Coughing & Donuts: A Mercy Mares Cozy Mystery

by Ava Mallory

  She pursed her lips. “I'm doing this for Rollie. We spoke about this the night before he...” Her voice broke.

  “I'm sorry. I touched her arm. It was ice cold. The poor thing had been through so much and here she was – inside a psychiatric facility – hunting down bad guys in the middle of the night.

  She swallowed hard, sniffling. “I'm fine. I have to do this. I can't sit by and let an innocent boy go to prison for something he didn't do and I will not let someone place blame on my friend – the friend, who remained steadfast by my side while I was sick – at the same time. I may be small, but I am a mighty beast when I have to be.”

  I finished making the copies. “You should rest. You've been through a lot and thank you for believing in me.”

  She nudged me playfully. “Anytime, besides, I told you before, I live to see the day you walk down an aisle. I didn't know you the first time you got married, but I sure as pie know you now and I want to see you marry that handsome sheriff who cares so much about you.”

  Oh great, another member of the “Mercy Mares Needs to be Married Team”. That's all I needed.

  “Okay, well, I'm finished up here. I still have to get downstairs and grab a snack for Rose.” I told her.

  “Just grab something out of Rollie's mini-fridge. There's plenty of goodies in there. Sneaky bugger thought I didn't know, but I knew he was eating stuff the doctor told him to stay away from.” Her eyes welled with tears again as she remembered.

  It broke my heart to see her so upset. She didn't deserve any of what happened to her.

  “Was it his heart?” I asked, referring to Rollie.

  She nodded, tears escaping her eyes.

  I hugged her. “Should I leave these copies with you?”

  She nodded, walking back into Rollie's office. “I have a bag. Charlie is waiting downstairs. No one will question why I'm here. I came right in the front door hours ago. Everyone probably thinks I just needed time to grieve. That's true, but I also needed time to gather some information. All we need now is the last piece to the puzzle.”

  I respected what she was doing, but I firmly believed there was far more than one thing missing from this very convoluted equation.

  I still had no idea who killed Mike and didn't understand why Eli had confessed or why Rollie's death had been such a secret. Were they trying to make it seem like a homicide?

  Karen must have sensed that I still had so many questions. “In time, we'll all know the answers. Just know that when it comes to Rollie, it was necessary to keep things private. I just never figured that people would assume he was murdered. I told Lou to say he'd died of natural causes, but he thought better and believed that would bring out the murderer if he got another death blamed on him or her.”

  I scoffed. “Lou thought if he raised the death toll that the killer would get upset for being blamed for another death? That doesn't make any sense! Where did Lou get that idea from? A bad movie?”

  Karen laughed. “Lou does a lot of things that don't make sense to anyone, but him.”

  Before I headed back to my unit, I had to ask, “Does Rose know what's going on?”

  Karen smiled. “She only knows what Charlie wants her to know and that's that he's out in the parking lot keeping an eye on the hospital so that there are no more deaths.”

  “So, she has no idea that Jill is here to investigate or what we're doing with Eli's chart?” I thought I knew the answers, but I needed confirmation.

  “She doesn't know and she hasn't been cleared.” Karen answered.

  “She could be the murderer?” I asked.

  “I don't know.” Karen answered.

  I didn't know what else to say except, “Thanks for the sandwich.”

  She waved me off, “No problem. It's fresh.”

  *

  “You're leaving?” I spoke a little too loudly for this early in the morning.

  “Mercy, why are you yelling? You're going to wake up your neighbors. Yes, I'm leaving. I told you that.” Charlie said.

  “Yeah, but what about last night?” I yelled.

  Charlie blushed. I don't believe I'd ever seen him blush before. “Do you hear yourself?” He asked as he ushered me back into the apartment. “Are you trying to start a scene?”

  I closed my eyes for a moment, horrified by what my outburst must have sounded like. “You know what I mean. Do you have to make everything sound so...” I couldn't find the appropriate word.

  He laughed. “You are about the most difficult woman I've ever met.”

  “Difficult? You're the one who flew out here and stirred up all sorts of trouble. You used me to illegally copy someone's chart and now you're leaving town? What about what's going on here? Eli could go to prison!” Apparently, yelling this early in the morning was my new thing.

  “I have to work, Mercy. I'm not leaving you. I have a life. There will still be someone around if you need help and I'm only a phone call away. I will help you figure this thing out. Jill will be here too.” Charlie tried to persuade me to understand.

  “That's just great.” I held the door open for him and motioned for him to leave.

  “You're throwing me out?” He asked.

  “You're the sheriff, you figure it out.” I slammed the door shut behind him.

  Like a wounded child, I sat and pouted, not paying any attention at all to the local news that I'd put on as soon as I walked in the door.

  “What a jerk!” I said, throwing myself back on the sofa.

  I sat for a few minutes, trying to calm myself down when I heard the reporter mention a death investigation.

  “Whoa! What?” I raised the volume on the television.

  A refined looking gentleman in a crisp suit spoke into a microphone after the reporter announced that the county coroner would be speaking. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up as I listened.

  “We've conducted a thorough examination and autopsy of Michael Slowicki and have concluded that his death was in fact a homicide.” He said to a hushed crowd just off camera.

  “What? Why are they talking about Mike again? What's going on? What about Rollie?” I said to the television.

  After a moment of silence, he was hit with a barrage of questions at rapid-fire.

  “Do you know how he was murdered?”

  “Did the murderer leave behind any clues?”

  “Has Mr. Slowicki's family been notified?”

  The coroner deferred to the police officers and detectives with him. A short, stocky detective pulled the microphone down to his level and addressed their questions. Lou and Reggie stood in the background with grim looks on their faces. This news was no surprise, but I can only imagine that Lou especially did not take it well.

  The detective said, “We do have a suspect in custody and he has confessed to Mr. Slowicki's murder.”

  My heart sank as I listened. The last thing Eli needed was to have the court of public opinion convict him before he had a chance to fight.

  “Can you tell us who your primary suspect is?”

  I closed my eyes, bracing myself to hear what the detective would say.

  “Elias Pardo has confessed to the murder.” He said.

  The reporters gathered went wild with that information. Questions came one right after the other, mostly focusing on Eli's father and mother.

  Why? Please, stop talking, I thought. I didn't want to hear anymore, but I also didn't want to miss anything that was said. I couldn't help Eli that way if I didn't pay attention.

  My cell phone rang just then. I picked it up, saying, “I'm watching it now, Karen.”

  “This is not good.” She said.

  We commiserated for a few minutes while deciding what our next move should be. I didn't have a good feeling about how things would play out, but it was all we had. I would have to confront everyone head on before Eli was sent away for good.

  *

  Sleep had not been in my favor while I'd been in Pleasant Cove. Another couple of sleepless nights and I
was pretty sure that I'd turn into a zombie, but it was either that or watch a town ruin a young man's life.

  “Why are you calling me so early?” Brandi whined.

  “Why did Eli live with Jill Lerner and her family?” I didn't have time to waste.

  She exhaled slowly. “His girlfriend is Jill's daughter. They felt sorry for him.”

  “Why was he placed on a police hold?” I hoped she'd answer every question for me.

  “He got into an argument with his dad and it escalated. I don't know what happened after that. The next thing I knew he'd escaped from the hospital and people were saying he killed Mike.” Brandi said.

  “You don't know why he was placed in police custody? Now, why don't I believe you?” I was so tired of listening to everyone act like a young man's life wasn't on the line. Why didn't anyone care about Eli? What had he done that made everyone turn their backs on him?

  She was stalling. I could tell by the nervous laughter and awkward pauses as I waited for her to tell me the truth. Finally, either she realized how incredibly thick she was being or she was the first official person that saw me as a threat. Whatever reason, I liked having the feeling of superiority, it gave me.

  She sighed and said, “It's not what you think.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  Ruby squealed. "Are you flippin' kidding me? After all this time? After all they put you and this kid through? How could that be?"

  "I don't understand anymore than you do. I'm not even sure that Brandi is telling me the truth. I tried to call Charlie and consult with him, but his phone is off. I don't know if he's working, sleeping or just avoiding me." I wondered because of the way we left things. I shouldn't have been so rude, but I was at my wit's end with all of the nonsense going on in this town.

  "So, now what? I really think you should hop in your car and come home. Barney misses you. I miss you. Hank says that you're going to get yourself thrown in jail or worse." Ruby pleaded with me to get out of town right away, but with all that I knew now, I couldn't do that.

  "Ruby, you know I can't run from this. I won't be able to live with myself if I do." I said.

  "How do you know she's telling you the truth? She could be setting you up, just like that poor Eli was set up. I don't trust this at all. If you're not going to come home, I'm going to you and don't try and talk me out of it because I'm already walking out the door." Ruby said. I could hear Hank calling out to her in the distance. What was she doing?

  There were some inaudible noises on her end, then, the phone went dead.

  "Hello? Ruby? Hank?" I waited until the dial tone rang in my ear. "Great, Mercy. Now what?"

  I knew what I had to do, but didn't know if it would be a wise move. Who was I but a stranger in this community and not a very well-liked one at that. I checked my phone, searching for the number that I needed to call.

  "Captain Benetto here. Speak." Lou answered gruffly.

  "Um, hi, It's Mercy Mares." I said tentatively.

  "I know who it is." He snapped. "What do you need, Mercy?"

  "Do you have a few minutes to meet me somewhere?" I asked.

  He groaned. "No, but tell me what this is about. I don't have time for nonsense. In case you've been living under a rock, I'm kind of busy these days."

  I rolled my eyes. I know he was busy, but so was everyone else in town and right now that didn't matter.

  "I swear, if you are rolling those giant eyes of yours, I'm going to hang up right now." He warned me.

  Where did that come from? I thought my eyes were my best feature, aside from my full lips, but I digress...

  "Why are you so rude? I didn't call you to be insulted." I said.

  "No, you called me to make me wish you'd never been given my phone number. Do you realize how much I have on my plate right now? I have a murder. Not just any murder, but my best friend's murder and I am fielding calls from panicked residents about Rollie's death and reporters are clamoring to get a juicy story. I don't have time to listen to some hysterical nurse with no vested interest in any of them." He sounded angrier than I thought he was.

  Now, I was angry. He didn't know me well enough to be able to speak to who or what was important to me.

  "I don't have to listen to this. I'm trying to help you and you're calling me names. Goodbye." I wanted to slam a phone receiver down, but I'd forgotten that no one could do that anymore these days with the invention of phones that practically fit in our mouths and gave a green light to every man, woman and child in America to find you and dictate your every move.

  He laughed. "You didn't hang up."

  Ugh!

  "No, this is too important, so I guess I'll just have to tolerate your bullying until we can get this thing solved." I hated eating crow. It wasn't appetizing.

  "What do you mean 'we'? This is my case. My town. My murder to solve. You're a nurse, not a detective, so don't start acting like one." He warned me.

  "Will you meet me now?" I asked, pleased with myself.

  He groaned. "Where?"

  I smiled and told him. Finally, someone with some authority was going to take me seriously. I just wished that I'd been able to get a hold of Charlie so he could offer me guidance as to how to proceed. I didn't like the idea of confronting a murderer on my own. I had no experience in these kind of things. At least, not the right kind of experience.

  I tried Charlie's phone again. Still no answer and it didn't go to voice mail. He was avoiding me. I tried his office phone next. No answer there either.

  "Where are you, Charlie?" I asked out loud, but I wasn't expecting what I'd heard next.

  "Did you check the spare bedroom?" A male voice asked.

  "Charlie? Is that you? My goodness, what are you doing here? How did you get in here?" I almost cried because I was so happy that he was here.

  He stepped out into the living room, carrying a set of keys. "I made copies and you really need to learn to check your surroundings. So, are you ready to catch a killer?" He smiled, moving closer to close my open mouth. "You're going to catch flies in there. Close your mouth. It's not like you've never seen my face before."

  That's when it happened. That's the moment when I lost my mind.

  After I managed to get myself together and splash some water on my face with Charlie's help, he and I walked out the door together on the way to pay Lou a visit and start a chain of events that I hoped would put this whole ordeal to rest. It was do or die time.

  *

  Lou stood up, throwing his chair back in the process. "Are you out of your minds?" He shouted, scaring the people around us in the coffee shop.

  I jumped, but Charlie grabbed my arm to prevent me from adding more drama to the scene we were already causing.

  "Settle down, Captain," Charlie warned, masking his anger with his signature smile.

  "No." Lou said, before sitting back down and lowering his voice. "How do you know all this? How could this be possible? I know everyone in this town. We eat together. We celebrate together. We cry together and, now, you're telling me that one of my own - someone I've known for years - since the moment I arrived in town - isn't who I thought they were? Are you both insane?"

  I knew this wasn't going to go over well, especially where Lou was concerned, but I had hoped that with Charlie by my side, Lou's reaction wouldn't have been so angry.

  Charlie patted my leg under the table, telling me to answer Lou's questions. I was nervous, but it had to be done.

  "I'm sorry. I can't imagine how difficult this must be for you to hear, but all roads lead to this. I wouldn't have brought it to you, if it wasn't the absolute truth or what I... we believe to be the truth." I said, indicating Charlie was on board with me.

  Lou pounded his fists on the table, shaking our table and the tables around us. The girl behind the counter watched him, horrified. "Is everything okay, Captain Benetto?" She asked.

  He glared at her and she turned away quickly, watching the woman who was walking in the door. We watched with interest to
o. I didn't think she'd show.

  "Adrienne? What is she doing here?" Lou looked at me, knowing I'd invited her.

  "She's Eli's mother. She has a right to know the truth." I said by way of explanation. "I am surprised she came."

  Charlie turned to greet her. He was the friendly face of our bunch. I wasn't sure I had the courage to ask the hard questions of both her and Lou.

  "Welcome. Thank you for joining us," Charlie stood up, motioning for Lou to do the same. "Would you like a cup of coffee?"