The Only Solution (Crowley County Series Book 3) Read online

  * * *

  Mike just wanted for everyone to leave him alone especially after what Floyd had told him a little while ago. He knew he shouldn’t dwell on the fact that the man who had shot him was now dead from an extremely painful illness. But it had left him in a daze nonetheless.

  With all that in mind, he just wanted to wheel his chair into his bedroom and close the door. And he especially didn’t want to deal with that do-gooder who ran that place where Bert lived. He knew she was used to running the lives of all those who lived there. Well, she wasn’t going to run his life, no way.

  When he realized that Bert was talking to him, he turned his head back to where the tall skinny kid was leaning over him with his head tilted to one side.

  “Mr. Mike, I’ve been listening real good to what people been saying around town.”

  He leaned up and scratched his head. “But I ain’t heard a thing new lately though.”

  After a long silence, Mike realized that he should say something. The kid seemed to be waiting for some kind of response from him.

  “That’s okay, Bert. But you should really be telling the sheriff anything you hear from now on. I’m not an agent anymore.”

  Bert looked over at the Thomas woman and then back at him. “What’s an agent?”

  “A cop Bert. That’s what I was before, okay?”

  “Sure Mr. Mike. I knew you were a cop just like Mr. Sheriff.”

  Mike didn’t want to sit there and talk with Bert. Sure, he liked the guy. After all, he had given Mike a big lead before. It’s just that it took extra effort to talk to Bert and he really wasn’t up to putting forth that kind of effort right now.

  He looked over at the Thomas woman and caught her staring at his hair. His hair was none of her business. He could grow it down to his knees if he wanted to.

  Then he looked into her eyes. He didn’t see condemnation, what he did see looked like compassion. Well, he didn’t need her compassion or anyone else’s for that matter.

  Somehow, she must have recognized his predicament because she grabbed Bert by the arm, led him over to the sofa, and sat down with him. That was when he realized there was a little girl with them. He took a second look and realized the little girl looked exactly like the Thomas woman only a smaller version.

  She must have caught him staring at the little girl for she said, “Mike, this is my daughter, Lucy.” She looked down at the little girl. “Lucy, this is Mr. Bates he’s a teacher.”

  “Not anymore I’m not.”

  He surprised himself with the amount of bitterness and hostility that came out of him with that denial. He wouldn’t be surprised if she didn’t grab the kid and run out the door after that.

  But she didn’t. In fact, she kept staring at him and Mike couldn’t see any anger or even surprise on her face. She just sat there staring at him with her features calm and not angry.

  When she finally spoke, it was so softly that he had to strain to hear her. “When was the last time you really talked to someone Mike?”

  He didn’t know what to make of that question. He didn’t want to answer it though, but somehow he couldn’t stop himself especially when he looked into those big almost green eyes.

  “McCracken comes by and pesters me several times a week.”

  She smiled and it lit up her face. “But do you really talk to him? Or does he do all the talking like I’m doing right now?”

  Mike wanted to get angry at her interfering, know-it-all attitude but he couldn’t. He kept looking into those big expressive eyes.

  He didn’t know how long he just looked at her before the little girl said, “Mommy, TV?”

  He shook his head to clear it but still couldn’t keep his eyes off the woman’s expressive face.

  She looked around the room, smiled at him again, and said, “Do you have a family room with a TV in it?”

  He didn’t want the kid to watch his TV. He didn’t want to talk to the woman. He didn’t even want any of them here. He just wanted them all to leave so he could suffer in peace and quiet.

  Before he realized what he was doing, he waved toward the kitchen behind him and said, “Through there on the other side of the kitchen.”

  He sat there almost in shock as she led the little girl into his family room with Bert following along behind them.

  She came back a few minutes later alone and sat back down where she’d been before. He kept his eyes on his hands in his lap. He didn’t have to look up to know that she was staring at him though.

  After a couple of minutes of that, he finally looked up at her and said, “What? What do you want?”

  There was that smile again. “I just want to help you Mike. Is that too much to ask?”

  He could feel the flush coming from his neck up to his face. He didn’t need her to help him. He didn’t need anybody to help him. He was doing just fine without them.

  “I don’t need any help from you or anybody else for that matter. I just want to be left alone, okay.”

  She seemed to draw back slightly from his angry outburst that came out as almost a shout again. He could tell that she was beginning to struggle but somehow she managed to keep that smile on her face though.

  She didn’t say anything for a long time. Now she was looking down at her hands in her lap. Then she began to move them around in each other kind of like it was a nervous habit.

  Finally, she looked up at him and said, “There was a time when I needed help just as badly as you do and I fought everyone off for a long time too.”

  She chuckled without smiling and wiped a tear from her eye. Now look what he’d done. He’d made her cry.

  She must have seen the look of panic on his face for she said, “No, Mike. It’s not anything you said or did. I was just remembering that really bad time in my life.”

  When he didn’t say anything, she said, “I don’t usually talk about that time but I think it might do you some good to hear about it though.”

  She paused again and when he looked up, she looked deep into his eyes.

  “Would you allow me do that, Mike? Please?”

  He couldn’t find his voice so he simply nodded his head and she started talking.

  “Three years ago, I came here to get away from what was left of my former life. Lucy was barely a year old so she doesn’t remember any of this.”

  She stopped, looked toward the family room, and seemed to be and listening. Then she turned back to him.

  “You see, Mike, I had a wonderful husband and an adorable little boy who looked just like his father. He was three years old.”

  Mike noticed that the tears were really coming now and she seemed to be looking for a tissue in her purse. He cleared his throat and pointed toward a box on a table on the other end of the sofa from where she was. She slid over there, pulled out several, and began to wipe her eyes.

  “It was the first part of August just like now. We were all planning to go to Richard’s parents’ house for Sunday afternoon dinner, but Lucy had a cough and I stayed home with her. I never saw them again. A drunk driver hit them head on killing all three of them.”

  She stopped then to wipe her eyes again and this time she blew her nose too.

  Mike didn’t know what to say. How could he? He’d never had anything like that happen to him. In fact, he’d never known anyone who’d had something like that happen to them either.

  What could he say to her? He had no idea. So he just sat there like an idiot but he couldn’t keep his eyes off her teary face.

  “So that’s why I moved here from St. Louis. I felt that Lucy and I needed to get a new start somewhere else without all the memories hitting me every time I turned around.”

  He still couldn’t say anything. She looked up at him with tears still in her eyes. “I’m sorry, Mike, but I can’t talk anymore today.”

  She stood and started walking toward the family room but stopped and turned back to him. “But could I come back another time? I really do want to help you.”

&
nbsp; He started to tell her no but when he looked into those teary eyes that were so full of suffering, he couldn’t. He nodded his head then softly said, “Yes.”

  That was all he could say right then. Somehow, he knew that she understood for she simply nodded and went on into the family room. Moments later, she went out the door quietly with Bert and her little girl.

  * * *

  When Daisy pulled away from Mike’s driveway, she had every intention of going straight back to the home so she could try to pull herself back together in the peace and quiet of her apartment. But somehow the car just went downtown and before she knew it they were going into Best Friends. The real name for the coffee shop was The BFF Coffee Shop but it was usually just called Best Friends. Two local women had purchased the shop back in January and after changing the name were running it together.

  Daisy really liked Mary Jo Turner and Sue Ann McCracken. She’d watched how both of their lives had changed drastically over the past year or so. Jo had owned a bar and grill that burned down then she wound up marrying the new pastor of Daisy’s church. Even more shocking was that Sue Ann had married the sheriff, Floyd McCracken.

  And now, Jo was due to have her first baby any day now. Daisy had to smile at that. Pastor Gil had gone completely crazy about this baby. She wondered how he would be when the baby actually arrived. He and Jo really were a cute couple.

  When she entered the coffee shop with Bert and Lucy in tow, Daisy noticed Jo Turner immediately. She was sitting at a table near the counter. Even though she was a small woman, she was easy to pick out. Her stomach seemed to be as big as the rest of her. Daisy smiled to herself at the sight.

  “Good morning Daisy, what can we get for you three this morning.” Jo was always so cheerful and that was one of the things that Daisy liked about her.

  She hadn’t really thought about what they could have. She had just needed to stop somewhere before going back to the home. She needed to decompress after baring her soul to Mike before she could be with the other residents.

  “Mommy, can I have a strawberry milk . . . please?”

  Well, at least her daughter knew what she wanted. She looked a Bert and he said, “Me too Miz Daisy.”

  She turned toward where Jo was still sitting and said, “Well, I guess we’ll all have strawberry milkshakes then.”

  Daisy was glad when Sue Ann McCracken appeared from the kitchen, made their shakes, and brought them to the table.

  She was just as glad when Lucy and Bert carried on a conversation about which TV shows they wanted to watch that evening. She was thankful since it left her to her own conflicting thoughts.

  Had it been a good thing for her to tell Mike about Richard and Richie? Had she gotten through to him at all? She knew the signs. He was just moping around every day feeling sorry for himself. She’d been there too. And if someone or something didn’t knock him out of that destructive behavior, he would probably sink into a deep depression.

  And suddenly, she knew that she didn’t want that to happen to him, but why? She barely knew the man. She’d only met him a few times through Bert when Bert had been telling him what he was hearing people say around town.

  So why did she care? If she were honest with herself, she knew it was more than just the fact that she was a nurse and wanted to give him professional help. No. It was more than that. But what was it?

  Just then, Jo waddled over to their table and sat in the empty chair next to Bert.

  “Hello Bert. How are you today?”

  He just grinned at her and said, “I’m fine Miz Jo.”

  She turned to Lucy and said, “Hi Lucy, what’s your baby’s name?”

  Lucy turned shy and ducked her head. Finally, she said, “Miley.”

  Jo smiled and said, “Oh, after the singer?”

  Lucy nodded and Jo turned to Daisy. She seemed to know that she wasn’t going to get any more from Lucy.

  “So, Daisy, how are you today?”

  Before Daisy could answer, Jo looked closer at her eyes and said, “Oh my. Do you need to talk to Gil?”

  Daisy waved her hand between them. “Oh no. It’s just my allergies acting up today.”

  She could tell that Jo didn’t believe her but was gracious enough not to push. That was when she noticed Lucy staring at Jo’s huge belly.

  “Lucy. Jo is going to have a baby any day now. That’s why her stomach is so big. She’s keeping her baby safe until God is ready for him or her to be born.”

  Lucy’s eyes grew huge but she simply said, “Oh!”

  Jo laughed and said, “That was a beautiful explanation. I’m going to have to remember that one.”

  As several people came in, Daisy looked down at her watch. It was lunchtime and she needed to get Lucy and Bert back to the home for lunch.

  Jo reached across the table and patted Daisy’s hand. “If you do need to talk, Daisy, Gil is the best. Don’t be afraid to give him a call.”

  With that, she struggled to her feet, waddled over to the counter, and sat on a stool behind it to begin waiting on customers.

  When they made it back to the home, lunch was just being served and Daisy almost laughed at the panic on Bert’s face when he realized he’d almost missed it. Poor Bert had an insatiable appetite. He could eat all day long and still stay just as skinny as he’d always been.

  When Bert dashed into the dining room, Lucy chased after him with her laughter ringing in the hallway. Daisy followed at a more sedate pace.

  Once one of the girls, Julie, had asked the blessing, it grew noisy as they all began eating and talking loudly while they did.

  They all took turns saying the blessing. She thought about how all six of her residents were strong in their faith and members of the Baptist church. It was so nice when all eight of them walked into the building together on Sunday mornings.

  Daisy thought back to their visit with Mike, if you could call it that. He sure hadn’t been very receptive. But what had she really expected? Although, she did think that he had softened up maybe a little after she had told him about Richard and Richie. Too bad she couldn’t have continued after that. But there was no way she could have. She knew she would have been too emotional to think about what she needed to say to Mike in order to help him.

  She just hoped that the next time she went there, he would still be receptive. And there would be a next time. She was planning on it. Those thoughts led her to stop and quickly pray for Mike in her mind.

  When she opened her eyes, she felt so much better.

  Chapter Two

  Tuesday morning, Mike had a doctor’s appointment and as usual, he didn’t want to go. He always dreaded leaving his house. He avoided it as much as he possibly could anymore. He just wanted to stay right there in his safe little haven where no one could see him and feel sorry for him. Whenever he went anywhere people were always staring at him like he was a freak or something. He hated it.

  He knew it wouldn’t do any good to try to talk Randy out of taking him. Randy had his orders and he had to follow them or he might get into trouble. As bad as Mike felt now, he knew he’d feel much worse if he caused Randy to lose his job.

  Mike cringed when Randy wheeled him into the doctor’s office, which was actually setup for two doctors. Not only was Mike’s regular doctor, Dr. Stella Martin there but her husband, Mark who was an orthopedic specialist shared the office with her.

  When Mike had first started with Stella, she and Mark had been divorced but had since reconciled and remarried. He guessed they were both happy now. He wouldn’t know about that having never been married himself. And he was sure he never wanted to be. He hadn’t seen very many happy marriages. Most of his colleagues in the DEA had gone through at least one divorce. But he had to admit that marriages didn’t usually do well for anyone in law enforcement anyway.

  As soon as Randy wheeled Mike up to the receptionist’s desk, she looked up at them and said, “Oh, Mr. Bates. I’ve been trying to call you all morning. Dr. Martin wants you to go over
to the hospital. She scheduled another MRI for you.”

  When he gave her an intense look, she looked down at her pink nails then said, “And she wants to see you back here right afterward. Okay?”

  What choice did he have? He couldn’t yell at her for not calling since he’d had his phone unplugged. He just looked up at Randy who turned the chair around and headed back out the door.

  A little over an hour later, Mike and Randy were back in the doctor’s office waiting for Stella to call him in.

  When Randy finally pushed Mike’s chair into an examining room and left him alone, he wouldn’t let his thoughts go to the MRI he’d just gone through. It was the sixth one they’d put him through since he’d been shot, one every month. He had no reason to believe or even hope that this one would show anything different from what all the others had. The results had basically been the same every time. The bullet had moved a little but it hadn’t moved far enough away from his spine for them to be able to go in and take it out.

  When Stella finally came into the room, she was grinning. That wasn’t anything for him to get too worked up about since she always seemed to be smiling. Then he looked closer and her eyes were sparkling. He’d never seen that before.

  She walked over to the examining table where Randy had placed him before he left the room. She didn’t say anything. She just reached her arms out and hugged him. That was weird.

  She leaned back, let go of him, and said, “Good news Mike! Mark says that the bullet has finally moved enough for us to go in now and get that nasty thing out.”

  When he didn’t respond, didn’t say anything, she clapped her hands together and said, “Mike, this means that you might be able to walk again someday soon.”

  When it all began to sink in to Mike, he frowned at her and she quickly said, “But I don’t want you to get your hopes up too much. Remember what Mark said, that just because the bullet will be gone, doesn’t mean you’ll be able to walk again or even soon. It just means that now you have a chance. With the bullet still in there you’ll never have a chance.”

  When he still didn’t say anything, she said, “Do you understand Mike? Do you have any questions?”