Carrots: A Shelby Nichols Adventure

by Colleen Helme

  “It’s all right, Shelby. You’re safe now.”

  I blinked open my eyes. It really was Chris. He was here. Someone handed him something and he gently placed it on my hurting head. I sucked in my breath. “Oww!” I yelled, suddenly awake. Tears leaked from the corners of my eyes and I pushed the cloth away, struggling to sit up.

  “You need to keep this on your head or the swelling might get worse.”

  “But touching it hurts!”

  Chris helped prop me against the wall, then gingerly raised the ice to my head. Tears leaked out again, but this time it was easier to bear. After a few moments, the ice began to numb the pain, and I was able to open my eyes and focus on the room.

  “Is that Dimples?” I asked.

  “Yes,” Chris sat down beside me.

  “What’s he doing here?”

  Chris sighed. “Trying to save you. Same reason I’m here.”

  “How did you know?”

  “Kate came to my office after our little lunch today, and told me she was looking for a file she’d misplaced. For some reason, she thought it might be in my filing cabinet. I told her to look all she wanted, and went out into the hall, then listened at the door.

  “She got a phone call, and went on and on about how you’d given her file on Stephen Cohen to Manetto, and she couldn’t wait to throttle you. I thought you might be in trouble, so I followed her here. I noticed your new car in the parking garage and tried calling your cell, but you didn’t answer. I started to get worried and called Dimples. He came right over and when we got off the elevator, we heard the shots. I didn’t even think. I just ran for the door.”

  “So, you’re the one who slammed the door into my head?”

  “I didn’t know you’d be right behind it. At least you didn’t get shot. How does it feel?”

  “It hurts real bad.” My head was pounding to beat the devil, and I still had trouble focusing. I could hear Uncle Joey talking, so I knew he must be okay. There were several more bodies in the room than before. Dimples was arguing with three other guys and I finally recognized them as numbers two, three, and four.

  What had happened to Walter? Someone was lying on the floor. Was that him or Hodges? My head started to spin and I started feeling a bit nauseous.

  “How are you doing?” Dimples asked, kneeling beside me.

  “Awful.” I couldn’t move my head afraid I would throw up.

  “I’m leaving for a minute, but I’ll be back,” he said to Chris. After he left, I heard the wail of sirens in the distance. Then Uncle Joey started arguing with the guys. With Dimples gone, it sounded like they were trying to decide what to do before he came back with more policemen. I scanned the room for Kate and Hodges, and found her wrapping something around Hodges’ bloody arm. They were sitting in the corner by the potted plant.

  All at once, EMT’s and firemen flooded the room. They brought in a gurney and all sorts of equipment, making the room seem small and crowded. After a minute, one of them came to my side and started shining a light in my eyes.

  “It looks like you might have a slight concussion.” He removed the ice from my forehead and let out a low whistle. “Whew! That’s huge!” He hurriedly put it back. “You need to keep ice on that, but you’ll probably still have a couple of black eyes. Are you nauseated? Dizzy?”

  “Just a little,” I said trying not to move my head.

  “Better sit tight for a few more minutes then. You might need to go to the hospital.” He stayed by my side, but was clearly more interested in what was going on in the room. “Man, what happened to this place? It looks like a shoot-out from The Godfather.”

  “Yeah, something like that,” Chris said. The EMT got called over to the other group and someone else joined us.

  “Hey babe,” Ramos said. Chris stiffened at my side, but none of his thoughts came through.

  “Ramos…” I got out. “I thought you were dead.” Relief came so strong tears gathered in my eyes. He didn’t look like he was at death’s door, although there was blood on his shirt.

  “I’m not that easy to kill.”

  “But I saw him shoot you,” I protested.

  He pulled his shirt open to reveal a black vest. “It’s Kevlar. I don’t wear it all the time, but when I saw them grab you on the monitors, I figured I’d better be prepared. I thought Walter would be gone longer than he was, or I would have had you out of there before he came back.” He sounded apologetic, like he hadn’t done his job.

  “It’s okay, I’m just glad you’re alive.” My arm was getting tired from holding the ice, so I lowered it for a minute.

  “Whoa!” Ramos exhaled. “That’s huge. How did that happen?”

  I glanced at Chris out of the corner of my eye. He was frowning, and didn’t seem to like Ramos very much. “I was trying to get away and ran into the door just as Chris was coming in.” I wasn’t sure Chris appreciated how nicely I said that.

  “Oh.” Ramos raised his brow at Chris. “You bring the cop?”

  “Yeah.” There was a challenge in his tone, but he was saved from further comment when the paramedics brought the gurney carrying Walter toward the door. There was an oxygen mask covering his face and an IV stuck in his arm. His face was pale and his shirt was covered in blood.

  “Is he going to live?” I asked.

  “Don’t know,” Ramos answered.

  The paramedic that had looked at me before came back and shined the light in my eyes again. “Not quite so dilated this time. How are you feeling?”

  “My head hurts pretty bad, and I’m still a little dizzy, but I’m not nauseous anymore.”

  “You should probably go to the hospital, just in case.”

  “No,” I said forcefully. “I just want to go home.”

  The EMT frowned. “Well, then you should take something for the pain, and keep ice on your head. But you have to promise me if you start feeling worse, you’ll go straight to the emergency room. Does that sound good to you?”

  “I’ll take care of her,” Chris said.

  Ramos grunted, then stalked over to Uncle Joey and the others. As soon as the paramedics left, Dimples entered the room with several other policemen and I wondered what was going to happen. Would they try to arrest Ramos or Uncle Joey? Maybe they would arrest everyone, including me. What was I going to tell them? My head started to pound even worse, and at that moment, all I wanted to do was lie down and die.

  “Come on Shelby,” Chris said. “Let’s get you home.”

  “Okay,” I whimpered. He helped get me to my feet, and supported most of my weight. A wave of dizziness washed over me, but left as I got my balance. We got two steps toward the door when a burley cop blocked our way.

  “Excuse me. No one is allowed to leave this room.”

  I couldn’t help it. Tears started rolling down my face. This was just too much, and I couldn’t take it anymore.

  “Harris!” Chris called. Dimples excused himself from the group and came over. “He won’t let us leave and Shelby’s had it.”

  Dimples took one look at me and nodded. “Of course, go ahead, we can talk tomorrow.” He paused, then added. “Are you sure she doesn’t need a doctor? That bump is huge.”

  Good grief, how bad could it be?

  “She just needs to lie down and rest.” I hated that they were talking about me like I wasn’t there, but with the tears and headache, I couldn’t trust myself to speak.

  The brawny policeman let us go, and we were soon in the elevator. That’s when I realized I didn’t have my purse or my car keys. How were we going to get home? Through my tears I managed to tell Chris my worries.

  “I’ve got my car,” Chris soothed me. “I’ll come back and get your stuff tomorrow.”

  “I don’t even know where my purse is,” I moaned.

  “Don’t worry, I’ll find it.” He helped me into his car and put the seat back. I closed my eyes and endured the pain in silent agony. We made it home and Chris helped me inside.

  He gave m
e one of my pain pills as soon as we walked in the kitchen. It didn’t take long before I started feeling more relaxed, and the hard edge of my headache eased. I even felt mellow enough to take a look at the bump on my head, but every time I got close to a mirror, Chris got in the way.

  Was he trying to spare my feelings? Wait a minute. Shouldn’t I know what he was thinking? I tried to open my mind to his thoughts, but nothing happened. I couldn’t ‘hear’ him. The only thing I got was a twinge of pain in my right temple where the door had hit me so hard. Was it gone? Did this mean I couldn’t read minds anymore?

  I didn’t know if that made me happy or sad. Mostly, I was just tired and sleepy from the pill. Who knew what would happen tomorrow. It was getting hard to keep my eyes open, so I finally stopped trying and got into bed.

  I only woke up once during the night, and Chris gave me another pain pill that knocked me out until mid-morning. This time I woke up feeling mostly normal, although it hurt to lift my eyebrows.

  I gingerly felt for the bump on my head. It was still there, but not nearly as big as it had seemed the night before. I was a little nervous about looking in the mirror, but the one on my dresser was far enough away that maybe it wouldn’t be such a shock. I took a deep breath and sat up, only to find the mirror covered with a sheet.

  If I hadn’t been nervous before, now I was totally rattled. Why had Chris done that? I ran my hands over my face just to make sure everything was still in the right places. Were my eyes a little swollen? They seemed normal. At least I could open them all the way. The rest of my face felt fine. The only thing that seemed unusual was the big bump on my forehead.

  Now I was getting upset. This was ridiculous. Just look in the mirror and get it over with. I stood slowly. Then taking my time, wobbled into the bathroom. Good, no sheets. I glanced in the mirror and did a double take. Was that really me? I looked like something out of a horror movie, and the bump was huge!

  My face was pale as death, except for the skin around the bump and around my eyes. It was totally black and blue, and I looked like a ghost who was having a really bad hair day. Suddenly, my stomach got queasy, and I had to steady myself against the bathroom sink. Taking slow and easy breaths, I tried not to panic.

  This wouldn’t last. Maybe a week, tops, and I’d be back to normal, right? I could handle looking like this for a while. Then it would go away. At least I was alive! I glanced at my reflection again and cringed. Maybe it was better if I covered up the mirrors. But what if I had to go out? I couldn’t stand for anyone to see me like this.

  There was always the option of wearing dark glasses. That would work. I teetered into the kitchen and opened the drawer where I kept them. With perverse satisfaction, I put them on my face and hurried back into the bathroom. To my great relief, the bruises were mostly hidden. It was a vast improvement. This I could handle.

  I couldn’t believe how ironic it was that with all the bullets flying around, the only injury I got was from my husband. How was I supposed to explain that to the kids? What about my mother? I could just imagine her reaction when I told her that Chris accidentally hit me with a door. She’d probably think I made it up.

  I took a nice long shower, and threw on my standard t-shirt and jeans. I pulled some hair across my forehead to cover the bump, and with the glasses, I didn’t look too bad. As long as no one took a closer look.

  My stomach growled, and I meandered into the kitchen for breakfast. So far, I’d been able to keep my worries at bay, but while I ate, they all came back. I wondered what had happened after Chris and I had left. Had the police made any arrests? I was sure glad Ramos was alive, but I couldn’t say the same about Walter. And what had happened to Kate and Hodges?

  My main concern was what I was going to tell Dimples. He’d let me go last night, but I’d have no such luck today. I wondered what story Uncle Joey had told him. Maybe I could blame everything on Kate. That would be nice. But if I did that, I’d have to tell them about the file, and I didn’t think Uncle Joey would like that. So what should I do?

  The phone rang and I jumped. I couldn’t talk to Dimples until I knew what to say. I checked the Caller ID and let out a breath. It was Chris.

  “How are you doing?” he asked.

  “Lots better, except I look horrible. The bump is still there, and now I have two black eyes! I look like I’ve been in a fight or something.”

  “You got hit pretty hard,” he explained, then seemed to realize it was him who hit me. “Ah…how’s your head? Any headaches?”

  “Not right now. Other than how I look, I’m feeling okay. So, what’s going on? Have you heard anything? Is Kate there? Did Dimples arrest anyone?”

  “I’m not sure about anything except that Kate didn’t come in this morning, and no one’s been able to find her.”

  “That’s strange. Are you sure they didn’t arrest her?”

  “I don’t know,” Chris paused. “Shelby, I need to know everything that you’ve been involved in. Everything. You can’t leave anything out. All right?”

  “Well, sure. I was going to tell you what was going on anyway, but I never got the chance.”

  He paused, clearly contemplating if I was telling the truth. “Well, now the police are involved. Dimples called this morning and he wants to talk to you.”

  I took a sharp breath. “He’s not going to arrest me or anything, is he?”

  “No. But you’re involved, and I need to know how much before you talk to him. It may not be in your best interests to tell him everything.” He let that sink in for a second before continuing. “It’s something I’ll have to decide when I know the whole story.”

  At that moment, I was profoundly grateful he was a lawyer. “Okay. When did Dimples want to talk to me?”

  “This afternoon. I’ve got a few things to take care of here, and then I’ll come home and we can talk. After we decide how much you’re going to tell him, I’ll stay for the questioning.”

  “Okay,” I agreed. “I’ll see you soon.” Chris was serious enough to make me nervous. I hadn’t done anything wrong, had I? For some reason my head started to hurt, and I vaguely remembered that after being hit in the head, I couldn’t hear Chris’ thoughts last night. Had the injury somehow made me lose my powers? Were they still gone today?

  I couldn’t decide if I was relieved or not. What was wrong with me? If I couldn’t hear thoughts anymore, that would be great, right? It was the answer to all of my current problems. Uncle Joey couldn’t use me anymore, and I could go back to being normal.

  I waited for the surge of relief I should’ve felt over that, but it never came. Part of me had enjoyed knowing other’s thoughts. It gave me an advantage over them, but more than that, it made me unique and different from everyone else. It had also given me insights I never would have had.

  Of course, it was better not to know some things. In fact, hearing people’s thoughts had gotten me into more trouble than I cared to admit. Probably more than it was worth.

  Who was I trying to kid? It had been a nightmare! I’d nearly been killed! My family had been in jeopardy. My relationship with Chris had suffered. I mean, look at me! I was a wreck!

  Still, if it was gone, I would feel bad. How crazy was that?

  The phone rang again. This time it was Uncle Joey. “Hello Shelby, I was just calling to see how you’re doing. That was quite a big bump you got.”

  “Yeah, you should see it today. Not only is the bump black and blue, but I also have two black eyes. It scares me every time I look in the mirror.”

  He chuckled. “Well, if that’s the worst of it, you should feel pretty lucky. For a while there, I thought we were both going to die.”

  I sobered instantly. “I know. I was pretty scared too. So what happened after I left?”

  “It was quite a mess, but I think we got it mostly straightened out. I told the police that Walter was the one responsible for everything. Have they talked to you yet?”

  “No, but Dimples is coming over this afterno
on.”

  “Dimples?”

  Oops. “I think his name is Harris, but I’ve always called him Dimples because of his dimples.”

  “Oh…well, I guess that makes sense. I think I remember seeing some dimples.” He was being kind, and it made me feel warm inside. “So you’ve talked to him before?” Uncle Joey sounded suspicious and I knew I had some explaining to do.

  “He’s the officer that was involved with the bank robbery that got me into this mess. Anyway, Chris called and told me he’s coming over to question me.”

  “Did Chris tell you anything else?”

  “Just that he wanted to go over my story with me before I talked to the police. He said it might be a good thing if I didn’t say too much.”

  “Good.” Uncle Joey exhaled. “Those are my feelings as well. Why don’t you tell them you do a little part-time office work for me, and you just happened to walk in at the wrong time. Make sure they know you heard Walter confess to Johnny’s murder, and that he was planning on killing us as well.”

  “What about Hodges and Kate? What happened to them?”

  “That’s kind of a sore spot,” Uncle Joey said. “In the confusion, they both got away.”

  “What?” I nearly shouted. “How could that happen?”

  “It’s true. They snuck out. None of us saw them go, and I haven’t been able to find them since.” Something about that seemed a little fishy to me. “So let’s leave Kate and Hodges out of it. I want to take care of them myself.” That sounded ominous.

  “Okay. I won’t say anything about them. I’ll just concentrate on Walter’s motives to take over your…what should I call it?”

  “Company,” he answered.

  “Okay.” I wanted to ask him about the file, and if he remembered our bargain, but maybe this wasn’t the best time. “There’s one more thing…” I hesitated, not sure how to continue.

  “What?” He sounded cautious.

  “Well…ever since I got hit on the head, I haven’t been able to hear anyone’s thoughts. I just wanted you to know…it’s a possibility that my powers are gone.” I waited for him to say something but all I got was silence. “Are you still there?” I asked.