Johnson fashioned a sling from a roll of gauze, helped Vast to a sitting position, then assisted him to stand. Vast's legs collapsed under him. Johnson supported the weight while Ray grabbed the blanket from the bed and wrapped it around the man's shoulders.
With Ray on one side and Johnson on the other, they half-carried, half-dragged Vast out the door and through the downpour and mud to the Land Rover, then lifted him into the back seat. Johnson climbed in next to him.
Vast passed out before Jones started the vehicle.
Johnson said, "Hope he doesn't die before we get to Crestville."
"Hope not, too. We need him alive and talking."
Chapter 33
Sophia
Sophia peered through the glass doors at the deluge threatening to flood the ambulance entrance portico. Huge portions of the emergency department's parking lot were submerged as Tennessee's infamous ponding claimed the immediate area. The mid-morning storm raged and blew. She hoped it would soon be over. Even so, it would take hours for the flooding to disappear.
A phone call a few minutes earlier from Ray had alerted her to his and Johnson's impending arrival with LeRoy Vast. The usual, heavy truck traffic on I-40 meant the trip down the mountain in the storm would be tricky.
Nerves on edge, she watched until a Plateauville patrol car pulled into the ambulance entrance. Ray, driving the Ram, slid in behind. He slid out and opened the driver's side, back door of Johnson's vehicle. Rain whipped around him. A puddle of water splashed against his calves.
"Hey Ricky," Sophia said, motioning for him to join her. "Let's go out and help get LeRoy Vast in here."
Ricky Tondo laughed, pointing to the foggy window and the blowing rain. "Good eyes, girl."
"Nah, Ray called me on his way in. He knew I was working trauma today."
She snagged a wheelchair and headed out. Ricky followed.
"Hi," she said, touching Ray's shoulder. "How you doing?"
"Head's fine, but I suspect my leg dressing is soaked. Vast needs some attention first." He leaned into the driver's window. "Johnson, I'll stay here. You can head back up the mountain. Give the chief an update when you get there."
"Will do," Johnson said.
"Ricky and I can handle it, Ray. Go inside so that leg doesn't get even wetter. We'll be going into Room One. You can wait there." She slipped around Ray and leaned into the car. A faint, foul odor of gangrene drifted toward her. "Mr. Vast, slide over this way if you can."
Vast edged toward the door. The stink intensified.
Sophia and Ricky helped Vast turn in the seat. He stood, then collapsed into the car. Trying again, they eased Vast out—one nurse on each side—and into the wheelchair. After pushing him into the ED, they helped him onto the stretcher.
Vast closed his eyes.
"Mr. Vast, I'm Sophia." She tipped her head in Ricky's direction. "That's Ricky. We need you to stay awake for a few minutes and give us some information so we can take care of your arm. Ricky, get the physician, please."
"I aim to serve." Ricky scowled and left the room.
Vast opened his eyes. "Are you the Sophia my wife talked about?"
"Yes, that's me. We want to get you taken care of and on the road to recovery."
"Don't you mean on the road to the jail?"
Sophia took his vital signs, performed a quick exam, and asked Vast the essential questions about his health history and allergies. "How long have you had a fever?"
"A few days."
"Tell me how you lost your left hand."
Vast glanced in Ray's direction, shuddered, then seemed to drift off.
"Mr. Vast, tell me about your hand." She donned gloves and a mask, placed a linen protector under the wounded arm, and began to remove the tape holding his bandage together. She gasped at the stench, then held her breath.
"I was outside the lab, you know, where we cooked the meth. It exploded. Somebody torched it." Vast mumbled other things for a few words, but his speech was incoherent. Then, "I ran. Figured someone wanted me dead. I'm always in the lab, but this time I was out back because I had to take a leak."
Sophia turned her head away and grabbed a breath. "So, how did your hand get amputated?" She continued pulling tape and snipping at dressings with her bandage scissors, finding it necessary to breathe and smell while doing so.
"I figured I'd fake that I died in the fire. Who'd know? I could see through the window that my cousin Richie was a goner. I mean I could see him burning. He'd been standing close to the product. We look a lot alike. So, I ran off into the trees."
"Then what happened?"
"I went to the old cabin on my property and cut off my hand."
"Were you high at the time?" She snuck another almost-clean breath, cringing at the thought of what Vast had done.
"Higher than a kite. I did some product before I took a leak. Then I did some more before I cut myself." He paused. "I tied my belt around my arm and took the hand with me to Kelly Ann. I burned it some, then made her throw it in the trees at the park. I wanted someone to find it and believe it was all that was left of me."
Sophia continued removing the bandages from Vast's left arm. She was getting closer to the wound.
He cried out in pain.
"Sorry." She kept working on the arm. "Did you see who started the fire?"
"I think it was the devil."
Ray made a little spinning motion with his finger, signaling her to keep asking questions.
"Did you see him do it?"
"Hell no, but he threatened me, said he was going to blow me the hell up and take all my business."
"Wow. You don't really think it was the devil, do you?"
"No, a man, but the devil anyway. Evil."
"Did you recognize him? Does he have a name?"
Looking at her with a puzzled expression, Vast muttered, "He wants to be the man. He says he's going to put Silky out of business and be king." He closed his eyes.
"I'm going to remove the last of the gauze. It looks like it might stick a bit."
Vast didn't reply.
Sophia continued, being as gentle as possible, while Vast moaned. The foul smell was close to unbearable. Thick brown puss oozed from the infected stump. Red, swollen, angry flesh framed the jagged amputation wound. She glanced at Ray. "Gangrene."
After taking a culture of the drainage, she cleaned the wound. It appeared the infection, though well-established, was confined to the immediate area. She loosely covered the stump. "We need to wait for the doctor, now."
Sophia pulled a stool over and perched on it, being careful to be upwind in the draft created by the air conditioner. She removed the mask. "What else can you tell us about this guy who wants to take over?"
"Be king, you mean," Vast said. "King of the county, maybe. Where am I?"
"You're in the hospital. Detective Stone and Officer Johnson brought you here."
"What day?"
"Monday," Sophia said.
"Did you take care of my cousin Richie?"
"No, LeRoy. You told me you saw him get killed."
"Ah, I guess so." He muttered several incoherent sentences, then slurred his words as he continued. "The devil blew up my lab. Said he had a load of stuff out in the hills, that he was cooking there, too. Said he had enough to supply the whole damn county, maybe the whole state."
"Did he tell you where this place is?"
"No, he's the devil, but he's not stupid." Vast closed his eyes.
Chapter 34
Ray
The next morning Ray called Sophia at work.
"Do you have time for a coffee break?" he said, his voice soft and deep.
"Give me a minute to check with the charge nurse."
While he waited, he reviewed what he wanted to accomplish with his bedside interview of Vast. The meth cooker had alleged his lab was torched but never gave up the name of the perp—the perp who Ray wanted to arrest for arson and multiple murders.
Sophia came back on the line. "When y
ou getting here?"
"In five minutes."
"I'll be in the cafeteria," Sophia said. "It's looks like a good time for my break. I'll get you coffee and a Danish or something."
"Nice. Can you get me the scoop on Vast's condition before then?"
"Ah."
"He's in police custody," he said. "It isn't a breach of confidentiality."
"Right. Yes, I'll check the notes in the system. Meet you in ten minutes then."
They disconnected, and Ray took the Willow exit off I-40. Willow was a mishmash of old and new businesses and reminded him of streets in South Florida, 441 in particular. He hit a couple of red lights and a small Crestview-style traffic jam, all of which delayed him enough to arrive at the cafeteria as Sophia entered. The combined smells of coffee and frying bacon filled the entry foyer. He joined her in line to get coffee, snagged a sweet roll for each of them, and paid the cashier.
He sat across from her at the table she chose near the window. "Thanks for meeting me, sweetheart." He prepared his Danish and took a big bite. "What do you know about our friend Vast?"
"Nothing like getting right down to business." She paused. "His surgery finished around eight last night. The surgeon took off another couple of inches of his left arm and was able to get a clean wound closure. At least, she thinks it's clean. Time will tell. He's on intravenous antibiotics and heavy-duty pain medication, but the nurses' notes said he was oriented times three."
"Which means?"
"Oh, to person, place, and time."
"Better than yesterday, I suppose."
"Hey, with all due respect, the man had reason to be confused." Her voice rang with sass.
He scowled, then sipped his beverage and took a bite of his Danish. "Anything else?"
"Kelly Ann and her mom were in to see him late last night. The deputy let them in. Rumor has it she brought the baby, too. It was the first time LeRoy saw his daughter."
Ray shook his head. "So much for police hold, no visitors." The interpretation of the rules and the lenient enforcement amazed him. The department he had worked for in Florida followed regulations.
"Honey, it didn't do any harm. LeRoy isn't going to escape. He doesn't have the strength, and given he was a target for murder, I'd guess he doesn't have the inclination either. He's safe at the moment."
After they finished their snack, Sophia headed to the ED, and Ray took an elevator to Vast's floor. He stopped at the nursing station and learned Vast had not been medicated for pain for the last three hours. Then he signed in with the deputy sitting at the door, noted there had been no visitors other than Kelly Ann and her mother, and went into the room.
The head of the bed was elevated, Vast's eyes were open, and he looked alert. The room smelled clean. No gangrene odor. A sling suspended his left arm from an IV pole. On the right side, a couple bags of fluid ran into an IV pump. The tubing connected to the back of his right hand.
"Remember me?" Ray said.
"Who the hell are you?"
"I'm Detective Stone from Plateauville PD. We saved your ass yesterday." Ray removed a digital recorder from his shirt pocket and held it for Vast to see, then turned it on. "I'll be recording this interview."
Vast nodded.
"Please don't nod, speak."
"Okay."
"I'm recording this interview. Are you aware of that?" Ray said.
"Yes, sir."
"Please state your full name."
"LeRoy Vast."
Ray proceeded through the preliminaries, getting Vast's address, date and time, and the location of the interview on the record.
"The nurse said you haven't had pain medication since eight this morning. Is that true?"
"Yas'ir, it's true. I could use some more of that medication now. Damn hand hurts like the devil."
"It'll have to wait until we're done." Ray chose not to remind him that he didn't have the hand. "When we picked you up yesterday, we read you your rights. Do you remember?"
"No. I don't remember a whole hell of a lot about yesterday to tell you'uns the truth."
"Okay. I'll read them again." Ray did. "Do you understand?"
"I do." Vast grimaced and shifted his arm a bit in the sling. "Damn thing hurts."
"I'm sure."
"What exactly am I arrested for?"
"For now—running a meth lab, selling meth, suspicion of murder, and anything else I can think of."
"You lying son of a bitch, I didn't kill nobody. I'm the victim here."
Ray thought Vast was the victim of his own stupidity but didn't say so. "I advise you to keep this polite." He paused. "Explain how you're a victim?"
"Someone blew up my lab."
"Just to be clear, what were you doing in your lab, Vast?"
"Ah shit, you'uns know all about it. I was cooking meth for that bastard Silky."
"Do you think it was Silken who ordered the hit on your lab?"
Vast scratched the side of his neck with his right hand, then bit his lip. "I don't rightly know. Maybe. I know Silky don't do the job hisself, but he has ways. People he pays to do his dirty work. The thing is, there was just two of us cooking for him. Me and Flocker. I made way more product than Bubba, and Silky said mine was better crank. So, I don't get why he'd want to blow me up."
"Point taken. You told the nurse in the ED that you saw the devil set the fire."
"Man, I was crazy out of my mind. I don't remember. I must have dreamt it."
"Did you see who blew up your lab?"
"No. I saw someone running away, I think." Vast looked confused. "But, I didn't see his face."
The interview continued for a few more minutes. Then Vast said, "Man, I got me a new baby and a nice wife. I want to do right by them."
Ray paused as if thinking. "Explain yourself."
"Can we make a deal?"
"What is it you have in mind?" Ray said.
"Just give me probation or somethin', man."
"Vast, I can't offer that."
"Maybe keep me out of jail or at least put me in a cell by myself. If I go to jail, someone will kill me for sure. If it was Silky who tried to kill me, his guys are everywhere. If it wasn't Silky, then I don't know who to watch even."
"What is it you can give me? We know Silken is top dog in the county, but we don't have proof. Your word in court won't be credible. I need you to help set up Silken. If that goes well, I'll talk to the assistant DA for you."
"I might could do that. What do you want me to do?"
***
Thirty minutes later, Ray said to Vast, "Do you have a cell phone here?"
"Kelly Ann left me one. It's in the cabinet." Vast pointed toward the bottom drawer of the bedside table, which was out of his reach. "The deputy didn't want me to use it, but I asked him to leave it here in case Kelly Ann calls. He stuck it there. Said he'd get it if it rang."
"Nice of him." Ray shook his head. Another leniency. This one he'd take advantage of.
"He's my cousin, twice removed—or somethin' like that. You know how it is in these here parts. We're all related somewhere along the line."
Ray resisted the urge to do a Sophie-style eye roll. He retrieved the device and put it on the overbed table. "I want you to call Krantz, put the phone on speaker."
"He'll object."
"Tell him you can't hold it. IV in one hand, bandage on the other."
"Right."
Ray set the recorder, which was still recording, next to the cell phone. "What's Krantz's cell number?"
Vast recited it—which gave Ray another piece of information about the ongoing communication between Vast and Krantz.
Krantz answered on the first ring. "Yeah."
"This is LeRoy."
"What you calling me for, scum?"
"Listen Bobby, I need some cash—to take care of Kelly Ann and the baby and to help them get out of the county."
Ray thought it was a nice misleading bit of information for Vast to throw in. At least some of his brain cells were workin
g.
"You on speaker? It sounds like it. Who else is in the room?"
"No one, man. I can't hold the phone, I'm in the hospital, and both hands are taped up, you know."
Krantz said, "Why should I care if you need cash? You're nothing. A goner."
"I need to talk to Silky. I have a stash, you know, that I need to unload." Vast's voice shook slightly. Ray thought it gave him more credibility as he told his lies.
"How can that be? You blew your damn operation to bits, along with your helpers."
"First, you son of a bitch, I didn't blow up my own friggin' lab. Second, I need to deal with Silky, not you. You're just the damn messenger. Like always. Acting high and mighty over the rest of us. You just walk out of your house and grab your share."
"I'm the one taking the biggest risks, you son of a bitch." Krantz was quiet for a moment. "Where'd you get the product?"
"Ah." Vast drew out the word, sounding unsure of himself.
"I'm not going to help you if you don't tell me. What I'll do instead is come over and shove the phone up your ass."
Ray nodded.
"I have another lab. It's working just fine, turnin' out product. Good stuff, too."
"How do you know your people didn't rip you off?" Krantz said.
"I was hidin' there, man. They took care of me 'til I got real sick. Then on a morning, they took me to the cabin and called the cops to pick me up. I needed to get to the hospital, you know."
"I'll call my uncle." Krantz disconnected.
Ray turned off the recorder. "Now we wait." He stepped out to speak to the deputy guarding the door. "I need to change my sign in time and sign out for two hours ago." He reached for the clipboard.
Deputy Smith, who was an older man on the verge of retirement, said, "Not unless you tell me what's going on."
Ray didn't see he had a choice. "I'm expecting Deputy Krantz to show up in a little while. When he does, I'm going to hide in the bathroom so I can overhear his conversation with Vast."
Smith nodded.
"I'm going to shut the door. When you see him coming, tap twice."
"I'll do that."
"For the record, if you tip him off, I'll see your ass fried as an accessory."
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