Charley (33 page)

As for me? I remain a free spirit like my mom; equally at home, in church, down in the bar, or out on the streets with the homeless. I might be a little nervous in the corporate Board room. However, I do own a little Bar and Grill in downtown Nashville. I don’t know where I went wrong. I am a writer.

Anyway, I digress.

“Hello,” I said calmly, at the front of the congregation. “I’m the family’s black sheep. Mom asked me to read a note to you all, so here goes.”

******

Dear family and friends, if this is being read, I have gone to be with Dad. Please, no tears, I’m happy. I found what I truly wanted in life when I found him, and now I am going to spend eternity in his arms.

My youngest has a manila envelope. In the envelope is the story of how your Dad and I met and fell in love. We have been talking this book into existence since Dad died. I wanted to wait until I died to have it published. We changed some of the names, but you will recognize everyone. Every word is true and everything happened. This is our love story. I wanted our family to know how very much in love we were and why.

And, I wanted you all to know that Dad and I were not always the strait laced folks we became.

Thank you Shelby for all your help.

Signed

Charlotte “Charley” Jacobs

The End

Shelby Jacobs is a master storyteller, who puts you immediately into the middle of the tale to experience all the emotions, hopes, dreams and challenges of the protagonist. Whether it is science fiction, adventure, thriller or romance, you are there, immersed and engaged. For a few minutes or a few hours, you are transformed into the character herself. In the case of "Charley", you become the young Charley Howard, and directly experience her romance, her hopes, and her disappointments.

This is Shelby Jacobs’ first published novel.

More information on Shelby Jacobs, including an author interview, further updates on the background to Charley and other future books in progress can be obtained on the website:

http://www.shelbyjacobsnovels.com

Charley is available worldwide on Amazon Kindle and in paperback print from Amazon and other good booksellers.

Connect with author Shelby Jacobs online.

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @SJacobsNovels

Publisher is Creative Gateway Publishing and Books, based in Norfolk, England.

For more information visit: http:// www.creativegateway.com

All murders leave loose ends to be tied up.

The murder of Randle Brewster and Leonard Martin left two particular loose ends; Jimmy Brewster and Charley Howard Brewster …

Prologue

The street sweeper slowly rumbled up Second Avenue clearing the trash left from the late night revelries. In the summer, every night was a night to party in Music City. Tourists flocked to the country music venues that lined the intersection of Broadway and Second Avenue. They always left a big mess.

It was 4:15 in the morning and time for the inhabitants of the night to hand over the city to the cleaning crews in preparation for the imminent influx of hard working respectable citizens working in the business towers.  In the darkness of the doorway to the Cowboy Club, a shadow moved about. Nervously surveying the empty street, the shadow looked for a chance to cross Second quickly and sprinted north to the next murky haven.

After the street sweeper had cleared, he eased out of the doorway and edged up the street, hugging the wall until he could made it across the street and another fifty yards closer to the safety of his own business, Jimmy's Bar and Grill. A police car passed on a final inspection before heading back for the morning shift change. The man stooped behind the trash cans on the street until the car passed. He waited until the car made the turn at Church Street and then he broke into a sprint across the street leaping on to the curb and hurrying up the side.

He counted, one restaurant, a tee shirt shop, almost there. Almost …then he heard the squeal of tires as the black SUV turned off Broadway and accelerated up Second. An expletive escaped his tight lips and his pace quickened. One more doorway; he fumbled in his pocket for his keys as he ran, almost there, hurry, hurry. Finally there!

The black vehicle screamed up the street, jumped the curb and raced up the sidewalk toward him. He fell into the doorway trying desperately to put his key in the lock as brakes squealed and the SUV slid opposite the doorway and the terrified man. The passenger door opened. A small fireplug of a man eased out.

"Hello, Randle, what's your hurry? I thought we were having such a good talk. You didn't have to sneak out like that. I would have brought you home."

“Schmidt, I told you, I can't tell you anything about Martin's business. I’m just a runner for him. I don't know anything, honestly.”

“Look asshole, I know Martin paid for you to go to go to school. He's been training you for years. You think I’m stupid? Look into my eyes. You've been his bookkeeper for years.”

The fireplug's face changed. Gone were the smile lines. Gone were the open arms expressions. “Look Randle, I’m going to take over this town, you know it as well as I do. Now I’m a generous man and you have the sort of talents I can use, so I’ll give you one more chance. Come work for me. I'll pay you more than Martin. And as an added special benefit, I’ll let you live. Come on Randy boy, what do you say?"

“Please Mr. Schmidt; Martin will kill me if I go with you. I'll leave town instead. Please, I have a baby on the way. We’ll leave Nashville and never come back, please Mr. Schmidt, please.”

Schmidt looked at the man on his knees. With a sneer, he turned to his driver and nodded “Bruce” before getting in the car and rolling up the window.

The shot was clean, perfectly centered between the man's eyes. He slumped back, with his eyes wide open and fear still covering his distorted face …

Chapter One

August can be especially brutal in Nashville. The sun had gone behind the downtown skyscrapers. But even at 5:00 it felt like one hundred degrees. I had just finished a twelve hour shift and was ready for a hot shower and a soft bed after a brief visit to my hangout, Jimmy’s Bar and Grill.

Jimmy’s is on Second Avenue a short way north of the developing tourist attractions along Lower Broadway. Numerous country music shops, bars and restaurants called Broadway home. The Ryman Auditorium, the former home and current shrine of country music was a block off Broadway and shared an alley with the bars along the glitter of the street. But Jimmy’s remained a comfortable hangout for politicians, police officers and, surprisingly, one of the few petty crime bosses left in the city.

The cold air sent a refreshing chill through me as I stepped inside the small outer waiting room. Admittedly it was better than the awful temperature outside, but it still sent a shock through my system. Straightening my tie, I walked through the arch into the cool darkness of the Bar and sat at my usual seat next to the door. “Lloyd, how about a draft? In fact go ahead and bring me my happy hour second as well.”

“Coming up Bobby. Say, Charley is back. Looks good.”

“She always did, Lloyd, always did. You say she’s back?”

Charlotte Howard had been my first love. I was a year ahead of her in school. She was my first kiss, my first sexual encounter. After tenth grade I never looked at another girl.  She made me comfortable. We knew we would get married as soon as we graduated. But I screwed up; I joined the Navy and things never were the same after.

Charley, I gave her that nickname because she was such a jock, and jocks just aren’t named Charlotte, went to The University of Tennessee in Knoxville on a basketball scholarship. Because I was in the military, we never could find time to be together. Love was hard to sustain with me stationed in Norfolk and her playing big time college basketball. We just fell out of love before either of us knew it. We went our separate ways. Worse mistake I ever made letting her get away.

I suddenly felt melancholy, as the memory of what might have been seeped into my thought. I may have missed out on Charley Howard but I finally found love; I smiled when the image of Debbie Wilson faded into view, my fiancé. I gave her a ring last week. We both were surprised that macho Bobby Wagner, the typical non-committal man, actually made a decision to settle down. The nostalgic gloom brought on by memories of Charley quickly gave way to joy; I guess the thought of Debbie released a bunch of endorphins in my brain. 

My beer hadn’t arrived, so I turned to wave at Lloyd and give him a hard time. A little irritated I twisted on the barstool and started to shout over the den of conversation from the happy hour crowd. “Hey Lloyd, how about …” But my words died on my tongue. Standing next to me, in a bright teal blouse and tight fitting jeans, staring at me with those big intoxicating blue eyes and the familiar long flowing dark brown hair stood Charley!

Her electric smile transformed me. “Buy me a drink, Bobby?” The words rolled off her tongue as easily as water flows gently down a stream, clear, clean and refreshing.

“Charley, what the …where did you spring from? Damn it girl, don’t scare me like that.” I stammered as I twisted my stool toward her, slid to the floor and threw my arms around her. “Lloyd said you were back. I am so glad to see you again.” I took a deep breath and gushed, “How are you? Feeling better?”

She looked perfect to me, but I knew the events of the last few months had taken their toll. She was thinner and paler than anybody should be in the summer. But she still had her smile. It had been that smile, innocent, sweet, and full of life that always melted me away. I knew I was engaged to Debbie and I truly loved her, but I still always loved Charley in some form or other.

“It’s good to be back, Bobby. Dr. Cox gave me a weekend pass because I was feeling so cooped up at Grace Mercy. I needed to see familiar people and places; those sterile walls and the same people and the constant observations were driving me crazy.” She laughed. “Everyone thought I was crazy anyway.”

“You’re not crazy, a little weird maybe,” I joked.  “I would be too after what you went through.” I held her at arm’s length and gushed. “You
look
perfect.”

Suddenly a dark cloud dimmed that radiant smile. “Bobby, those first few weeks were hell. I spent a lot of days balled up on my bed just rocking and crying. I didn’t know why I was crying, I didn’t even know who I was.” She dropped her head and whipped away a small tear.

My heart went out to her. I wanted to hug her and shake her and kiss her and tell her she was safe now. All I could do was hug her gently as her body trembled. Slowly she regained control and raised her head, flipped a wisp of hair back into place and smiled again through the tears. “Bobby, you’ve always been my best friend, Thanks.”

I just didn’t know what to say. “How long will you be home? Where are you going to stay?”

“I have to go back to Grace Mercy, Monday morning,” she said through a forced smile. “I’m going to stay in the apartment upstairs with Jimmy. He’s going to let me use the spare bedroom. Dr. Cox wants me to re-connect with the people and things I knew. Why don’t you bring Debbie over for dinner Sunday night, my treat?”

Relieved at the change in the conversation, I replied. “Debbie would love to see you again, 7:00 Okay?”

“Seven is perfect. Say, when are you going to ask her to marry you? It’s time, you know.”

“I asked her last week. Complete surprise!”

“And she said yes? I’m so happy for you Bobby, Debbie is the sweetest, nicest girl I know. I hope the two of you will be as happy as Randle and I were.”

She bounced off the bar stool and hugged my neck. Her hands grabbed my face and she kissed my cheek and my forehead and finally planted a friendship kiss on my lips. I just smiled and received her congratulations.

“I have to go, I need to see Wilma and Ronnie and get my things upstairs.”

And with that she walked away from me as she had done eight years ago.

Chapter Two

I love being a detective in Nashville. But what I don’t love was being on call 24/7. The homicide division could go for days with everything quiet. Then at the most inconvenient time, something happens. Tonight I was relaxing with Debbie in her apartment watching something on TV. I couldn’t tell you what was on, Debbie and I weren’t actually watching TV. Let me say, we were celebrating our engagement last week. Hey, any excuse, right?

My cell sounded the all too familiar ring that told me Ernie Hicks, my counterpart on the night shift was calling. My body went from relaxed to tense in a nanosecond. “Damn phone”.

“Better answer it, Bobby, might be important.”

“But sweetheart, you’re important tonight.” I was responding strong to our necking, but I didn’t tell Debbie.

“Bobby!” she said frowning.

“You are sexy when you act tough”.

“Bobby, answer the phone please. I know Ernie’s ring tone off by heart. Lord, I’ve heard it often enough.”

I had to relent. “What do you want? Ernie, this is definitely not a good time. I’ll see you in the morning.” And I hung up the phone. Before I could put my arm around Debbie, the damn thing rang once more. Hicks again.

“Bobby boy, the shift commander wants you down here pronto. Move it. Debbie will just have to wait,” and then Hicks shouted louder. “Hi Debbie, sorry we need him tonight.”

“What is so important that you guys can’t handle it?” I said.

“Been a shooting at Jimmy’s.  Knew you might want to work on it.” 

I sat up quickly and calmly told Debbie. “Been another shooting at Jimmy’s, I gotta go, sorry.”

Debbie is normally calm when I get these kinds of calls, but this one upset her. “Is Charley okay? What about Jimmy?” The worry on her face was sincere. “Call me as soon as you know something.”