Book Four - Part 8 - Rhyming Evil - Chapter One

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible

New Living Testament, copyright ©1996, 2004

Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishing, Inc.

Quotations used by permission from Bartleby.com ©1993-2004

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Foreword

A writer returns to Montie to do more than autograph another book. Carter may be biting off more than he can chew.

Riddles are being left at the Twenty-Second. Riddles, that in the beginning aren’t difficult to figure out, but the more riddles left, the more dangerous things become. As it continues, Baker understands a human life is at stake. But whose? Will there be enough time to save this person’s life and put an end to the riddles?

A commitment of love begins for two people. Two others feel they have found a beginning toward a lasting relationship. Still, there are two other people who decide to take commitment a step further. There will be other relationships that begin and end all too soon.

A fire happens off Highway 60 toward Stanhouse. A house burns down, or did it? Was there anything there to begin with?

Lee Austin (former military returns home), and twin-brother of Ricky Austin, who, along with his wife, were brutally murdered. Lee sets his sights on finding their killer.

Somewhere, as always, Freddy will be around.

Enjoy.

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Excerpt

“Officer Andrews?”

Dianne looked up and saw a doctor standing at the edge of the waiting room. She got off her chair, slowly followed by everyone else who was with her.

“He is an extremely fortunate man. All three bullets went out the back. None of the major arteries were hit. He is a resilient individual. He did lose quite a lot of blood, but we’ve given him three pints of blood via a transfusion.

“He is still in serious, but stable condition. I advise he not have,” he looked around the waiting room, “too many visitors for at least three days. We are going to keep him at least thirty days to monitor his progress and to make certain all steps we took, do not change course. By then, or during that period, we can determine if and when he can go home.

“With exercise, a sensible diet, Officer Prescott should be up and walking around by the end of September and able to return to work by December.”

Dianne felt relieved. The entourage behind her were smiling, clapping one another on the shoulder. A few even shed grateful tears.

Dianne walked up to Baker and said, “God, has the best hands, doesn’t he?”

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A peaceful heart leads to a healthy body.

jealousy is like cancer in the bones. Proverbs 14: 30

Chaos of thought and passion, all confused.

Still by himself abused or disabused.

Created half to rise, and half to fall.

Great lord of all things, yet a prey to all.

Sole judge of truth, in endless error hurled, —

The glory, jest, and riddle of the world.

Alexander Pope (1688-1744)

There are all types of cancer inside people. Surgeons can

remove some; others, if you really believe, removed from

God. Then there are those who need it removed by me.

And that’s no riddle. That’s a fact

Freddy

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Friday - June 22nd

The Squad Room – 8:29 a.m.

“You all have your rotations for this quarter. That should keep you from being bored. The good things, we haven’t had any issues the last couple of months, and I’m sure we are all happy with that. Hopefully, we can keep this streak going.”

“Baker,” spoke up, Davis, “how much longer will it be before Ed shows his ugly mug back around here?”

“Can’t answer that one, Davis. Maybe another week or two, maybe longer. He’s been busy with therapy and his classes, but I’ll let him know you asked about him.

“Now, if there isn’t anything else; then get out there and be safe and keep our streets safe.”

Once the team thinned out, Baker got herself a cup of mud-pie coffee from the machine, went into her office, sat at her desk, and began going through some paperwork. After ten minutes of staring at the words on paper, she sat back and mulled over the last several weeks.

After the harrowing DVD she watched, along with Ed and Satchell, a few days went by before she was ready to steel her nerves and get back into her cop-mom-wife mode again. They tried doing a search with authorities based on where Freddy sent the package from, but Baker knew it wouldn't result in anything. The local police in Buenos Aires isn't famous for digging deep to uncover a crime.

Then she remembered the call. 3:56 p.m. A reunion of sorts was to take place. A relative had been located.

It had been nice having Leon around for a few weeks, and Stevie was becoming used to having him around, but everyone knew it was temporary.

It was on a Monday, the twenty-eighth day of May, when Lynetta Odell Mason, a large, Black woman with a robust laugh and toothy smile, she drove all the way up from Tomahawk, North Carolina, to get Leon. She was his aunt, his mother’s sister. Though they were never close over the last ten years, “Family is family,” was how Lynetta put it. She thanked Baker for watching over Leon.

As they drove away, Leon sat in the backseat waving goodbye as he cried quietly. What he saw in return were three arms waving goodbye: two people with tears in their eyes, the third, feeling both Baker’s and Stevie’s grief and instant loss.

But, as they say, life moved on.

Moving her mental camera forward, she saw Ed making his final preparations for surgery, a transplant that wouldn’t be done until June fourth, but on May thirtieth, saw the changing of the guard.

Sergeant Dewey McDaley was stepping down from duty. Not one man or woman who worked at the Twenty-Second, could hide their sadness at seeing him leave, but at the same time, there were smiles, and well-wishes made at seeing Dewey finally getting his turn to enjoy life.

A small gathering was held outside the Twenty-Second with local news coverage as Satchell spoke to the press.

“It is my honor, and privilege, to give both this gold watch, and it really is gold,” the crowd laughed, “to a former police officer and good friend, Sergeant Dewey McDaley. Also, on behalf of the mayor, and City Council, this check for $10,000.” Satchell looked at Dewey as he walked to the podium, stuck out his arms and unashamedly, wrapped them around Dewey, giving him a strong hug.

Dewey turned to the crowd, saying, “I’ve seen four mayors’ and five captains’ since I’ve been here. I have worked with some of the best men and women in blue that’s walked in and out of the Twenty-Second. I’m immensely proud to say I could have never found a better class of brothers and sisters on the face of the earth. And I’ve watched the best and brightest, buried, to keep our city safe, and respectable. Now, it’s time for me to stand down, let some new blood take over, and go out and enjoy the years ahead of me. But, if it weren’t for those who went on before me, and for those who stand around me now, I would probably have never had much of a future to enjoy.” Dewey turned to look at the building and said,

“Thank you, Number 22, and thank you to all those you hold dear to me. I thank you all.”

If you had been there, and didn’t feel your heart tugged on, then you weren’t human.

Satchell made two more announcements. One, that Antony Spinelli would be reassigned from night desk duty clerk to day shift and promoted to Sergeant. He also named John Marchetti as the new property clerk, although he was a transplant from the Stanhouse PD.

And so, a month ended without a bang.

When the weekend passed, Baker, Stevie, Ellie, her parents, Satchell, and other officers, would pop in and out over the course of the day, and being vigilant in their desire to stay close by as Ed went through with the transplant. It was a surgery that was said to be four hours. It lasted, six.

There wouldn’t be any cause for concern. The bionics of the arm took longer than expected to react to human tissue and nerve endings. Besides, Ed was still a bit too groggy to hold a conversation. Baker and Stevie stayed by his bedside in the hospital room until he awoke with a much clearer head.

By that Friday, he was home. Though it was brief, the moment was a tender one, because for the first time since Freddy sliced his arm off with his Bowie knife, Ed could actually put two arms around Baker and hold her.

Things were on the upswing. Ed’s therapy started a week later. “Small steps lead to larger steps,” she heard Mrs. Peterson tell him. Ed was learning. By mid-month he was progressing to where he was two months ahead of schedule.

“He is so much like Stevie. Determined to conquer and rise above,” Mrs. Peterson said to her one afternoon.

Coming back to the present world, rummaging through more papers, she took another sip of her mud coffee. “That’s why I married him.”