Organized Grime

by Christy Barritt

“I said, are you listening?”

  “Yes.” My voice sounded strained. I hated myself for sounding so weak.

  “Leave it alone.”

  “Leave what alone?”

  “Whatever it is that you’re doing. Your investigation. Drop it.”

  “Why?”

  I could feel his lips on my ear. “Because if you don’t, I’ll kill you next time. This is just a warning. Got it?” He grabbed my hair and pulled back so far that my neck felt like it could break. A whimper escaped me.

  “Yes, I’ve got it.”

  “I’m going to make sure you don’t forget.”

  He slammed my head into the wall again, and everything went black.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  “Gabby? Gabby, can you hear me?”

  Someone shook my shoulder. I wanted to scream for them to stop, to explain the pain that seeped into every cell of my body. But I couldn’t. Instead, I wept.

  “Gabby, it’s going to be okay. The ambulance is on its way.”

  Who said that? Where was I? What had happened?

  It all flashed back in my mind. Sierra was dead. I’d been beaten up. And, apparently, if I decided to follow this investigation, death would continue to follow me.

  I opened my eyes and saw Riley’s blurry face peering at me.

  “I shouldn’t have left you alone,” he muttered. “I should have known better.”

  I wanted to tell him that he shouldn’t feel guilty, just like he’d told me that I shouldn’t feel guilty only moments ago. But my lips wouldn’t move. Blood washed down into my throat. My entire face ached and felt swollen. My ribs felt like a thousand pounds rested atop them. My shoulder felt like it had been moved to a new location.

  Yeah, someone had done a number on me. Didn’t they know that the more they tried to stop me, the more determined I would become?

  “Gabby, stay with me.”

  Blackness closed in on me, though. I reached for the light, tried to stay lucid. But it was no use. I slipped back into the darkness around me.

  ***

  When I opened my eyes again, I was surrounded by bright light. I waited to hear the heavenly angels singing their choruses or to see some clouds float by. Instead, I heard beeping. I felt my body aching. No, this wasn’t heaven after all.

  It was the hospital.

  My gaze traveled down, and there was Riley. His chair was pulled up to my bed. His hair was tousled and his eyes closed as he rested his head on my hand. How long had he been here? How long had I been here?

  I tried to sit up, but my neck hurt. My head hurt. Heck, my whole body hurt. Instead, I let my gaze travel the length of my body. A bandage of some sort was wrapped around my mid-section, as well as my shoulder. A neck brace prevented my chin from bobbing downward. I couldn’t be certain, but I was pretty sure that bandages circled around my head also.

  I had to be a sight.

  Riley lifted his head. His sleepy eyes blinked at me a moment before he straightened and leaned toward me. “Gabby, you’re awake.”

  “I feel like I’d be better off dead.” My lips even ached when they moved. Not a good sign.

  Riley’s eyes glimmered with concern as he stroked my hand. “Don’t say that. I was afraid you were dead there for awhile.”

  My throat was dry, but I didn’t ask for water. There were more important things to ask at the moment. “How long have I been here?”

  “Since last night.” He glanced at the clock beside my bed. “Fourteen hours or so.”

  “Give me a damage report.”

  “Bruised rib, your shoulder was popped out of place—separated I believe is the correct term—concussion, and lots of bruises and cuts.” His eyes softened. “What happened, Gabby?”

  Everything flashed back, each memory hitting me like a blow to the stomach. I closed my eyes. “There was someone waiting inside our apartment building for me. He told me to stop investigating or else this was just the start of it.”

  He dipped his head. “I should have stayed with you.”

  “I should have stayed at the coffeehouse like I said.”

  He didn’t seem to hear me. “With everything that’s happened, I should have known.”

  I squeezed his hand. “Riley, you can’t be with me every minute. I’m a big girl. I don’t want my boyfriend babysitting me all the time.”

  “You could have been killed. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if you were.” His eyes said it all. He felt guilty, worried, burdened.

  I patted his hand. I wished I could offer more, but the motion was all I could muster at the moment. “But I wasn’t.”

  “Not this time. What about next time? You’ve got to stay out of this, Gabby.”

  “Riley—” Someone burst into the room, effectively cutting me off.

  For the first time in my life, I was happy to see Parker. He charged into the room before Riley and I could continue that conversation. I knew it wouldn’t go well when we revisited the topic. And I just didn’t feel up to arguing at the moment.

  ***

  The next several hours were spent giving reports, being checked on by doctors and nurses, and delighting in my pain medicine.

  Riley stayed with me the whole time. The way he walked made it look like he wore a coat lined with iron weights. He was worried about me, and I could appreciate his concern. If I’d found Riley unconscious, I’d be the same way. I just wished I could wipe away those worries—but I couldn’t.

  “Why are you looking at me like that?” Riley paced over to my bed and leaned toward me, his eyes serious, his forehead wrinkled.

  “I’m sorry, Riley.”

  He sat in the chair at my bedside. “Why are you sorry, Gabby?” He looked honestly confused—was it simply because I was apologizing, which was a miracle in itself?

  “You probably wish I was an accountant, cleaning up people’s financial messes, don’t you?”

  He stroked my hand. “I want you to be you, Gabby. I just wish that didn’t mean you were in danger.”

  “I guess I’m not going to be making it to class tonight, huh? So much for graduating this semester.” Disappointment pressed on me.

  “Talk to your professors. I’ll bet they’ll let you make it up.”

  Maybe. Just maybe, I supposed.

  I pushed my head back into the lumpy hospital pillow and closed my eyes. A thought had been swirling in my head since I regained consciousness. “Riley, if Sierra is dead, why is someone coming after me?”

  He shrugged. “Maybe they think you know something.”

  “Or maybe Sierra isn’t dead…”

  Riley’s eyes looked misty. “I hope that’s true, Gabby.”

  My heart pounded with enough intensity that everyone within a mile could hear it probably. “But you don’t think it is.”

  “I’m praying it is.”

  My throat burned. My eyes watered. And that was on top of my swollen, bruised face, my achy shoulder, and my tender ribs. I had to change the subject before my pain—both physical and emotional—pulled me under. “So, did you schedule that date with Lydia yet?”

  He shook his head, his face still lined with tension. “No.”

  “Her divorce should be final now.”

  “Gabby…” He opened his mouth and closed it again.

  “What? What is it?”

  “She’s disappeared, Gabby.”

  I tried to sit up, but my ribs ripped with pain. “What do you mean?”

  He shook his head, but the action looked heavy. “She’s gone. No one knows what happened to her.”

  I closed my eyes, but Riley nudged my chin up.

  “Hey, let’s move on to happier subjects.”

  “Like what?”

  “Like the fact that you were quick enough on your feet to call 911 before you passed out.”

  I stared at him, waiting for him to crack a grin and show he was joking. “I didn’t call 911.”

  “Sure you did. The phone was in your hands. Your call record showed 9
11.”

  I shook my head. “But I didn’t call.”

  He stared at me with those intense blues. “Then who did?”

  “I have no idea.”

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  The next morning, I felt both better and worse—kind of like after a stomach virus when you’re thankful because you know the worst is over but you still feel depleted and rotten.

  Tim sat across from me. I couldn’t be certain, but it almost appeared that he’d shaven and even taken a bath. Could it be?

  But there was even a greater “could it be” that I’d asked myself lately. Could it really be that God had brought my brother back into my life?

  I glanced over at Riley. “Would you give us a few minutes?”

  He nodded toward the door, but his motions were slow, as if he didn’t want to go. “I’ll just be outside.”

  After he left, I turned to my brother. My eyes filled with tears. The events of the past week had caused my emotions to break. The protective walls around me seemed as battered and weak as my body at the moment. “I’m sorry.”

  He squinted. “About what?”

  Where did I start? “About everything. About not watching you more closely when you were little. About not making more of an effort to talk to you once you came back into my life.”

  He bit the side of his lip for a moment, studying me. “Why haven’t you made more of an effort?”

  I shrugged—at least, I tried to shrug. My body hurt too much to carry it to completion. “Why would you want to talk to me?”

  “Because you’re my big sister.”

  “I’ve been horrible to you.”

  “You have?”

  “I nicknamed you The Smell.” I couldn’t look at him as I admitted it.

  He chuckled. “You’ve always nicknamed people, Gabby. Remember we’d sit out on the deck and nickname our neighbors? That one woman who smoked all the time? You called her Chimney.”

  I smiled, picturing the woman perfectly. “You remember that?”

  “Of course. You’re bad with names, so you assign objects to remember people by.”

  Wow. Not a lot of people got that about me. I was impressed.

  He drew his eyebrows together. “But really… The Smell?”

  A smile cracked my face. “It’s the dumpster diving.”

  He nodded. “I get it.” His eyes got misty as he stared at me. “You remind me of mom, you know.”

  My heart lurched. My mom was a great woman. I still missed her to this day. I wished she’d had the opportunity to be happy, to see Tim again. “You think?”

  “Absolutely. You look just like her. Deceitfully angelic.” He grinned.

  I swatted him. “Not nice.”

  He held up his hands in mock surrender. “If your brother can’t say that, then who can?”

  My smile slipped. “Nearly every day since you were kidnapped, I’ve dreamed about how life would have been different if I’d been watching you more closely that day at the park. Maybe you wouldn’t feel the need to dumpster dive now. Life would have turned out different for you.”

  He shrugged. “I didn’t turn out all bad. And dumpster diving is cool. I don’t do it because I’m poor. I do it because of the environment. We’re such a wasteful society.” He sobered. “Besides, life wasn’t always that easy for you growing up, Gabby. Even before I disappeared, I remember how dad couldn’t hold down a job and how he liked to drink. I’m sure when I disappeared that only escalated. Dad’s always used alcohol as a crutch.”

  “You still seem to love him.”

  “Of course I do. He’s my dad.”

  I shook my head. “He got worse after mom died, Tim. He called me every week begging for money. He lost our house because he couldn’t make the payments and had to move into the trailer where he lives now. It’s been bad.”

  “You’re been a good daughter helping him out like that.”

  “I was mean to him.”

  “He’s seemed truly sorry since you had that talk with him. Maybe it was just what he needed to hear.”

  “I was rude.”

  “You’ve been good to him, Gabby. I think this was the first step to healing your relationship.”

  I laughed as I wiped the moisture from my cheeks—again. “Awfully wise words from someone who’s been gone for two decades.”

  “What can I say? You got the looks; I got the brains.” His smile slipped. “He wants to come see you, you know, but he’s afraid you’ll turn him away.”

  I rubbed my fingers against my blanket. “Maybe that’s for the best.”

  We caught up for the next thirty minutes, talking about everything from school to Sierra to other childhood memories. Finally, Riley stuck his head in the door. “I’m going to run get a bite to eat. Will you be okay while I’m gone?”

  I held up my arm, which was attached to an IV still. “I’m not going anywhere.”

  “You’ll keep an eye on her?” Riley looked at Tim.

  “I’d be honored.”

  As soon as Riley left and after I’d counted to ten for good measure, I turned to Tim. “I want to take a walk.”

  “But you just told Riley—”

  “I know, I know. I don’t want him to worry about me. Poor guy has probably lost ten years off of his life since he met me. ” I pointed to my face to bring home the point that being around me could be stressful. “I just need to breathe.”

  “Where do you want to walk?”

  “You’ll see. Just help me get in the wheelchair.”

  It took several minutes to get situated, but finally I settled in my new transportation. As Tim wheeled me past a mirror, my hand clutched the wheel, and I jerked to a stop. I stared at my reflection. Wow. I looked bad with a capital B. I hardly recognized myself. No wonder Riley was freaking out so much.

  My lip was busted, my left eye bruised and the entire right side of my face swollen. The bandage around my head did nothing for my hair, nor did the wrap around my neck.

  “Someone did a number on you, Sis.”

  “I’d say.” Chills raced through me as I remembered the attack.

  “You’re lucky you’re still alive.”

  “Tim, do you know anything about the National Federation for a Cleaner Earth?”

  He began pushing me out of the room. “Yeah, I know about them. What do you want to know?”

  “Who’s involved?”

  “That, I couldn’t tell you. I’ve seen their literature. I’ve been on their website. I’ve heard whispers about them at my freegan meetings.”

  “You have freegan meetings?” I tried to look back at him, but my neck wouldn’t turn that far.

  “Of course.”

  I shook my head, trying to get my focus back. “You’re not affiliated with them, are you?”

  “Of course not. They’re some serious dudes. They’re bent on revenge. Think that’s the best way to get their message across. Why?”

  “I wonder if they’re behind this whole fiasco.”

  “I wouldn’t put it past them.”

  Why did my brother seem so normal all of the sudden? Just last week, I’d thought he was the strangest person on the planet. Now he seemed like someone I wanted to have coffee with and give a wedgie to.

  “Where are we going, by the way? Anywhere in particular?”

  “Room 132.”

  “Who’s there?”

  “James Harrison.”

  ***

  Tim knocked on James’s door, and a tired “come in” sounded from the other side. We gave each other a quick glance before pushing the door open, and Tim wheeled me inside. Thankfully, no one was there except James.

  He looked thinner and frailer than I remembered him. His bony face was even more pronounced and paler than usual. His already-thin hair even looked like it had thinned more. I guess a life-threatening heart attack and subsequent surgeries could do that to a person.

  “Who are you?” he demanded.

  Tim nudged me closer. “I’m Gabby.”<
br />
  “Why are you here?” His voice held an edge of authority, even in his weak state.

  “I have a few questions for you.”

  “I’m not in the mood for questions. Besides, I’ve told the police everything I know. I certainly don’t want to rehash anything with…” He sneered at me. “With you.”

  “You don’t even know who I am.”

  “You’re that crime-scene cleaner. You spilled punch on me at a benefit last year.”

  I blinked in surprise. “You remember that?”

  “Yes. What I don’t know is why you’re here to ask me questions.”

  “My friend is being accused of bombing your office building.”

  His sneer deepened. “And?”

  “She didn’t do it. And now you’ve had a supposed heart attack. I’m just trying to figure out what’s going on here.”

  “I most assuredly had a heart attack. Ask my doctors.”

  “I think someone poisoned you. They thought you would die and a heart attack wouldn’t cast any suspicion on them. The police would think it happened naturally.”

  “Those are some crazy theories you have. No merit to them at all. You’re just trying to create things.”

  Was I? “I don’t believe in coincidences. Someone’s trying to make you pay. I just have to figure out why. And I have to figure out why my friend is being framed for it.”

  “Listen to me. Mind your own business. Keep your silly theories to yourself. You’ll regret it otherwise.”

  Things began clicking in my mind. The housing development. The bomb at his office. The victims—a solar energy guy, a plaster man and a landscaper. All men who could have worked for James.

  I wheeled myself closer. “You’re behind everything that’s happened, aren’t you?”

  “Don’t be ridiculous. I’m in the hospital.”

  “Everything happened before your heart attack. What are you trying to cover up?”

  “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “What did you do to my friend Sierra?”

  “Sierra? That nut job?”

  “She’s not a nut job.”

  “She was about to have a coronary over that housing development.”

  “You were going to harm delicate wetlands where precious creatures critical to our ecosystem lived. What did you do? Pay off people in order to build there?”