Teresa Watson (4 page)

Seriously? This day had just officially gone to…well, you know where. I looked up to see Jake standing in front of me. “I tripped and fell.”

“Well, if you fell down, what did your car do? Roll down a hill or something?”

“Self-combustion.”

He sat down next to me. “Your sense of humor is still intact. Are you going to be ok?” he said, reaching up to brush a strand of red hair out of my eyes. “Your poor face. Does it hurt much?”

“Only when I smile.”

He looked down at my arm. “Broken?”

“They didn’t say, just put it in a splint. I guess I’ll find out when I get to the hospital, but considering how it looked before, I’d say it was broken, yeah.”

“Can you tell me what happened?”

“I’m sorry, the witness is not allowed to comment on an active investigation,” T.J. said as he walked up. “I’m going to have to ask you to leave, sir.”

Oh Lord, just shoot me now. Please.

Chapter Eight

“Actually, Officer, I’m a member of the press, so I have every right to be here,” Jake said as he stood up.

“She’s still a witness, and not available for interviews at this time,” T.J. replied. “I’m going to have to ask you to leave.”

“I’m not going anywhere. She’s also an old friend of mine.”

“Well, if you want to get technical here, she’s my girlfriend, so back off.”

“Both of you, knock it off!” I said. “I’m not in the mood to see two men preening like a couple of dogs in heat. Jake Mathias, this is Deputy T.J. Reynolds. Jake is the person Dale hired to help me run the newspaper.”

The two men shook hands, eyeing each other suspiciously. “I’ve seen you somewhere before,” Jake said. “At a press conference a couple of years ago in D.C., wasn’t it?”

“I’ve never been to D.C.,” T.J. said.

“Oh really?My mistake. But I never forget a face.”

“Maybe you need to buy some glasses,” T.J. replied.

“So you’re dating Lizzie? I almost married her once.”

“Really?” T.J. said, looking at me.

“Well, actually, the day I planned to propose, she skipped town.” Owen, thankfully, called for T.J. at that moment, and he walked away. “I’d swear I’ve seen him somewhere before. I just can’t remember where.”

“I’m sure you’ll figure it out,” I said wearily.

“You’re actually dating Deputy Dawg?”

“It’s none of your business if I am or not, Jake.”

  “You’re right, it’s not,” he conceded. “I don’t want to get into an argument with you right now, Lizzie. But at some point, we are going to have to talk about things.”

“Ok ma’am,” one of the paramedics said, “let’s get you to the hospital.”

Jake moved out of the way as I climbed inside the ambulance. “Let me know if you need anything, Lizzie.”

“See if you can salvage anything out of my car,” I said as the doors closed.

It was a short ride to the hospital, but I felt every single bump along the way. Maybe I should tell the city council to fix their crappy roads instead of going out of town on retreats.

Unfortunately, my torture did not end at the ambulance bay. As they wheeled me in, I could hear my mother’s voice coming from the waiting room. There was no way I could deal with her right now. When Ginger Rodgers, the nurse, came into the room, I begged her to keep my mother out of my room. “She’s going to be pretty upset if I do,” Ginger said.

“I don’t care,” I replied. “Tell her you’re busy running tests on me, drawing blood, whatever. I just don’t want to see her right now.”

“What about Trixie? She’s out there, too.”

I groaned. If they let Trixie in, but not my mother, I would never hear the end of it. “Fine, let them both in here together.”

Two minutes later, my mother came rushing into the room, with Trixie close behind. “Have you been sticking your nose into another police investigation, Elizabeth?”

“No, Mother, I have not,” I said. “I was trying to help someone who was in trouble, and their truck blew up.”

“That’s ridiculous,” she scoffed. “A truck doesn’t just blow up. I think you must have hit your head on something. You’re talking nonsense.”

“You’re right, Mother. I tied Agent Hopkins to a tree, then hit myself in the arm and head because I was bored.”

“Now you’re just being sarcastic,” she said.

“And you’re being a bit annoying,” I told her.

“Is that any way to talk to your mother? It’s one thing to talk to Gladys Norwell that way, but don’t you dare do that to me, young lady! And I know about you pouring tea on her, too. What has gotten into you?”

“Actually, Mrs. Crenshaw,” Trixie interrupted, “Owen said that there was an explosion. Lizzie was trying to save someone else, a federal agent to be exact, and that’s how she got hurt. I think she’s just a little irritated because she’s in pain. Perhaps we should just be supportive and not critical right now.”

“You’re right, Trixie,” Mother said, patting her on the arm. “I’m sorry, sweetie. I just hate seeing you like this. I shouldn’t have come in here acting that way. What can I do for you?”

“Nothing really, Mother. They’ll take me back to x-ray soon. Why don’t you go get some coffee in the cafeteria? I’m going to be here a while.”

“Are you sure?” I nodded. “Alright, but you have them page me as soon as you are done in x-ray.”

“Yes ma’am, I will.”

“How are you doing really?” Trixie said after Mother left.

“If there was a reset button for my life, I would hit it and start this whole day over.”

“Can’t blame you there,” she said, pulling a chair closer to the bed.

“I don’t know how I’m going to tell her there’s nothing left of her car.”

“Ouch. Kiss your Mini Cooper goodbye.”

“Jake and T.J. have met each other.”

“You’re kidding!”

I shook my head. “Jake showed up at the scene. The two of them acted like a couple of kids fighting over a toy on the playground. I’m sure T.J. is going to have a lot of questions for me.”

 “Don’t worry about it. Let’s take care of you right now. Do you want me to go to your house and get you some clean clothes?”

I looked down at what I had on. “I think I’ll be ok. How did you find out?”

“Like I told your mother, Owen called. He thought you might need a friend right now.”

“Very unusual for him, but he is right. Thanks for coming down here.”

There was a knock at the door, and Dr. T stuck his head into the room. “Good afternoon, ladies. I understand you’ve had a little accident, Lizzie.”

“If you call an exploding truck a little accident, Doc, I would hate to see what you call a major one,” Trixie laughed.

“Oh, a paper cut is a major accident, didn’t you know that?” he replied. Taking the splint off, he winced. “Lizzie, you definitely have a broken arm. I’ll arrange to get you down to x-ray right away. After I take a look at them, we’ll set it. The nurse will be in later to clean up those cuts. I have to warn you, it’s going to sting a bit when she does.”

“Thanks for the warning. How is Agent Hopkins?”

“They’re prepping him for surgery,” Dr. T replied. “The metal piece in his arm nicked some muscle and a vein. The surgeon should be able to repair the damage. Hopefully, he won’t lose any function in the arm, but we’ll just have to wait and see how extensive the damage is.”

A few minutes later, they wheeled me down to x-ray. I’ll spare you the gory details, but suffice it to say, there was plenty of screaming and cursing involved. More of the same behavior followed when the nurse cleaned my cuts, and when Dr. T set my arm. Thank God for the painkillers they finally gave me.

Trixie had somehow convinced my mother to go home, assuring her that I would get home in one piece. I was waiting for someone to bring me the discharge papers, when I heard the door open and close. I opened my eyes to see Debra standing in front of me. “What are you doing here?”

“Don’t worry, I’m just here to make sure you’re ok,” she said. “I didn’t think it was going to be you that found Hopkins.”

“Who did you think was going to find him, the Easter Bunny?”

“Owen…or your boyfriend.”

“T.J.? I don’t understand.”

“I don’t have time to explain right now. Don’t trust them, Lizzie.” She left before I could say anything.

I felt like my life was being been ripped apart.

I wanted to disappear.

Tahiti, anyone?

Chapter Nine

The orderly finally wheeled me to the entrance, but instead of seeing Trixie, I saw Jake standing by a Porsche Cayenne. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m your ride home.”

“No, seriously. Where’s Trixie?”

“I told her I would be happy to drive you home, and she agreed. She muttered something about being out of your mind to walk away from that. I take it you’ve told her about our history?”

“She’s my best friend. Of course she knows.”

“I see.”

“Fancy wheels for a newspaper man.”

“Well, if you’ve got the money to spend, might as well spend it on something nice.”

“Nice to see your family’s money is being put to good use.”

He opened the door and helped me in. “I’m afraid your car is a total loss,” he said as we left the hospital. “I found your purse, but I’m not sure there is much left to salvage. Your phone is toast.”

“Two cars in one day,” I groaned.

“Excuse me?”

“It wasn’t my car, it was my mother’s. She’s been driving my car around and won’t give it back. After this, I’ll never see it again.”

“I see. The sheriff said he was going to have your car towed to Hank’s Garage. He said you knew where that was.”

“Unfortunately, I do.” I leaned back and closed my eyes.

“Your friend said she would bring you something to eat later. The doctor sent home some painkillers that should get you through the day, and a prescription that needs to be filled. Do you want me to take care of that now or take you home first?”

“Home,” I said. “I don’t even know what time it is.”

“It’s almost four p.m.”

We drove by the crime scene in silence. The truck and my car were still there, but I didn’t see T.J. anywhere. “How do you know where I live, anyway?”

“A little slow on the uptake, aren’t you?” Jake chuckled. “I wondered how long it was going to take you to ask me that. I drove around town this morning before I came to the office. I wanted to see where you lived.”

“Sounds a bit stalkerish, Jake,” I pointed out as he pulled in behind the truck.

 “Yeah, maybe a little, but I look at it as a smart business move. If I need to discuss something with you, I can just come by.”

“Or you can call me on the phone.”

“Good point, but I prefer to do business face to face,” he said, helping me out of the car.  “Why do you have a truck that looks like a thirty-one flavors reject parked in your driveway?”

“It belonged to my grandfather and I had nothing to do with the color. I tried to get the local mechanic to paint it purple, but it came back the same color.”

“That is just wrong in so many ways,” he said, shaking his head. “It would be more merciful to take it to the dump and shoot it.”

“We have a more pressing problem besides the ugly color of that truck. I can’t get into the house. My keys are in the car.”

“Is there a window that might be unlocked?” I shook my head. “Well, we’ll just have to break in and call someone to fix the window.”

“No, don’t do that,” I said. “I have a spare key.”

“Where is it?”

“I have it,” T.J. said, coming up behind us.

“How did you know I was here?”

“Trixie called and said that Mr. Mathias was driving you home. I knew you would need your spare, so here I am,” he said, unlocking the door.”

“How convenient,” Jake said. “You never gave me a spare key.”

“I lived in the dorms in college. I couldn’t give you one.”

“Good point.”

T.J. put his hand on my left elbow and steered me inside. “Thank you again for giving her a ride home, Mr. Mathias. I’m sure she appreciates the gesture.”

“I promised her friend I would stay until she brought Lizzie’s dinner,” Jake said, coming in after us.

“Well, now that I’m here, you can leave.”

“Don’t you have work to do? I’m sure they need your valuable expertise at the crime scene.”

“Don’t you have a story to file?”

“Not until I talk to the only witness that is coherent enough to answer my questions.”

“Get out.” They both turned and looked at me. “I mean it. Get out, both of you. I don’t need help from either one of you. My blood pressure is going through the roof, and this day has been bad enough without standing here listening to the two of you bicker like idiots.”

Trixie pulled up as the two of them drove off. “Wow, what did I miss?”

“Nothing,” I said as I closed the front door. I followed her into the kitchen, opened the back door, and let Babe in before sitting down at the table. “You aren’t going to believe who showed up in my room.”

“Jake.”

“No, he was waiting for me outside, no thanks to you. My crazy aunt made an appearance.”

“She actually showed up in your room? What did she say?”

“That she didn’t mean for me to get hurt. She thought T.J. or Owen would be the one to find him.”

“Why?”

I shook my head. “I don’t know, but she told me not to trust them.”

“Why?”

“No clue.”

“That’s odd.”

“Tell me about it.”

“Maddie sent a cheeseburger, fries, and a whole pecan pie. She said to let her know if you need anything else.”

“That was nice of her.”

“She said you earned it after dousing Gladys. Apparently you put on quite a show this morning.”

“She deserved it.”

We ate in silence for a few minutes. “What’s bugging you?” Trixie said.

“I was just thinking about something Gladys said this morning,” I replied, giving Babe a fry. “She said she saw Hopkins meeting someone at a restaurant in Red Oak yesterday. She said whoever it was had on a brown sheriff’s uniform with a Brookdale shoulder patch.”

“Weird.”

“She said whoever it was handed Hopkins an envelope, but she couldn’t tell what it was, or she would have told me.”

“It could be totally innocent. Maybe they were just doing some last minute paperwork on the case.”