by Judith Keim
“Omigod! What did it say?” Betsy asked.
Sukie told her. “It could be meant for any of us. Not just Lynn. That’s why it’s important for us to meet.”
“I agree,” said Betsy. “It’s time for us to make a plan.” She hung up without any of her usual joking.
Sukie called Bill Michaels and told him about the latest note. He promised they’d double the swing-by operation he’d set up. Though Sukie was glad for his help, it did little to quell her nerves. Someone, she couldn’t guess who, was out to hurt her or her friends.
The evening was unusually dark when the women arrived shortly before six. A storm system had brought much-needed rain to the area most of the day. It was a solemn group as they shook out umbrellas and placed them on Sukie’s porch. Sukie ushered them into the living room.
The note lay in the middle of the coffee table like a lit stick of dynamite.
“This is very serious,” said Betsy, picking it up and reading it. “Like you said, Sukie, it could be for any of us.” She turned to Carol Ann. “Do you think John would do this to you? You know, get back at you for not playing along with him? Reporting him to the police?”
Carol Ann’s jaw dropped. “Me? What about you and Sarah?”
Betsy let out a trembling sigh. “Sarah is so upset with me right now I think she’s capable of most anything. Look what happened at the school. She wanted me arrested by the FBI, for God’s sake.”
Sukie couldn’t remain quiet. She’d thought about it all day. “I ran into Ted at Bea’s the other night and had words with him. After he left our table, Cam warned me to go easy, that Ted is very, very angry. Cam’s heard things are not going well between Ted and Emmy Lou. Elizabeth isn’t sure the relationship will even last. If looks could kill, I’d be dead right now. Think of what he’d gain with me out of the way—the house, no alimony payments...”
“Maybe it’s Beau,” said Tiffany, cutting in. “Sukie’s seen first-hand what he’s capable of doing. He’s hit me, and those awful words scrawled on the nursery walls...”
“Each of us has a reason to be the one,” said Carol Ann, whitefaced. “I was supposed to give John all my money. Thank God, I didn’t, but maybe he really does want to get back at me.”
“I’ve made a decision,” said Lynn, speaking up. “Tonight I’ll contact a safe house and leave town. I won’t allow any of you to get hurt because of me.”
“But, Lynn,” Sukie said. “We don’t know for sure you’re the one who is being targeted. The notes keep coming to my house. Maybe I’m the one someone’s after.”
“No. Don’t you see? If my ex left me those notes at my apartment, then I’d know for sure he was after me again. This way, I can’t go to the police with anything definite. It keeps me on edge. That’s how his sick mind works. No, I’m leaving tomorrow.”
Sukie could tell from the set of Lynn’s jaw and the tears in her eyes, how determined she was. “Let’s talk about it with a glass of wine and some refreshments.”
“I’m leaving and there will be no discussion about it.” Lynn turned to Betsy. “I’ll let you handle my departure at the office, explain what my life is like.”
At the thought of losing Lynn, Sukie’s eyes grew misty. A quiet, no nonsense kind of person, Lynn was a stable part of their group.
She went into the kitchen for refreshments and returned to the living room. “We’ll at least send Lynn off with some good memories. And, Lynn, we expect to see you again. We’ll put an end to this.”
A range of emotions crossed Lynn’s face, telling of her sorrow and shame. “No matter what happens, I’ll always remember our time together and how wonderful you all have been to me.”
They were an unusually somber group as they sipped their wine and nibbled on treats. Sukie was sure the others, like she, were thinking of Lynn’s strength through the years.
“I’d better go,” said Betsy, rising. “Karen will be calling me. She’s at an out-of-town meeting.” She embraced Lynn one more time. “Think this over, Lynn. Don’t be so anxious to leave. I think you’re safer here than anywhere else.”
Sukie walked Betsy to the front of the house, switched on the porch light and opened the door.
“Okay, Bitch!” a voice cried out from across the lawn. “It’s over. No more running.”
The menacing figure of a man loomed in the dark.
Sukie froze in the doorway, feeling as if she were trapped in a scene from a violent television show. Light glinted off the barrel of a gun in his hand.
Sukie blocked the entrance to the house as best she could. “Stay back,” she warned the women behind her. “He’s got a gun.”
“You! Get away from the door! Now!” the intruder barked.
Sukie’s mouth went dry.
From behind Sukie, someone charged with a roar, shoving her aside. She tumbled to the front porch stoop with a yelp. A light flashed in front of her eyes as her head hit the brick. Dazed, Sukie heard the deafening report of a gun and a cry of pain.
“Don’t move,” someone called out in a commanding voice. Another shot rang out.
Sukie lay there, waiting to feel the pain of a bullet piercing her.
CHAPTER FORTY SIX
SUKIE
“Lynn! Lynn!” Betsy screamed, rushing past Sukie.
Trying to clear her head, Sukie sat up.
“Omigod! Lynn!” shrieked Carol Ann, running out onto the lawn.
Tiffany rushed over to her. “Sukie! Are you all right? Lynn’s been shot. That guy must be her ex.” Tiffany leaned weakly against the front porch post. “I think he’s dead.”
Sirens wailed in the background, becoming louder and louder. Trembling all over, Sukie got to her feet, straining to see in the dark.
“You women, stay out of the way! Don’t touch anything!” warned the officer hurrying onto the scene.
“Is Lynn all right?” Sukie’s body which had been so immobile, so frozen, now seemed to melt. Her legs felt so rubbery she had to sit down. She drew in her breath and let it out in shocked, raspy gasps. Tears streamed down Tiffany’s cheeks as she patted Sukie’s back.
Two patrol cars pulled up, along with another car with official markings.
From the front lawn, Betsy and Carol Ann joined Sukie and Tiffany on the front porch, their faces pale with shock.
Betsy collapsed on the step next to Sukie. “Lynn’s hurt real bad,” she said brokenly. “The people from the sheriff’s office told us to come over here and sit, that they’d take care of her, but I dunno.”
“The sheriff’s deputy shot the man who tried to kill her. He’s dead.” Carol Ann’s voice shook. “I think I’m going to be sick.” She leaned over and vomited in the bushes lining the porch.
“Sukie? Are you all right? Speak to me,” commanded Betsy, giving her a troubled look.
“I think she’s in shock,” said Tiffany, gazing at Sukie with a worried frown.
“She saved my life,” Sukie managed to say. The dam of emotions she’d been holding back burst out of her. Sukie cried for everything Lynn had lost. She cried for Lynn’s determination to see that none of them were harmed because of her. She cried for fear that Lynn might not make it. She thought Lynn was braver than anyone she’d ever known.
“Sukie! My God, Sukie!”
She looked up to see Cam running toward her. She struggled to her feet and started toward him. He swept her up in his arms and hugged her so tightly she could barely breathe.
“Lynn’s hurt, maybe dying,” she managed to get out between sobs that racked her body.
“You’re okay. You’re okay,” Cam murmured over and over again as he carried her to the others and set her down. “Lynn’s hurt, but what about the guy?”
Betsy blinked back tears. “He’s dead. We’re pretty sure it’s Lynn’s ex-husband. She’s been running from him for years.”
Sukie clasped Betsy’s hand. Carol Ann wrapped her arm around Betsy and Tiffany held onto Sukie in a group hug none of them wanted—not in this way, for
this reason.
Sukie turned to Cam. “Where’s Chloe?”
“In my car, down the street. One of the sheriff’s men is watching her. I’ve got to go back to her. I don’t want her to see any of this.”
Sukie broke away from the group and walked a few steps away. She and Cam embraced. With his solid body pressed against hers, deep gratitude filled her. She was alive and it felt so very, very good.
Cam caressed Sukie’s cheek, his blue eyes swimming. “Thank God, you’re all right. I love you, Sukie.”
She’d waited to hear those words. But in these circumstances, they meant much more. She caressed his cheek. “I love you, too—with all my heart.”
Cam took off at a run, and Sukie joined her friends sitting on her steps, keeping vigil.
Bill Michaels came over to them and the business began of telling the sheriff what they knew. As Betsy talked, Sukie gazed out at the chaos in her yard. Yellow tape had been strung around the area and officers were taking care of their duties, gathering evidence and marking spots where the bodies had fallen. Siren wailing, an ambulance pulled into the driveway. Two EMTs emerged and rushed over to where Lynn still lay on the ground. An officer knelt beside her.
Sukie struggled to her feet. “I want to see Lynn before they take her away.”
Betsy held her back. “No, hon, you don’t. It’s gruesome. And she’s unconscious. Let them take care of her, like the guy told us they would.”
“Yeah, it’s awful. A bloody mess. Oh, jeez,” said Carol Ann. “I think I’m going to be sick again.” She leaned back against the porch railing and closed her eyes.
Sukie’s stomach knotted as she watched the EMTs strap Lynn onto a gurney, slide it into the back of the ambulance and close the door. The flashing red lights atop the ambulance cast eerie, bloody beams into the darkness. Then, they were gone.
The sheriff began to question each of the women about what she’d seen and heard. Sukie saw a man approaching them with a camera and rose.
“Uh, oh. It’s the press. Quick! Get inside the house.”
Tiffany jumped to her feet and tugged on Carol Ann’s arm.
Sukie opened the front door and all three women hurried inside behind her, leaving the sheriff to deal with the press. Inside, they huddled together in the living room.
Betsy shook her head. “I can’t believe it. Lynn, I mean Grace, is such a kind woman. It makes you wonder about people, what burdens they really carry.”
Bill Michaels rang the doorbell and came inside. “I know how upset all of you women are. You can go now. It’s a pretty cut and dry case. We’re running a check on the guy now, but your story makes sense. There’s nothing you can do for her now but pray. Damn shame. The ambulance has taken her down to North Fulton. They’ve got a Level II Trauma Center there.”
“I think Lynn recognized his voice, which is why she pushed me out of the way.” Sukie swallowed hard. “She saved my life.”
Bill nodded. “Yeah, she probably did.”
Betsy gripped her hand and Sukie squeezed back, trying not to break down again. How do you ever thank someone for saving your life? She thought of her children, of Cam and Chloe.
The sheriff cleared his throat. “I’m leaving now. If anything else comes up, anything at all, please let me know.”
After the sheriff left, Sukie turned to the others. “I’m going to the hospital. I can’t just stay here, wondering and waiting to know how Lynn is.”
“I’m going with you,” said Betsy.
“Me, too,” Carol Ann and Tiffany said in unison.
They grabbed their purses and Sukie walked them to the front door.
As she opened it, a flash of light streamed through the darkness. Sukie screamed and ducked, expecting another gunshot.
“Get out of here, you scum!” Betsy shouted, coming to Sukie’s aid.
Sukie straightened, shaking all over.
“It was that damn newspaperman,” Betsy explained. “We’ll probably make the front page.”
“Oh, no,” said Tiffany, “my in-laws will be furious if I’m in the paper, associated with a killing.”
“Let’s go,” Sukie said. Nobody was going to stop her from being by Lynn’s side.
###
The drive to Roswell was quiet. Past memories of Lynn at their lunches and evening gatherings filled Sukie’s mind. Lynn had always been the silent one, the mysterious one. Now, they all understood why she’d been on the run to keep her child safe. Her ex was as crazy as she’d said.
Betsy broke into the silence. “If Lynn survives, she’s going to need some help. She was shot in the chest right near the shoulder. We’re going to have to step in and help her do all sorts of things.”
“And what about the expenses? How will she pay for them?” Sukie said. “She lives very frugally.”
“Do you think she’ll survive all this? It was so bloody,” said Carol Ann, gagging.
“Of course she’ll survive.” Sukie refused to think Lynn might not make it. Lynn had been so strong for so many years, her life couldn’t end like this.
They got off route 400 at the Old Milton exit and Sukie drove west as fast as she dared, over to Route 9 and down to the hospital, following the signs. At that time of night, traffic wasn’t bad. Moments later, Sukie swung into the emergency entrance of the hospital and parked the car. They hurried into the emergency room and the four of them grouped together at the information desk, all talking at once.
“Whoa!” said the aide behind the desk. “One at a time, please.”
Betsy took over. “Lynn Hodges, I mean Grace Jamison, was brought in with a gunshot wound. Her ex-husband shot her. We’re here to make sure she’s all right. She has no other family. Just us.”
“She’ll be in the Trauma Center, no doubt. Why don’t you ladies take seats and I’ll see if I can find out some information for you as soon as I can. We don’t want to interrupt them now.”
Feeling queasy, Sukie went over to a group of chairs and plopped down. This whole scene was surreal. Not that long ago, the women had been chatting together in her house, plotting to save Lynn. Sukie hadn’t seen Lynn’s wounds up close, but she’d seen enough blood to know it had to be bad.
The waiting period grew longer. First one, then another of them, rose and paced the waiting room.
An endless time later, a doctor appeared, wearing green scrubs. “You here for Lynn Hodges? Grace Jamison?”
Sukie froze in her chair. “Is... is...she all right?”
“She’s got a long road ahead of her, but she’s going to make it. She’s lost a lot of blood. A bone fragment severed an artery. It’s going to take a lot of therapy for her to regain complete use of her shoulder and left arm again. Overall, however, I’d say she’s a very lucky woman. Two inches to her right and she’d be dead.”
Tears misted Sukie’s eyes. “Can we see her?”
The doctor shook his head. “She’s in recovery and needs to focus all her energy on herself right now. When she wakes up, I’ll ask the nurses to tell her that you were here. Right now, the best you can do for her and yourselves is to go home and get some rest. She’ll need you in the coming days. There’ll be some major adjustments to her life.”
Silently, they went out to the car.
Her thoughts on all that had happened, Sukie headed the car home to Williston. Tiffany fell asleep beside her. Betsy and Carol Ann talked quietly in the back. Her body numb, Sukie turned on light music, anything to keep her mind from replaying the shooting scene over and over.
Pulling into her driveway, Sukie glanced over at the yellow-taped area. As the sounds and images of the struggle came back, she felt the blood leave her face. She groaned and braked to a stop.
“Are you all right?” Betsy asked, giving her a worried look.
Sukie nodded, though she wondered how long she’d always see figures looming at her from the dark and hear the sound of gunshots.
They hugged and murmured goodbyes, and Tiffany followed Sukie inside.
<
br /> Sukie locked the front door and leaned against it, wishing she could shut out memories of the evening’s events as easily. She turned to Tiffany. “Are you okay? The baby?”
Tiffany nodded and rubbed her stomach. “We’re going to be okay, but I’m going to bed.”
Sukie turned out the downstairs lights and followed Tiffany upstairs, hardly able to keep on her feet. The phone rang as she was pulling on her nightgown. She knew who it was before she picked it up.
“Hello, Sweetheart. I’ve been trying to reach you.” Cam’s low voice was like a soothing hand caressing her body. “How’s Lynn?”
“She’s going to survive, but it’s going to be a long road to recovery.” Sukie lay in bed and clutched the phone to her ear, imagining Cam lying beside her. “Cam? Just talk to me. I just need to hear your voice, know you’re near.”
Cam began talking, calming her. Sometime during his murmurings, Sukie fell asleep, too emotionally drained to stay alert.
The next morning, the sound of the doorbell woke Sukie. Her heart pounding, she jerked upright. It all came back—the shooting, Lynn’s struggle to survive.
The doorbell rang again. Sukie went to the window and looked out. Two television trucks were parked in the driveway. Cameramen and crew were milling around.
Tiffany stumbled into Sukie’s room. “What’s happening?”
Sukie motioned her over to the window. “Word must have gotten out. We’re going to be besieged.”
Tiffany gasped and put a hand over her mouth. “Omigod! Regard and Muffy will be furious. I can’t go outside.”
“I’ll call the Sheriff’s office and see if they can help us. The TV trucks are blocking the driveway and their people are trespassing.”
The phone rang. Sukie picked it up. “Sukie? It’s Julie. I heard the news. It’s all over town. How awful. Are you all right? How’s your friend?”
“I’m still trying to get over the shock but, yes, I’m fine. We’re praying Lynn will be okay. It’s going to take time for her to recover. I need to think of a way to raise funds to help cover her expenses.”