Authors: Sharon Sala
“Are you here for Mack Jackson?” he asked.
She curled her fingers into fists, bracing herself for the verdict, and nodded.
He smiled and sat down beside her. “Everything went well. He’ll be in recovery for the next forty-five minutes or so and then we’ll move him to a room. You’ll be able to see him then, but he’ll be sedated, so don’t expect much. The wound on his arm was shallow enough that we didn’t have any muscle repair to do, but he has staples, a good number of them. The wound on his back was fairly deep but didn’t hit anything vital. He has internal and external stitches, but short of something unexpected, he should regain full range of motion.”
“Oh, thank you, thank you so much,” Lissa said.
“You’re welcome. I’ll check on him tomorrow when I make rounds and we’ll go from there, okay?”
“Okay,” she said. As soon as he left the room she walked to the window that overlooked the parking lot and burst into tears.
It was all good news, and she was crying from relief, but she still had to talk to her principal. She was still choking back sobs as she made the call. It was the middle of the night, but this couldn’t be put off. He would have to locate a substitute who could work for an indeterminate length of time. She felt like a failure in so many ways that she couldn’t count them. The year had started off so great. Why was this happening? What had she done to draw the attention of someone so deranged?
The phone was ringing and ringing, and just as it was about to go to voice mail, her principal picked up.
“Hello?”
“Mr. Wilson, it’s Melissa Sherman. I am so sorry to call you at this time of night, but something has been happening to me that seriously escalated tonight, and it has become imperative that you are informed.”
And with that lead-in she began to explain everything, from the first phone calls to what had happened tonight. When she told him what the police chief had recommended, Wilson was understandably shocked.
“He actually believes this stalker could try to get to you at school?”
“Well, the truth is, Chief Jakes said there’s no guarantee that he won’t, and he advised me it would be putting children’s lives at risk to ignore the possibility.”
“Oh, dear Lord! Well, I’m so sorry to hear this, and of course we can work with you and the police to everyone’s benefit. I assume you have some sick leave?”
She thought of the sick leave she’d given up to come back home to teach and sighed.
“Only what I’ve accumulated since August,” she said.
“Then, you can use that first and if you need longer, we can figure something out. In the meantime, do you have a place to stay?”
She sighed. “Not at the moment, but I’ll figure something out. Right now I’m at the hospital. They just brought Mack out of surgery. I’ll be here with him until I know he’s going to be okay. You have my phone number, and I’ll be in touch.” Then she hesitated before adding, “I hope you know how upset I am about this, and how bad I feel for putting you in this position. Please don’t hold it against me. I love my job and—”
“Miss Sherman...Melissa...your job is safe. Just make sure you stay the same way.”
“Thank you, Mr. Wilson, and again, I’m so sorry.”
“You have nothing to apologize for. Take care, and hopefully we’ll see you soon. Meanwhile, send our best to Mr. Jackson. That was a brave thing for him to do.”
“Yes, it was,” Lissa said. She added a quick goodbye and hung up the phone.
The sudden silence was overwhelming as she leaned back and closed her eyes.
What in the world was she going to do?
She kept thinking back to what her parents had done. She and Mack should have been able to grieve the loss of their baby together. Instead, her parents had fostered a misunderstanding that tore them apart.
The more she thought about it, the more she understood Mack’s shock and his reaction to what he’d overheard. Yes, he should have given her the benefit of the doubt, but she should have called him the moment she came home. They’d both made mistakes. It was time to put the past behind them. Whether or not that led to renewing their relationship, they needed closure on their past.
She was still lost in thought when a nurse came into the waiting room.
“Are you Melissa?” she asked.
“Yes.”
The nurse smiled. “I have a patient in room two-twelve who doesn’t seem willing to settle down until he finds out if you’re okay.”
And just like that, Lissa’s panic stilled.
“Mack,” she said, as emotion welled. “So I can see him now?”
“Yes. Follow me. He’s drifting in and out of consciousness, so don’t expect much.”
Lissa had to run to keep up with the nurse’s long strides, and when they reached the room she was taken aback by all the machines around him. Some were beeping, others just registered fluctuating information on his vital signs, but he was alive, and that was enough.
While the nurse was checking the readings, Lissa moved to the side of his bed, which gave her a few moments to look at his near-naked body unobserved.
He’d always been tall, but his body dwarfed the narrow bed. His hair was still thick and dark, his eyebrows and lashes black as coal. He was no longer the boy she remembered. She realized she knew nothing about his personal life and could be completely out of line in even thinking about renewing a relationship with him.
Then he moaned, and when he did, she put a hand on his arm. Almost immediately his eyelids began to flutter.
“Lissa?”
“I’m here, Mack. Just rest.”
He exhaled slowly. “Knife... Watch out,” he mumbled.
“I know, Mack. I know.”
“Tried...to stop.”
Lissa put a finger across his lips. “Shh, don’t talk. I’m here. I’m safe. I won’t leave you.”
A tear rolled out from under one closed eyelid and down the side of his face, but he stilled. She knew when he slipped back into unconsciousness, but it didn’t change her plans. She’d meant what she’d told him. She wouldn’t leave him alone.
* * *
Louis woke up just as the alarm began its incessant beeping. He turned it off as he rolled out of bed, then burped and farted as he started toward the bathroom, scratching at his two-day growth of whiskers.
Once there, he glanced at himself in the mirror and frowned. Maybe he should shave. Whiskers made his face look fat. He already had a bit of a belly on him, although he thought Reece’s gut was bigger. Still, he didn’t want to turn himself into some kind of Santa wannabe. He grabbed the electric razor and shaved his face clean. As he worked, he thought about what it would be like to share a house with his mother again. Some things just couldn’t be improved on, and facial hair or no facial hair, he was always going to be “the slow one” in her eyes.
He heard Bobo’s toenails clicking on the hardwood floor as the dog trotted into view, his head up and tail wagging, certain of his place in this house. Louis headed for the kitchen and opened the door just enough to let the dog out, then quickly shut it. Last night’s rain was over, but the chill was still in the air.
He started a pot of coffee and then went to shower. By the time he got dressed and went back to the kitchen, Bobo was scratching at the back door. Louis grabbed a handful of paper towels before he opened the door and caught the little furball before he could get away.
“You’re a mess, boy. Mud all over your feet, and your fur is wet. You can’t make messes anymore. Mama is coming for a visit, and while she’s here you have to be on your best behavior.”
Bobo didn’t seem concerned about Mama. He was more interested in the food and water Louis was putting in his bowls.
Louis finished feeding the dog, then washed up and poured a bowl of cereal to go with his coffee, eating it standing up. He winced as he chewed. That jaw tooth without a filling was acting up. He should have had it repaired months ago, but he hated dentists and kept putting off the visit.
When he went to get his phone off the charger, he noticed he had a text. It was from his mother, telling him the bus was due to arrive in Mystic around 5:00 p.m. today, which would be just in time for him to pick her up at the station on his way home. He sighed. This probably meant the end of his evening naps. He wondered how Reece and his weird nocturnal lifestyle were going to play into the visit. Reece was always awake when everyone else was asleep. She wouldn’t be happy about that because he was her favorite, but that wasn’t Louis’s problem.
He was getting ready to leave when he heard Reece’s voice.
“Louis! Wait! I need to talk to you,” Reece said.
Louis stopped, his shoulders slumping as he turned around and looked down. It was easier listening to his brother than looking at him.
“About what?” Louis asked.
“I, uh...I might have gotten into a little trouble last night and I wanted to prepare you in case—”
That made Louis look up. “What kind of trouble, and what the hell happened to you?”
“I might have killed a man. I know I stabbed him twice.”
Louis let out a whimper and then a high keening moan that turned into a shriek. He started turning in circles and hitting the walls with his fists.
“What the fuck is the matter with you? Did anyone see you? Can you be identified? You know we have the same face! You know they’ll think it was me!”
Reece was sincerely regretful. Louis was slow, but he was a good guy.
“It was dark. No one saw me,” Reece said. “You’re safe, Louie... It’s okay.”
Louis was shaking. “Are you sure? You better be sure or I’ll tell Mama. Every time you do this, I have to worry you’re going to get caught. We left Florida because too many girls were going missing in our neighborhood because of you, and you know it. I’m not gonna lie for you again.”
Reece sighed. “You won’t have to, but I have to stay out of sight for a while, so you’ll have to do the shopping and take Mama around. I can’t show my face because if the guy is still alive he’ll tell them we fought, and then the cops will be looking for someone with a bruised-up face.”
Louis began pacing the room, trying to find a solution to the mess his brother had dumped in his lap. When he finally stopped, he looked up and saw himself in the mirror, with Reece beside him.
“I’m sorry, Louis,” Reece said.
“You did a bad thing again, and they’re gonna blame me.” Louis’s voice was shaking.
“No, they won’t,” Reece said.
“Why did you hurt the man?” Louis asked.
Reece shrugged. “He just got in the way. I was after the woman.”
Louis froze. “What woman? Do I know her? Will she know my face?”
Reece shrugged. “You know her, but she’s never seen me, I swear. I’ve just been courting her a little. She wasn’t interested, so I wanted her to pay attention to me. I just went to see her, that’s all.”
“Who is it?”
“Melissa Sherman.”
Louis shrieked, “I work where she works! She’ll see me and know!”
“
No!
She’s never seen me.”
“But you said you were in her house last night, so how can you say that?”
“Because she jumped out the window and ran when she heard my footsteps.”
Louis picked up a paperweight from the end table and threw it at the mirror. Glass shattered and fell onto the floor at their feet. He kept his eyes down, determined not to look at his brother again as he read him the riot act.
“You weren’t
courting
her. You were
stalking
her. You promised Mama and me you’d never stalk another woman. Last time they almost caught you. You swore you wouldn’t do it again,” Louis said.
Reece shrugged and then grinned. “Well, my dick had other ideas.”
Louis flinched, unable to believe he was even related to someone who could do things like this. “I have to go to work now,” he said. He walked out of the house, his steps dragging.
“Sorry!” Reece yelled after him.
Louis kept walking to the truck, then got in and drove away. As he was pulling out of the driveway it occurred to him that he should just withdraw his money from the bank and keep driving. Leave Mama with her favorite son and forget the both of them even existed. But he didn’t. Instead, he drove straight to the elementary school and parked.
Ten
L
ouis saw the principal pulling into his designated parking spot as he got out and started walking toward the building. His stomach was in knots as he saw his boss turn and wave. He ducked his head and waved back, wondering why the man was here so early because it wasn’t his usual routine. Still, the principal’s job was none of Louis’s concern.
He went straight into the building, turned up the thermostat and then began turning on lights as he went from room to room. The day was chilly and wouldn’t get any warmer. It was that time of year.
He filled a little cart with rolls of toilet paper and paper towels, and started down the hall toward the bathrooms to refill the paper products. He was trying not to think of the mess Reece had put him in—again—as he reached the boys’ bathroom and opened the door. The moment he walked in and realized he was walking in water, he groaned. Something was obviously leaking.
He began moving from toilet stall to toilet stall, trying to find the leak, and then headed to the urinals to check them next. He had just squatted down to check a plumbing joint when he heard a creak, and then something wet fell on his head. He looked up just as the ceiling came crashing down.
* * *
Mr. Wilson was on his way to the cafeteria to get a sausage biscuit to have with his coffee when he heard the noise at the far end of the hall and started running. He wasn’t sure what had happened, but he could already see water coming out from under the door to the boys’ bathroom.
The cooks had also heard the noise and come running from the school cafeteria.
The head cook was a woman they called Miss Eula. When she saw the principal running, she called out, “What was that?”
“I don’t know,” Wilson said, pushing the bathroom door inward. The first thing he saw was Louis lying on the floor with part of the ceiling on top of him and a huge hole above. He ran back out into the hall. “Call 911!” he yelled. “Part of the ceiling fell in. Louis is pinned beneath it!”
Miss Eula turned and pointed at one of the cooks. “Rhonda, you make the call and wait to lead them in. The rest of you, come with me.”
They followed the principal back into the bathroom. They immediately began removing the debris from Louis’s body, and Miss Eula got down on her knees and held towels to Louis’s bleeding face, while the other cooks tried to mop up the water to keep it from running into nearby classrooms.
Wilson called his secretary to send out an emergency text to the parents and personnel that there would be no school and that it would resume on Monday. Then he contacted the local school superintendent, Will Porter, requesting an electrician and plumber on-site ASAP. All he could tell them was that there was a water leak somewhere up in the ceiling and no way of knowing how many rooms it would impact before it was found and fixed.
He groaned. Friday just kept getting worse.
Louis regained consciousness as they were removing the debris, but when he tried to get up both Mr. Wilson and Miss Eula insisted he was not to move, so he lay as still as possible in the cold water, watching them work. He still wasn’t sure what had happened and started fretting about picking Mama up at the bus stop later.
“Am I okay?” he kept asking. “I can’t be hurt. Mama is coming to visit me this evening. I have to go get her at the bus stop.”
Wilson was on his knees by Louis, trying to keep him from moving.
“I don’t know how hurt you are, Louis, but you have to go to the hospital and let them check you out first,” he said. “I think your nose might be broken, and there are some cuts on your face.”
Louis was in enough shock that the pain was minimal, but things were beginning to burn and sting on his face, and it
was
hard to breathe through his nose.
“Yes, okay,” he said, “but I still have to get Mama at five o’clock.”
Rhonda ran back into the bathroom.
“Ambulance is here!” she cried, and moments later the small bathroom got even smaller as a half dozen firemen and two EMTs entered.
As soon as the fire department realized there was a leak somewhere above, a couple of the firemen headed back outside to turn the water off at the meter.
“He can move his arms and legs,” Wilson said, and then he pointed at the debris piled up against the far wall. “All of that was on top of him when we found him.”
“Was he facedown or on his back?” one EMT asked.
“On his back,” Wilson said.
They put a collar on Louis to immobilize his head and neck, and began to assess his vitals. A few minutes later they moved him onto the gurney, fastened the straps to keep him stabilized and wheeled him out to the waiting ambulance.
Louis stared up at the ceiling as they passed beneath it, absently counting the number of burned-out fluorescent lightbulbs that needed to be replaced, and wanted to cry. All kinds of stuff was hurting now, his face most of all.
He guessed he was messed up like Reece now, but at least he had an alibi and witnesses as to how he got hurt. They couldn’t blame him for attacking that guy. That was on Reece, the stupid bastard.
* * *
Lissa’s cell phone vibrated in her pocket, signaling a text. She woke abruptly and quickly glanced at Mack, who was still asleep. He’d had a rough night, and now that he was finally resting, she didn’t want to disturb him.
Then she read the text and frowned. No school due to a massive water leak. Although it no longer impacted her life, it did give Mr. Wilson more time to find a substitute for her class. She dropped the phone back in her pocket and then slipped out of the room long enough to go to the public bathroom up the hall, where she washed her face and finger combed her hair before heading back.
The shifts were changing, and a fresh batch of nurses were making rounds and assessing the patients’ vitals. She grabbed a cup of coffee from the table set up for visitors’ convenience and hurried back.
A nurse was already at Mack’s bedside checking his IV and taking note of his blood pressure readings, and when she saw Lissa she smiled and introduced herself.
“I’m Jewel. I’ll be Mr. Jackson’s nurse today.”
“I’m Lissa. Does he have a fever? He was very restless all night.”
“Just a little. Nothing out of the ordinary for someone just coming out of surgery. I understand he’s something of a hero.”
Lissa’s eyes welled with tears. “He always was.”
The nurse left just as Lissa noticed Mack was waking up, and when he reached out, she clasped his hand.
It was the sound of voices that pulled Mack out of the darkness, and when he heard Lissa’s voice he remembered. There’d been a fight and a man with a knife who’d been there to hurt her.
“Melissa?”
“I’m here. You’re in the hospital. You’ve had surgery, so you need to lie still.”
He exhaled slowly. It hurt to move, but he finally managed to open his eyes. She’d been crying. “You’re...not hurt?”
“No, I’m not hurt.”
He curled his fingers around her wrist.
Lissa couldn’t bear to let one more minute go by without making peace between them.
“I need to talk to you, and I don’t want you to interrupt me until I’ve finished, okay?”
Mack was groggy. “Might not remember,” he muttered.
“Then, I’ll tell you again,” she said.
“Deal,” he said, and he managed a slight smile.
She threaded her fingers through his and then held on, needing more than just her strength to get through this.
“I know it’s not your fault you didn’t know about the miscarriage. It’s Mom and Dad’s fault. They lied to me. Their lies were unfair to both of us, and we fell right into the mess they made for us. I will never know or understand why. But I should have called you the moment I got back to Mystic, and I didn’t. You should have asked me about what you heard, but you didn’t. We were both so young, and we loved so hard, that the first time we faced a crisis, we broke. I just want you to know how sorry I am. We lost so much. I would give anything to get that back.”
Mack’s grip tightened around her fingers. “So would I,” he said.
The panic she’d been feeling began to fade. It was like getting her best friend ever back in her life. She tried to smile but was so overwhelmed by what was happening between them that all she could do was cry.
“No, Lissa, don’t cry. This is all good, okay?”
She nodded as she swiped at the tears, but they just kept coming. “I’m happy and I’m scared and I’m frustrated. Your father was murdered, I’m being stalked, there’s a killer among us and no one has the slightest idea of where to start looking. I’m not allowed to go back to my house until the stalker is caught. Chief Jakes said the man was too dangerous. I even had to take a leave of absence from school because he also believes the stalker might try to get to me at school, and that would put the children’s lives in danger. Everything is wonderful
between
us because we’ve made peace, and everything’s awful about what’s happening
to
us, and that’s why I’m crying.”
Mack groaned. He could feel himself fading again. “You’ll be with me. We’ll do it...together. Sorry. Can’t...”
And then he was out.
Lissa stumbled backward to the chair where she’d spent the night and sank into the seat, too numb to think beyond what he had said. They would be together.
She wasn’t alone in the world anymore.
* * *
T. J. Silver heard the news about Mack Jackson’s bravery at the coffee shop while he was waiting for his father. His eyes narrowed angrily as he listened to the waitress extolling Mack’s heroism to the couple at the table behind him.
“...said she found him covered in blood and hasn’t left his side since,” she said.
That alone pissed him off. He’d gone to check on her and been rebuffed. But Jackson was an old flame, and his father’s death had brought them back together. Life was an ironic fuckup, and he didn’t give a damn who she liked. He could have his pick of all the girls. It just pissed him off that she’d been the one to end the relationship. It was the only failure of his entire life, and he had no idea how to handle it.
He heard the door jingle and looked up to see his father approaching the table. Good. He was ready to get busy with his father’s upcoming announcement that he was running for the district’s state senate seat. They had almost settled on a campaign manager and needed to set a firm date for the announcement party so things could get under way.
T.J. smiled at his dad as he sat down and handed him a menu.
“I’m having the roast beef sandwich au jus and peach cobbler. What sounds good to you?”
Marcus shrugged. “It doesn’t matter.”
T.J. frowned. “What’s wrong, Dad? Are you feeling okay?”
Marcus glanced around the crowded diner. He knew nearly every face in here and was better off financially than all of them, and yet the excitement was gone from his life. He was bothered by a lot of things and didn’t know how to put them into words.
“I’m fine,” he said abruptly. “That cobbler sounds good, but I believe I’ll have the beans and corn bread today.”
T.J. arched an eyebrow. “Beans and corn bread. Eating lowbrow, are you?”
Marcus looked up and frowned at the smirk on his son’s face. “I like beans and corn bread, and just because food is cheap to make doesn’t mean it’s beneath us to eat it.”
T.J. caught the glimmer of criticism in the tone of his father’s voice and immediately shifted his attitude.
“Oh, no, no, that’s not what I meant, Dad. Sorry if I came across a little snobby. I was just making conversation, that’s all.”
Marcus shrugged it off. He loved his son, but he’d been spoiled by the good life, something that he had to take the blame for, but he didn’t have to tolerate him being a snob.
“So what’s on your agenda today?” Marcus asked as he waved the waitress over so they could order.
T.J. leaned forward, excitement in his voice as he said, “Helping you plan your announcement party. Do you still want to do it at Christmas? I think it would be the proper time, but if so, we need to get that guest list finalized, and invitations printed and sent out by Thanksgiving at the latest.”
Marcus hesitated. “I guess. Timing is everything, and I don’t want to jump the gun before everything else is in place.”
T.J. leaned back, accepting his father’s decision.
“Whatever you say, Dad. This is your thing, not mine. I just want to do my part to help when you give the word.”
Marcus sighed. “You’re a good son. I guess I need to go ahead and make that trip to the capitol, hire that campaign manager and then let him do all the work. That’s what I’ll be paying him for, right?”
“Right. Are you going today?”
“Yes, I’ll leave right after we eat.”
T.J. was glad the ball was finally rolling on his dad’s big dream, and when the waitress arrived at their table, he flashed a broad smile.
“Hello, Jennifer. We’re ready to order now.” He gave her his order while Marcus stared absently across his son’s head to the people beyond.
* * *