Black Creek Burning (The Black Creek Series, Book 1) (31 page)

* * *

It looked like chaos to Duncan. The moving van drivers waited at the end of his drive.
A squad car sat at Brie's house and two at his house, one was plain with a light stuck
crookedly on top. People were there taking pictures. A big man with a small, gold
name tag that read Detective Tanner said he was there to hear his story.

He did as he was told. He stood right where he was when he first saw Brie and the
dogs. "She came from that way." He pointed across the creek along the lake. "She was
jogging with the dogs. She doesn't usually go that way, but Macey isn't supposed to
go far yet."

"Then what did you see?" Dave stood back from him.

He crossed his arms tightly as he spoke. "The lady on the four-wheeler came the same
way as Miss Chapman."

He saw both Dave and Nathan jerk their heads to each other from the corner of his
eyes.

Duncan turned. "Miss Chapman moved Goldie around to the side with Macey. I think she
heard the four-wheeler coming." He swayed back and forth, holding himself closely
with his arms wrapped around his sides.

His voice started to get louder. He could hear it crack. "I saw the lady hold out
the bat." He stopped to keep himself from crying. He wanted so much to get this over
with. "She swung it at... at Miss Chapman. At her head as she passed her." He put
his hands over his face and muffled into his palms. "She fell down the hilly part
to the water. Macey lay on top of her. Goldie tried to get free from his leash. He,
he pulled her around in the mud for a long time, then into the water. He got free
and came into the house barking. Then Dad came down." He turned and looked at Nathan.
"Can I go now?"

The man named Detective Tanner spoke up first. "Not yet, son." He placed a hand on
his shoulder. Duncan yanked it off. Tanner put his hand up and shook his head like
he was trying to signal it was okay. How could this be okay?

"Do you remember how many people were on the four-wheeler?"

"One."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"What makes you think it was a woman? Did you see the person from way up here? Could
you describe her?"

"Yeah, I could see from here."

"Do you know who it is?"

"I couldn't see her that good."

"So, you're not sure if it was a lady."

"I, I... yes, it was a lady." He sighed and squeezed his eyes shut.

His uncle walked up to him and put both hands on his shaking shoulders. Duncan turned
and buried his face in Nathan's stomach. He looked up at him pleading.

"It's okay, Dunc."

He yelled into Nathan's shirt, "She held the bat like a girl. She was small. She wore
all black. She had on a cap. The four-wheeler was black. It was new and shiny."

He sobbed in Nathan's arms, and Nathan cut a hand across his neck to signal they were
done.

Dave stood in his uniform as the walkie on his shoulder buzzed. He turned his body
and took a few steps from them to take the call. He looked up and met Tanner's eyes,
motioning his head toward the front room. Duncan heard them.

"They got a hit on Finley's phone. Someone's at her house. There's a patrol on the
way out there."

* * *

Nathan walked in with a duffel bag. Amanda sat in a chair on the other side of Brie.
She was mumbling to herself, talking on the phone and writing on a napkin.

A nurse took vitals and pricked Brie with a pin at the ends of her fingers. Brie jerked
her finger and moved her head slightly in response. Overtly, the nurse looked down
at his bag. "We don't have accommodations for overnight guests, sir."

The doctor walked in at that moment and added, "But we can probably find a recliner
somewhere. How is the patient?" He turned to the nurse.

"Still responsive, but hasn't awakened yet. Vitals are normal. Looks like she's going
to keep her fingers."

"Good, good." He lifted Brie's eyelids.

It was difficult to watch them handle her so casually. Nathan interrupted them. "She's
been asleep for going on six hours. How do you know she's not in a coma?"

"She's responsive. Prognosis is good. We just won't know until she wakes up." The
doctor wrote on the clipboard that hung at the base of Brie's bed before letting it
swing loosely. "I'll be back in the morning." He turned to the nurse. "Call me if
she wakes before then."

"Listen, Nathan," Amanda said to him. "Dave told me about the moving van. I'll be
gathering folks together to unpack and move furniture for you. We can come back later
and adjust whatever you don't like. I'll make sure the dogs have a place and check
on the houses; get the mail and papers for tomorrow, and however long you need." She
looked at her napkin as she spoke. "I'm assuming your mom and dad will take care of
Duncan and Andy, but I'll give them a call and check."

"What's all this?"

"It's what I do. Boss people around in emergencies. This doesn't qualify as a hurricane
or drought, but it feels as bad in some ways. Personal. Ya know? I'll get in touch
with Brie's boss before she goes home for the day. Does she keep files on her landscaping
jobs?"

He told her about the gray binder and where he saw it last. He gave her Liz's phone
number and where to find the dog food before she blew out of there.

He sat alone listening to the machines and watching Brie for a long time. The pain
and feeling of helplessness nearly choked him. To keep from going crazy, he pulled
out his notebook from his back pocket, and sketched a small, trickling waterfall at
the corner of his house. The hell if he knew one plant from another. He only knew
what tulips were and what they looked like, so he drew them around the falling water
and stones.

* * *

Liz came back with Tim and her kids before dark. Nathan's parents and the boys were
already there. Duncan sat in a chair away from Brie. Andy was back in his grandmother's
lap. "The dogs are fine," Liz told Nathan. "I gave them both a bath."

"Amanda is—"

"A whirlwind, we know. She's already had your folks and Tim working on your boxes
and called Zach and Chase. They'll be here first thing in the morning."

"Damn. I didn't think to call them," he said.

"We've got it." Liz looked at Brie. "Nothing?"

He shook his head.

"You look awful. Will you sleep?"

He nodded. "I'll be all right."

Exhausted, he finally laid the side of his head on her white sheets and fell asleep
holding her hand. His dreams were a fast-motion picture of flashes of memories: Macey
chasing Brie in the snow; Brie reading by her fire pit, walking in snowshoes and hauling
his dirty dog back to his house. The look of her sleeping in a tall cottage in the
forests of Oregon. The first time she told him she loved him. He could hear her across
the field calling the dogs over the fallen log. She sounded closer than across the
field.

"Nathan. Where are the dogs?" He felt the tips of fingers tap his cheek. "Are they
okay? Wake up, Nathan."

He turned his head to her. Overwhelming relief flooded him. Was she really asking
about the damned dogs? He smiled and took her hand from his face, kissing her palm.
"How do you feel?" he asked, lifting his head.

"The dogs?"

He shook his head and closed his eyes. "Heroes. Liz has them. How do you feel?" he
repeated.

She closed her eyes and whispered, "Like some asshole hit me on the back of my head."

Chapter 27

"Did they get him this time?" Brie mumbled, squinting at Nathan. "I guess that's a
no."

"I love you. We will." He pressed her call button.

They came and asked Brie a myriad of questions and completed a battery of tests, including
trying to get her to sit up, which didn't work well. He tried not to push his after-hours-visitor's
luck and kept quiet in the corner chair. He heard them conclude she had lost her sense
of smell and that her equilibrium was off.

The doctor on call turned to him. "She'll likely be here for at least a few days."

"A few days? What's wrong?"

"It looks like the concussion is a grade three. We'll want to keep an eye on her."

"How many grades are there?" he asked.

"Well, just the three. I'll be back later to check on her head. She'll be tired and
the dizziness may take some time to dissipate. That's normal. Don't be alarmed. It
should get better. Has she ever had a head injury before?"

Nathan nodded his head. "Concussion. Six years ago, yes."

Indeed, she was out cold again. Almost twenty-four hours of sleep and she was back
out after twenty minutes. He grabbed a shower and politely ate the rubber eggs and
cold toast the nurse brought him.

Trying to keep his mind together, he worked his seventh Sudoku puzzle when Amanda
showed up with Dave.

"How is she?" Amanda asked before she was all the way in the room.

"She woke up. Not for long. Well, long enough to ask about the dogs."

"You look like shit." Dave sat in the empty chair while Amanda sat at the foot of
Brie's bed. "What's the prognosis?"

"They want her here for a few days. She's not going to be happy about that."

"Damn right she's not going to happy about that." Brie opened her eyes but kept her
head still as she slurred, "I just got my job back. Did you tell them I just got my
job back?" She patted around her hospital bed with one hand.

"What do you need?"

"I need to sit up, and I could use some coffee and some real clothes and a toothbrush
and a cab."

He pressed the button to raise the top half of her bed as he spoke. "Nothing wrong
with your head, it sounds like."

"There's always been something wrong with her head," Amanda said playfully as tears
rolled down her cheeks.

Relief flooded him. He handed her a white paper cup of coffee and kissed her forehead.
"Your brothers are due in this morning."

"This morning? How... what day is it?"

"It's Thursday."

"Who has my class?"

Amanda piped in. "The same sub you had before. Liz is at work getting things ready
for her and her own sub. She's taking the rest of the week off. I ran the dogs this
morning, or maybe the dogs ran themselves. You have them trained well. I have your
mail in my bag. Nathan's parents are lined up to clean up the mess the movers left
in his garage and foyer. I'm stopping over to... " She took out Brie's gray binder.
"... wrestle with the landscaping fabric for Nathan's yard. Do you always keep such
detailed plans? A third-grader could follow this binder."

Dave raised his eyebrows toward Brie. "She's a machine. I wouldn't get in her way
if I were you."

Brie lifted the cup to her lips and took a sip.

"What's the matter?" Nathan asked in response to the look on her face.

"I can't taste this. I can't smell this." She handed it back to him and used the side
rails to pull herself up. "What is the matter with me?"

He noticed the dried, brown stain left on her pillow. It nearly choked him as he reached
for her call button again.

"The doctor said you have a concussion. He says it's not uncommon to lose your sense
of taste and smell and that it will probably come back."

"Probably?" She sighed and looked over at him. "Okay. Thank you, Amanda. Nathan."
They exchanged a silent conversation, and he kissed her knuckles as the nurse walked
in.

He tried not to sound as desperate as he felt. "When does she get her head dressing
changed? And she needs a new pillow."

"The doctor will do rounds after lunch. I'll ask him then." The nurse walked to the
closet.

Brie turned to Dave. "What do you know?"

"We've got a mold of the tire print and are running it. Duncan believes he saw one
person and that it was a woman—"

"Duncan?" she asked, wincing.

Nathan nodded. "He saw from the kitchen window."