Robie passed by the truck and let his peripheral vision do a screen shot of the driver. He was young, maybe early twenties. He was lean with a shaved head, on which Robie could see tats of the same K and A set at angles. All the other men had shaved heads as well. And they probably had similar tats.
He looked to his left and saw Valerie Malloy leaning against a column holding up the porch in front of the police station. He nodded to her. She inclined her head back at him. Derrick Bender was nowhere to be seen.
With one last glance at her, Robie walked into the Walleye Bar.
The space was large and half full. Low tables with chairs were in the center of the room; high tables with seating for two or four ringed this main area. The bar was set against the far wall and had seating, too. It was about twenty feet long and made of mahogany. Two bartenders were manning it. Behind them were multiple rows of liquor bottles stacked on shelves.
The young men from the truck had pushed two tables together and were ordering from a tawny-haired, slim waitress around forty who seemed to know them, and she looked like she would rather be any other place on earth than in the same room with them.
Robie walked over to the bar, sat on a stool, and ordered a beer.
He could see the group without turning around due to the large mirror behind the bar.
They were loud, annoying, and they acted like they owned the place.
So in addition to being possible skinheads they were dickheads.
Well, then again, you probably couldn’t have one without the other.
When the bartender, a man in his fifties with a crown of graying hair around a dome of skin, brought him his beer, Robie said, “The freak show over there? Where do they call home?”
“What’s it to you?”
“I’m sorry if they’re friends of yours.”
The man snorted. “The day I call them friends is the day they can lock me up in the loony bin.”
Robie reached into his pocket and showed the man his badge. “That’s my interest,” he said.
The man quickly glanced over at the men and then back at Robie. “I don’t think even the Feds want to mess with those guys. They’re badasses.”
“We have our share of badasses with the good guys,” Robie pointed out.
“Well, I’m just seeing one of you and eight of them.”
“I consider that an even fight.”
The man grinned until he saw that Robie was serious.
Robie said, “What’s the K and A stand for?”
“King’s Apostles.”
“Okay. And are they the ones with some sort of compound?”
The bartender nodded and said, “Fifteen miles east of town, straight line on the main road. Can’t miss it.”
“So in the same direction as the cabin owned by Roark Lambert?”
The bartender took a rag and started wiping the bar. “So you’re here about that Walton fellow gone missing.”
“I am. You think the skinheads could have done that?”
“I can’t tell you they didn’t. And we got neo-Nazis in the area, but just so you know, this bunch here don’t consider themselves skinheads.”
“So what do they consider themselves?”
“Enlightened. And they don’t cause any trouble, really. They just don’t like anything about the government. They can get pretty vocal about it. They’re their own law. But they keep to themselves, thank God.”
“How long have they been around here?”
The bartender wrung out the rag over the sink. “About three years.”
“Who started it?”
“Dude named Doctor King. He’s the letter K in the K and A, in case you’re wondering.”
“So is he a doctor?”
“No, you don’t understand, his first name, he says, is Doctor. He rolled into town, set up camp a few miles out. He started making his rounds, doing some preaching, or so he called it. Then he started up a little business. Mentoring, he said it was. Printed up pamphlets and fliers and kept talking away, mostly to the young men around here who got nothing in their future ’cept the next beer, chick, or bong. Well, before anybody could really see what was happening, he’d built this big outpost and eventually all them men went to live and work there.”
“How do they get by? Where’s the money come from? Drinks for that crew don’t come cheap.”
The bartender pointed a finger at him. “Now there’s the sixty-four-thousand-dollar question, man.”
“Drugs, guns? Human trafficking?”
“Maybe your Mr. Walton?”
“That industry pretty much sticks with young and female. And you just said they don’t cause any trouble.”
“Well, they don’t. I mean not for the likes of me. I can’t speak for others.”
“Interesting group.”
The man wiped the bar some more. “Good luck on finding out anything from them. Think you’re going to need it.”
The man left to attend to another customer while Robie nursed his beer and thought about all this.
He heard him coming before he saw him.
“You a Fed?”
Robie put down his beer. He didn’t turn to look at the man. He watched him in the mirror.
“Right now, I’m just a thirsty guy having a beer,” replied Robie.
The man looked to be in his late twenties, about Robie’s height. His muscled delts and veiny arms were exposed by his tank top. He had tats down both arms. Doctor was tatted on his right and King on his left.
“Hear you’re looking for somebody.”
Now Robie glanced at him. “I am. You know anything about it?”
The man leaned in, a twisted grin on his features. “Maybe, maybe not. But I’m not telling you shit. We don’t talk to Feds. We are not under your control. We are a sovereign power. We are first among all others,” he said in a loud voice.
Robie turned and looked at him fully. “Based on what?”
The man looked down at him, his mouth curved into a cruel smile. “Based on superiority. Based on nature.”
Robie noted the sidearm the man had.
“Glock 26?”
“Damn straight.”
“What’s your ammo?”
The man told him.
“Ever have trouble with stove-piping?”
The man looked confused.
Robie explained, “The cartridge doesn’t fully eject. It gets stuck halfway and sticks up out of the gun like a stovepipe, hence the term. The ammo you’re using has a history of doing that.”
The man looked down at his gun. “Yeah, it does do that sometimes. Weird shit.”
“Glocks run best wet. Lube the rails. On a new gun the slide can be stiff. Lock it in the rear position for a couple days. Only need to do that once. If that doesn’t work, your ammo is underpowered. Go for a heavier load. That should fix the problem. You don’t want your gun jamming on you when you need it, right?”
“No, you don’t,” the man said slowly.
He kept staring at his gun for a moment and then looked up at Robie. “Okay, thanks,” he said quietly.
“You’re welcome.”
The man glanced nervously at the two tables where his mates were watching him, then looked back at Robie. “Look, I don’t know nothing ’bout the dude that disappeared. I mean we didn’t…”
“He’s a friend of mine, so thanks, I appreciate the info. I really do. What’s your name?”
“Apostle Matthew.”
“No, I mean the one your parents gave you.”
He said hesitantly, as though he hadn’t spoken the name in a long time, “Bruce.”
“Okay, Bruce, I’m Will Robie.”
Bruce looked back over his shoulder and the men were now staring hostilely at him.