How the Cow Ate the Cabbage
Outside the kitchen, Uncle and Sims began howling. Macy locked her arm in mine and guided me toward the house. Katie Lee and Dr. and Mrs. Brown hustled in a pack toward us.
Wearing a gray sweat shirt and matching drawstring pants, Dr. Brown held a flashlight and pointed it at Macy and me. Holding the light beam in my face, he said, “Rachael, you shouldn’t be walking.”
“Dear Lord, child, you’re wet. Did you fall in the river?”
“Mama, she didn’t fall in.”
Dr. Brown looked into my eyes. “Are you dizzy?”
“Light-headed.”
Handing his flashlight to Mrs. Brown, he scooped me up. “Katie Lee, get my bag out of the car.”
Behind shadowed sea oats a walkie-talkie screeched. “Smith here. Over.”
Beyond the thicket of trees, a tall, muscular man dressed in blue slacks and a windbreaker spoke into a device that he held in his hand. “Over.”
The hand-held crackled. “We have two vans full. Taking one to Country Club Drive bear cave, the other to George Street.”
Dr. Brown carried me up the path to the house. I looked behind him at the man near the garage. He drew a baseball hat low and spoke into the two-way, “Did you catch Peter Rabbit?”
Storm was still in The Bern.
The radio clicked. “Peter Rabbit and Baby Bear secured. Headed to the pokey with Smokey. Beaver Bait is still swimmin’.”
“You’re soaked,” Dr. Brown said.
“I was in the McGees’ pool.”
Mrs. Brown wore a cotton button-down and khaki slacks. Her hair was fastened in a mini ponytail clasp. She opened the slider to the kitchen. “Swimming in your clothes. You must have a death of a chill. Hayden, she needs to get into something dry.”
The lights were bright, and men I didn’t know, mostly cops—and Patsy—surrounded Mitch. Someone with a note pad asked him questions. I choked tears when I noticed his bloody nose and swollen cheek. He sat on a kitchen chair without his shirt. His arms had scratches, and his bare ribs had been wrapped in a white bandage.
As Dr. Brown carried me across the kitchen, Mitch stood and winced. An arm of someone I didn’t know pressed his shoulder to keep him still. He pushed past and moved to clutch my hand. “Raz, you all right?”
I nodded. “Mitch, how did you know where to find me?”
“I overhead you say you left your purse in the house. Darlin’, you never carry a purse. When Billy Ray left the pool game, I had a bad feeling.”
My eyes welled. I mouthed, “Thank you.”
Dr. Brown placed me on the sofa in the family room, “You can talk to Mitch once I make sure you’re in one piece.”
Katie Lee appeared with a leather medical bag. Dr. Brown took my pulse, looked into my pupils, and put a salve on the raw welts around my neck.
“Any pain, trouble breathing?”
My shaking had slowed into shivers. “I’ll be okay once I get out of my wet clothes.”
Leaning back, he looked at me. “Katie Lee, give me a minute with Rachael.”
She turned the corner. His voice carried a low, confidential tone. “Rachael, Mitch told us Billy Ray assaulted you. Did he rape you?”
I fought the emotion that strummed inside my chest and stuck in my throat. I’d mistaken Billy Ray as harmless. A talented guy who’d misdirected his gift into forging paintings for profit. I never thought the pastel clothing he wore and the playful chuckle he chortled hid a rabid animal. “If Mitch hadn’t shown up.”
Dr. Brown put my hands in his. “Rachael, did he sexually assault you?”
“He would’ve if Mitch hadn’t saved me.”
“Mitch says you have a hell of a batting arm. You’re a fast thinker. Rachael O’Brien, I’m proud of you.”
“What are all these cops doing in your house?”
“Mitch showed up and rang the doorbell. Down here we have an open door policy. I didn’t even remember what that bell sounded like. When I answered it, he gave us a fright. Said the FBI was raidin’ the McGees’ and that y’all were still over there. Told us about Billy Ray and that painting in the bathroom. He was frantic. I called Judge Driskell. Husk knew all about the sting, had approved the search warrant earlier this evening. Sent some officers from the department over to the McGees’, but they didn’t find you. We’ve been worried, waitin’ for y’all to show up. Ten minutes ago, the FBI arrived. It’s a god damn circus ‘round here.”
Mrs. Brown knocked on the doorframe. “How about some hot tea?”
“I’ll have scotch, hold the ice,” Dr. Brown said.
“Make mine a double.”
UPSTAIRS, I PEELED OFF my wet clothes and tossed them into the bathtub. The eye of Horus chain caught around my head. Removing it, I was relieved it hadn’t been lost during the pool plunge. After putting on sweats and combing out my hair, I plugged the sink. Filling it with hot water, I sank my pink hands in for warmth. When I looked into the vanity mirror, I saw Katie Lee’s reflection.
I turned around. “Don’t be mad at me. I didn’t know everything would turn into such a monumental mess.”
“Mad at you? I came to apologize.”
“For what?”
“For almost getting you killed. I’m sorry I ever introduced you to Nash and Billy Ray. If I hadn’t been so stupid about that suitcase full of money, none of this would have happened.” Her eyes leaked. “I refused to believe that Nash could be involved in anything criminal.”
Hugging Katie Lee, I said, “I’m not mad at you. You’re not responsible.”
She wiped tears. “Oh, Rach, Patsy and Macy told me everything. How Billy Ray has been forging paintings. Stewart is the salesman, and Bubba takes care of shipping. All masterminded by Jack, who we met in New Orleans. The whole thing is crazy, and it all started here in The Bern. How did you figure it out?”
“I didn’t figure anything out until New Orleans. That’s when things clicked, but I wasn’t entirely convinced of what I knew. After Jack Ray picked me up from behind the cemetery, he took me to his gallery and showed me a Clementine Hunter painting. The same one my dad had refurbished. I remembered seeing that painting in the New Bern art gallery near the harbor. I strung it together.”
“Which one is the original?”
There was a knock on the doorframe.
“Come on in,” Katie Lee called out.
Standing with his hands in his pockets, Storm Cauldwell wore his FBI jacket unzipped, revealing a leather shoulder harness and his gun.
“Ladies, hope I’m not interrupting.”
“Storm.”
He smiled, indenting the dimple on his chin. “Rachael O’Brien, I’m officially upset with you.”
Combing her hair back with her hand, Katie Lee looked approvingly at Storm. “FBI? I thought you were a teaching assistant.”
“Had to use discretion on this case. I hope you understand. I asked Rachael to keep what she knew to herself.”
I asked Storm, “Did you catch Billy Ray, and have you found the missing painting?”
“We’ve taken Billy Ray to Craven County Medical, and then he’ll be booked. We found a Clementine Hunter at the McGees’. It’ll be sent to New Orleans for evaluation.”
I recovered the underwater camera from my coat pocket. “I have something for you.”
“What’s this?”
“Photos of the Baptism, before it was splashed by the bidet.”
Shaking his head, he pocketed the camera. I couldn’t read his face and wondered if he was really angry.
Mrs. Brown shouted up the stairs, “Sausage biscuits hot outta the oven. Come on down.”
“All right Mama,” Katie Lee said, leaving Storm and me.
Storm put his hands on my shoulders. Sternly he met my eyes. “Rachael O’Brien.”
“I know. I know. I shouldn’t have snooped inside Bubba Jackson’s apartment. I didn’t break in. It was open. And honestly, I wasn’t sure that Billy Ray and Stewart Hayes would show up at Meredith’s. Billy Ray’s a big guy. I had to hit him with something or he would’ve—”
Storm put a hand on my mouth, “Rachael, you went above and beyond what you should’ve—what was safe. You cut through bureaucratic channels and in one night busted this case wide open. I want to say thank you.”
Storm’s tanned face had a shadow of stubble. For being in his late twenties or early thirties, he still had it. Sliding his arms around my back, he sheltered me in safety, and I returned the embrace. Resting my head against the warmth of his chest erased the last few hours and cleared my head like a chalkboard wiped clean.
A shrill birdcall startled us. From the landing below, Patsy shouted, “Y’all need to come down before the biscuits go cold.”
Storm released me and motioned with his hand for me to lead.
“We’re coming.”
NOTE TO SELF
I love The Bern, but I need rest back at the dorm.