The lightning speed of the town’s gossip never ceased to amaze him. He decided to play along and see what “they were telling.”
“You’re kidding, right?”
“No, don’t think so. Rumor is he’s been seen and wants to hook up with his ex-wife.”
A farmer asked, “Weren’t you his lawyer, Jake?”
“No sir. Last I heard, Harry Rex handled his affairs. Who saw him?”
Prather said, “Don’t know. Heard it made the rounds at the Baptist church yesterday.”
“Well, then, it’s gotta be true.”
“Ain’t he wanted by the law?” Andy Furr asked.
“I have no idea.”
“Marshall, you know anything about that?”
“I don’t, but I’ll find out.”
“Didn’t he take a bunch of money and run?”
Jake said, “That was always the rumor.”
From the counter, Dell said, “We don’t do rumors around here. All of our gossip is the real stuff.”
That got a few laughs. The Coffee Shop was a notorious place for starting rumors, often to see how fast they could race around the square before returning in a greatly altered version. Jake was amused by the fact that no one had actually seen Mack. Evidently, the Bunning clan had spread the word at the First Baptist Church, where they were lifelong stalwarts, that Mack had made contact. This had no doubt electrified the congregation and sent hot rumors like bolts of lightning throughout the Sunday school and worship hour. Jake could only imagine the hundreds of phone calls that were made after church. As the irresistible story gained momentum, someone, a person who would never be identified, added the spicy twist that Mack had actually been seen.
There was no doubt that by noon Monday, after the town had absorbed and embellished the story, someone would have actually chatted with Mack.
One farmer had been sued by Mack years earlier and he still carried a grudge. That took the conversation to the subject of lawsuits, and frivolous ones at that, and the need for more tort reform. Jake ate his breakfast and said nothing.
Before long they were back on the weather and Mack was forgotten, for the moment anyway.
（15）
Promptly at 10:00 a.m., Herman Bunning walked into the law offices of Sullivan & Sullivan and announced to the receptionist that he had an appointment. He was offered a seat but politely said no. He was not planning to wait. He called his lawyer the night before and they had agreed on the hour. If he could be on time, then so could the lawyer. He stepped to the large window and looked at the courthouse. He tried to remember the last time he had sought legal advice from Walter Sullivan. At $200 an hour, he was hoping for a brief visit.
His company, Clanton Redi-Mix, had been in the family for over fifty years. Since the demand for concrete was not that great in such a small town, his company had few serious legal problems. He had never sued anyone, nor had he been sued, other than the occasional accident involving one of his trucks. Walter drafted tight contracts and kept his thumb on the legal matters. Most of the successful businessmen in town relied on Walter, along with the bankers, insurance companies, railroads, big farmers, folks with some money.
That was why Jake and the other lawyers in town loathed the Sullivan firm. It had clients who could pay.
A secretary fetched him and he followed her back to the big office. He said yes to coffee, with one sugar, and sat facing Walter with a massive desk between them.
Walter said, “I can’t find anything. Ozzie says there’s no outstanding warrant. The grand jury met a couple of times back then but there was no real proof.” He lifted a pile of papers and continued, “I have copies of the divorce filings and decree, along with his bankruptcy petition. Not much there.”
“Tell me about it,” Herman grunted. “The boy never made any money. They lived hand-to-mouth, can’t count the number of times I had to bail ’em out.”
“How is Lisa?”
“Same as last night when you asked about her.”
Walter nodded and remembered Herman’s penchant for bluntness.
“I’m sorry.”
“Thanks. Look, Walter, isn’t it pretty well known among you lawyers that Mack got his hands on some money that wasn’t his and then left town? I mean, doesn’t that make sense? How could he run away if he didn’t have any money? And why would he? Lisa got the house and cars and bank accounts and such, everything was hocked to the max anyway, but he also kicked in fifty grand in cash. The boy never had that kind of money. So you gotta figure that if he suddenly had cash to give her, then he probably had a lot more that he was hiding. You follow?”