Claws For Concern

She nodded, and I headed from the room.

A few minutes later I was comfortably settled on the sofa with my laptop and Diesel stretched out beside me. I opened my e-mail program and waited for it to load. My cell phone rang and I picked it up from the end table beside me. Jack Pemberton was calling.

“Hi, Jack,” I said. “How did it go with the sheriff?”

“It went fine,” Jack replied. “Look, I’m calling from my car. I’m tailing Elizabeth Barber, and she’s headed for Athena. I bet she’s planning to go to the hospital. She might be intending to make another attempt on Bill Delaney.”

THIRTY-FOUR

“Surely she can’t be that crazy,” I said. “She has to know that it would be incredibly risky to try to kill him again.”

“Who can tell with her?” Jack said. “I can’t really figure her out.”

“How far away are you now?” I asked.

“I figure we’ll be in Athena in about an hour and a quarter, roughly,” Jack said.

I thought fast about what to do. “Did you tell the sheriff we are pretty sure she was the driver in the hit-and-run?”

“I did,” Jack said. “I’m not sure he completely believed me, though.”

“Have you alerted him to the fact that she’s left town?”

“Not yet,” Jack said. “I wanted to call you first. I’ll call him and let him know. I think he needs to get in touch with the police there.”

“I agree. I would try it myself, but it would have a lot more weight coming from a sheriff than from me,” I said. “I’ll head to the hospital and keep an eye on things. He may still be in the ICU, and that’s good. It would make it harder for her to get to him without anyone seeing her.”

“Sounds good,” Jack said. “I’ll call you when we get close to Athena.”

I thanked him and ended the call. I shut down my laptop and put it aside. “Diesel, I’m afraid I’m going to have to be gone for a while. I don’t know how long, and you can’t come with me.”

As expected, the cat meowed, but I simply couldn’t take him with me. The hospital did allow visits with therapy animals, but the animals had to be registered with the hospital, along with their handlers. Diesel and I weren’t part of the program, although I had looked into it. Now I wished I had signed us up. Diesel would be good with patients. He wouldn’t have any trouble passing the behavioral tests they gave the prospective therapy pets.

Too late to worry about that right now. I would simply have to leave Diesel at home. Azalea would be leaving soon, and I had no idea whether Stewart would be here to look after him. If Stewart wasn’t available, I’d have to take Diesel to Laura’s house. He would love that because he could be near the baby.

I texted Stewart to inquire and heard back quickly. He was sorry, but he wouldn’t be home until around six. That meant Laura’s house. I called her, and Frank actually answered her phone.

“Hi, Charlie, what’s up?” he said.

“I need a babysitter,” I replied. “Would you and Laura mind looking after Diesel for a few hours? If it’s convenient, of course.”

“Sure, bring him on over whenever you’re ready,” Frank said. “We’re not going anywhere tonight, and Diesel can help look after little Charlie. It’s amazing to me how he watches over the baby.”

“Yes, it is. He loves that baby almost as much as I do,” I said. “Thanks. I’ll be over in the next twenty minutes or so.”

“Come on, boy,” I said as I ended the call. “We’re going to see Laura, Frank, and baby Charlie.”

Diesel perked up at the mention of those names. He hopped off the sofa and hurried ahead of me to the kitchen, anxious to be on the way.

Azalea was pouring the pecan pie filling into pie shells when we walked in. “Azalea, I’m going to have to go to the hospital for a while, and I don’t know how long I’ll be. I’m taking Diesel over to stay with Laura and Frank while I’m gone.”

“Everything will be fine here, Mr. Charlie. You go on and do what you need to do,” Azalea said.

“Thanks. I’ll see you in the morning.”

Diesel was already at the door, waiting for me to open it so he could get to the car. He was like an impatient child. I got him into the car, and moments later we were backing out of the garage and on our way.

The drive to Frank and Laura’s house took only a few minutes. I wanted to get Diesel there and be on my way to the hospital. I had a sense of urgency that I had to keep under control, otherwise I’d get pulled over for speeding. Elizabeth Barber couldn’t possibly have reached Athena yet, much less the hospital, but I was anxious about Bill Delaney’s safety. I forced myself to drive at a more reasonable speed, and we made good time.

I explained my errand to Frank. He looked concerned, but I told him I was certain there would be police officers there if they were needed. I was thinking that surely Elmer Lee Johnson would take this seriously enough that he would communicate with the police department here. And surely they in turn would take this seriously enough to send someone to keep an eye on Bill Delaney.