by Jessica Beck
“Maybe,” the chief said. “What have you got, Jake?”
It was time for my husband to take over. “I found a letter going out to Noreen about a loan refusal, which matches what we’ve heard about their relationship as well. She’s next to broke herself, and apparently she was expecting Van to bail her out yet again. He refused her time and time again, and we believe she doesn’t realize that her brother is broke as well.”
“That would be solid grounds for murder, or attempted murder, at any rate, if she’s set to inherit his estate, whatever it might amount to,” the chief said. “You both did good work.”
I saw Jake hesitate, not wanting to add the incriminating evidence about Gabby Williams, but I couldn’t let him do that. Perhaps he was simply waiting for me to chime in.
“There’s one more thing,” I said. “Show him, Jake.”
My husband nodded as he handed the chief Gabby’s dinner invitation, along with the scrawled note that Van was going to dump her. “Wow. It’s a wonder to me it took this long for someone to take a run at Van Rayburn,” the chief said. “Is that everything, or is anyone else after the head councilman?”
“Not that we know of,” I said.
“I’ll have someone go through the rest of this, but I appreciate your insights,” the chief said.
“Since we’re sharing information,” Jake said slyly, “were you able to find anything at Van’s cottage that might help the investigation?”
“Yours or mine?” the chief asked guardedly.
“Why can’t it be both?” Jake asked him.
“I don’t know why it matters. I didn’t find anything incriminating about anyone when I checked the place out earlier. It’s a dead end, at least as far as I’m concerned.”
“Do you really think Van will ultimately remember who attacked him?” I asked the chief.
“You’d have to ask his doctors,” Chief Grant said. “I’ll leave the diagnoses up to them.” As he looked around the messy office, he asked, “I assume you both have a game plan of attack from here on out. Am I right?”
“We haven’t really discussed anything that detailed yet,” Jake said levelly. I suppose on one level it was true, but it didn’t actually take a conference to decide what came next. We needed to take another run at our suspects now that we were armed with new information that had been confirmed by outside sources. It might end up being a huge waste of time if Van recovered his memories, but if he didn’t, the sooner the culprit was nailed down, the better. Until that happened, it was not that hard to imagine that the councilman was in more danger than ever. “We’ve been forthright with you. Can you at least give us something that might help us?”
Chief Grant appeared to think about it for a few moments before he finally said, “We’ve got the time of the attack down to a four-hour window. Van spoke with Harry Milner around eleven about an item on the council agenda, and you found him a little after three. I don’t know if that helps, but it’s something. Who are you going after next?”
“We honestly haven’t decided,” I said.
“But you’ve got an idea, surely,” the chief said. “You know what? Never mind. If I don’t know what you’re up to, I can’t forbid you from doing it. Keep in touch though, okay?”
“You bet,” Jake said.
As the police chief walked down the hall toward the mayor’s office, I turned to my husband. “I’m guessing you have more of an idea of what comes next than you let on just now.”
“How well you know me,” Jake said with a soft grin. “Are you ready to roll?”
“I’m right behind you,” I replied with a smile of my own.
Chapter 10
Once we were back out in my Jeep, I asked Jake, “Where should we start? Should we keep looking for new clues or speak with our suspects again?”
“I vote for heading to the hospital,” Jake said. “After all, unless I miss my guess, that’s where most of our suspects are right now.”
“Sounds good to me,” I said as I started the engine and began driving. “Do you really think a loan shark might have attacked Van?”
“No, not really,” Jake said. “The more I think about it, it just doesn’t make sense.”
“Why not?”
“If the shark wanted Van to pay on his loan, what sense would it make hitting him in the back of the head and possibly killing him? That’s no way to get your money back. If Van had a broken leg, some cracked ribs, or a busted arm, it might be more plausible. Heck, even if he’d been beaten up, it might tell us that was what happened, but besides his head wound, there wasn’t an obvious bruise on him.”
“Does it ever bother you knowing all of that?” I asked him.
“Suzanne, I know a great many things that are much worse than how a loan shark works.”
“I get that. I just don’t think I could do it.”
“Well,” he said with a slight smile, “if it’s any consolation, I couldn’t make a donut to save my life. We each have our own talents.”
I wanted to press him more on how he coped with all of the darkness he’d seen in his professional life, but at that moment, his phone rang.
“It’s Ellie,” he told me. “I’ve got to take this.”
“Be my guest,” I said, trying not to show any emotion. Ellie had a habit of acquiring married men, but I was going to make sure that she didn’t add my husband to her collection. However, I knew that if I said anything overtly, Jake would just think that I didn’t trust him. Him I trusted just fine. It was that man-eater I had a problem with.
After a brief conversation, Jake hung up and turned to me. He was clearly waiting for me to ask about his little chat, but I wasn’t about to do that.
“Who should we tackle first? Should we set someone in our sights, or take whoever comes our way first?” I asked him.
“You’re not even going to ask me about that call?” Jake asked me.
“It’s none of my business. After all, she won you, fair and square.”
“Suzanne, nobody won anyone. We’re having lunch tomorrow, if that’s okay with you.”
“I don’t have a problem with it,” I said, “but Barton might.”
“It’s his afternoon off. She’s already touched base with him.” Jake was looking at me curiously the entire time we spoke.
“Good. Then that’s settled.”
Jake’s frown deepened. “Seriously? You aren’t going to say a word?”
I had to laugh. His reaction to my lack of one had turned out better than anything I could have said to him. “Jake, I trust you,” I said, not adding the second half of that thought about Ellie’s reliability.
“I appreciate that, but even you have to admit that she’s a pretty woman,” he said.
I pulled the Jeep over, much to his surprise. “Do you want me to complain? Barton’s going to be there, too, right?”
“He’s kind of essential, since he’s doing the cooking,” Jake admitted.
“Then you’ve got a chaperone built right in. But do me a favor, would you?”
“Anything,” Jake said.
“If she makes the slightest pass at you during your lunch, tell her to start looking over her shoulder, because I’ll be gunning for her.”
Jake laughed. “Now that’s what I was looking for.”
I stuck my tongue out at him, and then I laughed as well. I truly wasn’t worried about Ellie. My husband loved me, and I knew it.
We were at the hospital soon enough, and I pulled into an empty space in the visitors’ lot. “Let’s go try to find Van’s attacker,” I said as I locked up the Jeep.
“I hope we can,” Jake said worriedly. “I honestly don’t like not knowing who did it.”
“Why is that?”
“I can’t help wondering why they haven’t tried again. After all, the attacker has more incentive than ever
to make another run at Van. After all, if the councilman gets his memory back, whoever went after the man is sunk.”
“The chief said he’d put a guard on his room,” I reminded Jake.
“I hope he follows through, but with as many ways as he’s being pulled right now, it could have easily slipped his mind.”
I patted my husband’s shoulder. “We’ll make sure that it doesn’t, okay?”
“Okay,” he said. “Suzanne, I’m really happy that you’re in my life.”
“I feel the same way about you,” I said happily. I hadn’t realized it, but before Jake had come along, I’d led an ordinary existence, with highs and lows of its own, but until we’d found each other, I hadn’t realized just how much I’d been missing out on before, even when I’d been married to Max.
“You aren’t going to get in to see him unless you crawl over my dead body!” Noreen shouted at Vivian as we walked down the hall toward Van’s room. Were those two women honestly still fighting? At least Gabby wasn’t there joining in the fray. To my relief, a police officer was stationed outside Van’s room, but he made no attempt to intervene in the argument. As a matter of fact, he looked as though he might be enjoying the distraction.
“Don’t tempt me,” Vivian shouted back. “He wants to see me!”
“In your dreams!” Noreen answered.
“Ladies, please,” Buford said, still trying to play the role of peacemaker, though obviously he was out of his depth with these two fireballs. “Let’s show some decorum.”
“You can take your decorum and shove it where the sun doesn’t shine, errand boy,” Vivian said, turning angrily on him.
“Oh, that’s a nice mouth you’ve got yourself there,” Noreen answered smugly.
“I wasn’t talking to you, hag,” Vivian said. “You’re a leech and a parasite, and Van doesn’t need you in his life. Go find another money tree, loser.”
Noreen’s face turned white at the insult. It must have really hit home. She snapped back, “You’re just rubbish. He threw you away, but you don’t have the common sense to take the hint. Why don’t you do us all a favor and go sink your fangs into someone else?”
Vivian took that to heart, and she reared back to slap Noreen. The only problem was that Buford got in the way at precisely the wrong moment, and Vivian’s hand connected with his cheek instead. The sound of the contact was enough to catch everyone’s attention within ten yards, and an angry white patch lit up Buford’s face as though it had been painted with a brush.
“Now see what you’ve done,” Noreen said, turning to Buford. “You’ve managed to attack Van’s best friend, too.”
“He’s not his best friend, but I didn’t mean to hit him,” Vivian said. “I was aiming for you.”
“What a surprise that you missed me,” Noreen said, unconsciously echoing Vivian’s greeting card message I’d found earlier.
“Just give me another shot. I promise that I won’t miss the next time,” she said in a growl that barely sounded like words.
“That’s it,” a security guard said as he approached. “You three. Out. Right now.”
“What did I do?” Buford protested. “I was trying to get them to stop.”
“Well, you failed miserably at it, didn’t you?” the guard said.
“Sir, do you have any idea who I am? I am a powerful man in this town.”
“Tell it to someone who cares, pal. You’re a part of this group disturbing the peace, and I have every right to remove you.” He turned to the patrol officer and asked, “Right?”
“Don’t ask me. I’m just here guarding the door,” the officer said.
The security guard took that as agreement. “I’m not wrong. Now let’s go. You can come back after you’ve all cooled down some, but not for at least an hour. Am I making myself clear?”
“Fine,” Noreen snapped, “but I’m not leaving until she does.”
“You’re all going,” the guard said, and it was clear he’d had enough. All three left the hospital, glaring at each other as they went. Just to be sure, the security guard followed them out, leaving Jake and me standing there with the cop. Jake and I tagged along with the ejected group, hoping to get a word with Buford. Once we were all outside, Jake pulled the councilman aside. “Do you know anything about Van wanting to impeach the mayor?” he asked.
“I thought he was over that,” Buford said, frowning. “Surely he’s not trying to bring that up again. The man clearly has it in for our mayor, and the feeling is mutual.”
“That leaves you in the middle again, doesn’t it?” I asked him.
“No, not anywhere close. I know where my loyalties lie,” he responded.
Noreen clearly wasn’t happy about us chatting. “Buford, are you coming?”
“I’ll be right there,” he said as he hurried to her.
“That was something to see, wasn’t it?” I asked Jake as we walked back inside.
“Tell me about it,” he replied.
When we got to the police officer, Jake asked, “How long were they fighting, anyway?”
“Since I got on duty an hour ago,” the man answered.
“At least this job isn’t boring, right?” I asked.
“It’s been a better show than what’s usually playing on television these days,” he admitted.
Jake said, “You’re new, aren’t you? I’m Jake Bishop, and this is my wife, Suzanne Hart.”
He took Jake’s hand and then mine. “I know who you both are. I’m Dan Bradley,” he said in reply.
“Nice to meet you, Officer,” I said as I started for the door.
He didn’t budge, though.
“Would you mind stepping aside? We’d like to speak with Van for a moment,” Jake said.
“Sorry, but I’ve got my orders. No one goes in without the chief’s permission,” the officer explained. “Unless you’re on the hospital staff, there aren’t any exceptions.”
“Get your boss on the line and ask him,” Jake said, clearly unhappy about being thwarted.
The officer frowned for a moment. “Hang on.” After a whispered conversation, Officer Bradley said, “Go on in.”
“Thanks,” I said, but Jake merely nodded until I jabbed him in the ribs.
He quickly added, “Thank you, Officer Bradley.”
“You’re welcome, sir,” the young man said, relieved that my husband was at least being civil about it.
“Jake, he’s just doing his job,” I whispered as we walked into the room.
“I know that,” Jake answered.
I decided not to push it.
Van was sitting up in bed doing the crossword puzzle. “What’s a seven-letter word for investment?”
“‘Money’ is too short,” I said, and then I added, “Try ‘capital.’”
Van smiled. “That’s it. What brings you two by? Do you know why all of the excitement outside suddenly died? I’m already starting to miss it.”
“Your sister and your ex-girlfriend were fighting about you, and Buford had the misfortune of trying to get in between them and force them to behave themselves.”
Van shook his head. “There’s no way he managed to do that, did he? That man couldn’t stop a group of kindergartners from taking a nap.”
“All three of them were thrown out of the hospital, at least for the next hour,” I said. “I thought you and Buford were friends.”
“We are, I suppose,” Van said, his frown getting even deeper. “We’ve had our problems in the past, though. He thinks he should have my job. Did you know that?”
“No, I was under the impression that he was your biggest fan,” Jake said.
“Maybe once upon a time, but now that he’s gotten a taste of power, he seems to enjoy it a little too much for my taste. That’s not going to fly with me once I get out of here,” Van said a little cryp
tically.
“When might that be?” I asked him. “Have the doctors told you anything?”
“Probably, but I must have already forgotten it,” Van said, and then he chuckled, clearly pleased with his own attempted cleverness mocking his memory loss.
“You still don’t have any idea who attacked you?” Jake asked him.
“I have some thoughts,” he admitted. “After all, there’s not much else to think about locked up in here. Did you see the guard out front?”
“We did. He’s there for your own protection,” Jake explained.
“Does the police chief really think that whoever tried to kill me is going to come back for another shot?” Van asked.
“It’s a distinct possibility, if you ask me. I endorsed it myself,” Jake said.
Van didn’t seem pleased that Jake hadn’t backed him up. “I think it’s a great deal of worry over nothing. My attacker, whoever it might be, wouldn’t dream of trying anything here.”
“So, you still don’t remember who conked you?” I asked him.
“No, and it’s driving me crazy. I can remember someone coming to the door, and I know that we had an angry conversation. I must have let them into the house. How else could they get the award to hit me with it? Evidently I was foolish enough to turn my back on whoever it was, and they took advantage of the situation.”
“You don’t even have a glimmer of who it was?” I asked him.
“Like I said, it’s a complete blank.”
“Would you care to share your list of suspects with us?” Jake asked.
“Are you two digging into this yourselves?” he asked warily.
I wasn’t sure how to answer that, but Jake did it for the both of us. “We just don’t want to see whoever did it come back and finish the job.”
“Thanks, though I’m surprised you care about me one way or the other.” After a momentary pause, Van added, “Strike that. You’re worried about the mayor, aren’t you? You don’t want to see your friend prosecuted for attacking me.”
“Especially since he wasn’t the one who did it,” I said, being a little more adamant than I probably should have been.
