Emory bolted into the hospital room and found his father propped up in bed with a bandage around his head. “Dad, are you okay?”
Sheriff Rome smiled and said, “I’m fine, Son,” in rhythm with the beeping heart monitor.
Emory gave him a gentle hug, grateful to find him lucid and awake, but the older man still winced in pain. “I’m sorry.”
The sheriff waved off his concern. “No, it’s okay. I’m just sore all over.”
Emory jumped when a hand grabbed his arm, and he turned to see his mother’s tear-stained face.
Lula Mae hugged him. “I’m so glad you’re here,”
Emory glanced at the chair behind her. “Mom, I didn’t even see you.” He broke away and grabbed the back of his dark brown hair. “What happened?”
Sheriff Rome related the details of the previous night, and Emory’s anger swelled when the story reached the physical attack on his father. “He forced me to drink something – had a grape flavor to it. It must’ve been spiked.”
The water! Emory clenched his fists at his side.
“I’ve never felt like that, the way I did when I woke up outside – like I didn’t have control of my body.”
Lula Mae rubbed his shin through the blanket. “It’s a good thing he was able to fire that gun. I might never have found him.”
“You found him?”
The sheriff grinned. “You know your mama. Can’t sleep without me there.”
“His restless legs vibrate me to sleep,” she said with a sarcastic smile. “When he didn’t come home after an hour, I started to worry and decided to go looking for him. I drove around the factory, and I heard gunshots. My heart was just pounding. I saw the flash when he fired the last one. I didn’t know if it was him or…Then I saw him.” Lula Mae’s throat went hoarse, and tears filled her eyes.
Emory put an arm around his mother as she took the sheriff’s hand and squeezed it. “Dad, who were you firing at?”
“Not who. What. When I woke up, I heard coyotes coming at me from the woods.”
“Oh my god.”
“I reached for my gun, but it wasn’t in my holster. Whoever did this to me took my gun. Thank goodness I always have Loretta with me. That’s my—”
“I remember,” said Emory. “Loretta the Beretta.”
“Anyway, I fired a few shots in the general direction. I don’t know if I got any of them, but it must’ve kept them at bay.”
Lula Mae told Emory, “I didn’t see any when I got there.”
“They were there, I tell you. I didn’t imagine them.”
“Dad, do you have any idea who attacked you? Anything to go on?”
“Well, I feel silly for saying this, but it really did happen so fast. My deputies are at the factory now going over the place. You should talk to the foreman. He was attacked too. Worse off than I am. Maybe he saw more than me. A couple of deputies tried to talk to him this morning, but he was still unconscious. Lula Mae, where’d they say he was?”
“Just down the hall. I’ll take you there.”
As Lula Mae led him out of the room, Emory panicked. I can’t interview the foreman. He’ll recognize me as the intruder at the factory. What will he say when he sees me again? How am I supposed to explain it? Along the way, he saw Jeff in the waiting room. “Mom, I need to talk to someone first.” He nodded to Jeff, who started to walk their way until Emory motioned him to stay put. “You can just let me know which room it is and get back to Dad.”
“Okay, honey.” Lula Mae pointed down the hall. “I don’t know the room number, but it’s the last one on the left.”
“Thanks, Mom.” Emory left her and walked to Jeff.
“How’s your dad?”
“He’s going to be okay. Listen, I need your help.” Emory gave him the highlights of his father’s attack.
“He was drugged too? There seriously is something in the water here.”
“Now Dad wants me to talk to the foreman to see if he has any helpful information.”
“But won’t he recognize you?”
“Exactly. I think Dad forgot about that. Would you talk to the foreman?”
“Of course.”
“I appreciate it. Here’s what I need you to ask.”
Jeff stopped him with an open palm. “I know how to conduct an interview.”
Emory wanted to say more to ensure his own questions were answered, but he held back. “Okay.” He then jumped when he heard his mom calling from behind him. “Mom, what is it?”
Lula Mae looked to Jeff. “Hello.”
“Mom, this is Jeff Woodard. He’s a private investigator who’s helping with the case.”
“Very nice to meet you, ma’am. I’m so sorry about what happened to your husband.”
“Thank you. The doctor says he’ll be okay, but we’ll be staying here overnight. Emory, would you be able to take care of Sophie until tomorrow?”
“Of course.”
“There’s plenty of food for you in the fridge. Sophie hasn’t even been fed today.”
“I’ll take care of it.” Emory remembered he wasn’t alone. “Ah, Jeff rode down with me.”
Jeff told him, “Don’t worry about me. If you don’t mind, I could just borrow your car tonight and come back tomorrow.”
Lula Mae spoke before Emory could respond. “I don’t know how you boys stomach all the driving back and forth. It’d make me a nervous wreck. Why don’t you just stay at our place? We have plenty of room, and you both have important work to finish here.”
“Thank you for the hospitality,” said Jeff. “And Mrs. Rome, I promise you we’re going to find the son-of-a-bitch who did this to your husband.”
Emory was mortified that Jeff would curse in front of his mother, but Lula Mae smiled at the PI. She gave him a sweet hug and kissed Emory on the cheek before leaving them alone.
Jeff said to Emory, “I don’t really have to stay if you’re not comfortable.”
Emory shook his head. “You heard my mother.”
“Okay then. I have a witness to interview.”
As the two investigators left the hospital, Jeff related to Emory everything the foreman had told him. “He said he had just gotten a cup of coffee, trying to stay awake, when someone attacked him with a stun gun from behind. He has a pacemaker, and he thinks something happened to it that made him pass out. He didn’t see a thing.”
“Same as Dad.”
“I wonder why your dad wasn’t killed.”
Emory glowered at him. “That’s an odd thing to say. Did you want him to be dead?”
“Of course not. You’re missing my point. The foreman’s not dead either.”
“Oh, now I get it.”
“Do you really?”
“Of course not.”
“Whoever did this didn’t seem to want them dead.”
“Dad could’ve been killed by coyotes.”
“True, but that’s a variable that couldn’t have been predicted. The person who did this dragged your dad out of the way so he could finish his business. He didn’t have to worry about the foreman because he wasn’t about to wake up. Britt and Rick were killed. Why stop there?”
“But those murders were planned, methodical. The attacks at the factory were spur of the moment. Either the killer refuses to commit a murder without forethought—”
“Or the whole water situation isn’t directly related to the murders.” Jeff held up Emory’s keys. “Where to now?”
“After we feed Sophie, I want to check out the water factory – legitimately this time.”