Digging Up The Dirt

CHAPTER 19

“Good heavens,” An’gel said, stunned and still half-asleep. “What happened?”

“Car wreck,” Barbie said. “Her car went into a ditch on the highway between where you live and town, evidently. Somebody came along and found her and called 911, thank the Lord.”

“Gracious,” Dickce said. “I wonder what caused her to go off the road?”

Barbie said, “Well, she has been known to drink more than she should and then get behind the wheel. I suspect that’s what happened.”

“Yes, I suppose so,” An’gel said. “Where was she going? Has anybody been able to talk to her?”

“I don’t think so,” Barbie said. “She’s in a coma. I thought y’all should know. She’s going to need all the prayers she can get.”

“Poor Arliss,” Dickce said. “We certainly will pray for her.”

“Thank you for letting us know, Barbie,” An’gel said. “We’ll get over to the hospital first thing in the morning to check on her and see if there’s anything we can do.”

“I’ll see you there,” Barbie replied. “Bye.”

An’gel and Dickce hung up their phones, and An’gel walked out of her room into the hall. Dickce met her there.

“Sister, what on earth is going on?” Dickce said after a yawn. “First Sarinda, and now Arliss. Could they both be accidents?”

“Mighty coincidental if they are,” An’gel said. “Come on, I don’t know about you, but I could use a hot drink. Let’s make hot chocolate.”

Dickce nodded and followed An’gel downstairs to the kitchen. An’gel took charge of making the hot chocolate, and Dickce retrieved mugs from the cabinet. Neither spoke again until they had filled their mugs and were sitting at the kitchen table.

After a couple of sips, An’gel spoke. “Barbie said Arliss was found in a ditch along the highway between here and town. I think she was probably on her way home from Ashton Hall.”

“Or going to Ashton Hall,” Dickce said. “If she had a snootful, it’s the kind of thing she would do. She’s brazen enough when she’s sober, but she gets reckless when she’s had too much to drink.”

“I suppose,” An’gel said. “I think it’s more likely she was on her way home.” She had more hot chocolate. “There’s one way to find out.”

“Call Hadley, you mean?” Dickce asked.

An’gel nodded. “I imagine Barbie has already called him, so he’s probably awake. Shall we?” She gestured toward the kitchen phone.

“Why not?” Dickce asked. “You do it.”

“All right, I will.” An’gel stared at her mug for a moment before she set it aside and went over to the phone. “Do you remember the number?”

“I think so.” Dickce recited it, and An’gel punched it in.

After three rings, a sleepy voice answered.

An’gel put her hand over the mouthpiece. “Not Hadley. A woman. Maybe the housekeeper?” She took her hand away and said, “I’m so sorry to wake you. Is this Ashton Hall?”

“Yes, it is. Who are you, and why are you calling in the middle of the night?” the woman asked, obviously annoyed.

“This is An’gel Ducote. I’m trying to reach Hadley. A mutual friend of ours was badly injured in an accident on the highway near there. I’m trying to get in touch with him to let him know.”

“I see.” An’gel heard the sounds of bedcovers rustling. “Let me see if I can find him for you. Does he have your number?”

“Yes, he should,” An’gel said.

“Okay, then, I’ll go find him and tell him to call you.”

An’gel heard a dial tone. She came back to the table with the handset. “She’s going to look for him and have him call us.”

“I feel bad we woke her up.” Dickce frowned. “Why didn’t Hadley answer, I wonder?”

Nearly ten minutes passed before the phone rang. By then they had both finished their chocolate and Dickce was washing out the mugs and saucepan.

An’gel answered the call. She barely had time to say hello before Hadley launched into speech.

“An’gel, thanks for calling, but I’m about to head to the hospital,” he said.

“Obviously you already know about Arliss,” An’gel said. “I guess Barbie Gross called you.”

“No,” Hadley said. “The hospital called my cell phone. Evidently Arliss had me listed as an emergency contact. Look, I really need to get to the hospital.”

“Be careful,” An’gel said. “Call and let us know if there’s anything we can do.”

“Sure.” Hadley ended the call.

An’gel replaced the handset. “That was peculiar.”

“What are you talking about?” Dickce asked. “What did Hadley say?”

An’gel shared Hadley’s part of the conversation with her sister. When An’gel finished, Dickce shook her head.

“Why would Arliss have him listed as her emergency contact? She has a cousin in town, and a sister in Jackson. That’s strange. He hasn’t been back in town that long.”

“They must have struck up a relationship almost immediately,” An’gel said. “Or else Arliss was jumping the gun. I wouldn’t be surprised if that was the case.”

“Maybe,” Dickce said. “Did he sound really upset?”

An’gel nodded. “Maybe he’s closer to her than we realized.”

“You didn’t get to ask him whether Arliss had been with him at Ashton Hall tonight,” Dickce said. “I suppose we’ll find that out tomorrow. In the meantime, I’m going back to bed.”

“Me, too.” An’gel followed her sister out of the kitchen and back up to the second floor.

“Good night again,” Dickce said.

“Good night.” An’gel closed her bedroom door behind her. She removed her robe and laid it across the foot of the bed. Then she climbed in and got comfortable before she reached over to turn out the light.

She lay there awhile, her mind too busy to let her relax into sleep right away. She worried that Arliss’s accident was not an accident, but a deliberate attempt on the woman’s life. An’gel found the coincidence of this event too great after the deliberate—and successful—attempt on Sarinda’s life.

What was behind all of it? She worried over that until, at last, she fell asleep from exhaustion.

An’gel and Dickce were on their way to the hospital a few minutes before eight that morning. About a half mile past the driveway to Ashton Hall they saw the place where Arliss’s car had evidently gone into the ditch. To judge by the deep gouges in the turf, An’gel thought, the wreck had been horrendous. She uttered another quick prayer for Arliss.

“She went off the road less than a minute after she turned onto the highway,” Dickce said.

“Yes, and that strikes me as odd,” An’gel said. “This stretch of road is perfectly straight for nearly a mile here. What made her run off the road?”

“A deer maybe?” Dickce tightened her grip on the steering wheel.

“Maybe,” An’gel said.

They found Hadley, looking exhausted and hollow-eyed, asleep in the waiting room near the ICU. They hesitated to wake him, but Barbie Gross and Lottie MacLeod entered the room only moments behind them. Lottie went straight to him and shook him awake before anyone could stop her.

Hadley sat up and yawned. He rubbed his face, and after a moment he focused on them. “Good morning,” he said, his voice hoarse.

“Poor man, you’ve been here all night, haven’t you?” Barbie sat down on one side of him, Lottie on the other. Barbie patted his leg, and Lottie stroked his shoulder.

Hadley looked at Barbie and Lottie in turn before he stood up and walked a couple of feet away. He turned and gazed at An’gel and Dickce. “It’s been a hellish night.”

“How is she?” An’gel asked. She and Dickce seated themselves near him.

“Holding her own.” Hadley rubbed a hand across his eyes. “Lord, I need coffee and a hot shower.” He yawned. “Sorry. I told the doctor and the nurses that I’m her stepbrother, otherwise I was afraid they wouldn’t tell me anything.”

“Has anyone called her sister in Jackson?” Barbie asked.

“I did,” Hadley said. “She’s on her way. She ought to be here any minute now.”

“Does the doctor think she’ll make it?” Lottie asked.

“It’s touch and go,” Hadley said. “She has multiple broken bones, and she hasn’t regained consciousness yet.” He glanced at his watch. “At least, not that I’ve heard. Last time I talked to a doctor was about two o’clock.”

“I’m going to get you some coffee,” Barbie said. “I’ll be back in a few minutes.” She left the waiting room. Hadley called his thanks belatedly after her.

“Do you have any idea when the accident happened?” An’gel asked.

“Must have been shortly after ten thirty,” Hadley said. “We had dinner at Ashton Hall, and then we watched a movie. She left right about ten thirty.” He shuddered. “It must have happened within five minutes or so after she left, and I think she was lying there in the wreckage for a good half hour before someone saw it and reported it.”

“Thank the Lord someone did see it and called 911,” Lottie said. “Poor Arliss. It’s a wonder she didn’t die on the spot.”

“Did she hit a deer?” Dickce asked.

Hadley shook his head. “Not that I know of.”

“She was probably drunk,” Lottie said. “Poor Arliss does have a weakness for drink. We’ve worried about her a lot, driving after she’s had too much.”

“That wasn’t the case last night,” Hadley said, his tone sharp as he walked over to Lottie and glared down at her. “So put that right out of your mind. We had a couple of glasses of wine with dinner, but that was all. She was not drunk, do you hear me?” His voice rose on the last few words until he was almost shouting at her.

Lottie shrank back in her seat. Her lip trembled, and she started crying.

Hadley sighed and sat down beside her. He put his arm around her and patted her awkwardly on the knee. “I’m sorry, Lottie. I’m exhausted and upset. I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings or frighten you.”

Lottie cried for a moment longer, then pushed Hadley away. “I’m okay.” She dug in her purse for tissues and dabbed at her eyes.

Hadley got up and moved toward An’gel and Dickce. “Right after we hear from the doctor again, I think I’d better run home and have a shower. Try to get myself together.” He paused for a deep breath. “Will y’all stay here until I get back?”

“Of course,” An’gel said. “I think that’s a good idea. Make sure you eat something, too.”

Hadley nodded. “I had a sausage and biscuit from the hospital cafeteria when it opened at six, just to keep me going for a little while. I could use something more substantial.”

Barbie returned with the coffee, and Hadley accepted it with a smile of thanks.

An’gel waited until he’d had a few sips before she posed the question that had been troubling her ever since she and Dickce had seen the site of the accident.

“If Arliss hadn’t had too much to drink, and she didn’t hit a deer, why did she run off the road?”

Before anyone could respond, Kanesha Berry walked into the waiting room. “Good morning, everyone.” She approached Hadley. “Mr. Partridge, how is Mrs. McGonigal?”

“Holding her own, the last I heard,” he said.

“Good.” Kanesha nodded.

“Do you have any idea what caused the wreck?” An’gel asked.

Kanesha again nodded. She glanced at each person in the room before she responded.

“I’m pretty sure she was deliberately run off the road.”