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HE KNEW THE FIRST THING he needed to do was get his money in a safe place, having drawn everything out of the bank in San Francisco before boarding the aircraft for Atlanta. He still had over $700,000 — too much to put in his hiding place under the bed. Putting all the money in his briefcase, he decided to eat breakfast at the café while waiting for the bank to open. Mrs. McKinney saw him come through the door.
“Welcome back, stranger. You know the Barkleys surely did miss you, son!”
“I missed them, too.”
“It’s nice to see you. What can I get you?”
“A couple of eggs, bacon and coffee, please.”
“Coming right up.”
He drank his coffee while listening to the conversations of the other customers. He realized the topics were the same ones he had listened to last fall. It looks like the removal of two snakes had no effect on this town. He had erased Billy Bob and Craig for pure revenge and thought the town would have gotten better somehow. Instead it looked like business as usual.
He was the first bank customer and asked whom to see to open a savings account. The clerk pointed to a neatly dressed, middle age woman saying: “Mrs. White, can help you.”
Thanking her, he approached the desk: “I need to open two accounts and get a safety deposit box.”
“Sir, take a seat. I need a little information.”
The whole process was so much easier than he’d thought. In less than thirty minutes he had a safety deposit box, a checking and a savings account. As he walked out the door, he realized he was now officially a resident of Blue Ridge, Georgia — a resident who had created a mess only God could fix.
It was time to see Nick. If anyone could come up with a plan, it was Nick. The walk to the supper club was like coming home. He felt more at home here than he did in Washington, Georgia, where he was born and reared. He wondered why that was. He’d only lived in Blue Ridge for six months, but those six months were filled with love and happiness. With Nick’s help, maybe he could recapture all that, somehow, some way.
As he walked into the parking lot of the supper club, Nick came out with a bag of trash. Nick saw him: “Where in the hell have you been, boy? Your girlfriend has gotten herself in a peck of trouble.”
“I know. That’s why I’m here. What can we do to get her out?”
“I think maybe it’s too late for that.”
“It can’t be. She’s innocent.”
“You and I know that, but the jury said otherwise.”
“I can’t believe everyone on the jury felt that way.”
“ I was there. They polled the jury. Every one of them said: guilty.”
“Nick, help me out here. Tell me everything you know about the case.”
“I’ll try. Here it is... She was seen leaving town shortly after Craig and Mr. Bob were both shot. Two more people testified they saw her leaving town in a hurry. One of the witnesses, Tad Green, said he saw a man lying down in her front seat. At first they thought she had an accomplice. When they found the empty shell on her car’s front seat, they found a fingerprint that didn’t match Peggy’s. Later they discovered that the deputy carrying the evidence dropped the envelope. The empty shell fell out and he just picked it up with his bare hand and put it back in the envelope. The other print was then smudged. They even talked about you as an accomplice until the bus driver told the GBI investigator that he had picked up five passengers on Thursday, the day before the killing. He verified a man fitting your description was one of the passengers.”
“They sure were quick on going to trial.”
“Remember, the county judge is Mr. Bob’s sister’s son. He saw an opportunity to show off for the big boys in Atlanta. Everything was done in less than months. They made it look like it was a simple family dispute that got out of control.”
“Nick, why didn’t you tell me that Peggy was Mr. Bob’s daughter?”
“It wasn’t any of my business. Would it have made any difference in the way you feel about her?”
“No, not how I feel. But perhaps it would have changed something.”
“I’m sure Peggy would have gotten around to telling you sooner or later. Especially when she found out she was pregnant. Jim is that baby yours?”
“Absolutely. I know it’s mine. Nick, what on earth am I going to do?”
“What do you want to do?”
“I need to see Peggy. Maybe then we’ll know what to do. Do you think they’ll let me see her?”
“I think this is a case of it’s easier to get forgiveness than it is to get permission. I still have a lot of friends at the jail from when I was sheriff. Let’s wait until after five o’clock and I’ll see what I can do.”
“Nick, I appreciate this so much.”
“I just wish I could do more.”
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