The Harvest Club

by Iona Morrison

  They made it to the town square just as the music was starting. Joe and his wife were already there with their reserved spot.

  Joe’s wife, Sarah, was a pretty petite brunette with a beautiful smile and the sweetest personality. Jessie had a feeling that they would become kindred spirits. Abigail, their baby daughter, was precious. Abby had dimples and dark curly hair. Jessie was in love with her. Every chance Jessie got during the evening she held Abigail, walked her, cuddled her, and talked to her. Jessie was a sucker for Abigail’s little smile.

  This day had brought a contentment she hadn’t felt in a long time. She was here with new and old friends, people who had worked hard to keep her safe. She looked at Dylan and smiled. The only one missing was Matt, the one who had worked the hardest to keep her safe. She could think of him as her friend, finally, and maybe a little bit more.

  As the evening wore on and darkness settled over the park, Jessie started feeling a little nervous. She had the impression she was being watched. She tried to push the sensation away, but it kept rearing its ugly head.

  Everyone else seemed relaxed enough, but she couldn’t shake her reaction to what she was feeling. She started looking around the crowd, for what she wasn’t sure. The hair stood up on her neck, and chills ran up and down her spine. Her heart raced, and she began to wonder if she was having an anxiety attack. She quickly handed Abigail to Joe and started to get up.

  She forced herself to sit back down, but it was a struggle. She tried following the conversation but couldn’t seem to focus on what they were saying. Jessie remembered Reba’s words about the third eye and knowing when something was about to happen. She suddenly stood up, and she had to stop herself from running in a panic.

  Dylan got up at the same time and stood beside her. “Jessie, are you all right?” He looked concerned.

  “I don’t know what’s happening to me,” she whispered. “I feel a sensation of being watched, but I can’t see anyone. Maybe it’s an anxiety attack, but I feel myself starting to freak.”

  “Let’s go with what you’re feeling. You’re pretty intuitive. Let’s start by walking away from everyone here.” He stood up and took her hand. “We’ll be right back,” he said in a normal tone. “I’m going to walk with Jessie to the restroom.” The first of the fireworks went off with a loud bang, to the crowd’s pleasure.

  Dylan and Jessie had made their way to the edge of the crowd toward the police station when the first shot rang out. The bullet hit Jessie with enough velocity to knock her off her feet. The second round hit the tree beside them. Dylan fell on top of her to keep her from being hit again. He was scanning the area around him and radioed for help. The police were there within seconds. The crowd continued to watch the fireworks, not realizing anything had happened.

  “Are you okay, Jessie?”

  “Could you get off of me? I can’t breathe,” she gasped. “It hurts, and I can’t breathe.”

  Dylan jumped up and was on the phone with Matt. “Shots were fired at her, Matt. Jessie’s been hit. Did you hear me? She’s down.”

  “Where are you two?” Matt asked

  “I was leading her toward the police station.”

  “Can you see anything?”

  “No, I’m thinking he had a rifle with some kind of night vision scope. He only hit her.”

  “Damn, did it pierce the vest? I’ll be right there and the ambulance is on its way.”

  “She said it hurts, and she’s having a hard time breathing.”

  “Thank God I made her put on a vest, but you know what a bullet still can do and the force it hits with. Is anyone aware of what happened?”

  “A few police I radioed for help. Most people are watching the fireworks and still don’t know anything happened.”

  Jessie listened but didn’t say anything. She couldn’t catch her breath; it hurt like the devil to take a deep breath. She felt herself starting to panic when suddenly Matt was there.

  “Jessie, look at me. Take it easy, just take nice short easy breaths. That a girl. You’re doing good sweetheart, real good. I’m sorry to say you’re probably going to have one nasty bruise, but at least no bullet tore up your insides.” His smile belied his concern as an ambulance made its way through the crowd, lights flashing.

  ****

  Matt met the ambulance at the hospital, followed closely by Dylan and Katie where they waited for the doctor to come talk to them.

  “Weren’t we just here, waiting to find out what happened just a short few days ago?” Katie was pacing the room.

  “Katie, sit down you’re driving me crazy.” Dylan stretched his legs out. “Pacing isn’t going to bring the doctor here any sooner.”

  “Officer Parker, I’m Dr. Morgan.” A doctor wearing green scrubs pushed through the swinging doors. They shook hands. “I have Miss Reynolds stabilized, and she will soon be resting comfortably. She suffered a blunt force trauma at the point of the bullet’s impact. It broke three of her ribs.” He showed them the x-ray. “This is the reason for her difficulty breathing and her pain. She is bruised, and the bullet’s impact cut her skin, but didn’t penetrate. It could have been much worse.” He smiled. “Someone must have been looking after her. We’ll keep her overnight and maybe longer to monitor her breathing and pain. She is being taken to her room now. The nurse at the desk will have the information once she’s settled.”

  “Thanks, doctor. Obviously someone tried to kill her, so we will have someone watching her around the clock. Please instruct the nurse’s station not to give out her condition or room number to anyone.”

  “Will do.” Doctor Morgan shook his hand again and walked back through the doors in the ER.

  They were given the room number about twenty minutes later and took the elevator up to the third floor. Matt had already called and set up the first watch, with someone to take over in the morning.

  Katie flew into the room and immediately wanted to know if Jessie wanted her pillow fluffed, if she needed water, if there was anything at all she could do to make her more comfortable.

  “Yes.” Jessie winced. “Please sit down, you’re making my head spin, and I want to look at you.”

  “Are you in pain?” Katie looked at Jessie, her eyes moist with tears.

  “It hurts like the dickens. They keep saying it will be under control soon. You know what that means for me. I’ll either be loopy or asleep.” She looked at Matt. “Thanks, by the way, for following your instinct and making me wear the vest. I’m alive because of it.”

  “Do you want me to call your parents?” Katie asked her.

  “Are you kidding me? They would be on the first plane here and moving me to their house in a few days. I’ll let them know when everything is over.”

  “Jess, I need to ask Dylan and you some questions before you get too sleepy. Katie, Kip should be out in the hall. Why don’t you go talk to him, and then Dylan can take you home after we wrap up here?” He waited for Katie to walk out and close the door. “What happened? The police are searching the area now, but other than maybe finding a bullet casing if we’re lucky, I doubt they’ll find anything.”

  “I observed a change come over Jessie. She told me she had the sensation of someone watching her. I told her we would go with her feelings, and we excused ourselves and went toward the police station. We were nearing the back of the building when the shot knocked her off her feet. The fireworks covered the sound of the shot. I fell on top of her to cover her so she couldn’t be hit again in case there was a second shot which came on the heels of the first. I didn’t know she had a vest on. I thought it might have killed her.” He smiled. “Until she told me to get off of her because she couldn’t breathe.”

  Jessie frowned. “It’s strange when I think about it now. I wanted to do everything I could do today. It was like I was driven. I wanted to see everything and talk to everybody. I know I pushed Dylan and Katie to the point of wanting to hit me.” Dylan smiled at her. “Tonight I was almost philosophic holding Abigail, Joe’
s baby, like I would never hold my own. When the lights in the park went down and the fireworks started, I was a mess. I thought maybe I was having an anxiety attack. I felt I had to get away from the people, and now I know why. If that bullet had hit one of my friends, I don’t know what I would have done.” She shivered and began to shake.

  Matt pushed the call button, and the nurse came in. She took one look at Jessie and left. When she came back in, she injected some medication into Jessie’s IV drip.

  “An adrenaline rush after a traumatic event is normal.” She smiled soothingly. “This should take effect pretty quickly. You’ll be just fine in a few minutes, and probably asleep. So get any questions in quick.” She smiled again and patted Jessie’s hand as she left the room.

  “After that I felt something slam into me and knock me off my feet. It hurt like the devil, and I felt like I couldn’t catch my breath.” Her words began to slur.

  “I’ll talk to Dylan. You can let me know if you think of anything else.” Matt became quiet as he read the text just sent to him. “They dug a .223 out of the tree.”

  ****

  They talked quietly, and before long her twitching stopped, and she was sound asleep. “I think everything we can do here tonight is done. You can take Katie home,” he told Dylan. “I’ll hang around here for a while and make some calls.”

  “Do you want me to check in on Gary? I’ll be right by there,” Dylan called back as he started out of the room.

  “Sure, let him know what happened here and that Jessie will be okay.”

  Matt didn’t know why he had felt so strongly about putting the vest on her other than the fact he had seen Gordon’s hate for her written on his face and body language. And the fireworks made a perfect cover for a sniper shot with night vision equipment. In this case he used an AR-15 assault rifle with a night vision scope, but the shooter was a tad too far away. He didn’t want Jessie to know, but a high powered rifle’s bullet could and often did penetrate a vest.

  Matt was happy she hadn’t been killed. He had wanted her to have this day without him hanging over her, living a normal life. It had almost cost her, her life.

  It didn’t make any sense; it didn’t follow the normal pattern. Gina was probably taken, her organs removed while she was alive, and then it was made to look like an execution-style killing. This was a sloppy attempt, firing into a crowd where there was a high police profile. He couldn’t believe Gordon would put everything in jeopardy to appease his anger.

  They had found the rooftop where the suspect had been, and there was, Matt hoped, with any luck, a fiber, or shoe print that might lead to the identity of a suspect. A CSI team from Freeport was combing the area now.

  Matt walked over to the bed and looked down at her beautiful face as she slept. He pulled his chair up close so he could watch her. He hadn’t expected to fall so fast or so hard. She had blindsided him. “You’re one strong woman. Anyone else would be hysterical by now. But you’ve taken one blow after another and bounced back somehow. New York was a piece of cake compared to Blue Cove.” He was angry. He had to keep her safe and find the bastard that had hurt her.

  A night duty nurse came in to take her blood pressure and check her vitals. She slept through the whole thing. “She’s doing well. Someone was watching out for her.” She nodded at Matt as she walked out of the room.

  Matt answered a few of his text messages totally unaware of the presence of a woman in the room watching over Jessie. Her pretty floral dress rustled as she moved back and forth, stroking Jessie’s cheek. Never once did she take her sad eyes from Jessie’s face.

  Chapter Thirty

  Jessie had been awake for a while. Her eyes kept returning to the face of her sleeping protector who looked very uncomfortable. The changing shift of nurses had awakened her earlier, and Matt didn’t stir as an aide got her up to sit on the side of the bed for a few minutes. The pain nearly took her breath away.

  “It’ll be like that for a few days, honey.” The woman gave her a sympathetic smile. “Unlike a broken leg or arm we can’t put your ribs in a cast. They heal naturally on their own, but as you have found out, it can be very painful. They no longer wrap them because it tends to restrict your lung expansion, and the result can be pneumonia. We’ll be listening to your lungs today and making you take deep breaths. You’re going to hate us before the day is over. Breakfast will be here in a minute, and then we’ll be in to take you for a little walk.”

  “Thank you.” She ran her fingers through her tangled hair.

  “You just call us if you need anything. Don’t let your pain get out of control. Would you like to have a shower this morning?”

  “Yes, that would be nice.”

  The nurse helped her swing her feet back on the bed and left the room. Her breakfast tray was brought in shortly afterward. She was happy to be alone with her thoughts. She had made a decision in the night, and when Matt woke up, she wanted to talk with him.

  Jessie looked over at him and found that he was looking at her with a puzzled expression.

  “What?”

  “How is that you can go through a miserable night like you’ve just had, nurses poking you, waking you, and making you sit up when it had to have hurt like hell and still be such a pretty sight?”

  “Were you awake all this time?” She glared at him.

  “Sure, who can sleep in a hospital? I didn’t want to disturb you, so I kept my eyes closed. I thought you looked like you might pass out when they made you sit up, though. I peeked then. How are you doing?”

  “To tell you the truth, I’m mad. I didn’t do anything to any of these people. I’m new to this town. I’m not going to be anyone’s sitting duck anymore. If I’m going down, it’ll only be after I put up one big fight and take a few with me.” Her eyebrows furrowed. “How do you like that, Mr. Parker?”

  “The girl is sassy, too. Let’s get you on your feet first. I think we can keep you safe and take a few out.”

  “Here.” She pushed her tray toward him. “You can help me eat this. I’m not that hungry. What I would really like is Java Joe’s coffee and one of their great scones.”

  Matt exited the room when the doctor came in to examine her. He listened to her heart and made her take several deep breaths. She wanted to punch him by the time he was through.

  “The nurses will get you up to walk this morning. I think you need to keep that boot on a little longer. On top of everything else, I don’t want you falling.” He smiled at her.

  “When can I go home?” she asked him.

  “The first question I’m usually asked. I want to keep you one more night. You’ll still be hurting at home for several days and will need some help and something to manage pain. Broken ribs are no fun.” He patted her hand. “Laughing, sneezing and coughing can hurt like crazy.”

  Katie came in next, carrying her overnight case with all her necessities. She brushed Jessie’s hair and wanted to help her into her nightgown; but when she moved her arm, Jessie turned gray, and Katie called the nurse for help.

  “It’s okay, honey. Every little movement is going to hurt her for a while,” she told Katie. “You didn’t hurt her.” She nodded at Jessie. “I have your pain meds for you, and we’ll wait an hour or so and then get you up for your shower and walk. You can put on your clean clothes then.”

  When the nurses came in later, they helped her shower and get dressed. Every movement hurt. Next, it was down the hall and back with Katie talking incessantly and the nurse encouraging her every few minutes. What she wanted to do was yell at all of them but she wouldn’t, it wasn’t their fault. It was a tough twenty minutes. It took everything she had to walk down the hall and back. Katie took one look at Jessie’s white face and kissed her on the cheek, saying she’d be back later.

  Settled in her bed Jessie tried not to move at all. “How long will it hurt like this?” she asked the nurse.

  “I’m not going to lie to you, it takes a little while, but the severity will diminish over the
next few days. I see your muscles are quivering again, I’ll get you a little something for that.”

  “Thank you.”

  “You did real well for your first time up. I hate to tell you this, but we have to get you up this afternoon for another walk. At least this time it will be another pair of nurses, so we aren’t the only ones causing you pain. You’ll be doing this on your own at home so we have to get you ready.” The nurse looked around the room. “My, oh my, would you look at all your pretty flowers; why don’t I bring you the cards to read.”

  “That would be nice.” Jessie smiled at her.

  “Conserve your strength and rest, you’ll need it later on.” She closed the door when she left the room. She came back a few minutes later to give Jessie new pills to take.

  Thirty minutes later Matt walked into her room as she stared off into space with the unopened cards in her lap, feeling completely done in.

  “Do you want some help opening all of your cards?” Matt startled her. “I’m sorry,” he said when she jumped.

  “Sure, why don’t you pull the chair over here?”

  “I brought you something you might like.” He handed her a decaf coffee with cream the way she liked it, and a bag with a lemon blueberry scone in it. “Molly said to tell you hello, and she’s ready to go to battle for you. Did you have a rough morning?”

  “Let’s put it this way. I’ve had better mornings.” She thanked him for the coffee and scone. “I don’t like how these pain pills make me feel, but I can’t take the pain either.” She felt defeated. “I don’t want to even reach for the cup.”

  “How about I hand it to you when you want it?”

  “No, I need to work through this, but boy oh boy, I don’t want to.”

  “At least let me move the tray closer.” He shifted the tray.

  “Thank you, it’s a little easier to reach now.