Chapter 6 #3
Coming home to Crossroads felt like a pilgrimage. She had needed this. To remind herself that she would never be a stranger here. That she was safe here. And Asher was the promise of all things better.
By the time she finally put the fires out at work, and had answered all of the emails, she was mentally and physically exhausted and still needed to eat something.
But it was late, and cooking after 10:00 p.m. wasn’t happening.
So, she fell back on a childhood favorite, heated a can of chicken noodle soup, and opened a sleeve of crackers and sat down at the table to eat.
The house was silent, but the ever-present west Texas wind was not.
It was whistling around the corners of the house like the big bad wolf from the childhood story, huffing and puffing, trying to blow it all down.
She could have turned on the TV while she ate, but she didn’t have the energy left to get up and do it.
When she finished, she took the dishes to the sink, rinsed them and put them in the dishwasher with the other dishes waiting to be washed, dropped a packet of soap into the dispenser, and started it up.
She was just about to turn around when she got a whiff of her mother’s perfume. She stilled, took a deep breath and closed her eyes, accepting the visit as the gift that was being given.
“Oh, Mama… I want to open my eyes and turn around and see you, but I know that’s not going to happen.
I miss you and Daddy so much, but I’m okay.
I promise. You know what’s going on. If you have any sway with the angels, tell them that Jacob Kingston’s sons need him to wake up.
” Moments later, the scent faded, and Nora knew she was gone.
With feet dragging, she left the kitchen, turning out lights as she went, finally headed to bed. The thought of a long soak in a hot bath was enticing, but then her phone rang. When she saw Asher’s name pop up, she sat down on the side of her bed to answer.
“Hey, you.”
Asher smiled. Nora had always answered his phone calls this way.
“Hey, sweet lady. We just got back to the hotel. Hope I didn’t wake you.”
“No, but you did interrupt a date I have with a long soak in a hot bath. I worked through a backlog of work after I got home. How’s your dad?”
“Lord, thanks for planting that thought in my head. You in a tub of bubbles is an image to sleep on. As for Dad, he’s sort of conscious, and sort of not, and for brief periods of time.
We’re hoping to get some answers tomorrow.
Once we do, we’ll be headed to Crossroads.
The forensics team is through at the crime scene, so we’re free to resume residence. ”
“I know you and Gunner are going to begin investigating, but I’m hoping for a few fly bys while you’re here. The grown-up version of you is still a little intimidating. I think I just need a little acclimatizing.”
He laughed, and the sound filled every sad, empty place within her.
“I’m not a storm front, darlin’. Just a bigger, older version of me.”
“I was just teasing a little. I always felt safe with you. I still do. But it’s almost like starting over, isn’t it?”
“Not starting over, honey. We just needed a jump start to get us back on track and we’re already good to go. Now, you go run that bath and relax. We’ll talk tomorrow, okay?”
“Okay. And Ash… I’m glad you called. I needed to hear your voice.”
He heard the loneliness in her words, and it broke his heart.
“I love you, Nora. I promise. We’re not lost anymore.”
“Lost isn’t always geographical, Ash. Sometimes people just lose themselves.”
The call ended.
Nora held the phone against her ear for a few seconds more, reluctant to give up the connection, then laid it on the bed and began stripping off her clothes.
Asher sat with the phone in his hand, staring down at the floor and listening to the sounds of his brothers’ voices, while knowing he was too many miles away to comfort her.
* * *
Everett and Freddie Brandt were still holed up in their Amarillo apartment, watching every newscast, praying there would be some mention of Kingston’s death.
Everett was pissed. Kingston needed to be dead.
He should have been dead. He still didn’t understand how he’d survived.
He would have bled out in minutes. How was he found that fast?
What were they missing? There weren’t any vehicles nearby.
The residential part of Crossroads was well off the highway that fronted it, and the weather was damn cold. Windows would have been closed.
Freddie was asleep in the other room, and they were out of beer and nearly out of food. Everett’s disability check was by direct deposit, and it was due to show up in his account by tomorrow. They had to get out and get groceries. Maybe show up at a pool hall and drink a beer. Maybe play some pool.
As soon as the late-night news was over without so much as a mention about the shooting in the Tumbleweed Bar, Everett turned off the TV and went to his room.
Ignoring the ashtray full of cigarette butts and a trashcan full of empty beer cans, he shoved the dirty clothes off his bed and stretched out on his belly on top of the covers.
He heard what sounded like the lid of a trashcan hitting the pavement. Or maybe it was a hubcap. Damn wind. In this part of the state, if it wasn’t tied down, then it was rolling, like the ever-present tumbleweeds.
He rolled over onto his side, grabbed what he thought were the covers, and pulled them up around his neck. The wind was just a lullaby he’d heard all his life. He fell asleep within minutes, covered with what was left of his SpongeBob sleeping bag from childhood.
* * *
Jacob Kingston had been hearing something beep for a while now.
It sounded like the same beep the refrigerator made when someone left the door open too long.
He kept trying to wake up enough to get out of bed and go shut it before everything spoiled.
He tried to call out for his boys. It was probably one of them that had left the door ajar.
He was saying their names in his head, but they didn’t answer, and the door was still beeping as he slipped away into the shadows again.
* * *
It was just before sunrise. The nurses were changing shifts. The night nurses had checked out and were going home, and the day nurses were starting their day as always by checking the vitals on every patient.
The nurse at Jacob Kingston’s bedside had just replaced a bag on his IV drip, and was checking the dosage when she heard him groan.
It was the first audible sound he’d made since his arrival.
And when she saw his pulse rate rising, and his eyelids fluttering, she quickly alerted the nurses’ station.
* * *
Asher had just finished shaving and showering and was already half dressed when his cell phone rang. When he saw the name pop up on Caller ID, his heart skipped. And then he grabbed it.
“Hello, this is Asher.”
“Mr. Kingston, your father is waking up. He keeps asking for his boys.”
“Thank you! We’ll be there soon,” he said, and then glanced at the time as he headed for Dylan’s room. It was just after 6:00 a.m. when he knocked on Dylan’s door, then walked inside. When he heard the shower running, he loped across the room and flung the bathroom door open.
“Dylan! Dad’s awake and asking for us. Get dressed!” and then ran back through his room and knocked on Gunner’s door, then walked in.
Gunner was already dressed and working at his laptop when Asher burst in.
“What?”
“Dad’s awake and asking for us,” Asher said.
“Hot damn,” Gunner said, logged out of his laptop, and put it in his messenger bag.
Within minutes, they were out of the hotel and hurrying toward the SUV.
“Crap, it’s cold,” Gunner said as he got into the driver’s seat.
“I’ll take the back seat,” Dylan said, leaving the passenger seat for Asher.
They buckled up and sped out of the parking lot.
“Will they let us visit Dad even though it’s not visitation time?” Gunner asked.
“I doubt they would have called us if they weren’t going to let us in,” Asher said. “Besides, I know there’s a notation in his chart that law enforcement will be notified as soon as he’s able to talk, and we’re law enforcement.”
“If they won’t let all of us in, then you and Gunner have to go,” Dylan said. “You’re the cops. You need to hear whatever he has to say firsthand.”
“We’re in this together. Just because Gunner and I have the authority to act on information, doesn’t mean your input doesn’t matter. We discuss everything with each other, okay?”
“Yes, okay,” Dylan said.
Gunner pulled into the hospital parking lot, parked as close as he could get to the entrance, and then they grabbed the bags with their laptops and took off running.
* * *
Jacob knew his sons were coming. A nurse said they were on the way.
His eyes were closed, but he was conscious of every sound around him.
He could easily slip back into the oblivion his pain meds offered, but he was waiting.
There were things he needed to tell them, and he didn’t know if he was going to survive this.
Then all of a sudden, he heard footsteps. Not the soft-soled shoes the nurses wore, but the long stride of boot-shod men. Tears welled. His sons were here.
“Dad, it’s me, Asher. Gunner and Dylan are here, too. Can you hear us?”
Jacob opened his eyes, blinking through tears. His voice was weak, but his grip on Asher’s arm was not.
“I drift in and out. I need to tell you. Two men. It was dark. One behind…took me down. You should have sold the bar, he said. I kicked him off, and other one shot me.”
Gunner frowned. “Should have sold the bar? What does that mean? Did you have it up for sale?”
Jacob shook his head slightly, closing his eyes briefly to gather his strength.
“Two men in the bar…a week ago. Didn’t know them. Asked if it was for sale. I said no.”
Gunner was taking notes of everything Jacob said, and Dylan was recording the audio on his phone.
“Did they give you names?” Asher asked.
Jacob blinked and slowly nodded. “Joe and Darren Wilson. Fake for sure.”
“What did they look like?” Asher asked.
Jacob was sliding backward fast. Their faces were fading. “One tall and thin. Red hair. One big blond. When I said not for sale, they left.”
“That day, did you see what they were driving?” Asher asked.
Jacob’s eyes closed. His voice was softer, growing weaker. “Car. Not a truck. Maybe white. Why am I still alive? Did they rob me?”
“No robbery. Pearl Fallon heard the shot. She tried to call you. Thought you had been robbed. When you didn’t answer, she took herself and that famous shotgun of hers and took off running toward the bar.
She saved your life,” Asher said. “Dad… We’re going to go home.
We need to see the scene of the crime. We aren’t leaving you.
We’re just going to find out who did this. ”
“Yes… Knew you would. Pearl… My God. Should have married her instead of Brenda…” and then he was out.