Glen planned a brief press conference for late afternoon, and since he dropped Rachel and the others off at her place, he met Rick at the office to plan what little to say and how much to say.
“The body will be moved to the funeral home first thing in the morning. We’ll have to get there early,” Rick said.
“I know. Damn this is hard! Tell me again, I did the right thing,” Glen said.
“You did. Now let’s go over your statement.”
After much discussion, they finally agreed on what would be said. And just in time, as the reporter and cameraman arrived in five minutes early.
“We’re ready, sheriff.”
Glen cleared his throat before saying, “It’s with a heavy heart that we report the death of Doctor Mack Sterling who was shot and killed outside of the very emergency room he has worked at for five years. I can’t give you details as it’s an ongoing investigation. His funeral will be Monday at three o’clock in the afternoon. He will have a closed casket and wished to be laid to rest next to his cousin Thomas Sterling who died a few days ago. Mack Sterling will also be buried with the only possession his cousin left him.”
As the reporter began asking questions, Glen walked away and Rick stepped up and said, “that’s the end of this interview. Thank you.” And he too walked away.
Inside the privacy of Glen’s office Rick said, “that will be shown on every television station this evening as well as this evening’s paper and tomorrow morning’s paper.”
“I think the easy part is finished, but between now and Monday, we’ll have the hard part to deal with,” Glen said.
Rick’s phone rang and he saw the call came from Lynn. “Yes, Honey, is everything okay?”
“Rachel wants to go to Mack’s apartment tomorrow morning and pick out the clothes he will be laid to rest in. Will that be possible?”
“Just a minute, let me run this by Glen.”
“Rachel wants to pick out Mack’s clothes tomorrow morning and take them to the funeral home.”
“See if she will be willing to do that in about an hour and then we’ll take them all out for dinner and drinks. I think a few drinks will help us all,” Glen said.
Rick repeated what Glen said, and apparently Lynn cleared it with Rachel and came back on the line and said, “that will be perfect, Rachel said. We’ll see you soon. Hannah will call Brad and have him join us for dinner and then she’ll ride home with him, leaving her car here until tomorrow.”
“Okay, Hon, see you soon,” Rick said as he hung up.
“I forgot to ask you, did you notice anything at the funeral today?” We arrived after it was over and there was no one around.”
Rick shook his head, “No, nothing. I think we were the only two people on the grounds. I saw a car pull around the curve in the road, but it didn’t stop and I couldn’t see who was inside.”
Glen pulled out his phone and called Sher and when she answered, he said, “Sweetheart would you make reservations for eight at one of the restaurants in town but not the steak house? Somewhere where we can have some drinks and eat and relax tonight?”
“I’ll call the new Mexican place in town. That should be perfect. See you in a few,” Sher said.
By the time Glen and Rick arrived at Rachel’s apartment, Brad was already there with Annie. Glen knew Brad felt bad about not being around as much as the others for support for Rachel and to help. Not that anyone blamed him. Annie came first and her safety. He was glad Brad was able to join them all this evening though. And as he looked over to where Brad sat with Rachel, he knew he was helping. He saw the look on Rachel’s face, and knew Brad had just said the right thing to her.
It didn’t take Rachel long collecting Mack’s things, almost forgetting his shoes, which she remembered at the last minute. Glen let her be silent while at Mack’s apartment. He imagined it to be very difficult having to make the choice for someone’s last pants and shirt they would ever wear again. But he had to hand it to her, she was so brave and although Glen was sure Mack’s place held many memories of the two of them, she held it together.
They met the others at the Mexican place and soon sat down to drinks and chips and salsa. and friendly, happy conversations.
“Thank you all for this. Some might think us unfeeling at a time like this, but I think this is exactly what we all need and what I need and what Mack would also agree with,” Rachel said and she raised her margarita glass up.
“I agree. This is what we all need at this time. Let’s relax, enjoy each other’s company and put tomorrow off until tomorrow,” Sher said.
They limited themselves to two drinks each since they weren’t heavy drinkers, except for Sher and Lynn, who had none due to being pregnant.
“I’m sorry you can’t enjoy your favorite margarita, or you, Lynn. But I’ll tell you, these are fantastic and I promise after the babies are born to bring you both back so you can see how right I am,” Glen said.
Sher smiled at her husband, “I won’t let you forget that promise, buster. But to tell the truth, this unsweetened tea is hitting the right spot with me.”
They soon ordered and to everyone’s disbelief, they all practically cleaned their plates. Yes, this was a good idea because no one knew what tomorrow holds.