Elizabeth C. Main - Jane Serrano 01 - Murder of the Month (14 page)

I was careful not to touch him, not to sound patronizing. His bravery in owning up to his actions was remarkable. Making my voice as matter of fact as possible I said, “You are absolutely wrong about that.”

“
But I did take his car, and you saw how mad that made him—”

“
People get upset all the time, and they don’t all have heart attacks. If you want to blame something for bringing this on, blame those cigarettes he smokes. Smoking was—is—your grandfather’s choice, and now he’s paying the price. I know about your reasons for taking the car. You can shoulder the blame for that little stunt, but don’t beat yourself up over the heart attack, because it’s been brewing for a long time. Just be glad you were there when he needed you. You saved his life.”

“You think so?” he asked.

“I certainly do, and Dr. Blair said the same thing.”

“He did, didn’t he?” Tyler scrubbed at his eyes with the heels of his hands, looking for all the world like a kid waking from a nap. Unfortunately, his grandfather’s heart attack meant that Tyler was facing a real-life nightmare.

“Now that we have that straight, Hero,” I said, “if you want to talk about the car, go ahead.”

“
I just wanted to … I didn’t think it would matter. He doesn’t drive it much anyway—”

“Why didn’t you ask him?”

“I don’t know. It seemed like such a kid thing to do. ‘Please, Grandpa, may I borrow the car?’ but he just went ballistic …”

So that was it. Tyler hadn’t wanted to look like a kid in the eyes of the enchanting Bianca. Not so surprising. Ah, Laurence, your grandson is no delinquent, just a lovestruck boy.

“
Bianca has a license—I asked her—so I figured it’d be okay. We drove to the gorge and came straight back. It wasn’t like we went joyriding.”

“
Oh, Tyler, you read Bianca’s book. That plot is founded on nothing. You can’t use it as the basis for accusing someone of murder, can you?” Tyler remained silent. He was so young, and so vulnerable to anyone who would pay attention to him. Besides, what adolescent boy would want to believe that Vanessa’s death had been an accident when he could have a murder served up to him, practically in his back yard? Especially if he and a gorgeous blonde could work together against the odds to solve the crime? I tried another tack. “You didn’t find any incriminating evidence. Doesn’t that tell you something?”

He remained stubbornly loyal to Bianca. “Just because we haven’t found the missing videotape yet doesn’t mean that we won’t.”

As I struggled to think what to say next, I saw that Tyler’s attention was now riveted on something over my right shoulder. I turned to see the nurse who had been on duty in the lobby making her way toward us. She wasn’t smiling.

“
Dr. Blair is looking for you.”

“
Is it … I mean, is Laurence …?”

“
You’ll have to ask the doctor.”

Dr. Blair was nowhere in sight when we arrived at the reception desk and addressed the new nurse on duty. “We were told that Dr. Blair is looking for us? About Laurence Thornton?”

“
Oh, yes. He’ll be back in a minute.”

While we waited, a whimpering young girl holding her hand over one eye was dragged through the emergency entrance by her disheveled and obviously rattled mother. Over the girl’s cries, we could hear as the mother tried to explain the situation.

“
Tressa just pulled that perfume sprayer thing right off the dresser. I told her a thousand times to stay away from it, but she always wants to fix herself up. I give her a little squirt now and then—you know how they like that—but this time she took hold of it and sprayed herself right in the eye. I wasn’t gone more’n a few minutes—I’d crawled back in bed for just a wink of sleep—and the little stinker must’ve just ran for it. She knows better’n that. I told you a thousand times, didn’t I, Tressa? Stay away from Mama’s ‘Midnight in Paris.’”

Mama was still yammering and Tressa still whimpering, neither of them paying the slightest attention to the other, when the attendants escorted them through the swinging doors of the emergency room while the nurse, her mouth pursed, entered the incident into her computer. The official version would presumably leave out any commentary about Mama’s parenting skills, but I wondered how often little Tressa was left to fend for herself while Mama went back to bed for just a wink of sleep?

Dr. Blair appeared at last and ushered us over to a private corner of the waiting room. I stood close to Tyler in an attempt to give him what support I could.

This time the doctor addressed Tyler directly. “Your grandfather has made it through the first crucial hours, and that’s all to the good.”

“
What are his chances?” Tyler asked in a firm voice. “I need to know the truth.” I thought fleetingly that Laurence should hear his so-called delinquent grandson now.

“
His condition has stabilized, and that’s the important thing for now. We’ll do more tests and we’ll put him on medication to see how he does. Later, there will be some adjustments of his diet and exercise, of course, and he’ll have to quit smoking—”

“
Don’t worry,” Tyler said grimly. “He will.”

“
Good. We are cautiously optimistic that he’ll make a fine recovery. He has a long way to go of course, but there’s nothing more you can do right now, so I suggest you go home and get some sleep. Your grandfather might be able to see you late in the afternoon. He’ll be in the Cardiac Care Unit and Dr. Fauchet will be the cardiologist handling the case. He’s the one you’ll want to talk to.” Dr. Blair shook hands with Tyler. “Your grandfather must be very proud of you.”

“
I hope he will be,” Tyler answered.

After Dr. Blair left, Tyler turned to me with a smile. “Whew! That’s better.”

“It sure is,” I agreed. “What do you say I take you home now and pick you up again at four o’clock?”

With a trace of mischief in his voice, Tyler said, “Maybe I should just borrow Grandpa’s car and drive myself.”

I matched his buoyant tone. “Oh, yeah. That’s a great idea!”

A note was fastened to Laurence’s front door when we arrived. I waited, engine idling, while Tyler read it and then disappeared briefly into the cottage. He soon returned to the open passenger window of the Volvo and asked, “How does she do that? It’s barely daylight.” He handed the note to me.

“
It’s almost nine o’clock,” I answered. “Plenty of time for her to swing into action. Well, if Minnie’s been here, it’s official. Everyone in town knows about your grandfather’s heart attack.”

“
How does anybody keep a secret around here?”
“Mostly, they don’t. People help when you need help, but they also find out things you might want to keep private. It’s a mixed blessing of small town life. Did Minnie leave
Paint Her Dead
?”

”
Right on top, along with Ann Rule’s
Heart Full of Lies,
” Tyler answered.

“
Great. You can start reading immediately, but what I want is sleep. Your grandfather might fire me for not opening Thornton’s today, but I’m too sleepy to care. See you later.”

“
Jane, I hope you know how much I appreciate—“

“
Glad to do it.” As I eased away from the curb, I said offhandedly, so as not to embarrass him, “Hey, Tyler, you done good.”

My answering machine at home blinked a steady stream of messages. Though longing for bed, I punched the button to hear them. Jeremy from down the street wanted to know when he was supposed to mow my lawn. Minnie offered a choice of fried chicken or lasagna for dinner. Harley said he’d just missed me at the hospital and would come by later.

Next, Alix’s crisp voice informed me that she would keep Thornton’s open for business today. My eyes filled with tears at this unexpected kindness, even as my weary mind struggled to figure out how Alix would manage to get into the store.

Susannah wanted a punch recipe. “You know the one, Mom. It serves fifty and we used it for Emily’s graduation party. I assume Louise has calmed down by now. Call me.” She said nothing about going into labor.

Finally, the message I’d been waiting for. Bianca’s voice, sounding uncharacteristically subdued. “Mom, I’m really sorry to hear about Laurence, and I just want you to know that you don’t have to worry about me. I have everything under control. I’ll call you tomorrow after … after I finish something up.”

I knew enough about my daughter to recognize that even though she was still angry, she had sent her message to reassure me. Of course, it had the opposite effect. Just what did she think she was going to “finish up” by tomorrow? I dialed her number right away, but she wasn’t answering.

The rest of the messages could wait. Halfway through the living room, I decided the bedroom was too far away and fell onto the couch. Pulling the afghan over my face to block out the light, I realized that, for once, my kids wouldn’t begrudge me a nap today. Despite my anxiety about both Bianca and Laurence, I slipped into a deep, dreamless sleep.

Though Tyler had been allowed to see his grandfather as soon as we returned to the hospital, it wasn’t until evening that I tiptoed in to see Laurence for five minutes. Observing the motionless figure in the sterile bed, I struggled to keep an encouraging smile on my face. It was hard to avoid looking at the tubes that tethered him to various machines, and even harder to disregard the lights and repetitive beeps that monitored his condition.

“
Hi, Laurence. How’re you feeling?”

“
Like hell,” he mumbled. “What’d you expect?”

His tart answer cheered me. This was the gruff old man I had grown to love over the past year, not some anonymous invalid. His next comment encouraged me even further. “What’re you doing here anyway? You’re supposed to be at work. Can’t make money with Thornton’s closed.” He tried to raise his arm, but the tubes prevented him from doing so.

“
Alix has been filling in.”

“
Alix Boudreau? What does she know about books? She can’t—”

“
She’s doing fine. Besides, the store is already closed for the night. I’ll swing by there in the morning.”

“
Night already? Can’t tell a damned thing from inside this cocoon. You go by there anyway, check that she locked the door. I’m not paying you to sit around here staring at me.”

“
Yes, sir!” I said, saluting smartly. “Alix will be so glad to hear how much you appreciate her efforts.”

“
Give me a break. I’m sick,” he said.

I was feeling better by the minute about his condition. “Drop the act, you old fraud. You’re just lying in that bed so you can order everyone around.”

“
Ever try ordering a nurse around?”

“
Not really, but I’m sure you have.”

“
Complete waste of time.” He shook his head. “Like getting you to tend to my bookstore. Are you—”

“
I’m going, but first I want to tell you about Tyler. He’s been—”

“
Everyone has been telling me about Tyler,” he interrupted. “Does he have some kind of fan club going?”

“
If he does, I want to be its president. He was terrific last night. And about the car—”

“
Sorry, time’s up.” A cheerful nurse with “Gayle” printed on her name tag spoke as she paused by Laurence’s bed.

“
Thanks for saving me,” Laurence told her. “Jane was about to lecture me about my grandson.”

“
Tyler?” Gayle asked. “He’s a great kid.”

“
What’d I tell you, Jane? Now get to the store and leave me in peace.”

“
Gladly.” I left the Cardiac Care Unit with a lighter step. Things were looking up.

Tyler wasn’t waiting in the hall where I had left him five minutes before, so I started for the cafeteria. On my way through the lobby I noticed that the volunteer usually posted at the information desk was with a crowd on the other side of the room, watching the television set. I was halfway up the staircase before I could see the face of Tina Marquette on the screen. From this distance, her make-up didn’t look half bad. A glance at my watch confirmed that the evening news should have finished an hour ago. Sure enough, the banner snaking across the bottom of the screen proclaimed a “KPHD News Flash.” Probably another noxious weed alert. Our homegrown station hadn’t quite mastered the knack of gauging what constituted breaking news, so I continued upward.

Whatever was on the news didn’t have anything to do with me, unless … I paused in mid-stride. Bianca! I hadn’t yet been in touch with her today, and who was I kidding? The chance of her being featured on a news flash fell somewhere between likely and inevitable.

I retraced my steps to the lobby floor and joined the viewers in time to see an annoying commercial which consisted entirely of various people sneezing until the name of some miracle medication appeared in the last shot. As the crowd dispersed, I spotted a vaguely familiar woman and headed her off.

“What was that all about?” I asked her, waving a hand at the screen.

“Oh, hi,” she said. “You work at Thornton’s, don’t you?”