Chapter 24
Blake Squires lay in the hospital bed looking around at the faces that surrounded him. Catfish, holding the TV remote control in his hands and flipping channels on the set, mumbled, “Now I know these fan dangled TV sets has got the Braves game on someplace.”
Blake teasingly snatched the control away and punched two buttons on the unit and the face of an Atlanta Braves pitcher appeared on the screen. “There it is, Catfish. Now sit back and close that mouth of yours. Are you on the time clock right now? I’ll fire you if you are.”
Chuck and Gail smiled and watched Catfish move closer to the screen. Blake pointed and said, “There is only ONE thing he likes as much as watching a Braves game.”
Gail asked, “What’s that?”
Chuck said, “TV wrestling and the Atlanta Falcons.” Blake laughed. “That’s it, Chuck.”
His dark face glanced out the window and then turned back. “I’m real sorry about Matt. I can’t believe how it happened.”
Chuck lowered his eyes and nodded. “But you can’t blame Frank. He just saw somebody shooting our way and he thought that Jan Johnston, the state trooper, was one of the bad guys. He fired back but missed, hit Matt instead.”
Gail sighed. “I saw him a minute ago down the hall. Doctor Marks says he will transfer him to the Atlanta Hospital tomorrow. What about you, Blake? When are you supposed to get out?”
Catfish, with his back turned to them and his face inches from the TV screen, said, “I hope not until this here game is over. My old TV at the house doesn’t look this clear.”
Everyone laughed as Blake shook his head in disgust and said, “In a few more days. Doc Marks said he was only worried about infection or I could have been out of here by now.”
The door to the hospital room swung open and Edie Pary, pushing Matt in a wheelchair, entered the room. She smiled cheerfully and said, “Blake? I’ve tried to keep this pig headed man in bed but he insists.”
Blake smiled and motioned, “Yea. Shove him on over here and let’s have a look at him.”
Edie pushed Matt beside the bed. He grasped Blake’s hand and then looked around. “Well? What are all the long faces about? Did somebody lose their pet alligator or something?” Noticing the Braves Game Catfish was so intently watching, he added, “or worse, are the Braves losing again?”
Chuck laughed. “No. We were just trying to put all the pieces of the puzzle together.”
How did you escape from the airplane?”
“I didn’t escape. I just woke up in a hospital in New Orleans. A fishing boat found me in the Gulf of Mexico hog tied to a cargo pallet. They saved my life, really.”
Edie said, “The skipper of the boat saw Matt pushed out of the plane when it was flying low over the water. The pallet hit the water just right and skidded along like a surfboard or something. Matt had a concussion and a few bruised ribs but that happened when...when....”
Gail finished the sentence for her. “When Anderson and his group caught him at the airstrip and beat him up.”
Blake sighed. “You know? It’s hard to believe something like a major drug operation could happen around here.”
Everyone nodded just as the hospital room door swished open again and Bill Jacobs walked through with State Patrol officer Jan Johnston in tow, only she wore a soft yellow summer dress and her hair was not tied back in the official police knot. On the other hand, Jacobs wore the full dress uniform of the West Creek County Sheriff’s Department. He looked around at the somber faces and asked, “What are all the long faces about? Did somebody lose their pet alligator?”
He couldn’t understand why everyone found the remark so funny.
Catfish turned from the TV screen and whistled. “I see you are back in uniform again, Bill, and Miss Jan I see you are out of yours. What happen, they fire you?”
Jan laughed. “No, Catfish. I had a few days vacation time and took them but Bill can’t get time off right now with so many Deputies fired, quit, or vanished. I’m trying to help him stay ahead of crime in West Creek County.”
Jacobs nodded. “Yea, but the commissioners hired me in a new capacity. You are looking at the new acting Sheriff of West Creek County.”
Matt laughed, “Acting? Are you kidding? Are they going to hold a new election anytime soon?”
Bill nodded. “In a couple of months but in the meantime I’m the Sheriff.”
Blake shook his head. “In the meantime, come on, Bill. You are going to run for the office full time, aren’t you?”
Jacobs shrugged. “I don’t know, Blake. I don’t like the idea of a having an elected law officer. I am not a politician although I do have a friend with the State Patrol who would help me file an application for a job.”
Jan laughed. “I’ve been after him a long time... in more ways than just helping him get a State Patrol job.”
Jacobs blushed and grinned. Catfish spouted, “Bill. You can get yourself elected easy. I’ll tell all my buddies to vote for you, too.”
Blake shook his head. “Don’t count too much on that, Bill. Most of his buddies are in jail or on probation.”
Matt nodded and smiled, “If you decide to run, Bill. Count on me. I’ll donate enough lumber to make you 50 or 60 road signs that say, “Elect Bill Jacobs for Sheriff. Your bribery money is appreciated.”
Everyone laughed. Matt cried, “Oh my God. My side is killing me. How many holes did Meadows shoot in me anyway?”
Blake pointed and asked, “How many you got? That’s how many times he fired.”
Edie smiled and added, “His side isn’t the worst thing. He was in a coma in the New Orleans hospital for two days.
Matt nodded. “I woke up thinking it was a Friday afternoon but it was Sunday. While I was out, they got a line on me through my Army fingerprints. The hospital tried to contact you, Chuck, but your boss said you were away visiting your brother in Georgia. They called the house but got nothing but a flubbed up answering machine. Your cell phone was out of service too.”
“I know. The tape was full and I didn’t reset it. I didn’t want to erase anything on there that might be important. My cell phone shorted out when I lay on that logging road in the rain.”
“When they couldn’t reach you, I called a buddy of mine in Atlanta with the FBI. I wanted him to get in touch with Meadows but they told me he was on assignment. By the time I filled them in on everything, he had already missed his check in time so they let me join up and tag along.”
Is this FBI friend the reason you hired such a scab as Thompson? I never could figure that one out and you never told me any different.”
Matt nodded. “Yea, I was trying to help them figure out the drug ring and they had Thompson pegged first. They asked me to hire him as yard boss just to see if he would lure in his partners. It worked a lot better than they figured.”
Blake asked, “How did you find us at the Mill the night Thompson was trying to feed us to the chipper?”
Matt shrugged. “I spotted the Sheriff’s car that night and saw all of you packed inside like sardines. Jan and I followed in an unmarked cruiser. It was that easy.”
Edie said, “The FBI wanted to place him in protective custody but he pitched fits.”
Matt smiled. “Well, I wanted to call Chuck and I wanted to call you as well, Edie, but the Feds wouldn’t hear of it when Frank was late checking in. They didn’t know who we could trust and who we couldn’t. I had to sneak out of New Orleans pretty much the same way you snuck my brother out of the hospital here and rent a car over to Atlanta.”
Blake pointed and asked, “So Meadows really is the one who shot you?”
“Yea Blake, he was already zonked out pretty bad from two rounds. By the time he shot at Jan here, it was just pure luck he could even hold the gun.”
“No,” Edie snapped. “It was pure luck the bullet wasn’t half an inch either way. It would have killed you on the spot.”
Jacobs said, “You know? Why were Blake, Meadows, and Matt shot but, Gai
l, Catfish, Chuck and I were hardly scratched? I mean, a few times there was a lot of lead flying around up on the platform.”
Before anyone could respond, Catfish sighed deeply and turned from the TV set. A commercial was on between the innings of the game. He said, “Blake? You gotta’ sign the payroll checks tomorrow morning or the boys ain’t gonna be too happy.”
Blake nodded. “I know, Catfish. I appreciate you filling in for me while I’m laid up.”
Chuck nodded and then turned to Matt. “I’ve hired three new men and a woman for the mill. Things are back on line and we are catching up with the orders thanks to Catfish and some of his crews. The place should be back on track in a couple of weeks. Thompson cost us a lot of money while he was wrecking the place.”
Chuck paused, and asked Matt, “One more thing. Were you really going to dig up Grandpa that night? Were you going after the hidden Will?”
“Yes I was. I know how morbid that sounds but I needed proof and daddy always said he thought that paper would be buried there. I wanted to do it but didn’t want to do it in case I was wrong.”
Chuck said, “Why didn’t you call me? I would have come down and helped.”
Matt nodded. “Well, if you had been here then both of us would be fish food in the Gulf of Mexico right now and besides, Gail wouldn’t be here either, would she?”
Gail said, “No, I wouldn’t.”
Matt smiled “I’ll be out of here soon, so you and Gail can get back to your newspaper in North Carolina any time you need to go.”
Gail laughed and poked Chuck in the ribs. “Why don’t you go ahead and tell them?”
All eyes went to Chuck who smiled, blushed, and said, “Well. I’m in the process of buying the Newspaper here in West Creek County so I guess I’m back to stay. I’ve asked Gail to be my partner.”
Catfish said, “Your partner? Is that all?”
Gail smiled brightly and with one finger over her lips, she hushed Catfish.
Matt looked at her and then to Chuck. “Is there a little more to this partnership than you are telling us? I must be blind as a bat but that diamond on Gail’s finger has been glaring in my face for five minutes.”
“What!” Edie cried and reached for Gail’s hand. “Oh it’s so beautiful,” she cried admiring the diamond clustered engagement band and the matching wedding band beside it. She looked up in surprise and gasped, “What?”
Chuck nodded. “Gail is my partner but it’s nothing more than what is given under the law of Georgia and in Georgia, a man’s wife owns half of all community property.”
Blake sat up in bed. “Wife; You two are getting married?”
Edie shook her head and pulled Gail’s hand into the air for everyone to see. “Why should they get married? They already are married.”
Gail laughed and said, “We just got married day before yesterday in Charleston.”
Everyone started talking at once and passing congratulations around. Finally, Matt shifted his weight in the wheelchair, cleared his throat, and looked up at Edie who only nodded. “Well? I guess I might as well tell everyone too. Edie and I are not going to run off to South Carolina like Chuck and Gail.”
Blake interrupted and added, “Nor Tom Veal and Miss Claudia either.”
Matt said, “Like Blake has pointed out, unlike our Grandparents, and my brother, Edie and I will have a big church deal with all the dressing and trimmings she deserves and every one of you better be there.”
Again, congratulations passed back and forth until a happy silence fell back on the room. Blake broke it and said, “Edie? What about Miss Abatha? What is going to happen to her?”
Edie’s face darkened. “Aunt Abatha collapsed when the FBI told her that Max was dead and then started asking questions. The Doctor sent her on to a hospital in Atlanta. When we told her everything, she just folded up mentally and isn’t doing well right now. I’m driving back up there later today.”
Catfish shrugged. “I’m real sorry to hear that too, Miss Edie, but, what’s gonna’ happen to Whispering Pines and all the property and stuff?”
Edie shook her head. “We don’t know yet. Aunt Abatha’s will gives it to Max and me, but of course, she can’t give that which she does not own. I really would like to know for sure what happened when the murders took place but I guess we never will. My Aunt’s mental state right now is pretty much gone.”
Matt took her hand and held it for a moment. She looked down at him lovingly and added, “I’m going to sign the deeds to everything including Whispering Pines, over to Matt and Chuck, full title to the estate, the project lands, everything. I don’t want our grandchildren having to drag any more skeletons out of the closets fifty years from now like we had to do.”
Chuck and Gail looked at one another. Gail said, “Edie? If you’ll come out to Matt’s place right after lunch today, I want to talk to you. I know you want to get back to your Aunt in Atlanta, but maybe I can help resolve some of those skeletons in the closet, that is, if you can find a way to believe me.”
Edie looked at Matt who only nodded. “Okay, I’ll meet you there around two pm?”
“I’ll have some coffee ready for all of you. Bill? Catfish? I want the both of you there as well. Since I’m no longer a West Creek County outsider, it’s time our friends learned everything about me there is to know.”
Blake cleared his throat and looked away. Gail put her hand on his arm and said, “You’ve known or been suspicious all along, haven’t you? You tried to get me to hold the diary that day out at Matt’s.”
“Yes I did. I knew you had some gift or talent that let you see things like that. I got suspicious the first time that day at the creek when we were pulling Matt’s car out of the water. I saw you close your fists on those keys and then your eyes were like somebody off in another world.”
“She was off in another world,” Chuck said.
Gail nodded. “Okay. Everyone at Matt’s place at two pm except the non-walking wounded here.”