you could nearly double your travel time. Some of the lights in the state were unbearably long, and if you got caught, you could sit for minutes at a time. There was a constant jockeying for position to get in front of the old people and run the lights, hoping there wasn’t a cop sitting at the intersection ready to pull you over.

  He sat in traffic stuck in the endless cycle of red lights. He stared at ABC Liquors on the far corner, reminding him to stop later for some Jim Beam and a few Coors Lights for tonight’s fishing. He hung his arm out the window. He could feel his skin burning in the hot summer sun. His air conditioning was broken, and the sweat rolled down his back and into his underwear. He put his nose to his underarm, hoping that he was not beginning to smell too bad. Before the light turned, he sent Sarah a quick text telling her that he would be a few minutes late.