Not My Solution Page 7

  It was Dixie, Shelly’s mother, who saved the day for Nicole.

  “I think it’s time to put all this food on the table ladies.

  Nicole followed them out to the dining room where she immediately noticed an empty space along one side of the table. As the men and older children came in and took their seats, she slipped her wheelchair into the empty spot.

  She didn’t notice right away, but she wound up with the lawyer on one side and his younger brother, Myron, on the other side. Great. She was really hemmed in now. She felt like she was between two mountains. So, she determined to look straight ahead and try to ignore both of them. But that proved to be impossible.

  The lawyer did his part by not bothering her but not his brother. Floyd said grace which seemed strange coming from such a rough and tough looking and acting man.

  As soon as Floyd finished, Myron started in on her wanting to know everything about her especially being in the war.

  She was about to tell him she didn’t want to talk about the war, but Roger beat her to it.

  “Myron. Haven’t I told you that anyone who’s been in a war doesn’t want to talk about it. I don’t know about Miss Fuller, but I still have nightmares about things over there.”

  She was grateful for that but also curious about his nightmares. Then she saw Mr. McCracken give Myron a stern look. That effectively shut the guy down.

  After that, the conversation around the table went from church that morning to things around the farm to a series of burglaries in town. She was relieved that she could keep out of the discussions until Shelly gave her a look, she knew would not bode well for her.

  But she was surprised when Shelly looked at Floyd. “Floyd, what are you doing to catch whoever put that threatening note on Nicole’s door?”

  If she could have, Nicole would have slid right out of her chair and under the table. Suddenly, all eyes were on her. All except Shelly’s that is. She was glaring at her older brother.

  The sheriff who was wearing a nice pair of jeans and a white shirt tried to ignore Shelly at first but when she wouldn’t let him, he gave her a look that would probably stop most men in their tracks but not his little sister.

  “Now, Shelly, you know any ongoing investigation I have is off limits here at this table.”

  “Yes, you know that Shelly.”

  That was their dad again, and that effectively stopped that conversation before it ever got going. Nicole was glad but she couldn’t avoid the looks the others kept giving her after that.

  So, she was glad when the meal was over. To her regret, she didn’t have her small table that attached to her wheelchair and she couldn’t help them clear the table. She had to just move her wheelchair out of the way and wait for the others to do all the work. That bothered her so much it must have shown.

  Dixie McCracken stopped and pulled a chair over to sit next to Nicole.

  “I can see you’re used to helping. Do you have an attachment that goes on your chair to make a small table?”

  She nodded. “Yes, and I do like to always do my share.”

  The older woman gave her a motherly smile the likes of which she’d didn’t think her own mother had ever given her. That almost brought tears to her eyes.

  Tears? She hadn’t cried since the incident first happened and only then for the two men who had died. Never since, not even in the hospitals afterward. So, why now?

  “I know you don’t like to talk about it Dear, but if you ever do need someone, another woman, to talk to about anything, you just call me. Okay?”

  Nicole couldn’t look at the dear sweet lady. She merely nodded her head and Dixie left her alone.

  Chapter Five

  Roger was disappointed when he saw Floyd and Myron carry Miss Fuller’s wheelchair back down the front porch steps. He stood on the porch and watched her punch her remote to open the door and lower the ramp. Then she wheeled he chair onto the lift and on inside the van.

  Man! That sure was one independent woman. He could tell it made her mad to have the guys carry her down the steps. He’d have to remember that. Why? He wondered where that thought came from.

  He went back inside and took a seat in the living room. His dad, Myron and David left to do their evening chores a little early since it was Sunday. That left him with Floyd who came in a few minutes later and took the chair next to his.

  Neither one said anything for a few minutes, then Floyd cleared his throat and looked at Roger. Uh oh! Now what?

  “Something tells me you’ve got a thing for the little MP captain.”

  Roger’s first thought was that was a strange way of referring to Miss Fuller. Then the rest of what Floyd had said dawned on him.

  “What are you talking about Floyd?”

  Floyd laughed loudly. “I got eyes, don’t I? I saw the look on your face when Myron and I carried her down the steps before.”

  Roger tried to ignore that statement and thus avoid what he knew was coming next, but he should have known better. He was talking to Floyd after all.

  “You not answering is just the same as agreeing. You know that, don’t you?”

  Roger blew out a noisy sigh. “Floyd, you know I barely know the woman. How could I have a thing for her as you called it?”

  Floyd laughed again. “I think you protest a little too much little brother.”

  Roger ignored that one and hoped Floyd would tire of the subject and move on. Just in case, he reached over to the table between them and grabbed the remote to turn on the TV for the evening football game.

  That seemed to work, and they both watched the game with only a stray comment on the game for the next half hour.

  Roger thought he was saved from further questions when his dad, Myron and David came back in and began watching the game with them.

  During the first break in the game, Roger looked at Floyd until his brother looked back at him.

  “Just in case you don’t already know, I filed to run for mayor the other day.”

  Floyd laughed. “Yeah, I already knew. I was wondering if you would tell everyone else.”

  “Well, I’m telling them right now.”

  His dad spoke up then. “What made you decide to file, Son?”

  Roger laughed this time. “Well, I was just about to say no, because I’m too busy getting started here.”

  He paused, but they all waited on him to go on.

  “But Robertson paid me a little visit at my office the other day.” He shook his head. “Man, that guy sure is some piece of work. He thought he could intimidate me into not running. Well, I’d say it backfired on him.”

  Floyd looked at their dad. “You’ve met the guy, haven’t you, Dad?”

  Harold smiled and nodded his head. “Yeah, and I’m glad I’ve got another reason to take my business to the other feed store. He sure rubbed me wrong.”

  After that, they settled back to continue watching the football game.

  Then, during another break in the game, Myron looked at Roger with a grin on his face. “That little teacher sure is a pretty little thing. Ain’t it a shame she’s in a wheelchair. If it wasn’t for that, I might give her a whirl.”

  Floyd saw Roger’s face getting red and tried to diffuse the situation. “Now, Myron, that woman is four or five years older than you are.”

  “That doesn’t matter. I like them mature.”

  Roger surprised himself when he came up out of his chair with his fists clenched.

  “You’d better not be saying things like that about Miss Fuller, Myron. She’s had a tough way of it, and she doesn’t need the likes of you cutting her down.”

  Floyd was on his feet then and quickly stepped between his two brothers.

  Before anyone else said anything, Floyd’s cell phone rang. He stopped to answer it then looked at their dad.

  “I gotta go. Can you get Sue Ann and the kids home Dad?”

  “Sure, Son. You go on and we’ll take care of them.”

  Floyd then looked at Roger. “C
ome outside with me.”

  It wasn’t a question and from Floyd’s tone of voice, Roger didn’t argue but followed him out the door.

  On the porch, Floyd stopped and turned to face Roger. “Somebody just fired shots into Miss Fuller’s house. They said she wasn’t hit.”

  “I’m going with you.”

  Floyd held out both hands. “I don’t mind but I want you to stop and think about why you’re going before you go.”

  With that, Floyd ran off the porch and jumped into his Cherokee.

  Roger didn’t think about it but followed him out to his own car. As soon as he was on the county road, he thought about what Floyd said. But he couldn’t come up with a reason except he just didn’t want that little woman to suffer any more. She’d suffered enough already.

  * * *

  Nicole made it home before dark and decided to just sit in the living room and relax before bedtime. She had no ambition to start on any kind of project, so she just sat there with the TV on but not really watching it for an hour.

  When she got sleepy and since it was too early to go to bed, she headed into the kitchen to work on a large jigsaw puzzle she’d been working on. It took up half of her table, but she only needed a small part of it for eating.

  She’d just reached the doorway to the kitchen and hadn’t even turned on the light yet when she saw three holes appear on the wall above her. They were in a row from left to right. She immediately knew what they were.

  Without thinking, she slid out of her wheelchair onto the floor and pulled her M9 out of the pouch on the chair. She then crawled into the living room using her elbows to pull her forward. She had to get to the small table by her chair where her Captioned Phone was.

  Just as she got there, two more holes appeared in the wall about a foot below the first ones.

  She quickly dialed 911. When the operator answered, she filled her in on what was happening.

  “Ma’am, are you hurt in any way?”

  “No, I am not. And make sure you tell whoever comes that I am armed and deaf so I will not be able to hear them. I have a Captioned Phone that prints out what you are saying to me.”

  “Okay, ma’am. Just stay on the line until they get there, and you can talk to them through me. Okay?”

  “Yes.”

  Nicole looked around the room to see if any more holes had appeared. Her wheelchair was ten feet away, but she wasn’t worried about it. She could get it after the deputies arrived. She just didn’t want to be that high up right now.

  She didn’t see anything else for the next five minutes then the operator started talking again.

  “There are three deputies and the sheriff at your house now ma’am.”

  Good. If the perp was still around, they might still catch him.

  “Ma’am, where are you in the house?”

  “I’m lying on the living room floor.”

  “Good. Sheriff McCracken is at your door right now. Can you let him in?”

  “Yes, I can but he’ll need to disarm the alarm next to the door quickly. I’ll give him the code when he gets in.”

  She was surprised that the operator didn’t question her as to why she couldn’t disarm the alarm herself.

  She struggled to crawl and finally made it to the door. She could see flashing red and blue lights out front now.

  She reached up and turned the deadbolt then the regular knob. She’d practiced before to make sure she could reach them both in just such an emergency.

  The door came open slowly showing that the sheriff realized she might be on the floor in front of it. Good for him.

  He reached in and turned on the light.

  When she looked up at him, he spoke clearly. “Where’s the alarm?”

  “On the other side of the light switch, behind the drapes. The code is 8383.”

  He calmly reached over and pulled back the drapes then put in the code and the blinking red light turned to a solid green.

  When he turned back to her, he reached down for her, but she stopped him with a hand in the air.

  “No. Just get my chair in the kitchen and bring it to me … please.”

  She thought she saw a smile on his face briefly as he went into the kitchen to get the chair.

  When he brought it to her, she locked the wheels and pulled herself up into it.

  Making sure she was looking at him again, he pointed at the red light mounted on the wall at the ceiling. “Are there alarm lights like that in all your rooms?”

  “Yes.”

  “Good.” He picked up her gun off the floor.

  “Did you fire this?”

  She shook her head, and he handed the gun to her. She put it away then looked back up at him.

  “Did you see anyone out there Sheriff?”

  “No. He could have been close by, but it was too dark to see anything. I’ve got two deputies out searching the neighborhood.”

  They both turned toward the open door as Roger McCracken stepped in. What was he doing here?

  As if in answer to her unspoken question, he smiled at her. “I was still with Floyd when he got the call.”

  She looked back at the sheriff. “Thank you for getting here so quickly Sheriff.”

  He grinned down at her. “Ma’am, I know you don’t like to draw attention to yourself, but I’ve got to say I truly admire you in the way you do everything for yourself. You’ve got to be about the strongest woman I’ve ever been around.”

  She was stunned. Before she could think of anything to say to that, he continued.

  “And I don’t just mean physically either. I wish I had your determination.”

  Before she could think of anything again, he turned and headed for the door then stopped and looked back at her. “I need to go check on my deputies.”

  That left her alone with Roger McCracken. Now what?

  He grinned down at her. “I second everything Floyd just said. Most women would be almost hysterical right now.”

  He shook his head. “Even most men would. Are you sure you’re okay? You didn’t get hit by flying glass or anything?”

  She’d been embarrassed and her cheeks were hot. So, she was glad he’d changed the subject.

  “I’m fine. I had just gone into the kitchen when the first shots were fired.”

  She pointed at the big window that Floyd had opened the drapes to reveal. “You can see there were five shots all together. Three then two more.”

  “Have you thought any more about who might be doing this?”

  She had been thinking about it ever since she found the note Friday afternoon and a lot more tonight. “Yes, I have, and I still can’t think of anyone unless it’s someone in one of the families of the two men who were killed when we were hit.”

  Nicole suddenly remembered her manners. “Won’t you have a seat?”

  Once he was seated on the sofa, neither one seemed to know what to say next. So, contrary to her habit and desires, she started the conversation.

  “They told me today that you’re running for mayor of Crowleyville.”

  He smiled and nodded his head. It was a crooked smile and the way he tilted his head rather than a full nod was quite unique.

  “I’m only running because Vance Robertson is the only other one running, and he wants to establish a city police department.”

  “Isn’t that what the sheriff’s department already does?”

  “Yes, it is, and they do it as good and for less money than starting our own police force would cost.”

  She nodded her head. “Then I can see why you would run against him. You will certainly have my vote.”

  She was shocked that she’d been so bold and was glad when the sheriff stepped back in thus ending the conversation that had grown rather uncomfortable.

  “No one found anything Ma’am not even any footprints. My guess is that the perp shot from a car stopped at the curb.”

  She said nothing, so he continued. “There’s not anything else we can do tonight. If you ca
ll your insurance company in the morning, I’m sure they’ll have your window replaced by tomorrow afternoon.”

  When the sheriff stepped back out through the door, Roger stood. “I guess I’d better be going too. But before I go, is there anything you need or anything I can do for you first.”

  She shook her head. “No. But thank you.”

  Once the door closed behind him, Nicole sat there thinking about him and not the shots fired. Not good!

  * * *

  Monday morning started out rather quickly for Roger. He’d barely situated himself at his desk when he heard a knock at his outer door. Without a secretary, he kept that door locked so no one could just walk in on him unannounced.

  When he opened the door and saw a woman standing there, it suddenly came back to him that Shelly was sending someone over to apply for his secretary job.

  “Hi, I’m Gina Kelly. Shelly said you would be expecting me.”

  “Sure, come on in Gina. I’m Roger McCracken.”

  They shook hands, and he led her back to his office. He noticed that she looked the secretary desk over thoroughly on the way past it. That was good.

  Once they were settled in his office, he looked at her. She was around five feet five and slim with brown hair and eyes. He noticed a wedding ring on her finger. She was in her late twenties and was dressed rather conservatively with a knee-length dress and sensible shoes. He liked all that.

  “Do you want me to fill out an application?”

  He smiled hoping to relax her but then he realized she already seemed to be very relaxed. That was good. He needed someone who wouldn’t be easily shaken.

  “No. I just want you to tell me about yourself. You can write down all the information I need later if necessary.”

  “Okay.”

  Without waiting for him to ask, she told him all about herself. By the time she finished, he was sure he wanted to hire her. Her attention to detail was exactly what was needed in a law office.

  He placed both hands on the table, palm down. “Okay, Gina. When can you start?”

  She laughed. “You mean I got the job? Just like that?”