Too Big Taboo Bundle(25)

9.



We ditched the big rig at a truck stop on the edge of town, then  borrowed another car and drove the only place we knew to go. Back to  Maurice's. I was dreading the moment when we admitted we had lost the  best vehicle he ever owned. He could hold a grudge, that one, and he  wasn't always as nice as he let on. But he was the only friend we had  left.



The front door was ajar.



"Maurice?" Eli called.



No answer. A yellow taxi cab pulled up in front of the house and honked.  Not wanting the driver to see our faces we hastily ducked through the  open door.



"Maurice?" Eli called again as we made our way down the little hall toward the bedroom.



There was some kind of commotion coming from Maurice's room. We ran down  the hall and threw open the door. Luggage was scattered on the floor  around Maurice's bed. Maurice was kneeling on the bed, trying to close  an overstuffed suitcase.



"Where you going, Maurice?" Eli asked.



It was like he noticed us for the first time. "Oh!" Maurice gasped. "Mr. Rutherford? Avery? But how  …  the lake house  … "



Maurice lost his grip on the overstuffed suitcase and it came unclasped.  Green wads of money spilled out, falling on the bed. Eli opened the  suitcase all the way and saw that it was completely filled with stacks  of cash.



"Maurice, where did you get all this money?" Eli asked. "It's mine,  isn't it?" Eli grabbed Maurice by the shirt collar, lifting him to the  tips of his toes. "Tell me, Maurice. Tell me, goddamn it!"



"Put me down, sir," Maurice said.



Eli lowered him so his feet were flat on the floor, but he didn't loosen  his grip on Maurice's collar. The two men were standing nose to nose,  though Eli was several inches taller.



"Sure, it's your money," Maurice said. "I took it. You murdered your  wife and I figured you were going away for a long, long time. You  wouldn't be needing cash where you were headed."



Eli looked crestfallen. "But I could have hired a lawyer," he said. "I  would have beaten the charges. How could you do that to me, Maurice? You  practically raised me."



"Yeah, I raised you," he said. "And my mama raised your daddy. Hell, she  spent more time with him than she did with me. My grandma? Let's talk  about my grandma. She raised your grandpa.



"Your grandpa was the second Eli Rutherford, right? Because you're the  fourth, and your daddy was the third. Well, old Eli the Second, he loved  my grandma. He loved her a little too much. We called her Mama Lovie.  He called her whatever he wanted. When he was fifteen years old, he put a  baby inside her. She tried to report him and got a beating for her  troubles.                       
       
           


///
       



"Well, nine months later, Mama Lovie had a little mixed baby. Half  black, half white, one hundred percent Rutherford. I'm told he had your  grandpa's eyes. That baby was the rightful heir to the Rutherford  fortune. All the lands, the homes and second homes and third homes, the  fortune built on the backs of my ancestors who toiled in your tobacco  fields-at least some of it should have gone to that little baby. My  uncle. That would never do, of course. The Rutherfords are prim and  proper folks. One night some white men took that baby from Mama Lovie,  stuffed him in a tote sack with a big rock and tossed him in the river.



"That took care of that. From then on, your grandpa was sure to use a  condom when he had his way with the womenfolk in my family."



Eli staggered backward. "It's a lie," he said. "I don't believe you."



"Believe what you want, motherfucker," Maurice said. "It doesn't matter  now. Just think about it, though. Think about the way my mama shuddered  when your grandpa lay his hand on her. The way his hand lingered on the  small of her back a little too long."



"I do remember," Eli said. "My god, it's all true, isn't it?"



Maurice didn't reply. He just stood there staring at Eli.



"You're the one who tipped off the police when we went to the lake house," Eli said.



Maurice nodded solemnly. A car horn honked outside. The taxi! It was still waiting in front of Maurice's house.



"Where are you taking the money?" Eli asked.



"The airport," Maurice said. "Your jet hasn't been seized yet, and your  pilot is still on retainer for another month. He's making one last  flight on the Rutherford family dime."



"Where to?" I asked.



"Wherever I say. I am paying cash, after all."



The taxi driver honked again. Eli looked around the bedroom. "Six suitcases," he said. "How much money is here?"



"A little over two billion," Maurice said.



Eli grabbed two of the suitcases. "Take one, Avery. We're leaving." He  turned to Maurice. "You're not going with us. I can never trust you  again after what you did. But, if what you say is true, then I am sorry  for the way my family treated yours. Take half the money. Consider us  even."



Eli lifted his suitcases and made for the door. "Come on, kid," he said to me. "Driver's waiting."



Mine was too heavy, and Maurice had to help me.



"Thanks, Maurice," Eli said, taking the bag from him and placing it in  the trunk. "And Maurice? If I see even one police officer when I get to  my airport hangar, I'm telling the cops where they can find a billion  dollars' worth of stolen money. Got it?"



"Yes, sir," he said. "Thank you, Mr. Rutherford. Y'all be safe."



The men stared at each other for a second, and to my surprise they  hugged goodbye. Eli and I loaded into the taxi as the irritable driver  barked about the wait and the inconvenience and how he was losing money  every minute we delayed. A hundred dollar bill from Eli's pocket shut  him up quick.



We enjoyed a quiet ride to the airport, taking in the view of our  hometown, assuming it was the last time we'd ever see the place.





10.



When Eli and I walked into our private hangar, the pilot's jaw dropped.  He was a tall, lanky man with a face covered in freckles. A flat blue  pilot's cap was pulled over his curly red hair.



"Mr. Rutherford?" the pilot exclaimed. "But Maurice-"



"Maurice gave us his ticket," Eli grinned.



The pilot sprang to attention. "Yes sir, Mr. Rutherford," he said. "Here, let me help you with those bags."



"Much appreciated, Henry," he said. "Come on, Avery. Let's board."



We trotted up the steps and entered the plane. When I was younger I  accompanied Eli on a few business trips, so the cabin was familiar to  me. Kind of a home away from home in the sky. As we made our way toward  the front of the plane, we passed Eli's desk followed by the wet bar and  a cluster of overstuffed couches and armchairs, as well as a mammoth  flatscreen TV. This part of the plane always reminded me of the lounge  area of a modern luxury hotel. The only difference was that all the  furniture was bolted down to keep it from sliding or bouncing in  turbulent skies.



It would be just dreadful if a burst of wind happened to spill Eli's gin fizz, after all. He couldn't have that.



We passed the lounge area, then four rows of first-class seats, and Eli  ducked as he entered the cockpit. He sat in the captain's seat and  started flipping switches and pushing buttons. Eli had his pilot's  license, and he had a tendency to take control of situations. In fact,  it seemed he needed to be in charge always and with no exceptions. Even  when a perfectly good professional pilot was on his payroll.                       
       
           


///
       



The jet engines roared to life.



I sat in the other pilot's chair and stared down the long runway. It was  a small private airport for Shiloh's elite, and it seemed to be  deserted. Beyond the airstrip and a field of tall yellow grass, I could  see the rooftops of homes all lined up in a row. With Eli as my man, I  would never know what it was like to have a normal little life in one of  those cookie-cutter houses.



"Where are we going?" I asked.



Henry poked his head through the cockpit entrance. "I was just wondering  the same thing," he said, wiping a bead of sweat from his freckly  forehead.



"Was it ever in doubt?" Eli asked.



Our destination was most certainly in doubt to me, but Henry thought and  then nodded his head. "I'm not sure we've got the fuel to get us  there," he said. "We might, but it will be cutting it close."



"Only one way to find out," Eli said. "Buckle up, Avery."