Snakes Among Sweet Flowers by Jason Huffman-Black Page B

show up. I mean, they know right where I live. What am I going to do, Tom?” The cat looked at him, and Cam corrected, “Tommasina.” He was a fucking idiot.
    After a few minutes of staring off into space, Cam had a sudden idea and pulled his phone from his pocket. It was a dumb idea and he knew it, but it didn’t stop him from punching in the phone number and listening to the ring as the call connected.
    A soft voice answered just as he’d about given up, but he lost all use of his tongue and simply sat there as the voice again said, “Hello?”
    The line went quiet except for breathing, then finally the voice said, “I’m alone.”
    Cam breathed a sigh of relief. “Are you okay?”
    He could imagine Detra nodding on the other end of the line, finally realizing he couldn’t hear and answering, “Yeah. He’s mad, but he doesn’t know I had anything to do with it. Are you okay? Tell me you are halfway around the world right now, Cam.”
    “I’m halfway around the world right now.”
    “You are such a fucking liar. And stupid as hell too. You are still in Georgia, aren’t you? He isn’t gonna play if he finds you, Cam. Get on a plane and get gone.”
    “I found a place to settle, Detra. It’s pretty good here, quiet and nice. You should run too. It’s a little town called Hog Mountain. You could come and—”
    “Shit! Cam! Don’t tell me that. Don’t call here again. He’ll find out. Just be happy, okay?” Detra didn’t wait for an answer before the line went dead.
    Cam felt the sting of tears as he stared at the phone in his hand, wondering if he had just made the biggest mistake of his life.

Chapter 9
     
     
    THE SUN lit up the entire bedroom early the next morning, and Cam covered his head with a pillow to ward it off. It wasn’t like him not to get up immediately, but he’d had a lot of trouble sleeping the night before as his mind continuously played over his phone conversation with Detra.
    Although Detra still held out hope that her love would somehow change Harold, Cam would feel better if she gave up that entire life and move out to Hog Mountain with him. He could see her fitting in and enjoying the slow, easy life in the country. He could also see her blossoming without Harold around to keep her under his thumb. But Cam couldn’t force her to leave. So all he could do was worry.
    While Harold was the one in control, other people had come and gone from their little band of thieves. Cam supposed Harold would have let him do the same except for one small detail. Cam had left with a huge chunk of change, most of which belonged to Harold.
    Cam finally threw back the covers and climbed out of the bed. He straightened the sheets and pillows quickly and headed toward the bathroom. He was going to need an extra-large cup of coffee to make it through the morning, that was for sure. And he had a long day ahead of him, too, what with his dinner at Ida and Charles’s that evening. He sighed at the thought and stepped under the shower spray.
    Cam was just stepping out the front door, second mug of coffee in hand and cat under his feet, when a familiar police cruiser pulled into his driveway. Cam couldn’t think of a less welcomed event. What the hell was he doing back again today? Had they not had enough of each other already? Or was Rhodes back to finish the fight they had almost started the day before?
    Cam waited on the top step until the policeman stepped out of his car, then called across the lawn. “Mornin’, Officer Rhodes. To what do I owe the pleasure?”
    To Cam’s surprise, the policeman smiled and returned the greeting. “Morning, Mr. Sanders. I brought the manual labor you requested yesterday.” Rhodes opened the back door to his squad car and three kids piled out.
    Cam frowned and glanced between the children and Rhodes. “What—”
    Seeming to understand what Cam meant, the officer continued. “Give them the tools they’ll need and tell them what you want done. They’ll