Tailspin(101)

Now, having learned that it was Delores calling, Nate didn’t know if that was a good thing or bad. Should he feel elation and relief, or dread and fear? Should he shout out a plea for help? Or would that incite Timmy to slit his throat then and there?

Cowardice won out. He said nothing, only sagged a little deeper into the driver’s seat and listened to the one-sided conversation.

“Goliad?” Timmy said. “No, why? Huh. Well, ma’am, I can’t tell you. He dropped me off at my apartment last night, told me to take a pain pill and rest, that he would contact me on an as-needed basis. Haven’t heard from him since.” There was a pause, then, “Dr. Lambert? Oh, now him I can help you with. I’m looking at him.”

Nate heard Delores’s exclamation of surprise, heard her passing the information along, presumably to Richard.

“Where are we?” Timmy said, repeating her question for Nate’s benefit. “A half hour or so from Knoxville, noshing some chow, killing a little time, don’t want to get there too early.”

Delores rattled on for about thirty seconds, but she was talking too fast for Nate to catch what she was saying. When she ran out of breath, Timmy said, “If you’ll allow me, I’ll explain, Mrs. Hunt. See, after I got home last night, I didn’t go straight to bed like Goliad advised.

“No, I started thinking this situation through, and it was like a light bulb came on above my head. You know, like in a cartoon? Or maybe it was a vision from God. Anyway, it occurred to me where that sick little girl—the one I saw on TV with you and the senator? Well, I figured out where she fit into this big picture. She’s in competition with you to get whatever it is that Dr. O’Neal made off with. Tell me if I’m wrong.”

There was silence at the other end of the call. Or, if Delores had spoken, her response had been too softly spoken for Nate to hear.

Timmy continued in a breezy manner. “I got to thinking that shuttling her out of state just wasn’t far enough. You and the senator stopped short. If the lady doctor took a mind to drive up here like we did, and there was no longer any competition for whatever she’s got that you want, then…” He paused, but there was nothing but silence at the other end of the call.

“If you’re as smart a lady as I think you are, Mrs. Hunt, you’re catching my meaning. The only sure way to win this race is to rub out the competition, wouldn’t you say?”

Nate’s stomach heaved. Gorge filled the back of his throat with a citrus sting.

Although he hadn’t heard either Delores or Richard speak a word, Timmy said, “You can thank me later. Oh. On the outside chance I hear from Goliad, I’ll tell him you’re waiting on him to call you.”

With that, he disconnected and laid his phone aside. “Man, my ass is sore from sitting too long.” He arched his back, rolled his shoulders, cracked his knuckles. “Pull back around to the drive-through. I’m gonna have one of those breakfast parfaits.”

Nate stayed as he was, gaping at him. “Are you insane?”

“They’re good. Honest. Crunchy granola. You ought to try one.”

Nate’s chest was so tight with desperation, he could barely push sufficient air across his vocal cords. “You’re going to ‘rub out the competition’? You’re going to kill that child?”

“No!” Timmy laughed, and then laughed harder. “Hell, no. Is that what you thought? No, I’m not going to.” The obscene laughter stopped abruptly. Timmy leveled soulless eyes on Nate. “You are.”





Violet



It’s morning and it’s raining.

I had to get up early on account of it’s my special day, and Mom said we needed to get a move on.

I can’t have a regular bath because of my IV. I get bed baths. Most times nurses give them, but this morning it was Mom. I’m wearing my favorite gown. It’s pink and has a sparkly crown like a princess on the front.

Daddy stayed home from work because it’s my special day.

My brothers had to get up early, too, and they’re mad because they have to wear church clothes, and my oldest brother said he shouldn’t have to because it wasn’t his special day, and Daddy told them to cut out the whining.

I don’t blame my brothers a bit for being mad, and nobody asked me if I wanted a “special day.”

The nurse who spent the night left and another one came to take her place. Her name is Jill. She has a thousand braids with a thousand beads in them. She’s young. Her sneakers have flashing lights around the bottoms, and she said that if I played my cards right, she might get me some like them. My older brother said she was cool, and I think so, too.

I got a present. It’s a new iPad Mini. My brothers tried to hog it.

The doctor came. He’s nicer than Dr. Lambert, but not as nice as Dr. O’Neal.

Dr. O’Neal’s mom died when she was little. That’s what made her want to become a doctor. She doesn’t have a husband or kids. I asked her how come, and she said she’s been too busy trying to make people well. What that really means is that she hasn’t found the right man to marry. I’m sure glad she doesn’t want to marry Dr. Lambert. Gross.

One time she told me she needs my help to cure a lot of people with the same cancer as me. I told her I hoped I didn’t let her down. She gave me a fist bump, and then an extra long hug.