The Last Jeskey - Chapter 46

 

The Last Jeskey

By Karen Singer

 

Chapter 46

 

(Day 12 – Monday)

 

Pamela

 

Monday morning, Lester and I made our way through the county hospital up to Natalie’s room.  Will was inside sitting in a chair.  Even from across the room, he looked awful.  Natalie was asleep in the bed.  Will got up quietly and led us out of the room so we wouldn’t disturb her.

“How is she?” I asked.

“The doctor says she’ll be fine.  She just needs a bit of time.”

“What happened?” Les asked.

From what we’ve been able to piece together, it looks like Gary Jeskey was parked just up the road and across the street.  We think he had been there for a few hours, just waiting for Nat to come home.  Nat says she had stopped at the store before going home and had her hands full of things when she got out of the car.  The deputy got out of his car to help her with the door.  Gary had a rifle in the car with him and shot the deputy first.  My deputy’s dead by the way.”

“We heard,” Les replied.

“His second shot caught Nat in the back and the bullet went entirely through her side.  She was lucky.  Very lucky.  She’s in  a lot of pain though.”

“I believe it,” I said.

“You’re sure it was Gary?” Les asked.

“Pretty sure,” Will replied.  “He was using a small red car.  An older model.  I’m guessing it was the one he was driving when he shot Nat the first time outside your office.”

Les nodded.  “Most likely,” he agreed.  “Will, you know that when you arrest Gary, we can’t defend him.  We know Natalie and you too well.  Conflict of interest.”

“I don’t really give a damn,” Will said.  “I may be the county sheriff, but at this point, I just want to put a bullet in his head.”

Les put his hand on Will’s shoulder.  “I understand,” he said.  “But don’t!”

Will simply didn’t look happy.

“What about the deputy?” I asked.  “He had a family, didn’t he?”

Will nodded.  “Simpson had a young wife and a kid.  A boy.  I had to have Russ give them the bad news last night.  I haven’t had time to visit them myself, but I need to do that…today!”

“I’m glad it’s not me,” Les told him.

Will nodded.  “The worst duty in the world.  It’s possible that when Gary shot him, he may have thought he was killing me instead.  He sure didn’t waste any time though before he fired his second shot at Natalie.  She said it all happened so fast she didn’t know what was happening, and then she was falling down, and she doesn’t remember a damn thing after that.  My neighbor heard the shots and went to check.  He called it in.”

“We heard you found more money out at the Jeskey place,” I said.

“Yeah.  I was still at the station with it when it happened.  I wish to hell I was with Nat instead.”

“Of course you do,” I told him.

“How much money was there?” Les asked.  I could have hit him for asking a question like that.

“I don’t know, and I don’t give a damn,” Will replied.

I didn’t blame him for that answer at all.  “When you left Freaky and her friends, I guess they were all good?”

He gave me a nasty look.  “They’re fine!” he said.  “If they hadn’t found that money then Nat would have been home with me, and none of this would have happened.”

“Easy Will,” Les said.  “You said Gary was just sitting across the street.  The minute either of you walked out of the house he would have shot you.  You could be dead instead of your deputy.”

“Maybe!” Will replied.  “Just maybe.  I’d just be happier if my entire life didn’t revolve around Freaky so much.  Nat’s either.  Especially now.”

“But you did find all that money,” Les reminded him.

“Another headache!” Will said.  “Russ is dealing with it though.  If I’m not careful, he’s going to have my job.”

“Don’t worry,” I told him.  “There’s not a chance of that and you know it.  Everyone here in the county loves you.”

“Except Gary.  He’d just love me to be dead.”

“True,” I said.  “So find him.”

“We’re trying.  I can promise you that.  We’re trying.”

“I guess I better go out and check on Freaky later then,” I told him.

“They should be fine,” Will said.  “Leave them.”

“Will, they need some things still.”

“They’re driving one of the trucks out there.  They can get around by themselves.”

“Oh?  Did Natalie give them some money too?”

“Hell if I know,” Will replied.  “I don’t think so, but I guess you’ll have to check.”

“Don’t worry, I will.”

“I ain’t worrying about Freaky or any of her friends right now.  I’ve got enough to worry about right here!”

“Of course you do,” I told him.

We left him and headed back to our car.  I wondered again if Nat had given Freaky and her friends any money.  Without that, having a vehicle to drive wouldn’t do them much good at all.  And the way Nat and I were working things so far, if either of us had given them some money, the other would know about it.  For that reason alone I felt sure that Nat hadn’t given them a dime.  If they had a truck to drive now, why hadn’t she?  I needed to check.

Once we got back to our office, I got on the phone.  My first call went to Judge Reinhart.  “Have you heard about Natalie being shot?” I asked.

“Yes!  Have you heard how she’s doing?”

“We just left the sheriff at the hospital.  He said she’ll be fine, but she’s hurting quite a bit right now.”

“If she got shot, then I have no doubt she’s hurting.  Damn Jeskeys.  I hope the sheriff finds him soon!”

“We all do,” I agreed.  “And the best news for Les and I is that we can’t defend him.  Conflict of interest.”

“Damn!” the judge swore.  “We’ll have to bring in someone from outside.”

“I’ll have to leave that to you,” I told him.  “Judge, before Natalie was shot, did she ask you about giving Freaky and her friends any more money?”

“She never contacted me.  Why would she?  You and she were the trustees, not me.  And you mentioned something about Freaky’s grandmother from Knoxville too.  That’s your job, not mine.”

“Yeah,” I said.  “I just thought in light of all the money they found out there Saturday…”

“What money?” he asked.

“They found another one of the Jeskey’s hiding places.  Evidently a good one, and it was filled with money.  Some guns too I heard, but mostly a lot of money.”

“How much money?”

“I only heard a lot.  I don’t think the sheriff has been able to process it yet.”

“He’s got other things to worry about right now,” the judge said.  “And if it was a lot, then maybe keeping quiet about it might be the best thing.”

“True,” I agreed.  “I’ll keep my mouth shut from now on.  Okay, I was just wondering, that’s all.  I’ll call Stella down in Knoxville and check with her.  I guess she should know that Natalie will be laid up for a bit anyway.”

“You three are the trustees, and you’re Freaky’s advocate.  You don’t need to check with me.  It’s not my place.”

“Yeah, you’re right.  Thanks.  See you.”

My next call went to Stella Harper down in Knoxville, Freaky’s grandmother.  “Hi Stella,” I said once she had answered the phone.  “This is Pamela McGregor.  How are you?”

“I’m fine Pam,” she said.  “But if you’re calling about something to do with Freaky, then I think it would be better if you talk to my daughter Kathy instead.”

“Kathy?”

“I think she’s going to have to take over handling anything to do with Freaky from now on.”

“Why?” I asked.

“Kathy and I decided it might be better to keep my husband as far from the Freaky situation as possible.  I think he was under the impression that we could find and bring back Brian, but after actually meeting Freaky, that’s clearly not the case.  Kathy on the other hand seems to be fascinated with Freaky.  I think it has something to do with the fact that Freaky looks so much like her mother, Hailey.  And Kathy and Hailey were always very close.”

“Okay,” I said, still wondering about that situation.

Stella gave me Kathy’s phone number.  As I hung up, I remembered the conversation I had overheard in the car after they had met Freaky.  Jim Harper had considered Freaky to be some kind of monster.  I also remembered that I had gotten the impression that Jim hadn’t been happy about the money situation.  Why wouldn’t he be?  He had gotten all that insurance money that should rightfully belong to Freaky.  Was he afraid we would take that money away from him?  I guess now that Brian could be proven to be alive, that was possible.  But of course, even if it did belong to Freaky, should we try and take it away?

I dialed the number that Stella had given me for Katherine, her daughter.  “Kathy?  This is Pam McGregor.  Your mother asked me to contact you about being one of the trustees for Freaky’s money.”

“Yeah,” she replied.  “Mom and I kind of thought it might be better.  Dad’s not too happy about things.”

“Why is that?” I asked.

“I think that dad feels that he should have gotten a piece of all the money Clive’s farms were sold for.”

“Him?  Why would he think that?”

“Who knows?  Maybe just because of all the heartache and distress my sister’s death caused the family.”

“There is that,” I agreed, although I wasn’t sure about how that would go in court.

“I’m not sure that Mom is happy about Freaky either,” she told me.

“She’s not?  I got the impression that she was delighted to see Freaky.”

“Yes and no.  Like Dad, I think they both thought that somehow they could bring back Brian.  Dad especially seems to be…uh…disgusted with the situation.”

“And your mother feels the same?”

“Somewhat,” she confirmed.  “But me…I’m delighted I think.  Especially after seeing her.  I just feel really sorry for her and all the things she’s had to go through.  And she doesn’t seem to know anything!”

“No, she doesn’t.  That’s why we arranged for the teachers.”

“That was a good idea,” Kathy told me.

“Thanks,” I said.  “Listen, Kathy, I’m sure you haven’t heard, but Natalie was shot on Saturday.”

“Shot!  Is she dead?”

“No.  She’s going to be fine.  The deputy with her died though.  But Natalie and the sheriff had just spent a good part of the day out at the farm with Freaky.  They found some more money, and from what I hear, it’s a lot more money.  Nobody knows yet how much.”

“So Freaky could be rich?” she asked.

“Could be.  It’s too soon to tell yet, and we have to be very careful about who that money might belong to.”

“So what do you need me to do?” she asked.

“Nothing,” I said.  “Except…for now anyway, Natalie and I decided that all the trustees for Freaky’s money need to be in the loop about every dollar we give them.  Once the money is fully straightened out, we think we can just give them an allowance, but we’re not there yet.  All this is just too new.  Not to mention, it’s been filled with too many things happening.”

“So you need to spend some money on her?  Do it!  And while you’re at it, buy her a washing machine at least!  Geez!  The way she handles that is beyond the dark ages!”

“True,” I agreed.  “We haven’t gotten that far though.  I just wanted to see if you had any objections to me giving them some money to work with.”

“Of course not.  How much?”

“Any suggestions?”

“A lot!”

“Okay.  I’ll think of something and let you know.”

“Fine.  And Pam….”

“Yes?”

“I’m thinking of driving up there next weekend to see her.  Do you think there’d be a problem with that?  I’d like Freaky to meet my kids, especially since they’re all close to her age.”

“Kathy,” I said.  “That might be a very nice idea.”

“Great!  See you then.”

I ended the call and went to find my husband.  “Les, I’m running out to the Jeskey farm.  I’m going to give those women a few dollars to work with.”

“Fine,” he said.  “Be careful!  We don’t know where Gary is.”

“True!” I agreed.  “See you later.”

I got into the car and made my first stop at the bank, then I continued on to the Jeskey farm.  When I got there I couldn’t help but notice the deputy that was not just parked there, but he was walking around in front of the house.  “Checking on the girls?” I asked him as I headed for the front porch.

“The sheriff decided that just driving by once in a while isn’t good enough,” he told me.  “We’re keeping a deputy here all the time now until we can find Gary.”

“Good idea!  Thanks,” I told him.

I continued on to the front door and knocked.  Shantel answered it.  “Miss Pam.  How are you?”

“I’m fine Shantel, how are you?”

“I’m great!  I got to church yesterday, and it was faaantastic!”

“Good,” I said.  “I’m glad.

“Hi Pam,” Lisa called from the table where she was sitting with Freaky.

I went over to see what they were doing.  “You’re writing!” I said.

“Yeah,” Freaky replied.  “And it’s hard.  Did you know that the word elemenopee isn’t a word?  It’s just a bunch of different letters.”

I looked at Lisa a bit confused.  “Elem…”

“From the alphabet song,” she told me.

I wasn’t sure I understood, but as long as they were working with Freaky I considered it a good thing.  “You all know that Natalie got shot, don’t you?”

“Yeah,” Shantel said.  “One of the deputies told us.  That’s bad!”

“Real bad,” Lisa agreed.  “How is she?”

“Hurting, but getting better,” I told her.  “The real reason I’m here right now though is to bring you some money.”

“Oh happy day!” Shantel declared.

“It’s not much for now, but there’ll be more later.  We’re going to be setting you up with an allowance soon, but we’re not there yet.  Especially after they found more money.”

“The sooner the better,” Lisa told me.

I nodded.  “We’re trying,” I told her.  I opened my purse and pulled out the three hundred dollars I had gotten from the bank.  “There’s three hundred dollars here,” I told them.  “A hundred for each of you.  It’s not much, but it should get you through for the rest of the week…hopefully.  Let me know if you run into anything and need more.”

I started to set the money on the table when Lisa asked, “Is that all in twenties?”

I was confused.  “Yes.  Why?”

“Okay Freaky,” she said.  “Counting time.”

“No!” Freaky wailed.  “I hate counting.”

“Tough!”  Lisa took the stack of bills from me.  “Now count!” she said to Freaky.  She laid out one of the twenties.

“One,” Freaky said.  Lisa put another one with the first.  “Two,” Freaky counted.  Lisa went all the way to five, then she took that stack and pushed it toward Shantel.  Then she started again, having Freaky count to five.  Lisa took that stack of money and pulled it over closer to her, then she started with the remaining hundred dollars.  Again, Freaky counted to five.

“How many?” Lisa asked again.

“Five,” Freaky said.

Lisa pushed the money over right in front of Freaky and said, “This money is yours.  All yours and only you can spend it.  But Freaky, you’re going to have to learn to keep track of how much you spend, and how much you have left.”

“Why?” Freaky whined.  “Why can’t you do it?  Besides, that’s men’s business.”

“No it’s not, and you know it!  We discussed all that.  Now, you want more story books don’t you?”

“Yes,” Freaky said.

“Then you’re going to have to buy them yourself…with that money.”

I watched as Freaky looked at Lisa.

“It’s so hard!”

I watched as Lisa leaned over and hugged Freaky lightly.  “It will get easier,” Lisa told her.  “I promise.”