by Gregg Stutts
He stared at her and for a moment, she thought he looked genuinely sad. And then he raised the poker.
“No!” Michelle screamed and closed her eyes.
Chapter 111
A man was yelling at Michelle. He had something in his hand. He had it raised over his head. He was yelling.
Max willed himself to his feet.
Chris whirled around as Max summoned every ounce of energy he had left and drove his right shoulder into Chris’s abdomen. With the instinct of a linebacker, he never stopped driving his legs and drove him backward into the table, which crashed to the floor.
Max drove his forearm hard into the side of Chris’ head and knocked him unconscious.
Chapter 112
Friday, November 8th
Max awoke with searing pain in his head, matched only by the throbbing in his left arm. He opened his eyes but shut them quickly. The light made the headache worse. Through squinted eyes, he looked at his wrist and saw it was in a cast. He reached for his head with his other hand and felt a bandage.
“How are you feeling?” Michelle leaned down and kissed him.
“Where’m I?” Max mumbled.
“You’re in the hospital,” she said.
“A wreck?”
“No, honey, not a wreck.”
“Okay,” Max whispered.
“We’ve been praying,” Rose said.
Max closed his eyes and tried to remember what had happened and why he was in the hospital.
“Can I get you anything?” Michelle said.
Max was quiet. He looked around the room and studied their faces and then shut is eyes again. “Who are you people?” It might have been funny if he could have seen their expressions, but since laughing would probably hurt too much, it was good that he didn’t. “Hey, it was funny when Willy did it.”
Chapter 113
Saturday, November 9th
It took another twenty-four hours for Max to start feeling like himself. The headache was still bad, but bearable. His doctor insisted he stay in the hospital for another night. He didn’t feel like he was in any condition to argue. Michelle would have overridden him anyway.
Because Willy was doing so much better, they wheeled him into Max’s room for a few hours. The two men mostly watched football in between dozing off. Michelle and Rose endured as much football as they could and said they were going downstairs for some lunch.
During halftime of the Arkansas-Alabama game, Max muted the television and said, “I’m glad that’s over.”
Willy looked puzzled. “Max, it’s only halftime.”
Max laughed and was right. It did hurt. “No, I mean this whole mess with Chris.”
Willy was staring out the window. “I wish I could say I thought it was over.”
“What are you saying?” Max asked. “Chris won’t be causing any more trouble. And Donnie is dead.”
“It’s not them, Max. The battle was never against them,” Willy said.
Max waited for Willy to continue, not sure he wanted to hear what was next though.
“The battle has never been against flesh and blood, Max.” Willy looked at him and said, “I’ve been sensing for, I don’t know, a year or so...that something is happening in Lakeside.”
“You’ve never mentioned that before,” Max said.
“I’ve been doing a lot of praying about it,” Willy said. “I don’t…”
Max waited for Willy to finish, but he was just staring out the window.
Finally, Willy concluded his thought, “...believe we’ve seen the end of it.”
CHAPTER 114
Sunday, November 10th
On Sunday morning, Max and Willy were released from the hospital. Both were told to take it easy for a week. Though neither of them would be very good at that.
By that afternoon, almost seventy-two hours since the fight with Chris, Max’s headache was somewhat manageable. He and Michelle sat on the sofa looking out at the backyard that was still covered with seven inches of snow.
“I can’t believe I forgot to ask. Did we beat Conway?” Max said.
Michelle shook her head. “It was close for a while, but they pulled away in the second half. The final was 35-21.”
“Hmmm, I’m sorry,” Max said.
“Max, speaking of sorry, I’m so sorry for what happened…
Max cut her off. “Shelle, it’s not your fault.”
“But if I hadn’t…”
“Shelle, it’s in the past. Let it go.”
They sat quietly for a few minutes.
“Oh, I didn’t tell you. Bob Burns is going to be fine,” Michelle said.
“What did they say was wrong?” Max asked.
“I talked with his wife yesterday. Bob said a man that matched Chris’s description attacked him. He said it was a man he noticed sitting behind him at the Bentonville game. Chris must have realized Bob could identify him.”
“That guy gets around,” Max said. “He killed Donnie and tried to kill Bob.”
“And his wife and the paramedic who suspected something was wrong,” she said. “Although, I don’t know if they can prove that.”
“I was thinking about something,” Max said.
“What is it?”
“If it’s a girl, I think we should name her after you and Rose,” he said. “We could use your middle name.”
“Carrie Rose Henry. I like the sound of it,” Michelle said. “Carrie was also my grandmother’s name.”
Chapter 115
Monday, November 11th
By Monday, Bob Burns had positively identified Chris as the man he’d seen behind him at the Bentonville game. The list of charges against Chris was long, but he already had an attorney who was making the rounds saying his client needed psychiatric care, not a maximum-security prison.
Max regretted not finishing him off when he had the chance. Would it have been so wrong? For now, Chris was in the Lakeside jail, but what if he got released on bail? What if a jury actually believed he’d be better off in a hospital than a prison?
In New Jersey, they’d already announced the re-opening of the investigation into the car accident that killed his wife. They were also looking into the circumstances around the death of JerseyGirl97.
The charges against Max were dropped. He was reinstated as head coach but was taking a medical leave of absence until after the Christmas break. He was actually looking forward to the time off to focus on his marriage and his relationship with God. Both still needed a lot of work, but he at least felt like he was on the right path.
Chapter 116
Six and a half months later…
Memorial Day
Max was up early enjoying a cup of coffee on the back deck. If Michelle felt up to it, they planned to spend part of the day with Willy and Rose on the lake, but at thirty-eight weeks pregnant—she wasn’t up for a lot of outdoor activity. It had already been one of the hottest months on record, so she had spent much of it indoors.
He finished the last swallow of coffee and set his mug down. A light breeze blew the smell of freshly cut grass across the deck. He was instantly transported back to high school. He closed his eyes, leaned his head back and could see it. The blue sky, the puffy white clouds. Seen through the facemask of a football helmet. He inhaled deeply. The moment was too good to let pass.
After the events of the previous year, he’d determined to take it a little slower, to be more present in each moment. The best moments in life weren’t going to be experienced or captured on a yellow legal pad. It was an ongoing struggle, but he was learning there didn’t always have to be a plan. At least not his own plan. He felt confident God had one even if it wasn’t always as clear as he’d like.
I’m trusting You, Lord.
He got up to get another cup of coffee. And heard it the moment he opened the door.
“Max!”
He dropped his mug and ran to the bedroom.
“I...I don’t feel good. I think I’m bleeding,” she said.
Why is she so pale? He pulled the covers back. His knees trembled. “Oh...okay, Shelle, it’ll be okay.” His hands were shaking, but he managed to tap 9-1-1.
Thank You
Thank you to everyone who read the first book in the series, “The Lakeside Conspiracy,” have cared about Max and Michelle, and have been asking for this book. Your encouragement and positive reviews mean a lot.
Thank you also to Amy Cassidy and Erica Harris for your help in the editing process. You made this a much better book.
And thank you to Steve Coppinger for his insights into law enforcement.
The Lakeside Council
By Gregg Stutts
Copyright (c) 2019 by Gregg Stutts
All rights reserved.
Editing by Amy Cassidy and Erica Harris
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
Chapter 1
Memorial Day, May 25th
“How…how bad is it?” Her voice was weak. And fading.
“It’s gonna be okay, Shelle.” The 9-1-1 operator answered after two rings. “I need an ambulance! Hurry!”
“Max, I…” Her eyes rolled back. He was losing her.
“Shelle! Shelle!” She was so pale. “Hurry, please! She’s really bleeding and she’s thirty-eight weeks pregnant.”
He gave the operator the address and she asked him to stay on the line until the paramedics arrived. “I think she’s going to…” And then Michelle passed out. “Hurry!” he yelled and dropped the phone on the bed.
The sheet was soaked with blood and there was nothing he could do. “Oh God, no! Please, please no!”
It felt like forever, but within a few minutes he heard a siren in the distance. He tried to wake her, but she wouldn’t come to. He placed his hand on her abdomen, trying to feel for any movement from the baby, but couldn’t tell if it was the baby moving or his badly shaking hand.
“Shelle! Wake up! Please! Just open your eyes.”
The siren got louder. It was coming down the street now. He ran to the front door and into the yard waving them down. “She’s in the bedroom! Hurry!” he yelled as the ambulance stopped in front of the house.
He led the paramedics, a 40-something man and a 20-something woman, into the house. They followed him into the bedroom and went right to work on Michelle. They asked him all kinds of questions, which he did his best to answer.
It took three attempts to get an IV started, but as soon as they did, he helped them get her onto a stretcher and followed them as they wheeled her outside. “How is she? Is she gonna be okay?” he asked, afraid of what he might hear.
The male paramedic said, “We’re doing everything we can,” as they loaded the stretcher into the ambulance and locked it in place.
“What about the baby?” Max said. “Is she okay?”
The paramedics exchanged a look. “We’ll do everything we can,” the woman said. “Come on, you can ride with us.”
With lights on and siren wailing, they sped through the stop sign at the end of the street and made a right toward town. Benton County Hospital was fifteen minutes away. He watched as the woman continued to work on Michelle. “Oh, God, please let her be okay,” he said. He wanted to ask about her condition, but he could see it. She was still unconscious and appeared to still be bleeding. He held Michelle’s hand and prayed, more like begged, God to save her life.
The blood and the twisting road had him on the verge of throwing up. He buried his face in his hands and tried to steady his nerves, but the monitor alarm jolted him out of his seat like an electric shock. “What’s wrong?”
“BP is dropping!” the woman yelled to the driver.
Max studied the monitor. Michelle’s blood pressure was just 79 over 51.
“What’s normal for her?” the woman asked.
“I...I think, more like 110 over 70.”
The monitor continued to beep out its warning and add another. “Heart rate is dropping!”
Max could feel the driver accelerate. “We’re three minutes out!” he yelled.
Moments later, as they turned into the hospital emergency entrance, the woman yelled to the driver, “I’m losing her!”
Chapter 2
The ambulance skidded to a stop under the “Emergency Entrance Only” sign. Within seconds, the door opened and a team of medical personnel pulled Michelle from the ambulance and rushed her inside. Max followed, his legs trembling, but energized by a surge of adrenaline. Inside, he followed them down the hall then watched helplessly as they wheeled her into a room.
A nurse took him by the arm and said, “Come with me, Mr. Henry,” and led him to a small waiting room. “I’ll tell the doctor you’re here.” She then disappeared behind another door that said, “Authorized Personnel Only” in large red letters.
He paced the room and immediately felt claustrophobic. He sat down with his head hanging between his knees and begged God for help. It was twenty minutes later when the door opened and he shot to his feet. A young man in green scrubs entered. “Are you Mr. Henry?”
“Yes, how’s my wife?”
“Let’s sit down,” he said. “I’m Dr. Hadley.”
“I don’t need to sit down. Just tell me how my wife is. They said they were losing…” He couldn’t complete the sentence.
Dr. Hadley sat down and pointed to the chair a few feet across from him. Max was too nervous to sit, but his legs felt wobbly again. He sat down and said, “Please just tell me what’s going on.”
“I’ll be honest with you, Mr. Henry, I’m not sure yet,” Dr. Hadley said. “Who’s her OB/GYN?”
The look on his face must have made it clear he had no idea.
“Do you know what office or clinic she might go to? It might help us to know if her doctor was aware of any potential problems with her pregnancy.”
Max squeezed his eyes shut and tried to remember who it could be. “I’m not sure. I’m sorry.”
Dr. Hadley got up to leave. “We’ll do everything we can.”
“What about the baby?”
He stopped and turned back to Max. “I promise you we’re doing everything we can.” He opened the door and left Max alone.
I need to call Willy. Fortunately, he answered on the first ring. “Hi Max. How’s our girl feeling?”
He took a deep breath and hoped he could get all the words out. “That’s why I’m calling Willy. I really need you and Rose to pray.”
“Oh no. What’s wrong?”
“When Michelle woke up this morning, I heard her scream. I ran to the bedroom. She...she looked so pale. She was bleeding. Bleeding a lot.”
“Oh, Max, I’m so sorry,” Willy said. “How is she now? How’s the baby?”
He tried to answer, but the words got stuck in his throat.
“Max?”
He managed only a whisper, “I don’t know. I’m in the emergency room.”
“Rose and I are on our way.”
Thirty minutes later, Willy and Rose were sitting with him, waiting for word from the doctor. The tiny room seemed to be shrinking by the minute. Rose held Max’s hand while Willy sat across from him with his eyes closed. Anyone would have mistaken him for an old man taking a nap, but Max knew he was praying.
It had been almost an hour since he’d seen the doctor and didn’t know how much longer he could go without some kind of news. He was about to find a nurse when Dr. Hadley entered the room. “The bleeding has stopped and she’s stable. We did an ultra-sound to check on the baby and see if we could identify the cause of the bleeding.”
“So, what’s wrong?” Max said. “What did you find?”
“Well, your wife has some fairly large cervical polyps. That’s why there was so much blood,” he said. “Do you know if she was exercising or involved in any other physical activity befor
e the bleeding started?”
Max looked at Willy and Rose, then back at the doctor and said, “Physical activity? No, she was sleeping.”
