by Ann Mullen
“I can’t tell you what to think, but I can say this: you need all the facts before you make up your mind about who is and who isn’t to blame.” Billy walked over to me, put his arms around me and just stood there.
I felt a terrible uneasiness about the moment. When Billy hugged me, I knew there was more. I stepped back, breaking free of his embrace.
“What haven’t you told me?”
Billy took me by the arm and led me over to the sofa in the living room. He sat me down and began to explain what had happened at Savannah’s.
“After Savannah was released from jail last night…”
“Yeah… and what about that?” I butted in. “How did she get out of jail so fast? Nobody gets released that fast. She should’ve been transferred to the regional jail over in Orange, but she wasn’t. She…”
“Let it go, Jesse. That’s not important.”
“It would be…”
Billy shushed me by putting his finger to my lips. “Russell took Savannah home, and McCoy was there waiting for her.”
“Russell killed McCoy? No way.”
“Stop, `ge ya!” Billy demanded. “Let me get it all out before you say anything else.”
“Okay,” I said, softly. “Finish.””
“From what I gather, Russell and McCoy got into it again over Savannah. You know Russell has a crush on her.”
“Who doesn’t? Well… except you.”
Billy didn’t say anything. His pain was overwhelming. I could see it in his eyes.
“I’m sorry. Go ahead with your story.”
“It got so violent that Savannah called the cops. Cole James was the responding deputy.”
The way Billy was talking was like a police officer might talk if he was explaining the death of someone— professional and compassionate— without judgment. Silence hung in the air like the ache of a bad tooth.
“What… what are you saying, Billy? Is Cole… dead?”
His eyes welled with tears again when he said, “He’s been stabbed. They don’t know whether he’s going to live or not, at least not yet.”
I reached over and hugged Billy. I could feel the dampness from his tears on my shoulder. He had been friends with Cole ever since they were kids. They’d had their ups and downs—especially when it came to the women in their lives—but they had still remained friends. I knew he was devastated.
“I’m so, so sorry, Billy. Look… Cole is going to be all right. I know he is. He’s a fighter.”
Billy got up and walked back to the kitchen. He stood by the sink as if he didn’t know what to say next. I walked up behind him and put my arms around him.
“Cole’s tough. He’ll make it through.”
Billy turned around and hugged me. He held onto to me as if he was afraid to let me go. He regained his composure and said, “I was afraid you’d be the one to fall apart. I know how much you loved Cole.”
“I did love him,” I replied. “A long time ago, and even though I don’t love him anymore, I surely don’t want him to die.”
“You’re handling this pretty well. A lot better than I expected.”
“Oh, I’m not handling it well at all. I’m so mad at Savannah, I could strangle her. This is all her fault! If Cole dies…”
“Don’t say that, Jesse. It’s not her fault. None of this is.”
I was so angry that Billy was defending Savannah, I broke free from him and stormed out of the room. How dare he take her side? She was the one to blame.
Chapter 12
Helene and I passed in the hallway, but I didn’t say a word. I could tell from the look on her face that she was concerned, but all I could think about was Savannah’s lying ways, and all the trouble it had caused. Andrea Holt was dead by her hands, McCoy was dead, and Cole might die. Why shouldn’t I be angry with her? It all started when she killed that woman. Who else had to die before everyone realized she was nothing more than a liar and a killer? I sat down on the bed and tried to get my thoughts together. I had to go see Cole. If he was going to die, I wanted to see him one last time and tell him how much he had meant to me… how much he had made my life better just by being in it.
Billy walked into the bedroom and closed the door behind him. He sat down on the bed next to me and said, “I’m not taking Savannah’s side. I just want to give her the benefit…”
“Stop it, Billy. I don’t want to hear anymore. You can’t see the truth.”
“Oh, but I can,” he replied. “I see everything. Remember?”
His words calmed me down and brought a smile to my face. “That’s right,” I said. “That’s what I tell everybody. You are a wise man.”
“I found out a few things this morning when I talked with Jonathan. Things you don’t know about.”
“Like what?”
“Things that Sheriff Hudson didn’t tell us. They found out that the email they have is just one of many. When the police in Fancy Gap confiscated Andrea’s personal laptop, they discovered that Savannah and Andrea had been exchanging emails for a long time. Over two years’ worth.”
“Didn’t Savannah lead us to believe that she had only sent a couple? See what I mean? She’s been lying to everyone all this time.”
“She swears she didn’t send all those emails, and Jonathan has a theory about that. I can’t begin to explain it in the terminology he used, but basically, he says that Andrea could’ve sent all those emails—even the ones from Savannah.”
“How’s that possible?”
“Rerouting, bouncing off satellites. I’m not sure exactly how it’s done, but Jonathan could explain it to you. He knows what he’s talking about when it comes to computers. He’s even convinced the police in Fancy Gap to let him have a look at Andrea’s laptop.”
“They won’t do that, will they?”
“For the sake of justice? Sure they will. Jonathan has a reputation for being one of the best when it comes to computers.”
“He is good. He’s helped us many times.”
“Savannah could be innocent.”
“I’ll believe it when I see it.”
“Perhaps we’ll find out that Savannah was lying about everything, but I think we should withhold our verdict until all the evidence is presented. Don’t you? She’s our friend. We should stand by her. We need to go see her.”
“You can go see her and stand by her all you want. I’m going to see Cole.”
I got up from the bed to leave, but Billy stopped me. He grabbed my hand and said, “I will take you anywhere you want to go. I will not argue with you about Savannah. You are my wife. I love you. If you want to go see Cole, that’s fine with me. I’ll go tell Helene. Get yourself ready, and I’ll take you to the hospital. We need to leave soon. An hour ago, he was still alive. He was fighting for his life, but he was still alive.”
I grabbed Billy and hugged him. “I love you, Billy Blackhawk. Have I told you that lately?”
“Yes, many times.” He lightly swatted me on the butt before walking out of the room. He hesitated at the door and added, “Hurry, `ge ya. Time is short.”
The urgency in his voice incited me to hustle. I grabbed my new cell phone and my gun, stuffed both into my purse, and was standing in the kitchen ready to go within a matter of seconds. I kissed both the kids, petted the dogs, and then hissed at the cat—he would expect no less—and then followed Billy out the front door.
The morning was like so many of the other summer mornings in the mountains… sunny with a promise of great weather all day long. But sometimes promises can be broken. That was the first thing I thought about when I looked up at the sky. What did this day hold in store for us? Would it start out sunny and bright, but end with a tornado?
My cell phone rang immediately after I sat down in the 4Runner. I pulled it out and looked at the screen, while Billy looked on. He looked back up at me, but didn’t say anything as he continued to drive.
It was Mom calling, but I wasn’t so sure I wanted to talk to her. If she went on and on abou
t Savannah’s innocence, I knew I’d pull out my hair. Instead of answering, I hit the button to ignore her call. My conscience would probably eat away at me, but too bad. I’d deal with it later.
“That call might have been important,” Billy said as he drove down the driveway. “You can’t ignore her. It will only make matters worse. You know she’s going to be upset over Savannah and she’ll want to talk about it.”
“I’m sorry, but I just can’t stand to hear one more person sing Savannah’s praises. She’s not who we thought she was.”
Billy changed the subject, “I called the shop around six this morning. I guess I’ll have to buy a new truck. We really tore up this one.”
“We?” I responded in a joking manner. “I wasn’t the one driving. Are you going to get another Dodge truck, or are you going with something different this time?”
“I’m going to stick with Dodge. They’re great trucks.”
The small talk came to a close when we reached UVA Hospital.
“I bet we’ve been at this hospital more in the last two days than we’ve ever been.”
“We should buy stock.”
I could tell this was going to be hard on Billy. As soon as we walked through the front door of the hospital, he went into his own little private world—a world where he could shut out all his pain. The expression on his face would reveal nothing. That’s how he would get in situations such as this.
The first person we ran into was Cole’s mother, Elsie. She was hysterical. I thought for certain they were going to have to sedate her because of her uncontrollable behavior. It was a sure sign to me that she had lost her son. Cole was dead.
I didn’t get to say goodbye to him, and it broke my heart. I couldn’t hold back the tears any longer. I cried as Billy reached over and pulled me close. “It’s okay, `ge ya. Let it out.”
Elsie stopped crying long enough to glare up at me, give me one of those hateful looks of hers, and say, “Stay away from my son. Haven’t you done enough already?”
Her nasty remark dried my tears up real quick. I guess I had been itching for a fight for awhile—as my mother would say—but Elsie wasn’t my target. She was no match for me under any circumstances. She never made any pretense that she liked me, and I didn’t care, but I wasn’t going to attack her with my words. However mean and spiteful this woman was, she had just lost the only person she ever cared about. I wasn’t about to make her suffer more.
“I’m so sorry about Cole,” I said in a sympathetic way. “I’m…”
“He’s not dead, yet, you moron, so leave him alone, and go home! He doesn’t need you anymore, and he sure doesn’t want you here. You’ve been a thorn in my side since I met you.”
I don’t know if I was so glad that Cole was still alive, or if the need to go off suddenly kicked in, but I snipped back quickly with a snide remark, saying, “No, he doesn’t need anybody! He has his mother! Who else could he possibly need?”
Billy politely grabbed me and led me down the hall saying, “Have you lost your mind?”
“She started it. Did you hear what she said to me? Of course, you did. Everybody heard her. Why does she have to be so hateful? It’s not as if I stole her son from her.”
“Be glad that Cole’s alive, and forget about her words. They mean nothing. Tomorrow, she won’t even remember saying them.”
“Why?” I asked in a hateful voice. “Does she have Alzheimer’s?”
“Yes, she does. She’s in the early stage.”
“Oh, God,” I cried, hanging my head in shame. I looked up at Billy. “I didn’t know. No one told me. I shouldn’t have been so mean to her.”
“I recently found out myself. I’m sorry I forgot to tell you. So much goes on all the time, half the time, I have to ask myself what day it is.”
“You’re not getting…”
“No. I just meant… oh, never mind.”
Dr. John Bryant, familiar to our whole family, came around the corner, looked up and saw that it was us, and then walked over. “I knew you two would be here soon,” he said, greeting us in his usual upbeat manner. “He’s in ICU, and he’s going to pull through. Cole James is one lucky man. I’ve never known anyone to survive as many injuries as he’s had. Now, he can add being stabbed to the list.”
“He’s been stabbed before,” Billy said, casually.
“Not like this, he hasn’t. He literally came to within one millimeter of dying. If that knife had been a hair to the right, he’d be dead. No… he’s got somebody looking after him.”
I wanted to say yes, he has his mother, but I refrained from being so callous... as much as I wanted to.
“We sure are glad to hear it,” Billy said, relief in his voice. “I’ve been friends and enemies with that man for many moons. It wouldn’t be the same without him.”
“I know you’re going to want to see him, but only family is allowed.” Dr. Bryant hesitated for a second. “But if you give me a couple of minutes, I’ll take you to see him for a very short visit.”
We agreed.
“I’ll be right back.” Dr. Bryant turned and was gone.
“Doesn’t that doctor own this hospital yet?” I asked Billy after Dr. Bryant left.
“He might as well. He has more clout here than anyone. That’s why he’s escorting us in to see Cole. Otherwise, they’d turn us away.”
“I guess I never did give you time to finish telling me the whole story about last night,” I said. “What else happened when Cole answered the call, and who stabbed him?”
“Basically, it got so rowdy that Cole had to draw down on McCoy. McCoy grabbed a knife and attacked Cole.”
“What was wrong with McCoy? Why’d he do something so foolish?”
“He just flipped out.”
“Savannah drove him to it.”
“See… there you go again. She didn’t make McCoy do it.”
“Say what you want.”
“There’s just no talking to you when you get like this.” Billy stopped talking and took a few steps to the side. I guess I had pushed him far enough.
“I’m sorry. You’re right. It wasn’t Savannah’s fault.”
“But…”
“Nothing. I’m not going to say another bad word about her until I’m sure of what I’m saying. No more guessing. I’m going straight to the horse’s mouth and ask her outright.”
“That would be the thing to do. Put your mind at ease.”
Dr. Bryant reappeared. “Ready?” he asked. “Just remember. You can’t stay long. He might not even know you’re here. He’s heavily sedated.”
Billy and I spent fifteen minutes with Cole before we were asked to leave. It was probably for the best considering he didn’t wake up or speak the whole time we were there. He was going to live, and that’s all that mattered.
Fortunately, we didn’t encounter Elsie on our way out of the hospital. I didn’t know if I could face her after the ugly things I had said to her. She might not remember, but I would. I felt sick in my heart. I pulled out my cell phone and called Mom the minute we got out of the hospital.
“Hello,” she answered. “Is that you, Jesse?”
“Yes, Mom. It’s me. You called earlier?”
“Are you and Billy coming over to Savannah’s? She needs her friends. She’s still recovering from a horrible ordeal with that Holt woman, and now her husband’s dead. She’s a pitiful sight, Jesse. She’s all bandaged and banged up, and now she’s all alone.”
Guilt pulsated through my body, but I couldn’t bring myself to see Savannah just yet.
“We’ll see, Mom,” I replied. “I haven’t eaten anything yet, so I think Billy and I will stop somewhere, and then we’ll probably come back to the hospital to see Cole. He’s going to be all right.”
“I know,” she said. “I called Dr. Bryant. “He said it was touch and go there for awhile.”
“So it seems.”
“I’m not going to pressure you, Jesse, but it would be good if you could visit Savan
nah.”
The order. Not in so many words—but the meaning was there. Mom wanted me to get my act together and do the right thing. Show up with an open mind. Whether I liked it or not. So… I would do what she asked. I would visit Savannah and then pick her bones clean.
“All right, Mom. We’ll stop by when we get a chance.” I said goodbye and ended the call.
“You want to get some breakfast?” Billy asked, giving his parking stub to the girl in the booth at the parking garage.
“I guess we better stop somewhere. Who knows what’s going to happen today and how long it’ll be before I get a chance to eat again. Aren’t you hungry?”
“I had breakfast early this morning. This will be lunch for me.”
“At ten o’clock?”
“I’ve been up since 5:30. You know me. I only need about two hours of sleep to make it through the day.”
“I have to have at least three,” I joked.
We stopped at Robert’s restaurant, Rising Sun, for a quick bite to eat. The place was crowded for a weekday, but being family, we had a reserved table. Billy’s brother, Robert, wasn’t at the restaurant, so after our meal, we didn’t hang around.
During breakfast we decided to go ahead and visit Savannah—get it over with—and then plan our day accordingly. There wasn’t much on the list of things to do, so far, but the day had just started.
Flo’s case had been concluded. She was no longer in danger and probably never was. Donald was trying to get rid of any evidence of the hotel receipt by burning down her office, but that was all. He wasn’t out to kill her. Wynona tried to throw us off the trail by playing road games with us, but she was now in jail. Fortunately, Donald Rhodes was going to recover from being shot by his loony wife. The only pressing problem left to deal with was Savannah’s ordeal.
