by Carolina Mac
“Misty, you’re awake.”
The Blackmore Agency. Austin.
“HEY, FARRELL,” Lily, Blacky’s personal assistant, ran into the kitchen where Farrell usually hung out drinking gallons of coffee when he wasn’t working. “Got a call from a girl out in Bluebonnet and she wanted to talk to the boss, but I don’t know when he’ll be back from New Orleans. Maybe you should call her back. She seems pretty upset.”
“Upset about what?”
“About her sister gone missing.”
“Yeah, sure, I can call her,” said Farrell, “but we don’t take cases from call-ins. People have local law enforcement for that.”
Lil shrugged. A tall blonde with impeccable grooming, Lily Duke was a black belt and much stronger than she appeared. “Do what you want. Boss said you were in charge of the office decisions while he was gone.” Lil turned in the doorway, “Heard anything about Misty? This is the day she’s supposed to wake up, isn’t it?”
“Yep,” said Farrell, “Beltane. I had a hard time believing Blacky was buying in to Mrs. LeJeune’s prediction.”
“He had nothing else to hold on to,” said Lil. “It was something.”
Farrell nodded. “Where is Bluebonnet anyway? I never heard of it.”
“I Googled it, and it’s south off 190 between Menard and Eldorado,” said Lil. “Didn’t you come from San Angelo?”
“Yep. Born there,” said Farrell. “Haven’t been back since… never mind.” Lil went back to her office and Farrell refilled his mug. He sat down at the table by the window and stared at the message slip.
What else have I got to do today?
He punched the number into his phone and listened to the ringing on the other end. No answer and he thought it was going to go to message when she said hello. “Miss Dennison? This is Ranger Farrell Donovan calling from the Blackmore Agency. How can I help you?”
“Oh, thanks for calling. I wanted to talk to that Ranger Blackmore that I saw on TV a couple of times. I thought he would be the one who could help me.”
“He’s out of state right now, Miss, and I’m covering his calls. You can tell me what the problem is. We work together.”
“Okay. Will you tell him?”
“Sure will,” said Farrell.
“My sister, Sylvie, took her car—it’s an old Jeep Liberty that needs work—anyway, she took it to the garage. The one down in Sonora, and… and… she never came back.”
“When was this ma’am? When did she take her Jeep in?”
“Day before yesterday. Wednesday.”
Shit. Too long already.
“Did you report it to your local Sheriff’s Office?”
“Uh huh. I called Wednesday night when she didn’t come back and the deputy on duty said he’d look into it. Then I called yesterday and today, and they told me to be patient, they were working on it.”
“Uh huh. What was the name of the garage in Sonora, Miss?”
“Twin Auto.”
Farrell wrote it down. “Is that the garage she usually went to?”
“No. Always before she went back to the Jeep dealership, but her warranty expired because it was a second-hand vehicle, and she heard this garage in Sonora was reasonable, so she thought she’d try them.”
“Uh huh. Makes sense.”
The girl on the other end of the line was quietly crying and Farrell felt bad for her. “Why don’t I give Twin Auto a call, see what they have to say, and I’ll call you back in a few minutes.”
“Would you? I called them myself and they said Sylvie’s car was ready to be picked up. They wanted to know when Sylvie would be coming to get it.”
Huh.
Farrell looked up the number for Twin Auto in Sonora on his phone and called.
A guy answered on the first ring and barked out the words in a deep voice. “Twin Auto. Jeff speaking.”
“Hey, Jeff, this is Ranger Donovan calling about Sylvie Dennison. I understand she brought her Jeep in to be fixed on Wednesday.”
“Yep. Sway bars. All fixed. Waiting for her to come get it.”
“Did you talk to her when she brought the Jeep in?”
“Umm… don’t think it was me. Could have been Joey or one of the mechanics.”
“Is Joey there?”
“Yep. Hang on.”
A couple minutes later Joey came on the line sounding exactly like Jeff. “Joey Golden. My brother said you were from the cops?”
“Uh huh. Just wondering if you were the one who talked to Sylvie Dennison when she brought her car in on Wednesday?”
“Yep. I signed her in. Sway bars, I think.”
“Did she say where she was going while her Jeep was being fixed?”
“Why? She gone AWOL? We’re waiting on her to pick up her vehicle.” He sounded impatient and avoided the question.
“So… she had another plan and didn’t wait for the Jeep?”
“Dropped it off and that was the only time I seen her.”
“Okay, thanks for your time, Joey.”
“No problem. Always happy to help the cops.”
Farrell pressed end. “Fuck, this stinks.”
“What stinks?” asked Travis. The rest of the crew was right behind him checking out for the day.
“Got a girl out in the boonies calling us. Her sister went missing.”
“A new case?” asked Carlos.
“Not yet,” said Farrell, “but it might be. I’ll check it out with Jesse or Blacky before I move on it.”
Farrell’s phone rang on the table. “Boss is calling now.” Farrell picked it up. “Tell me the good news first.”
“Misty woke up. Now that she’s awake, her doctor took her for new tests. I’m sitting in the cafeteria waiting.”
“Great news. I guess her mother was right about the date.”
“Seems like it.”
“You sound weird,” said Farrell. “Something else wrong?”
“Yeah, Doctor Lee Chang told us this morning there were going to be problems. But I don’t know what they are yet.”
“Bring her home. We can cope,” said Farrell. “Don’t matter what’s wrong. We got doctors in Austin.”
“I’m making calls now for private nursing,” said Blacky.
Farrell filled him in on Sylvie Dennison missing out in Bluebonnet.
“I should be home tomorrow or Sunday. We’re between cases so check it out with the local sheriff or run it by Jesse if you want to pursue it.”
“Maybe I will. Be better than sitting on my ass.”
University Hospital. New Orleans.
THRILLED that her daughter was awake, Mrs. LeJeune left the hospital to have dinner with friends and celebrate. She had commitments in Lily Dale and had to leave for New York State the following day.
An orderly brought Misty back from her tests and helped a nurse transfer her to her bed and make her comfortable. While this was going on, Blaine waited in the corridor. He’d smoked a whole pack of Marlborough’s waiting for the tests to be completed, then because he was outside he’d missed speaking to Doctor Lee Chang. That little piece of shit timing turned him into a stressed out train wreck. His talk to the doctor would have to wait until morning. Stress was catching up with him. He needed a break from the waiting and he wanted a Corona and a steak.
“You can go in now, Ranger Blackmore,” said the nurse. “She’s all set.”
He walked into the room and was surprised to see Misty sitting up smiling at him. “Hey, you look better. How were the tests?”
No response. Just the same smile.
“Misty?” He sat in the chair beside the bed. “Misty, can you say something?”
The smile vanished, and she stared at him. He could read anger in her blue eyes.
Trays clattered outside the door and a kitchen helper brought a tray in and set it on the mobile table in front of Misty.
She showed Blaine the card. “Soft diet ordered by her doctor.”
“Uh huh. She hasn’t eaten solid food for a f
ew weeks.”
The woman left the tray and Blaine removed the lid. “Do you need help with your dinner, sweetheart?”
Misty lifted her arm and tried to reach for the fork, but she couldn’t do it.
“Let me help you.” Blaine put the fork in her hand and pushed the table closer.
Misty tried to direct the fork towards the poached eggs but couldn’t do it.
“I can feed you,” said Blaine.
Misty shook her head and jerked the fork away from Blaine as he reached for it. She sat for several seconds staring at the fork and then at the tray. An almost inaudible growl came from Misty’s throat and a couple seconds later the food tray flew across the room and smashed into the door with a loud crash.
Blaine’s eyes widened. “Wow, Mist, that was impressive.” He smiled at her and she reached for his hand.
“You don’t like poached eggs?”
If you’d like to continue reading, you can find Hole in the Heart on Amazon.