by Jessica Beck
“What do you mean, he doesn’t know? Just how badly is he hurt?” Gabby looked genuinely concerned at hearing the news.
“I have no idea. The fact that he’s awake and talking at all is a miracle as far as I’m concerned,” I said, flashing back to finding Van sprawled out through the front door, his arm lying there lifeless as though he were already dead. “I need to know the truth, Gabby, no matter how painful it might be for you to tell it.”
“Fine,” she finally said softly. “It’s true; all of it. We were dating, but last night at his place, he said that he wasn’t sure who he belonged with, Vivian or me. He said he needed time, and ultimately, I agreed to give it to him.”
“Did you two argue about it?” I asked, knowing Gabby well enough to realize that she wouldn’t go down without a fight.
“We had words,” she admitted, “but I never laid a hand on him, and I certainly didn’t hit him with that trophy. I’m the one who made that happen in the first place, you know,” she said a little proudly.
“What are you talking about?”
“George was a certainty to get the award, but I’m on the committee that names the winner, and I used my influence to secure the victory for Van,” she admitted.
I had to wonder if that had been the entire reason Van Rayburn had been dating her. I knew that he loved nothing more in the world than sticking it to George, and that must have been the ultimate prize, at least in his mind. It was a wonder that Van hadn’t awakened from his coma and named George his attacker, whether it were true or not. In fact, if the councilman had been thinking clearly, I was willing to bet that he would have done just that.
“Was it that important to you to make him happy?” I asked Gabby, knowing that her principles were something she thought highly of.
“Suzanne, you don’t understand. You’re young and pretty, and you’ve got Jake. Who do I have?”
“Gabby, I’m sure there’s someone out there for you, too,” I said.
“Don’t patronize me,” she said, her momentary softness gone. “I know better than anyone that my chances of finding love again are slipping away with each passing moment. I fully realize that I shouldn’t have done what I did, but I’m not at all sure that I wouldn’t do it all again if I were given the opportunity. George doesn’t need any more accolades. He’s already the mayor, for goodness sake. Losing that award didn’t hurt him any, and it was so important to Van.”
Gabby could stand there justifying her actions all morning long, but that didn’t mean that I had to listen to them. “Do you have any idea who might have attacked Van? And don’t say George. I won’t tolerate that.”
Gabby looked surprised by the implication. “The truth is, George Morris never crossed my mind as a suspect.”
“I’m glad you think so well of him,” I said, surprised by her momentary kindness.
“Oh, he’s capable of murder, but I doubt that he’d hit anyone from behind. If the attacker had run Van down with their car or shot him in the face, I would have begged the police chief to talk to the mayor first.”
I didn’t agree with her assessment of my friend’s potential homicidal tendencies, but I wasn’t about to get into that, either. “Do you have a list of suspects in your mind?”
“Well, Noreen has to be at the very top,” Gabby said.
“Why is that?” I’d suspected that the woman was in need of money, but I was curious to hear what Gabby had to say.
“Suzanne, she’s stone cold broke, and when and if Van dies, she gets every last dime of his estate. At least that’s what she thinks. She’s going to be in for a surprise if that happens, though.”
“Why would she be surprised?”
“Good old Van is broke himself. He puts on a good front, but I’d hate to tell you how many things I had to pay for while we were dating.”
“Funny, but I was under the impression that he had money,” I said.
“He did at one time, but he’s really not that good a businessman, and he squandered it all away. I know Bob Casto is suing him over a broken deal, but even if he wins, it’s going to be a moral victory in name only.”
“Does Noreen have any idea that Van is broke?” I asked.
“Oh, no. Van thought it was funny to make his sister think he was rich. You should have seen the way she salivated whenever he talked about leaving everything to her in his will.”
If that were true, it would certainly give Noreen motive enough to want to see her brother out of the picture. “Is there anyone or anything else we should consider?” I asked her.
“No one I’m sure you haven’t thought about yourself already,” Gabby said, but then she frowned for a moment.
“What’s wrong?”
“Forget it. It’s probably nothing,” she said.
“Tell me anyway,” I encouraged her.
“After I left Van the first time last night, I drove around town for half an hour thinking about what he said. I decided that I wasn’t going to just accept it, so I went back to his place to argue my case further. There was a problem when I got there, though.”
“What was it? Was he already gone?” I asked.
“No, but someone else was clearly there. Van was circumspect about it, but he wouldn’t open the door all the way, and he certainly wasn’t about to let me inside.”
“Could it have just been your imagination?” I asked her. “After all, you were understandably upset.”
“I heard someone bump into a table in the other room, and Van doesn’t have any pets. You do the math, Suzanne.”
So, someone had paid the councilman a visit after Gabby had left for the first time. Could it have been his ultimate attacker, or had it been more innocent than that?
“Okay, I believe you. But you two weren’t dating at that point. He had the right to see whoever he chose to.”
“Not when he had to know in his heart that he truly belonged with me,” Gabby said, and then she slapped her hand down on the counter. “Do you know what? Even with his flaws, and believe me, they are many, I still love that man, and I’m not going to let Noreen or anyone else keep me from seeing him.”
“What about your shop?” I asked her. “You can’t just shut the place down ten minutes after opening for the day.”
“Oh no? Just watch me,” she said as she slapped a CLOSED sign up in the window. “Come on, Suzanne. I need to get out of here.”
“Do you want me to go with you?” I asked, hoping she didn’t agree. I didn’t want to leave Jake alone to investigate, but then again, it wasn’t fair to let Gabby face Noreen, and possibly Vivian as well, all by herself.
“It’s sweet of you to offer, but I need to do this on my own,” she said.
We left the store together, and after Gabby locked up, she turned back to me and gave me a surprising hug. “Thanks for the pep talk, Suzanne.”
“It’s funny, but I don’t remember giving you one,” I said sincerely.
Gabby just chuckled. “Always the kidder, aren’t you?”
After she was gone, Jake joined me on the sidewalk in front of the gently used clothing shop. “What was that all about?”
“I have no idea,” I said, “but I’ll catch you up to speed on our way to Bob Casto’s place.”
“Sounds good,” Jake said, and once again, we were off.
The only problem was that Bob wasn’t there.
We were standing outside his office trying to figure out if he was coming in for the day or if he was playing hooky when a man from next door came out. It was Mattie Jones, an infrequent customer at Donut Hearts.
“Are you two looking for Bob?” he asked the moment he saw us. I’d collected the last box of donuts from the back of the Jeep, and I had it tucked under one arm.
“We are. Is he coming in today?” I asked.
“I don’t see how that’s humanly possible
. Haven’t you heard?”
“Heard what?” Jake asked.
“Bob had himself an accident this morning. Around two a.m., he wrapped his truck around a telephone pole.”
I hadn’t paid any attention to the other folks in the emergency room when we’d been there earlier. If I had, I might have realized that they were relatives of the man we were looking for right now.
“Is he okay?” I asked Mattie.
“Not so much. He’s banged up pretty good, from what I’ve heard. He’s certainly not in any shape to eat donuts,” he added with a grin. “Got one to spare?”
“Sure. Why not?” I asked as I lifted the lid and let him choose one.
After he grabbed a chocolate iced cake donut, he said, “See you.”
“Thanks for coming out,” I said.
“For a free donut, anytime! It was my pleasure.”
After Mattie was gone, I turned to look at Jake, who was scowling. “What’s wrong?” I asked him.
“Suzanne, doesn’t it seem to you as though it’s a mighty big fluke that two former business partners end up in the emergency room within a few hours of each other?”
“I know you don’t like coincidences, but they do happen sometimes in real life,” I said as we headed back to the Jeep. “We need to go back to the hospital to see how Bob’s doing.”
“I’d certainly like to ask him a few questions,” Jake said.
“Such as?” I asked as I drove us back to the hospital yet again that morning.
“Well, I’d love to know where he was going in so much of a hurry in the middle of the night that he wrecked his truck,” Jake said.
“What are you thinking? I’m guessing that you already have a theory about that.”
“Let’s say for one second that Bob is the one who beat Van with that trophy. What would he do if he thought he might have killed his former partner? A lot of men would want to get away as quickly as they could. We know Van was attacked sometime between eleven and three, which is within the time frame when Bob had his wreck. Is it so hard to believe that he trashed his truck fleeing the scene of the crime?”
“It’s not hard to believe at all,” I said with a frown. “Could it really be that simple?”
“Sometimes things are exactly as they appear to be. Maybe we should tell the chief about our theory.”
“You’re right. You should call him,” I said as I continued driving.
“It wouldn’t hurt, would it? I’ll put the call on speaker so you can take part in the conversation, too.”
“Thanks. I’d appreciate that.”
Jake dialed the number, and Chief Grant picked up almost instantly. “Chief, this is Jake and Suzanne. Did you hear about Bob Casto?”
“Sure, one of my deputies is out there now measuring the skid marks at the scene,” the chief said. “Why do you ask?”
“We thought it might have something to do with the attack on Van,” Jake said.
“I considered it,” the chief said, “but unfortunately, Bob is so hopped up on painkillers he’s not saying anything that makes any sense at all at the moment. I tried questioning him, but it’s going to be at least six hours before I can get anything out of him, if then.”
“Is Van still awake?” I asked.
“Yes, not that he’s been able to tell me much about what happened. The last few days are a real fog for him. In fact, he didn’t even remember breaking up with Gabby Williams. Did you know about that?”
“I didn’t realize that he’d forgotten about it,” I said, hedging my bets.
“But you knew that they were dating and that he dumped her last night?” the chief asked, pushing me a little harder.
“I just found out myself. We were going to tell you about it after we discussed Bob’s situation,” I said. I hadn’t been planning to rat Gabby out so quickly, but then again, there was no telling if I would have told the chief about it without prompting or not if he hadn’t brought it up first. “How did you find out about it?”
“Gabby stormed into Van’s room two minutes ago claiming that she wasn’t accepting his breakup and demanding another chance. Noreen started yelling at her, and then Vivian stuck her nose into it. I had to throw all three of them out. I swear to you, Van thanked me after they were gone. When he recovers, he’s going to have a real mess on his hands.”
“I have a feeling that he’ll be happy if that’s his worst problem,” Jake said. “Have you made any progress since we spoke?”
“No, but I’m grinding away at it. The neighborhood canvass didn’t turn up anything, and unfortunately, there aren’t any security cameras near Van’s place. I’m pushing and pulling in a few places, but so far, I’m not having much luck.”
“Join the club,” Jake said wryly.
“Sure, but no one’s counting on you to solve this. I’m hoping that Van recovers his memory sooner rather than later,” the chief said.
“If you need someone to help guard his room in the meantime, I’m willing to volunteer my services,” Jake said. “I know your overtime budget is tight right now.”
“How could you possibly know that? Have you been talking to the mayor?” Chief Grant asked with a sigh.
“No, I overheard it by accident between two of your men the other day,” Jake replied.
“I wish they weren’t all so chatty,” the chief said. “Did you ever have to deal with that when you had my job?”
“Only every day,” Jake said with a laugh. “Do you mind if we take a run at Bob Casto? We’re nearly at the hospital now anyway.”
“Be my guest,” he said. “Just don’t forget to share, though I doubt you’re going to learn anything from him anytime soon.”
“Thanks. We’ll touch base later.”
Jake hung up, and then he turned to me as I parked in the visitor’s lot. “Suzanne, after what the chief just told us, is there even any use going in?”
“What can it hurt? Besides, it’s getting close to lunchtime, and since we’re already here, maybe we can catch a bite to eat in the cafeteria.”
“Sounds good to me,” Jake said as we got out. “Should I bring the donuts?”
“You might as well,” I said. “They won’t be good much longer anyway.”
“That’s a matter of opinion,” Jake said.
“Not really, but it’s sweet that you say so,” I replied.
Chapter 7
As promised, from the sounds coming from his hospital room, Bob was nearly incoherent, so we decided to postpone our visit until after lunch. Jake was ready to give up and head straight for the cafeteria, and since there was no one else around we could interrogate, I agreed.
“I wonder what’s on the menu today?” I asked. “Something exotic, maybe.”
“I sincerely doubt it. Barton probably can’t get too creative with the menu, especially at lunch,” Jake said. “If I were you, I wouldn’t get my hopes up.”
“What fun is that?” I asked him playfully.
We grabbed two trays and got in line, waiting to be served. Since Barton Gleason had taken over, folks from all across our part of the state came to the hospital cafeteria to eat, and who could blame them? I felt a little guilty abandoning Trish at the Boxcar Grill for our noonday meal, but since we were already there, it wasn’t that hard to convince myself that we were doing it for logistics and not for taste. I ended up with a large bowl of barbeque macaroni and cheese, a plate of fried pickles, and some coleslaw that tasted better than any I’d ever had in my life, including my mother’s recipe.
“That’s a really healthy selection you’ve got yourself there,” Jake said with a grin. He’d opted for tomato soup and grilled cheese, though I knew the soup had a dozen levels of flavor and the cheese was a blended mix that was amazing, served on bread that Barton had made fresh that morning himself.
“Hey, there’s cabbage in
the slaw, and carrots, too, and the pickles were cucumbers once upon a time. This is all practically health food.”
“If you say so,” Jake said skeptically.
“Who cares, though? It’s delicious. I know that much. In fact, yours looks pretty good, too.”
“If it tastes anywhere near as good as it smells, I’m sure that it will be,” he said.
I was beginning to regret not my choices but the lack of space on my tray. “Tell you what. I’ll share some of mine with you if you’ll share some of yours with me,” I said with a grin.
“It’s a deal,” he answered happily.
As we ate, delighting in each bite, I noticed a group of folks I’d seen earlier gathered off to one side of the cafeteria. I still had my box of donuts, at least most of them, so I decided to approach them as soon as Jake and I finished our meals. Once we were done, too quickly for my taste, I said, “If you’ll deal with the trays, I’ll go get started with the Casto crew over there.”
“Hang on a second. Wait for me,” Jake said. He took care of our trays, and we walked over to the group together.
“Hey, folks. We were sorry to hear about Bob,” I said when we approached the group. There were a few cousins and a handful of friends, most of whom I’d known for years.
“Yeah, it’s a real mess,” Wes Granger said. It appeared that he was going to be acting as the spokesman for the group.
“Would you all care for some donuts?” I asked as I offered the last box.
“Thanks, but we’re stuffed. Who knew a hospital could serve chow this good?”
Calling what Barton prepared “chow” was an insult to the very concept of fine dining, but I wasn’t about to correct him. “That’s okay. Take them for later. They make a good snack,” I said, offering him the box as Jake and I took seats beside him without being invited.
No one seemed to protest, and one woman even flipped the box open and started pawing through my treats. I decided to ignore her as well. “What exactly happened to Bob?”