Hideaway Hospital Murders (20 page)

Jake thought seriously
about shooting her, but he couldn’t pull the trigger. He wasn’t a
killer. The one person he
did
kill was by accident—it
wasn’t murder.

“
Do it, Jake! Go ahead and
kill me!”

She reached out and clamped her hands around
Jake’s hand, forcing him to point the gun directly at her chest.
Then she latched onto Jake’s trigger finger with both of her thumbs
and began to squeeze.

“
No! Stop!” He couldn’t
point the gun away from her, and he couldn’t stop her from making
him pull the trigger.

The gun clicked.

Carnie started laughing as she released
Jake’s hand. “You fool—you think I would actually kill myself?”

“
Don’t do that to me! And
why did you unload it?”

“
Look, Jake, what if you
were holding the gun on the old women and you accidentally shot one
of them? You’re already worried about going to prison for your hit
and run. How do you feel about lethal injection?”

The look of fear on his face gave the
answer.

“
Okay, so I will escort
each lady into the van. And you will point the gun at them to keep
them quiet and make sure they don’t try to escape. Any
questions?”

“
No.”

Carnie looked toward the store to see who
was coming out. “Look, Jake. See that old woman walking out by
herself?”

“
Yeah.”

“
She looks like a fine
candidate,” said Carnie. She got out of the van and put the
screwdriver in her left hand upside down to conceal the blade
behind her arm.

The woman was carrying two plastic bags in
her left hand, and was holding her keys in her right hand. Carnie
wondered where her purse was. Maybe she had her driver’s license
and credit card in a pocket.

“
Ma’am, please be careful
out here,” said Carnie when she was fifteen feet away.

The woman seemed confused.

At a distance of five feet, Carnie said, “Be
careful. The guard told me somebody reported a purse snatching
tonight.”

“
What guard?”

“
That guy who rides around
the parking lot in the golf cart.”

“
Oh. And it happened here?
Tonight?”

Carnie was standing two feet from the
woman.

“
Well, I didn’t even bring
my purse with me.”

Carnie laughed. “So, you outsmarted the
guy.”

“
I guess I did.” The woman
smiled.

“
I’m Carnie. What’s your
name?”

“
Harriet.”

Carnie put her hands behind her and
transferred the screwdriver to her right hand. Then she put her
left arm around Harriet.

“
Harriet, I have a favor to
ask.”

“
What’s that?”

“
I need you to come with
me, and not make a sound, okay?”

“
Oh. I’m sorry, but I need
to get home.”

Carnie whipped out the large
screwdriver.

Harriet gasped.

“
Just act normal and do
exactly as I say.”

Carnie walked her to the van, opened the
sliding door, and told her to get in the back seat.

Harriet flinched when she saw the big man in
the front seat pointing the gun at her.

Carnie closed the door and walked around to
the driver’s side. Before she opened the door, she checked for
another target. She spotted a woman who appeared to be in her 80’s
walking out. She had a purse on her left arm, but no bags. Carnie
figured the woman couldn’t find what she wanted. But if she was
looking for a large, sharp screwdriver, Carnie would be happy to
fix her up. She started walking toward the woman.

When she was twenty feet away, the woman
yelled, “Hurry up.”

Was she talking to me? wondered Carnie.
Sure, I’ll hurry up, lady. But then Carnie saw the old man with the
shopping basket.

“
I’ll get there when I get
there,” yelled the old man.

Carnie walked past the
woman, thinking she might try to take her
and
her husband. When she passed
the old man, he winked at her. The tight jogging suit showed off
every inch of her curvaceous body. The old man turned his head as
he walked to get a view of the back side. He crashed his shopping
cart into a parked car.

“
Jim, if you’d watch where
you’re going,” said his wife, “instead of watching that woman’s
butt—“

“—
Hey, I’m just looking—I’m
not buying.”

“
Oh, I know
that
—you’re too
cheap to spend any money on it.”

Did they honestly think she was for sale?
Carnie wondered. Maybe she would go stab a couple of old farts just
for the fun of it. She made a U-turn and walked past the couple,
who were still bickering. They didn’t even see her this time.

**********

“
I won’t be long,” said
Beverly as she walked out the door.

Cynthia and Greg were still sitting on the
couch, finishing up their pizza.

“
Where’s she going?” said
Greg.

“
Wal-Mart. She’s out of
shampoo, and she won’t use the kind I have.”

“
You’re not worried about
her going out at night by herself?”

“
Yeah, a little bit. But
she did it all the time in Marshall. How can I tell her she can’t
do it here?”

“
Yeah, you’re right. She’ll
be fine. And while she’s gone…”

Greg set his paper plate aside and slid over
beside Cynthia.

By the time he got to her, she was ready.
They began to kiss.

Neither of them felt the usual fear of
taking it too far. Just knowing that Beverly would be back in a few
minutes would keep their hormones in check.

**********

The beads of sweat on Jake’s face were
growing larger. The three women in the back of the van were having
pretty much the same thoughts. They didn’t know whether Jake’s gun
hand was shaky because he was scared or because he was just crazy.
Either way, they figured their life was hanging by a thread. Any
escape attempt would surely lead to a bullet or a screwdriver
through the heart.

Carnie saw taillights in her rear view
mirror. A car was pulling into the parking spot directly behind the
van. Carnie stepped out and saw an older woman getting out of her
car and locking it. She was alone. This would be an easy one, she
thought.

Carnie approached the woman while she was
still beside her car.

“
Excuse me, Ma’am. I don’t
suppose you have any jumper cables, do you?”

“
Uh, no. I’m sorry. I
don’t.”

Carnie produced the screwdriver and said,
“Just be quiet and come with me and I won’t hurt you.”

“
I’m not coming with you.
Get away from me. Help! Somebody, help me!” Suddenly she couldn’t
breathe. She looked down and saw the screwdriver stuck in her
chest. Then she collapsed to the pavement, between her car and a
pickup.

Carnie ripped the screwdriver out and wiped
it across the woman’s dress a few times to clean off the blood.

**********

Greg’s right hand had been at Cynthia’s
waist for a couple of minutes. Now it was inching upward. Cynthia
knew where it was headed, and was afraid of the stimulation it
would surely bring. But her mother had been gone for a good while.
She would be driving up at any second. They would hear the car and
stop what they were doing. So they were safe.

Greg was beginning to lose control. His body
wanted Cynthia’s, but he had promised himself he would wait until
marriage. A marriage he had not yet even proposed.

But he began to realize that he was just a
puppet. And testosterone was his puppet master. Although in his
mind he ordered it to stop, his right hand continued to move up
until it found her left breast. He felt the nipple with his thumb.
It was very hard, and so was he.

Cynthia said, “Wait,” and pulled away.

“
I’m sorry. I shouldn’t
have done that,” he said.

Cynthia was looking at the wall clock. “Look
what time it is. Mom’s been gone for over thirty minutes. She
should have been back by now.”

“
Call her cell.”

Cynthia jumped up and went to her cell
phone, which was lying on the kitchen counter. She walked back into
the living room with the phone to her ear. “She’s not answering.
It’s going to voice mail.”

“
Let’s go find her,” said
Greg.

They rushed out of the house to Greg’s
car.

Chapter
26

“
Is she asleep?” said Elmo
softly, taking a glance at his mother in the rear view
mirror.

Macy turned her head to look in the back
seat. “I think so.”

After Mallie Mae’s accident in the
restaurant, they had made a quick exit. They went to the first
convenience store they could find to pick up some adult diapers.
Mallie Mae had reluctantly put on a pair. Then they had stopped for
hamburgers at a Sonic Drive In.

“
She’s been faking, hasn’t
she? he said.

Macy was glad it was too dark for Elmo to
see her face turning red. “What do you mean?”

“
She’s been pretending to
have Alzheimer’s.”

“
Why would she do
that?”

“
To drive me and Carsie
apart.”

Macy didn’t speak. She looked straight
ahead.

“
And you were in on it,
weren’t you?” said Elmo.

She had dreaded this moment. As soon as
Mallie Mae had drafted her into the scheme, Macy knew it would end
badly. Any chances she might have had with Elmo were about to
evaporate. But she might as well get it over with, she thought.
“Yes, I was. I’m sorry, Elmo.”

“
It’s okay. I don’t
blame
you
.
If you hadn’t played along, she would have fired you. That is, she
would have
threatened
to fire you. But she
wouldn’t have actually done it. You’re like a daughter to her. And
I guess you’re kind of fond of her too, or you wouldn’t have stayed
around for all these years.” He paused for a second. “How many
years has it been, Macy?”

“
Fifteen.”

“
Wow. When you took the job
as her nurse you were what? 21 years old?”

“
22.”

“
I’m surprised you stayed
so long. Why didn’t you ever go back to the hospital? They would
have gladly taken you back. And you know I would have recommended
you highly.”

“
Well…”

He finally knew the answer. But how could he
have been so clueless? he wondered. Earlier in the evening, on the
dance floor, he had seen the love in Macy’s eyes for the first
time. Had it been there all along? For fifteen years? They had been
great friends, spending most nights watching TV or movies together.
At 22, she was a sweet, alluring presence. But because of the age
gap, he had forced himself to think of her as a sister. It was the
only way he could trick himself into keeping his hands off her. And
it helped him quell the powerful fantasies of making love to
her.

And why hadn’t she been dating? She should
have been married long before now. Maybe a better question was why
he had not wondered about these things before. Had he been playing
games with himself—and with her? Knowing he couldn’t have her, but
not wanting to lose her?

If Macy had not been living in the house,
maybe Elmo would have found love years earlier. And if he got
married, the wife would probably want Macy to go. Carsie had been
aggressive in advancing her relationship with Elmo. She had made
him realize he was letting his prime years slip away. He needed to
make up for lost time—and she would help him do it. She had
replaced Macy as his TV buddy. And she had been relentless in
pushing him toward the altar.

“
You stayed because of me,
didn’t you?” said Elmo.

“
Well, I…yes.”

“
I’m sorry, Macy. I’ve been
so unfair to you. I had feelings for you from day one. But I was 41
then. And you were only 22.”

“
I know.”

“
I was crazy about you, but
it made me feel kinda like a dirty old man. You know?”

“
I understand.”

“
You were so young and just
starting out in life. I figured the last thing you needed was a
father figure making passes at you.”

“
But I never saw you as a
father figure. You were just a kind, intelligent, funny, wonderful
man. I never cared about the age difference.”

“
So, why didn’t you say
something?”

“
Because I was afraid you
wouldn’t feel the same way. And then it would have been weird for
you having me in the house and you’d end up asking me to leave. I
couldn’t risk it. I just hoped that someday you’d feel the same way
I did.”

Elmo glanced at her. At 37, she was at the
height of her beauty and sexual power. He felt incredibly lucky. He
would not waste another day. He reached over and picked up her hand
and brought it to his lips.

And when he kissed the back of her hand, she
knew exactly what he was thinking. He was not going to marry
Carsie. Apparently his feelings for Carsie held no comparison to
his long-hidden love for Macy.

This was a scenario she had dreamed many
times. Elmo finally saw the light, and they would live happily ever
after. But this was not a dream. Was it? No, this was real.