by Ron Fisher
But even when we put the special edition to bed, we had more work to do. We still had this week’s regular edition to put out, only now with less time to do it. At least we had a handle on the front page news. There had been a convenience store robbery in Easley with a clerk pistol-whipped. The Easley police had a couple of suspects in custody, and Vickie was already on that. And there had been a city council zoning change in Powdersville that had a lot of homeowners upset. Joanne was all over that. Between those stories and the area sports coverage by our freelancer and Mackenzie, Eloise’s community news, the ads, including classifieds, and we had the major bones of the issue in the works.
I gave kudos to the staff and told them all to go home. Then I went home myself. It had been another long day.
CHAPTER FORTY-NINE
Tuesday morning early, the big day for Kelly. Eloise and I sat in her hospital room, listening to Doctor Mathis. He was saying that tests and monitors continued to show her condition stabilized, and the brain swelling reduced to the point of normalcy. He explained the procedure by which he would bring Kelly out of her medically induced coma today. It was the same as he’d told me before, but Eloise hadn’t heard it, and she sat riveted to his every word. The process was simply to begin reducing the anesthetic drugs they were giving her until she regained consciousness.
While we were there, April Cheney came in bearing flowers. She stared at Kelly for a moment and sobbed, “Oh my God, I can’t believe those bastards did this to her.” She gave me an expectant look. “Tell me she’ll be okay.”
“We’ve got our fingers crossed, I said. “They’re bringing her out of the coma today, so we’ll see.”
“I got a copy of the special edition of the Clarion this morning and read all about what’s happened. It’s incredible.”
She looked at Eloise and Mackenzie, and I introduced them.
“I’m so sorry about this,” she said, nodding at Kelly. “I feel like it’s my fault, telling Kelly all I did about the Tiger’s Tail and everything.”
I told her, “You have nothing to be sorry about. If it weren’t for you, the Dollar brothers would still be making and selling the poison that killed your sister May. The things that you told Kelly—and me—are what led to the end of the Dollar brothers’ opioid organization. You helped bring justice to your sister May, and you should be very proud of that.”
“Thank you,” April said, fighting back the tears. “I appreciate you keeping me a secret and not putting my name in the paper. And I could tell by the questions the police asked me when they came and talked to everybody at the bar, that they didn’t know I was a snitch for you and Kelly. I’m still frightened of all these people and would just as soon not have what I did made public.”
“I gave you my word I wouldn’t tell anyone,” I said. “All I was doing was just keeping it. But there is one person who needs to know what a hero you’ve been. And I’d like your permission to tell them about it.”
“Who is that?” she asked.
“Your mother. She would be very proud of you.”
April stopped trying to hold back her tears and they flowed like a broken water pipe. She put her hands over her face. Eloise, Mackenzie, and I gave her a group hug.
She smiled through her tears and wiped her nose with a tissue Mackenzie gave her from a box on a bedside table.
“How are things at the Tiger’s Tail now?” I asked her.
“I’m out of a job, for one thing.” The Tiger’s Tail is closed and the doors padlocked.”
“So, what are your plans?”
“I’m going to Florida to take that bartending job I told you about. I’m all packed. I just came by here to see Kelly before I left.”
I hugged her again. “You’re a brave woman, April Cheney. When Kelly wakes up, I’ll tell her you came to see her. Or, you can stay and be here with us when that happens.”
She said, “No, that should be a family thing. But I’ll be thinking about her. I’m not normally the praying type, and this would shock my mother to death, but I’ll be praying that Kelly comes out of this healthy and happy. Call me and let me know how things go.”
I promised I would.
She hugged me back, another tear rolling down her cheek, and left.
I hoped her prayers would be answered.
#
Eloise and Mackenzie went to get us coffees, and I went out in the hallway to call Kate Cheney while it was still on my mind. I told her all about April’s heroic actions and how they helped smash the opioid ring that furnished the pills that killed her daughter May. I left her in tears, just like April. She seemed as proud now of April as she was of May. Mission accomplished, I thought.
I called Sheriff Bagwell to see if they’d made any progress in the Dollar killings. “Anything new happened?” I asked.
“You know, Mr. Bragg, I don’t remember a part of my job description saying I had to keep you informed with every single thing I’m doing.”
I was wondering when the special treatment I was getting by being Eloise’s brother would run out. I guess it had.
“Have you found Doughboy or Terrell Dent?”
I heard him sigh.
“We picked up Homer Addis, AKA Doughboy, last night. He’s in County lockup. It seems he has a pretty good alibi for the time of the Dollar’s death. So we don’t think he had anything to do with that. As to his drug dealing, or any connection to the Dollar brothers’ opioid ring, or supplying May Burgess with the drugs that killed her, we don’t have enough hard evidence to hold him on any of that. We can try, but he’ll probably be out by this afternoon.”
“What about Terrell Dent?”
“He’s still out there somewhere. Mr. Addis says Dent has relatives over in Mississippi someplace and we’re checking that out. But according to Addis, Dent was just a wannabe thug and little more than a gofer for Sonny Dollar. The man had little to do with the drug side of things and couldn’t see any reason why Terrell Dent would want to kill the Dollars.
“Addis did say, however, that while he didn’t know the details, the Dixie Demons motorcycle gang was involved with the Dollars. To what degree, or what their position was, he says he doesn’t know. But he wouldn’t be surprised if the Dixie Demons were the ones that killed the Dollars. Last week when the Demons were in town, Sonny and Laverne were in the bar’s office with a couple of them, and Addis heard raised voices coming from behind the door. He couldn’t make out what they were saying, but it sounded like they were about to come to blows. And afterward, every time the Dixie Demons came in the bar, there was visible tension between them and the brothers. They weren’t as friendly with each other as they were before. So he thinks they had a falling out over something.”
“Think there’s anything to that?” I asked.
“I got in touch with the authorities up in North Carolina where the gang calls headquarters. They do suspect that the Dixie Demons are into the distribution of opioids and other drugs up there and in several other Southern states. I sent them a sample of the pills collected on the streets here to see if they match the ones up there. If they do, we’re all going to join forces: North Carolina, the DEA, SLED, my department, and Oconee County, and go after this bunch. With what Mr. Addis is telling us, we might be adding a triple homicide to the charges.”
I said, “Wow, the Dixie Demons. That would be an interesting turn of events, but not all that uncommon, I guess. Fallout amongst drug dealers probably happens a lot.”
“And Mr. Bragg? I’ll keep you posted on things, but not because I have to. I’ve just grown fond of you for some reason.”
I was glad he liked me. If it were because he hoped to one day become my brother-in-law, that was well out of my area of influence and entirely up to Eloise. I held no sway with my sister in matters like that.
I heard footsteps coming down the hall and looked around to see Alvin approaching. “Yo,” I said to him.
“This thing still on?” he asked.
“Waiting for the Doctor
.”
“Elizabeth and Mackenzie here?”
“Gone to get coffee.”
Alvin must have seen something in my face that made him put his hand on my shoulder.
“She gonna’ be fine, J.D..” he said.
“I hope you’re right,” I said.
“You ever know me not to be?” Alvin said and gave me the Alvin grin.
Alvin’s confidence was contagious, and it made me feel better. “Are you here to lend me more moral support?” I asked, grinning back at him.
“If you’ll let me. But this is a family thing, so I’ll stay out here and out of everybody’s way. I’ll be here if you need me.”
“Bullshit, Alvin. You’re as much a part of this family as anybody. You aren’t going to be anywhere but by my side.”
Alvin dipped his chin at me and squeezed my shoulder. There was no more to be said about it.
CHAPTER FIFTY
Forty-five minutes later, Eloise, Mackenzie, Alvin, and I were at Kelly’s bedside, waiting for Dr. Mathis to show up and bring her out of the coma. I sat and studied Kelly’s lovely face, as I had every day since she’d been here. Her bruises were almost faded away, still a faint reminder of what brought her here. Even if the assholes who did this were no longer walking the Earth, I didn’t think I could ever get over hating them for it.
I noticed my hand shaking as I placed it on hers. I was trying as hard as I could to stay calm and have positive thoughts, but that wasn’t working too well. No matter how much I tried to visualize Kelly opening her eyes and smiling at me as if nothing had happened, that little voice of insecurity in me that never seemed to leave me alone kept whispering that I wasn’t worthy of having someone this beautiful and wonderful in my life. And that fate was about to teach me a cruel lesson for even thinking I deserved it.
Doctor Mathis came striding in and broke me away from my dark thoughts. A nurse and another doctor were right behind him.
He said, as bright and cheery as ever, “Okay, it’s time to bring this young lady back to the waking world. I’ll explain what we’re going to do again, if you’d like.”
“We would,” I said, Eloise and Mackenzie nodding.
“First, let me introduce you to Doctor Amos, the anesthesiologist. I think you’ve met Nurse Jackson. Doctor Amos will gradually begin the process of taking the patient off her cocktail of medications that are keeping her unconscious. Nurse Jackson and I will be assisting and monitoring the patient’s condition as this happens. This part won’t take long, but it may be a little longer for the drug’s effects to wear off and she actually wakes up. I’d like you all to step outside as we wean her off the anesthetics, and then I’ll come out and speak to you. After that, barring any complications—which I don’t expect—you can come back in and sit with her until the moment she awakes. But I suggest you don’t stay too long after that and tire her out. Just because she’s been asleep for days, she still needs more rest to get over this completely.”
We went out to the waiting room and took seats. Regardless of Doctor Mathis and his positive attitude that all would be well, Eloise, Mackenzie, and I sat there anxiously, barely speaking, worried and nervous. Alvin sat quietly beside us.
After what seemed like forever, but wasn’t all that long, Doctor Mathis came out and announced that everything went well. Kelly was off all the coma-inducing drugs. However, as he’d said earlier, she wasn’t awake yet. They would continue to monitor her recovery closely, and we could now go wait in her room if we wanted to. We unanimously wanted to.
After an hour or so of sitting by Kelly’s side, I saw her arm move slightly. Once, twice, then three times. Then her fingertips fluttered. My heart raced, and Mackenzie and Eloise had seen her move too. They were sitting on the edge of their seats, watching her closely. Alvin, leaning against a wall, stood a little straighter. He’d noticed it too.
Then she opened her eyes. I grabbed her hand and squeezed, and her eyes met mine. She smiled that beautiful smile at me, and it was like a ray of sunlight had suddenly broken through the clouds, found me in her hospital room, and warmed me to the core.
“John David,” she said weakly, but still smiling.
I laughed out loud before I could stop myself. “Kelly.”
She looked around at Eloise and Mackenzie standing at the other side of her bed. Somehow they were managing to grin ear to ear and cry at the same time. They clasped her other hand and we held on to her from both sides.
Kelly’s eyes went past them and found Alvin, grinning at her too. “Alvin” she said. “You’re here.”
“Welcome back, sweet lady,” he said, grinning.
“How long was I . . .” Kelly said.
“Ten days,” I said, and she turned back to me.
“You’ve been here . . . all along. Somehow, I knew it.”
“Yes I have,” I said, unable to remember ever being happier.
#
We’d spent half an hour with her, with me squeezing her hand the whole time and grinning like an idiot before Doctor Mathis came in to shoo us away. Kelly remembered her attack only vaguely, enough to say there were two of them. I discouraged speaking too much about it now, telling her we could talk about that later.
She was groggy, her eyelids beginning to droop as she was struggling to stay awake. I stood up to go and let her get some rest. Kelly reached out and touched my arm as if she wanted to say something to me. Her voice was weak, and I leaned down to better hear her.
“He spoke Russian, J.D.,” she said.
“Who spoke Russian?”
“The man . . . who beat me. I fought back. I think I hurt him and he called me a bitch in Russian. Right before he began to kick me.”
“Are you sure?” I asked, wondering if this was just a product of a wounded memory.
“Yes, this man said, Ty chertovski suka. You fucking bitch.”
“How do you even know Russian?” I asked.
“A College friend. Exchange student from Moscow. She taught me to curse in Russian so we could swear without people knowing. It was our little joke.”
Kelly seemed so sure of it, but did she just imagine it? Was it something from a coma-induced dream about college days? Who knows what went on in her mind over the days she lay drugged up and comatose?
I started to ask another question, but she’d closed her eyes and began to snore gently.
I would have to wait.
CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE
We’d come in separate cars, so Eloise and Mackenzie headed for the parking lot. I’d told them I’d be right behind them but motioned to Alvin to hang back. I didn’t think that anyone but me heard Kelly’s puzzling news that her assailant spoke Russian. I wanted to tell Alvin about it.
There was no one in the waiting room, so Alvin and I went there, taking seats in the far corner. I told him what Kelly had said.
“And you don’t think it was like a hallucination or something?” Alvin asked. “A kick in the head can scramble your brains pretty good.”
“I don’t think so. She was pretty sure about it. Are we wrong about the Dollar brothers assaulting her?”
Alvin said, “Can’t see dumb peckerwoods like them speaking Russian. They can barely handle English.”
“I agree, but they’re part of it somehow. Laverne said as much when he had me tied to that chair. We’ve missed something.”
“Yeah. We got us a Russian in the woodpile somewhere. So what do we do now?”
“We keep looking,” I said. “And looking out for Kelly. If the Dollars didn’t do it, then the creep who did is still out there somewhere. He might take another run at her.”
Alvin read my mind. “We need somebody on her door again. I’ll take care of it.”
“You can stay a few more days?”
“Ain’t no way I’m leaving until we catch this mother-fucker.”
“I appreciate it, Alvin,” I said.
“You said we keep looking. Where?”
“I don’t know yet. I need to do some
thinking on it.”
Alvin said, “Well when you do think of something, this time don’t go trying to do anything without me. I’ll add another man on Kelly’s door if I need to.”
#
I left Alvin at the hospital and headed to the Clarion. On the way I called April Cheney. There was a dull roar in the background when she answered, like she was in her car and on the road somewhere.
“You already on your way to Florida?” I asked.
“I hope you’re calling to tell me Kelly’s okay,” she said.
“She’s fantastic, she’s going to be fine.”
“Thank goodness. And no, I’m on my way to my mother’s house. She called and asked me to come over. Would you believe it, she doesn’t want me to leave? All of a sudden, she’s a different person. We’re actually getting along. Is this your doing?”
“I might have said something to her,” I said.
“Well, whatever you said seemed to make things better between us than they’ve been in years. Thank you.”
“You did it, not me. I just reminded her of who you really are. I want to ask you something else about the Tiger’s Tail.”
“That place is so in my rearview mirror now, but what is it?”
“Did you ever see the Dollars talking to, or associating with, anyone who was Russian, or who spoke Russian?”
“That’s a weird question. I heard a lot of stuff in that place, but never anybody talking Russian. Why are you asking me that?”
“It’s just something Kelly said when she first woke up. She probably wasn’t over the meds yet, so don’t worry about it. And April, I’m happy about you and your mom.”
There was someone else I wanted to talk to about Russians. I called the Sheriff’s Department again, but Bagwell was out. They gave me a deputy, and I asked if I could get into the lockup to see Doughboy. The deputy said no. I started to argue then he Homer Addis was released an hour ago. He’s made bail.
