Chapter Eighteen
Honey woke up in the hospital, her mother next to her, sleeping in the chair. When she tried to lift her hand, she found it impossible. Her mother clutched it so tightly, she had to wake her up before she could retrieve it.
“Mo-m.”
Anita Bolder jumped, her focus immediately on Honey. “Oh, baby. You’re awake. I’m so glad. The doctor warned that you might be out of commission for a few hours, but it’s been more than that. I was terrified.”
“How long…?”
“How long have you been here?” Her painful nod kept her mom talking. “They brought you in first thing this morning. One of the men who live in your building goes to the bakery early. He found you and called the ambulance. They patched you up but were worried about the bruising on your head.”
When Honey lifted her hand, her mom patted it away. “It’s okay. They sent you for CT scans and seemed sure your wounds were mostly superficial.”
“Good. I’ll be fine.”
“No. You lost so much blood; they gave you a transfusion. It’s going to take some time for your injuries to heal.”
“Mel…”
“She wasn’t with you. I called her a little while ago. She’ll be here soon.”
“Mom don’t cry. I’m okay.”
“No, you’re not. Those bullies got to you, didn’t they? The police found your phone, and when I told them about the earlier trouble you had, after the school closed for the summer, they asked if they could go through your messages. Of course, I said yes. I’m glad you didn’t change your password. We saw the texts, Honey. My God, why didn’t you go directly to the police?”
“I did, Mom. They told me to change my phone number, remember.”
“So that’s why you did that. You said it was because you switched providers.”
“I didn’t want you to worry.” The more Honey talked, the stronger her voice became.
“Not worry? My God, girl. I almost died when they knocked at the door to say you’d been attacked.” Her stoic mom shared her anger in a voice trembling with dismay. “What’s this world coming to when a girl isn’t safe in her own front yard?”
Honey tried to sit up, and with the help of her mom, she settled back against the pillows.
“Shush, Mom. I’ll be fine. Now that those - those brats have it out of their systems, I’m sure they’ll let it go.”
“Brats? Don’t be so easy on them. They’re sick and need to be dealt with before they kill someone.”
“Hey, calm down. It’ll be fine now.”
“Not according to the last comment I saw. If I remember correctly, they accused you of almost blinding one of them and now they want revenge for that.” Anita covered her eyes, her hands shaking with grief. “Good Lord, Honey. It’s like Katrina all over again.”
Perking up when she heard her sister’s name coming from a woman who’d refused to mention her for years, Honey became abrupt. “What do you mean?”
“You know what I mean.”
“No, Mom, I don’t. Why is my getting beaten up anything like what happened to Katrina?”
“Well… because those men hounded her too. Until they killed her.”
“What? You never said anything before. How did they hound her?”
“I don’t like to talk about it.” Anita’s expression shut down.
“Please, Mom. I need to know. Tell me what happened.”
Her mom tried to turn away, but Honey held her arm and shook it. “Mom, please.”
“What do you want from me?”
“The truth.”
“Fine. Here’s the ugly truth. They sent her notes, and I found them in her room when I was cleaning. Oh, Honey, they were disgusting, the language and threats. I-I got so mad; I lost my mind and tore them up. But it was wrong of me. Later, we had no proof to show the police when they asked for evidence that she’d been harassed.”
“What did Katrina say when she found out what you’d done?”
Anita smiled… a distant memory appearing in her eyes. “Of course, you know Katrina. She didn’t get mad at me for my stupidity. She just told me not to worry. That she wouldn’t back down over that kind of nonsense from her students who after all were just teens. It would set a bad example.” Anita’s voice quivered. “Except, those boys weren’t kids any longer. They were near to being men.” The last words were torn from her choking throat before she covered her face.
Feeling the pain her mom suffered, Honey backed away and tried to comfort the woman. “Hey, it wasn’t men who beat me up, Mom. It was the same girls from my school that I accused in court. I recognized one’s voice when I sprayed her.”
“You did? I’ll call the police and let them know.” Anita made to rise.
Honey held her back, taking her hand. “No, Mom. Don’t bother. I thought they were going to detain them for that last crime but they’re loose again. I wish I knew what needs to happen to get law enforcement to do their jobs?”
Anita straightened up and wiped her face. “Honey Bolder, the police are the only recourse we have. We can’t go vigilante for heaven’s sake. I’ll make them listen this time. You just see if I don’t.”
Before Honey could reply, her hospital door burst open. Mel followed by a sheepish Jess appeared. “Honey, oh my God, are you okay? You look horrible.”
Honey had to laugh. Who other than Mel would be that dramatic and yet so blasted truthful while doing so? “I’m fine, Mel. I imagine I’m looking worse than I feel.” Unfortunately, her lie became obvious when Mel hugged her too tight and forced a loud groan. “Okay, maybe loosen the grip. There’s a few wounds I wasn’t aware I had until now.”
“You haven’t seen yourself yet, have you? Your eye is really swollen, so is your cheek. Christ, Honey, it’s like black, blue, and red. I always thought they overdid this kind of makeup on TV but now that I see you, I guess not.”
Jess tried to shush her by putting his hand on her shoulder, but Mel wasn’t paying attention. “Those bitches must have put the boots to you. Dammit, Hon, they need to be locked up.”
Anita cut in, “That’s what I’ve been telling her.”
A body in the doorway made everyone turn, giving Honey a clear view of the man waiting there. “Detective Lansdale.”
He stepped into the room amongst a sudden silence. Not only did he nod at Anita, but he gave Jess a long scrutiny before turning his full attention to Honey. “Heard you were in here after being attacked. What hornet’s nest have you been sticking your little nose into?”
“Yeah. Nice to see you too.”
The detached cop’s face broke into a grin. As he approached her bed, he said in a low, harsh tone that no one would argue with, “Can we have the room?”
The others filed out leaving Honey alone with Detective Lansdale.
“Hey, that was a bit rude don’t you think? What can you say to me that the others shouldn’t hear?”
Approaching the bed, his face relaxed into its usual calm expression, even slightly regretful for her discomfort. Surprising her even more, he took her hand and held it gently. “Honey, I’m really sorry to see you in this shape. Look, you’ve been checking in with me for a lot of years now, and I feel kind of responsible for your safety. When the officers told me you’d been attacked, I jumped to conclusions… I see they were mistaken.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, to put it bluntly, the last time we were together, you gave me the impression that you were going to try and find your sister’s killer. Gotta tell you; it gave me a few bouts of heartburn just thinking about you in that world of misfits and lowlifes.”
Honey could see the truth in his eyes, and she turned hers away before he saw the truth in hers.
Shit… too late.
Suddenly, his voice lowered, and she knew what it meant. Anger hid in those levels, controlled maybe, but nonetheless noticeable. “Honey Bolder, what are you up to? The report I read said that you were victimized by some students from your school.”
“It’s true. If my obvious wounds don’t provide enough proof I was attacked, I can show you the insulting slurs on my social media. And… then there’s the threatening text messages on my phone warning me they were going to get their revenge.”
Lansdale cut into her tirade. “Good Lord, it’s hard to believe how anyone survives these intolerable situations. If school boards don’t instigate a zero tolerance right from the start, things get out of hand and the teachers suffer. I’ve been called to too many school shit-shows lately that it makes one wonder if there’s something in the air infecting our young.” He saw her face and corrected his statement. “You’re right. Not all schools have to deal with this behavior. Many have a handle on student conduct, and it shows in their results in the year end finals.”
“Thank you. I don’t want you to get the wrong idea from this. My school is one of the good ones, Detective. It’s just a few spoilt brats that have gotten through the cracks and give a bad name to the rest.”
“Then I’m sorry you had to go through this. But I’m glad to be mistaken in thinking that you were involved in searching for Katrina’s killer.” He watched her closely, saw her turn away too fast, and his face tightened. “I thought so.”
“It’s not what you think. All I’ve done is ask a few questions.”
“And stir up the hornet’s nest as I said before. You might like to take my advice and leave the detecting up to us, Miss Bolder. I wouldn’t want you to get in above your head and end up back here.”
“Are you threatening me?” Honey’s eyes widened at his sudden formality.
Lansdale rubbed his face, and a smile broke through. “Hell, no, girl. It’s a gentle warning, is all.”
Hesitating, yet she felt impelled to be honest. “I have three names of men who were in trouble with the law years ago and are now working at Nudies. Their names are written on a paper in my phone cover.”
Detective Lansdale stared at her until she beckoned with her hand at the phone on the table next to her. He reached over and handed it to her, and she retrieved the slip Linda had given her. “Maybe you can check these guys out.”
Graciously, he took the paper. “If anything comes of this info, I’ll be in touch.”
“Thank you.”
“We’ll get him this go-around, Honey. Just give us time.” The tired-looking man stood to leave. But before he did, he stopped and stared at her, the force of his next words penetrating. “Take care, child.”
“You, too. Sir. And thanks for checking up on me.”
No sooner had he opened the door to leave, but Luke pushed in. The two men faced each other without a word spoken, and Honey swore she saw Lansdale’s head drop suddenly as if to say, I give up. With nowhere to hide, she clenched her fists and waited.
Luke strode toward her as if he had every right to be there. His cold face made her cringe until he spoke in a voice filled with gentleness. “You’ve been hurt. Who did this to you?”