Chapter 4
Pearl could hear the dispatcher still talking, and she kept answering the same question over and over, saying yes, he was still breathing, but when she finally began to hear the distant sound of sirens coming from both directions, she knew help was actually on the way.
The chopper would be coming by air, so the sirens had to be the law.
She didn’t know how much time had passed, but Jacob hadn’t twitched a muscle, and she was scared to death he was going to die.
Her arms were trembling from the pressure she was exerting.
Her fingers were aching. She’d already replaced the blood-soaked pad with a fresh one and was almost as bloody as him.
“Hang on, Jacob. I hear sirens. Help is on the way. Don’t give up. Stay with me. You can have free lunch forever if you promise you won’t die.”
She was angry this had happened, and fiercely determined this wasn’t going to be the way he died. She kept thinking of his sons. What they would think. How they would feel, having their father murdered, to add to their mother’s suicide.
The sirens were a steady scream now, and then they were in the parking lot, red and blue lights flashing, and right behind them, two cruisers from the Briscoe County Sheriff’s office.
She could hear shouting, and then patrol cars moving out onto the highway, blocking off both lanes of traffic coming and going to make a landing spot for the inbound chopper.
“It’s happening, Jacob! They’re here! The LIFESTAR chopper is arriving. I can hear it now. Hang on. Hang on.”
Moments later, she heard footsteps on the porch and then people coming inside on the run.
“Here! Behind the bar!” she shouted, and looked up just as Sheriff Reddick appeared.
He grimaced at the sight of them, both covered in blood. “Oh my God, Pearl. What happened?”
“I was asleep at the Rose when I heard a gunshot. I bailed out of bed and ran to the window just as a black truck turned off the highway and made a U-turn in the Tumbleweed parking lot like all the locals do, and then it drove back into town. But moments later, an older model white sports car suddenly shot out of the parking lot, spinning out in the gravel, and headed west, too. I tried to call Jacob, and when I didn’t get an answer, I came running. ”
He saw the shotgun on the floor beside her.
“Is that your shotgun?”
“Yes, I brought it with me from the Rose.”
Reddick glanced up. “The chopper is landing. Be right back.”
After that, everything became a blur.
Pearl was moved out of the way as paramedics began to work on Jacob, but time was not on their side. They stayed long enough to get an IV started, then began moving him away. There was no time to try and stabilize him first. He was already too close to death.
Pearl was sitting out on the steps of the Tumbleweed when they loaded him into the chopper. After their presence was no longer needed, the highway patrol cars departed, leaving the witness and the crime scene to the sheriff’s office.
Between the sirens and the inbound chopper, and the crime scene tape being rolled out, the entire town of Crossroads was now aware that something dire had happened.
When word began to spread that Jacob Kingston had been shot, and Pearl had been the one to find him, it was inevitable that someone would call the Sunset Ranch to notify Magnolia.
They didn’t know she and Sonny were already on the way.
Nora Borden had heard the sirens and was already out on her porch when she saw the inbound chopper.
She grabbed her coat and started running, cutting through the alleys to get to the Yellow Rose, only to find it locked up and dark.
Then she saw all the police vehicles at the bar and thought, Jacob!
and took off running again, but this time down the side of the highway.
The first person she saw was Pearl, sitting on the porch with a shotgun beside her, and the chopper lifting off and turning northbound.
“What happened? What happened?” Nora cried as she ran up to where Pearl was sitting. She was wrapped in a blanket one of the paramedics had put around her, shaking both from the shock and the cold.
“Somebody broke into the bar and shot Jacob. I don’t know if he’s going to make it,” Pearl said.
Nora’s first thoughts were for Asher and his brothers. “Oh, my God. Oh honey,” she said, then scooted down beside her, wrapped her in her arms and pulled her close.
Moments later, a big red truck turned off the highway and pulled up in the parking lot. When Pearl saw Maggie and Sonny running toward her, she started crying.
Nora looked up. “Who are they?”
“My girl, Magnolia, and her husband, Sonny.”
Nora’s eyes widened as she recognized their faces. “As in Magnolia Brennen the famous artist, and the bull rider Sonny Bluejacket?”
Pearl nodded. “She’s not my blood, but she’s my girl.”
The moment they got to Pearl, Nora stood. “None of the blood is hers,” she said, and stepped aside.
Maggie was crying as she held her. Sonny had embraced them both, but he was looking over their heads at Nora. Their gazes locked, and then Nora heard him speak. “You came home to grief, but it will pass. Someone has come to you with love, and it will be good.”
Nora’s eyes widened, but she couldn’t find the words, and then Maggie reached for Nora’s hand.
“You’re Nora. Pearl said you were coming home. I’m so sorry about your father,” Maggie said. “I used to wait on him when I worked at the Rose. His name was Tom, right?”
The moment Maggie touched her, Sonny turned away, and just like that, the moment was gone.
“Yes, I’m Nora. I just got home a few days ago.
I heard the sirens, saw the chopper, and it was so close to the Yellow Rose I thought something had happened there, but when I realized it was farther down the block, I panicked all over again.
Jacob is an old and dear friend, and I grew up with Asher, his oldest son.
If he lives, it will be all due to Pearl’s quick actions.
” She hunched her shoulders against the wind.
“Pearl, honey, now that your family is here, I’ll be going home. ”
Before Sonny could offer her a ride, she started walking up the highway. Within a few steps, she was running, then took a shortcut through another alley and ran all the way home.
The moment she was safely inside, she began to shake. The horror of this night wasn’t going to fade any time soon, and she wasn’t going to be the one to call Asher. He needed to hear it from the authorities. They would have answers to the questions he would ask. All she had was bad news.
* * *
The chopper reached Northwest Texas Hospital less than fifteen minutes after takeoff from the bar. They landed on the heliport, unloaded Jacob, and rushed him straight to the ER.
Immediately, nurses began cutting off his clothes as a doctor was assessing his vitals. A nurse found a medical information card in his wallet denoting his blood type and listing no allergies. They began an emergency transfusion of whole blood and sent him straight to surgery.
* * *
It was 3:00 a.m. in Austin, Texas.
Life and death were still happening.
Sirens blared.
Horns honked.
It was the lullaby Asher Kingston took to bed, and the song he woke up to each morning. So, when his phone began to ring, he woke abruptly. Thinking it was probably work related, he rolled over and picked it up, then sat up on the side of the bed to answer.
“This is Kingston.”
“Asher, this is Sheriff Reddick from the Briscoe County Sheriff’s office.
I’m calling to let you know that someone broke into your father’s bar just after closing and shot him.
He was unconscious when found, and he was still alive when the chopper left with him, but he’s in bad shape.
A lot of blood loss. He was taken to Northwest Texas Hospital in Amarillo.
I just spoke to people at the hospital. He was still alive when they took him into surgery. ”
Shock, followed by an overwhelming fear, took Ash’s breath, and then he swallowed past the sudden lump in his throat.
“Oh my God. Do you have any leads? Any suspicions?”
“Right now, not a clue as to who, but we have one witness who saw a car leaving the parking lot moments after the gunshot. That’s all, and there’s nothing solid to go on yet, but we’re still processing the crime scene.
The weird thing is that nothing was stolen.
Money still in the till. Jacob’s wallet and money still on him. ”
Ash frowned. “Just a thought. After Pete Brandt died and our family became news all over again, my brothers and I actually discussed the possibility of some kind of ramifications. We didn’t expect this, but I wouldn’t rule it out.
Anyway, thank you for letting me know. I’ll call Dylan and Gunner.
We will be heading to the hospital, ASAP. ”
“Understood,” Reddick said.
Asher immediately disconnected, then called the hangar where he kept his chopper. He left orders for it to be checked out and fueled up, and that he would be at the hangar by sunrise.
Then he called Dylan.
* * *
When Dylan Kingston’s cell phone began to ring, he thought he was dreaming it until Angie gave him a nudge.
“Dylan… Honey… Wake up.”
He jerked, groaned. “Sorry. I thought I was dreaming it.”
The first thing he did was look at the time as he reached to answer. It was just after 4:00 a.m., and Ash’s name was on Caller ID. This couldn’t be good news.
“What’s wrong?” Dylan said.
Asher unloaded the info as abruptly as Dylan had answered the phone.
“Dad’s been shot. It happened just after midnight after he closed the bar.
He was airlifted to a hospital in Amarillo.
He lost a lot of blood. Sheriff Reddick said he’s in bad shape.
I’ve already contacted the hangar. They’re getting the chopper ready.
Just in case, pack enough clothes for a prolonged stay. ”