Betrayal Ch. 04

"As a matter of fact, I do. My wife was engaged in a sexual affair with at least seven men. I found out and moved out of my house, but I had it wired to record anything said in the house and on the phone. I heard my wife and her lovers plotting to ensure she got custody of our sons, even though she is too morally corrupt to be raising kids. The men decided they might have to take me out to accomplish that, since it seemed I had evidence that would ruin all of them.

My wife responded to that by telling them she didn't care what they did, but if they didn't make sure she got custody of the kids she would ruin them. There is more, but I'd need to confer with my attorneys before I disclose anything else."

Ranger Boyd replied, "That's enough for now. Everything you've told us is consistent with what we already know, including the identities of the men."

Detective Wellington interjected, "So you won't be surprised when I tell you the truck was borrowed from a friend by John William Rodgers. The friend came forward when he found bullet holes in his truck after hearing about the attempted murder.

Rodgers and three of the others your wife was involved with have disappeared; we have a BOLO on each of them, and are keeping an eye on the others. Because we remain concerned about your safety, the sheriff has an armed guard on duty at all times, and hospital security has been alerted. We feel you are safe here, but please be alert. If you see anyone or anyone does anything suspicious, punch the call button and our guard will be here immediately. Keep in mind that it doesn't have to be one of them; it could be an accomplish, or even someone they hired."

Tim nodded, then stated, "I do have a couple of questions: how is it that my wife, who had just lost custody of our children a few hours earlier, was on site to take my sons only moments after I was shot? I'm not saying she knew I would be shot, but you have to admit it IS very suspicious. Also, why does she now have custody of our sons?"

The detective answered, "We were suspicious about that also, but we were told that she was 'being comforted' by a friend -- a fellow teacher who lives nearby -- after the hearing. They heard the sirens, they knew your boys were at the daycare center, so they rushed to the scene. Her friend backs up her story.

As to why she has custody, your friends and I talked it over. Remember: at that time we didn't know if you would live or die. We felt that your sons had already gone through enough trauma, and did not need to be assigned to strangers by social services. Since they must go into state custody if a parent isn't available, we thought that their mother would be better able to console and take care of them. We all talked to her when she tried to take them, and she explained that she was going to take them to her parents' home fifty miles away, where they would be safe from whatever was happening."

Wellington looked at Jeanie, and then told Tim, "Coach, I know you are mad at her, and I know you have every right; my fellow officer who is your good friend filled me in. But, first, that was the right decision to make under those circumstances, and, second, I've never seen a woman more distraught over something. The officers had to restrain her to let the EMTs do their work to keep you alive. She was screaming 'No! No! Please, Tim, don't die! I love you! I love you!' over and over.

I finally ordered a female Sargent to console and control her, because her actions were making your little boys even more terrified. Mrs. Gonzales took them inside until we could get her under control. When she calmed down the boys calmed down, and they were anxious to go with her after the ambulance took you away. Her friend said she would drive them to her parents' home because they were all too upset to go alone.

So, as unhappy as I'm sure you are, I do believe what we did was the right thing in those circumstances. When you are well enough to care for them you can revisit the court, but until the guys trying to kill you are under arrest, they probably should stay away from you, for their own safety."

After they left, Tim turned to Jeanie and thanked her for staying with him. Jeanie had a worried look on her pretty face when she warned him, "Tim, I heard what they said about being on the alert for anyone suspicious, and I want you to know that I'm concerned about the night nurse that was on duty while you were still in a coma. She was quite brusque with me, challenged why I was allowed in, and she acted as if she hated being your nurse. All the others treat you like a hero and are very gentle with you. She was rough, and seemed to hate even checking on you. It was on her shift, while I was in the bathroom, that you almost died a few days after they brought you in. Do you know her?"

Tim said he didn't remember seeing her, and that he wanted to be awake when she came in tonight to get a reading. Jeanie said she refused to leave his room and stayed awake whenever Nurse Simpson was on duty, and tonight was the beginning of another of her three-day shifts. Tim told her to go to the Haussmann's home and get some rest now so she could stay awake later. She reluctantly agreed, and kissed his forehead gently when she left.

Tim napped until his doctor appeared in the late afternoon. After his examination, he had them remove the IVs and ordered pain pills instead. He urged Tim to take the pills on schedule because the healing would be faster without his natural reaction to pain impeding it. He refused Tim's request to have the catheter removed because the leg had not healed sufficiently to be walked on yet, but told him he had healed enough to begin PT tomorrow, which should accelerate his recovery.

Tim countered that he was already adept at using a bedpan, and would readily become adept at using the urine bottle. The doctor grinned at him, shook his head, and ordered the catheter be removed, with Tim's assurance he wouldn't try to do more than the physical therapist allowed. Tim thanked him profusely, and his raw, achy cock thanked him even more profusely.

Jeanie returned at 6:30, just before the nurses came in and went over his charts. Tim noticed that the new nurse gave Jeanie an ugly look before fixing him with a hateful stare. When Miss Phillips left, he asked the dour faced nurse Simpson, "Do I know you? You look familiar."

She turned quickly to him, searching his face and looking guilty. "I don't think so. I was your nurse for several days while you were in a coma, but I don't think you would remember that."

Tim continued to press her. "Strange. It seems like I've seen you around, somewhere. You don't have any kids in high school, do you?"

"No, I don't have any kids. I'm not married and never have been."

"Okay, well, I'll keep thinking about it. I feel certain I've seen you around somewhere...maybe with someone I know, or at a store. I rarely forget a face, so I'm sure it will come back."

Nurse Simpson looked agitated by his last statement. After again glaring at Jeanie, she left the room. Tim saw her alone at the nurse's station soon thereafter, engaged in a lively telephone conversation. She didn't return to the room until nine, when she brought his pain pill and a glass of water.

She also brought a glass of water for Jeanie, and offered it to her with a smile that didn't quite reach to her cold eyes. Jeanie took it, thanked her, and took a sip. Tim took the pills and water glass from her, and gulped down the pills with a big swallow of water. Nurse Simpson looked pleased, turned, and left.

Tim immediately spit the water back into his glass through the straw and produced the pills that were still in his hand; Jeanie spat the water back into her glass as well. "What do we do next?" he asked.

Jeanie replied, "I'll pour the water into the plastic cups in the restroom and hide them in the shower. You hide the pills in your bed. Then we will both 'pass out'. We may be wrong, but we need to follow our plan. Something is off with her, and we can't take chances."

Ten minutes later Simpson returned to find Tim in his bed sleeping and Jeanie slouched in her chair, out cold. Simpson smiled, took a syringe out of her pocket, and uncovered Tim's arm to administer the injection.

"What are you giving him?" asked a gruff voice from the doorway.

Simpson started, recovered, and said, "Just something that will help him sleep. He needs his rest to recover and heal."

"That's strange," said the voice, "there is nothing on his chart about an injection. I think I need to call the doctor for confirmation; hand me the syringe, and take a seat in the other chair." When she didn't immediately respond, he took the syringe from her hand.

Tim and Jeanie opened their eyes and stared at Simpson. Tim coldly asked, "So which of the slime balls are your working with, or for? My guess is Jeanie's husband, Larry Barnes, but perhaps Benton is paying you, or maybe you are another of Rodgers's sluts. Which is it?"

The nurse looked terrified as she denied knowing any of those names. An orderly from the lab arrived with hospital security; he took the syringe, the water glasses, the water, and the pills to the lab for testing. The police officer and hospital security then asked the nurse what they would find in the syringe. She refused to answer, so the officer told her "You don't have to answer my questions. You have the right to remain silent..." and read her Miranda rights.

After he finished he stated, "With your rights having been read to you, I still have to tell you that I think we will find some kind of poison or something intended to kill Mr. Kelly in the syringe, and we will find something to knock both of them out in the water, and probably in the pills too. When we do, you will be charged with attempted murder. Not only will you lose your nursing credentials, you will spend 10-20 years in prison. Your only hope is to come clean and we will talk to the DA for you. But if you want a lawyer, we will haul your ass to jail and then you can get your lawyer. So, which way do you want to play this?"

Simpson broke down in tears for several minutes, and then defiantly shouted, "They both deserve to die: they have been having an affair! You broke Larry's heart, you bitch, and then you lied and got him put in jail! And you, asshole! You made up a lie that got Larry, JW, and Steve fired! I may go to prison, but they will kill both of you sooner or later!"

Tim's Irish temper got uncaged for just a moment: "You tell your boyfriend Larry that the next time we see each other HE will be in the scope, and I won't miss! Got that, Bitch!"

Jeanie stepped toward her, lowered her voice, and warned, "And if I see him first, I'm going to scratch his lying eyes out!"

Officer Danz smiled at threats going back and forth, and told her to stand up: he handcuffed her, then called for the police team waiting outside to come pick her up and haul her to jail.

When the lab team came inside, so did Detective Wellington. He thanked Tim and Jeanie for being alert and making him aware of their suspicions. "We're doubling the guards inside, and will have an unmarked car parked outside all night. We take her threat seriously, and so should you!"

Tim replied, "Oh, we do! As a result, I want my pistol or another pistol in my bed from this minute forward. Can you make that happen?"

After looking around to make sure no one was in sight, Wellington pulled a pistol out of his leg holster and handed it to Tim: "Keep it hidden, and please do not tell anyone where you got this."

"I will, I won't, and thank!" Tim responded.

"Now, where are you in the investigation? Who are you looking for, and have you found any of them?"

The detective responded, "No, but we have a BOLO on all four, their homes are being watched, and so are their known associates. The four suspects are Barnes, Rodgers, Slaughter, and Benton.

Your wife and sons are with her parents, and the police there have her under both surveillance and protection. They will react immediately if anyone comes to their house, or if Mrs. Kelly leaves. So far, only her mother has left the grounds, and she only went to go get groceries. We received a wiretap order for the phones of all eight suspects, including your wife, earlier today, and those have been initiated."

With a penetrating stare Wellington asked, "You sure you didn't recognize the shooter or anyone else in the pickup? That would help motivate the search for the assassins."

Without breaking eye contact Kelly responded, "If I told you he looked a lot like Larry Barnes, but I couldn't see his whole face because of the scope, that wouldn't change anything, would it? He's already a suspect, and so are the other three I think might have been in the truck. Give me another day or two; maybe, if I really saw them well, it will come back."

Wellington said he would keep them informed and left. Jeanie asked, "Was it Larry who shot you?"

Tim replied that he wasn't certain, but motioned her to come near. He pulled her ear near his mouth and said "Yes. He was the shooter; Rodgers, Benton, and Slaughter were in the truck watching." He pushed her gently away, and warned her "I'm as concerned about you as I am about me. If Larry is involved, and I'm sure he is, he will come after you too. Heck, he's probably more pissed at you than me, so don't go anywhere without an armed escort, okay?"

***

The days passed quickly due to PT twice a day and a steady stream of friends and well-wishers with which to interact. The principal, various teachers and students, several parents, his friend Chet, and the president of the board of trustees all stopped by. Every member of the basketball teams stopped by, as did most of the football players and track athletes he had coached over his two years there.

His attorneys alternated days, but Jeanie, his new rock, stayed at his side except when she needed to clean up and change clothes. Due to the threat made by Nurse Simpson, she rode to and from the Haussmann's home with a pair of LEOs, who escorted her inside as well.

Tim's parents and his brothers and sister had come and stayed for two days, so the nurses knew that Jeanie was not his sister. The head nurse asked him with a grin if it was all right for her to stay, even though she wasn't family. After that, she was accepted in a wifely role, and was provided with a rollaway bed and meals by the friendly nurses, techs, and orderlies.

The person who remained noticeably absent was his loving wife, who neither came by nor called. On the fourth day, Tim called his in-laws' house, and got his father-in-law. "Good afternoon, Gramps. How are you?"

"Tim? I...I'm fine. We have Karen and the boys with us, away from all the danger. They are doing well, and so is Mother. The real question is how are you? We heard you survived and had begun to improve, but haven't heard anything else in a couple of days."

"I'm don't understand why you haven't heard anything. Karen is listed as my spouse, so she can get updates from the nurses' station day or night, and you, your wife, my sons, and Karen are all on my 'family' list, so you can come see me at any time. In fact, I'd like to see my sons soon; very soon! I'm up and about now, doing PT, and getting close to being released. I think seeing me like this would help them get over their last remembrance of me, laying there bleeding with emergency personnel all over me. You know, after being shot by Karen's friends."

Tim heard his FIL gasp, and when he responded his voice cracked with emotion. "I...we're not sure they are ready for that," he replied. "They...they are still traumatized by what they saw. Maybe later would be better."

"Okay, then let me talk to them and reassure them I'm all right," Tim said in a commanding manner.

The line grew quiet, but Tim heard whispering, and then his FIL said, "Call back tomorrow. We'll see about it then."

Tim had enough. "How's about an alternative to that plan? If you don't allow me talk to my sons now, the police will be there tomorrow to take the kids and arrest Karen for violating the custody order, and none of you will ever see them again! Which do you prefer?

All I have to do is cut my lawyers lose, and you'll be in a world of hurt! Or, you can let me talk to my sons, and bring them to see me tomorrow! Which route do you prefer?"

The line went quiet again, and then he heard Karen say, "Patrick, your daddy is on the phone. Would you like to talk to him?"

Patrick shrieked, grabbed the phone, and started talking a mile a minute! "Daddy, are you all right? You were shot by bad men, and you were bleeding! We were so scared, and they wouldn't let us come to you! They said you might die! Are okay now?"

In the background, Tim could hear Mark saying, "I want to talk to my Daddy too! I want to tell him I love him, and...and I want to hug him and make him well!"

Tears filled his eyes, but Tim responded with equal enthusiasm to Patrick, "Daddy is doing good! Those bad men hurt him and made him bleed, but he's getting well, and the bad people are going to get caught by the police! They are going to prison for a long, long time!

Daddy wants to see his boys -- when are you coming to see me? I have to stay here for a few more days, but soon I'll be going home, and I'll come get my boys so we can all be together. Would you like that?"

Patrick screamed "Yes! Daddy is getting to go home and he's coming to get us so we can all be together!"

"Patrick, can I talk to Mark now?" Tim asked as soon as Patrick calmed down.

Mark took the phone and very solemnly said "HI Daddy. I love you. When I come see you I'll bring my doctor's kit and I'll make you all well!"

"Thank you, my special Little One! I know you are such a great doctor that you can fix me up right away. When are you coming to see me?"

"When are we going to see my Daddy, Mommy? He wants me to come make him well!"

"Soon, baby, soon. Can I talk to Daddy now?"

"Daddy, Mommy wants to talk to you now. I love you, Daddy."

"I love you too, Mark. Be a good boy!"

"Tim, can we talk?" asked the timorous voice of his wife. "The boys are in the living room with Mom and Dad now."

"What do you want to talk about, Karen?" Tim replied coolly.

"Tim, I can't tell you how sorry I am about all this," Karen said in a quivering voice.

He could tell she was barely under control, but Tim couldn't help himself: "What exactly are you sorry about, Karen? Are you sorry that you betrayed our marriage and family with those nasty bastards? Or are you sorry I found out? Are you sorry I your boyfriends shot me, or that they only wounded me? Tell me what exactly you are sorry about, Karen?"

"ALL OF IT! EVERYTHING! I...I...I can't believe it all happened, but...but I know it did. I just..."

"Would you like to see the videos, Karen?" Tim interjected. "If you can't believe it all happened, would you like to see the porn movie you were making with those nasty bastards, with them sticking cocks in every one of your holes? Would that help you remember, Karen? Because it sure makes it easy for me to remember!"

"Tim...I...I... How do you know about that?" Karen asked in disbelief.

"I warned you that I knew everything, I told you your only chance was to tell me the truth, and still you lied to me! I don't know which makes me madder: you fucking all those assholes, your blatant lying with a straight face, or your lack of respect for our marriage! But this I guarantee: you and each of your boyfriends will DEEPLY REGRET what you've done! When I get through with you...."

Tim paused because Jeanie was putting her finger over his lips and shaking her head. He realized then that Jeanie was reminding him that the conversation as being recorded by law enforcement. He'd already screwed up referencing the 'porn movie'; threatening bodily harm would not be wise either.