Candy Apple Red

by Nancy Bush

“They can’t do this,” I heard him say in a low angry voice.

  Heather gave a little bark of laughter. “They fucked us, Craig. We’re fucked.”

  I went outside to the backyard. In this case I was glad, actually, that the Historical Society had stepped in. I hated to think what this island would have become if Heather and Craig had gotten their way. It lightened my heart to think it would remain a private residence with its sweeping grounds and circular trail.

  Long shadows cast by the towering firs were striping the lawn. I walked toward the lake, stopping above the pool, wondering who in the world would buy such an expensive piece of property. Somebody. But Heather was right: it didn’t sound like it was going to be Craig Cuddahy.

  I strolled back toward the house, near the garage. As I neared it, the Dobermans started growling and barking in a regular fury. They’d been weird since Cotton’s death, according to Murphy. Unweird Dobermans were bad enough. I moved away quickly, but my eye caught on something. I slowly turned back, looking hard, searching for what it was. Finally it dawned on me that it was what wasn’t there. The roof slate. The untidy pile I’d noticed the day of the benefit. Billy had said the kids from the barge had picked it up, so someone had dropped the pile into Lake Chinook.

  I retraced my footsteps to the house where Heather and Craig’s voices were raised with the consumption of alcohol. Heather sounded teary; Craig sounded enraged. “I’ll sue ’em,” he said. “I’ll stop ’em. It’s your property. You can do with it what you want.”

  “It won’t work,” she sobbed.

  “Hey!” I called into the house. “Who’s your new caretaker? Is he here?”

  “I don’t have one!” Heather wailed anew at this fresh insult. “Grant left and everything’s just gone to hell!”

  “Someone’s cleaning the grounds,” I said.

  “Not since Grant,” she sniffed. “I gotta figure something out.”

  “I’ll sue ’em,” Craig muttered fiercely.

  I thought I heard a motor. I walked to the edge of the island, catty-corner from the house and garage. There were boats on the water but none close enough to explain what I heard. I strolled back, lost in thought.

  In the center of the backyard stood Betty and Benny. I stopped short. My heart leapt. How the hell had they gotten out?

  They stood shoulder-to-shoulder, their sharp eyes watching me. My breathing grew shallow. I felt slightly dizzy with fear. A low whine issued from the larger one’s throat. Betty? Grant had said she was the leader. They’d chased me once and lost. I didn’t see how that could happen again. They were between me and my car, between me and the gate.

  I kept my arms down. “Hey there, Betty,” I said soothingly, but my voice shook a little.

  There was only one way out: toward the lake. I would have to jog left and run for all I was worth, leap the fence but hang on, otherwise I’d be dropping the long way into the lake.

  I silently cursed myself for the punishment of running this morning. I was tired. I couldn’t do this. But adrenalin was singing through my veins. I balanced on the balls of my feet.

  A door slammed inside the house. Benny glanced over. A split second later, Betty looked and I was gone. I tore to my left. The dogs set up a fearful growling howl as they charged after me. I ran blind. Past the spot where Jesse had stood. Down the path. I swear I could hear their jaws clacking behind me.

  The fence lay just ahead. Betty and Benny were slipping up close behind me. I crashed through underbrush. My hands were reaching, reaching. Instead of the fence I snagged a lowered branch, jerking my legs up high beneath me. The dogs leapt and snapped. I saw teeth and slaver. I cried out, scrabbling, hanging on for dear life, my legs churning, practically running over the fence. The top rail scraped my leg but I was over. I hung onto the branch. The dogs threw themselves at the fence. The chain link shook and jangled. I clung to my branch. My lungs burned. My arm muscles ached.

  I looked below me and it was a long way down to earth, rock and water. I held on with everything I had. I screamed for help.

  The fingers of my left hand slipped. I prayed for more strength. I found religion in a big way.

  The dogs stopped barking. They sat on the opposite side of the fence and watched me. I swear Betty was smiling.

  My left hand gave completely. I watched my right fingers lose their grip.

  Then I was falling, falling.

  I closed my eyes and thought, I should’ve told Lopez.

  Chapter Nineteen

  D on’t let anyone tell you that shock isn’t a wonderful thing because it is. Some might argue, claiming that shock is a sneaky killer, as dangerous as the injury or event that brought it on. I’m here to tell you, as a drug, it’s the best. No pain. Not a whole lot of clear thinking. A feeling of cold, yes, but hey, better than the screaming pain you just know you’re going to feel later.

  I was semiconscious. Above me, in the darkening evening, I could make out the fir limbs gently swaying. It was still hot. The air pressed on my face. But the rest of my body was cool and growing cooler. I was lying on rocks and needle-covered dirt. My right leg dangled into the water leaving my Nike underwater. My right shin wet nearly to the knee.

  If I’d been able to think, I would have asked myself a whole lot of questions, but that would come later. For the moment, I lay in a strange stupor. Whatever my future fate, I was damn glad the dogs hadn’t got me. I think I hate Betty.

  There was noise above me. The sound of shouts and running feet. At some point I saw Grant Wemberly’s face swimming above me. He gazed down at me in concern. I was glad. That must mean I wasn’t one of the no good ones who needed to be put down. I was worth saving.

  I wanted to ask him what he was doing on the island. He’d quit, hadn’t he? I certainly remembered something about that. But I was just glad to see him. I tried on a smile but it felt funny and fat. I’m not sure the muscles in my mouth worked.

  Suddenly, the Lake Patrol was there. A carnival of flashing yellow lights, humming motors, more shouts, and a frothy wake that slapped further up my leg. They hauled out a Gurney. I was intrigued. A water rescue.

  I was bundled up, gently heaved onto the Gurney which sent spikes of pain running crazily throughout my body. The pain seemed localized somewhere around my right shoulder and arm and ominously in my lower back. I didn’t want to think about that, so I just didn’t.

  I really thought I was a quiet patient. I was fairly certain I hadn’t voiced my wishes. This turned out to be entirely false. I later learned that I told them Dwayne Durbin’s cell phone number over and over again. I was polite about it, I guess, but insistent.

  So, when I was wheeled into Laurel Park Hospital Emergency Room, I was surprised to see Dwayne already there. I swear to God he looked haggard. I tried to say something witty, but his response was a terse, “She needs water,” to the EMTs who regarded Dwayne as if he were a nuisance.

  Actually, I could use some water, I thought.

  The Emergency Room was abuzz with activity. Apparently I wasn’t the only one who’d met with an accident on this miserably hot day. The uncommon humidity had sent large crowds of people to their boats on Lake Chinook and the Willamette River. There was also partying involved. Some alcohol-fueled incidents which included reckless driving, fistfights and one attempted homicide.

  Accident victims, family members and police filled the area. I had to wait to be examined. I started feeling weepy. When Dwayne said, “You’re a tough nut, darlin’. You’re gonna be A-okay,” it just did me in. I sniffled and Dwayne found me a tissue which he dabbed at my eyes as my right arm was pretty much useless and my left seemed wrapped under a tight blanket.

  I hate to be a whiner, but when they finally came to examine me, it was a little bit rough. I mean, sheesh, hard fingers probed my flesh until I literally screamed. Dwayne frowned and listened to their talk. I basically closed my ears. We went through X-ray and then there was a long wait. I faced the indignity of being moved to the hall as other, more pr
essing cases, were whisked into the cubicles. From somewhere down the hall a man was moaning loudly.

  My ol’ buddy “shock” became my enemy. My teeth chattered and my body quivered.

  “Can you sit up, Miss Kelly?”

  I stared into the eyes of an intern whom I doubted was legal to drink alcohol. Dr. Kitsworth. Like, oh, sure, this kid knew what he was doing. “I’d have to say ‘no’.”

  “Why don’t you give it a try?”

  It took everything I had but I managed, with Dr. Kitsworth’s help, to prop myself into a sitting position. I might have slipped sideways but Dwayne held me up with a strong hand.

  “Breathe in.” I tried but my lower back seized up and I gasped in pain. “Bruised kidney,” Kitsworth informed me. “You’ve strained your right shoulder and arm. Might be some damage to your rotator cuff. Ask your orthopedic.”

  Like I have one of those. “Bruised kidney?” I asked tentatively.

  “Expect to see blood in your urine. You need to see an internist as well.”

  I felt faint.

  He scribbled furiously and handed some papers to Dwayne. “You’re ready to go.”

  They transferred me to a wheelchair. I waited patiently. I wondered idly if that’s why we’re called “patients.” Dwayne finished up and wheeled me outside.

  The bad news was: Dwayne had come in his truck. He helped me inside as best he could but all I did was whimper. Still, it was a relief to be out of the hospital with injuries that would heal. I hadn’t even rated a real room. Something to cheer about.

  “Did I see Grant Wemberly?” I asked, wondering if I’d dreamed it in the same way Jesse had felt he was dreaming.

  “Uh-huh. He called 911.”

  “Really.” I thought that over. “They took me out by boat.”

  “Darlin’, on that side of the island, you’re way down the cliff. It was the easiest way.”

  “Who let the dogs out?”

  Yes, the song with the same title flitted across my mind but I wasn’t in the mood for distractions. Dwayne, however, grinned briefly. I swear to God, if he broke out into song I was going to kill him…later…when I was better.

  “I don’t know yet. I’ll fill ya in when I do.”

  He helped me into the bungalow. “Oh, Dwayne, Binky needs to be let out. Could you take her to the backyard?”

  “You need a doggie door.”

  “You need to build it for me.”

  “I thought you were moving to Santa Fe.”

  Which is when I suddenly realized I hadn’t thought once about Murphy. I hadn’t called him for help, nor warned him of my accident. This gave me pause. In my hour of need, I’d sent for Dwayne. I didn’t want to think what that could mean.

  Murphy wasn’t at the bungalow when Dwayne half-carried me inside. And his gun was not on the television any longer. I sank onto the sofa with relief. Binks ran over and stood on her hind legs, reaching a front paw out to dig at me.

  “Now, leave her alone.” Dwayne picked her up and they went out the back door.

  I must’ve drifted off because suddenly Murphy was standing over me. His face was pale. “Jane,” he said, looking stunned.

  “I’m okay,” I said.

  “What happened? Who did this?”

  “I don’t know.”

  I closed my eyes. Vaguely I heard Dwayne and Binks come back into the room. Through squinted eyes I witnessed the two men square off. I would have smiled if I’d remembered how. Those sneaky hospital folks must’ve given me a pain killer of some kind, as I was not tracking as I should.

  “Hey…” I said. Murphy and Dwayne looked my way.

  And I fell asleep.

  Being injured and unconscious is kind of like being thrown a surprise party. You open your eyes and the room’s full of people staring at you, waiting for your reaction. I don’t like surprise parties and I didn’t like waking to the crowd in my living room. I reacted with shock and dismay to the realization that Murphy and Dwayne had been joined by Booth and Sharona.

  They’d been talking in low tones. I could tell Murphy wanted Dwayne out of the room and Dwayne was ignoring him completely. Booth was frowning. Sharona stood with her arms crossed, poised for battle. Whatever was wrong, you’d want her on your team, I decided.

  “Hey,” I said weakly.

  The phone rang. Dwayne picked it up, beating Murphy out because he was closest. “Hello,” he greeted the caller, his gaze on Murphy. His eyes swept my way, “Yeah, darlin’, she’s going to live.” He listened. “She’ll call you later. Yeah…good…” “Cynthia,” he told me after he hung up. “I called her on the way to the hospital to pick you up.”

  “What time is it?” I asked.

  “Late,” Murphy said, eyeing the others.

  Booth wasn’t intimidated. “Jane, I need to talk to you.”

  “Now?” I asked, closing my eyes again.

  “How about tomorrow?” he suggested.

  “Tomorrow would be good,” I murmured, closing my eyes. I felt Binks’ hot breath on my cheek. She licked me on the mouth and nose.

  Sometime in the night Murphy helped me to the bed. He tried to leave the door cracked but Binkster kept coming inside the bedroom, so he firmly shut her in the living room. I vaguely heard them fighting over the couch.

  I woke early, my nerve ends screaming. I must’ve grunted in pain because I heard Murphy roll off the couch. He looked in on me. “How are you doing?”

  “I hurt all over,” I said grouchily.

  He nodded. “I’ll make coffee.”

  I stared at the ceiling. I wondered if being an invalid entitled me to order others to go grocery shopping for me. I think it does.

  Murphy brought me a cup of coffee. I couldn’t drink it in bed. I also had to pee, and I was afraid of what that might be like. I staggered out to the couch. Binky wagged her tail at me. She was on a pile of blankets on the floor. Seeing me gingerly perch on the sofa’s edge, she jumped up beside me, taking it as an invitation.

  “That damn dog won’t leave you alone,” Murphy observed.

  I grunted again. I didn’t know how to say I was more comfortable with her company than his.

  “Why don’t you lie down?”

  “I’m planning a trip to the bathroom. Don’t rush me.”

  Struggling upright again, I crab-stepped my way to the toilet. It was a painful trip, but not unbearable which made me feel better about what was going on with my injured kidney. If there was blood in my urine I wouldn’t know. So, sue me. I didn’t look.

  I spent the morning napping. Dwayne stopped in at one point. I didn’t open my eyes, but when he came close to me I recognized him by his smell. He leaned in and said, “I’m going to go get your car.”

  “Thanks.”

  Murphy said, somewhere behind Dwayne, “I’ve got some things to take care of, Jane. Booth’ll be here soon.”

  “Go.” I was glad I was going to be alone. I mean, puhleeze…

  Booth and Sharona showed up about noon. I was sitting up by that point, propped by my bedroom pillows. Binks greeted the newcomers with a wagging tail, then jumped up on the couch beside me. She rested her chin on my thigh.

  “She’s so cute,” Sharona said.

  “Cute?” Booth swung around to stare at his fiancée.

  Sharona lifted a dismissive shoulder. “Well, she is.”

  My heart lurched as I realized that here might be someone who would take the dog.

  Booth didn’t waste anymore time. “You didn’t talk to Lopez,” he accused.

  “I’m going to. I just haven’t yet.”

  “Don’t worry. I’ve taken care of it.”

  My gaze flew to his. “What?”

  “When Dwayne called me from the hospital, I phoned Lopez and told him what I knew.”

  “You told him about Jesse?” I straightened up involuntarily, felt a jab of pain, and forced myself to relax. But I was pissed.

  “I told him everything that you told me. He’s coming here to talk to
you. Somebody caused your accident, Jane.”

  “When’s he coming?”

  “Anytime. I’m glad you’re alone. You need to talk to Lopez without Murphy and Dwayne hanging around.”

  “Damn it, Booth! I don’t need this.”

  “Yes, you do. And when Lopez gets here, tell him everything you told me. And anything else you’re holding back. I think you’re in danger. You need to be more careful.”

  “I’m too tired and I’m too weak to have some kind of interview now!”

  “You just don’t want to. And since when is Murphy your roommate?”

  I clammed up. I wasn’t talking to Booth about my personal life. I wished they would both just leave me alone. It worried me that Tomas Lopez was on his way over.

  “I could make something for lunch,” Sharona offered. “Are you hungry for anything?”

  Murphy had forced some toast down me this morning. I shook my head, but Sharona was on a mission. She went into the kitchen and started rummaging through my cupboards. She said, “There’s a waffle maker on the counter, and there’s some mix. You need milk and eggs, though. You can’t make waffles without milk and eggs.”

  Wanna bet?

  “I’ll go to the store,” she said, all business. I smiled to myself. Yes, being an invalid meant minions forage for you. Things were looking up.

  When Booth and I were alone, he drew a chair up to the couch. Absently, he scratched Binkster’s ears. The dog stretched her front legs over my thighs, kicking out her back ones. She heaved a happy sigh and let Booth have his way with her.

  “How are you feeling, really?” he asked.

  “Shitty. My arm and shoulder are killing me. I already injured them a few weeks ago and I think I just made it worse. I also bruised my kidney.”

  “What’s your medical insurance like?”

  Barely existent. “The cheapest I could find.”

  He snorted and shook his head. “In your ‘business,’ you need some serious coverage, Jane.”

  “Yeah, I suppose so.”

  The front bell rang. Booth went to the door and admitted Tomas Lopez. He looked taller and grimmer today. I smiled weakly.