“I think Jerry has found himself,” I said to Grandy.
“He was never lost, my dear, just a little confused. Sometimes a person can step up when things get tough.”
“You mean when the going gets tough—”
“The confused find their way,” she said.
After another hour, a doctor in scrubs came through.
“I’m Doctor Hernandez. He’s being moved to ICU, and you can see him in an hour or so. The bullet came close to his heart, but he’s doing fine. He won’t be doing any line dancing in the immediate future, but he’ll recover. He’s a tough man.”
I laughed, imagining Nappi on the floor at the Biscuit, line dancing with Grandy. Well, maybe I was wrong about that. He could still surprise me. He might like a little country two-step and some boot-scootin’ line dancing.
Jerry rushed through the doors to the waiting room, followed by Grandfather Egret, Sammy, and Madeleine and David.
“Family,” I said by way of explanation.
“Big family,” said the surgeon.
“You don’t know the half of it,” I said.
The doctor smiled, then signaled he wanted a private moment with me.
“Before we put him under, he asked me to give you a message. He was very insistent.”
I leaned in closer to hear what he was saying.
“He said to take his jacket to Prestige Cleaners in West Palm. He said they could get the ketchup out.”
I smiled and nodded. “Will do.”
Several hours later, all of us exited the hospital, having visited Nappi in ICU in pairs. For a man who had come within a half inch of death, he looked pretty good. Maybe it was the pain medication, but he appeared happy and expressed his certainty that Jerry had things in hand.
“Did the medication they’re giving him make him goofy?” Sammy asked. “He seems to think Jerry can take over his operation.”
“For once, I think Jerry will step up,” I said.
Frida came up behind us. “Who’s stepping up to what?”
“Can I get the jacket Nappi was wearing, or is that evidence?” I asked, ignoring her question. There was no need to tell Frida Jerry was taking over for Nappi.
“The crime lab has it for now. Why?”
“Nappi wants it cleaned.”
“I doubt the blood stains will come out, and there’s a bullet hole in it also,” Frida said.
“I’ll need it to buy him a new one just like it.”
Frida shrugged.
The cell in my purse rang, and I knew from the unfamiliar ring tone that it was Eleanor’s, not mine.
“Sorry. I’ve got to take this.” I stepped to one side, under the palm tree that stood next to the hospital’s emergency entrance.
“Why haven’t you called me?” The voice belonged to a woman, an irritated one. “I told you I want to leave here, but that big Indian is guarding the place. He or one of his buddies or relatives or whatever follow me everywhere. I told you how awful the food is. It reminds me of some of the hospitals I was in.” Then the demanding tone changed to pleading. “Please, please get me out of here.”
“Brenda?” I asked.
“No. this is Mary. Who is this? You aren’t Eleanor.”
“This is Eve. I need to see you. Your mother wants to see you. She’s close by. Tell us where you are.”
“Oh, Eve. My Eve. My darling. I miss you so.” The sound of sobbing came through the phone, then stopped. “Your sister is responsible for all this. She put me here, and now I’m being held prisoner. I think they may kill me. You’ve got to get me out of here.” Irritation had turned to desperation.
“Of course, we’ll get you out of there.”
“You be careful. I came down here to warn you. Somebody is after us, all of us. Henry didn’t believe me when I told him that, so ….” She stopped talking and I heard her take in quick breaths. “He’s dead, you know.”
“How did you know where to find me?” I asked.
“You can’t hide from your mother. I read a story about you in a local newspaper. It said you had moved to Sabal Bay, Florida to set up some business there. I came looking.” The voice turned weepy and pleading again. “Why did you stay away all these years? I needed you. I needed you.”
“Tell me where you are, and I’ll come get you.”
There was silence for a moment, then I heard noise in the background as if someone was talking with her. The voice was that of a man, and I recognized it.
“Eve? Can I trust you this time?” It was Lionel Egret.
“Lionel? You can trust me. The reason you were shot at and pursued was because the cops were sitting on Grandfather’s house, waiting for you to make contact. You need to turn yourself in.”
“The reason I was shot at is because I’m an Indian, the authorities’ favorite suspect when it comes to crime.”
“That was a mistake. It was Frida’s clueless new partner. You know her well enough that you can’t believe she’d want to kill you.”
He made no reply to this.
“Are you still there?”
There was no reply.
I was about to end the call when he said, “We’ll meet. Just you and me. No one else must know. Not my father and not Sammy. And not Frida or her trigger-happy partner. You and me. We’ll settle this. I’ll let you know where.”
Before I could reply, he disconnected.
Frida still stood near the parked cars in the hospital lot, eyeing me with suspicion. I knew what I should do, what I had to do. I had to trust Frida, trust her not to tell her boss or other police, trust she would not betray my confidence.
I walked over and handed her Eleanor’s phone.
“You’ll know what to do with this,” I said, “and you’ll know not to tell anyone about it.”
Sammy, Grandfather, and I drove home together in Sammy’s truck. Although I was dead-tired after this difficult day, I filled them in about the circumstances surrounding Nappi’s shooting.
“We’ll need to be vigilant,” I said. “Freddie thinks he’s put Nappi out of business, assuming that like him, the loyalty of Nappi’s people comes from money and fear. It doesn’t. Jerry might be able to find men to guard us, but I know you don’t want that and neither do I. Having a couple of black SUVs with men in suits sitting in front of our house, your business and mine, would drive away our customers and confuse and upset the authorities. They couldn’t tell the difference between the good guys and the bad guys.”
“We have family who will help us,” said Grandfather.
“About that,” I said, “would your family help Lionel? Would they help him kidnap someone?”
Sammy’s and Grandfather’s faces showed some surprise, but not enough that I believed them when they shook their heads. I did not tell them Lionel wanted to meet with me. The baby gave a tiny kick or burp in my stomach, as if reminding me of the risk of agreeing to a solo meeting with a man who might have killed another and was now holding a woman against her will.
“I know this has been a tough day for you, Eve, but the boys are home. Their cousin Serena is staying with them until we get back. Jerome told me he wants to talk with us, all of us. He told me he’s responsible for the death of Mr. Montrose.”
Chapter 21
Jerome? Responsible for Mr. Montrose’s death? That was absurd, and that’s what I told Grandfather. Sammy nodded in agreement.
“That may well be,” Grandfather said, “but we need to hear what he has to say. Whatever happened out there when my son took the boys camping is eating Jerome alive.”
But not the others? I wondered what it was, and my anger grew at Lionel Egret for allowing my son to get into trouble. Moreover, Lionel knew Brenda’s location and had known since her husband’s murder. Why would he kidnap her? It didn’t make any sense. First things first. And that was Jerome.
We drove home in silence. I couldn’t read the others’ thoughts, but added to my worry about Jerome was concern about Nappi’s condition and my certaint
y that I had to locate Lionel Egret in order to find Brenda. To make myself feel as if I wasn’t useless, I used my cell to connect with Frida.
“Can you find Brenda’s location from Eleanor’s cell?” I asked when Frida answered.
“I’m kind of busy looking for Nappi’s assailant right now, Eve. I’ll get to it,” she snapped at me.
I had told her at the scene of the shooting that I saw a black SUV speeding away and the direction it headed. How easy would it be for some goons from up North to hide out in rural Florida?
“You didn’t happen to see the license plate on that car, did you?” she asked.
“No, but I’ll bet they drove down here from up North. Look for Connecticut or New York plates first.”
“That’s not a lot to go on, but we’ll give it a try.” She disconnected.
We pulled into the parking lot at the airboat business and took the dirt driveway leading to Grandfather’s house. Selena stepped out onto the porch.
“Jeremy and Jason are in the bedroom playing a board game. Jerome is out back, tossing sticks into the canal. I sure hope you can get to the bottom of what’s bothering him. He’s so upset.”
She called good night to the boys, got into her car, and pulled away.
I checked on the other two boys, then Grandfather, Sammy, and I went out to the canal. Jerome sat on an old log and stared out over the water.
“Hi,” I said and leaned down to kiss him. He wasn’t yet old enough to reject a mother’s public displays of affection. He leaned into me. Grandfather and Sammy took up seats on the log on either side of him while I sat in an old lawn chair across from them.
Knowing it would be hard for him to speak, we waited until he worked up his courage.
“I think I’m to blame for that man’s death,” he stammered, and a tear ran down his round cheek.
“Sometimes we blame ourselves for things that aren’t our fault even though we think they are. We can be hard on ourselves,” said Grandfather.
“That’s what you said earlier, but if I hadn’t left that knife there, he wouldn’t have been killed.”
“Why don’t you just tell us what happened?” Sammy said, rubbing Jerome’s shoulder.
“Okay.” He swallowed hard. “Grandfather Lionel took us out to the swamps. We camped one night near the lock, but we wanted to get away from the noise of the boats entering and leaving. Grandfather said it wasn’t a real swamp experience anyway, so we moved our camp the next day to a hammock of trees not far from the old fishing pier. Grandfather was cutting down branches with his knife to build the campfire while Jeremy and Jason set up the tent. There wasn’t anything for me to do, so I asked if I could go down to the fishing pier. I wanted to carve one of those boats like the ones Grandfather Egret made for your wedding. Remember?”
We nodded. Grandfather Egret had carved boats for the three boys at our wedding party, and they had sailed them off down the canal, then chased after them as far down the canal as they could until the tiny boats were lost in the current and swept away.
“I had my jackknife and thought I could find some dead wood and make one, but my knife was too small. It would have taken me half the day to carve the boat. I came back to the campsite, and there was Grandfather Egret’s big knife lying near the fire where he’d left it. I called out to ask him if I could borrow the knife, but he must have been too far away to hear me. So I took it.” Jerome stopped talking and burst into tears. “I know I was wrong to take it without asking, but ….” He swiped at his tears with the back of his hand.
“I went back to where I’d left the wood I was trying to carve. I was right. The knife worked great. I finished my boat and was about to sail if off when I heard Grandfather Lionel call me to lunch. I was starved. Carving is hard work. I grabbed my boat and ran off.”
“And the knife?” I asked.
“I left it lying on the ground near the pier. But I remembered it after we ate and told Grandfather where I’d left it. He was pretty mad I’d taken it without his permission. He went to look for it, came back, and told us we’d have to go home.”
“You didn’t see anyone other than Grandfather Lionel out there?” asked Sammy.
“No, but I heard voices after we’d eaten. I hoped we wouldn’t have to move the camp again to get away from them.”
“Voices,” I said. “Were they men’s voices or women’s?”
“I think there were a couple of men’s voices. And ….” He stopped and squeezed his eyes closed as if trying to visualize the scene again. “I think I heard someone crying. I can’t remember.”
“Maybe your brothers can,” I suggested.
“I don’t think so. After lunch they went upstream to look for corn snakes.”
“Why didn’t you go with them?” I asked.
Jerome gave me a guilty look from under lowered eyelids. “ ’Cuz my punishment for taking the knife was to do all the dishes after we ate.”
We sat in silence for a while, then Grandfather spoke. “What you did that was wrong, Jerome, was to take the knife without asking. You weren’t responsible for that man’s death. Do you understand?”
Sammy and I nodded in agreement.
Jerome continued to stare at the ground. “Okay. I understand, but Grandfather Lionel must still be mad at me.”
“Why do you think that?” I asked.
“Because he went back out into the swamp after I took the knife, and he left without taking it with him. I know because I heard you talking. The knife was still in that man.”
“That’s true, son,” said Sammy, “but your grandfather didn’t leave because he was mad at you. He left because he was afraid he would be blamed for killing the man.”
Jerome looked up and met Sammy’s eyes. “I don’t think he killed the man.”
“We don’t either,” said Sammy. “That’s why your mother is investigating the case.”
Jerome wrinkled his forehead in confusion. “I thought the police were supposed to do that.”
Oh, God. How could I explain prejudice to him? How could I teach him to trust authority when it was clear the police took one look at the Miccosukee knife and knew they had the murderer without looking beyond his brown face? Not all cops. Not Frida, and I needed to tell him that.
Grandfather stepped in before I could say anything. “Sometimes the police work in different ways than private investigators like your mom.”
“Oh. I like Mom’s way of doing things.” He gave me a tiny smile.
“We do too,” said Sammy. “That’s why we hired her to take this on—just like you and your brothers hired her to find out who killed your father in that hit-and-run. Remember?”
The boys had hired me to find the person responsible for killing their father. I had told them I couldn’t work for them because I didn’t have my license then, but they had insisted on emptying the jar of money they had been saving from odd jobs to pay me in what they called “an Indian contract.” I’d found the man responsible. As for the pay?
“Hey. I don’t think I got all my money for that work,” I said.
Jerome’s smile got wider. “Too bad, ’cuz we spent it at the carnival. Are you gonna arrest us for not paying you?”
“No, but I’ll send you a bill with ‘overdue’ stamped on it.”
The smile fled from his lips and he paled.
“I’m kidding. Go join your brothers. It’s time you all headed for bed.”
Jerome got up from the log, lowered his head, and dragged his feet through the dirt as he walked to the house. Now what was wrong, I wondered, then I heard him say, “Dang. Bedtime. I didn’t get to play even one game.”
I knew then he’d be just fine.
“We’ve got to find my father,” said Sammy, “and find out what happened out there. It’s not just a matter of the murder, but the issue of our traumatized boy. I don’t care how worried Father is about being arrested for the murder. He owes it to Jerome and to us to tell what he knows, what he saw.” Sammy was angrier than
I’d ever seen him. His eyes were black as the darkest night and his jaw twitched. Though his father’s innocence was still a concern, it paled compared to our son’s wellbeing.
“That’s how he’s always dealt with the world,” Grandfather Egret said, “and it’s my doing. I let him run wild as a kid. I thought his love of the swamps was true Miccosukee, and I believed being out there would heal him. It didn’t, or he would have come back to us a more responsible man. My son is a coward.” He hung his head, seeming to shrink under the burden of responsibility for the man his son had become.
I wanted to put my arms around Grandfather, to tell him that his son was now a man and the responsibility for his behavior was his; his misdeeds couldn’t be blamed on anyone else. Grandfather shook his head.
“I know what you’re going to say, Eve, but I must shoulder part of the blame. Every parent sees that when children err, it’s because they haven’t been taught well enough.”
I was beginning to understand what he meant. I had seen it in my Great-Aunt Irene, who was still berating herself for failing to heal her child, now a grown woman with a daughter of her own. How would Irene feel if she found her daughter had killed the man she loved, a real possibility? And if this child I carried grew up to be as impulsive, as impatient as I was, would I see it as my fault? Probably. Grandy and I joked about how like her I was, but I could see the very real fear in her eyes that my snoopy nature would lead me or someone I loved into danger. Some of that fear reflected her concern that she hadn’t cautioned me enough when I was a child, that she had let my wild nature flourish, unrestrained.
Grandfather, Sammy, and I talked for a few more minutes. Sammy yawned and said goodnight, as did Grandfather. They walked arm in arm into the house, Grandfather to sleep on the small cot located on the far side of the fireplace while Sammy joined our sons on the bedroom floor in sleeping bags. We would have been more comfortable at my place, but I didn’t want to disturb the boys by rousting them from their sleep, and I thought our presence might provide some comfort to Grandfather as he wrestled with his feelings of failure about his son.
Killer Tied Page 20