A Following Sea

by Michael Lindley

  Jonathan was sleeping in the second bedroom when she woke and went into the kitchen to make coffee. She had slept little the previous night. The images persisted of Moe Hall coming at her with a knife and then the gun going off in her hands, the man lying on the floor of her office dying.

  Hanna had also been thinking about Moe and Jenna Hall's young son, William. The boy was all alone now. She had called Greta at the clinic last night to let her know about the death of Moe Hall. Greta had assured her she would continue to take care of the boy.

  She saw her phone on the counter next to her coffee cup and thought about the message from Alex Frank she received down at the police precinct. His call and concern had been comforting at the time, but she couldn't bring herself to call him back.

  Jonathan came into the kitchen and walked over to give her a hug.

  "How are you doing?" he asked, with obvious concern in his voice.

  "Not great," she said, honestly.

  He poured some coffee and sat beside her at the counter. "I just spoke with Elizabeth and she sends her best and hopes you're doing okay."

  "That's sweet, thank you." Hanna was thankful her son had come down to be with her. She needed someone near.

  Hanna walked down the back stairs to her offices on the first floor of the old house. Her own office was still closed off with yellow crime scene tape from the night before. She consulted with two police investigators and they agreed to let her get some files from her desk she needed to work on this morning. She wanted to be there when her staff came in to work to explain what had happened. In her office, she tried not to look at the blood stains on the carpet as she passed to her desk.

  By mid-morning, she was deep into the flow of work again and thankfully, it helped her to put some of the past night's memories out of her mind. She was sitting at a desk in one of the extra offices when her assistant, Molly, stuck her head in the door.

  "Detective Frank is here to see you," she said quietly, a confused and cautious look on her face.

  Hanna was at once upset and then begrudgingly pleased to hear Alex had come to see her. She tried to push her anger and doubt about the man's renewed entanglement with his ex-wife from her mind. "Tell him I'll be out in a moment." Molly disappeared from the door.

  Her next thought was she must look a mess after a sleepless night and all that had happened. Not much to be done about that now.

  When Hanna walked out into the reception area, she saw Alex waiting for her, standing by the front window. He smiled and started to walk toward her. She noticed Molly staring at her from behind her desk. As Alex came up, he opened his one arm that wasn't in a sling and took her in a tight embrace.

  He said softly in her ear, "I'm so glad to see you're okay."

  Hanna pushed back and returned a tentative smile. "Thanks for coming."

  "Do you have a few minutes?" he asked.

  "Let's take a walk." She turned to Molly, "We'll be back."

  She led him down the steps and then waited for him to join her on the sidewalk under the shade of tall trees and the rush of traffic along the busy street. They walked for over a block without speaking.

  Finally, Alex said, "Lonnie filled me in on what happened last night. It must have been terrible."

  "I still have a sick feeling in my gut. I know I did the right thing, but..."

  "You had to defend yourself."

  "I know."

  Alex said, "You need to find some comfort in knowing he won't be able to hurt anyone else again."

  Hanna didn't respond, and they continued down the walk past other houses and then storefronts at the end of the block.

  "Seven years ago," Alex said, "I had to use my weapon in an arrest and the man later died. It's going to take a long time to get beyond the guilt of taking someone's life, no matter how bad or evil the person is."

  "That's reassuring," Hanna said sarcastically.

  "Just know this will take time. I saw the department shrink for two years."

  Hanna looked over at him, surprised.

  Alex continued, "There's no shame in getting help for something like this, from friends and family and from professionals when you need it."

  Hanna said, "I'm feeling worst about their little boy. He has no one now."

  "He certainly didn't need the father in his life."

  "Right." Hanna paused, then said, "My friend down at the clinic will help him find the right home, I'm sure. I'm going down to see her later today to see what I can do to help."

  They stopped for a cup of coffee at a small shop on the corner with windows out to the busy intersection. Sitting at a small table at the front, Alex said, "I want to talk to you about what's going on up in Dugganville, if you're up to it."

  "Okay," Hanna replied hesitantly, swirling the coffee in her cup.

  "First, has Phillip told you about the developments in my father's case?"

  She shook her head "no".

  Alex went through all the details of the drug bust and the involvement of the Bayes family with a dangerous drug cartel, the flight of Connor Richards and Chaz Merton's cooperation with the investigators.

  Hanna asked a couple of questions as he proceeded. He continued on about the revelation of Horton Bayes' infidelity and Hanna raised an eyebrow. "What more have you learned about that?"

  "I'm headed back this afternoon to talk with Meryl Bayes again."

  Hanna asked, "What does Phillip think about all this?"

  "We're following up on every possibility."

  "Your father has to be feeling a little better with these new developments," she said.

  "He's still not remembering all the events of that night and we've got a lot of work to do to prove he didn't kill Horton."

  They both sipped at their coffee, then Alex continued, "I want you to know what's really going on with Adrienne... and my son, if you'll give me a minute."

  "Alex..." Hanna started to protest, pushing back her chair.

  "Please, just a minute," he pleaded.

  She nodded reluctantly.

  "Adrienne has tried to get us back together, for our child, she says. In a way, I can't blame her."

  Hanna cut in, "Alex, you need to do what's best and I understand."

  "No, you need to know I've ended any possibility of us reuniting. She stayed at my father's house a couple of nights with Scotty when her mother threw her out and she had nowhere else to go." He paused a moment to see how Hanna was reacting. She just stared back at him and didn't respond. "Nothing happened between us... physically, I mean, and I've asked her to leave."

  Hanna was skeptical. "You can't tell me she didn't try."

  Alex looked down at his coffee and sighed. He said, "Yes, but you need to trust me that nothing happened."

  "Alex, that's all fine and thank you for being so honest with me, but you've still got a lot to work out with her and your son."

  "I know, but I'm asking if you'll give me some more time."

  "Take all the time you need," Hanna replied.

  "No, I'm asking that you'll give us another chance," he said.

  Hanna stared back at him and then looked away out the window. She tried to sort through all the conflicting emotions racing through her brain.

  Alex reached across the table and took her hand. "Please, just give me a little more time."

  She hesitated for a moment and then pulled her hand away. "I really need to get back."

  She left him on the street in front of her office with no promises and no indication of where this all might lead, even when he pressed her again.

  As she turned to go back up the steps, she said, "You need to focus on your father... and your son."

  Chapter Fifty-three

  Alex drove into Dugganville just before noon. The little town seemed to be moving on as if none of the drama of murder, attempted assassinations and drug deals was of any consequence. He pulled up and parked in front of his parent's house. As he walked
up to the porch, he was thinking about Hanna and her admonition to deal with his personal matters before they could have any further discussion about their own future. On the drive back, he was considering asking Adrienne to move to Charleston with Scotty, find a job and a place to live. He could have joint custody of Scotty and help with his support. He wasn't sure how wild Hanna would be about his ex being in the same town, but there had to be some way to make this work.

  He walked into the house and back to the kitchen. He saw the back door open and his senses went on immediate alert. He pulled his 9mm from the holster and flattened himself against the wall just outside the opening into the kitchen.

  The familiar voice came from behind him. Beau Richards said, "Put the gun on the table, Alex."

  Alex turned slowly and saw the man holding a long-barreled revolver with both hands out in front of him.

  "On the table, now!" Richards demanded.

  Alex slowly lowered his gun and then reached over and placed it carefully on the dining room table.

  "Back away, now!"

  He did as he was told and said, "Beau, you've got a lot of explaining to do. Assaulting a police officer is not going to help your cause."

  Richards came around the other side of the table and took Alex's gun with a gloved hand, placing it in the waist of his pants," not taking his eyes off Alex. He said, "I was afraid you'd keep pressin' on all this. You just kept stickin' your nose where it didn't belong."

  "Did you hire the hit on me, Beau?"

  He didn't answer, but just smiled back. Then, his face got very serious again. "I assume you tipped the Feds off to the drug deal the other night. How'd you find out?"

  "Didn't have a thing to do with it, Beau," Alex said. "Just blind luck they happened to be out there on patrol. Your spotters didn't do a very good job now, did they?"

  Richards seemed to be thinking about Alex's response.

  Alex said, "Chaz is being very cooperative with the DEA, Beau. He's spilled everything about you and Connor. They're out looking for you right now."

  Richards nodded back slowly, his gun still fixed on Alex.

  "Your best bet is to get the hell out of the country and hope they don't find you and get extradition papers to bring you back."

  Richards said, "I have some loose ends to deal with first."

  "And I'm one of your loose ends?" Alex asked.

  "This is the same gun the idiot tried to kill you with the other night," Richards said. "He won't be needing it anymore. The cops are gonna think he came back and finished the hit on you and then had guilty feelings and used it on himself. This thing leaves a big hole, Alex. Really a mess over there. I'll drop the gun back before I leave town."

  Alex was feeling more than helpless but was trying to keep an air of calm. He said, "People will hear the shot, Beau."

  "I'll be long gone before anyone gets here. The timeline will look just fine when they find Jameson with a hole in the side of his head."

  There was a knock on the door.

  Beau Richards was distracted for just a moment and Alex reached quickly for the edge of the table and began pushing it as hard as he could into the man. The pain in his shoulder was excruciating. Richards started to fall back, and he reached for a chair with one hand, the other trying to point the gun back at Alex.

  Alex kept pushing as hard as he could and then dove for the floor as a deafening gunshot went off, barely missing him and slamming into the wall behind him. Under the table, Alex saw Beau losing his balance and starting to fall back. He crawled quickly across the floor under the table and grabbed on to one of the man's legs, pulling it out from under him.

  Richards fell over one of the chairs and Alex was up and on him in an instant. He held his gun hand to the side with his knee and threw a straight punch as hard as he could into Richards' nose. The sound of bone and cartilage breaking was followed by a loud bellow of pain from the man. Alex saw that he was stunned and his grip on the gun loosened. He pulled the big pistol away and stood with it, pointing down at Beau Richards' face, both men breathing heavily. Alex felt faint from the pain shooting out from his injured shoulder. He watched as Richards rolled over on his side, holding his nose and trying to staunch the flow of blood dripping down on the floor.

  Alex heard someone coming in from the front room and raised the gun in that direction. Sheriff Stokes came in with his gun drawn and a look of astonishment washed over his face. "What the hell!"

  Beau Richards had been led away in handcuffs by two of Stokes' deputies. He had a few choice words for Alex about being a "dead man" before he was escorted out.

  Alex had asked the sheriff if he was sure his men could be trusted after discovering one of the department's dispatchers was on the Richards payroll. Stokes assured him these two men were solid.

  After an hour of providing a full report to the sheriff and one other deputy on the attack by Beau Richards, Stokes had excused himself to take a call. He came back into the house a few minutes later.

  "Just heard back from the crew I sent over to Hank Jameson's house," the sheriff said to Alex. "Beau was right. The man's brains are painted all over the wall."

  Alex was sitting at the small table in the kitchen. His heart was still racing from the earlier attempt on his life by Beau Richards. He looked up at Pepper Stokes. "We need to squeeze Beau on the Bayes' murder. If Horton was threatening to pull out of the drug scheme, the Richards would sure have cause to make certain he wasn't another "loose end" as Beau called it. My father's fight with Horton that night would have been a convenient cover for the Richards to have Horton taken out."

  Stokes said, "Pretty thin, Alex. I know you're looking for any way to get your old man off here, but we got nothing to back up that line of thinking."

  "Chaz told us Connor and Horton were having an argument about something after the last drug deal," Alex reminded the sheriff. "We need to get Connor back in the states. Any word from the DEA?"

  Stokes shook his head. "Connor and the girl are probably long gone from the Bahamas by now. Have to believe Beau and Connor had a pretty elaborate back-up plan if things went south."

  Alex thought for a moment, then said, "Well, Meryl and young Horton are still around. We need to get back with the Feds and see what they've learned from the kid. I need to have another word with Meryl. Care to join me?"

  Alex and the sheriff found no one at home when they went to Meryl Bayes' house. It was just past six. Sheriff Stokes left to go back to his office. Alex had a hunch on finding Meryl.

  When Alex walked into Gilly's Bar, he saw several familiar faces along the bar and at a few of the tables. Gilly spotted him and nodded back. Alex walked through the crowd and then saw Meryl at a booth in the back, sitting alone with a shot of whiskey and half full glass of beer in front of her. When he sat down across from her, she looked up with an angry scowl.

  "Get the hell out of here!" she snapped with a slurred voice, her eyes blurry and swollen.

  "Pretty early, Meryl."

  She didn't answer and reached for the shot and threw it back.

  "Just took Beau Richards into custody, Meryl," Alex said.

  She just continued to stare back, her head weaving some as she tried to focus on Alex.

  "It's all coming out now, Meryl. Chaz Merton is telling the Feds everything about your husband and son's involvement with the Richards. Sounds like you were well aware of all this."

  "You need to leave me alone!" she spat.

  Alex pressed on. "We're hearing Horton was having a beef with the Richards about something. You know anything about that?"

  "Why would I tell you anything?"

  "Was Horton thinking about pulling out of the drug business?" Alex continued. "Maybe the Richards were getting worried about his intentions?"

  Meryl took a sip from her beer and swallowed hard, then looked up at Alex with a flush of anger on her face. "Horton was too busy screwin' half the town to have time for running weed."
r />   Alex didn't let up. "So, he was trying to pull out?"

  The woman shook her head and looked away for a moment. "I don't know what that SOB was thinkin'!"

  "Meryl, you need to help me here. Horton was running with a dangerous bunch. The Richards wouldn't think twice about taking him out if there was any indication he was pulling out on them... and these guys from Mexico don't play around either."

  "Damn Mexicans!" she hissed. "I told Horton..."

  "You told him what?"

  "Just get outta here!" she snapped back at him.

  Alex took another tack. "Meryl, who was Horton having an affair with?"

  This really irritated her, and she started to slide out of the booth to leave. Alex reached out and grabbed her arm. "Meryl, sit down." She settled back and finished off the rest of the beer in the glass, looking across the bar for a server.

  "Meryl, tell me who Horton was fooling around with."

  She focused her gaze back on him and said, "Who wasn't he foolin' around with?"

  "You tell me."

  She took a deep breath, then said, "That bitch, Ella Moore is just the latest."

  Alex wasn't surprised. Adrienne and her mother were cut from the same cloth. "How long had that been going on?"

  "Like I said, just the latest."

  Chapter Fifty-four

  The bleak facade of the old women's shelter in downtown Charleston loomed ahead as Hanna and her son, Jonathan, crossed the street. Hanna had called Greta Muskovicz to make sure she was available to see them to discuss the situation of now orphaned, William Moe.

  Greta met them in the lobby and took them up one flight of stairs to a large room where several young children were playing with toys spread on the floor, their mothers sitting along the periphery watching. Hanna saw William off by himself reading a book.

  Greta said, "He hasn't spoken a word since we talked to him about his father's death. It was just too much after losing his mother such a short time ago.