by Jim Riley
"This place is real and I've never been so scared in my life."
"Has anyone hurt you, honey."
"No, Ma'am. They put me in a cell by myself. But I'm right next to one with eight ladies, although they don't act like ladies I’ve ever met."
Niki felt like crying herself.
"Hang in there, honey. We're doing everything we can to get you out of here."
"Please hurry. If they do the things they're talking about, I won't be able to take it. I swear, I'd rather be dead than have that done to me."
Both of the young blonde's eyes were filled with tears and fear.
Niki struggled to maintain her composure.
“We’re working as fast as we can. A little problem with David Phelps slowed us down this morning. Do you remember that Mr. Phelps was at your office?”
Donna nodded.
"I didn't like him. He’s not a very nice man. I hope he didn't say anything mean to you."
Niki smiled for the first time since entering the visitor's room at the local prison.
"He didn’t. We had a long conversation, but I did most of the talking."
"Is he the one that killed Mr. Wilson and the rest of them? Boy, I hope you found out he did it."
Niki reluctantly shook her head. "Both Dalton and I don't think he is responsible for the murders. Other things, yes."
"What other things?" Donna asked.
"We'll go over all of that after we get you out of here. That's got to be our number one priority."
Donna wiped both eyes.
"Can you get me out? I hate it in here. I'd give anything to have my freedom back and to get away from those nasty women in the next cell."
"Don't worry. Dalton is working on it right now. That's why he isn't in here with us."
Niki started to reach out to her young friend, then remembered the non contact rule between visitors and inmates. She withdrew her arm to her lap. The investigator glanced at the female guard, who was staring at them.
"What is Dalton doing? I hate to ask, but I need some hope."
“He is visiting an old friend of his dad's. That man is the presiding judge of the seventeenth Circuit Court, which has jurisdiction in all of this area. Judge Wright and Dalton's father were very close, and he has known the judge most of his life.”
"How can the judge help me? Don't I have to go to trial?"
Niki nodded.
"Unless something happens, you’ll face a trial. Dalton and I believe we will solve this way before your case gets that far."
"If that's true, what can the judge to?" More tears.
"Dalton is asking him to let you go into my custody. But it won't be like before. You will be under house arrest. That means that you will have to wear an anklet bracelet if Dalton is successful. That also means you won’t to be able to go to Zachary to get fried chicken or to the doughnut shop for a dozen glazed. Understand?"
The grin covered Donna's symmetrical face. "I’ll give up fried chicken and doughnuts for the rest of my life if Dalton can get me out of here. I promise. I won’t go anywhere. I'll stay right there inside the door."
Niki frowned.
"There is one more thing. This isn't really a requirement from the judge, but it’s my requirement. I don't want Blake to visit you at my townhome while you're there."
Donna's face fell.
"Are you serious?"
Niki's heart almost broke for her young friend, but she had to do what she felt was right deep in her soul.
"I am serious. I asked Dalton to put that in the conditions for house arrest. If Blake comes to the townhouse, even once, then you will be in violation of the terms of your release, and you’ll be returned to prison."
"But that means I won’t to see him before the trial."
"That's right. It's your choice."
Donna broke out into a grin. "It's really not a choice, but you know that, don't you?"
Niki said nothing, only nodding.
"Okay. Let's do it. I'll say a prayer for Mr. Dalton."
As soon as she finished her conversation with God, the door to the visitor's room opened. Another guard entered and walked directly to Donna.
“We need to fit you for a home monitoring device. As soon as we get it on you, we will release you in Miss Dupre's custody.”
Fresh tears broke out from both girls, but these were not tears of dread and sorrow.
Monday Night
Zoar Baptist Church
"I don't know if this will work, but it's our best shot at proving the switch in the sandwiches was intentional, and also proving the person responsible," Niki told Dalton on the way to the youth prayer meeting at the church.
"What do you want me to do?" Dalton asked.
"Follow my lead. I may say some things that don't seem to make sense, but play along with me."
"So you want me to act like I'm on the Senate floor with you on the same side of the table. No matter what you say, I just nod my head and tell the world how brilliant your strategy is. Close?" Dalton grinned.
“Something like that. But I won’t to ask you to vote for the record,” Niki replied. “If you want to chip in, please feel free.”
They parked outside the recreation center that included a game room and a gym. The games included pool, table tennis, Foosball, and air hockey. A kitchen sat off to one side. The pantry was packed with soda pops, cookies, potato chips, and candy of every size and sort.
A platform sat at the end of a long room. A set of drums and cymbals backed up a row of amplifiers, speakers, and microphones. Rows of chairs provided seating for more than two hundred students.
Lois Turner greeted the couple as soon as they entered the building.
"I'm so glad you were able to make it," she hugged Dalton and Niki. "The kids have been talking about it all weekend. I hope you don't mind saying a few words at the end."
“No problem,” Dalton said. “It won't be long before they start voting. I might as well get them on my side now.”
"They're already on your side. They love you."
The service started with the students filling paper plates with food prepared by various parents. The tables were stacked with chicken wings, barbecue, mini sausages, hamburgers, French fries, potato chips, dill pickles, fudge, chocolate cakes, pies, and more.
The young females pick up a few of the goodies, but the boys heaped food on their plates until they threatened to collapse. Some young men balanced a plate in each hand without dropping a single chicken wing.
After eating, the kids were divided into teams of ten each. They played a game of Bible trivia, with bags of chocolate kisses as the rewards for the winners. Dalton and Niki watched with interest, privately competing as the questions were asked by Lois.
Niki noticed that Ricky Augustine and Paula Harris were on the same team, but neither seemed interested in winning a bag of chocolates. They were too busy whispering in each other's ear and sneaking a kiss when the other members of the team were distracted.
Some questions Niki knew from her days sitting in Sunday School, and participating in student services similar to this one. She knew the names of the men in the lion’s den with Daniel, the number of days Jesus spent in the wilderness, the names of the disciples that were brothers, and the twelve tribes of Israel. She struggled when Lois called out the names of the various animals and had the students determine which the Bible listed as clean or unclean.
Niki beat Dalton by four correct answers. She only missed two of the questions, which would have put her in first place if she had been competing with the students.
Two of the teams tied at the end of the questioning. Lois offered the following questions to break the deadlock.
"How many wise men visited Jesus when he was a toddler?"
Dalton frowned and whispered to Niki. "That's too easy. Everybody in the world knows there were three. She should have asked a harder question."
Niki grinned. "Want to bet? If you're right, I'll buy you a bag of chocolates. If
you're wrong, you buy me a steak dinner."
"Is this a trick? I thought you knew the Bible. You're wrong, but I hate to take advantage of you."
"We'll see," she laughed. "It's easy to do battle when your opponent is unarmed. I'm going to enjoy my steak. By the way, I like T-bones."
Each of the teams submitted the answers. The first team said there were three wise men. Dalton nodded and smiled at Niki. "Cha-ching," he whispered.
The second team said the number was not recorded in the Bible. They said the Bible listed three gifts including gold, frankincense, and myrrh, but not the number of men that offered the gifts to Jesus.
Niki poked Dalton in the ribs. "Cha-ching."
He turned to her with wide eyes.
"I like the steaks at Ruth's Chris steakhouse," Niki said.
After the trivia game, a speaker led the kids in a devotional study. He talked about the faith chapter in Hebrews. Each of these examples of faith were stellar, but had flaws, the speaker said. Moses murdered a man. Rachel was a harlot. Each of the others listed had made mistakes in their lives. The speaker urged the students to overcome the mistakes in their own lives and to be faithful witnesses.
After the speaker finished, Lois took the podium once more.
"Okay kids," she began. "I I know most of you have met Senator Bridgestone by now. He has graciously agreed to say a few words to you tonight. Please give him a hand. Mr. Bridgestone." Lois pointed at Dalton.
"Thanks for giving me a few minutes. I promise I won't be long. The subject I would like to talk about is Tommy Netterville. He wasn't on the field last Friday when you guys beat Live Oak, but his spirit was."
Loud whoops and applause came from the students. Several chanted, "Tommy, Tommy, Tommy."
"I could tell you all about Tommy's virtues. He was my nephew, and I knew him well. We were close. He was as fine of a young man as I’ve ever met. But tonight, I want to talk about another person in the cafeteria the night Tommy died."
The room fell silent. This was not the speech the students were expecting. They were here to honor Tommy, not to hear about another student. Dalton glanced at Niki and received a nod, telling him he was going in the right direction just as they had planned. He had not been sure until she explained it.
Dalton stared directly at Ricky Augustine and Paula Harris when he continued.
"Tonight, I want to talk to you about a person who was consumed with greed. You all know about Judas Iscariot, the man that betrayed Jesus for a bag of silver. Well, there is a person in this room who betrayed Tommy. That person deliberately switched Tommy's sandwiches with the ones with real peanut butter, knowing full well the harm that it would do."
A hushed silence from the students. Not a single one was not paying attention now. Every eye and every ear in the room was locked on the young senator.
"This person, much like Judas, was driven by selfish desires. Desires so great, they were more important than Tommy's life. What could be more important than a human life? Judas thought it was a bag of silver. This person believed it was something Tommy had, and would not give up unless he was dead."
Dalton quit speaking for more than a full minute, sixty seconds of complete silence. Students shifted uncomfortably in their chairs. They looked at each other suspiciously. Could the student sitting next to them be the one the senator was talking about? Before continuing talking, he looked at Niki one last time. This was her theory, and he hoped it was the correct one.
"In order for this person to get the desired outcome, then Tommy must die. There was no other alternative. Do I know the identity of the murder of Tommy Netterville?"
Dalton paused, knowing the answer to his own question would shock the students.
"I know the identity. That person is in this room at this very moment."
Dalton stared at Ricky Augustine and Paula Harris. The youngsters shrank in their chairs, nervously glancing around, hoping that Dalton was the only one paying them attention.
"Can I name this person?"
More silence.
"Yes, I can. But I won’t name that's person tonight. Why, you may ask? The reason is simple. I don't yet have the proof I need to name that evil soul."
More silence. Dalton grinned.
"But the good news is that I’ll have the proof I need. None of you know, but the school installed a video system in the kitchen at the cafeteria. It seems as though a lot of food was missing, and the administration wanted to find the culprit. Everything is now being recorded. We have the killer on tape."
More silence.
"I only found out about the system this afternoon. The computer is locked in the small cabinet in the corner of the room. Only the security personnel have a key, and one of them has agreed to meet me as soon as school opens in the morning."
Dalton continued to stare at the young couple.
"As soon as I review the tape, I’ll ask the police to make the arrest. The only other thing I can say is that God will forgive you. It may take me a little while longer than it does Him."
Dalton left the podium and walked out of the room with Niki holding his arm. Not a single word was said until they were outside.
Niki patted him on the back. After they got into her SUV, she asked, "Overdid it a little bit, didn't you?"
He looked to see if she was serious. Seeing the grin on her face, he relaxed.
"I had to get their attention. Otherwise they wouldn't take any action, and we would never prove who killed my nephew."
She laughed. "I think you got their attention, all right. Heck, you got mine, and I knew what you were up to. No wonder people vote for you after they listen to one of your campaign speeches. Maybe you ought to consider a career in politics."
"Very funny." He looked out the passenger side window. "If this doesn't work, then I blew it, and we’ll never solve the case."
"We will solve it, just like we will solve Scott's case. You only have to believe."
Dalton shook his head. "I don't see how we are any closer to solving that one then we were on day one. Do you think the person who murdered Scott also killed the others? Those guys that worked for him?"
"Yes," she answered. "I'm almost positive, but just like this case, I can't prove it. Yet."
"I don't see how you can be so sure unless it was something Ashton said this afternoon. I was there with you, and I don't remember anything he said before he passed out that gave us a clue."
Niki said nothing. She steered the SUV toward College Drive in Baton Rouge.
"Where are we going?" Dalton asked.
"Didn't you just lose a bet back there?"
"Oh, yeah. I forgot. Are you still hungry? If you ate any more chicken wings, you’d sprout feathers and fly."
"Don't you worry about that. Just get ready to pay for a T-Bone with some mushrooms," she said.
"I will, but you changed the subject. What did Ashton say that made you believe he did it? What makes you so positive?" Dalton's wrinkled face indicated his puzzlement.
"You weren't listening, were you?"
"I heard every word he said. I was sitting right beside you up to the time he collapsed."
"I meant," she smiled. "that you weren't listening to me."
"I don't get it."
"I don't think Ashton killed anyone. Yes, I think he is a creep and makes me sad, but he didn't murder anybody."
Dalton stared at her.
"But then, you're out of suspects. That only leaves Sheila, and the nice kid, Danny Mayfield. I think you're going down the wrong bunny trail."
Niki shook her long mane. "I have to think this through."
"What will you do? At least I have a plan." He said.
"I've got a plan. If I'm right, then it should work. If I'm wrong, then I wasted my time." She pulled into Ruth's Chris lot.
"You're not going to tell me who you think is the murderer or your plan, are you?" The senator asked. "I'll tell you when the time is right. Hang on and enjoy the ride."
"We can'
t stay long. We have somewhere to go."
"You and I both know that nothing will happen before we can enjoy a good steak. Relax and pay your bet. I'm hungry."
Monday Night
Baton Rouge Hospital
Ashton Johnston laid in the hospital bed, unaware of his surroundings. His wife and Sheila Wilson visited him earlier, though not at the same time. The doctors suggested that a stroke hit Johnson, provoked by extreme stress. His primary physician predicted little chance of a full recovery. The specialist, brought in at the insistence of Mrs. Johnson, was much more optimistic.
The diminutive doctor from India, standing a touch over five and a half feet, told the estranged wife that her husband had an excellent chance of full recovery. The path to normal activity would require a specialized diet, physical rehabilitation, and lots of encouragement. The other requirements were the absence of stress, lots of rest, and long periods of relaxation.
Johnson was slow in his initial responses. He could not relate to the medical staff where he was feeling pain or its level. Barring this knowledge, the primary doctor presented both pain medication and sedatives through the intravenous tube in Johnson's arm. He informed Ashton’s wife that the patient would likely be in a deep sleep until the next day.
Mrs. Johnson decided to leave, get a good night's rest and return when Ashton was awake. She planned to bring back some chocolate Snickers bars, Ashton's favorites. She saw no reason to initiate the restricted diet while her husband was in the hospital.
Johnson was assigned a private room. His health, though possibly affecting his physical activities, was not critical. The specialist found little chance of another stroke in the immediate future. A dose of Coumadin, a strong blood thinner, was introduced into the IV tube's.
The nurses on duty had little to do to fulfill the duties for Ashton's care while under their watch. His blood pressure, heart rate, temperature, and pulse were automatically recorded by the intricate equipment attached to the other end of the wires stuck in the patient's body.
If any of the vital signs were to signal irregularity, an alarm was sounded at the nurses’ station, only ten yards down the hall. For precaution, a nurse checked on him every thirty minutes, ensuring all the monitoring devices were still attached and properly working.
