like hospital voices. He asked if he was in the hospital, but Troy said no. I made a couple of calls to several of the local emergency rooms. Medford Mercy told me he’d been in there with a wound to the side of his abdomen, just missing his liver; it took the doctor fourteen stitches to sew him up. The guy said a garage door hinge flew into him while he was doing a repair on it. Came in with the metal still stuck in his gut.”
“ Thanks, Luke. Out of curiosity, how did you get Mercy hospital to give you the information on him?”
“ Oh, good thing for you, I sort of have a thing going on with a cute little nurse over there. She said the guy was a real jerk. 'Scum of the earth' were her exact words. What’s this about, Jackson? You can trust me. You know I’ll help in any way I can.”
“ Yeah, I know. This guy beat up on a friend of mine. He’s her husband. She’s young, scared, and doesn’t want to press charges.”
“ Okay. Well, I know she’s in good hands with you. Let me know if she decides to file a complaint. Sounds like she needs a divorce, too.”
“ Yeah.” Wouldn’t that be nice, I thought. “Thanks, Luke. I owe you one. I’ll call you to file a restraining order against the guy just as soon as I get some pictures and a police report filed if she agrees.”
“ No problem. Hey, it sounds like you’re looking to get into the P.I. business. What’s the matter, the music world not cutting it for you?”
“ Naw. Music’s my life. You know that. I’m just looking out for a friend. I’ll try and email those pictures to you by this afternoon.”
“ I knew there had to be a female in the mix here somewhere. Keep me posted,” Luke said, chuckling as he hung up the phone.
Well, great! Lena didn’t kill the bastard. Unfortunately, though, she was married—to a scumbag—but still, married. Now I had to find a way to tell her so she wouldn’t be upset with me for checking.
Before I knew it, two hours had gone by. I went upstairs to check on Lena. I peeked in through the glass. She was still sound asleep and looked like an angel as she lay there with Rosie sleeping under her arm and Rufus down at the other end on top of her feet. I hated to disturb her, so I turned to leave when I heard her call my name.
“Jackson?”
I used my key and opened the door. “Yeah. Hey, I ah … wanted to know if you wanted something to eat, but I thought you were still sleeping. I didn’t want to disturb you.”
“ Yeah, I saw you peeking in. Thanks, but I’m not very hungry right now.” She reached behind her and pulled out the plastic bag that once held ice, now just a bag of water. “Hey, let me get you some more ice. It’s good that you’ve been applying it so often. It looks like it’s helping a lot. Your eye isn’t nearly as bad as it was a couple of days ago.” I picked up the baggie and stopped. “Do you think I could borrow that hammer you have stashed under your pillow?”
“She smiled. “Sure.”
She handed me the hammer, and I went to fill the baggie with ice cubes, crushing them down to small chips so they would be easier to manipulate and less bumpy against her eye.
“Here, place this on your eye for a while.”
“Thanks,” she said when I handed her the new cold bag of ice. “I’ve been applying it about three times a day. The sooner I can go out in public, the sooner I can pay you.”
S he rubbed her hand over her forehead before sinking back down so the ice bag could rest over her eye. She looked sleepy, laying there staring up at me with one eye. I dreaded telling her what I knew, and I figured she would be furious with me, but I couldn’t let her continue to believe she actually killed her husband.
“Lena,” I said , and she looked up at me with that one groggy, sad eye. I changed my mind. This girl had enough pain going on right now. What I had to tell her would only make her angry and hurt that I betrayed her. I couldn’t tell her yet. I needed more time to
“ Thanks, Luke. Out of curiosity, how did you get Mercy hospital to give you the information on him?”
“ Oh, good thing for you, I sort of have a thing going on with a cute little nurse over there. She said the guy was a real jerk. 'Scum of the earth' were her exact words. What’s this about, Jackson? You can trust me. You know I’ll help in any way I can.”
“ Yeah, I know. This guy beat up on a friend of mine. He’s her husband. She’s young, scared, and doesn’t want to press charges.”
“ Okay. Well, I know she’s in good hands with you. Let me know if she decides to file a complaint. Sounds like she needs a divorce, too.”
“ Yeah.” Wouldn’t that be nice, I thought. “Thanks, Luke. I owe you one. I’ll call you to file a restraining order against the guy just as soon as I get some pictures and a police report filed if she agrees.”
“ No problem. Hey, it sounds like you’re looking to get into the P.I. business. What’s the matter, the music world not cutting it for you?”
“ Naw. Music’s my life. You know that. I’m just looking out for a friend. I’ll try and email those pictures to you by this afternoon.”
“ I knew there had to be a female in the mix here somewhere. Keep me posted,” Luke said, chuckling as he hung up the phone.
Well, great! Lena didn’t kill the bastard. Unfortunately, though, she was married—to a scumbag—but still, married. Now I had to find a way to tell her so she wouldn’t be upset with me for checking.
Before I knew it, two hours had gone by. I went upstairs to check on Lena. I peeked in through the glass. She was still sound asleep and looked like an angel as she lay there with Rosie sleeping under her arm and Rufus down at the other end on top of her feet. I hated to disturb her, so I turned to leave when I heard her call my name.
“Jackson?”
I used my key and opened the door. “Yeah. Hey, I ah … wanted to know if you wanted something to eat, but I thought you were still sleeping. I didn’t want to disturb you.”
“ Yeah, I saw you peeking in. Thanks, but I’m not very hungry right now.” She reached behind her and pulled out the plastic bag that once held ice, now just a bag of water. “Hey, let me get you some more ice. It’s good that you’ve been applying it so often. It looks like it’s helping a lot. Your eye isn’t nearly as bad as it was a couple of days ago.” I picked up the baggie and stopped. “Do you think I could borrow that hammer you have stashed under your pillow?”
“She smiled. “Sure.”
She handed me the hammer, and I went to fill the baggie with ice cubes, crushing them down to small chips so they would be easier to manipulate and less bumpy against her eye.
“Here, place this on your eye for a while.”
“Thanks,” she said when I handed her the new cold bag of ice. “I’ve been applying it about three times a day. The sooner I can go out in public, the sooner I can pay you.”
S he rubbed her hand over her forehead before sinking back down so the ice bag could rest over her eye. She looked sleepy, laying there staring up at me with one eye. I dreaded telling her what I knew, and I figured she would be furious with me, but I couldn’t let her continue to believe she actually killed her husband.
“Lena,” I said , and she looked up at me with that one groggy, sad eye. I changed my mind. This girl had enough pain going on right now. What I had to tell her would only make her angry and hurt that I betrayed her. I couldn’t tell her yet. I needed more time to
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