Middle River Murders (3 page)

Ten o’clock
rolled around and I still hadn’t heard anything about Jonathan’s condition. I
told myself that after Ethan’s feeding, which was due any minute, I was going
to get dressed and go find out for myself how he was doing. It’s been so long,
he must still be in surgery. Was that a good sign? I didn’t think so. Is time
running out? I felt sick to my stomach. I heard footsteps and whispers outside
my room.

“Who’s out there?” I called out. As I was about to get out of
bed, Billy walked in.

“Stay in bed, `ge ya,” he said. “There’s nothing you can do.”

“What… what do you mean?” I asked as my heart jumped up in my
throat. “Is Jonathan… dead?”

“No,” Billy said as he stood by my bed. “But he sure had a
close call. Like you said, he’s a tough guy, plus the bullet was from a small
caliber handgun. If it had been a larger size, he’d be dead for sure.
Fortunately, he was hit in his right shoulder and not square in the chest.”

“Thank the Lord he’s going to make it. I was worried sick,
especially since it’s been hours and I hadn’t heard anything.”

“I’m sorry, but I couldn’t leave,” Billy said. “Mom was
almost hysterical, and the chief was already rounding up a posse.” He let out a
little chuckle. “You know how that goes.”

“I’m glad to see you haven’t lost your sense of humor.” I was
surprised at Billy’s ability to make light of the situation. I learn something
new about him every day.

“After I found out that Jonathan was going to make it, my
mind shifted into a different mode. My concern was to find the person who did
this to him, and to do it quickly. Of course, my idea of handling the situation
is a lot different from my father’s. He’s ready to go on the warpath—take no
prisoners.
‘Scalp the paleface!’
he kept shouting. Daniel had to take
him outside and calm him down.”

“Scalp the paleface? He actually said that?”

“You know how he gets. He says things like that just to
incite others around him. He figures if he can’t get what he wants from the
cops the traditional way, he’ll use his own method. It usually works, but this
time nobody was in the mood for his antics. Mom told him to zip it up right in
front of everybody. That really set him off. Daniel took him aside and then
finally had to get him out of the hospital.”

“Your father is an amazing man,” I said. “The only times I’ve
seen him act up was when he had a reason, and I definitely think having your
child shot is a good reason to go off the deep end.”

“I must admit that when Chief Sam has an agenda, he gives it
his all, but sometimes I wonder if he doesn’t carry it a little too far.”

“Make fun of me if you want to,” the chief said, walking into
the room. “I have my ways and they usually get results. I know who shot your
brother.”

“You have your suspicion, that’s all,” Sarah said as she came
into the room with my mother following her.

I looked up and said, “I thought y’all had gone home.”

“Are you kidding?” Mom asked. “We were in the parking lot
when it happened. I mean, we weren’t all together, but we were near enough to
know what happened when Robert shouted out that Jonathan had been shot. It seems
that he was parked two cars down from him. I had just strapped Maisy into her
car seat when I heard the gunshot.”

“Please don’t tell me that you were alone.”

“No, dear,” Sarah said. “The chief and I walked your mother
to her car. You know we wouldn’t leave her alone at night especially in a
parking lot. Plus, Claire and her children were right behind us.”

“You worry too much, honey,” Mom said.

“Jonathan just got shot, and you say I worry too much? I
think I have plenty of reasons to worry. This family is made up of a bounty
hunter, two private investigators and a clan of Indians ready to go
head-hunting at a moment’s notice. I think I have a right to be worried.”

The chief had a hurt look on his face as if I had just
stomped on his ancestry.

“I’m sorry,” I said looking over at him. “I didn’t mean that
in a hurtful way. I love you all dearly, but sometimes you make me
crazy—especially you, Chief Sam. I don’t know what you’ll do next and I worry
that at any minute I’ll lose one of you. My heart couldn’t take it.” I started
to cry.

“Do not regret your words,” Chief Sam said as he walked over
to the bed. He sat down in a chair next to me and took my hand in his. “I have
upset you. Your hands are trembling. I’m sorry. I know you mean only the best,
but let me assure you that I know you love this family and would fight to the
death to protect any one of us. You have a heart full of love. That makes you a
very special person. But you must trust me on this one.” He winked at me. “I am
the one who looks over this family. Let me do the worrying.”

“Are you so upset because you just had a baby?” Mom asked. “I
know they have this thing now they call post-partum depression. I don’t
understand it, because I never got like that when any of my kids were born, but
if you have it, we can get you some drugs. Do you want me to call the doctor?”

I had to laugh at Mom. Even though she’s always been so
old-fashioned, she’s been doing her best the last couple of years to try to
catch up with the world. She even accepted the fact that her son is gay and
wanted to learn everything she could about his sexual orientation. I’m sure
she’d rather Jack marry a woman and have a few children, but when I explained
to her that he didn’t have to have a wife to have kids, she was flabbergasted.
All she could do was try to handle it, and she did. Now Jack and Dennis are a
couple to her just like anyone else... almost. It’ll take a bit of getting used
to, but I know she’ll deal with it. She always does.

“What’s so funny?” Mom asked. “If you need medication for
your condition, we’ll get it. Maybe you need counseling.”

I held up my hand up and said, “Hold on, Mom. I’m fine. I
don’t need drugs or counseling. I’m concerned about my family, that’s all.”

“Before you say anything, don’t worry about Maisy. Claire
took her and the kids back to your house. She’s going to stay for a while.”

I looked back at the chief and said, “You said you know who
shot Jonathan.”

“That’s right. The police were interviewing two witnesses in
the waiting room who were in the parking lot when Jonathan was shot, and they
said they could have sworn they saw a woman running away from the scene. They
described her as medium height, thin, and old. I overheard everything they
said.”

“How old?” Billy asked. His attention piqued.

“I’m not sure,” his father replied. “But one of the women
said she thought she must have been at least sixty.”

“Are you sure about that, Dad?” Billy asked.

“That’s what the woman said. Why? Do you know her?”

“I think I might have an idea.” Billy walked over to the window
and looked out. Finally he turned around and crossed his arms. He had our full
attention. He looked over at Mom and said, “You know who she is.”

“She sure has gotten bold to do something like this right in
the middle of a parking lot with so many witnesses around. Do you think she’s
on to us, and now she’s scared? Scared people do some pretty desperate things.
You told me that yourself.”

“She’s killed before; another one isn’t going to make much
difference to someone like her. In most cases, once a person kills someone, it
gets easier the next time around. She’s getting more unpredictable by the
minute.”

“What are you talking about?” I said, raising my voice. “What
have the two of you gotten yourself into while I was busy being pregnant?” I
looked at Mom and then back at Billy.

The room fell silent.

I scanned everyone’s faces looking for a telltale sign.

“Am I the only one in this room who’s in the dark?”

“Ah…” Sarah started to say something, but Mom interrupted
her.

“Billy and Jonathan were working on a case and they needed a
person about my age to help them out. You couldn’t help. For one thing, you’re
not old enough.”

“I don’t understand.”

Billy walked away from the window and over to the other side
of the bed. He stood for a second before speaking. “I got Jonathan involved
because I needed help and I couldn’t let you get involved in this case. We’re
dealing with a woman who might or might not be a serial killer. We’re not…”

“And you got my mother involved instead? Have you lost your
mind?” I looked at Mom. “Have you lost your mind as well? Where was I when all
of this was going on? You did this right under my nose and I didn’t have the
foggiest idea. I must be the most self-centered person in the world not to have
noticed something fishy. The worst part is that you both kept me in the dark!”

“You don’t understand, honey,” Mom said. “I was just playing
a part… so to speak.”

“I don’t think I want to hear anymore.” I looked at Billy.
“How could you let my mother get involved in something so dangerous? It’s bad
enough that you and Jonathan are chasing after a serial killer, but to enlist
the help of my mother in something so dangerous is unspeakable. Somebody go get
me a tranquilizer.”

“I’ll go find the doctor,” Mom said and started to leave the
room.

“Hold on one minute, Minnie!” I yelled to her. “Don’t leave
this room.”

Billy laughed at how I had turned the tables on Mom. She
always calls me Missy when she’s putting her foot down, and when I want her
full attention, I call her by her first name.

“Don’t you dare laugh at me,” I told him. “You’re in hot
water, too, Injun!”

“But I thought…” Mom started to say.

“You know I can’t take drugs. I’m nursing. If I wanted
anything right now it’d be a cigarette and a shot of bourbon. Yep, that would
do it.”

“But you said…”

“Stop trying to make up an excuse to leave the room. Nobody
leaves until I get the truth.”

“Don’t look at me,” the chief said. “I have no idea what’s
going on. If Sarah does, she hasn’t said a word to me about it.”

“That’s because you can’t keep a secret,” she said and then
turned to him. “You blab about everything. You’re always the first one to let
the cat out of the bag.”

“That’s not true!”

“Are you involved, too?” I asked Sarah.

“Not yet,” she said. “They had me on the sidelines just in
case.”

I looked over at Billy and said, “Have a seat, Mr. Blackhawk.
We need to talk.”

“We should leave the room so the two of you can…” Mom said.

I interrupted her. “That’s not going to happen, Mother. Find
a seat and let’s get to the bottom of this story.”

“Yes, dear.”

“Take mine,” the chief said. He got up, walked over to the
other side of the room and stood beside Sarah. “I don’t want to be anywhere
close to that woman when the lid pops off.” He chuckled. He was innocent and
found it delightful that I was ready to rake everyone else, except him, over
the coals.

I was ready to get down to business when the door opened and
the nurse brought Ethan in to be fed. I looked up and smiled, then turned to
everyone and said, “Y’all can leave the room and get your stories straight, but
when we’re finished here, I want you to come back and be ready for a severe
tongue lashing.”

They couldn’t get out of that hospital room fast enough…
neither could the nurse.

“You stay,” I said as Billy got up to leave. “Regardless of
how mad I am with you right now, I still want you here so you can stare at my
breasts.”

Mom shook her head as she hurried out of the room. I heard
her mumble something about my shameful potty mouth, and then disappeared.

“Don’t say a word,” I said. “We’re going to enjoy this moment
before I let you have it.”

“My son is such a handsome Cherokee. He will make a fine
warrior.”

“Blah… blah…blah,” I said. “You’re just trying to soften me
up, but you’re going to have to do better than that. First off, your son is not
going to be a warrior. He’ll probably be a private investigator just like you.”
I smiled down at my handsome son.

“You’re just saying that to make me feel good. Wouldn’t it be
great to have my son follow in my footsteps? But he must become a warrior
first. I will teach him to fish, hunt and live off the land.”

“He can do all that stuff, but eventually, I want Ethan to go
to college and become a doctor or lawyer—something not so dangerous.”

“I agree.”

“You do?”

“Of course, I do. Now that I think about it, I don’t want him
doing the same thing I do. You see what happened to my first marriage, and you
know first hand the dangers involved in my line of work.”

“
Our
line of work,” I corrected him. “I’m glad you see
it my way.”

I changed Ethan’s tiny diaper and then wrapped him in his
blanket. I put him to my breast and he took to it like a pro. It was a very
tender moment—with many more of the same to come. As soon as he finished, I
told Billy to usher the crew back into the room. The truth be told, I wanted
each one of them to have a chance to hold our son before he went back to the
nursery.