Murder! Too Close To Home (34 page)

SHE’D BEEN SHOT!

Time was back to full speed as I rushed forward, my thoughts full of fear and dread at my wife’s injury.

As I approached, she tried to smile at me before it turned into a grimace.

“Through and through,” she gasped, pain and relief showing on her face at once. There was blood, but not a lot, and definitely no arterial spurting. Tears of joy were freely running down my face as I moved to help her.

Lean headed toward his daughter hesitantly. She was lying on the floor, clutching her chest while trying to catch her breath. A fit of coughing brought small red bubbles to her lips.

Tears stained her face as she looked up with pain filled eyes. She saw her father standing over her, the pain in her eyes changing to sorrow as she whispered, “daddy.”

The Sheriff looked lost as he slowly turned away, walking slowly to a corner of the room before he let out a loud bellow. As his ribs wrack in spasms, he brought his hands to his face in intense sorrow.

Frank was on his cell, loudly calling in everybody, forcefully reiterating to them the need to get a life squad there NOW.

I turned back toward Betty, “We need to get you out to the car for some bandages until the EMT’S get here.”

“Give me a hug first, willya?”

I gingerly hugged my love, taking care not to put any pressure on her injured shoulder. The near miss of almost losing her had made me weepy.

“I love you Betty,” I whispered into her ear; “I don’t know what I would have done if I’d lost you.”

As we separated, she was smiling at me lovingly. “I lo…,”

The air was suddenly filled with a horrendous explosion.

Betty’s smile disappeared as another patch of red appeared on her shirt.

I reached down, quickly sliding the Glock out of its holster while simultaneously rotating to the right. The gun was cocked as the sights landed on the once-again depraved face of Jasmine, her gun now aimed directly at me. I pulled off the shot, adding a hole between those evil eyes, an act that brought our investigation finally to an end.

I immediately dropped my weapon, turning quickly to see to my spouse.

Gone!

I rushed the doorway where she had been standing; realizing now that it was an old basement entrance, the stairs now gone. As I looked down through the hole, I was greeted by the terrifying sight of my beautiful Betty lying on the basement floor, a pool of blood beginning to form around her angelic face like a halo.

“BETTY!”

Chapter 93

April 19, 1997

The sun was shining brightly in the window on that morning, but my outlook was anything but sunny.

Betty’s vital signs had been degrading slowly for days, her prognosis and my mood getting bleaker every day.

I had been up all night talking, talking to my wife as I clutched her hands in mine, trying to convince her to come back to me.

Even now with the effort being one sided, staying up all night to talk to Betty had never been a problem. I was usually more of the listener in our relationship, but the reversing of roles in this situation had come to me naturally, and I attacked it with an energy I didn’t know I had.

Looking upon her face, that beautiful face that I had fallen in love with years ago, I marveled at the freshness of it, seemingly being unaffected from the long hospital stay.

The glow that she had always exhibited was there, it was as if she had just stepped in from working in her garden. The wisp of hair falling gently on her forehead was also there as usual; she was still so beautiful.

Hundreds of times over the years I had witnessed her coming in from working on her landscape, pushing the hair off of her face with the back of her gloved hand and smiling at me with a satisfied look. Cool and wonderful showers followed on many of those days, definitely an incentive to help her with the yard work.

We had talked much of that last night: her garden, reciting her plans for the spring as she had laid them out for me months ago. I had told her I couldn’t wait to get out there with her this year.

We talked of walks in the cool night air, of Lucy chasing the ever-present squirrels but never catching one, and of making love in front of the fireplace on a long, cold night.

I offered all of these up and more, hoping beyond hope to convince her to stay with me the rest of my life, not letting the alternative enter my mind for fear of having to face the crushing reality of life without her.

I sat back in the chair, my back hurting from leaning forward all night. I realized I was exhausted and contemplated a trip to the cafeteria for some lousy coffee, deciding instead to rest my eyes for a few seconds before making the trek.

Soon, I was entering the mysterious room again, the coffee steaming by my chair, the chess board again having been manipulated by my unseen opponent. The mood of the room seemed different this time however…brighter maybe…or warmer…I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. I sat down and hefted the mug of coffee, inhaling the aroma before taking a long sip of the dark elixir.

The feeling in the room struck me once again, in what I could only describe as a glow, my heart beating excitedly in anticipation of ….what?

I got up and paced in front of the fireplace, too antsy to sit. Looking around and listening intently, I found nothing out of place or unusual in the room, having been here enough now to easily discern any changes between visits.

Sitting back down, I tried to concentrate on the chess game in progress with no luck; I could not focus on strategy when I was like this. I realized my fingers were shaking and the palms of my hands were sweaty. I wiped them on my pants, and then grabbed the cup with one hand while standing up to again pace the room, shoving the other hand in my pocket.

After another few minutes, I rationally decided to try to calm myself down; this had always been a room of peace, and everything that I had ever garnered out of it had come when I was relaxed.

I sat back down once again, sipped at my coffee and let the liquid calm me as it flowed into my being. Feeling better, I closed my eyes and leaned my head back into the chair while I let the glow of the room wash over me.

Quietly sitting there for awhile, I became aware of a movement as the floor creaked behind me. Turning my head I again found nothing there and returned to my coffee, wondering once again how I had come to be in this room in the first place. Why was  I given clues but no answers, and why me and no one else?

Contemplating these questions that were clearly above my pay grade, I realized that the floor had again creaked, the feeling of movement behind me stronger than ever.

I determined not to look this time, trying something different for a change. Quietly sipping my coffee and listening intently, I was soon rewarded with another creak; then another, and another. Someone was approaching me, but now I couldn’t move, my body not responding to any commands.

I did’t feel fear, the comforting glow of the room still prevalent. Still, the paralysis was worrisome as I sat there waiting for the next event to unfold.

The noise had stopped, the room now completely silent until a familiar voice said, “Hello, Gabriel.”

Shocked at the voice and again able to move, I turned in my chair to see the ghostly outline of Betty!

Chapter 94

April 19, 1997

Betty was glowing, literally. As I watched dumbfounded, her appearance slowly became more normal, but with a more-than-average glow still surrounding her.

She looked wonderful, out of the hospital bed and fully recovered, a smile crossing her lips as she looked upon me. She was wearing a beautiful white gown, her hair down and delightfully framing her face. I jumped up and bounded toward her, enveloping her in my arms, determined to never let her go.

She let out a contented giggle as she wrapped her arms around me in return, then we found each other’s lips as we kissed long and hard. There were tears in my eyes when we finally pulled apart far enough to look at each other. She gently wiped my face with her thumb as I took her in…a true miracle.

“Thank you for saying all of those nice things last night, it really meant a lot to me,” she said with a smile, “I knew I picked a winner when I picked you.”

“It must have worked, you’re fully recovered!” I crowed, my heart jumping out of my chest with joy.

I pulled her to me again, the feel of her sending electric through my skin as my heart skipped several beats.

“I really thought I’d lost you,” I said into her neck, “I don’t think I’ll ever let you go again.”

Suddenly I pulled away; I had been so happy that I hadn’t given a thought to where we were, a room that I could only see in my thoughts.

“This is just a dream isn’t it,” I stated as a sad reality set in, “I knew it was too good to be true.”

A knowing smile crossed Betty’s lips, “Oh I’m real alright, but we need to sit down; we have much to discuss and I don’t have a lot of time.”

A confused look crossed my face as Betty took my hand and led me to my chair before taking a seat on the chair opposite me.

“What do you mean you don’t have much time, and why is it you are in my dream?” I blurted out, mystified at to what I was both seeing and hearing.

I slumped in my chair and covered my eyes with my hands in frustration. This was somebody’s idea of a bad joke, and I didn’t have enough strength left in me for any more disappointments. I was barely hanging on as it was…to hope…to life itself.

“Gabriel, please look at me,” she said gently.

I slowly lowered my hands to reveal Betty still sitting there, the radiant glow still surrounding her. She smiled then, melting my heart and instantly relaxing me.

“Gabe, I am here because my body died this morning.”

My heart instantly sank in despair, tears again streaking my face in sorrow. Somehow she was instantly kneeling in front of me, one hand on my leg, the other palm gently touching my face with concern, my sorrow reflected in her eyes.

“Please don’t be sad, my dear, it was painless and there was never any real hope of me recovering. You have been hearing me coming to this point for weeks.”

The creaking floors! My God, I
had
been hearing it. If only I had known, I could have done something to stop this.

“There is nothing you could have done, my sweet man,” she cooed as if reading my mind, “some things we have no control over.”

I gently pulled her up, setting her on my lap, tenderly holding her face in my hands and looking into her eyes, those deep blue eyes I’ve always loved.

“I can’t live without you, Betty, stay with me here. We can be happy here,” I begged shamelessly.

“I can’t do that, Gabe. I’m expected, and you still have things to do before you come,” she stated tenderly, putting her arms around my neck and hugging me lovingly.

“Where are you going, and how do you know all of this stuff?” I asked. “Maybe you’re just dreaming too.”

Lifting her face and stroking mine with her hand as she looked at me with her kind eyes, she patiently continued.

“Listen to me, I’ve never lied to you and I won’t start now. I’m going to heaven; at least it looks like heaven from here. I see people I know that have passed before. My mom’s there. She’s smiling, Gabe, and you know she hardly ever smiled when she was alive. And I know these things because there are others here to help me, angels I think. I am sad at leaving you my dear husband, but they told me they had more for you to do, and that you would join me when you were done.”

“Are we in heaven now?” I asked, scared of the answer.

She turned her head and pointed. “I guess mine is right there, I can see it beside the fireplace. They said this room is a glimpse of yours. Everyone has their own it seems, but they are intertwined.”

“I’m so scared,” I said with trembling lips, “I don’t want to do this without you.” 

Holding me around the neck, she whispered in my ear, “You’ll never be alone. I’ll be watching over you, always.”

Turning again as if listening to something, her eyes then returned to mine.

“They say I have to go now.” Giving me a gentle kiss, she stood up, still holding my hand.

“I need you to know that you are the best thing that ever happened to me in this life, and I love you beyond words, Gabriel Celtic.”

Tears streamed down my face again as she started to disappear before my eyes.  “Back at cha, buddy,” I replied before she disappeared completely, a smile forming on her lips right before she faded away.

***

I am awakened to the sound of the heart monitor playing the long beep of death. Doctors and nurses were entering the room on the run. As they fussed over her body, I wordlessly looked at the beautiful form that was my wife, saying a silent prayer for her safe arrival above.

When the medical staff finally gave up and called time of death, I remained transfixed in my chair, staring at my life’s love. I remained that way for the next half hour, silently trying to communicate with Betty in my head with no luck.