Not My Solution

by T. E. Killian

  When Roger reached Floyd, he pushed off the vehicle and walked toward the entrance. Roger fell into step beside him.

  “Nobody here when my deputy got here. He said the place looked like someone tossed it pretty good.”

  They were at his outer door then and Floyd stopped to let him go in first. The deputy had been right. Someone had really tossed the place. Even the outer office looked like someone had just gone through trying to see how much damage they could do. Everything was turned over, file cabinets, desks and tables. The smaller things were broken.

  He stepped into his office and it looked the same. He turned to Floyd. “I didn’t have much in paper files yet. Everything is on my laptop which is at home.”

  “How about out there?” He pointed toward the outer office.

  “Nothing at all. I just hired a secretary today and her computer is supposed to be delivered and setup tomorrow.”

  “That’s lucky.”

  “Yeah.” He looked away then growled. “I don’t know about you Floyd, but I don’t think it’s a coincidence that this happened a few hours after Robertson paid me a visit here.”

  “Yeah. I was thinking along the same lines. I’ll check on him, but I’ll bet he has an alibi. Probably hired someone else to do this for him.”

  Roger snorted. “Yeah, probably his brother-in-law.”

  They both laughed and Roger walked out into the outer office. “All I can do now is call my insurance company tomorrow. Sure a good thing the computer wasn’t here yet.”

  They both left after that, but Roger couldn’t get it all out of his head. He was sure that the black SUV had something to do with the break in and Floyd had thought so too.

  When he got home, he let Oscar out in the back yard and stood outside the back door with him for a few minutes. Once they were back inside, Oscar wanted petting, so he had to take time to do that for a while.

  That was interesting. Oscar didn’t push him too often for petting. He chuckled. He’d heard dogs could sense their master’s moods. Maybe that was it. All he knew was that Oscar was the best friend he had.

  Chapter Seven

  Tuesday morning was one of those crisp late October mornings in the Ozarks, quite cool but bright and sunny. Nicole woke up feeling invigorated, and she knew her twin being there was only part of why she felt that way.

  She didn’t want to admit it even to herself, but Roger McCracken was part of why she felt the way she was feeling. Why? No way was she going to think about that right then. Not with Nick there. He was too good at knowing what she was thinking about.

  That was one of the things about them that was unique. Not only could they communicate without talking much of the time, but they could also sense what was going on in each other’s lives even from a distance.

  She didn’t want to chance Nick picking up her thoughts about Roger. No way. She wasn’t even sure what those thoughts were yet. She wanted time to explore them before sharing them even with Nick.

  She was sitting with her wheelchair pulled up to the table drinking a cup of coffee when she saw Nick come into the room.

  He looked like he was still half asleep. He poured a cup of coffee and sat across from her.

  “I can sure tell you’re not used to anyone else being around, especially if they’re trying to sleep in. You made enough noise to wake the dead.”

  She laughed, and it felt good. Nick was the only one who could still make her laugh.

  “I’m sorry Nick. Like you said, I’m not used to trying to be quiet. Snowball never complains. She just sleeps through everything I do.”

  They were quiet while Nicole went to the oven which had a side mounted door like a microwave and took out a breakfast casserole, she’d made last weekend and frozen.

  While they were eating, Nicole looked closely at her brother. Nick had always been her emotional buffer between her and the rest of the world. It had become even more so since her injuries. It was almost like they were two parts of a whole.

  Sure, she’d read about lots of identical twins being that way but not so much with paternal twins, especially when they were of the opposite sex. But it was there, and it was very real to both of them.

  “What are you going to do while I’m at school?”

  He smiled at her and swallowed a mouthful of food. “I brought everything I need to work from here. I don’t even have a desktop computer at work anymore. Hardly anyone does. If I can use your home office, I’ll be fine.”

  “Okay. As soon as we finish breakfast, I’ll go in there and get it ready for you. It won’t take much since I’m like you and everything is on my laptop.”

  After getting that job done, Nicole went back into her bedroom and finished getting ready.

  When she came out, Nick was already in her third bedroom she’d made into an office. When she paused in the doorway, he looked up with a frown on his face.

  “I would feel better if you’d let me follow you in to school this morning. Your lawyer has me worried about that black SUV he said he saw.”

  She started to argue with him but stopped when she realized she really did want him to do just that. She simply hadn’t thought about it yet.

  “Okay. I’m ready. Are you?”

  When Nicole backed her van out of the garage, Nick was standing next to his car and hadn’t even started it yet. She was about to wonder why when he pointed toward the street where there was a Sheriff’s patrol car sitting at the curb.

  She waited while Nick went over and talked to the deputy. When he came back, he leaned in her window. “He’s supposed to follow you to the school. Then when you’re ready this afternoon, you’re supposed to call their dispatch. Someone will be come to follow you back home.”

  He passed her a card. “The non-emergency number is on this.”

  “Okay. Great. Go get some work done then.”

  She watched as he stepped back and waved at her. As she backed out of the driveway, she saw him go in through the front door.

  As she drove to school with the deputy behind her, Nicole thought about that fact. Why was she getting this kind of treatment? It had to be special treatment. She doubted if it was something they did for everybody who received threats the way she had.

  Then it dawned on her. Roger! Yes, he probably talked his brother into doing this for her. She was about to get angry about it but when she thought some more about Roger and his possible motives, she relaxed.

  Roger had told her he didn’t feel sorry for her, but he highly respected her, and she actually believed him. That was great! Wasn’t that all she ever wanted anybody to do, respect her and let her do for herself? Surely, her parents never had. Of course, they respected Nick because he was in the business with their dad. But Nicole had always been different from the time she was in junior high school and her parents had treated her differently back then too.

  Oh well, too much to think about right before school. She needed to get her mind on her classes where it belonged.

  When she pulled into the school parking lot, she waved at the deputy as he drove on by.

  Five minutes later, she was unlocking her door and wheeling herself into her room when someone grabbed her hand grips and pushed her the rest of the way into the room. She felt the air from the door closing behind them. Who was there?

  She turned around to see Darla Chadwick. “You may have gotten off this time Fuller but I’m going to get you and it will be soon too. So, you’d better keep looking over your shoulder because, lucky for me, you won’t be able to hear me coming.”

  Before Nicole could think of anything to say, Darla was out the door, slamming it behind her.

  Nicole sat there staring at the closed door for a long moment. Should she tell anyone about this? Probably. But who? She didn’t want to bother the Sheriff with something so trivial.

  Roger!

  She reached into the bag on her left, pulled out his card just as she realized she wasn’t at home to be able to use her Captioned Phone. So, she went to her de
sk to prepare for her first class.

  She had to stop for a moment since her hands were shaking. Just then, she saw the door open and braced herself for another attack from Darla.

  She was relieved when she saw Shelly come in with a worried look on her face. She waited until she was right in front of Nicole to speak.

  “Did Darla bother you just now? I saw her coming out of here looking like she was about to spit nails.”

  Any other time, Nicole might have smiled at Shelly’s choice of expression. Then she thought about Roger again.

  “Yes, she did Shelly. Could you do me a favor and call Roger, not Floyd, to tell him about this. I think he needs to know about it.”

  She hoped Shelly wouldn’t ask her why Roger needed to know about it.

  “Of course.” She pulled her cell phone from a pocket and dialed. When she finished, she looked back down at Nicole. “He said, he’ll let Floyd know and for you to make sure you call dispatch when you’re ready to leave this afternoon.”

  Shelly got a puzzled expression on her face. “What did he mean by that?”

  Nicole smiled back at her even though it was difficult to do so. “A patrol car came to my house this morning to follow me into School.”

  “Good! Roger and I have both been after Floyd to keep you safe and I guess he’s doing it.”

  Nicole didn’t know what to say to that but just watched Shelly as she left the room.

  * * *

  Tuesday morning, Roger woke up thinking about the previous day’s events. His office being vandalized didn’t bother him nearly as much as Nicole’s house getting shot. He was glad Floyd had agreed with him and Shelly about having a deputy escort Nicole to and from school.

  He had a sudden thought about how Nicole might react to being escorted to school. She might just rebel against it, saying she could take care of herself. Well, he’d been in the Army and in Afghanistan too and he knew no one was out there by himself or herself. They had to rely on their buddies to help keep them alive. Hopefully, she would think of it that way too.

  He’d just parked at the office when Shelly called to tell him about that other teacher threatening Nicole again. Man! It wasn’t enough she had an unknown person out there threatening her, but she had that woman doing it too. Or were all the threats coming from her?

  He had to do something to help Nicole. But what? How could he help her when she resisted every time he tried? And now that her brother was there, he felt like he was being pushed ever farther away from her.

  As soon as he disconnected from that call, he called Floyd and told him about it.

  “I’m sorry Roger, but there’s absolutely nothing I can do until that woman actually does something. We’re doing all we can to protect Miss Fuller now.”

  “Don’t you have a deputy at the school most of the day?”

  “Yes, we have an SRO there and I’ll call her and have her keep an eye on that Chadwick woman. That’s all I can do for now.”

  He had just stepped into his outer office when he heard someone behind him. He turned to see Floyd standing there in his uniform.

  “How …?”

  Floyd laughed. “I was in the area when you called so I decided to stop in and see what we can do about keeping your little girlfriend safe.”

  Since all his furniture was broken, they went down the hall to a large conference room that was available to all eight offices in the building. Luckily, there was no one in there at the moment. Roger quickly checked the schedule on the door and found that it was free all morning. Good.

  As soon as they sat down, Floyd gave him an intense glare. “You are attracted to that little woman, aren’t you Roger?”

  Roger had ignored Floyd’s girlfriend comment before, hoping he wouldn’t bring it up again. No such luck.

  When Roger looked away, Floyd laughed loudly. “That proves it. You are, or you’d deny everything.”

  Then Floyd surprised him. “I can see why. That’s one fine woman there, even if she is in a wheelchair and is deaf. Maybe even in spite of those little facts.”

  Roger finally looked at Floyd. “She’s about the strongest woman I’ve ever known, and I was around quite a few strong ones in the Army.”

  Floyd groaned. “Tell me about it. I saw them in the Army and I’ve even got a few deputies like that.”

  He laughed then. “And I have a wife like that too.”

  Roger laughed with him for he knew that was a true statement.

  “But you’re right. She’s one strong woman. I have no doubt that she can probably out shoot me with that M9 of hers.”

  Roger was glad when Floyd didn’t pursue anything else about his relationship with Nicole. Ha! What relationship? He really admired her but wasn’t that about all it could ever amount to?

  They were silent for a moment when Floyd’s cell phone rang. When he finished, he groaned. “I’ve got a meeting in half an hour, but I want to talk some more about this before I leave.”

  “Okay, Floyd, what can we do other than what we’re already doing?”

  “Well, now that her brother is here, I don’t think there’s anything else we can do. I’ve alerted my patrol commander to be on the lookout for a suspicious black SUV but that’s about all we can do until we have more to identify it by.”

  “Yeah, that’s what I was afraid of. Somehow, I’m going to help her. I just don’t know how yet.”

  Floyd laughed and stood to leave. “I have faith in you little brother.” Then with a twinkle in his eye, he gave one last parting shot. “Now you be nice to me or I’ll tell Shelly and Myron about your feelings for Miss Fuller.”

  With that, Floyd was gone but Roger could hear his laughter until he went through the outside door.

  He sat there staring at the wall for a long time. Then he finally pulled his laptop out of his briefcase and got to work.

  After the insurance adjuster came, the first thing he did was call the office equipment company to order everything replaced. Then he went back to his office and turned his battered desk back over to try to work there.

  * * *

  After her last class was over, Nicole was at her desk with her elbows on the desk and her head in her hands. She was tired. It didn’t help that she hadn’t slept well for the last two nights.

  She opened her eyes and saw movement near the door. She looked up to see Ron Farley, the principal, coming toward her. She watched as he took the chair next to her desk. She looked behind him and saw that the door was closed.

  “Nicole, Shelly told me what happened this morning and I just want you to know I believe you and not any of the rumors I’m sure Darla Chadwick is spreading about you.”

  She didn’t know what to say. “Thank you, Ron. That means a lot to me.”

  He frowned. “That’s all well and good but there’s nothing I can do about it until she does something in front of others who will stand up to her and tell me the truth.”

  She gave him a weak smile. “I know Ron. It’s good enough for me right now that you know what’s going on and you believe me. Thank you again.”

  With that, he stood to leave. “This is not official yet, but she will not be back next year if I have anything to say about it and you know I do.”

  He left and Nicole dropped her head back into her hands. One more thing to think about. At least, it was mostly good.

  She was on her way out the exit near the staff parking lot when she noticed the patrol car coming her way. Oops, she forgot to call and tell them she was leaving. Then she looked closer and saw that it was Floyd.

  He stopped his SUV in front of her, jumped out and rushed over to her. “Miss Fuller, your brother has been shot but they say he should be okay after surgery. Let me take you to the hospital. We can get your van later.”

  “You’re sure he’ll be all right?”

  “Yes, Ma’am. I talked to the ER doctor who said the bullet is still in him, but it didn’t look like it did any major damage.”

  He pushed her over to his vehi
cle, opened the passenger door and without asking lifted her out of her wheelchair and onto the seat. She didn’t complain since he was doing everything much faster than she could have.

  All she wanted now was to get to the hospital and see Nick.

  She watched impatiently as Floyd loaded her chair in the back and then jumped in behind the wheel and drove off with lights and siren.

  Nicole didn’t talk, couldn’t talk, on the way to the hospital. Once there, Floyd put her in her chair and pushed her into the Emergency Room. Again, she wasn’t about to complain.

  Floyd pushed her up to the information desk and since he was in his uniform, the woman there greeted him immediately.

  “We’re here about Nick Fuller. We need someone to come out here and tell us what’s going on with him.”

  The older lady smiled at them. “One moment please.”

  She picked up the phone and talked for a moment then hung it up and turned back to them. “A nurse will be out in a moment to talk to you.”

  Nicole could tell that Floyd was looking down at her, but she kept her head down deep in thought, so he didn’t try to say anything then. Good. She didn’t think she could talk if she had to.

  The door behind the information desk opened and a tall woman in scrubs came out and walked right up to them.

  “Hello sheriff. Is this the sister?”

  “Yes, ma’am it is.”

  “Okay. Come with me over here please.”

  She led them over to an empty area of the waiting room. This time Floyd didn’t push Nicole, and she was glad. It gave her something to do with her hands which were trembling.

  Once there, the nurse turned and looked down at Nicole. “Your brother is one very lucky man. The sheriff here told us that the bullet hit a door facing first then went into your brother’s side and lodged there. If it had hit him straight on, there probably would have been much more damage. He’s in surgery right now but that’s mainly to remove the bullet. He should be fine afterward.”

  Nicole batted her eyes trying to clear the tears away. Nick was all she had in the world. She couldn’t lose him.