by C. C. Wall
“Why?” she asked.
“Because my sweet,” he said. “Jonathan Kensington has just been arrested for murder!”
“What?” Morgan exclaimed. “Who?”
“Michael Goodman,” he said.
“The gay kid?” she asked.
“Yes, the gay kid,” he said. “I couldn’t have planned this better myself.”
“What are you going to do?” she asked.
“I have some calls to make,” he paused to let himself think. “No, I have some visits to make. You on the other hand, have company coming. Jack Hart will be here any minute and you will let him use the computer in the den. Feed him and give him whatever he wants.” He went to his desk. “He will also be expecting this check.” He filled it out and handed it to her.
Her moth dropped open. “That’s a lot of money.”
“And worth every penny,” he said. “Hot damn! This is a great night!” He grabbed his coat and headed for the door then turned and ran back and kissed Morgan on the head. “We might have sex later, that’s how good I feel! Make sure you’re washed up.”
24 - Minute to Minute
“Rummy!” Elizabeth said. “Ha!”
“That is like the fifth game in a row,” Eric said.
“And we’ve only played five.” She smiled.
Eric threw his cards down on the bed playfully and then didn’t care at all that he lost. As long as he was able to continue to spend time with Elizabeth, he didn’t care how many games he lost. “How do you do that?”
“What?” she asked. “Beat you?”
“Yeah,” he said.
“My strategy is just not letting you win,” she said. “That seems to be doing the trick.”
“That is brilliant,” he said. “I’ll try that from now on.”
Sue stood in the doorway of the hospital room and watched her son flirt and play with the girl whose father she just arrested for murder. “Eric?”
He turned and didn’t know how he should react. He knew it probably seemed weird. “Hey.”
“Can you come out in the hallway for a minute?” She asked.
His cheeks were red. He glanced at Elizabeth as he jumped off the foot of the bed and onto the floor. He could feel her eyes on him. He could feel how uncomfortable she felt.
In the hallway, Sue asked, “What are you doing with her?”
“Playing cards,” he said.
“I saw that,” she said. “But why? I didn’t know you two even really knew each other.”
“We didn’t,” he said. “But we were both in here and thought we would just kill time together.”
“And that’s it?” Her tone was very accusatory.
Eric was put on the defensive but didn’t feel like getting into a verbal brawl with Deputy Sue in front of a pretty girl. “That’s it.” He forced out a smile.
“All right,” she said. “Just don’t get too close.” Sue peeked in the room on Elizabeth. “I need to have a quick word with her though.”
“Sure,” he said. “I’’ll wait here.”
Sue walked in and wasn’t sure if Elizabeth would start yelling at her for arresting Jonathan earlier. “Hey, how are you feeling?”
Elizabeth was shuffling the cards and didn’t look up at Sue. “I’m doing better.”
“That’s good,” Sue said. She sat on the foot of the bed where Eric was when she first looked in. “I know you asked to talk to Detective Lukas, but he can’t come to see you now. Is there anything you would like to say to me?”
Elizabeth seemed to ignore her.
“I’m sorry I had to arrest your…”
Elizabeth looked up at Sue. “I don’t care. I already told Eric that too. I’m surprised Eric didn’t tell you that.”
Sue was taken off guard. “To be honest, I didn’t really give him an opportunity to.”
“Look, I’m sure daddy did whatever you think he did,” she said.
“Why would you say that?” Sue asked.
“Why not?” Elizabeth said, “Arresting the mayor is a pretty big deal. I’m sure you have some hard evidence on him right?”
She was so matter of fact, Sue had no clue how to respond. “We… we have a very solid case, yes.” Sue looked at her intently. “Was your father there that night at the motel?”
Elizabeth looked up at Sue with her eyes wide. Her body slightly shook. Tears began to well up. “I would like to speak to Detective Lukas please.”
Sue knew she pushed too far. “I should’ve waited. I’m sorry. I just want to make sure that we can catch whoever did this to you.”
Elizabeth’s look didn’t waiver.
“I’ll leave you and Eric. Get back to your game,” she headed out of the room. “Again, I’m sorry.”
Eric saw Elizabeth’s condition. He looked at his mother with disgust. “What did you do?”
“Nothing, sweetie.” She said, “I’m sorry. Just keep doing what you have been doing. Keep her comfortable.”
Eric didn’t say anything else. He turned his back to his mother and walked over to Elizabeth and put his hand on her shoulder.
There was a small part of Sue that was proud by how caring her son was being, but she still didn’t like being talked to like that. She felt like she was cracking.
She continued down the hallway to hear the faint beep of the machine that Lukas was hooked up to. She entered his room and sat down on a chair next to his bed. She reached out her hand and held his. As soon as she grabbed on, the tears started to fall out of her eyes quickly. She covered her mouth with her free hand. She didn’t want to alert anyone.
“Lukas, you have to come back. Please.” She grabbed a tissue and wiped the tears off her face. “I did something really, really stupid. I’m in danger now and I don’t know what to do. I fear for Eric’s safety too. Please, hear me. I am alone and I’m scared. I need your help.”
Nurse Janet walked in. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know anyone was in here.”
“It’s okay,” she said. “How is he?”
“He is stable but it’s really minute by minute right now. His vitals are so low.” Janet shrugged and mouthed “Sorry.”
Sue nodded in acknowledgment. “Thank you.” She spoke softly.
Once Janet was gone, Sue leaned over and kissed Lukas on the cheek. She put her lips next to his ear. “I am afraid. I need you. I don’t know how much time I have. Please wake up.”
25 - Pie and Bacon
It seemed like it had been forever since Harry had any of the warm, yummy, wet and salty. It was dark. He was cold. His fur was already getting matted. His ribs hurt from getting kicked by the man earlier. The trail of the warm, yummy, wet and salty had run dry. Even though all he wanted was to steal it from the man, he was really missing being home.
About this time, the smell of dinner would be lofting through the house. His mouth would be watering. He would stand in the kitchen and wait for Francine to drop a piece of whatever she was cooking. His stomach growled almost as loud as he did at the man before.
All of this thinking about the smells from the kitchen started playing tricks on Harry. He thought for a moment that he smelled one of his most favorite things ever in the world, bacon. He would have thought nothing more of it, except drool came out of his mouth and fell on his paw. Once he realized that he was salivating, he thought that maybe it wasn’t his imagination and that he was really smelling bacon!
Could it be that he was already almost home and Francine was making bacon for dinner? Probably not, he thought. None of the woods around him looked familiar. But then, another smell came through the air. The second smell, smelled like pie; no pies! Like a few different types of pie. Harry smelled apple, cherry and boysenberry! It was faint, but he smelled it.
He tried to trace it through the woods. He was getting closer he thought, but there came a point where he wasn’t sure which way to go. He sat down and whimpered. He really wanted that bacon and he really wanted that pie.
Then he heard a scream. A woman scre
aming, like before. He knew that the man was nearby. Harry would be dammed if the man got not only the warm, yummy, wet and salty, but the bacon and the pie too? No way! Harry darted towards the scream.
Once there were people in view, he stopped. He found cover in a bush. He tried to be very quiet. He saw a dry leaf in front of him and gently moved it away with his nose. If he wasn’t so hungry, he would have been proud of himself for taking such extreme caution to not be heard.
Just a few feet away, he saw the man again. The man had a shovel in his hand. He spun it around like a baton; the kind Elizabeth would practice with in the backyard years ago. He was headed for the bush that Harry was hiding in. Harry froze and was ready to pounce. But the man kept walking past him. Harry turned to see a woman lying on the ground. She wasn’t moving. She looked different but Harry didn’t know if it was the same girl as earlier.
The man brought the shovel down and stabbed it into the ground. When he did this the woman screamed and cried. At the noise, Harry barked loudly out of reaction. The man was startled by this and stopped. He turned and looked in the direction of the bush that Harry was hiding in. He stepped closer to the bush. The man was about two steps away. Harry knew that the man’s next step towards him would be the one where he would jump out and attack.
Harry’s back legs stood up, he showed his teeth. He was ready. The man however, stopped and went back to the woman who was crying out in pain. He twirled the shovel around again and lifted it high over his head. He brought it down with great speed and the wide flat side, made contact with the woman’s face. She did not cry out anymore.
The man dragged her away to a nearby truck. Harry saw the whole thing and normally he would have run out and attacked. But Harry was so weak, tired, cold and hungry, he thought that maybe if he could run out and eat the bacon and the pie, he would have enough strength to do something.
The man opened the door to the truck and left the woman on the ground. He leaned inside. This was Harry’s chance. He knew that woman was hiding bacon and pie in her pockets and he was going to get it!
Harry ran out and over to the woman. He sniffed her pockets and her clothes. It seemed that the smell was just on her clothes. Her pockets did not have any food in them. Her hair even smelled like bacon and pie. Harry was devastated. That was until, he saw what was all over her face. The warm, yummy, wet and salty!
Harry figured that the reason that the man hit her with the shovel was because she put her face in his warm, yummy, wet and salty. Harry started to lick her face vigorously. Trying to get as much of it off as he could. No matter how much he licked, there seemed to be more. Harry was confused but didn’t care. The more the merrier.
“Beat it!” the man said.
Harry looked up growling, but not worried enough to stop licking.
“Scram!” the man said. He swung his foot to kick Harry.
Harry saw that move coming and wasn’t going to fall for it twice. He dodged the kick and backed up to safe distance before barking and making sure that he looked terrifying. There was no way the man was going to get all the warm, yummy, wet and salty.
The man slowly moved down towards the woman. He lifted her up and threw her in the back of his truck. The only thing Harry noticed was all the warm, yummy, wet and salty, pouring down from her head onto the ground. Harry licked his lips and waited eagerly to get over to that puddle. Once the man got in his truck and started the engine, Harry ran over and began to lap it all up off the ground.
As Harry was getting his fill, he thought to himself, next time I won’t let you get away so easily.
26 - Black Star Bear
As Reagan sat in his office. He felt a huge weight pushing down on him. He knew something wasn’t right. It wasn’t the bourbon. He was two glasses in since his burger and knew that was all right. His office seemed to be getting smaller. He felt like the walls were closing in on him. The silence in his office started to get louder and louder. He jumped up out of his chair and bolted out the door as fast as he could.
Once he got outside his office door, the weight felt like it left. It was not crushing him any longer. He let out a sigh of relief. He saw Reed at his desk.
“How is it?” Reagan asked.
“I’m not sure, sheriff,” Reed answered somberly.
“Good answer,” he said. He took a sip. “Where’s Dyer?”
“I think he’s giving the mayor something to eat,” Reed replied.
Reagan sat on the edge of an empty desk. “The calls slow down, huh?”
“The last two I got were from Moe Eastman again saying Bigfoot is wandering around by his place and the other one was a report that Black Star Bear was missing,” Reed said.
“Black Star Bear?” Reagan said. “Hmmm. No shit? That’s the kind of call I miss around here lately.”
“Yep, me too,” Reed said. “It felt like old times.”
“It felt like two weeks ago,” Reagan said. “Who called in about the bear?”
“Zoe Wood,” he answered. “She said it was there as she was closing but gone when she finally left.”
“Black Star Bear.” Reagan said as he trailed off. “That’s too bad. That’s been around for as long as I could remember.”
Reed leaned back in his chair. “Is that made of metal?”
“God, no,” Reagan said. “It’s wood.” He took another sip. “Oak to be precise.”
“I remember as a kid, going up and hugging that thing so tight I would bruise my ribs,” Reed said.
Reagan chuckled. “Yeah, that bear is a pretty tough customer.”
“What do I do about it?” Reed asked.
Reagan tilted his head back and took the last big swig of his bourbon. Then he sucked the remnants out of his mustache. “Something like that should be top priority around here.” He was lost in thought for moment. “Don’t make a big deal out of it, but why don’t you patrol by there tomorrow morning and stop and take a statement from Zoe. We can’t let the rest of the town go in the crapper. Not now.”
“You got it,” Reed said.
The two of them sat there in silence for a few minutes.
“Sheriff?” Reed said.
“Yeah?” Reagan answered.
“I really want to find Black Star Bear,” Reed’s eyes seemed heavy. He held his mouth closed tightly.
“Me too, son,” Reagan said. He got up and placed his hand on Reed’s shoulder. “Me too.”
Dyer walked in. “What’s wrong? Did something else happen?”
“Black Star Bear is missing,” Reagan said.
“No shit?” Dyer said. “Did someone steal it?”
“I doubt it walked away,” Reagan said.
“Maybe a tourist didn’t hug it and now its off to eat their innards,” Dyer laughed.
“Not now, Dyer,” Reed said.
“Sorry man,” Dyer said. “That’s really awful.” Dyer poured a cup of coffee and sat at his desk. “Really puts the last week or so in perceptive doesn’t it?”
“We were thinking the same thing,” Reagan said. “Is Sue coming back tonight?”
“I don’t think so,” Reed said. “She’s checking on Eric and Lukas.”
“Has Elizabeth said anything yet?” Reagan asked.
“No,” Reed said. “Not yet.”
“She wants to talk to Lukas and that’s it,” Dyer added.
Reagan headed back towards his office. Under his breath he mumbled, “Black Star Bear, hmmmmm.”
Before Reagan could make it into his office, the front door flew open and loud, hurried footsteps filled the air.
“Lock me up!”
They turned and looked at who was yelling.
“What’s wrong with you? Lock me up!” Dakota shouted.
“What are you on about?” Reagan said.
Dakota looked like hell beat over. He had crazy all over his face. “I’m a murderer!
“What?” Reed said.
“I’m a murderer,” Dakota repeated. “I killed my brother.”
Like every morning, Helen Lee was outside the Black Star Cafe, sweeping up the sidewalk out front. She set up the four tables that sat there for her guests that like to smoke cigarettes. A smile graced her lips as she put the new flowers in the vases on the tables.
Like clockwork, Ernest Wilson came walking across the street to get his morning coffee.
“Beautiful day today,” he said.
“It sure is, Ernest,” she replied. “Coffee to go?”
“I don’t think so, Helen. I haven’t had breakfast so I think, I will stay for some pancakes,” he said.
Helen smiled. “I can’t remember the last time you came in for breakfast. This is great. We can catch up.” She led him in the door. “Have a seat at the counter.”
“Hello, Ernest,” Leonard said.
“What are you doing here?” Helen said to Leonard. “You don’t usually come in for another hour.”
Leonard looked like he was planning something. “I just wanted to make sure I knew who our morning clientele was.”
“You know who are customers are,” she said.
“Yeah,” he said. “But you know what, every day I come in here, there are a lot of doughnuts missing. I was just wondering who would be purchasing all of those yummy doughnuts.”
Helen rolled her eyes. “Get in the kitchen and start making pancakes.”
Leonard grinned and looked at Ernest. “What else you want with them pancakes, chief?”
Ernest chuckled. “I’m thinking I would like maybe some eggs and maybe some bacon.”
“Sunny side up?” Leonard asked.
“You know it.” Ernest slammed his hand on the counter.
Leonard laughed. “You got it man. Coming right up.”
Helen waited until Leonard was in kitchen before she let out a breath.
“Are you all right?” Ernest asked.
“Yeah,” she said. “It’s nothing. Coffee?”
“Absolutely,” Ernest said.