Setup: Smarter Next Time

90,171 words, 309 pages (print ed.), contemporary fiction, mystery, adventure, romance
From Chapter 9:
He snuck out the back door and disappeared into the woods. He found a clump of bushes to hide in and observe his surroundings. His best judgment told him he wasn€t being watched so he eased himself up and headed for the nearest neighbor he could find.
He was expecting to come across the hog-raising man, but came out of the woods at a tiny, lopsided building that he took to be a barn. He walked up to it just as the rusty hinges squeaked and a woman who appeared to be in her late forties came out with a bucket containing milk. Her eyes flashed with a mixture of surprise, anger, and fear. She wasn€t a bad looking woman but she wasn€t a good looking one either. Plain Jane came to his mind.
€œSorry to bother you, ma€am,€ he was quick to say. I just rented the hunting cabin down the road a ways. I stepped out in the woods for a little walk and I seemed to have got myself turned around.€
€œThen turn yourself around again and get back where you come from.€
€œYes, ma€am,€ he said. €œUh, could you point me in the right direction?€
€œAh crap,€ she said suddenly as a cow bawled. €œHold this milk bucket for me a minute while I turn my cow out to graze and I will.€
He took the bucket and winced in pain wishing the Aleve would kick in faster. She noticed him wincing. She opened the barn door again and the cow came out and went around the side of the barn and through an opening in the fence. The woman laid up four rails through wire loops that served as a gate. He winced again when she took the milk buckets from his hands.
€œWhat€s ailin€ you?€ she asked.
€œLittle stomach complaint,€ he told her.
€œHumph,€ she snorted, as she looked him over more carefully. €œReckon you need yourself a little fresh cow€s milk to ease your belly.€
€œOh, no, ma€am. I don€t want to impose on you like that. Just point me in the right direction if you don€t mind.€
€œCan€t nobody say I ain€t one to help out a man in pain,€ she said with irritation. €œYou wait on the porch and I€ll get you a quart jar full. Got a dollar in your pocket?€
€œYes, ma€am. I do.€
€œWell come on and follow me to the porch. I don€t let no strange man come inside my house, you understand.€
€œI do for a fact. I heard there€s a man around here who raises hogs. Would you by chance know where he lives?€
€œWhat€s it to you?€
€œI€d like to buy a couple if I could find somebody willing to help me build a lot to keep them in.€
€œMight be possible,€ she said as she went inside the house, leaving him standing on the porch.
He tried to wait patiently, but he couldn€t spend all morning checking out the neighbors when he had to get to Emmie without Hoffnecker seeing him.
She came out on the porch with a jar of milk and handed it to him. It was still warm. He reached in his pocket, pulled out a dollar and gave it to her.
€œThank you,€ he said.
She nodded. €œWho are you?€ she demanded.
€œName€s Todd West.€
€œWhat you do for a living?€
€œNothing at the moment.€
€œWhy not?€
He saw no reason to lie. There was a chance she would recognize his name or his face. €œBecause this is my second day out of jail.€
That comment didn€t seem to throw her. €œWhat did you do to be stuck in jail for?€
€œI was accused of cheating a bank out of some money.€
€œDid you do it?€
€œNo, but I got set up and sent to jail anyway.€
€œSay you were innocent?€
€œYep.€
She grinned slightly. €œBe smarter the next time, won€t you?€
He grinned right back. €œI certainly hope so.€
€œHope that milk helps.€
€œMe too. Do you know the man with hogs?€
€œBring my jar back in a day or two and we€ll see.€
€œOkay,€ he said as he looked toward the woods and frowned.
€œWalk down the road. It€s farther, but easier than goin€ through the woods,€ she told him.
He held the jar against his sore stomach and walked down the road. When he was certain he was out of her sight, he stepped back into the woods again in case Hoffnecker d