by Dale Mayer
Carter hopped down, bringing the dog with him. “I’ll drive back. We should pick up the old ranch truck too.”
She hesitated. “If it’s even running.”
“It’s possible they disabled it, but instead they disabled him, so I don’t think they gave a shit about the vehicle.”
“Good. We’re obviously heading into trouble and an extra pair of wheels is never a bad option.”
It took them twenty minutes to head back, another half hour to show the officer the disputed area, leaving him there to guard the fence, while Carter drove the old Ford back to the house and Hailey drove the other truck. After another twenty minutes, both had showers and had changed into clean clothes.
Once done, Hailey had a small bag packed with a change of clothes for Gordon and her laptop. She looked at Carter and said, “I don’t know what’s happening at the office right now, but my brother is obviously my priority.” She stepped out of the front door and headed down the driveway.
Carter followed her. “I haven’t got the bug-detection stuff yet,” he said. “I’ll take care of sweeping your offices when it arrives.”
She hesitated, then pulled out her spare keys. “This is Gordon’s set. If you need it to get inside the office, use it.” And then she hopped into her truck.
Carter shook his head and said, “I wish you’d wait half an hour. I don’t want to send you in alone.”
“I’m just going to the hospital.”
“Be careful. I need to feed the dog. Don’t suppose you have a leash here?”
She laughed. “Nope. Herd dogs don’t work on leashes.”
“I’ll get some rope for Matzuka from the barn. I probably don’t need that, but being prepared is better. Then, after that, I’ll head back into town myself.”
“You can always talk to me on the phone,” she said. “I don’t think anybody else will attack me at this stage.”
“But you don’t know that.”
She shook her head. “No, I don’t.” She forcibly closed the driver’s side door, pushing him out of the way. “I’ll let you know when I get there.”
Hailey backed out and took off, leaving Carter to watch her for a few more moments before getting on with his business.
Hating that she was taking off on her own, Carter went inside the house to the back, exiting onto the rear porch. There he grabbed a water bowl and a dog food bowl and, as an added bonus, found a short piece of rope discarded in a corner, which saved him a trip to the barn. He went to the guest bedroom to retrieve the dog food he had brought with him and some bottled water. That covered what Matzuka needed.
Next he gathered his laptop, phone, and wallet. He passed by the rifle cabinet in the front room, nodding. Five rifles and plenty of ammo. Good. With all this shit going on, he needed to make sure he set that damn laptop up and to run his program. There were too many things going wrong and they need to know who was behind it all. He could make a quick detour. The company was still closed. He could whip in and set it up then race to the hospital.
He opened the front door and whistled for the dog. Matzuka came flying outside. Carter climbed into the truck, and Matzuka jumped up into the cab, sitting by his side, more than happy to go for a truck ride.
Carter laughed. “Obviously you’re a traveling type of guy.”
He gave a light bark, and Carter laughed some more. With all the crap going on, no way he wanted to leave this innocent ball of brightness alone. While driving, he called Geir and caught him up on the mess.
“Did you manage to get the shipment yet?” Geir asked.
“I’ll grab it now. There hasn’t been time to do anything but put out fires so far. This town is going to hell way too damn fast.”
“I’m still trying to locate even more backup.” Geir’s tone was sharp.
Carter hesitated, then said, “Could use all the help you can muster up. The local sheriff and his deputies are all Longfellow-related. They just shot Gordon and left him for dead. I’m not armed in the conventional way, but I’ve got Matzuka with me for now. Later I’ll arm up, thanks to Gordon’s gun cabinet at home.”
“Maybe those Longfellows have crossed a line, and you could create a civilian army with the townsfolk.”
“That’s possible too. Meantime, I just wish I knew where the sheriff stood.”
“He’s a typical elected official. Only one place he can sit comfortably. That’s on the fence, trying to keep from getting his ass kicked off the job.”
“Then he’d better have decent balance because I’ll knock him off his perch if he doesn’t lean in the right direction.”
Chapter 10
Hailey was halfway to the hospital when she noticed a truck pulling up behind her. Sure enough, it was Carter. He must have really busted his ass to catch up to her. But still, the sense of relief she felt was hard to ignore. Not only had their relationship turned a corner but so had everything in her life. It wasn’t a corner she liked though. She parked at the hospital and walked inside.
“How’s Gordon?” she asked the receptionist.
The woman looked up at her and frowned. “The hip wound’s bad. I think they’re prepping him for surgery. Go on through to emergency and talk to somebody there.”
Hailey headed inside, then stopped when she realized Carter was looking at her. She motioned for him to come too, but the receptionist called out, “Family only.”
“Yep, I know.” She reached out a hand, and Carter grasped it. They stepped into the emergency room and waited until they found somebody. “Where’s Gordon?”
The doctor motioned to the far corner. “We’re taking him up to surgery in about an hour. We’ve got him stabilized, and he’s holding.”
“The head injury?”
“It doesn’t look that bad. We’ve done X-rays. We’re more worried about the hip.”
“With good reason,” Carter said. “Can we see him?”
The doctor nodded and brought them to the appropriate cubicle, where a uniformed officer stood on duty. Thankfully not one of the local Longfellow deputies. The doc nodded to the officer and then pulled back the curtain. “You can spend a few minutes with him, but we’ll send him up to pre-op soon.”
Hailey rushed to her brother’s side and slipped her fingers through his. She reached down and kissed his cold forehead and whispered against his hair, “Dammit, Gordon. You pull out of this, you hear me?”
But there was no answer. No flinching, no nothing. She studied her brother’s lax skin. Her brother had always seemed so solid and so stable, one of those men who would be around forever. She never imagined him like this. She felt the tears collect in the corner of her eyes. She brushed them away, fingers rubbing hard against her skin. She hadn’t even had a chance to say goodbye.
“He’s going to surgery now,” an orderly said, as they moved his bed toward the hallway. The cop joined them.
Carter snagged her up and tucked her out of the way, keeping his arms around her.
She didn’t mind right now. In fact, she felt herself sinking deeper into his embrace. Something was so devastating about watching her only living relative, a brother she adored, being wheeled away for surgery. She looked up at Carter. “I’ll stay.”
“Maybe you could stay upstairs,” he told her. “There should be a waiting room close to surgery.”
She turned to a doctor nearby, who was talking to another nurse. “Is that possible?”
“There are several waiting rooms. If you ask the receptionist or one of the nurses, we could notify you when he’s out.”
“Good enough,” she said. She walked to the emergency desk and left her name and number, then asked about where she could wait.
“Sounds like you probably need a cup of coffee,” the woman said sympathetically. “You can go to the cafeteria and then up to the second floor and sit in one of the waiting areas there.”
Hailey, under the curious eyes of the receptionist, barely noticed how much interest she was garnering. Likely because of Carter’s
presence. “I don’t know what you need to do,” she told Carter, “but, if you want to stay, you can too.”
“It’s already late, and I have to make a few phone calls and check up on a few things. Plus I left Matzuka in the truck to eat and drink something. I’ll come back in about an hour?” She nodded, and he led her to the cafeteria. “Are you okay to eat here?”
“I need food because I need energy,” she muttered. “I need energy in order to make it through this ordeal. But I really don’t care what I eat.”
“I understand that, but if nothing here appeals, I can always bring something in.”
“I’ll have a muffin and some coffee for now. If you feel like picking something up, just bring it to the second floor waiting room.”
“Will do.” He leaned over and dropped a kiss on her forehead, a complete and out-of-the-blue moment, and disappeared.
Hailey stood, stunned, her mind consumed with that kiss. Talk about having turned a corner but for all the wrong reasons. She paid for her coffee and muffin and then tried to find a place to wait for her brother. A waiting room was just outside the OR, and several other families there were barely holding it together. She found herself a spot in the corner and sat down. However, as soon as she had a chance to sit, she recognized one of the women barely holding herself together on the far side. “Debbie?”
Debbie took one look at her and raced to her side, throwing her arms around her. “I didn’t see you come in,” she whispered.
Hailey shook her head and hugged her sister-in-law. “I think we’re both in a daze.”
“Is there anywhere we can talk in private?” Debbie asked.
“A couple benches are in the hallway, if you want.”
The two women moved to the hallway where they wouldn’t disturb the other families.
“Tell me what happened,” Debbie demanded.
Hailey shrugged. “I don’t know what to tell you.” She did her best to fill Debbie in. When she finally fell silent, Debbie just stared at her with wide eyes.
“Holy crap,” she said. “Carter contacted me, so I knew he was in town. But I didn’t know about the dog. He just went up to that damn drug dealer and stole him?”
“Yes,” Hailey said, her lips twitching. “As if he knew exactly what he was doing.”
“I think, in a way, he did, didn’t he?”
“I knew he was navy, but since when did a seaman have anything to do with that kind of stuff?”
Debbie lowered her voice. “He told me that he was in a special elite team in the navy.”
At that, Hailey settled back. “That makes sense, but how come I didn’t know?”
“Because you avoided him at every turn,” Debbie said, giving her a crooked grin.
“So true, but apparently we’re on different terms now.”
“Good. It’s about time. You’ve loved that man since forever.”
Hailey winced. “Is it that obvious?”
“Only to me, probably,” Debbie said. “Nobody’s that prickly around somebody unless they’re deliberately trying to distance themselves.”
“He broke my heart when he got married,” Hailey admitted. “I’d already been pretty prickly to him before that because he obviously didn’t give a shit about me prior to that time, but when he got married …” She shook her head and popped a chunk of muffin into her mouth. That way, she didn’t have to talk.
“I was worried about you back then,” Debbie said. Then she stopped and looked at her. “Where’s Carter’s wife now?”
“Gone,” Hailey said. “I’m not sure I understand the circumstances. She just walked out on him about two years ago, never to return.”
“Probably when she realized he was injured. She was that kind of woman. Since when did ’til death do us part become until I don’t like the shape you’re in?”
“It doesn’t matter now,” Hailey said. “Gordon’s the only one who matters.”
Debbie nodded. “I can’t believe this happened.”
“The Longfellows have been pushing the land issue aggressively this year. And I don’t know, but Gordon might have been more aggressive in his response this time too.”
“Not Gordon,” Debbie said. “That’s not him.”
“No, it’s not him usually,” Hailey said. “But, since you left, he’s been angrier and more morose. Despondent, even.”
Debbie winced. “And yet he’s never asked me to come back. So maybe he doesn’t really give a shit.”
“Oh, I know he does,” Hailey said. “And I know Carter’s been talking to him since he arrived too. Gordon just doesn’t know what to do about it. He wants a family, but he doesn’t agree with getting tested or with IVF. Probably the whole male ego problem in potentially knowing the fault is his.”
Debbie grimaced and nodded.
“As for adoption or a surrogate, I don’t know how he feels about that.”
“I want a family,” Debbie said, “but I never said it had to be ours. I know other methods are available, but we’d have to start with testing, both of us, including him getting his sperm tested to see if it’s viable or not.”
“I don’t know how you initially asked him about it, but that may have set him up to feeling less like a man. And, for Gordon, that’s one of the few things he’s fairly vehement about.”
Debbie chuckled. “Isn’t that the truth?” Then she sobered up quick. “How sad that we’re in this situation.”
“I know,” Hailey said. “The company is a mess too after Fred’s and Phil’s deaths.”
“Oh my, yes. I can’t believe both Fred and Phil are dead. They were icons in this town.”
“Right. It’s been a shitty day. I don’t know what the latest theory is, but it’s possible Phil killed both Betty and Fred and then turned the gun on himself.”
“But why would he do that?”
“I don’t know,” Hailey said. “I was hoping the sheriff would check into Phil’s medical records.”
“Of course,” Debbie said, raising her pointer finger. “He had pancreatic cancer. I talked to Betty about it a month ago. The cancer had advanced, so he was looking at about nine months to live. But why would he rush it?”
Hailey stared in shock. “I didn’t know about that. Why didn’t he say anything?”
“Probably hadn’t come to terms with it himself,” Debbie said. “Betty said he was really struggling.”
“Of course he’d be struggling! But we needed to put things into place for the company.”
“I think he felt the company would be fine without him, and he was the one who could afford to disappear.”
“But then why kill Fred?”
“That one, I don’t get,” Debbie said. “And nobody’ll convince me that’s what Phil did either. Yet, I hate to say it, but I can see him shooting Betty and taking his own life. And I can also see Betty agreeing to it.”
Hailey was stunned. “But why?”
Debbie continued, “I don’t know what Betty’s health was like, but they’ve been together for over fifty years. I know Betty said she had no life without him. So, they might have made a pact.”
Hailey slumped in place. “I never thought of that,” she whispered. “How sad.”
“But it’s also …” Debbie hesitated. “I know this might sound wrong, but, I mean, it’s also a show of love, isn’t it? You don’t want to be left behind. I think that’s got to be the worst thing.”
“Yet you left Gordon behind,” Hailey said bluntly. She couldn’t stop the words coming out of her mouth. It sounded accusing, and, the worst thing was, she understood why Debbie did it, yet she still said it. She’d always side with her brother, she realized.
“That was a low blow,” Debbie whispered, her expression devastated.
“They’re all low blows here lately,” Hailey said sadly. “Every single one of these is a very low blow. How are we supposed to deal with any of it?”
“I have no clue. We really need the sheriff to step up and give us an idea of what’s
going on.”
“But why would he?” Hailey asked. “He’s still trying to investigate. He has no answers yet.”
“I haven’t come up with any motivation for Phil to kill Fred. I just can’t see him doing it.” Debbie asked after a while. “That doesn’t make any sense.”
“I know. I’ve been wondering about that one myself.”
“Could there be any chance Fred knew about Phil’s cancer and what Phil was going to do, and so Fred decided that taking his own life was a good idea too?”
Hailey stared at her, shaking her head. “Why would he do that though?”
“I don’t have a clue why anybody would commit suicide because I’ve never been in a situation like that, but I guess suicides do happen in clumps, don’t they? A lot of people bring that thought up in their mind after somebody they know, particularly a celebrity, does it. So, given the fact that Phil may have told Fred what Phil and his wife would do, to prepare Fred for what the company would suffer through, then Fred did the same thing?”
“And then neither of them discussed this with me to prepare for handling the business thereafter?” Hailey shook her head, her lips pursed. “I just don’t see it. Okay, the murder-suicide between Phil and Betty, as some Romeo and Juliet pact, I guess I could imagine. But Fred? … I would have thought he’d gone out with, you know, a blaze.”
Debbie tilted her head. “In a way, he did go out in a blaze. Particularly as it looks like he was murdered. I’m hearing rumors about that, not just from you here and now, but I don’t know for certain.”
“I know,” Hailey said. “But, unless Fred had some medical condition, I can’t see him taking the easy way out by committing suicide.”
“I don’t think there’s anything easy about suicide,” Debbie said calmly. “I’ve known two people who took that route. One of them did it because she had a terminal illness and couldn’t deal with it. She didn’t want her family to suffer along with her. She ended up overdosing on drugs and shortening the process.”
“I’m sorry,” Hailey said. “I’m not myself, and I’ve never been in that situation, so it’s hard for me to contemplate. I didn’t mean to judge these people, but I sure wouldn’t want to be left behind. I’d want all the time I could have with them. I just … I just don’t know anything anymore.”