by Bella Falls
Ebonee accepted my addition to her information with a slight grunt of agreement. “Olivia had her team interview all of the vendors who had access to the space, creating a timeline of their comings and goings.”
That would have been useful information before we’d confronted Cassidy. However, I didn’t regret the opportunity we took to talk to her since it resulted in the first stitches to mend a friendship. My phone vibrated again, and I fidgeted under the coven leader’s glare of disapproval.
“I think you and I would agree that without a clear alternative of a suspect, Azalea will be vulnerable.” Something akin to regret passed like a shadow over her face. “I’d like to avoid that if possible, and I need as much information as I can get to aid her and prevent it from happening.” She bounced her foot under the desk, the heel of her stiletto tapping the floor.
Seeing even a small chink in her armor eased my hesitation. “I think I understand. You and I have a similar goal, and maybe if we pool our resources, we could do more good than harm as a team?”
Ebonee scowled at my choice of words. “We are not equals, Ms. Jewell. And this would be a temporary arrangement of the flow of information. If you have something to contribute, bring it to me.”
I raised an eyebrow. “And if I wanted to know something, would you tell me if I asked? Or am I going to be held accountable after the fact and get in trouble for sticking my nose where it doesn’t belong, so to speak?”
“The lieutenant has been warned about your propensity to meddle. However, she has persuaded me that your close relationship with those involved could be beneficial. Olivia has been doing her best to keep you free to do what you need to do,” Ebonee said.
“Hasn’t stopped one of the deputy sheriffs from showing up on our property.” I smirked in amusement at Caine’s defeat by our rooster.
“I didn’t say she could control everything. Being that you were involved in the incident, you’ll have to expect some attention. But I trust in your abilities to handle yourself.” Ebonee glanced at the clock on the wall and back at my purse with my phone vibrating two times in a row. “Due to the sense of urgency coming from inside your bag, may we come to an accord so that we can both leave?”
Without the ability to check with my friends to think if it was a good idea, I took a chance. My curiosity to find out more from the official side of the investigations outweighed my desire to rebel against the coven leader. I stuck out my hand. “Deal, as long as the information flows both ways.”
Ebonee’s cold fingers wrapped around mine as we shook on it. “Tomorrow, I’d like for you to come back and share everything you know so far and any plans you have for any further inquiries. For now, go meet your friends at Pops’ place. Eat an Ellie burger and some fries for me. It’s been a while since I’ve been there.”
For the second time tonight, I gaped at her. “How did you know?”
Her lips snaked into a grin like the Cheshire Cat’s from Alice in Wonderland. “I’m the coven leader. It’s my job to know everything.” She gestured at the door, dismissing me. “May your habit of getting into trouble keep a friend out of it. Now, please answer whoever it is that insists on messaging you on your way out.”
She didn’t have to ask me twice, and I shot out of the room as fast as my legs could speed walk. I almost got out of the building when I read through the barrage of texts from Dani and Gloria. Turning around, I hustled back to the office and caught Ebonee as she was locking the door.
Keeping my end of the bargain, I shared the news with her. “Harrison had internal bleeding they couldn’t detect until now. The doctors took him in for emergency surgery, but it’s not looking good.”
“I’ll alert Olivia, but you should go with your friends to the hospital.” When I couldn’t move out of the sheer panic gripping my heart, Ebonee approached me and placed her hands on my arms with a gentle grasp. “Go. Your friends need you.”
I bolted out of the building to find Dani, hoping we wouldn’t be too late.
Chapter Twelve
“You gave us a huge scare, buddy.” I dumped a potted plant, a box of chocolates, a large bouquet of flowers, and an even bigger teddy bear than I’d purchased at the hospital gift shop into Harrison’s lap.
My friend struggled under all the items while he lay in the recliner in his living room, recovering from his emergency splenectomy only a week earlier. “They took out my spleen, Ruby Mae. I don’t think that merits you cleaning out every store between your home and here.”
Azalea removed all of the items except the teddy bear. “We’re running out of vases to put the flowers in. It’s beginning to look like a greenhouse in here.” She disappeared into the kitchen to find something she could use for the flowers I’d brought.
Harrison patted the furry head of the stuffed animal. “I haven’t needed one of these since forever ago.”
“I can take him back if you want,” I offered, knowing it had been a silly idea in the first place.
He hugged the bear to him and winced at the effort. “Not a chance. Yogi here will join little Boo Boo, the other one you got me at the hospital. Then all I need is a picnic basket full of food and it’ll be a day of fun.”
“We’re also running out of space to put these on display,” Azalea said, returning with the flowers hanging out of a crystal pitcher. “At least one of our wedding presents we’ve managed to open is being put to good use.”
“Add it to the group on the table, babe. I won’t be sitting up to eat there for a while,” Harrison suggested. He shifted his position in the recliner and bit his lip to suppress a groan of pain. His hand shot to his left side.
Azalea set down the bouquet and rushed over to him. “I told you to ask for my help when you wanted to move.”
He gripped her hand in his. “Honey, it’s normal. You were there when the doctor said it might take four to six weeks to get back to my usual routine. If I didn’t die at the hospital after having two surgeries, internal bleeding, and a blood transfusion, then I’m not going to die here.”
His wife knelt down by the chair and pressed her cheek against their clasped hands. “Don’t even say something like that. I don’t even like hearing that word.”
Petting her hair, Harrison comforted Azalea, taking on the role of caregiver even though he was still the recovering patient. My clenched stomach sided with her that he shouldn’t talk about dying, but I kept that thought to myself. We’d come too close to losing him, so I sympathized with his new wife that talking about that horrific possibility still scared the pants off of us.
We’d stayed at the hospital off and on over the week and a half after the surgery, several of us taking turns to support Azalea and making sure she didn’t run herself into the ground. With Gloria sick from whatever hit her, the girls and I played a bigger part in offering support. Since we weren’t immediate family, we spent most of our time in the waiting room and rotated who would sit with the new wife in the room or bring her food and drink.
Ebonee stepped in like a true leader, sustaining those of us on Team Azalea by bringing fresh clothes or better food than what they had at the hospital galley. She checked in several times during each day on Harrison’s status. Even after they stabilized him and we went on a rotating schedule for us to get the rest Azalea refused to do for herself, the head of the coven made extra efforts to stay informed and involved.
“Your standing there and staring at us is getting a little creepy, Rue. I know you must have something you want to talk to me about, and we might as well get it over with before you and my wife start planning my funeral.” Harrison winked at me, but his joke fell flat for me and Azalea.
“I would punch you if I thought you could take it,” his wife complained.
I crossed my arms. “You see how you’re upsetting your wife, and it’s definitely not fun to listen to you be so morbid. Promise me you’ll stop doing it.”
“Isn’t it better if I joke about it rather than dwell on things?” he countered. “If I m
ake light of it, then maybe it won’t be so heavy.”
Picking up the bag I’d set at my feet, I waved it in the air to tempt him. “Promise or you won’t get my real present for you.”
He manhandled his new teddy bear. “You mean, Yogi wasn’t the best thing?”
“I like stuffed animals just fine, but I figured you needed something a little more entertaining to help speed your recovery.” The plastic bag crinkled in my hands as I shook it again. “But first, I want to hear your promise.”
“Me, too,” echoed Azalea.
Harrison groaned in agitation. “Fine.” Setting Yogi on the side table and holding up his right hand, he smirked. “I swear I won’t say any words that convey the truth that I came pretty close to leaving this Earth, even though I think embracing that fact will help me appreciate every single second I get to live with my beautiful wife.”
A little choked up at the spectacle of the newlyweds’ love, I bit the inside of my cheek to keep from tearing up. “I guess that will do. Here, I saved this just for you.”
He accepted the bag with curious thanks and pulled the plastic-covered item out. His eyes widened almost as big as his grin. “No way. Where in the world did you get this?”
“It looks like an old magazine. Why would you want that?” Azalea wrinkled her nose at my perfect gift.
“Uh, honey, this is The New Mutants #98.” Harrison handled the gift with care, bringing it closer to his face to admire the artwork. “It’s in incredible condition.”
Azalea looked between her husband and me. “I don’t get it.”
“This is a collectible, and Ruby Mae must have found it through her family business. It could fetch well over a thousand dollars on the market in this kind of condition.” He glanced up at me. “This is too much.”
I blushed under his attention, pleased at my choice. “Naw, I figured someone who almost shook hands with the reaper deserved to get something he really wanted.”
“Why does she get to make that joke and I can’t?” Harrison complained, narrowing his eyes at me. “Although I really do want it, so I guess I’ll let it slide. Thanks, Rue.”
“Nope, I still don’t get it, but if it makes you happy, then I second that.” Azalea beamed at me. “Thanks, Ruby Mae. Can I get you some sweet tea or something? Why don’t you sit down for a bit so you, too, can watch my sweet husband ignore us and drool all over his comic book while he reads it.”
“Oh, no. I would never take it out to read. That would risk its value.” He cradled the comic book to his chest, careful not to wrinkle a page while he loved on it.
“Read away, my friend. I’m glad I rescued it for you. Like you said, it’s my job. And giving that to you is my absolute pleasure.” I sat on the edge of the couch. “Actually, if you don’t mind, I do have some questions to ask you if you’re not in too much pain.”
Azalea stayed next to her husband. “Are you sure you’re not too exhausted?”
Harrison rolled his eyes and snorted. “Don’t make me break my promise reminding you that I’m still here with all my parts functioning. We’ll need a little more privacy if you need me to prove it to you. We never did get to go on our honeymoon.” He wiggled his eyebrows at his wife.
She turned five shades of pink, dodging her eyes from me and giving him a playful smack. “You’re out of luck, Mr. Dobbs. The doctor said it would be a good four to six weeks before you return to any normal activity.”
“Challenge accepted, Mrs. Dobbs.” Harrison ran the back of his hand down her cheek. “Have we made it too awkward for you, Rue, or do you still want to interrogate me?”
Their displays of affection did make me feel like an intruder, but I needed to hear his side of things before I left. “I’ll get through this as quick as I can so you two can have some alone time. I guess the biggest thing I want to know is, what happened from your perspective?”
Harrison closed his eyes while he recounted what happened. “I was having so much fun dancing with all of y’all and really celebrating with those I knew cared about us the most. The band was playing their butts off.”
“Yeah, Hunter and the boys are really good. I’m thinking they’ll be getting offers sometime soon to move up to Nashville,” I admitted. “But do you remember when you left? How did you end up in the darkened area behind the table you’d sat at for dinner?”
Harrison shrugged. “I had to go to the bathroom.”
“So did I, but I didn’t run into you when I went up to the house to use the restroom.” Maybe we’d missed each other by mere moments in passing.
“Uh, I’m a guy. I didn’t exactly need to go up to the house.” Harrison shrugged at the truth. “Not to gross you two out. But now I’m wishing I had gone up to use the actual bathroom because maybe I wouldn’t have put myself in danger.” He reached out to take Azalea’s hand, linking his fingers through hers.
My heart raced, preparing to ask the most important question. “Did you see who did it?”
His face dropped. “No. I wish with everything in me I had so I could tell that to the police. Maybe then they’d stop hounding me for my account. I know they think Azalea did it, but there’s no way it was her.”
“What do you remember about that moment?” I pressed, worried that I might be asking too much.
“I was taking care of business, and about the time I finished, I heard steps coming up from behind. I didn’t turn around because I wanted to zip up my fly first and make myself presentable, just in case it was my wife.” He stroked her hair. “But before I turned around, I felt a sharp pain in my left side and fell to the ground. Whoever it was took off without me being able to see who it was.”
We were no closer to an answer than when he was unconscious at the hospital. “Do you think it was the footsteps of a guy or a girl?”
“I was a little too busy dealing with a knife sticking into me and trying to breathe.” He grimaced in pain and grunted.
Azalea stood up and shielded her husband from my view. “I think that’s enough. He doesn’t need to keep talking about it if he can’t remember anything. I’m sorry, but I’m kicking you out, Ruby Mae.”
Guilty embarrassment doused my curiosity. “I completely understand. I apologize if I went too far. Get some rest. I’ll stop by another time, but just to make sure you two aren’t trying to kill each other from boredom.”
Harrison pointed at me in mock horror. “See, she did it again, making the same kind of joke. This feels totally unfair.”
“You could give me back the comic book,” I teased, snapping my fingers for it.
“Never mind,” he replied with a wave to shoo me away. “Now, leave me to my girl and my gift.”
I laughed, relieved at his lack of annoyance at me. “I’m not even going to ask which one you want to spend time with first. No need to get you even more injured.” A thought popped in my head, and I risked pushing them to the brink. “Wait. I have two more things and I swear I’ll go away.”
“Rue,” Harrison warned.
“It’s actually one question I want both of you to answer. Can you remember what song was playing when you left the dance floor?” If they could come up with the correct tunes, it could narrow down exactly when Harrison was attacked.
They conferred with each other, suggesting and vetoing titles. “I think it was after that wagon wheel song because I like singing along so much that I waited to relieve myself until after it was finished,” Harrison said.
I hadn’t been there for that fun song, so already we could narrow down the time based on Mac’s scheduled estimations. “Azalea?”
“I can’t remember much other than throwing down as much as possible. We were also a little tipsy from drinking straight out of the bourbon bottle.” Her eyes brightened at that memory. “Although I do remember, it was a slow song because it took me a hot second to realize my new husband wasn’t there to twirl me around.”
Even without a specific title, it was something concrete I could work with. “That’s when y
ou left to go looking for him?”
She tilted her head to the side. “Actually, no. I was going to go up to the house to use the bathroom, but I was told Harrison was waiting to see me.”
My heart beat faster, and I leaned against the frame of the door to steady myself and stay upright. “Who told you?”
Azalea turned to Harrison. “I didn’t even think about it, I was so focused on what happened to you.” She faced me again, her eyes glazed with burgeoning tears. “Gloria. It was Gloria who told me where I could find him.”
Chapter Thirteen
My fist banged on the door to Gloria’s place again. She hadn’t answered the other twenty or so times I’d knocked, but I didn’t know what else to do while waiting for her brother to meet me in her driveway. I considered messaging our mutual friends, but until I got a chance to talk to her in person, I thought it best to keep my gnawing fears to myself.
Wesley’s car squealed around the corner, blowing through the stop sign. He pulled in right next to my truck and killed the engine, jumping out to join me. “Is she answering?” he asked, breathless and ashen.
“I figure she’d let me in if she was home. Since I can’t get into the house, I can’t see if her car’s in the garage. I didn’t know what else to do.” I caught the neighbor across the street watching us. “Don’t suppose you have a key to get us inside so Gladys Kravitz over there doesn’t call the police on us?”
Wesley hopped down from the small brick patio by the door. “No, but I know where she hides the spare.” He picked up a rock and brought it to his lips. “Hello, friend.” After the sound of a slight click, he dumped a key out into his palm.
“Was that a Lord of the Rings reference?” I asked. “Why didn’t you say the word in Elvish?”
He scrambled back up on the porch. “Because Glo and I loved those books growing up, and the movies were awesome. But I think learning Elvish might have taken our fandom one step too far.” With a turn of the key, he entered her small house. “Glo! Where are you?” He tossed the key into a bowl sitting on the decorative table next to the door.
