A Fatal Slip (10 page)

“That would be tough,” I replied, “since I just realized that I left it in the charger at the shop.”

“At least you’ll have a charged battery in the morning,” he said. “The world can live without us for one night. Now, let’s go get that chicken.”

 

I heard two clicks that evening as the answering machine picked up our calls, but I didn’t check the messages right away. Bill and I needed some quiet time together without any outside interruptions. Still, I just couldn’t go to bed without listening to those calls, so while Bill was getting ready for bed, I hit the play button on the machine.

The first message was from our son Timothy, just checking in, but the second one was a great deal more urgent: David had been in a car accident, and Hannah was calling from the hospital.

 

“Where are you going?” Bill asked as I was about to open the front door.

“David Atkins was in a car wreck. I’m going to the hospital to be with Hannah.”

“How’d you find out?”

“I checked the machine, okay? I had a feeling in my gut that something had happened, and if you say one word about woman’s intuition, I’ll feed you hash for a month.”

“I wasn’t going to say a word. Give me a minute and I’ll come with you.”

I kissed my husband’s cheek, then said, “Thanks for the offer, but I don’t know how long I’ll be. Go to bed. There’s no reason we both need to lose a night’s sleep.”

He nodded, then said, “Call me when you hear something. I don’t care what time of night it is. And, Carolyn? Be careful driving over there. I mean it.”

“I’m always careful,” I said.

I made record time getting to the hospital, for all the good it did me. It took me ten minutes to get anyone to even acknowledge that David was a patient there, and another five before I tracked down Hannah in one of the many waiting areas.

She hugged me fiercely the second I got within reach. “Carolyn, I’m so glad to see you.”

“How is he? What happened?”

“Let’s sit down over here,” Hannah said as she noticed some other people in the waiting room watching us. Once we were seated near the window, she said, “He’s going to be all right. At least it looks that way. They’re doing some x-rays, but the doctor told me it was purely precautionary. He’s got a scrape on his cheek and he’s going to be sore in the morning, but he was really very lucky.”

“Did you hear what happened?”

“He hit a deer on his way home from class. It totaled his car, but oddly enough, he saw the deer run into the woods after the collision.”

“So it could have been a great deal worse,” I said. It seemed like there were fatalities every year from deer-automobile collisions, and it might have been my imagination, but it seemed to be getting worse. Maybe we’d been building too many houses on the land where they lived, forcing them to roam more. I added, “I’m sorry I didn’t get here sooner, but I just got your message.”

“What’s going on with your cell phone? It shot me straight to your voice mail, and your home number didn’t pick up, either. Were you hiding from the world?”

“Sort of. Bill had a bad day, so we decided to turn the ringer off. I left my cell phone at the shop by accident, so there really wasn’t any good way to get me.”

“I shouldn’t have bothered you with this,” she said reluctantly. “It turned out to be nothing.”

“Nonsense,” I said as I patted her shoulder. “It surely was something.”

A nurse found us and said to Hannah, “Your son is out of x-ray now, if you’d like to see him.”

“Do you want me to wait here?” I asked.

“No, he’ll be happy you came. Let’s go.”

I tried to protest, but she wouldn’t hear of it. David was sitting in a wheelchair, clothed in a hospital gown and sporting a large white bandage on his right cheek. When he saw that I was with his mother, he tried to grin, but the bandage wouldn’t let his entire face smile.

“Hey, Carolyn.”

“Hey yourself. You’d do anything to get out of a shift at work, wouldn’t you?”

He shrugged, and I saw him wince from the pain. “You know me, I’m a slacker through and through.”

“You’re going to be sore tomorrow, kiddo,” I said.

“I can do better than that. I’m sore right now.”

Hannah brushed some of the hair out of his eyes. “You need to put your ponytail back.”

“I would, but I’m not sure I can lift my arms that high.”

“Should I get a doctor?” There was absolute panic in Hannah’s eyes.

“I’m going to be fine, but my mobility’s a little limited at the moment.”

She nodded. “Then I’ll do it for you.” As Hannah pulled David’s hair back into a ponytail, I asked, “Where’s Annie?”

“She’s at Stanford for a few days getting acclimated. She can’t wait to move there.” The disappointment in his voice was apparent.

“Chin up, David. She’s not gone for good.”

“Not yet anyway,” he said glumly.

Hannah said, “I think we have enough of a get-well committee as it is, don’t you? Have they said if they’re going to keep you overnight yet?”

“The doctor should be along soon with the verdict,” he said as he looked around the room. “What should we do while we’re waiting? These magazines are all a hundred years old.”

“I can run to the gift shop to see if they have anything more recent,” I offered.

“That would be great,” David said.

Hannah reached for her purse. “Here, let me give you some money.”

“Thanks, but I can manage.”

“I insist,” she said as she thrust a twenty at me.

I saw David was smiling. He said, “You might as well take it. She won’t let up until you do.”

“Fine,” I said as I grabbed the bill. I had no intention of spending it, but if it made her happy, I’d take it, then slip it back to David in one of his magazines. At the giftshop I made a few purchases, then walked back to where I’d left them. A young doctor was talking with them earnestly, and I heard David say loudly, “But I’m fine.”

I stayed out of earshot until the physician left, then rejoined them. “Here are your magazines.”

“Thanks,” he said sullenly.

“What happened?”

Hannah said, “They’re keeping him here overnight, strictly as a precaution.”

“I hate hospitals,” David said.

“It’s only one night,” Hannah said.

I added, “Besides, they’ve got candy stripers around here. I saw one in the gift shop.”

“They’re all high school girls,” David said.

“I’m not suggesting you start dating one of them, but it has to be better than looking at the two of us.”

“No offense, but you’ve got a point.”

I asked Hannah, “Would you like me to go to Admissions with you?”

“No, I’ll be fine. Thanks for coming, Carolyn. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it.”

She hugged me, and after we broke apart, I said, “You can always call me. You know that.”

“If your ringer’s on,” she said.

“I’ll switch it on the second I get home,” I promised. “In fact, I’ll stop by the pottery shop on my way home and get the cell phone, and I’ll keep it by the bed, just in case you need me.”

I turned to David. “Get some rest, and I’ll come by to see you tomorrow.”

“I’ll be ready to work a shift in the morning. I’m teaching my first pottery class tomorrow, remember?”

“I’ve got a feeling you’re going to be a little stiff. Why don’t we play it by ear? I’ll let your students know what happened.”

David nodded. “Okay, that’s probably for the best. Thanks for coming, boss.”

“What can I say? There’s no way I could let my employee of the month go to the hospital without visiting.”

“It’s not that tough a competition, is it, since I’m the only member of your staff,” David said with a slight smile.

“So why don’t you win more often?” I replied, returning the grin.

I thought about skipping the late-night visit to Fire at Will, but I’d promised Hannah I’d have my cell phone available, and I meant to keep that pledge. At least I could park in front of the shop with impunity, since I didn’t have to worry about usurping a parking place from a paying customer. As I got out of my car, I could hear the brook running its course. It was somehow a more peaceful sound at night, and I was sorry I couldn’t stop and listen to it more often. At the moment, it earned every nuance of its name, Whispering Brook.

I unlocked the shop, flipped on a few lights, grabbed my phone, then glanced at the store’s answering machine. A blinking “1” caught my attention, and I was about to hit the play button when a sharp rap on the front door startled me so much I nearly screamed.

Chapter 6

Butch Hardcastle was standing outside peering in through the window.

As I unlocked the door, I said, “I hope you realize that you nearly gave me a heart attack just then.”

“Sorry. I saw the lights and wanted to be sure no one was robbing you. What are you doing here so late?”

“David had a car accident,” I said. “Don’t worry, he’s going to be fine. He hit a deer on the way home from school tonight, and Hannah called me from the hospital. They’re keeping him overnight for observation, but besides a few cuts and bruises, he’s okay.”

“That’s good news,” Butch said. “I’ve already found out something interesting about Charlie Cobb. Would you like to hear it now, or would you rather wait until morning?”

I was tired after a very long and stressful day, but Butch was doing this digging for me, and I couldn’t bring myself to put him off until morning. “Now’s fine.”

“Are you sure?”

“Absolutely. I can make a pot of coffee for us, if you’d like.”

He shook his head. “No thanks. I can’t stay that long. I was heading for a meeting when I saw your light.”

I glanced at the clock. “Who exactly are you meeting at eleven o’clock at night? Strike that, I don’t really want to know.”

Butch smiled. “Easy, Carolyn, it’s nothing like that.”

I waited for him to explain further, but when he didn’t, I asked, “So, what did you find out?”

“Charlie Cobb wasn’t all that averse to taking a little money under the table to make his inspections go smoother.”

“That’s a pretty strong accusation,” I said. “What kind of proof do you have?”

He laughed. “Are you expecting me to produce witnesses? The people I talk to aren’t exactly looking to turn state’s evidence, if you know what I mean. Just know that he wasn’t leading all that clean a life. There’s a rumor that he took one builder’s money, then still failed him on the inspection. The guy was mad enough to kill him on the spot, from what I heard.”

That was certainly a motive. “Did you happen to hear who it was?”

Butch got out a small notebook and thumbed through its pages. “Hang on a second. I wrote it down. Jackson Mallory’s the guy. Have you ever heard of him?”

My expression gave me away. “So you do know him,” Butch said.

“We went to high school together,” I replied. “In fact, I was dating him when I met Bill. I can’t believe Jackson would bribe Charlie to pass an inspection.”

“It’s a tough world out there,” Butch said. “Sometimes you can’t help but cut a few corners. Don’t judge the guy too harshly.”

“If what you heard was right, he might be a murderer, too.”

“There’s that,” Butch said. “Do me a favor, Carolyn. Don’t brace the guy without me, okay?”

I couldn’t believe he was suggesting Jackson might do anything to hurt me. “We were high school sweethearts, Butch. I’m safe enough with the man.”

“Maybe you were safe with the guy you knew in high school, but people change. He didn’t stay in the construction business as long as he has without developing a whole different set of muscles, if you know what I mean. Promise me, Carolyn.”

“I won’t go looking for him without you,” I said, “but I think you’re being silly.”

“Think what you like, but I’d just feel better if I was around when you corner this guy.” He looked around the shop and asked, “Are you about finished up here?”

“I just came by to grab my phone,” I said. “Why?”

“I’d feel a lot better if you were on your way home.”

I patted him on the cheek. “You’re worried about me, aren’t you?”

“I don’t have that many friends. I can’t afford to lose one. Come on.”

I turned off the lights and locked up behind us. Butch stood on the sidewalk until I pulled away from the curb, and I offered him a quick wave. Knowing he was looking out for me made me feel good, even though I thought he was off base about Jackson. I hadn’t seen Jackson in quite a while, but surely he couldn’t have changed that much. At least I hoped not. I had too many fond memories of the man to envision him as a murderer, but based on what Butch had told me, I had to admit it was a possibility.

 

To my surprise, Bill was waiting up for me when I got home. “How is he?” he asked before I could get my coat off.