Poison Branches

by Cynthia Raleigh

  “Ok.” Sarah picked the duffel up from the luggage rack and set it on the end of the bed. Perri rummaged through it and pulled out a handful of clothing then looked awkwardly at Nick and Sarah. “Right, you can’t use the bathroom here. We’ll step out into the hallway. Sarah walked toward the door looking back at Nick expectantly.

  Perri said to Nick, “You promise you’ll be right outside the door? I’m still a little nervous, I know they took him away, but…”

  Nick held Perri by the shoulders and said gently, “I will be right on the other side of the door. I can talk to you while I’m out there, will that help?”

  “Yes. Thanks. It won’t take me long.” Nick placed a tender kiss on Perri’s forehead and walked toward the hallway. He passed through the broken door behind Sarah. As he started to pull the door as close to closed as it would get, Perri said, “I’m never again going to poke fun at someone for having shower fright because of the movie Psycho.”

  Nick laughed, “You still have your sense of humor. That’s a good thing.”

  Chapter 37

  Saturday morning was brilliantly sunny and seventy-five degrees. Perri woke to a breeze through the open window and the smell of something yeasty baking. She looked around the bedroom, confused at first. After a fleeting moment of alarm, she remembered she was at Nick’s house.

  She relaxed against the fat pillow and sank further down into the dark gray cotton sheets. There had been no carousing through the festival last night for either of them, no bonfire party. She recalled sitting on the couch with Nick for what must have been several hours, just talking. Nick had called for pizza delivery so Perri didn’t have to leave the house. They had eaten pizza with a soda. Perri declined a beer. She was pretty sure she was fine, but didn’t want to risk a beer or three masking any change in her condition. She had turned out to be ravenously hungry and had to hold herself back from gobbling down three-fourths of the pizza. Her nose was sore and her ear felt tender where it touched the pillow.

  She would need to call Nina today and bring her up to date. Perri knew she would be livid and worried at the same time and decided that task could wait a while. She sat up; there was a man’s robe across the foot of the bed. She didn’t remember much about the layout of the house from last night. Perri put the robe on over her underwear and turned the brass knob on the three-panel door of the bedroom, which opened directly onto the living room. The kitchen was a straight shot through the living room and she could see Nick standing at the counter wearing a pair of jeans and no shirt. As she padded through the living room, Perri looked at the couch with its pillow and rumpled afghan and realized he had slept on the couch. She walked into the kitchen. “It smells like a bakery in here.”

  Nick startled and spun around, sloshing some orange juice on the counter. “You’re up, great! How do you feel this morning?”

  “Stiff, sore, but not terrible. Do I look like a raccoon who lost a boxing match?”

  “You look great to me.”

  “Oh, come on, we both know that’s not right.” Perri laughed and sat down at the small table set with two plates and napkins. “Thank you, Nick, for letting me stay here, and for … giving up your bedroom last night. You had to be uncomfortable on that couch.”

  “It isn’t bad. You needed to sleep, and sleep well. Did you?”

  “Yes, I think I did. I don’t remember waking up through the night. I was exhausted.”

  “I was too. I’m sorry we didn’t get to go to the festival last night, but I thoroughly enjoyed just sitting here and talking. Besides, it isn’t over; the festival is still on the rest of the weekend if you feel like going.”

  The oven timer buzzed and Nick grabbed an oven mitt. Perri tried to look around him as he pulled a pan from the oven. “What do you have in there? It smells delicious.”

  “Just some of those canned cinnamon rolls. I’m definitely not a pastry chef.”

  “They smell perfect to me.” Nick set the pan on a folded towel on the table followed by the glasses of juice. “There’s some coffee too; I know you like your coffee but I don’t know if you will like my coffee.”

  “Can I stand a spoon up in it?” she asked.

  “Possibly,” Nick answered warily.

  “Then I’ll like it.” Perri sipped the juice and stared at her plate. “Nick, I’m not trying to be a drama queen, but if Sarah had missed you, or you hadn’t been able to tell her where I was…”

  Nick took each of Perri’s hands in his, “It didn’t happen that way though.”

  Perri smiled ruefully. “You’re right. I won’t dwell on it. I’m glad it’s over and I’m glad they shot the stupid guy. I just wish they’d shot him in the head. I can’t wait to hear the details. Two weeks ago, I thought I was coming down here for three days of fun and relaxation with some research and grave spotting mixed in. You never know, do you?”

  “Nope. But I’m glad you are here now.” Nick’s dimple appeared. He pointed to the pan of rolls, “Dig in, while they’re still hot.”

  Nick watched her grab three of the cinnamon rolls. Perri notice. “You may as well learn now that I’m not a dainty little woman who eats like a bird. It was all I could do to not grab that last piece of pizza out of your hand last night. You know those women who push away a half-finished plate of food and say how full they are, couldn’t eat another thing? That’s not me. If you ever see me do that, I’m sick.”

  “Good. I like a real woman!”

  Perri bit into a roll, chewed and swallowed, then said, “You told me last night you lived in Nashville for a few years, but we got to talking about me and didn’t get back to that. What did you do there, and why did you come back to Russellville?”

  “Yeah.” He took a swallow of juice. “I didn’t want to live in a small town. I moved down there for a while to try to work in the entertainment business. That sounds pretty tired and cliché, doesn’t it?”

  “Do you play music?”

  “No, good lord no. I manage sound systems, well, I did manage sound systems. I’m a tech geek, not a musician.”

  “Why’d you come back?” Perri sipped the strong coffee and started on her second cinnamon roll.

  “I did pretty well down there, and I enjoyed it. Well, I thought I did.” Perri waited while Nick formulated what he wanted to say. “Even though I was doing well financially and was in the career I believed I wanted, it wasn’t really what I thought it would be.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I guess it got to be automatic and, well, boring. It’s exciting at first, but the social and political antics of the entertainment business were a big disappointment to me. Not that it affected my job so much as I just hated seeing the phoniness of the people I thought I respected and admired.”

  “What about the Nashville social life? It didn’t make up for the disappointing work aspect?” Perri asked.

  “Nashville has an endless social life, that’s for sure. I had a couple of relationships that I thought could work out. They didn’t. Both times, there was an agenda; it turned out to be a hopeful ‘in’ for them. Basically, I was a rung on the ladder.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Sometimes, people think that the recording booth techs can get them an audition, or even a contract. That isn’t how it works. I couldn’t have gotten myself one, much less them. After a while, I didn’t trust anyone’s motives. I didn’t want to live that way.”

  “I’m sorry it didn’t work out for you.” Perri’s eyes lit up when she smiled at Nick. “Ok, I’m not totally sorry.”

  “I’m glad you aren’t sorry, because I’m not either. A couple of years ago, my Mom and Dad decided to sell up and move into one of those condo villages where Dad wouldn’t constantly be having to fix things on the house and do hours of yard work every week. They wanted to travel a little bit and just enjoy themselves. This was their house, our house, my sister and I grew up here. When they told me there were putting the house up for sale, it gave me the motivation to make a de
cision. I bought it from them and moved back.”

  “Are you happy with your decision?” asked Perri.

  “Yes, I really am. I enjoy being a bartender at the tavern. I don’t feel limited. I missed the small-town environment while I was gone. I still do contract technical work, but it isn’t my full-time employment anymore.”

  “Does your sister live in Russellville?”

  “No, she lives in Massachusetts. I don’t see her much.” Nick gazed at the wall behind Perri, unfocused. “We used to play in the little creek that runs through the woods in back of the house. Those were good times. I didn’t want to see the house go to someone else. Is that silly?”

  “Not at all silly.” Perri looked into Nick’s eyes, “Your home and family meant something to you.”

  They enjoyed the shared silence while Perri finished her third cinnamon roll and Nick ate his in two bites a piece.

  Chapter 38

  Perri was dressed in the same clothes she had worn from the hotel and hoped she could get the rest of her belongings soon. It not, she would have to make a trip to the store. She showered and did the best she could just drying her hair, which meant it was straight as a stick and kept falling in front of her eyes. She didn’t have anything to cover the bruising with, so she pretended it wasn’t there.

  It was ironic that she had been overly concerned with planning her wardrobe for this weekend and ended up spending it wet and wrapped naked in a plastic sheet or wet blanket, bruised, wearing Nick’s robe, and then having to wear the same clothes two days in a row. It didn’t seem to bother Nick at all and that meant something to her.

  Nick had asked her if she felt like walking around downtown, driving somewhere, or just staying in the house. She wanted to get out into the sunshine and be around other people before she started to get weird. She knew it was best to get back to normal as much as possible after a crisis like the one yesterday.

  While Nick was getting showered and dressed, she called Nina, wanting to get that hurricane over with. And it had been a hurricane. Nina exploded with fury at the shooter, at Perri for being alone, and everyone in the world for not preventing it, but mostly at herself for not being there. Then she calmed down, as Perri knew she would, and was sympathetic and worrying and clucking like a hen. That was the eye of the hurricane. It was followed by the opposing wall of the storm where Nina got mad again at the police for not having caught the culprit before he nearly drowned Perri.

  Perri reassured Nina repeatedly that the man was not only shot and beaten, but had been arrested and that Nick was serving as her protector while she was there. She swore a solemn oath that she would definitely call before she left Russellville to come home on Sunday and would check in halfway through the trip. Satisfied for the time being, Nina had reminded Perri that she required details of her time spent with Nick and finally hung up. Perri puffed out her cheeks and blew out a long breath.

  ***

  Nick and Perri walked around the central square of Russellville, amidst crowds of people, Nick holding on to Perri’s hand. The food booths lined both sides of the street of the square and continued down one of the side streets. So far, Perri had consumed a bowl of Kentucky Burgoo, a funnel cake, fried pickles, and was finishing up some fried ice cream. “Oh, my gosh, I’m full, but I don’t regret my actions. It was really good. Grease and salt are too of my favorites.”

  Nick was polishing off a plate of fried mac n’ cheese, he nodded and agreed with an “umph,” through a full mouth.

  Perri’s phone rang. She tossed her napkin in a trash barrel, and answered. “Hello?” It was Sarah.

  “Perri? How are you doing today?”

  “I’m good, Sarah. I slept great last night and I’ve already eaten enough today to last me a week. Nick and I are walking around the square.”

  “I’m glad to hear that. Since you are close to the station, would you mind stopping in for a little while? I have your purse and duffel bag and thought you might want to hear the explanation for this whole mess.”

  “You bet I would. Thank you, we’ll head right over there.” Perri hung up and stuck the phone back in her pocket.

  ***

  Sarah was in the lobby waiting for them. She walked them back to the same combo kitchen / conference room where Perri and Nina had reviewed documents with Sarah last week.

  “Have a seat, would you like anything to drink? I can make coffee if you like.”

  “Lord no, I’m full as a tick.” Perri said, Nick laughed.

  Sarah gathered her thoughts while she took a chair at the end of the table and placed an accordion file in front of her. “Our prisoner agreed to fill in some of the blanks for the sake of cooperation; he is hoping it will help him in the end. I’ll try to summarize this and not make it too lengthy, but I will start from the beginning.”

  “I don’t mind if it is lengthy or not. I can’t wait to find out what happened.”

  Nick added, “And I don’t mind, because I don’t know most of it.”

  “As we knew, Patricia had been working on her family tree. I don’t know motivated her to start, probably never will know now. She dug around enough to find evidence that her 3X Grandfather, that’s how you say it right, had run off and left his family, and that he had not died somewhere out there but, instead, started a new life and family.”

  “As you found out, Jonathan cornered the water market during the Oklahoma land rush and got rich. He switched from water to oil, added other products, and so on. His second wife, Prudence Noble, came from an immensely wealthy and influential family from Boston, which is probably why he zeroed in on her. They married and had children. The Blackwell family company continued to grow, with a few bumps here and there. The position of head of the company was traditionally passed from father to son, all the way from Edward down to Joseph Blackwell, the current CEO.”

  Perri nodded, knowing this much already. Nick said, “Ok, I’m following you.”

  “I tried to talk to Joseph Blackwell. I called the company and was told he was not there. Finally, the receptionist admitted he was ill and had been out for quite some time. The local PD sent an officer to the Blackwell home to talk to Joseph, to make sure he was really in town. Mrs. Blackwell refused the officer admittance or to talk to Joseph at all. She wouldn’t any information about her husband’s illness and told him to come back with a warrant if he had questions. The neighbors hadn’t seen him in a while either.”

  Nick spoke up, “Wait, you are saying that Joseph Blackwell and Patricia both descend from the same man, this Jonathan guy?”

  Sarah explained, “Right, Jonathan was Joseph’s Great Grandfather.” She shifted in her chair, “The problems began when Patricia called Blackwell Oil on August 13 to talk to Joseph. Of course, she didn’t talk to him but she left a message. And she continued to call and leave messages, which were ultimately given to Jason. Evidently, Jason knew enough of the family history to realize this could be true, and he called Patricia back. Patricia demanded money from Jason.”

  Perri asked, “But why would Patricia feel she had any leverage to ask for money? It was over a century ago and Susannah had been granted a divorce from Jonathan. He wasn’t married to her anymore when he married Prudence Noble.”

  “You and I can see that, but Patricia wasn’t necessarily realistic. She had a history of being delusional and uncontrollable at times. She had a lot of problems, both psychological and chemical. When Jason refused, she became enraged. She spouted off about telling everyone the story about how the Blackwell family patriarch was a loser who abandoned his family and took up with another woman. She had enough details, and she convinced Jason Blackwell that she had proof, which she may have had at the time because she had enlisted Amy Barrow’s help. She may or may not have gloated to Jason about Amy helping her. The Blackwell family values their position in society quite highly and have touted their self-defined old-world values and honor for a very long time, even incorporating it as part of their public company image. They have held J
onathan Blackwell up as a gleaming gem in their crown as a patriarch who helped settle Guthrie, Oklahoma. They didn’t want his reputation to be tarnished and his true actions to be known. They were disturbed enough by Patricia’s threats to want to prevent it.”

  “So, what happened then?”

  “Oddly enough, Joseph Blackwell already knew about Patricia and her part of the family line.”

  “Ahh,” Perri said in realization. “Know thy enemies?”

  “Yes. Joseph had known most of his life, was probably told by his father. We didn’t comprehend it at the time, but we both saw a photo of Joseph Blackwell last week…a photo from 1976. Remember the photo that was taken in the cemetery when Patricia’s grandfather died? That was Joseph Blackwell leaning against the door of the same car used in the murder of Patricia and Amy. The car was his at the time, purchased new the year before. It was eventually sold to the renter of the Elkton property in 1997. Joseph may have been in Elkton and seen the obituary for Noah Blackwell in 1976 or someone may have told him about it. We know he came back a couple times a year to check on the property. He showed up at the cemetery, out of curiosity maybe, to have a look at the family.”

  Perri nodded at Sarah, “I do remember. You thought you recognized the car but I forgot about it because it seemed unlikely.”

  “Right. I’m not sure how Jason missed that when he went through Patricia’s paperwork, but I’m glad he did.”

  “Anyway, Joseph was never told about Patricia contacting Jason, and Jason had decided to put a stop to it before his father returned home, if he returns home. Joseph truly has been ill with cancer and isn’t even in Oklahoma. He has been in a treatment hospital in Dallas for a month. The family didn’t want anyone to know he was ill and they didn’t want him to find out about Patricia. I’m not sure if they were afraid Joseph might give in to her or if they thought he was too weak to deal with Jason’s solution to the problem. At any rate, they never told him.”