Swing Low, Sweet Chariot

by Jackie Lynn

  Rose smiled. It was Thomas. She glanced around and realized that she was in his trailer, in his bed. He was taking care of her. She lifted up a bit and was quickly reminded of her broken ribs. She winced.

  “You were dreaming,” Thomas said. “Are you okay?” he asked.

  Rose thought for a minute. Suddenly, her mind cleared and she remembered that she had come home from the hospital and was staying with Thomas. She had suffered a mild concussion, but was no longer in any danger. She glanced around and realized that she must have fallen off to sleep after taking her pain medication.

  The sun was shining through the window and she looked up at Thomas standing in the golden pool of light.

  “Hey,” she said, smiling.

  “Hey, yourself,” he replied.

  “What time is it?” she asked.

  “About four,” he said as he glanced at his watch. “You’ve been napping almost three hours,” he added.

  Rose sat up a bit in the bed while Thomas rearranged the pillows behind her. She reached up and touched the bump on her forehead. She could feel that the swelling had gone down, but it still ached.

  “Did they release Chariot?” she asked. Thomas had reported to her at lunch that they had planned to transfer Chariot to the hospital in Memphis later that day. She had come through surgery and was recovering nicely.

  “Well, it has been quite an afternoon,” he said.

  “Why?” Rose asked. “What did I miss?”

  “Young Chariot has gotten quite a bit of good news since you fell asleep,” Thomas noted.

  “Yeah?” Rose asked. “Did Ms. Lou Ellen do her horoscope?” she asked.

  Thomas smiled. “You want something to drink?” he asked.

  Rose nodded and Thomas went into the kitchen and brought her a glass of juice. She took it and began sipping.

  “No, there isn’t any horoscope to be read, Chariot is being honored by the state of South Dakota for helping them make the biggest drug bust in the state,” Thomas reported.

  Rose placed her drink on the table beside her. “What?” she asked, wiping her mouth. “I knew they dropped the murder charges against her, that they know she was a victim like the others, but how did she assist in the drug bust?” Rose asked.

  “This senator from Chariot’s hometown wants to make Chariot the hero,” Thomas said. “They arrested Robert Lincoln this afternoon and they’re charging him with drug trafficking and with the murders of Jason and the other two guys.”

  Rose nodded. She knew that was bound to happen after the law enforcement officers from South Dakota made a connection between the policeman who was driving the car and consequently killed in the accident and the drug dealer they had suspected was involved in the crimes.

  Rose did wonder how Chariot was connected to fingering Lincoln. “Did they find out what was stolen from the storage facility?” she asked, thinking that might have provided the evidence.

  “They did search it and found out he kept a lot of drug money there. Jason and the other guys got some, but not all of it,” Thomas replied.

  “So what did Chariot do that helped to get the dealer arrested?” Rose asked, still curious.

  “She identified him as the one that kidnapped her from jail here in West Memphis,” Thomas said.

  “Chariot?” Rose asked, surprised to hear this bit of news.

  “Our young Chariot,” he replied.

  “But how did she identify him?” she asked.

  “Someone from the senator’s office showed her a photograph of Lincoln and she made a positive identification.” Thomas sat down on the bed beside Rose.

  “Someone from the senator’s office?” Rose asked. “What senator?”

  “That’s the big news,” Thomas replied. Rose waited.

  “This senator from Mitchell initiated the arrest of Lincoln based upon the information from the cell phone call that was made to you at the office, the one threatening Chariot’s and her daughter’s lives. It was from a cell phone that belonged to the drug dealer, and the bigger piece of evidence was Chariot’s identification of the man.” He reached over and slid a piece of hair out of Rose’s eyes.

  Rose felt confused.

  “She plans to give Chariot some citizenship award. They’re flying her back to Pierre on a helicopter this afternoon. She’s going to be reunited with her daughter as well,” he added. “It’s a real big deal.”

  Rose considered what Thomas was telling her. It just wasn’t making complete sense. Something didn’t feel right about this quick turnaround for Chariot and this sudden arrest and solving of the case.

  “What’s this senator’s name?” she asked, not sure why it would matter.

  “Maxine Dilliard,” he replied. “The one we read about in the articles, the one who was trying to bring down the drug dealers.”

  “Maxine Dilliard,” Rose repeated, recalling the article that Thomas had read to her, but also thinking she had seen the name somewhere else. She thought about it, but couldn’t recall exactly.

  “You remember?” he asked.

  Rose nodded.

  “Why do you look so dejected?” he asked, thinking that Rose would be pleased in hearing the news about the young woman. He knew that she wanted Chariot to regain custody of her little girl.

  “What about the photo card? Why did the drug dealer kill everybody for that?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe it was just pictures of people he sold to or pictures of his meth labs. I guess it doesn’t matter what he had on the memory card.”

  Rose shook her head. There was something else that bothered her about this latest bit of news. “Thomas, there’s no way Chariot could identify the other man at the park,” she said.

  “Why?” he asked.

  “We were both blindfolded,” Rose announced.

  Thomas stepped back a minute, taking in the news he was just hearing. “Well, maybe she wasn’t for a little while. Maybe she got a look at him before he blindfolded her. You said that she had seen cars in the parking lot at the police station.”

  Rose considered the news and this idea that Chariot could have seen her abductors. “But it still doesn’t make sense that Lincoln would come after her for the photo card. What was on it?” she asked.

  Thomas didn’t answer.

  “Knock, knock!”

  Rose immediately recognized the voice at the bedroom door. It was Ms. Lou Ellen.

  “I hope I’m not interrupting anything carnal,” she said.

  The older woman walked into the room wearing a huge grin on her face. She was carrying a Tupperware container under one arm and her laptop computer under the other.

  “You wish you were interrupting something carnal,” Rose replied.

  Thomas stood up from the bed and smiled. “Hello, Lou,” he said as a greeting.

  “Thomas,” she replied.

  She moved over to stand next to Rose.

  “What’s in the dish?” Rose asked, noticing the Tupperware dish that her friend was carrying.

  “Blond brownies,” the older woman replied. “With lots of chocolate and peanut butter chips,” she noted. “Just the way you like them,” she added. “Gooey and extra fattening.”

  She handed Thomas the dish and he took it from her. “Would you like one now?” he asked Rose, opening the lid. He held them over to Rose, who was leaning out of the bed.

  “I think I need one right about now,” Rose replied. “You were very sweet to bake them for me,” she said to Ms. Lou Ellen. She reached inside the container and took out a small brownie. “Anybody else?” she asked.

  “Not for me, dear,” Ms. Lou Ellen replied. “I’m watching my girlish figure,” she added.

  “Yep, I’m watching mine, too,” Rose replied. “I’m watching it sink further and further into my fat womanish figure.”

  Thomas shook his head and laughed. He took back the container, snapping on the top. “You are just right,” he said with a wink.

  Rose smiled. She ate the snack in two bites. Sh
e rubbed her stomach and then took a sip of juice.

  Thomas pulled a chair from the corner and placed it right beside Rose. Ms. Lou Ellen sat down in it.

  “And what about the computer?” Rose asked, noticing the equipment that her friend had then placed in her lap.

  “Ah,” Ms. Lou Ellen exclaimed. “This is for your latest reading,” she noted. “There have been lots of updates since the accident,” she added. “I think you’ll be interested to know about the baby.”

  Thomas glanced over at Rose, who was looking at him. They had not talked about having children since their one conversation they had down at the river over their picnic lunch.

  “Maybe I’ll just leave the two of you alone,” Thomas said. He smiled and made a quick exit out of the bedroom.

  “I think you scared off my boyfriend,” Rose announced.

  “I don’t think I could scare dear Thomas,” Ms. Lou Ellen replied. She sat perfectly erect, opened the computer, and turned it on. She was running it off of a battery.

  “Now, let me see,” she started, tapping on the keyboard.

  She was sitting close enough for Rose to see the screen and suddenly, as the computer began to boot up, Rose noticed something that captured her attention.

  “What’s that file?” she asked, pointing to a small icon that looked like a camera sign that she recognized.

  “Oh.” Ms. Lou Ellen studied it. “It’s photographs,” she replied.

  “What photographs?” Rose asked.

  The older woman thought for a minute. “I think those are Mary’s pictures,” she replied. “The ones on her card that you had on the table in the office a few days ago,” she added.

  Rose thought about her answer. “I didn’t have Mary’s card,” she replied.

  “Yes,” the older woman said. “You placed it next to me the morning of the accident. I thought you had received them from Mary and so I downloaded them,” she explained.

  “From the day of the accident?” Rose asked.

  “Yes,” Ms. Lou Ellen replied. “You had the card in your hand and then you placed it on the table and then I took it and downloaded it.”

  Then Rose suddenly realized what the pictures were.

  “They’re from the card that the kidnapper wanted!” Rose jumped up from her bed. She felt the pain in her chest and she suddenly fell back, wrapping her arms around herself.

  Thomas rushed back into the room when he heard the commotion.

  “Rose!” Thomas thought she was going to fall off of the bed. He moved over to her.

  “I’m fine,” Rose said, shaking off Thomas’s attempts to settle her back against the pillows.

  “Lou Ellen!” Rose shouted. “Can you open that file?” she asked. “Can we see the pictures?” She carefully repositioned herself so that she was able to see the screen again, able to see what was going to be displayed.

  “My dear, I can open any file,” Ms. Lou Ellen announced. She tapped on the computer keys and the photo file began to open.

  There was a moment of complete silence and then Rose turned to Thomas.

  “Well, my Lord,” was all that Ms. Lou Ellen could think to say.

  TWENTY-SIX

  You have got to drive faster than this!” Rose exclaimed to Willie as he pulled out of the campground driveway.

  He was moving at what he considered to be a quick but safe pace. Rose, however, thought he could travel a bit quicker.

  “You shouldn’t even be in here,” Thomas said to Rose, trying to keep her from reaching over to take the wheel. He was sitting by the door and she was in the middle.

  Rose had told Ms. Lou Ellen to call the sheriff and show him the photographs. He was to meet her at the hospital in Caldwell, where they hoped it wasn’t too late to get to Chariot before they took her back to South Dakota.

  Rose had planned for Thomas to drive her vehicle, but four days after the incident, it was still parked in the space at the state park. It was still, she presumed, sitting there with an empty tank. No one had arranged to get it back to West Memphis.

  She didn’t want to ride on the back of Thomas’s motorcycle, so when she saw Willie by the office, she asked him if they could borrow his truck and drive to Caldwell and find Chariot.

  Willie claimed that he didn’t want to surrender his vehicle over to Thomas, but the truth was that he wanted to join in the race to help the young woman as well, so he agreed to drive them.

  “I’m going as fast as I can go,” the older man reported to Rose, who had both hands pushing on the dashboard as if that might increase their speed.

  “Willie, I know you aren’t used to being in a hurry. But I think Chariot is in trouble. We have to get to Caldwell before that helicopter takes her back to South Dakota.”

  At the sound of the girl’s name in the same sentence with trouble, Willie pressed against the gas pedal and the two passengers fell back against the seat. He whipped into the merging lane and sped onto the interstate. He pushed down hard against the accelerator and Rose watched the speedometer climb. She didn’t know the old truck that Willie had been driving for most of his adult life could go that fast.

  They drove the thirty miles and made the turnoff on Interstate 40 into the community of Caldwell. They were pulling into the hospital parking lot when they saw the helicopter land on the pad behind the facility. They watched as the bay door opened and a woman stepped out from the passenger’s side. It appeared as if they had made it just in time.

  Willie swerved in the direction of the helicopter and slammed to a stop just at the side of the fence that enclosed the pad. Thomas jumped out from the passenger’s side and helped Rose climb down from the truck. They both watched a gurney that was rolled from the side entrance of the hospital and was now moving in the direction of the medical helicopter. No one seemed to see them standing at the far end of the hospital, about two hundred yards from the designated helicopter landing area.

  Rose held onto the fence, yelling for them to stop, yelling to try and get someone’s attention. No one could hear her because of the roaring engine and the swirling blades. She glanced around, but knew that she or Thomas didn’t have time to run inside and get to the medical personnel before they took off. She was frantic, trying to get someone to look in her direction. Thomas was banging on the fence and yelling, too.

  All of a sudden, Rose heard the sound of someone revving up the motor on their vehicle. It wasn’t too far away. Rose turned around and watched as Willie, who had backed up his truck, headed in their direction. She pulled away and suddenly saw the fence fall in front of her.

  She looked up and saw that the medical staff at the helicopter had finally noticed them. Willie had plowed his truck into the fence and was still moving forward. All that Thomas and Rose could do was watch.

  “Willie!” Rose yelled, but the truck kept moving.

  Finally, just as he was about to ram into the helicopter, Willie swerved the truck around and slammed on the brakes. The medical staff hurried the gurney away from the pad and away from the crazy driver who had just crashed through the fence.

  Thomas and Rose waited for a minute, taking in what had just occurred and then went running over to the medical staff standing around Chariot.

  “What the …” The woman from the passenger’s side of the helicopter had moved over and was standing next to the truck. No one could hear exactly what she was saying, but it was pretty clear that she was angered by the interruption. Her hair and clothes were flying all around under the swirling copter blades.

  Rose immediately recognized her to be the senator from South Dakota. Senator Maxine Dilliard from Mitchell.

  “I will have all of you arrested!” she screamed and then yelled to the pilot to cut off the helicopter.

  Thomas ran to check on Willie, who was still sitting in the truck, and Rose went over to make sure that Chariot was okay. The young woman was strapped onto the gurney, but she was alert and oriented and knew that the person standing beside her was Rose.

&nbs
p; “What’s wrong?” she asked. “I thought you were still injured and still in bed,” she added, looking Rose over.

  Rose was holding her chest and her breathing was a bit labored. “Chariot,” she said, trying to catch her breath. The broken ribs made the act of breathing even more difficult.

  “Who are you?” one of the nurses asked. She was holding up the IV bag that was dripping into Chariot’s arm.

  “Her name is Rose,” Chariot answered for her. “She’s the one who saved my life,” she added.

  Just then the senator walked over and threw herself between the young woman on the gurney and Rose. “Just what do you think you’re doing?” she screamed. “Are you trying to kill somebody?” she asked.

  “No, ma’am,” Rose replied. “I think that’s been your job,” she added.

  Suddenly, there was the sound of sirens approaching. The senator glanced up the street and started to appear a bit nervous. “What’s going on?” she asked. “Why are the police coming here?”

  Chariot lifted up when she heard the sounds. “What’s wrong, Rose?” she asked.

  “I saw the photographs,” Rose replied.

  The senator glared at her. “What?” she asked. “There are no photographs,” she added.

  “Yes, ma’am, there are,” Rose replied. “I downloaded them from the memory card before your man took it.”

  The senator held her hand up to her neck and the color faded from her face.

  Police cars roared into the hospital parking lot and drove through the hole that Willie had made with his truck. Sheriff Montgomery was the first one out of the car. He headed over to the group standing at the hospital bay. He immediately saw Rose and nodded in her direction.

  “Senator Maxine Dilliard,” he said, “you’re under arrest for murder.” And then he called back to one of his deputies. “Martin, cuff her and read her her rights.”

  The deputy appeared from behind them and placed the handcuffs on her wrists. They heard him as he pushed the senator toward the car, “Ma’am, you have the right to remain silent. …”

  “What happened?” Chariot wanted to know. “I thought everything was okay. I thought I was going home, going to get Constance,” she said. Her voice was stretched thin. She sounded small, weak, disappointed.