by Kathi Daley
“I can’t know for certain without an x-ray, but it appears as if your leg isn’t even broken.”
I smiled. “You always did say that I might be small, but I was tough.”
“Titanium tough. It isn’t everyone who can have a building come down on them and walk away with only a few cuts and bruises.”
The remainder of the building coming down made me frown. “Kyle? He was just a few steps in front of me.”
Hunter squeezed my hand. “He was taken to the hospital. I don’t know his status at this point, but I promise you I’ll personally check on him when we get there.”
“And the others?”
Hunter shook his head. “I don’t know. I stayed behind with you after the others were transported to the hospital. I’m going to do everything possible to save those I can. The others were closer to the blast, but you don’t need to think about that. I want you to try to slow your breathing and calm your mind. Your blood pressure is off the charts. We need to get it down, and for that to happen, you need to relax.”
Relax? Was he kidding?
The vehicle stopped, and the back door opened. I watched Hunter as he got up.
“Don’t go,” I said, suddenly scared of being left alone amongst all the chaos and uncertainty.
“I have to go,” he said. “You are going to be fine. I am turning you over to a very capable nurse, and I’ll check on you later. I had the hospital call your dad. He’s probably already here.” Hunter kissed me gently on the lips and then disappeared.
The next few minutes were like a nightmare. Bright lights, people hovering, IV’s being inserted even though I was sure that other than having a raging headache, I actually was, as Hunter had promised, just fine. I looked around for my father whose voice I could hear but whose face I couldn’t see. I could hear people yelling and running, and smell blood and burnt flesh. It was then that I finally lost the dinner I’d been so valiantly trying to hang onto.
Chapter 2
Thursday, November 2
I clung to my dad’s arm as the snow outside a nearby window drifted gently toward the soggy earth. Tears pooled as the funeral director tried to explain the options available to us. I knew there were decisions to be made, but I had to admit I wasn’t really listening. I glanced at my best friend, Jenna Elston, who clung to her mother, but they didn’t appear to be paying any more attention to the man than I was.
“I think a simple service on Saturday would be best,” I heard my dad say. “I spoke to Pastor Dan, and he is available in the afternoon. If you call him, he’ll coordinate the specifics with you.”
Jenna’s mother, Helen Hellerman, had been named as the executor in the last will and testament of her best friend, Harriet Kramer, but given the fact that Helen’s new husband was in the hospital clinging to life, she really wasn’t in any shape to make decisions. I wanted to do what I could to help, but I wasn’t in all that great of shape myself, so I’d enlisted the help of the man who’d always been there for me, my father, Mike Jensen.
“I’ll need someone to fill out the paperwork required for the cremation of the remains,” the funeral director said.
“Is this something I can do?” Dad asked.
“Yes, that should be fine.”
I looked at Jenna. “Why don’t you go ahead and take your mom home. The poor thing hasn’t slept in days. I’ll stay and finish up here, and then I’ll call you with the final times and whatnot.”
Jenna glanced at Helen. “Okay. Thank you. I think that would be best.”
I got up and limped across the room. The leg that had been trapped by a beam from the frame of the building after the explosion that had killed two people and injured four others had left me feeling battered and bruised, but, as Hunter had suspected, I hadn’t broken a single bone. The beam had miraculously fallen in such a way that it trapped my leg but did not crush it. I’d been lucky. The other occupants of that room hadn’t gotten off so lightly.
My dad seemed to have everything under control with the funeral director, so I decided to walk Jenna and Helen to their car. I said a few words to Jenna, hugged both women, and tucked Helen into her seat before waving them off. I turned to head back into the building when I noticed my grandfather, Ben Jensen, arrive with his best friend, Doc aka Stan Griffin. I paused and waited while they parked.
“You didn’t have to come,” I said after the men climbed out and headed in my direction. “Dad seems to have everything under control. The funeral will be on Saturday.”
Grandpa tightened his lips and furrowed his brow revealing his anger and pain.
“We went by the hospital to check on the others,” Doc explained. “Bookman and Hank are still unconscious, but Jeff has been moved out of the ICU and is expected to make a full recovery. The only one we were actually able to speak to was Kyle, who is chomping at the bit to get out of there. From what I understand, he will be released today unless his labs come back less than ideal.”
I sighed. “I’d hoped Bookman would be awake by the time I stopped by today. I know the uncertainty is taking its toll on Helen.”
“Maybe he will wake up before the end of the day,” Grandpa said, taking my hand in his and giving it a squeeze.
“I hope so.” I let out a long breath. “I still can’t believe that both Lloyd and Harriet are gone. The whole thing seems so pointless.”
Grandpa, a tall and sturdy man with white hair and faded blue eyes, walked toward me with outstretched arms. I walked into them, relaxing just a bit as his strong arms tightened around me. I closed my eyes for just a moment as I rested my head on his shoulder. It had been two days since the explosion, but I was still having a hard time coming to grips with the reality of the whole thing. My dad had always told me that when life threw you a curve, the only thing you could do was to deal with each moment as it came. That, I decided, was what I was going to do now.
“Is your dad still inside?” Doc asked.
I nodded and took a step back.
“I guess we’ll head in and offer support,” Grandpa said.
“Will you let him know that I’m going to head to the hospital? I’m hoping Kyle will be released this afternoon and I want to be there if he is.”
“I’ll tell him,” Grandpa answered in a deep voice that rumbled up from his chest. “Call us when you are able to confirm one way or the other if Kyle will be able to go home today.”
I turned my head and kissed Grandpa on his cheek. “I will. Call me if you hear anything. One way or another, we’re going to figure out who did this.”
I climbed into my car and headed toward the main highway that ran through town. As I drove to the hospital, I thought about the night of the explosion. It had been Halloween, and Kyle and I had taken my youngest sister, Gracie, and her best friend, Kari, trick or treating. We were halfway across town when Kyle got a text alerting him to an emergency town council meeting. There had been a lot of dishevel in the council ever since Mayor Harper had been killed this past summer, and secret meetings behind closed doors had almost become the norm. Kyle felt that secret meetings violated the implied contract that the council had with the town residents, but there had been a lot of delicate issues that needed to be dealt with since Harper’s death, so the secret meetings had continued. By the time we’d handed Gracie and Kari off to Jenna, we’d been late for the meeting, and the other council members had already arrived. Technically, I supposed my presence at the meeting was not allowed since I wasn’t a town council member, but Kyle and I had plans that evening, so we figured that if they wanted Kyle’s presence, they’d need to deal with my presence, as well. I planned to sit in the back and wait so I hadn’t continued on into the room as Kyle headed toward the front of the council chambers. When he was about halfway down the aisle, I heard a loud boom and the next thing I knew, I was playing chess with Zachary.
Harriet, who served as town clerk and the may
or’s secretary, sat the closest to the origin of the blast and died immediately as did Lloyd Benson, the council member and developer closest to where she sat. Restaurant owner, Hank Hammond, sat next to Lloyd and was currently clinging to life in the ICU. There was an empty chair next to Hank where Helen’s husband, R. L. Hellerman aka Bookman, usually sat, but he was filling in as interim mayor, so he sat in the center of the row which was one seat over from his usual seat. To Bookman’s right was the empty seat where Kyle usually sat, and to the right of Kyle’s empty seat sat the newest town council member, Jeff Warren, who took over Doug Conrad’s seat when he quit unexpectedly. There was one additional empty seat at the end of the row which was waiting to be filled. The group had decided to wait to fill the seat until a new mayor had been selected.
“Did you take care of everything you needed to?” Kyle asked after I walked into his hospital room with a forced smile on my face.
“We are all set. The funeral for Harriet will be on Saturday.” I slipped off my shoes, and as carefully as I could so as not to hurt his ribs, two of which had been broken, slipped onto the bed beside him.
“I wish I could have been there to offer support,” Kyle said, as I laid my head on his shoulder. I placed a hand on his chest as he carefully wrapped his arms around me.
“I know,” I took in a deep breath and let it out slowly as I allowed Kyle’s embrace to comfort my wounded soul. “But my dad came to the mortuary with us. As I knew he would, he took charge and made all the decisions needing to be made. I’m afraid poor Helen is pretty broken, and Jenna is so exhausted from taking care of her mother that she looks like she is on the verge of collapse. I would have welcomed your support, but it is more important to me that you do whatever you need to do to get out of here.”
“I really don’t know why Hunter wanted me to stay until today. I feel fine.” Kyle let out a sharp breath as he adjusted his position. “Well maybe not fine but I certainly don’t need to be here.”
“Hunter is just being careful,” I said. “And I for one am glad he wants to make sure you’re ready to leave the hospital before you do.” My chest tightened. “I don’t know what I would have done if I’d lost you too.”
Kyle turned his head and kissed my forehead. “I know you are concerned about me and I don’t want you to worry. I can’t even begin to imagine how I would feel if you hadn’t somehow managed to escape the explosion with no more than a bruise on your leg and a bump on your head. It really is a miracle that a beam landed on top of you, and you got out of it without even one broken bone.”
I shrugged. “I may be tiny, but I’m tough. Titanium tough, according to Hunter.”
“And I am grateful for that. I know this has been hard on you, so I want to assure you that I am being an exemplary patient and doing everything Hunter recommends no matter how tedious I may find it.”
I kissed Kyle gently on the lips. “Thank you. I appreciate that. Did you hear about the tests? Will I be able to spring you this afternoon?”
“I asked the nurse, but all she would tell me was that Hunter would be in to speak to me once he got out of surgery.”
I settled in next to Kyle’s warmth. I listened to his heartbeat beneath my head, which, in an odd way, seemed to calm my jagged nerves. “As happy as I am that Hunter is being overly cautious when it comes to your health, I will be happy to get you home where I can take care of you myself. Not that I’m a great nurse mind you, but I’ve missed you. I want to have you close at hand so I can keep an eye on you and assure myself that everything is going to be okay.”
Kyle squeezed the hand he held. “I’ve missed you too, and I may literally go insane if I can’t get home to my computer and start trying to figure out who did this terrible thing. I’ve been thinking about it a lot, and there just doesn’t seem to be any obvious suspects.”
“Have you talked to Roy?” I referred to Deputy Roy Fisher.
Kyle nodded. “More than once, and all he can really say is that he is stumped. I know he has spoken to everyone who might have been in a position to see something, but so far, no one claims to have witnessed anything suspicious. At this point, he doesn’t have a clue as to who might have blown up the building or why.”
“I’m sure Roy is doing everything he knows to do, and I know we should just let him do his job, but there is no way I am letting Lloyd and Harriet’s killer get away with this.”
“I agree. As soon as I can get out of here, I’ll start digging for the answers we need.”
I gently moved my hand over Kyle’s chest, giving thanks for the fact that he hadn’t been more seriously hurt. If we hadn’t been late to the meeting… Well, I didn’t want to think about that. “Grandpa and Doc want to come by once we get home. I think they need to be part of things. They both seem so lost. It is going to be even worse if Bookman doesn’t make it. I feel so bad for them, but really don’t know how to help them through this.”
“They lost a friend and an acquaintance and may still lose others. From what I understand, Bookman and Hank are both in critical condition. I overheard a nurse say that at this point, their recovery is far from guaranteed.”
“I heard that, as well. I just feel so bad for everyone. I feel like I should be doing more, but honestly, I have no idea what to do.”
Kyle used a forefinger to tuck a lock of my long curly hair that had fallen across my face behind my ear. “There really isn’t anything you can do except let them know you are there for them, and of course, we will make sure they know they are part of the team.”
I let out a breath as I tried to find a way to let go of some of the tension I’d been carrying. I knew that finding answers that would help me to make sense of this horrible event was the only thing that was going to keep me sane. “Kate is going to have a coronary once she finds out we are nosing around.”
Kyle shrugged. “Honestly, I don’t care what Deputy Kate Baldwin thinks about our involvement. I know she is Roy’s partner, I know she does not believe that civilians should be involved in police investigations regardless of their success in solving past crimes, and I know she can make things difficult for Roy, so I have tried to tread lightly in the past, but this is personal.”
I smiled and cuddled in a bit closer, which caused Kyle to flinch. “Sorry.”
Kyle tightened his arm around me as I tried to move away just a bit. “So, how is Helen holding up?” Kyle asked. “She has been on my mind all day.”
“She is somehow getting through it. If I had to guess, she is just taking things one moment at a time. If Bookman wakes up, that will make it easier, although she will still have to deal with the loss of a lifelong friend.”
“Helen and Harriet have been close friends for a very long time.”
“Since before I was born. I’m not sure exactly when she moved to Paradise Lake, but I can’t remember a time when she wasn’t here. The fact that she is no longer going to be found sitting at the secretary’s desk just outside the mayor’s office on any given weekday is going to be very odd indeed.”
“Of course, there is no longer a secretary’s desk or a mayor’s office,” Kyle pointed out.
“I suppose that is true.” I looked up when I heard Hunter come into the room. His smile turned to a frown, I suspect as a reaction to seeing me cuddled up with Kyle. I knew that our being together was weird for him, so I slowly slipped off the bed. Hunter didn’t say anything, and I didn’t either, but the tension in the room couldn’t be denied.
“So, am I getting out of here?” Kyle asked in a voice that seemed just a tad bit too cheery given the situation.
Hunter glanced at the report in his hand. “You are. Everything looks good. I guess I don’t need to tell you to take it easy for a while. No lifting or strenuous activity of any sort. I am going to want to see you in a week so we can take another look at those ribs, but it appears you are good to go. I’ll tell the nurse to start your paperwork.�
�� Then Hunter turned his attention toward me. “And how are you feeling? Any dizziness or nausea?”
I smiled and shook my head. “My leg is a little tender, but otherwise I am feeling perfectly fine thanks to you.”
“To be honest, you were lucky. It would have been so much worse if that beam had fallen just an inch or two one way or another.” Hunter looked back toward Kyle. “I’m going to have the nurse go over the discharge instructions which I expect to be followed to a tee.”
“I’ll do whatever you ask. And thank you. For everything.”
Hunter shrugged. “Just doing my job.” He nodded at me and then turned to leave.
“Do you think he is ever going to get used to seeing us together?” I asked Kyle after Hunter exited the room.
“The two of you were together for a long time, and we have only been together for a few months. Give him time. Eventually, I’m sure things won’t be so awkward.”
“Yeah. I guess. I brought you a change of clothes. I’m going to run out to the car and get them while the nurse gets your paperwork ready. I won’t be long.” I ran toward the elevator just as the door began to close. I slipped in to find Hunter already inside.
“Going down?” he asked.
I nodded. “I’m sorry about the bed thing. I wasn’t thinking.”
“It’s okay,” Hunter said as the elevator started down toward the lobby. “I know the past couple of days have been stressful, and I know you’ve been worried about Kyle. How did Helen do today?”
“Okay,” I answered. “Dad was there, and he took care of everything.”
“Your dad is a good man. I’ve always liked and admired him. I miss our talks.”
“And he misses chatting with you as well. The girls miss you too,” I referred to my sisters, Ashley and Gracie. “It would be okay if you wanted to come around sometimes.”
Hunter hesitated.
“We did it before. Dated and then settled into a friendship. We can do it again. I know that this time is different with Kyle and all, but I’m not ready to not have you in my life.”