by Teresa Trent
“Will you be in town?”
“Yes, I guess so. It seems like too short of a holiday to really go anywhere. Do they have any fireworks here?”
“Oh, yes. Bubba McConnell lights them every year with the eight fingers he has left.”
“Sounds like a night to remember – and now I can’t wait to see the winner of the Miss Watermelon Pageant.”
“There’s a lot going on, that’s for sure.”
Keith came up to the table very slowly holding a giant round tray. He extended his serving stand and carefully set down our dinners. We became silent and put our napkins on our laps as he picked up my bowl of gumbo. It was filled to the very top with peppered broth, crawfish and okra. Right as Keith came closer with the teetering bowl a shot rang out, ricocheting on the metal frame of the patio. The bowl of gumbo came down on top of me and my dress as I heard Adam shout, “Get down!”
I hit the floor of the patio, trying to see where the shots were coming from. Okra flew everywhere. I saw a flash from trees and bushes situated next to the patio. The shooter was only twenty or so feet away, but as much as I tried to see I couldn’t make out a person, only another flash of powder as the next shot rang out. I reached over to Keith, who was now lying on the ground next to me curled up in a ball.
Another shot hit a clay sun-shaped wall hanging that cracked and fell. The shards of clay shattered into pieces around us. Adam Cole was sprawled out on the other side of the table. There was blood dribbling over toward me. Adam had been hit. His face was turning a ghastly color of white. I reached over for my purse hanging from the chair and started dialing 911.
“Someone’s been shot,” I gasped.
I heard Keith moan beside me. I reached over and touched his arm. “Are you hurt too?”
“No,” his adolescent voice squealed as it reached for its bass tone. “I’m beginning to think waiting tables isn’t my calling, after all.”
*****
The ambulance arrived about ten minutes after I called. When the shots had stopped, we slowly crawled back toward the inside of the restaurant. I followed the patch of blood on Adam and could see he had been hit in the arm. We pressed on the wound to stop the bleeding until help could arrive.
“New in town, and I’m already being shot at. Maybe that old cop has friends,” Adam said. I felt guilt shoot through me. “He has more than that. You’re out with his daughter.”
“What?” he said, his voice still shaky.
“I’m Judd Kelsey’s daughter.”
A silence passed between us. “So you are here because of your father, not because you wanted to go out with me?”
I bit my lip. “I know, it’s a bad thing to do, but I can tell you my father is an honest cop and he would never, ever plant evidence. You just have to believe me.”
“And what were you prepared to do to make sure I did?”
I blushed. “Not what you’re thinking.”
If he wasn’t sitting here bleeding all over me, I would have left him cold.
“Too bad,” he said, using his good hand to straighten his shirt collar. “It’s official. This is the worst date I have ever been on.”
“It’s on the top of my list, as well.”
“So I just hope that wasn’t your dad shooting at us.”
“My dad’s a better shot than that.”
“Comforting.”
“The shot was coming from over in the woods there,” I said, motioning out the window.
“Did you see what the shooter looked like?” Adam was interrupted by the paramedics scrambling toward him. They started taking off his jacket and examining the gunshot wound.
“No, just the flash from the gun. There was lots of powder from it.”
Keith, who had been clearing tables, stopped with a clatter. “My grandpa would say it’s the ghost of Charlie Loper. That has to be it. Someone here must have hurt his daughter. He’s a ghost out for revenge, you know.”
“Who?” Adam asked.
“Oh,” I sighed. “The shooting at the Loper mansion. His grandpa said he heard the gunshot and when he looked out the window he saw rhinestones flashing in the streetlight.”
“I see,” Adam said and then jumped as the paramedic started trying to get a look at his wound.
The paramedic stopped what he was doing and raised a finger. “It’s a good thing you put pressure on the wound. You saved your friend from losing too much blood. If I could just get you to hold on to it for a minute more.” He turned to pull something out of his medical kit and then turned back. As he was about to apply a bandage he stopped and looked into my face. “I know you. Orley’s told me all about you. You’re Betsy Livingston, the girl who has been at more of our stops than anyone in this town. Pleased to finally meet you,” he said as he peeled up Adam’s sleeve. He drew closer to the opening the bullet made. “I see an entrance and an exit on this. Looks like the bullet went right through you, sir. You were lucky.” He whispered to him on the side, “Especially being out with this lady, if you know what I mean.”
I pretended like I hadn’t heard that part and focused on the bullet. Entering and exiting from his arm meant that it was probably still out on the patio somewhere.
“Betsy, we’re going to transport your date to the hospital. Did you want to ride along?” the paramedic asked. “Oh, and you can let up with the pressure now.”
I turned to answer his question when a flash lit in my eyes. It was Rocky with his camera.
“Smile, you’re in the Gazette,” he said. I always liked Rocky, but he was starting to get downright irritating.
“Rocky. I don’t want to be in the Gazette.”
“It’s a major story, Betsy. Would you deny my readership? You know how low subscriptions are right now.”
I turned back to Adam. “I know you’re not too pleased with me right now, but I could drive your car to the hospital and park it in the parking lot.”
He grimaced and reached for his keys in his front pocket. “That would be great.” He handed them over. “I guess our date is over.”
“Sure. I would say call me, but if the second date is anything like the first, it could be pretty frightening for both of us.”
The paramedic loaded him onto the stretcher. Adam grasped onto the sides and said, “Besides, there is the little fact that you were pumping me for information on your father’s case. I actually consider myself a fair judge of character, but I guess the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.
“Well, you can be pleased with yourself then, because you didn’t reveal anything. No harm done,” I said as I picked up my purse. The phone inside started ringing. The caller ID read “Dad.”
Chapter Nineteen
The next day, as he sat at my kitchen table ladling sauerkraut onto a hot dog, my father asked, “So did you see anything at all, Betsy?”
“I told you it was really difficult to see, but the shot was being fired from the brush near the bayou. There was a flash and some powder. Luckily, whoever it was wasn’t a very good shot.”
“We checked it out, and it’s lookin’ like they might have come from the antique Charlie Loper guns that were stolen from the museum.”
“Okay, but after finding out that Hunter Grayson was funneling money off of Miss Loper, I can see a good reason for him to be killed. Shooting at me and Adam Cole is another matter.” I said. “He’s only been in town for a few weeks, so anybody wanting revenge for a case he tried seems a little soon. And me? Me? I’m the Happy Hinter. Who would want to take a shot at me for goodness’ sake? What did I do, give some bad advice on ring around the collar?”
“Whatever you did, that gun was aimed right at you,” my father answered.
“If I had to pick a suspect – and Dad, try not to take this personally – I think I would have to go with you. You have the biggest motive in town right now with Adam Cole investigating you.”
“Which brings me to our next topic of conversation. What the hell were you doing out with him at Ben’s Bayou?
”
“Grandpa,” Zach said. “You used a bad word. Mom said I can’t say it, so why can you?”
“Listen to your mother, son,” my dad said.
“Betsy, I need an answer to my question.” His tone made me feel like I was sixteen sneaking into the house after curfew.
“Okay, okay. I know it probably wasn’t a good idea, but I met him before I knew he was the new district attorney. He flirted with me a little and asked me out and I said no.”
“Because she has a boyfriend,” Zach said around a mouth full of sauerkraut.
“Right,” I confirmed. “But then that thing came out about you in the paper, and they featured my picture of you. I just felt like I owed it to you. That’s all.”
Dad smiled and scooted closer. “Thank you for that,” he paused, “but don’t you ever do that again.”
“Dad, it was no big deal. After we were shot at, I told him the truth. The worst that came out of it was that he disappointed I wasn’t there for the right reason.”
“Yeah, and he lives in this town now, and you don’t want to go pissing off the district attorney.”
“Grandpa!
“Sorry. So, in all of your spy work, did you find out anything?”
“No, he found out more about me than I did about his investigation,” I admitted. “He described you as ‘some old cop’ who was caught planting evidence.”
“Old? Now that hurts.”
“That’s what he said. I really wanted to get more out of him, but trying to question Mr. Cole was harder than I thought. Turns out I’m not as good at being sneaky as I thought.”
Zach grinned while his cheeks bulged with hot dog.
“Who do you think would frame you like that, dad?” I said.
“You even have to ask? Clay Bonnet was yelling how I planted that pot even before I got out of the driveway with his son. It doesn’t help that he’s hired Irving Spalding to try his son’s case. He’ll get it thrown out of court before it ever comes to trial. It was just a stroke of good luck that Rocky heard about the charge and then looked through the pictures you brought in from the farm.”
“Yeah, I used to think Rocky was on our side.”
“He is, when it sells papers.”
“But putting the picture in the paper without asking me or you and taking that picture at the restaurant?”
“It’s his job, the same way you do yours and I do mine. He had a scoop.”
My cell phone rang from behind me. My dad rose from the table and looked at the caller ID on the phone lying on the counter.
“It’s Mr. Fitzpatrick, Betsy,” he chuckled. “Wonder what he would think of your little dinner date?” He picked up his Stetson and headed for the door. “Have to run, darlin’.”
I answered the phone on the fourth ring.
“Betsy,” Leo said, “are you all right?”
“Why wouldn’t I be?”
“Well, maybe because you were just shot at.”
“Oh, that.”
“Yes that.”
“How did you hear about that? It just happened.”
“It’s on the Internet,” he said. “You made the statewide news.”
“Oh,” I said. “I’m okay. You don’t need to worry. I wasn’t even hit.”
“It says someone else was. What were you doing there, anyway?”
Okay, here came the big confession. I would try to explain to him that I was really just on the date to get information on my dad’s investigation. He would surely understand why I did what I did.
“Betsy?”
“Yes.” I cleared my throat. “The man I was out with is the new district attorney in town. We met at the veterinarian’s office. He has a dog named Sunshine.”
“And you are...dating him?”
“No! Well, I was sort of ... but no, we won’t be going out ever again.”
“Being shot at kind of put him off, huh? No one ever said life with you would be easy.” I could hear anger rising in Leo’s voice.
“Let me explain.”
“No need. You’re a grown woman, and if you want to get picked up at the dog doctor, then have at it. I’ll hand it to him – he does use his surroundings well. Who needs a bar when you can just take old Sunshine out for her shots?”
Now he was getting me angry. What did he think I was – available to anyone who asked? The idiot didn’t even realize how I felt. I hadn’t even defined it myself in my own head, but I sure wasn’t shopping around for someone else to date.
“Leo...”
“Wow, look at the time. I’m just glad you’re doing okay, Betsy.”
The line went dead on the other end. He totally misunderstood what had happened and my reasons for being there. It surprised me that he reacted so quickly. Usually Leo was an excellent listener. It was one of the things I liked about him most. After my failed marriage, I felt like no one would ever pay any attention to me again. Leo didn't seem to be listening this time. If he had just stopped interrupting me, I could have gotten it out. I continued to worry about the situation as I did the lunch dishes and Zach ran out to play with Butch. I knew I had to do something, but I didn’t think I could get Leo back on the phone. I walked over to the computer and started writing an email to “weatherguy.” My weatherguy.
“I’m so sorry about this misunderstanding. I am not sending love letters to Adam Cole, the new district attorney. It was all a big mix-up. As if I would send anything nice to the guy who is framing my father...”
I noticed that when I pulled up my email, there had been a message from Dr. Springer. It started to gnaw at me that possibly something had come back from the blood test she took after Butch’s week in “captivity.”
Putting off writing to Leo, I clicked back to my inbox and opened the email from Dr. Springer.
Dear Clients of Springer Veterinary Clinic,
To celebrate the Fourth of July this year, we are having our first pet parade before the beauty pageant. Dress your dog or cat in their finest patriotic outfit and join the parade at the Pecan Bayou Public Park! Hope to see you there!
I looked back at the list of recipients of the email and noticed Adam Cole’s name near the beginning. Would he be there with Sunshine? He left the restaurant pretty angry with me. I was hoping that he would understand a daughter helping out her father, but instead I probably once again made matters worse for my dad. Maybe I would go down to his office to try to smooth things out. Then again, maybe I should just let it go.
It probably wouldn't hurt to write him a little email and apologize for making a fake date with the man. I started a new email to Adam, leaving the email to Leo unsent. I was feeling scatterbrained about the whole thing and just had the overwhelming impulse to fix it all, right now. I would write him a note first and then transfer his email address from Dr. Springer’s list to this new email.
Hey, sorry about our date, and not just the shooting. I think you’re a really great guy...
Zach burst through the back door with Butch. His face was the color of ripe watermelon.
“Man, it’s hot out there. Can I have a soda?” He looked like the poster boy for sunstroke, so I jumped up and poured him some water with ice in it. I wet a kitchen towel and put it on the back of his neck.
“What about Butch?” he asked. Bossy for a kid. I put some fresh water in Butch’s bowl, which he lapped up until it was gone.
“You should have come in sooner, Zach. This heat can be dangerous.”
“Sorry, Mom, but we were exploring,’” Zach said after gulping down another mouthful of water. Zach tried to put the wet cloth on the back of Butch’s neck, but the dog pulled away from him and went over to the braided rug in the den and collapsed, panting.
“Poor boy, he’s all worn out.”
The gray puppy looked tired, but at the same time in a state of euphoria only achieved from playing with a little boy on a hot summer day.
The back door swung open again, and Danny came clomping into the room.
“
Betsy! We’re going to have a parade! We’re going to have a parade!”
“Yes, I know, Danny. I was just reading about it in an email the doctor sent.”
“We’re going to have a parade with dogs! Dr. Springer says we can bring Butch and have him in the parade.” Aunt Maggie had followed her son in quietly and was now pulling a water bottle out of my refrigerator. After she unscrewed the cap and took a swig, she sighed.
“They’ve decided to have a dog parade to celebrate the Fourth. They’re going to put them in the front of the regular parade so as not to spook the dogs. Dr. Springer’s telling all her clients to dress up their pets.”
“Not the cat people. They’re not invited. Cats don’t parade good, you know,” Danny added.
“Cool!” Zach said. “Can you make Butch a little flag costume?”
“I don’t know about that, but we can do something.
“We could attach sparklers to his collar.”
“I know, I can make Butch a red, white and blue yo-yo outfit,” said Aunt Maggie. My aunt was famous for her yo-yo bedspreads, and we each had one. She loved to take little scraps and turn them into puffy circles that she would then sew onto a bedspread. It was only fitting that Butch should have his own.
“I’m going to meet my girlfriend there,” Danny said. I shot Aunt Maggie a look. I guessed Allison would be there, but how comfortable would she feel with Danny professing his love to her in front of the crowd.
Maggie raised her eyebrows and shook her head. She knew a heartbreak was coming for her son. She attempted to change the subject.
“I’m sure Adam Cole will be there with that dog of his. What’s his name? Aquarius?”
“Sunshine,” I said. “If he is there, he probably doesn’t want to talk to me. He wasn’t too happy when he found out I was Judd Kelsey’s daughter.”
“I suppose not. That’s alright, you tried.”
“Unfortunately, Leo heard about it and wasn’t too happy on the phone.”
