Coughing & Donuts: A Mercy Mares Cozy Mystery (4 page)

The way I'd been put through the ringer by Lou and homicide detective, Rhett (Yes, that was his name.) Arnold, you'd think that they all, but caught me committing the murder.

“Well, hopefully, they'll take a look at the footage soon. Elopement is no big deal. It happens, but if it turns out that he killed the guard after escaping from the hospital, well, that will be a whole other problem. That will reflect badly on the facility and on you. Let's hope that's not what happened.” Ruby was speaking to the choir. That was my worry too. To think that I'd just spoken to a young man who was capable of murder, chilled me to the bone. I can't believe I'd actually felt a little sorry for him, but just like I didn't appreciate being judged before cold, hard facts, I couldn't yet bring myself to believe that he'd done nothing more than take off from a psych unit.

“Whatever happens, let me know right away. When are you scheduled to work again? Wait. They didn't fire you, did they?” Ruby asked, reminding me of something else for me to have to worry about.

“I'm scheduled for training tonight. As far as I know, I still have a job. Could this cost me my job?” I knew the answer, but needed some confirmation that was in fact happening a very real possibility.

Ruby tried to sound like she was joking, but somehow I missed the humor in her response. “Only if you're guilty.”

*

The guard's tower was taped off. Two armed guards stood near a parked security vehicle. I hadn't even noticed Lou until I'd reached in my pocket for my employee badge.

No badge.

The two security guards stood stone faced as Lou pulled something out of his pocket and waved it at me. I was relieved that he'd given me a friendly gesture until I'd noticed that he was holding my badge.

“Where did you get that? I must have dropped it when I...” I began, but Lou finished my sentence for me.

“When you took off running from the guard tower this morning?”

“I... I... I told you. I must have dropped it. I was only running because the guard...” This time, I stopped myself from going any further because nothing I could say would help me not to look guilty of something. Although I knew that I'd run in frustration, I didn't believe my explanation was going to do anything to get suspicion off of me.

“Don't you want this back?” Lou asked when I didn't move to retrieve my badge.

“Aren't you going to use it as evidence against me?” I asked, feeling my smart mouth beginning to get ahead of my common sense.

Lou's face turned red instantly, asking me through clenched teeth, “Is there something you want to tell me?  I swear, if you don't tell me now, things are going to get pretty ugly real fast for you.”

I hadn't anticipated his anger. I thought I was asking a legitimate question. If I wasn't under arrest, then, I didn't see the harm in having my name tag back. I hadn't even realized that I'd lost it. In the chaos of last night, with the coffee spilling and the papers flying all over the place, I guess I hadn't realized that I'd dropped my name tag in the first place.

Lou wasn't done with me yet. He had another pressing question for me. “What were you two arguing about? Explain to me how it is that you show up in town and my friend is dead hours later.”

I didn't have an answer for him. I still didn't see the connection. So what if I'd seen him. I'm sure everyone who worked that shift had seen him as they arrived and when they left.

I spoke my mind, without thinking it through. As soon as the words left my mouth, I realized how insensitive I sounded. “Maybe you should recuse yourself. I don't see how it would do you any good to investigate your friend's murder.”

The heat in his body rose to astronomical levels. I could feel the heat emanating from his body and burning into my flesh.

The two security guards shuffled uncomfortably where they stood. I'd gone too far and I knew it.

“I'm sorry.” I offered, but it was too late. The damage had been done. He stepped closer to me. I instinctively closed my eyes.

“Here.” He shoved my badge into my hand and brushed passed me to go inside the guardhouse. I hadn't noticed that there was a team of people in there already.

“You sure know how to make friends, don't you.” One of the guards said.

I looked at his name tag. It said: P. Vera.

I answered, “I guess so. Can I go in the building?”

He looked at the other guard for a moment before he answered. “As far as I know, yes, you can. Must be nice to have friends in high places.”

I thought I'd heard him wrong and asked, “Sorry? What did you say?”

He explained. “Well, Bauer vouched for you. Didn't he tell you? I heard that his wife made him keep you, so consider yourself lucky. For now.” Both guards laughed.

“Bauer? Rollie?” Vera nodded.

“Interesting.” I left it at that and went in search of the facility administrator. I hadn't seen him since my arrival and didn't really even begin to consider what he thought of all of this.

I knocked on the door, trying not to sound too desperate, but I wanted an explanation. I didn't like special favors being done for me. It didn't look good and, although it probably saved my ever-expanding behind for the time being, it didn't feel good. I'd worked too long and too hard to build a solid reputation for myself to have someone throwing their authority around on my behalf, unless of course it was Ruby. She, being my supervisor and as close to a sister as I'd ever get, had a little more leeway to help me when I was in a bind.

He opened the door, surprised to see me on the other side of it. “Mercy? I was just talking about you.”

“So, I've heard. Do you mind telling me what's going on? I don't need you to vouch for me. I didn't do anything wrong, so I don't need you to intervene on my behalf.” I hadn't seen him in a few years, but I was a little surprised to see how much he'd aged since the last time I'd seen him.

He put his hands up defensively. “I didn't do this for you. Karen asked me to do this for her, so I did. End of story.”

I calmed down for a moment. Karen was one of my all time favorite former patients. I'd taken care of her both when she was in the hospital previously and when she was in need of home health care. She'd requested my assistance specifically. I'd like to think that we became quite close when she was under my care. We'd spend hour after hour, swapping recipes or snacking on some of the sweet treats she liked to make when she was feeling up to it.

I sighed. “How is she doing?”

Rollie opened the door wider to let me in his office. “She has some good days and some bad days, but more good days lately. As soon as she heard what happened, she begged... Well, she ordered me to make sure that you didn't lose your job. At least not until this all blows over. Just so you know, I for one, don't think you could have had anything to do with this.”

“She asked you to save my job?” A lump of emotion formed in my throat. I really liked her. Even before this incident, she was the sweetest person in the world.

“Yeah, she did. So, for what it's worth, I have no intention of letting this blow up into a huge story and I won't let you become a scapegoat on this.” Rollie informed me. “You haven't been here long enough to know this, but Pleasant Cove is a sort of hideaway for the wealthy. I'm talking, Hollywood stars and media moguls. We're used to press and being under scrutiny, but never in my twenty plus years here have we ever been embroiled in a scandal like this.”

“You've never had a murder here? Wow, I'm surprised, but no disrespect to Mr. Slowicki's family, why is this such a big deal or scandal, as you said?” I asked.

“It's not murder that's the issue so much as it is where the murder occurred.” Rollie started to explain, but I still didn't see the difference. Murder was murder, no matter how you looked at it, as far as I was concerned.

Noticing the confusion in my eyes, he sighed. “Like I told you, this is a place where people go to get away from the world. Their careers are on the line if they end up here. Sometimes, their agents or studios have forced their hands and given them an ultimatum. They get clean or get help or they risk losing everything.”

I nodded, still not ready to feel too sorry for some egocentric multimillionaire that worried about their Hollywood image, when other people had similar problems minus the eccentric lifestyle.

Rollie continued, “Mercy, they come here to hide. Yes, it's true that some will make a big deal of announcing that they are seeking help, but for the most part, they go to great lengths to not be seen and not be associated with us and we accommodate them to the best of our ability.” He looked out the window, down into the parking lot, where detectives and crime scene analysts milled about, searching for clues. “A murder here draws media attention. It's bad enough that they already have fans and camera crews following their every move, now we are virtually sending out an open invitation to anyone with a cell phone to come and record what's going on here and share it with the world.”

Wow! He really thought this stuff out.

I could see his point from a PR perspective, but the fact remained that a man had been murdered. Why he wasn't more concerned about that, baffled me.

“You're worried about the media attention? That's the most pressing issue that you think you have?” This wasn't the first time that he and I disagreed on an issue. The only difference was that in regards to our previous issues, we were both on the same side, keeping his wife alive. Here, I wanted to catch a murderer and get suspicion off of me and he worried about his bottom line. It made no sense.

Rollie sat back in his seat, looked at me with weary eyes and said, “Report to work. Don't do any interviews with the media. Don't bother the police. Let them do their job and just do as your told.”

“Do as I'm told? Like some trained monkey? What else would I do? You know my work ethic. I do my job and, if I remember correctly, you were always quite pleased with my work.” He needed a friendly reminder and I needed to make him see that I wasn't some push over.

“Okay, Mercy. I know you're a good nurse, just try to keep a low profile. The staff upstairs has been instructed not to speak of the murder. We don't need to upset patients. There will be a meeting in regards to how it is that Mr. Pardo could simply walk right on out of here under our watch.” He shook his head. I understood his frustration. A place full of cameras and monitors shouldn't have been so easy to walk away from. I could see how he got past the guard with no problem, because Mike wasn't the least bit interested in securing anything beyond the mounds of food he had piled on his desk both times I'd seen him.

*

Amy waited for me to swipe my badge before we stepped outside to head to our cars. Other than the yellow police tape, there was no sign of an active investigation taking place.

“Well, that went better than I expected.” I said, referring to the shift Amy and I had just finished.

She laughed. “I suppose. You know everyone was told to keep quiet about the murder? They think Eli did it.” She shivered, although the temperature outside was well above eighty degrees.

“You know him better than I do. Is he capable of murder? Does he have a violent history?” I asked.

She shook her head, her large hazel eyes were fixed on the guard tower in front of us.

“Did you know the guard well?” I asked, believing I saw sadness on her face.

“Mike wasn't the easiest guy to get along with, but he and I had no problems. He just had a chip on his shoulder after the divorce and his accident. When he was a cop, he wasn't on anyone's list of favorite cops, but he was alright.” She said.

“How long has it been since he was a cop?” A lot of officers moonlight as security guards or retire from the force and take jobs as guards. I didn't think Mike's situation was any different.

“He was still a cop when I started here. I used to see him around town all the time. I mean, it's a small town, so basically everyone knows everyone. When Mike and Lou moved here from Chicago, they were these two brawny, tough guys. They were something else.” She laughed, recalling that time not so long ago.

My curiosity was piqued. “Mike and Lou both moved here from Chicago at the same time? Why?” What would make two Chicago police officers pick up and move to some small town across the country? Was there some kind of police officer exchange program that I didn't know anything about?

Amy opened her mouth to speak, but changed her mind. She shrugged and said, “Who knows why we do any of the stuff we do.”

Our conversation stopped there. Her body language changed after I asked my last question. The sadness I'd seen disappeared. She stood straighter. The tears that had formed in her eyes as she spoke about Mike and Lou dried up.

We continued walking toward our cars. Both of us instinctively picking up our pace as we got closer to the guard tower. Two different guards were sitting in a car near the tower, manning the entrance. They nodded in our direction as we rushed by, but either Amy hadn't noticed or she was in a hurry because she didn't acknowledge them.

When she reached her car, she said, “So, we're off tonight. I'll see you tomorrow. I don't know how or why, but we ended up with the worst schedule possible.” She grinned and got into her car, promptly starting it and driving away.

I hadn't even given too much thought to the schedule, I was handed earlier. They had me scheduled for training every other day, which meant that I'd work, sleep a day away, then, work again. That was a horrible schedule, but who was I to complain? Yet.

It took me a few minutes before I started my car. Unlike most cars on the road, my car required special care. It was older than my daughter and rarely ran smoothly, but I loved it. Sometimes, I had to coax it to start, even with a new engine. My friends and family begged me to get rid of the old Honda, but I just couldn't. I was one of those people that liked to hold on to things and to people. Heck, my ex-husband and I still spoke to each other a few times a week. We were friends. There was no way he and I could ever have stayed married, but we did truly care for each other.

Anyway, my car needed to be sweet talked into doing many things, but I couldn't bring myself to let her go. Yes, she's a her and her name changes all the time, depending on my mood and hers.

Most of the assignments I took were based on what new part or parts my car needed at the time. For instance, my last assignment netted me a new engine. This placement, I was hoping, would pay for new tires all the way around and new brakes. The only thing is, I had to make sure that I didn't get myself excused before I could cover the cost of my repairs. The way things were looking, I thought at best, I might be able to squeeze out one tire, if I didn't get sent to prison first, of course.

After I'd given Gertrude – that's what I'd decided to call my car this time around – a few minutes to think about starting, I decided to make my way around to the other parking lot and see what it looked like in the light of day. Maybe I'd been mistaken about what it was Mike could see on the security cameras. I'd feel horrible if I knew that I'd been angry with him for no good reason. I had to confirm for myself.

As I pulled out of my parking space, I noticed that the security vehicle with the guards in it, moved behind me.
Are they following me?

I shrugged. I wasn't surprised by their suspicion, just a little annoyed by it. I drove slowly through the near empty lot. It wasn't quite seven in the morning, so there would have been no reason for many other vehicles or people around.

When I reached the other lot, I tried to assess which space I'd parked in the other night. From what I could tell, I was a pretty good distance from the front outpatient doors. I hadn't noticed a sign out front the other night, but in my defense, the howling wind and the massive downpour really didn't allow me to see or hear too much, other than the killer dog, Phoebe, and her curious owner.

The guards watched from a safe distance as I got out of my car and followed what I believed to be the same path I'd taken the other night. I kept an eye out for security cameras and there were plenty of them on this side of the campus. I made a mental note to check the cameras in the other lot, nearer the guard tower.

As I approached the front entrance on foot, I could hear the engine of the security vehicle. They were in movement. I figured as much, because if I were a security guard, I'd want to know what everyone was doing at all times and there was something kind of fun about having armed guards see me as some sort of a threat. What they didn't know was the first sight of a spider or any other variety of creatures and I'd be out of there like nobody's business. Although, I had aspirations of being a runner someday, the reality was unless I were being chased by someone brandishing a weapon or a giant spider landed on my head, the chances of me running anywhere were null and void. True story.

While I kept my eyes peeled on the camera up above my head, I hadn't noticed the people sitting in the lobby, watching me curiously through the window. I must have looked like a loon to them.

When one of the employees tapped on the glass to get my attention, I nearly leaped out of my skin.

Where did she come from?

After I screamed like a banshee, I offered her a friendly wave and had the sudden urge to flash my name badge at her. She read it and smiled before turning to the patients waiting to be seen for their appointments and saying something that made them all burst out in laughter.