by Evie Nichole
“She didn’t eat any, did she?”
“No, sir.”
“Then how would she have been poisoned by being in the woods?”
“Sometimes just breathing near them can do it, or touching them.”
Barkley stared at MJ. He knew he was trying to help, but it seemed farfetched. “Do you even remember seeing mushrooms?”
“Aww, I don’t know. Didn’t rightly pay attention to that.”
Ruth turned a cold stare to MJ, her arms crossed over her chest. “Why on earth did you take her in the woods?”
MJ looked down and shuffled one foot. Barkley felt sorry for him. He had spent countless moments of his life under that very stare and tone from Ruth Bailey.
“I wanted to give her a tour of the grounds. There’s an old piece of history back there. I just thought it would be interesting to her.”
Ruth stared at him for another moment before turning her attention back to Barkley.
“You need to go home for a while.”
MJ excused himself, looking relieved when no one stopped him.
“I’m not leaving her, Mother.”
“No one is asking you to. Go home, get a shower, and try to take a nap.”
“What if she needs something?”
She bent down and picked her purse up from the floor. “I’ll stay here.”
Barkley’s eyes narrowed suspiciously. “You don’t even like her.”
Ruth blew air impatiently from her nose. “I don’t like what she does for a living, and I don’t like that she doesn’t come from money.” Her eyes softened more than Barkley had seen since Sarah had gone missing. “She showed me, a hateful old woman, kindness the other day when I needed it most. Today I will return the favor.” She began walking away, her pumps clicking along the linoleum. “Now, come tell her goodbye. The quicker you leave, the quicker you can return.”
***
Barkley pulled up to his house, as MJ gave a low whistle. It made Barkley shudder, a reminder of what his life had looked like nearly seven months before. Three squad cars, and two unmarked cars were in the drive. A couple of uniformed officers were milling around the front, their bored faces coming alive as Barkley’s car drew nearer.
One officer approached him as he and MJ were getting out of the car.
“Can we help you, sir?”
“No,” Barkley replied curtly. “I’m Barkley Bailey. I own this house.”
The officer and his companion moved to the side as Barkley and MJ trotted up the steps. The inside of the house was in quiet chaos.
A plain-clothed officer was talking quietly with Betty, while Detective Jenkins himself was speaking with the Sanders. A few more uniformed officers were milling around the house.
Detective Jenkins looked up at Barkley, flipping his notepad closed. “Hello again, Mr. Bailey.”
Barkley placed his hands on his hips. “Well? What have you found out?”
“It appears that you do have a few of the Death Caps in your woods. This is the time of year to see them. The best we can figure is that she somehow came in contact with one in the woods. Probably touched some soil beneath one, touched her lips maybe.”
Barkley stared at him blankly. This was the best they could do? “Touched her lips after touching soil?”
“The soil around these poisonous mushrooms can be deadly, too.”
“Did you Google that?”
Detective Jenkins eyes barely pinched at the edges. “What would you have us do, Mr. Bailey? Try to test every surface, glass plate, and piece of silverware?”
Barkley clenched his jaw. “If that’s what it takes.”
Detective Jenkins snorted. “There isn’t a case here, Mr. Bailey. It was just an unfortunate accident.”
The room became hushed as the two men stared at each other.
“Alright.” Barkley replied darkly. “Then get the hell out of my house.” He didn’t wait for a rebuttal, moving past the detective and taking the steps two at a time to the second floor. His only thought right then was on a shower and returning to Selene.
***
Barkley returned to the hospital after a lengthy declaration from MJ that he wouldn’t go home until he had scoured that part of the woods for the deadly Death Caps and removed all of them and all other mushrooms for that matter. Barkley couldn’t dissuade him, so instead he gave him money to go buy masks to protect his breathing and gloves for his hands.
Barkley entered Selene’s room and found the doctor sitting on the edge of her bed and Ruth standing against one wall with her arms crossed tightly under her small breasts. The doctor smiled at Barkley and gave his glasses a firm push up his nose. He seemed to do it out of habit more than because his glasses were actually slipping.
“Looks like your girl is going to be just fine.” He beamed. “She is responding well to the penicillin and fluids. Liver function is almost back to normal.”
Barkley breathed an audible sigh of relief, his hands moving down his cleanly shaven face.
“Tell him the rest.” Ruth spoke firmly.
“Yes,” the doctor said, his smile fading, and his fingers poking at the nosepiece of the glasses again. “We will want to keep her for at least two to three more days.”
“Ok.” Barkley looked at his mother then back to the doctor. “Why is that such a big deal?”
The doctor cleared his throat. “With this type of poisoning, the victim can sometimes, often times actually, have a false recovery.”
Barkley was losing patience. “What does that mean?”
“Her symptoms may disappear, and then later, within days, her liver and kidneys may fail completely.”
Selene stared at Barkley, her face unreadable.
“You just said…” Barkley began tightly. “That she was responding well, and her liver function was almost back to normal.”
“Yes!” He smiled brightly. “That’s the real hope. Her liver was key in this. Some Amatoxin victims go to the hospital for the cramps and other symptoms, they are essentially treated incorrectly. We knew right away what was happening with her, and treated her accordingly. In my professional opinion, she will be just fine, but like I said, she will stay here for a few days.”
“I’ll take it as good news then.”
“As well you should,” the doctor replied, patting his shoulder. He gave Ruth a look before leaving the room.
“I’m going down to that dreadful cafeteria again,” Ruth said, placing her purse strap on her shoulder. “Can I bring you something from the gift shop?” Ruth asked Selene. Barkley couldn’t help but notice the warmth that the look held. It was an odd thing to see coming from his mother.
“Can you bring me a book?”
“What kind, dear?”
“I don’t care. No romance. They’re trashy.”
Ruth laughed delightedly. “All right, I’ll find you a Bible or something.”
Barkley watched his mother leave before calling after her. “Don’t worry, Mother, I don’t need anything!”
She popped her head back in the door, silver hoops swinging from her ear lobes. “Yes, I know.”
“She’s really not that bad.” Selene laughed. Barkley dropped the bag he was holding and helped her sit up when he saw her struggling.
“Ugh, I feel so weak.”
“You nearly died. No one expects you to go out and run a marathon.”
“Can’t anyway. I can maybe run a mini-marathon though.”
“We can work on it later.” Barkley sat down and opened the bag he had dropped. “I brought you a few things.”
Barkley began laying things across Selene’s lap: a toothbrush, hairbrush, deodorant, and an Mp3 player. Selene picked up the slim black device with a frown.
“This isn’t mine.”
“No, it isn’t. It’s mine.”
“Oh.”
“I listen to everything from classical to country. I hope you won’t mind.”
“Any metal or rock on this thing?”
“Yes,
some.”
“Ok, I can live with it then.” She said with a grin.
Barkley yawned. “Once they put you in a regular room, I’ll bring my computer, if you want to keep up with the research.
Selene’s face went still. The research. She forced a smile back to her lips. She couldn’t tell him yet.
“Sure, I should do that.”
“Only when you are feeling tiptop, though, ok?”
“Sure.”
***
Selene’s three-day stay at the hospital was the most boring, yet the most fun and relaxing days she had ever spent. Barkley refused to leave the hospital. She listened to his heated argument with the night nurse her first evening in a regular room, concerning the visiting hours. Barkley had informed the nurse in colorful language that he wasn’t going anywhere, and if she messed with him about it again, she would find him curled up on the floor, and that was dangerous all by itself. What if he caught a staph infection and died all because she wouldn’t allow him to sleep in a chair by his woman’s bed? An hour later, an orderly arrived pushing a big recliner-looking piece of furniture on wheels which reclined almost flat. He said, with a grin, it was used in the maternity ward for the fathers.
Tim Stevens came once, grinning at them from behind a large vase of flowers. Ruth came and went, and MJ came once, not with flowers but a large teddy bear with a red bow instead. The best part was playing cards with Barkley, and the way he curled up next to her in the hospital bed to watch movies on the laptop he had asked Ruth to bring back to the hospital.
When the doctor came on the last day to do rounds and found Barkley in Selene’s hospital bed with his hand up her gown; he had laughed and declared she was well enough to go home.
Chapter Five
Selene watched the rolling hills of Barkley’s property unfold before the car with apprehension. She wanted to believe she accidently was exposed to something in the woods, but the investigator part of her couldn’t quite believe that. She was fearful to even go back into the house.
MJ and Jim Sanders were outside when they arrived and both left what they were working on to approach the car.
“You look thinner!” MJ declared as he helped Selene from the car.
“Yeah? Hospital food sucks, and they didn’t let me have much of it.”
“Oh, I know,” MJ agreed.
“Nice to see you back on your feet, Miss Gisele. My Lord, but you gave us all a scare,” Jim said, pushing his baseball cap further back on his sweaty head.
“Betty and Mary inside?” Barkley asked.
“Yeah, your mother has kept them hopping,” Jim said with a sly smile.
“I bet.”
Selene and Barkley left the two men behind and went into the house. It smelled as if the entire place had gone through a deep disinfecting process. Bleach mingled with the scent of Pine Sol and wood cleaner.
Barkley called out that they were home. A moment later, Mary timidly appeared through the dining room, with Betty close behind her.
“Welcome back, Miss Gisele,” Mary offered. “Glad to see you looking so well.”
“Yes.” Betty’s only contribution.
“We have a nice dinner planned. Ribs and potato salad with baked beans.” Mary looked uncertainly at Selene then to Barkley. “That is…”
“That is what?” Barkley demanded.
“If she’s not too afraid to eat our food anymore,” Betty spit out.
Selene squared her shoulders. “No, I’m not afraid.”
Betty had come to stand beside Mary. They exchanged a glance.
“Look”—Selene began—“I never accused anyone of poisoning me. Actually, I was too sick to say much of anything.” She looked at Barkley. “Please excuse me.”
Barkley watched her ascend the steps to the second floor. He leveled a stare at Betty. “I’ll have a word with you.”
Betty followed Barkley into the library. Ruth smiled as they entered, but it faded quickly when she saw the look on her son’s face.
“Mother, I need to speak with Betty for a moment.”
“Fine,” she replied coolly and closed the book she had been reading. She left the room without another word.
“Is something wrong, Barkley?”
Barkley advanced to his desk, supporting his weight on his hands as he leaned against the desk. He crossed his feet at the ankles.
“What was all of that about?”
“I don’t understand.”
“Have you and Mary been gossiping that she accused one of you for the poisoning?”
Betty shrugged and clasped her hands in front of her. Barkley noticed that she looked like she had lost weight. Her usual round face was thinner, more sallow.
“What were we to think, Barkley? We had the police crawling around here like ticks at a dog show!”
Barkley straightened and pointed at her, a domineering stance he had never taken with her before.
“She almost died, Betty! What do you care about the police?”
Betty remained calm, her darkening cheeks the only indicator that she was angry. “They questioned us like we were criminals…again.”
Barkley let his arm drop. “So, you feel resentment because you had to go through some questioning when my wife went missing, and you had to endure a few questions when my new girlfriend was poisoned?” He couldn’t keep the incredulous tone from his voice.
“What are you doing, Barkley?”
“What?”
“Sarah could walk back through the door at any moment, and you’re shacked up with a…stripper…you met a little over a week ago. A man of your standing…”
“I have some money from a lucky business venture. So what? It doesn’t make me any better than anyone else, and I’m still a man. She means a great deal to me!”
“I can see that,” Betty said, an edge to her voice. “I’ve heard in the middle of the night how much she means to you.”
“Why do you care? I pay you well, I treat you like a second mother…why do you care?”
Betty’s eyes widened in surprise. “I care about you, Barkley. I want what’s best for you, of course.” She held her hands out in a pleading manner. “I thought she might be good for you at first as a little distraction, but I’m not so sure now.”
“Well, it’s not your decision.”
Betty clasped her hands once again, her chin jutting forward. “No, I suppose it’s not.”
“And I want you to give Gisele the same courtesy and respect that you would have given Sarah or my mother for that matter.”
“Of course. May I go now? We still have dessert to attend to.” She smiled ruefully. “You’ll be glad to know that I convinced you mother that now is not the time for healthy eating.”
“Yeah, go ahead,” Barkley said quietly.
Betty left the room, and Barkley was left with an odd pang of guilt, but he was also left with the odd sensation that Betty was a complete stranger.
***
Selene had six voicemails and twenty missed calls on her cell phone. Luckily for her, it was password protected, or any of the servants might have gone through it. It was also lucky that the police hadn’t taken it as evidence, but in Barkley’s rush to get her to the hospital, it had fallen to the floor, then been accidently knocked under the bed. It was also lucky that no one had heard it ringing and looked under there to get it.
Selene listened to three messages from Lucas, each one becoming angrier than the last as to why she wasn’t communicating her progress with him. Two were from Eric, begging to see her. Selene shook her head and deleted those two. The final one was an outraged Lucas. She didn’t even listen to it all the way through.
With a frustrated sigh, Selene dialed Lucas’s number. He answered on the second ring.
“Where in the hell have you been, Miss Velasquez?”
“Trying to stay alive, Lucas. Thank you for your concern. How are you today?”
“Trying to stay alive?”
“Yes, I had Amatoxin poisonin
g, supposedly from exposure to Death Caps in the woods.”
Lucas wheezed into the phone.
“So, anyway, my investigation has come to a standstill.”
“Perhaps it’s been standing still the entire time.”
Selene pinched the bridge of her nose, her eyes squeezed shut. “I think I’m going back to the city as soon as I’m able. There’s nothing here either, Lucas.”
“Barkley Bailey is there! He’s responsible! I know it!” he yelled, causing Selene to hold the phone away from her head. His wheezing began to sound like a freight train.
“Barkley is just a good, humble man who has been dealt a crappy hand, Lucas. That’s it.”
“Ah, so you have fallen for him.” The snide remark bit into her.
“It doesn’t matter one way or the other. It won’t magically bring your daughter back from where ever she is, Lucas. Look, I’ll call you when I get back.” She didn’t wait for a response. She was tired again and the bed was inviting. She could fight another battle after a nap.
***
Selene was asleep when Barkley entered the bedroom, her face was still deathly pale as she slumbered. The doctor had assured Barkley several times that she was perfectly fine, but since three of her major organs had been through trauma, it may take another week before she was back to full strength. He stretched out on the bed beside her, careful to not wake her. He didn’t know what to do. He wanted to remove her from the situation entirely, which included his home in the city. He hoped she would agree to a trip to the Caymans. He would offer for his mother to come along, but that would be it. He didn’t exactly feel like any of his servants were threats to her, but he just couldn’t be certain. He didn’t feel certain of anything—other than he needed to protect Selene at all costs. Even if it meant losing a servant who at one time had meant more to him than his own mother. It was uneasy thoughts to have as he drifted off to sleep, and they led to disturbing dreams of Sarah and houses burning to the ground.
***
“I want to bring my mother in on this stuff,” Barkley said as they lay in bed, waiting for dinner to be called.
“What do you mean?”
“I want to tell her who you really are. I want to tell her about your research on the house. She’s a smart woman, and she might be able to help.”
