Chapter 28
28
Belinda emerged from the bathroom the following day, a nurse by her side for support. She was surprisingly steady on her feet despite the painkillers in her system, but the nurses insisted someone accompany her whenever she was out of bed.
When she woke this morning, she had the strangest sensation that she hadn’t slept alone. In her dreams, she had been enveloped by Aaron’s arms. That was in my dreams, right?
Eschewing the bed, she settled in the recliner where her breakfast awaited on a nearby rolling tray. Either the hospital cuisine had improved or she was really hungry, finding it pleasantly tasty. She hadn’t had much to eat since the wedding, and then being in and out of consciousness yesterday. Digging into scrambled eggs, toast, fresh fruit, and yogurt, she was grateful for the cup of coffee, even though it wasn’t nearly as good as Bess’s brew.
As though she’d conjured up her sister from her thoughts, Bess breezed into the room with a smile. As soon as Belinda saw Bess holding a travel cup with a familiar bakery logo on the side and the familiar scent of her favorite brew wafting toward her, she reached out with her right hand and wiggled her fingers. “Gimme, gimme!”
Bess laughed and teased, “Aren’t you going to greet me first?”
“Beautiful sister of mine, hello, and I love you. Now gimme the coffee!”
Still laughing, Bess leaned over to kiss Beinda and offer a little hug before handing her the coffee. “It should be cool by now, so you won’t burn yourself.”
After taking a sip, she looked up and said, “Why aren’t you at the bakery?” She knew that for a small business, if it wasn’t open, Bess wouldn’t make any money.
“Don’t worry, I was there early this morning. I got the baking finished and have all the employees in. Lottie knows how to make the basic recipes, so she’s in the back. Andrea and Carlotta are handling the front. They’ll be fine and said they will work every day until I get back into a schedule.”
“But you must be exhausted!”
“Look who’s talking! I wasn’t the one who was shot!” As soon as the words left her mouth, she winced. “God, that was insensitive.”
“No, honey, it really wasn’t. Don’t worry about that. I don’t remember getting shot, anyway.” Cocking her head to the side, she said, “But how are you able to go in this morning after getting no sleep.”
“I went home last night once Aaron got here, so I got to sleep.”
“Oh, I thought I’d dreamed that he was here.”
Bess laughed again and shook her head. “It wasn’t a dream, Sis.” She shrugged, still laughing. “Or maybe, in your case, it was a dream come true.”
Belinda took another sip of coffee and shifted to a more comfortable position. Smiling at Bess, she inclined her head toward the small sofa. “I think they’re going to discharge me today.”
“How do you feel about that?”
“I hate being in the hospital, yet I’m a little nervous. I’m still on some pretty heavy pain meds, as well as antibiotics. I suppose I’ll mostly just sleep, eat, and go to the bathroom for the next several days, so I should be able to handle that.”
“Well, you’re not going to be alone.” Bess must’ve seen Belinda’s raised eyebrow because she continued. “Hayley is going to spend time with you because she can work easily anywhere as long as she has her laptop. Ivy will also be with you when she gets off work. I think Carrie Hudson and Belle Simmons are organizing some of the auxiliary women to help keep an eye on you and keep you fed. And, of course, I’ll be downstairs during the day and right next door at night!”
Overcome with emotion, Belinda’s face scrunched up as tears dripped down her cheeks. Bess leaped from her seat and knelt close to her, wrapping her arms around her.
“Oh, sis, please don’t cry.”
She still couldn’t move her left arm with it splinted close to her body, but she held her sister tight with her right arm. “I’m sorry. Everything is just overwhelming.”
They hugged for a long moment and then separated, still holding each other close but staring into each other’s eyes. Finally smiling, they soon were laughing. It was a habit they’d perfected since childhood—hold close when upset, then separate, smile, and then finally laugh.
“I can’t believe we were able to convince Mom and Dad to stay in Florida,” Belinda said. “I would’ve felt so guilty if they left Grandma right now.”
“Well, I promised them you’d have lots of people taking care of you, including your new detective boyfriend.”
“What did she say? I haven’t even had time to tell her.”
“Well, Mom asked who your boyfriend was, and I told her it was Aaron. Of course, she remembers him from last year… and not too fondly.”
“Oh, good grief! It’s not like we were engaged, and he broke up with me. It’s not like my heart was shattered. It just wasn’t the right time for us. I admit, my feelings were hurt, but we’ve moved past that.”
“That’s what I told Mom.”
“So you’ve joined team Aaron?” Belinda asked with a lifted brow and a smirk playing on her lips.
Bess rolled her eyes. “I never hated him. I just hated that my big sister was hurt.” After a few more minutes of chatting, Bess stood and stretched her arms over her head. “I know the doctor will come back in, and if all is well, he’ll release you this afternoon. Aaron is going to come over and take you home. I’m going to head to the bakery, make sure the closing goes well, and deposit the money into the bank. I’ll also make sure your place is ready for you.”
Bess helped her settle back into bed, where more pain meds were administered and made her sleepy. Realizing the coffee Bess had brought was decaffeinated, she chuckled at her sister's foresight before falling asleep.
Aaron walked over to the double desk station, where Hunter and Brad settled into the chairs. “What have you got?”
“In case it was targeted, we looked at your recent cases. Since you’ve been a detective less than a year, there aren’t as many to consider, but we had a couple of deputies checking into any cases you were involved in beforehand. There’s no one recently out of jail, and no one that we came across that should have had a vendetta against you,” Hunter said.
“I checked on your ex—Cilla Henderson. She’s moved on, man. Got some guy’s ring on her finger.” Brad ducked his head and hid a grin.
“Come on… give it to me,” Aaron said, rolling his eyes.
“She said that she’s sorry your girlfriend got injured, but if you thought she had anything to do with it, your head was bigger than your ego.”
“Ouch.” Hunter chuckled, not bothering to hide his mirth.
“Yeah, I figured as much. But honest to God, I’m not in the habit of pissing people off… certainly not enough to shoot at me.” He scrubbed his hand over his face. “So… not aimed at me? We’re thinking random?”
“Or aimed at someone else,” Colt said, walking over to the group with Sam following. “With that many law enforcement officers in the group, it could have been aimed at someone else.”
Aaron knew his face appeared ravaged from the events of the past days, but Colt’s face held deep lines that exposed his anger and the pressure he felt at wanting to make sure the residents of his county were safe from someone firing into a gathering. The local newspaper was already reporting on the event and wanted to know what the sheriff’s department was doing. Colt had already met with the county’s board of supervisors to update them.
Colt’s phone rang, and he looked at the caller ID before saying, “It’s Ryan.” Connecting, he skipped the greeting. “What have you got?” He listened, his gaze down toward his feet, and Aaron exchanged glances with the others.
“Have you got him now? I’ll get a deputy to escort you to the interview area.” Disconnecting, he said, “Ryan and Andy are bringing in George Haskins and his wife. Seems they have some information for us. His wife, Mable, called the VMP this morning to go out and find George, who was out on the water after having had too much to drink last night. Andy brought him home, and then Mable told them what George had been saying the night before. It seems he may have information about the shooter.”
The air seemed sucked from the room with the collective gasps. Aaron took to his feet, his gaze shooting to Colt, who was already holding his hand up.
“Only from the viewing window,” Colt said. “Can’t have you in the interview room.” Colt then looked at Hunter and Brad. “You two get ready.”
Aaron didn’t care that he would be behind the two-way mirror. He just wanted to get firsthand information. Soon, Ryan and Andy came into the station, escorting a middle-aged couple. George was known as a local fisherman who drank more than he worked, much to the chagrin of his long-suffering wife.
Hunter and Brad introduced themselves and took the couple into the interview room while Sam, Aaron, Andy, and Colt filled the room on the other side, looking on.
After completing the preliminaries, Hunter looked at Mable and said, “You called the Virginia Marine Police early this morning. What was going on?”
Mable’s lips were pressed tightly together. “George had been drinking… not like that’s anything new. But he was talking nonsense yesterday and just kept drinking more. Then I had to go to my shift at the Dollar Store, and he was passed out when I got home late. I woke up this morning, and he’d gone out on his boat. I knew he was drinking more and figured he would fall overboard. I had the morning news on while fixing coffee and couldn’t believe what I heard. What was on the news was what George had been mumbling about. So I called the marine police to go fetch him in. And then I told them what he’d been saying. Next thing I know, we’re being hauled here.”
Turning to George, Hunter said, “Okay, George, let’s hear it.”
George’s hands shook as he brought a paper cup of coffee to his lips, taking a large gulp. Even when he set the cup back onto the table and laid his forearms on the surface, his hands continued to shake. Mable grimaced, her lips once again pressed tightly into a frown. “Go on, George. You gotta make this right.”
George twisted to look at his wife, and Aaron witnessed an expression that caused the air to halt on its way into his lungs. George didn’t look at his wife as though she was an older woman with frizzy gray hair pulled back into a ponytail. He didn’t see the lines that prematurely aged her makeup-free face. He didn’t see the pale, gaunt face or the ways years of working and taking care of him and their kids had etched those hard memories into her being. As George stared at Mable, he saw his salvation, sure of her continued presence in his life, and his features relaxed as he nodded.
Turning to Hunter and Brad, he said, “I saw something, but I’d been… well, I’d been drinking earlier… like a fool, and now, here I am.”
Brad sighed as Hunter grunted. “Okay, George. Tell us what happened.”
“And don’t leave out one fucking detail,” Hunter added.
George’s eyes widened, but he nodded and swallowed deeply as his Adam's apple bobbed. “I went out on my boat the other afternoon?—”
“Exactly what day, George?” Hunter interrupted.
George screwed up his face, but as soon as Mabel huffed, he said, “It was two days ago.”
“You sure?”
George nodded, his expression anguished. “Yeah. ’Cause it was the day that woman got shot.”
At that point, Aaron felt his chest seize. He gripped the sill of the two-way mirror, and his body hummed with anxiety, waiting for George to get on with his story.
“Okay, keep going,” Brad ordered.
“I’d been fishing for a while. Well, fishing and drinking. It was getting sunset, and I’d ended up near the fancy restaurant just north of Baytown. You know the one? Blue and white on the outside. Took Mable one year for our anniversary.” George looked over at Mable. “Sorry, I never took you back.”
“Too much damn money for one meal,” she grumbled, her lips still pinched.
George nodded slowly, “Yeah.”
“Okay, let’s get back to the other night. You were in the water near the Sunset Restaurant. What time was this?”
George’s face screwed up in concentration, then he sighed heavily and rubbed his hand over his chin whiskers. “Well, I was tied up behind one of the breakers and fell asleep. Woke up, and it was dark, but there were lights outside. Looked over and figured it was a wedding or something going on. I knew Mable would be upset I’d been out so long, but I stayed where I was, just listening to the music.”
Mable jerked around and speared him with a glare.“Did you stay out in the bay listening to music instead of coming home? I knew you could be a fool, George Haskins, but you really proved it!”
George clamped his mouth shut, and his face sagged like a hound dog.
Aaron whispered, “They need to get her out of there for him to open.”
Colt shook his head slowly. “Believe it or not, even when she’s mad, she motivates him to talk.”
Sure enough, George continued. “I know. I should’ve headed home.”
Mable huffed. “Well, at least tell them the rest of what you saw!”
He nodded. “Just when I was getting ready to start my engine, another boat floated nearby. They didn’t seem to notice me, but I was curious as to why he came close to the shore after killing his engine. He sat behind the other breaker, in the dark, like me. I almost called out to him to see if he needed help.”
Hunter asked, “Only one person in the boat?”
George nodded. “Yeah, just the one man. He was hard to see because he was dressed in black and even had a black knit cap pulled down on his head.” George continued to nod, his eyes glazing over as he reminisced.
“Okay, keep going, George.”
“He had cut the engine and used oars to get closer to the shore, off to the side, away from the light coming from the wedding. He fiddled with something in the boat, and I thought he was getting ready to fish. He pulled out binoculars and sat in the boat for a while as he watched toward the shore. He then climbed out of the boat and was in about waist-deep water. He leaned over into the boat and lifted what I thought was the oar. Didn’t make no sense to me, but people can be strange.”
“And then?” Brad prodded.
George’s face twisted as though in pain as his hands began to shake almost violently. Mable reached over to grab his hands in hers. She whispered, “You’ve got this, George. You’re safe, and it’s going to be okay. But you got to tell them what happened.”
With one hand still clasped in hers, George grabbed the cup and took another long gulp of coffee. He nodded, then glanced at Mable and offered a wobbly smile.
He looked up at Hunter and Brad and continued. “He lifted the oar up, and I realized it was a rifle.” George’s whole body shook. “Then I realized someone was going to get hurt. I didn’t want him to know I was there, but I couldn’t let him just do what he was doing. I stayed down in the boat but started yelling.” His chest depressed. “I waited too long. He fired that rifle just as I hollered out, and I’m not embarrassed to tell you that I did piss myself. I could hear people on the shore screaming and shouting and all kinds of noise. I leaned up just enough to see what was happening, but he climbed back into his boat and started his motor. He stayed in the shadows and headed out into the bay while the people screaming probably kept anyone from hearing him.”
“Did you see his face?” Hunter asked, nearly rising from his chair.
“As he turned the boat, the lights on the shore lit his face. I only got a glimpse, but I saw him.”
“Go on,” Mable said. “Finish it.”
“Before he started his engine, I heard him say…” George swallowed deeply again, his whole body shaking. “He said, ‘I got her.’”
Once again, the air had been sucked from the room as Andy, Colt, and Sam gasped.
“Holy shit,” Sam growled. “He was after Belinda.”
Aaron’s numbness was soon replaced with red-hot rage.
“Why didn’t you say anything? Why didn’t you tell us before now?” Hunter growled, his anger showing.
“At first, all I could think of was to get out of there. The man headed south, and I headed north. I wanted to get as far away as I could from someone with a rifle! Then I got to thinking that maybe it was a dream. By the time I got home, I’d convinced myself it was a whiskey nightmare.”
“This would never stand up in court when we get the guy,” Sam groused.
“No, but it will help us know if we get the right guy, and we’ll have to make sure we have all the admissible evidence we can gather,” Colt said.
Aaron didn’t need to hear more and started out of the room, but Colt caught him by the arm. “We’ve got a deputy at the hospital. I’m ordering him to stand guard outside her room. He won’t go in to frighten her, but he can be outside and keep anyone out.”
While Hunter continued getting the rest of the details and a description from George, Brad stepped out of the room and moved to the others standing outside the interview room.
After Colt made his order to the hospital deputy, he looked at Aaron and said, “I know you want to get to Belinda, and you can. Once you get her home, let us know, and we’ll assign somebody to her apartment.”
Before he had a chance to move, one of the dispatcher assistants came racing back to the group, her eyes searching until they landed on Aaron. “We just got a 911 call in from Bess Crowder. She was trying to get ahold of you. She went back to make sure Belinda’s apartment was ready for her release from the hospital and found that it had been broken into?—”
“Goddamnit!” Aaron shouted, barely noticing that the same curse left Brad’s lips.
Sam was right on Aaron’s heels, and Brad was with them, too.
“Where is Bess now? Is she still there?” Brad bit out.
“We told her to get somewhere safe,” the assistant said.
“You get to the hospital, and I’ll get to the apartment and Bess,” Brad shouted as they raced into the parking lot. With sirens blaring, they headed out.