“Boys. I sure hope you aren’t giving these nice ladies any trouble this morning. Because if you were, I just might have to throw all of you in jail for it.”
The oldest one took two steps toward Floyd but stopped cold when the door opened and two deputies stepped in and flanked Floyd. They were each carrying their rifles in front of them, pointed at the ceiling.
Hollis grinned and said, “Now Sheriff. You know as well as I do that the boys and me would never cause nobody any trouble. We was just getting ready to leave when you came in.”
Floyd and the deputies stepped to the side and allowed the four Hollis boys to leave.
As soon as the door closed behind them, the two deputies went out and stood on the sidewalk to watch the Hollis brothers walk away.
Floyd rushed up to his wife and said, “Did they hurt any of you Sue Ann?”
Sue Ann tried to smile at him and said, “We’re all okay Floyd.” She glanced at Daisy. “But they warned Daisy to stay away from Mike because Suzette has claimed him for her own.”
Floyd looked at Daisy and said, “You be careful now Daisy. I’m going to have a long talk with Mike about this, okay?”
All Daisy could do was nod. And when she left the shop there were more things on her mind than when she’d arrived.
* * *
On the way from the high school to PT, and before Jason had a chance to say anything, Mike filled him in on what had happened that day with Suzette.
Mike finished by saying, “I think it’s about time I sat down with Floyd. We need to talk about what we can do about that woman. She’s crazy.”
As soon as he finished, Jason grinned and said, “Well, you won’t have to worry about setting anything up with Floyd. He told me to see if you would let me take you by his office on the way home from PT. He said he needs to talk to you about that very situation.”
By the time Jason finished, his face was much more serious and Mike could also tell from the tone of Jason’s voice that something had happened. “What happened Jason? Why is Floyd already wanting to talk to me about Suzette?”
Jason squirmed a little behind the wheel. “Well, it seems that we were called to the coffee shop this morning when Hershel Hollis’ four sons went in there and gave the women a hard time.”
Mike was already getting mad but it was nothing to how he felt when Jason finished.
“Daisy Thomas was there too and they gave her a warning from Suzette to stay away from you or else she and her daughter would both be sorry.”
Mike had heard about people seeing red when they got mad but he had never experienced it before. But right now, all he could see was red. He wanted to hit something, break something, or at the very least shout at the top of his lungs.
That was when he realized just how much Daisy and her little girl were beginning to mean to him. He was not about to let anything happen to either one of them.”
When Jason parked at the hospital, he turned to look at Mike and the expression on his face was almost comical.
“Mike! Listen to me. You can’t do anything drastic. Those guys know that they haven’t really broken any laws yet. So don’t go getting yourself into trouble over it. I know you were an agent before but you’re not now. Talk to Floyd and then let the sheriff’s department handle this, okay?”
Mike didn’t answer. He opened his door and waited for Jason to get his wheelchair so he could slide into it to go into PT.
Once he was sitting in his wheelchair at the entrance to the long parallel bars, he knew that he now had more incentive than ever to start walking again, and soon.
He could tell that Karen was amazed at how much he did today. He walked back and forth four times on the long bars and would have done more but Karen gently put a stop to it.
“That’s enough for today Mike. Much more and you run the chance of pulling a muscle which could set you back a couple of weeks.”
Her cool, calm voice of reason stopped him cold and he reluctantly did as she requested.
Once he was back in his wheelchair, she kneeled in front of him and said, “If it’s any consolation, I think from the way you walked today without putting much of your weight on your hands that you can start learning how to walk with a cane next week.”
Any other time, Karen’s announcement would put him on the ceiling, but not now. He was too worried about Daisy and Lucy to enjoy any of his personal triumphs.
Half an hour later, Jason wheeled Mike into Floyd’s office. Floyd was sitting in an armchair to the left of his desk where there were three other identical chairs arranged in a circle. One of the chairs had been pulled back to allow for Mike’s wheelchair.
Once they were all three situated, Floyd looked at Mike and said, “I assume Jason filled you in on what happened at the coffee shop this morning?”
When Mike only nodded, Floyd continued, “Well, I've got to warn you that those Hollis boys are mean through and through.”
He blew out a loud breath. “And I’m concerned for all three of those women and Daisy’s little girl too. I don’t like it one little bit, especially that they included the girl too.”
He leaned back in his chair as if expecting or at least waiting for Mike to say something. Well, Mike had plenty to say, but he wanted to be very careful how he said it because Jason was right and he needed the sheriff on his side. So he didn’t want to offend Floyd or Jason either one. Nor did he want them to think he might lose control at any time. Which he had been mighty close to doing when Jason first told him about the threat to Daisy and Lucy.
He took a deep breath and blew it out before beginning. “First of all Floyd, as you probably already guessed, I’m madder than I think I’ve ever been in my life. I’m so mad that the old cliché is true. I’m so mad that I can’t see straight.”
Floyd snorted and said, “I sure can’t blame you Mike. I think you know how I felt when Hennesey had my daughter. Not only that but my wife and my little cousin and her baby were there today too.”
He spread both hands out palms toward Mike and said, “But, especially in this case, getting so mad that you lose control isn’t going to help. We, and that goes double for you, need to stay calm and make plans that will keep those two safe. All right?”
Mike nodded, not trusting his voice just yet.
“Okay, that’s our number one priority then.” He stopped and looked into Mike’s eyes. “We need to find a way to keep them safe. Any suggestions?”
When Mike didn’t speak right away, Jason turned to him and grunted. “From the way you described Suzette, she sounds psychotic. And believe me man, you don’t want to be messing with a psychotic woman, ever.”
Jason seemed to think about that for a moment then said, “Come to think of it, I wasn’t really around Suzette much in school, she was just a freshman when I was a senior. But I do think I remember some mention of a violent temper when she didn’t get her way.”
In spite of the seriousness of the situation, Mike almost smiled at Jason’s voice and his facial expressions as he’d said that. He could tell that Jason had dealt with at least one psychotic woman in his career.
Floyd looked from Jason back to Mike. “That just makes it more important that we do something before any of that crazy Hollis bunch does anything.”
Mike couldn’t think of anything to say right then. All he could think of was that there had to be a way to protect Daisy and Lucy. Nothing else mattered.
* * *
Daisy had a difficult time all afternoon trying to explain things to Lucy. The little girl was convinced that since she was going with Daisy to Mike’s house tonight just like she did on Tuesday night, it meant that she was going on the date with them again.
After a great deal persuasion and not a little bargaining, Daisy was able to convince Lucy that she would still have fun there at Mike’s house with his mother, Sarah.
When Daisy turned her car onto Mike’s street, she was surprised to see a sheriff’s Tahoe with another plain black Tahoe sitting behin
d it in Mike’s driveway.
She panicked at first. Did something happen to Mike? Did those nasty Hollis brothers hurt him?
She pulled Lucy out of her car seat and almost dragged her to the door, which opened as they reached it. Floyd was standing there filling up the whole doorway so that she couldn’t see around him to Mike.
Floyd took one look at Daisy’s face and said, “Whoa there Daisy. There’s nothing wrong. Mike’s all right. We’re here for a different reason, okay?”
Floyd led Daisy and Lucy to the sofa and gestured for them to sit. Once they did, she took a deep breath and tried to calm herself down.
Floyd waited until she looked up at him before he said, “We’ve been talking over the situation that Suzette and her brothers are causing.”
He ran his hand through his red crew cut hair. “Well, we decided that the best thing to do for now is for Jason to drive you two on your date tonight.”
He paused to look into her eyes. “If that’s okay with you, that is.”
She only nodded and sought out Mike’s eyes. “Is that what you want Mike? We can stay here. We don’t have to go anywhere.”
Mike pounded his wheelchair arm. “No. I won’t let that psychotic woman or her bully brothers keep us from going out and having fun.”
Daisy was secretly glad that he had taken that stance. She just wasn’t quite sure how things would go for them on a date with Jason tagging along. She looked over at Jason and realized that he wasn’t in uniform but he was wearing his gun in a holster on his belt and his badge was clipped to the belt in front.
She blew out her breath. “Okay.” She looked down at Lucy then over at Floyd. “But will things be okay here while we’re gone?”
Floyd nodded and said, “One of my deputies will be sitting right outside the whole time.”
“Okay then.” She looked at Mike. “Are you ready?”
He smiled at her and said, “I sure am.” He looked up at Jason and said, “Let’s go.”
Daisy wasn’t surprised when they went to the black Tahoe, which she soon discovered was an unmarked sheriff’s vehicle.
Jason grinned at her and said, “My Tahoe has a cage in the backseat. I don’t think you’d be very comfortable in it. And besides this one is a little less conspicuous.”
She didn’t think that a comment was expected so she settled in her seat and looked over at Mike who was grinning at her.
“Don’t you think this is much better than you driving?”
He reached for her hand and they stayed that way until Jason parked at the theater. Daisy didn’t say much since it looked like Mike didn’t want to just then either. She was surprised when he allowed her to push him in through the doors and on to an aisle seat in the theater.
After they left the theater, Jason drove them to the pizza parlor and stayed in his vehicle until after they were already seated at their table. He then came in and sat at a small table near the door. She knew he chose that position to be able to watch the restaurant and the parking lot.
As soon as the young waitress took their orders, Mike turned to Daisy and said, “Well, did you bring them?”
Daisy had been thinking back over the whole situation with that crazy woman and had no idea what he was talking about.
“I’m sorry. Bring what?”
He laughed and said, “The photos of you when you were a little girl.”
“Oh.” She reached into her purse on the floor next to her chair and pulled out a small envelope.
When she handed it to him, he held it for a moment looking into her eyes then he said, “Well, now I’ll finally get to find out if Lucy looks exactly like you did?”
When he pulled out the photos and started looking through them, he began to laugh. “She sure does. If I didn’t know better, I’d think these were Lucy.”
Daisy laughed with him and it felt good. “Yes, and not only that but I have some photos somewhere of my mom when she was that age too. It’s more difficult to tell since hers are in black and white, but I think she looked the same too.”
“Wow. That's really something else all right. You three could be triplets.”
They talked about their childhoods until their pizza came and then they busied themselves with it.
Daisy looked up from her pizza once to see that Mike was staring at her. She blushed and said, “Do I have sauce on my face?”
He shook his head and said, “No, but you do have a beautiful face though. I could sit here and look at you all night.”
She blushed again and didn’t know what to say to that. She was glad when he changed the topic though.
“Remember last time, I asked you about Gil praying the way he did about God’s will?”
When she smiled at him and nodded, he continued, “Well, I’ve been thinking about that ever since Tuesday night.”
He looked away and then back at her before taking a deep breath. “I want to know how you know what God's will for your life is.”
Daisy tried to keep from showing her shock and also her pleasure that Mike had asked another question about God. She just knew that he was now in that searching phase. She also knew she had to answer him very carefully or she could cause him to stop searching.
She said a little prayer in her mind just asking God to give her the words to say to Mike that would keep him searching.
“Okay Mike.” She let her breath out in a sigh. “I guess I need to answer that in two parts so please stay with me until I finish okay?”
“Sure.”
“Well, God’s main will for all of us is as the Bible tells us to worship Him and do all that He tells us to do which is also in the Bible.”
“Okay, that sounds simple enough.”
“But wait Mike. There’s more.”
When he leaned back and motioned with his hand for her to continue, she said, “That is what is sometimes called His overall or basic will for all of mankind. But there is also a will He has for each of us which is kind of a daily thing.”
At his puzzled look, she said, “I’m afraid I’m not doing a very good job of explaining this.” She looked down at her hands then said, “Okay, I’ll try it this way. If we have a major decision to make in our lives, God wants us to pray to Him until we somehow finally understand what it is He wants us to do. That is part of doing God’s will.”
When he didn’t say anything but seemed to be processing all she had just said, she asked, “Does any of that make sense Mike?”
He took so long to answer that she was afraid he wasn’t going to. Then he smiled shyly which surprised her. This macho man shy?
“I guess it makes a lot of sense. But I’ve got to do some more thinking about all that though.”
Daisy decided to go for broke. “Mike, what God wants most of all for each of us is that we turn our lives over to Him and let Him take control. All we have to do is pray for him to come into our hearts.”
She was afraid she’d lost him for sure this time. Why did she have to push it so hard now? She should have waited.
Mike had been looking down at his hands, which were fisted in his lap. He opened them up and placed both of them on the tabletop then looked at her and grinned rather sheepishly. “I guess what I really need to do is learn more before I can come to any kind conclusion.”
She was grinning now. “Sure Mike and the best way to do that would be if you would go to church with Lucy and me.”
She couldn’t believe how bold she was being. But then she suddenly realized how important it was to their relationship for Mike to build his own relationship with the Lord.
“Okay.”
Daisy wasn’t sure that she’d heard him right. And what was he agreeing to?
“I beg your pardon?”
He smiled now and said, “Okay, I’ll go to church with you. I think I want to hear how Gil explains all this now.”
Daisy didn’t have much time to rejoice in Mike’s statement for Jason suddenly appeared at their table.
He looked do
wn at Mike and said, “I just saw Suzette coming toward the door.”
He frowned and said, “I can’t really stop her from coming in. She hasn’t done anything wrong . . . yet.”
He seemed to think for a moment then said, “If you don’t mind, why don’t I just sit right here with you until she’s gone.”
Mike nodded his assent and Jason sat between them facing the door just as Suzette burst through the door looked around until she saw them, then she began stomping her way directly toward their table.
Daisy sat back in her chair to better watch Suzette. She hadn’t seen the woman before and wanted to get a good look at her. The woman was tall. She had to be almost six feet tall and model thin with bleached blond hair. But the most outstanding thing about her as Daisy watched her was the ferocious glare she was giving all of them but especially Daisy.
It made Daisy want to squirm in her seat but she forced herself to remain calm and watch the woman approach.
When Suzette stopped at the table, Daisy could tell that her eyes went to Jason’s badge and gun before she addressed Mike.
“Well, I see you’ve brought a bodyguard with you tonight. You don’t need him.” She glared back as Daisy. “But some other people might need one.”
Then she looked back at Mike and said, “You will come back to me before very long. You just wait and see. You’ll come back to me begging me to take you back.”
With that, she stomped out of the restaurant and Daisy could have sworn that smoke was coming out of her ears.
Jason blew out his breath and said, “Man, that is one psychotic woman. Did you see the look in her eyes?”
At the questioning look Daisy was giving him, he shook his head. “No, I can’t do anything to her. She didn’t do anything illegal. Even though she basically made a threat, it wasn’t directed at anybody specifically.”
Daisy threw her napkin on the table and stood. “I don’t know about you, Mike, but I would like to go home now. I think that woman has ruined what might have been left of this evening out.”
Mike frowned up at her. “But that’s exactly what she wanted to do.”
The Only Solution (Crowley County Series Book 3) Page 19