Burnout (14 page)

"A lot of people say that about me."

"Hurricane Hal? Is that you?" I squinted to see under the brim of his cap. "I thought you had the flu."

"Fit as a fiddle," he said. Now I was starting to get angry. My husband had spent the better part of the last week doing this man's job and right now, he looked way too healthy. Did he have any idea what his absence had done to my marriage?

"I can see a storm a brewin' here Missy, but let me explain." He started to step closer to me placing his hand on my arm.

"Don't come any closer." Hal obediently stepped back into the middle of the street. "I don't know what kind of game you're playing, but my husband has been busting his ass covering for you. He's been at that station every day for the last week."

"And he's doing a real fine job, too. There's more to this than you think. Your husband is in ..." A dark sedan squealed around the corner and barreled toward us catapulting Hurricane Hal off his feet. It whizzed past me pinning me against my car. I tried to see a license plate, but could only catch a number 5 as a pile of leaves whooshed up behind it. I looked over at Hal who stared back at me unblinking. A deep dark spot seemed to be forming on his side. "Dangerous," he muttered. "In danger. Get away."  

Orley Ortiz loaded Hurricane Hal onto the portable stretcher. "Well, Miss Betsy, you got another one."

"Orley." My dad scolded. "Betsy did you get a look at the car? Is there any chance this was an accident?"

"No, it seems to me as if whoever was driving was aiming straight for Hal."

"What the hell was he doing in the street?"

"That was my fault." I said as I gulped back a cry. "I wouldn't let him come any closer to me."

"Was he threatening you?"

"Maybe. I just wasn't sure."

Orley locked the back door of the ambulance. "Hurricane Hal is a legend around here. Everybody likes the guy. Why would you be threatened by him? That's like worrying if Santa's bipolar."

"I know, I know. It's just that for the past week I've felt like ... somebody's been following me."

"Hurricane Hal?" My dad's eyebrows went up making his glasses slip slightly down his nose.

"It sounds crazy I know, but he wanted to tell me I was in danger. He was trying to warn me."

Orley looked over at me and just shook his head in disbelief. "You being in danger is not anything new."

"Thank you Orley." My father said. "Where's Leo in all of this?"

I pulled out my phone and dialed him.

"Betsy," Leo said without even bothering to say, "hello" on the phone. "Good timing. Tyler just called, and he'll need a ride home from practice. Can you run get him? We're a little short-handed here. Even though I told them this is my last day it's a blue norther. Pretty exciting stuff."

"Now?"

"Yes, I guess his regular ride has the flu."

"I can't. You'll have to do it."

"Why? Aren't you home with Zach?"

"No, I'm on my way to the hospital."

"Did your flu get worse?"

"No, I'm with Hurricane Hal."

"Boy, you really do want me to quit this job. How's he doing?"

"He was hit by a car." I told him some of the details of the last hour.

"Oh man, listen I'll just tell Stan to figure something out, and I'll call Aunt Maggie. Where's Zach?"

"At home, I guess."

"I'll see if she can pick him up too. Give me a little bit, and then I'll meet you at the hospital."

I felt a surge of relief flood over my body. This finally felt like the old Leo.

"Thanks."

I heard female laughter in the background. She had to be standing right there.

"See you soon." Leo hung up the phone.

I turned back to my dad. "He's shifting the boys around, and then he's meeting us at the hospital. He needs to wrap a couple of things up at the station."

"He's not coming straight to the hospital? What the hell? Too busy to come to his wife after she was nearly hit by a car?"

That was it. The floodgates opened and I went into full sob mode as the tears started gushing out of me. "It's happening again, Dad. I've done it again. It's all my fault."

He put his arm around me and walked me over to the hood of his cruiser. "What's your fault? You couldn't have known someone would hit Hal. This just makes no sense, Betsy."

"Leo's going to leave me. I know he is."

"Why would he do that? He loves you."

"Because ... I'm pregnant. He's going to leave me just like Barry did. He's already not answering his phone."

There was a pause between us as my dad processed all I had just dumped on him. He gulped, took a breath and then reached over and pushed a hair out of my tear stained face.

"You're going to have a baby? Hot damn! That's wonderful news, darlin'." He gave me a bear hug which made me cry even more. "Give me that phone. I'm going to have a few words with Mr. Fitzpatrick. Better yet I'll drive over."

He stepped back and started digging in his pocket for his keys. "Wait, Dad. He doesn't know yet."

Judd Kelsey froze. "He doesn't know? As in you haven't told him yet?"

"I just found out officially myself although Miss Caroline has been chasing me with a baby quilt for week."

"Has she now?" He laughed.

"Yes, and for an old lady she has some pretty good speed on her. I'm not sure when she turned in her orthopedic shoes for Nikes, but it can be pretty hard to get away from her when you need to."

"Get in the car, let's go to the hospital, and then let's tell Leo."

"Thanks, but I would rather drive my own car in case I have to pick up the boys later.  It's sweet you want to tell Leo about the baby, but don't you think I should do that on my own in private?"

"Like you have so far? Come on Betsy, I want to see the expression on his face. As a matter of fact I think I'll have my cell phone out just so we can get it on video. I may have to open me up one of them Facebook pages." 

"Before you start posting anything you should know there's more to this. I think Leo might be having an affair."

"Why would you think that?"

"Because he's never home."

"Darlin' he's been pulling two jobs. Of course he isn't home."

"It's more than that. He spends all his time with the assistant at NUTV. I can always hear her behind him when I call. That is, when he's answered his phone. It's happening all over again..." I put both my hands on my head trying to stop the world from coming in on me.

"Hal has a cracked forehead, a broken arm, wrist, shoulder, and we're seeing internal bleeding. Is there someone we can call?"

I had no idea. He only existed on the TV for me.

"I think he has a brother in Plano." The nurse said. "Sometimes he talks about the weather there and mentions him."

"Okay, I guess we can check with the station."

"Speaking of the station, shouldn't Leo be here by now?" My father asked.

Grace Galvez walked in with a bouquet of red roses with a little brown teddy bear attached to them. Hurricane Hal sat up and started trying to get out of the bed.

"It's okay, Hal. These are just some flowers from a fan probably. You know we all love you."

"Hi Mrs. Fitzpatrick.  I deliver the hospital gifts for my mom after school."

"Part of being in a family business, I guess.  By the way, it was very sweet of you to bring Zach another little bear and those chocolates."

Gracie's eyes widened.  I brought him a bear, but I didn't give him any chocolates."

"Okay.  By the way, now I understand about that closet locking on you two."

"Good, now explain it to my mother."

Hal became more and more agitated as Grace set the flowers on the window ledge, propping the little bear to face him.

"Would you like for me to take these out?" Maybe he was allergic. I carried them out into the hall and put them at the nurses' station. When I returned Hal had settled back into his drugged stupor.

"All that fuss about flowers." My dad said.

"Yes, men just don't know how to get flowers." I said.

"We send the gifts most of the time. It's an unusual occurrence to receive something."

It was true. Even Zach had been uncomfortable when he received his gifts from Grace.

Heavy steps sounded in the hallway.  Edgar West stepped through the door. 

"Is he okay?"

"Mr. West?  I didn't know you were such a big fan of Hurricane Hal."  My father said.

"Probably one of his biggest. I'm his brother."

Something clicked for me.  That was what had seemed so familiar when I looked at his pictures.  He looked like someone I had watched on television for years.

"You're his brother?  Funny you never mentioned that before."

"You never asked.  Besides, old Hal here wasn't all that crazy about announcing to the world we were brothers.   I guess I've had a few problems along the way.  I was just lucky Hal helped set me up in my tax business."

"Yes, and it's awfully convenient to the casinos on the border."

"Uh, that too."  He agreed.

I looked at my watch. We had been at the hospital for an hour and a half and Leo still hadn't shown. I called him again to see what the delay was. I was quickly turned over to Leo's voicemail.

"Hi this is Leo Fitzpatrick. Leave a message, and don't forget your umbrella."

I clicked the phone closed. "I don't understand. He should have been here by now."

I called Aunt Maggie to see if he had stopped there. "No, Betsy. We haven't seen him. He called earlier and Danny and I picked up the boys. He isn't with you?"

My panic and my queasiness were now being replaced by cold hard anger. Where was he?

"I'm going to find Leo."

I started walking out with my keys in my hand.

"Now hold on..."

"What!"  I reared back.  "I've had just about enough of this. I'm going to NUTV."

"I think you're overreacting, but I'd be the last one to get in the way of a pregnant woman on a mission. You be careful, and don't beat up my new son-in-law."

I slammed into NUTV ten minutes later to find Stan taking out the trash.

"Where's Leo?"

"Leo? He left an hour ago. He's not with you?"

"Does it look like it?" I paused a moment and then asked the question I hated to ask. "Was he with Jeanette?"

Stan tilted his head back and thought as his eyes seemed to be searching the ceiling. "Uh, I don't think he was.  Wait ... wait... they did walk out at about the same time."

"I see. Would you have her home address?"

Stan gazed at me in astonishment. "Yes, I guess so. Just a minute." He went into his office and came back out a few minutes later. "You know this is going to sound funny to you, but I don't actually have her address. I have her cell phone number."

"How could you not have your employee's address?"

"Oh, Jeanette doesn't actually work here. We're a bare bones station. This is public access. She's a volunteer.

"You're kidding me. I thought she was your assistant. I mean, she does so much."

"I know, but she told me she was doing an informal internship to gain some skills. I'm always glad to have free competent help."

"Stan, that means you don't know anything about her."

"What is she going to do? Broadcast mean things during the farm report? Honestly, she's been a godsend around here."

"So why don't you know more about her?"

"Um, I think she lives with her mother. She went to Texas Tech for a while and um ... she is a big fan of the station."

"I didn't even know this station had a fan."

He bristled. "Excuse me Betsy, but our very own weatherman Hurricane Hal received a box of chocolates and a cute little bear just last month. Tell me that isn't appreciation."

"Chocolates? Hal got chocolates?" I pounded at my head with my palms. Why hadn't I seen this? "I just can't believe it."

"I can do you better. We showed them on the evening news. I can pull it up for you. I remember it plainly because it was the weekend of Oktoberfest." He went over to the computer and pulled up the Oktoberfest broadcast. On the screen Hurricane Hal was holding up a cute little bear sitting on top of a box of chocolates wrapped in red foil.  He pulled a chocolate out of the box and popped it in his mouth.

"Just delicious and thank you to my newest weather watcher."

"Dad, I need you to look up Jeanette Burris's address." I could hear the hospital intercom behind him through the phone.

"Who?"

"I think she has Leo. I think she might have something to do with Hal."

"Now, Betsy.  You don't need to go that far.  I'm sure it's just a casual flirtation."

"No, Dad.  I think she's been stalking Leo.  Leo, Hal and ... Rocky."

"Let me call in to see if the station has anything."

"You do that. Let me check one more place."

I clicked off my call to my dad and dialed up the most reliable source of information in the town of Pecan Bayou.

"Ruby? Do you know Jeanette Burris's address?"

"That bottle blond from the TV station? Give me a minute." I heard Ruby rustling what sounded like index cards in the background. Her version of an internet search.

"I knew it. She came in for a trim about a month ago. I have her address on her style card." She read it off to me and asked. "Why do you want to go visit that woman? I pride myself on female vibes, and that chick wasn't giving off anything good."

"Exactly. I think she's got Leo."

"Oh sweetheart, I'm so sorry to hear that."

"I'm not totally sure, but there's a possibility that she's holding him against his will. She gets fixated on men in the public eye. I think she had a thing for Hurricane Hal, too."

"Really?" she said in disbelief. "Now that's a stretch. He's got to be forty years older than she is."

"It's not about his age; it's about his being on TV."

"Like Leo."

"Thanks, Ruby. I have to go."

"No problem." The address she gave me was way on the end of Walnut Street in a seedy dead-end that backed up against the town dump. My headlights lit up her mint green house that was adorned with black shutters. The weeds grew up along the cracked concrete walkway. I couldn't help but notice a black sedan parked in the driveway with a unmistakable dent in the hood and a ragged crack in the right tail light.

I started to knock on the glass screen front door and then switched to banging on it. "Jeanette! I know you're in there. It's Betsy Fitzpatrick. If you have Leo, let him go."

I started to bang on the door once again when it opened abruptly, and I almost pounded her in the forehead with my fist.

"Mrs. Livingston? I'm sorry, but Leo isn't here." I didn't miss the fact she didn't address me as Mrs. Fitzpatrick.

"Then where is he?"

"How should I know? Last I saw him was at the station about an hour ago. Maybe you should check there first before you go yelling at someone's front door."

"Maybe I should come on in and take a look." I started to push her out of the way when she shoved me back landing me in the weeds around her front porch. A car pulled up on the street behind us. It was so dark I couldn't see who it was.  Had I stumbled into a gang of some sort?  I heard the familiar call of Miss Ruby.

"You just better cool your jets, girlie. I got a can of Final Net, and I know how to use it." She was running up the walkway, bracelets jingling, red hair flying. A couple of the dryer heads I usually saw in her company at the Hair House were racing behind her. They all seemed to be sporting various hair styling sprays. I didn't feel too protected by the one who thought she could do in Jeanette with a can of mousse.

"Miss Ruby?" I said as the front door of Jeanette Burris's house slammed shut. I struggled to climb out of the weeds and back to the front porch and started banging on the door again.

"I'll call the police!" I heard Jeanette say through the door.

"Don't bother; I think they're on the way already." I shouted back. "You may as well let us in if you don't have anything to hide."

"Go to hell and get off my porch. Don't mess with me. You should know by now that Leo loves me, not you. He hates you. You spend all your time whining on the phone to him. He can't wait to be away from you."

That hurt. Was it true? Did he want to be with her? The perfect blond from the station? What would he think of me as I gained weight with our child?

"Oh shut up you hussy." Ruby called from behind me. A tiny light caught my eye. It was coming from a window near the side of the house. It came on again, then off.

I ran to the glass pane that was the length of a door opening and started beating on it. "Hello? Leo is that you? Leo?" Through my screams I could hear a rapping on the window now. I started looking around for a rock when Miss Ruby handed me a moldy yard gnome.

"Here Betsy, knock it in."

I threw the gnome through the window and reached into the darkness. There was a person within my grasp who was bound tightly in duct tape. "Leo? Leo? I found you." I felt for the edge of a piece of tape placed over his mouth and tore if off, and then reached around his shoulders to start pulling him out.

"I could kiss you right now." I said under my breath as I tugged at him.

"I'm flattered, but I don't think that's a good idea darlin' seeing as you work for me." I froze. This was not Leo. I had my arms around the formerly deceased Rocky Whitson.