How could anybody could believe that stupid snake story? Jackson wondered. Grandma Pinky wasn’t as dumb as the others seemed to think, and she could get really mad over little things. He wanted to see her himself, to find out what she was thinking.
“Annette, of course your father’s confused,” Fulton Chase was saying. “He’s in his eighties and he has congestive heart failure. Why else would he be running around the water tank at the crack of dawn with a rifle shooting at snakes? We need to make sure he doesn’t get that gun back when all of this is settled.”
Jackson nodded gravely, thinking what a fit his grandfather was going to throw about losing his guns.
He spoke up for the first time, trying on a worried voice.
“How badly was Grandma Pinky hurt anyway?”
His mother smiled gently at him and chided the others.
“Let’s not forget that we’re talking about Jackson’s other grandmother,” she said to the group.
“She’ll be all right,” Floramae said. “It was up near her shoulder. I asked Evergreen Tinsley and she said Pinky was going to recover. I told her Edgar was just in the hospital for his heart, and it was all a mistake.”
Grandma Flo is a problem, Jackson thought. She talks to everybody too much.
A silence had fallen, and he decided to join in again. Maybe like Sharpley. Sharpley might not be so sharp, he thought, but he was one of those people other people always called “a good guy.”
Be like Sharpley, he thought with some amusement.
“Does Granddaddy have his medicines?” he asked in a concerned voice. “Do they know about his heart problems?”
His mother smiled and said, “The hospital will take care of all that. He’s in good hands.”
“Could I go to visit him?”
“Just stay out of it,” his stepfather snapped. “You have to get past an armed deputy to get to him.”
His mother spoke more gently as the others got up to go their separate ways.
“Jackson, I don’t think you should visit Daddy,” she said. “It could upset him to know you knew he was arrested. You just go see your Grandma Pinky and make sure she knows that your granddaddy wouldn’t hurt her for the world, and we’re all so sorry about the accident.”
“I was thinking I’d do that in the morning,” he said. “I need to head back to Atlanta after that.”
And then he had an idea.
Genius.
“Who’s looking after her dogs while she’s in the hospital?” he asked.
Chapter 29
Pinky’s minister came by with his wife, and then Mary Frances Singletary showed up. Flowers arrived.
Pinky wanted to curl up in a ball, but she couldn’t because of the brace on her left shoulder.
She didn’t really want visitors either. She missed her dogs, who didn’t expect her to talk to them except in babytalk. She didn’t want to talk about that business in the park over and over.
She kept worrying that Floramae or Annette might come crashing in and want to know if she was going to make trouble for Edgar, which she wasn’t.
Except for Evergreen and Quincy, almost everybody who came to visit made things worse. Either they behaved as if nothing had happened at all, or they wanted her to tell them all about it or they told her about somebody else they knew who has gotten shot.
She finally talked to the nice aide who’d helped her manage to eat her supper with one hand and said, with tears streaming down her face that she was worn out with people coming to see her.
“I just want to be left alone,” she said.
The aide had gotten Amberly James, the RN in charge, who was a large, cheerful woman.
“Well,” she said. “We can fix that.”
She got a tablet and they made up a list of people who could visit. It included Quincy of course, and Evergreen Tinsley, and Mary Frances, because she’d never hear the end of it if Mary Frances couldn’t come in.
“And Chief Bandry?” the aide asked.
“I suppose,” Pinky had said. “She’s nice enough, and maybe she still needs to talk with me, but they know who shot me, and I’m sure it was an accident. Just nobody else. I know that sounds unfriendly, but I just… don’t feel like being around people.”
Back at the nursing station, Amberly James made a note to the doctors that Mrs. Brayburn seemed depressed and anxious.
It was the nurse on the next shift who turned on the lights, woke Pinky out of a sound sleep, took her blood pressure, checked her pulse, gave her a pill with some water and noticed something on the bedside table.
“Oh, my goodness. What a beautiful crystal,” she said, reaching over to pick it up.
“Oh, I forgot about that,” Pinky said sleepily. “Evergreen Tinsley brought that to me. She does magic, you know. She says it’s good for something and courage. I’m supposed to hold it in my hand, but not too tight.”
“Have you tried it?”
“No. I didn’t know where it was,” Pinky said. “Hand it to me. Maybe I’ll try it now. I need some courage.”
Chapter 30
B.J. cut her morning run down to a mile and was back home, showered and having breakfast with Darby at eight.
He had been up before she left and was still using the table as a desk, so they sat on the sofa and with their bagels and coffee on the coffee table.
“This is cozy,” B.J. said, “But I wouldn’t mind living like real people.”
“I’ve been doing a background check on the Wellstons,” Darby said. “Their credit’s not bad, but they’re in a lot of debt. What are you up to?”
“I’m going to talk with Pinky Brayburn again,” she said. “I think she’s afraid and that it’s more complicated than just the shooting.”
Pinky still seemed withdrawn. She was still wearing the hospital gown, and hadn’t bothered with her hair. B.J. was glad to talk with her alone.
“Miss Pinky, would you tell me about your relationship with the Hegleys?” she asked.
“It was an accident,” Pinky said.
B.J. noticed her squeezing something with her right hand.
“Is that one of Evergreen’s crystals?” she asked.
“Yes,” Pinky said, looking a little embarrassed but managing a smile. “She says it’s for courage. You know Evergreen.”
“We all need courage,” B.J. said, smiling back, “Now let’s get back to Edgar Hegley. I was there, and I’m going to be honest with you. I didn’t think it was an accident at all. I thought he very nearly killed you. Have you two had any kind of dispute.”
“No,” Pinky said. “I haven’t even talked to Edgar in ages.”
“What about his wife? Have you had any arguments with her? I understand that the two of you are planning a luncheon together.”
Pinky frowned.
“I’ve been doing the planning,” she said. “I’ve always liked helping with bridal luncheons and I thought I ought to do something for Jackson’s bride-to-be, since she will be a Brayburn. And then I thought it would be nice to ask Floramae to be the co-hostess since both sides of the family would be there…”
She wound down and said, “Quincy got Evergreen to turn all the RSVPs and everything over the Floramae,” she said, “It’s next Saturday, and there’s no way I’ll even be there. Quincy wasn’t going anyway, but it’s all arranged…”
B.J. nodded, and tried another approach.
“Do you remember right before the shooting that you crossed Russell with your dogs?” she asked, “I thought maybe you didn’t want to talk to me, but now I’m wondering if you were just worried about something…”
The bedside phone rang before she could finish.
Pinky closed her eyes and said, “Would you get that? I don’t want to talk to anybody except Quincy.”
It was Linda Stanley.
“B.J., is that you?”
Linda said. “I need to talk to Miss Pinky.”
“It’s Linda Stanley,” B.J. told Pinky.
“Linda?” Pinky said, coming to life a little. “Is it about my dogs? Push that button for speaker phone, would you?”
B.J. pushed the button and spoke to Linda again, telling her she was on speakerphone.
“Miss Pinky,” Linda said, “I just wanted to double-check with you. Your grandson is here to pick up the poodles, and I hadn’t heard from you, so I just thought…”
“What?” Pinky came to life all at once, trying to sit up, her eyes widening. “Jackson’s there? At your house? Don’t let him near my precious puppies!”
“Well, I won’t turn them over to him if you don’t want me to,” Linda began. “Do you want to tell him yourself? He went out to get the carrier from his car. I didn’t tell him I was calling you, and…”
“NO! And how did he get my carrier? He must have been in my garage.”
“Miss Pinky, I don’t know.” Linda said.
Pinky was clutching the crystal in her right hand, and looking increasingly fierce.
“DO something!” she said to B.J., her voice rising. “He’s never supposed to be around my dogs if I’m not there. He’s trying to kidnap my dogs. DO something!”
B.J. already had her phone out to call Demetrius.
“Linda, what’s he driving?” she asked.
Linda’s voice came back over the speakerphone.
“A red sports car,” Linda said. I think it’s a Jaguar. Look, let me go and tell him.”
She was back in a few minutes and said, “He’s gone. I think he was upset. I just told him you wanted them to stay here.”
“Don’t let my precious puppies out of your sight,” Pinky shouted. “Don’t let them go outdoors. He might come back.”
“I haven’t let them out once except when I’ve had them on their leashes,” Linda said, sounding aggrieved. “I wouldn’t have even considered letting them go with anyone else, but I knew he had to be your grandson. He said he was going to look after them until you got home again, and he looked just like I remember Randall looking.”
“Ha!” Pinky said in a most un-Pinky-like tone of outrage. “He may look like a Brayburn, but he’s a Hegley in his bones.”
Linda said goodbye, and Pinky turned to B.J.
“I’m arranging to have somebody stop him,” B.J. said. “We’ll tell him to stay away from your dogs.”
“I need to call Quincy,” Pinky said. “She just had to run back up to Decatur when I need her here. Her number’s in my wallet. Look in that drawer right there.”
“You have your wallet here?” B.J. asked.
“Oh, yes. It has all my information in it,” Pinky said impatiently. “Quincy took my money and credit cards out, but she thought I needed the rest. Anyway, her number’s the one on the In Case of Emergency card.”
B.J. pulled out the pink wallet that she had found in Pinky’s shoulder bag two days before, and began to go through it.
She flipped through the folders, looking for the card, and suddenly came to a stop, staring at a photograph of a smiling little boy with blonde hair.
“Why do you have a photo of Logan Hill?” she asked Pinky, holding it up to show her.
“Oh, no, that’s Jackson,” Pinky said, and tears sprung to her eyes. “He really was the sweetest baby and little boy, and he looked like an absolute cherub, didn’t he?”
“I honestly thought it was Kasey Hill’s little boy,” B.J. said, staring at the photo and seeing now that the hair was different, maybe a little lighter.
“Well, it’s Jackson, back when he was so sweet and innocent,” Pinky said. “Have you found Quincy’s number? Call her for me, would you?”
B.J. dialed the number but got no answer. She left a message.
Pinky seemed to be calming down a little.
“You remember when I asked you about Kasey Hill’s little boy?” she said. “I was so worried about him when I heard his mother had died in the tornado. I didn’t know until later that, you know, what really happened. I had only seen him once but I told his mother that he reminded me so much of my grandson when he was little, and even my son when he was a baby. I even got out that picture of Jackson to show her.”
“That was in the FoodStar parking lot?” B.J. asked.
“Yes, it was!” Pinky said. “We had nice talk and she told me she had met Jackson before. She asked me for his phone number, and … “
She stopped mid-sentence, frowning.
“Well, never mind about that. I didn’t give it her. I didn’t have his number, and I probably wouldn’t have anyway, but that caused some problems. All I really did was tell her he was engaged.”
She was close to tears suddenly.
“I suppose I was so taken with the little boy because he reminded me of Jackson when he was still so sweet. I know I must have sounded like a terrible grandmother, saying all those things I just said about Jackson, but he has worried me so and I can’t imagine what kind of wickedness he was up to trying to get my precious little dogs. That boy does not like dogs. He kicked my sweet old Maurice and he put something in Francie’s water bowl and, well, I don’t even want to talk about all of it, but I finally just had to stop inviting him to my house and just sent presents, you know. I took him out sometimes, and even then he stole some money out of my purse. I’ve been hoping he’d outgrow all those things.”
“Could you tell me more about your encounter with Kasey Hill?” B.J. asked. “You said it caused some problems.”
Pinky clutched the crystal and frowned.
“It was Floramae,” she said, “That woman is so tiresome. She got the idea somehow that I had given Kasey Hill Jackson’s number, and she called me to say that they were all very upset about my getting involved in any gossip about Jackson and he didn’t even know who Kasey Hill was.”
“This was after Kasey’s death?”
“Yes, and I told her I certainly hadn’t given Kasey his number, and she said ‘Well, he said she said you did.’ Then she got downright rude, the way she does sometimes. She said please not to go talking to everybody about Jackon’s business, and that Betty Jean Baker had seen me talking to you. If it hadn’t been for trying to get through the luncheon and the wedding, I would have just told her off, but I was brought up to be nice, and I was trying to keep the peace at least through the luncheon.”
“I’m sorry for running on and on like this,” Pinky said, holding the crystal up to the light and turning it in her hand before she clenched it tighter. “You know, the last thing I remember from the other day was crossing the street so nobody would see me talking to you and go tell Floramae.”
And then the anger boiled over.
“And even after all that, Edgar tried to kill me, and now Jackson’s tried to kidnap my dogs, probably because he knows I’d do anything to keep my dogs safe. I am sick of the lot of them. They can put on all the airs they want to, but they are horrible and I don’t care who hears me say it.”
B.J. said “Hold that thought. I’ve got a call.”
It was Demetrius, who said that he thought Jackson Brayburn might have headed back toward McFall and he was going to call for backup and head to the Chase home. B.J. gave him a quick go-ahead to bring Jackson Brayburn in for questioning, and then called Andrea Cole to come and sit by Pinky Brayburn’s door.
Pinky was just getting round up again, explaining that Jackson probably didn’t cause as much trouble at the Hegleys’ since they didn’t have a dog, when a commotion started up down the hall.
“No, Sir, you’re not on the list. I’m afraid nobody can visit who’s not on the…”
“Of course she wants to see me,” the male voice answered. “I’m her grandson. I don’t need to be on some silly list.”
B.J. moved to the open doorway and made a quick call to Demetrius.
“Jackson Brayburn is here at the hospital and I’m going to try to escort him out quietly,” she said. “I need backup once we get outside to take him in for questioning.”
The young man was still arguing with the nurse when B.J. turned the corner.
At first glance he was very handsome, but he looked as if had just rolled out of bed. He was wearing cargo pants and an untucked shirt.
He took in her uniform and gave her an engaging smile.
“Are you investigating my grandmother’s accident?” he asked.
“Mrs. Brayburn’s not having any visitors,” B.J. told him. “Are you Jackson Brayburn?”
“Yes I am, and I’ve driven down here especially to see my grandmother. I hope you can talk these people into letting me see her.”
“I’m B.J. Bandry, Chief of Police for Laurel Grove, B.J. said in a lowered voice. Your grandmother is not having visitors at this time and I’d like have a word with you about your trying to take the poodles from the Stanley’s kennels. She also wants her carrier back, so let’s just walk on outside and not disturb the patients here.”
Andrea came down the hall, and B.J. waved her toward Pinky’s room.
“Nobody in,” she said.
Jackson Brayburn frowned a little.
“You must be the one that woman called about my asking for the dogs,” he said, not moving. “Naturally, she just wants to keep on getting paid. Now, what’s going on with Grandma Pinky that she can’t see anybody? Is it about Granddaddy and that shooting accident? My stepfather’s lawyer is going to work out some kind of settlement. My stepfather is…”
“I know who he is,” B.J. interrupted. “Let’s go outside and continue this discussion.”
“I’m leaving, but I don’t have anything to discuss with you.” he said.
B.J. was listening for Demetrius’ siren as they made it to the front lobby. Jackson Brayburn was walking at a normal pace and seemed to have calmed down, but there were visitors and hospital staff everywhere. She didn’t want to take any risks in that setting, but the untucked shirt didn’t seem to be his style, and she meant to check him for a handgun as soon as they were outside.
Who Killed Kasey Hill Page 13
