“Sabrina. Steve.” Captain America.
“Hi Steve.”
“I got a call this morning from an assistant editor at the publisher. Evidently, someone has called them three times over the last few days needing to speak to you. At first they ignored it, of course, but by the third time they determined that it might be worth passing on, so they called me with the info. Do you know someone by the name of Mandy Hawkins?”
“Can’t say I do.”
“The only reason I ask is that she was calling from Spur, Texas.”
I was sitting at the other computer. My head jerked up at the name of the town.
“The waitress?” asked Sabrina to no one in particular.
“That’s what I would guess,” I said.
“Did she say what she wanted?” asked Sabrina.
“No. Just left a phone number and said it was urgent.”
He gave her the number and Sabrina thanked him. She immediately dialed and I heard it ring.
“Hello.” It was a man’s voice.
“May I speak to Mandy?”
“Who’s this?”
“Sabrina Spencer. I’m returning Mandy’s call.”
“She’s been calling for a few days.”
“I was just given the message a few minutes ago. May I speak to her?”
“No. She’s in the hospital. Drug overdose. She’s not in good shape.”
“Oh no. What hospital? I’ll fly out today.”
He gave her the name of the hospital. It was in Lubbock.
“Do you know what she wanted?”
“She found something she wanted to give you. Said it might be important. I remember when you were here. I’m Roy, the owner. I was in the kitchen and heard what you said. You were asking about Daisy. After you left, Mandy saw you on TV and realized who you were. When she found whatever it was she found, she knew she had to get in touch with you.”
“What happened to her?” Sabrina asked.
“She didn’t come into work yesterday morning and she wouldn’t answer her phone,” Roy said. “I know she’s got a problem, so I headed over to her apartment. Found her lying on the floor. Couldn’t wake her up, so I called 9-1-1. They came and took one look at her and called for the chopper to take her to Lubbock. I went early this morning. She ain’t looking good. Doctors say she’ll live, but it’ll take a while for her to get strong again. Then what? She’s got the problem real bad. She’ll just do it again.”
“Maybe I can help in some way,” Sabrina said. “Do you happen to know what she found?”
“Daisy left her something. She didn’t see it until a few days ago. I don’t know where it is. Maybe in her apartment. She said she wanted to give it to you. I took her phone in case you called. I think she figured you’d give her some money.”
“We’ll get a plane out this afternoon,” said Sabrina, “but we probably won’t get in to see her until the morning. If you see her, could you let her know? Whatever she found is important, but more important is getting Mandy healthy. You’re right, she needs to get off the drugs. I’ll see what I can do to help her when I arrive.”
“I’ll let her know. She wasn’t conscious when I went this morning, but I’ll go later.” I could hear him hesitate. “Hey, thanks for coming. Most people don’t pay much attention to people like Mandy, but she’s a good lady. Just has a few problems.”
Sabrina told him she’d call when she got to Lubbock. He thanked her again and they hung up.
That set up a scramble. I got on the phone and called the airline. Remembering that we were followed the last time and almost died on our drive to Dallas, I had us go through Chicago and Denver before landing in Lubbock. It made for a much longer trip, but hopefully it would make it harder for anyone to follow us. I left messages for Mo and my mother to let them know that we would, once again, be away. Good thing I didn’t have a cat. He’d starve if he had to rely on me to be home.
There was a flight out to Chicago in a couple of hours, so we quickly packed and had a cab pick us up. We were leaving from Terminal B, but had the cabbie drop us off at Terminal C and we walked back to B. Anything we could do to throw off someone who might be following us could only help. Once inside Terminal B, we went directly to our gate. Our plane was boarding when we got there. That allowed us to get on the plane with minimal time to be recognized by anyone, fans or killers. Once on the plane, we felt proud of ourselves. It had been fast and smooth. The chances of someone following us were slim.
I had booked our flights so that when we reached Chicago, we only had a few minutes layover before catching the flight to Denver. I had booked a hotel at the Denver airport, as the next flight to Lubbock wouldn’t be until early the next morning.
Jet-lagged and bleary-eyed, we touched down in Lubbock at ten the next morning and immediately caught a taxi to the hospital. Sabrina called Roy from the taxi and let him know we had arrived. He was just leaving the restaurant and said he’d meet us at the hospital.
As we drove, I thought about appearances. And about judgments. When we had met Mandy earlier, I had certainly judged her. She was a junkie, pure and simple. I had imagined her life as a meaningless routine of working, getting high, probably mindlessly sitting in front of the TV at night until she passed out, and then repeating the process the next day. Truth be told, I guess I never really saw her as a person, a real human being with all the same kinds of feelings and outlooks as the rest of us. That was so unfair. Was her life any worse than the life I was leading before I met Sabrina? After all, I would wake up in the morning, spend the next ten to twelve hours at a crummy job that I hated, come home and collapse on the couch exhausted. How could I judge another human being? We get dealt the life that we’re dealt. Sometimes we can make something of it and sometimes we can’t. Who knows what kinds of dreams she once had?
Even Roy, the faceless owner of the restaurant. Had I thought about him, I’m sure I would have lumped him in with Mandy—a forgettable guy who owned a barely making it restaurant in the middle of nowhere.
But when I heard the concern in his voice over Mandy’s health and the relief in his voice when Sabrina said she’d try to help, I was able to see that Roy, like Mandy or Sabrina or me, deserved respect without judgment. He sounded like a good man.
I wasn’t feeling so good about myself at that moment. Who else did I make judgments about? Did I also pass homeless people in the street without looking at them? I realized that my life needed some careful examining. I envied Sabrina at that moment. In all the time that I had known her, I had never seen her judge another—maybe with the exception of the “fake” fans who crowded her for an autograph without knowing who she was. As much as she hated being around people, she always treated everyone she encountered with kindness and respect.
We arrived at the hospital and Sabrina asked to see Mandy Hawkins. We were sent to the nurse’s station on her floor, where we introduced ourselves to one of the nurses.
“Are you family?” asked the nurse.
“No,” Sabrina. “We are friends. We just found out yesterday that she was here and we flew out from Boston to see her.”
I think the nurse was impressed. I had a feeling that she saw Mandy in much the same way as I had. Then she looked at Sabrina again and squinted.
“I know you. Sabrina Spencer. You’re the book lady who’s been on the news. You’re the one who got shot at on the highway.”
Sabrina nodded.
“Ms. Hawkins is sleeping right now, but if you want to wait in the family room over there, I’ll call the doctor and he can talk to you.”
“Thank you,” said Sabrina.
All of that just confirmed my earlier thoughts. If someone like Mandy had come in to visit a friend, would she have been given the same attention that Sabrina got? The nurse might have been nice to her, but would she have called the doctor? I could only hope.
We waited about forty-five minutes for the doctor to arrive. When he came in, he had a harried look about him.
&n
bsp; “Ms. Spencer?” he asked, looking at Sabrina.
We stood up and shook his hand. Sabrina introduced me and we all sat down. He started right in.
“Usually we take this up with family, but Ms. Hawkins doesn’t seem to have any family. Her employer,” he looked down at his notes, “a Mr. Roy Greenwell, seems to be the closest person and he’s the one she asked for when she was conscious. He signed all of the forms and became her guardian of record. He called us and let us know you were coming and said it was okay to share the information with you.”
Points for Roy for calling ahead.
“Ms. Hawkins has a severe drug addiction. She almost died from the latest overdose.”
“She’s been here before?” I asked.
“Numerous times.”
“Has rehab ever come up?” asked Sabrina.
“Every time she’s been in here. She has no money and no insurance. Placing her in a decent facility isn’t easy. We offered to help, but she refused. I don’t think it’s a case in which she doesn’t want the help. I think she is just concerned that she can’t pay for it, which, admittedly, is a problem. There are some state-run facilities, but in all honesty, she needs something more … shall we say … expensive. She needs the kind of care that she’d only get in one of the better facilities.”
Sabrina looked at me and I nodded.
“I’d like to pay for her rehab,” said Sabrina. “Can you give me the names of the best facilities near here?”
“They are expensive.”
“I can afford it.”
And she could. She was the hottest author in the country—and many other countries. The money was rolling in from her books, and the advance from her nonfiction book alone would have made her rich even without the royalties from her mysteries. Plus, they were now talking a movie deal for her series. Yes, she could afford it.
“I’d be happy to. You know, Mandy is a real sad case, but underneath her tough exterior she’s a good person. All the nurses like her. They’ll be happy to hear that she’s finally going to get help.” He got up and shook our hands. “I’ll make sure the nurses come and get you when she wakes up.”
It didn’t take long for the word to spread and pretty soon all the nurses were stopping in to ask if they could do anything for us. I’m sure part of it was Sabrina’s fame, but I could tell that most of it was what she was going to do for Mandy.
Roy showed up a little while later and introduced himself. He was older than I thought—probably around seventy—and different than I would have expected. He wasn’t a slob in a sleeveless t-shirt all covered in grease. My judgments again? He was a good-looking guy, dressed comfortably in jeans and a casual button-down shirt. He was a product of a small, rural town, using lots of “ain’ts” and such, but he was also someone who probably knew his business well and was making a go of it, despite its outward appearance. It was obvious that he cared about Mandy. He had also already heard the news.
“That’s a very kind thing you’re doing for Mandy,” he said.
“That’ll be the easy part,” said Sabrina. “The hard part comes after the treatment.”
“I know, and I’ll watch over her and make sure she sticks with it. You know she’s got a kid somewhere? Grown up now, but Mandy has no idea where he lives.”
“Maybe once she gets her act together, she can find him. When that time comes, contact me and I’ll see if I can help.”
A few minutes later the nurse came to get us. Mandy was awake.
Mandy looked horrible. She was almost skeletal. The drugs had ravaged her body pretty badly. She gave us a tired smile showing her bad teeth when we came in.
The doctor had told Mandy of Sabrina’s plans to get her into rehab. She couldn’t thank Sabrina enough.
“I promise you I’ll stay straight. That’s the second kindest thing anyone has ever done for me.” She looked over at Roy. “Roy giving me a job was the first. You two are my guardian angels.”
“And when you get out, we can see about fixing your teeth,” said Sabrina.
“No,” said Roy. “I’ll take care of that. You’ve done enough.”
“So what did Daisy leave for me?” Sabrina asked.
“I didn’t discover it until long after you left. She put it in the storeroom in a place that she knew I’d find it. It was an envelope with a key.”
Another key. What was Daisy’s fixation with keys?
Mandy continued. “It’s a key to her trailer. Hopefully the scumbag who owns that place hasn’t already rented it. But I doubt it. It would mean he’d have to get off his ass. I went to school with him. He’s been lazy all his life.”
“Well, we had to give him a month’s rent,” I said, “so maybe he hasn’t touched it.”
Mandy was getting tired already. We were going to have to wrap this up soon.
“She said in the note that if something happened to her, to give it to you. She said if you were as smart as you think you are, you’d remember something about her and be able to figure out where to find what she left you. I didn’t know what it meant.”
“Remember something about her? I didn’t know her that well.”
“I think Daisy knew someone was going to kill her,” said Mandy. “She kind of hinted at it one night when I drove her home ‘cuz she had eaten something with milk in it and was real sick. She said she might have to move on soon, that someone might be coming after her. I figured it might be an ex or something. That was the most she had ever told me about herself, and I think she only said it because she thought she was dying from the milk.”
“Was the milk bad?” I asked.
“No. She couldn’t do milk. Made her sick like that.”
“That’s right,” said Sabrina, suddenly perking up. “She was allergic to dairy. Not just lactose intolerant, but really allergic. She had to have a special diet in prison. And I know exactly where the thing she left us is.”
Chapter 31
“Oh?” I asked.
“What was in her freezer?” Sabrina said.
“Frozen burritos and … holy shit … ice cream.”
“If it made her deathly sick, why would it be in her freezer?” asked Sabrina. She had almost a triumphant expression, as if to say, “See, Daisy? I am smart.”
“That’s got to be it,” I said.
“I already have a key, but I’d love to see the note she left,” Sabrina said to Roy.
“I’ve gotta head back, so if you want to follow me, I’ll give it to you. Where is it?” he asked Mandy, who gave him the location.
Mandy was falling asleep, so we all said our goodbyes and left. Sabrina gave her contact information to the doctor for Mandy’s follow-up care.
When we arrived at The Wagon Wheel, Roy found the note in the storeroom and handed it to Sabrina. The wording was as Mandy had said and inside was the key.
We said our goodbyes to Roy and promised to keep in touch about Mandy. Then we headed out to our new Texas vacation home.
The same slovenly guy was sitting in the same cheap chair outside his trailer, but drinking a different beer, most likely.
We stopped in front of him and Sabrina rolled down her window.
“Remember us?” she said.
“Yup.”
“We paid you for a month. You haven’t rented out the trailer to anyone else, have you?”
“Nope.”
He probably hadn’t moved from his seat in all that time.
“Good,” said Sabrina, “because we need to go back in.”
“Electric is turned off.”
“Why?”
“Nobody living there. No sense in keeping it on. Costs me money.”
“Which we paid for.” I could see Sabrina’s eyes in the side mirror. They had taken on a menacing look. “It’s against the law to shut off someone’s electricity if they have paid their rent.”
“Didn’t think it was rent. Not like you were living there.”
“We paid you.”
“Didn’t sign a lea
se.”
“You’re right,” said Sabrina. “So give us our money back.”
“You went in.”
“Yes, and we are going in one more time, so you can keep a hundred dollars of what we gave you as payment for letting us go in, but I want three hundred dollars back.”
“Don’t have it.”
Sabrina opened her door and the guy flinched.
“Then I suggest,” she said, “that you get off your fat ass and get it for us. My guess is it’s in your pocket right now, because you’re too lazy to go to the bank. I want my money or I’m going to fucking tear you apart.”
“Okay, okay.” He reached into his pocket and came out with a roll of bills. He peeled off three one hundred dollar bills and handed them to her. “Guy’s got to make a living.”
“I agree,” said Sabrina. “Try doing it without taking advantage of people.”
She got back in the car and I took off down the rutted road.
“Well, that was fun,” she said, smiling at me.
“That wasn’t about $300, was it?”
“Heck no,” she answered. “I look at someone like Mandy, who works her fingers to the bone for a few dollars. Then I look at someone like him trying to take advantage of people. It’s just not fair. He needed to be taught a lesson.”
No one better to teach it.
I could smell the dumpy trailer before we even arrived at it. It had smelled bad before the electricity had been turned off. It was going to be unbearable now. But Sabrina had asked me to stop at a drugstore before we arrived, and now I knew why. She pulled out two Vicks inhalers and handed one to me. If we kept sniffing those, it would dull the smell.
We got out of the car and were greeted by beef jerky lady next door.
“What are you cooking in there?” she yelled out to us.
Seriously?
“We’re not cooking anything,” Sabrina said pleasantly. “You might want to talk to the owner about cleaning the place.”
“Yeah, right. That’ll happen. So you’re not here to clean it?”
“No ma’am,” I said. “We’re just going in and out quickly.”
Fatal Lies ( Lies Mystery Thriller Series Book 2) Page 16