Chapter 29:


Kim felt woozy as she slowly began to wake up after only the Lord knew how long she'd been unconscious. Before she could even open her eyes, her stomach rebelled against her; giving her only enough time to turned her head as she felt hot bile rise up in her throat. When she felt someone bring up a damp wash cloth to clean her face, she flinched away as her eyes darted to discover who was in the room with her.

"Easy, Darlin'. I'm just tryin' to get you cleaned up a bit."

As Bo gently lifted her head up to put a clean pillow beneath her head, she felt a strange sense of déjà vu. Just over a year ago, she had been put in the hospital by her ex-husband after he'd tried to kill her. She had been sure that she would never see her friends or family ever again; just as she hadn't thought she would this time, either. Upon thinking of her ex-husband, she couldn't help but glance past Bo almost expecting him to burst into the hospital room to finish her off.

Seeing where Kim's attention briefly wandered, Bo guessed the reason and did his best to reassure her that the nightmare that she'd endured was finally over.

"He's gone; and he's never coming back." Bo saw that the fear in his wife's eyes was still just as prevalent as before he spoke so he added, "I'll explain later but all you need to know right now is that he's dead and can never harm you again."

"Dead?" Kim closed her eyes as she tried to process what she was told. Opening her eyes, she reluctantly asked, "You didn't...?"

"No, Darlin'. Not that I didn't want to. Now, how about you don't think any more about that bastard than you have to." Bo helped Kim adjust her bed so that it sat up at a gentle angle to ensure her comfort. "Your uncle should be back to check on you in about an hour. He's been in here every other one."

Kim smiled in acknowledgment but remained quiet. She could still feel herself trembling in fear despite being told that Ted was no longer someone to be feared. Down the hall, she could hear the footsteps of the medical staff going about their rounds and she tried her best to remember that Ted's could no longer be among them. Still, as she sat next to her husband while he tried to comfort her, each time those same steps approached her door, she watched the door; waiting find out that her ex-husband wasn't quite as dead as she was led to believe.

~01~

Rosco walked into the courthouse and saw Enos at his desk; seeing him typing at his typewriter, he knew what report he was working on. Every officer remembers the first time that they have to take a life in the line of duty. No matter how evil the person was, it is never easy on the officer. Especially when they are as kind and lighthearted as a man like Enos.

Walking over to the desk, Rosco leaned against it and waited for the man to look up before asking him how he was holding up. Enos prepared to slap on a smile and a grin to tell the older man that he was okay but Rosco beat him to the punch.

"And don't tell me that you are fine because I ain't goin' to buy it. I want to know the truth."

Enos swallowed hard as he let his head fall forward briefly before answering the question. "Still a little shaken up, I guess. I didn't expect to ever have to... Well, if it was goin' to happen, I can't think of anyone who deserved it more."

"I'll agree, that I won't be mourning that polecat, but it's you that I'm more concerned about."

"Sheriff, I'll be alright. It ain't me who's had to bury my kin or sittin' up at the hospital after bein' tortured by that no good piece of trash."

"Well, to make sure, I want you to take a couple of weeks off. I'll make sure you still get paid. But you're goin' to need to take some R and R after this. Not to mention, the State will be sending you to their shrink for a while until you're cleared to return back to work. Them critters always get under my crawl when they come pokin' around. After you do your sit down and chat, go fishin' or somethin' to get your head back on straight."

Enos nodded as he did his best to turn his attention back to the report. He wanted to finish it as fast as he could. Then he could do his best to ignore the reason for it until he was to go in for the mandatory appointment that the sheriff was mentioning. Not that he really liked the reminder.

~01~

Daisy felt strange sitting upstairs in a room that looked much like her old bedroom. The room she had before the tornado. The room she had before she got married. A room with the same view that she'd grown up with; a view of the hill that overlooks the small farm. Her husband was now buried up on that hill. It didn't seem fair to have only been married for six months and now he was gone. Daisy hugged a pillow to herself as she continued to cry tears that she didn't feel would ever end.

Downstairs, she could hear her uncle puttering around in the kitchen and she knew he would be up soon with a little something for her to eat since she hadn't eaten much of anything in the last few days. At least she didn't think that she had. The last three days since burying Darcy had become a blur in Daisy's mind. Now a week since Darcy's murder, she still felt as if she was living in a fog and all she wanted was for it to lift so that she could see her way out of the nightmare that she'd been living through.

Putting the pillow back down on the bed, she stood up and glanced out of the window before drying her eyes and heading downstairs. She couldn't hide upstairs forever.

Daisy walked out into the hall and headed down the stairs of the new farm house before finding Jesse frying up some bacon and making some scrambled eggs. On the table, Daisy could see a plate of toast and some fresh milk already prepared. After pausing in the doorway for a brief moment, she walked over to the cabinet and grabbed a jar of preserves to go with the toast. Her actions caught Jesse's attention.

"I wasn't expecting you down this early. How are you feelin'?"

"Hungry," Daisy lied as she went back to the cabinet to grab a couple of plates for breakfast.

Jesse nodded and took the hint. She wasn't ready to really talk yet. Still, he was glad to see her up and about. The longer one stays locked away mourning in private, the harder it is to face the world without your loved one. As painful as losing her husband was, Jesse knew that his little girl would be alright. Eventually, at least.

He finished the bacon and eggs before joining his niece at the table. He was trying to find a subject to discuss with her that wouldn't be difficult on her when she spoke up instead.

"I heard Luke telling you yesterday that Kim should be ready to leave the hospital today."

"Yes. First thing, if I remember correctly."

Daisy nodded as she thought about the younger woman. She hadn't gone to see her yet. It had hurt too much to think that she had been the last person to see Darcy alive. Now, she couldn't help but remember that it also meant that she had been forced to watch him die. All because Ted wanted to cause as much pain as he could.

"How's she holdin' up?"

"Bo said that she's not really sleeping. Not that I blame her. She's been through quite an ordeal. Irving said that there isn't much else that they can do for her in the hospital. The rest, only time can help heal."

Daisy reached for the milk and paused before pouring some in her glass. Even though she hadn't seen her cousin's wife yet, she'd been told about some of what Ted had done to her before he buried her and left her for dead. A shiver ran up her spine as she thought about being trapped in a cabin with that mad man for a whole weekend. The only positive thing about that man and this whole mess now was that he's dead. He can no longer hurt another human being.

"I suppose time will have to help heal a lot of things," Daisy said before setting the milk back down.

"It will, Daisy. I promise, it will. It can be very easy to get blinded by darkness and hard to see the sliver of light that can be waiting around the next corner. The important thing is to keep walking until you get to that corner." Jesse reached out his hand and rested it on Daisy's for a brief moment before he changed the subject.

"I promised to take the boys to the park this afternoon. I couldn't convince you to help an old man out with two such rambunctious boys, could I? It's such a nice day, it would be good to get out of the house."

Daisy gave a weak smile before nodding. Yes, she did need to get out of the house.

~01~

Bo thanked the nurse before stepping behind his wife's wheelchair so he could wheel her out now that she's been discharged. He's never been fond of hospitals and it seemed that every time he or one of his family members were here, it was only after one crisis or another. He just wanted to get his wife home so she could start to heal after everything that she'd been through in the last week.

"Bo, a wheelchair is unnecessary. I'm perfectly capable of walking."

"I know. But you'd never deprive me the chance to drive ya around, now would you?" Bo looked down with his best smile as he continued toward the exit and then on toward where he'd parked Kim's car. Once at the car, he held out a hand to his wife to help her up out of the chair. Once she was in the car, he returned the wheelchair before getting behind the wheel of the car and steered it towards their cabin in the woods on Duke Land.

Kim had been very quiet about all that Ted had done to her and Bo certainly didn't want to push her to talk about anything that she wasn't ready to, just yet. Instead, Bo decided to try to talk to her about some of the everyday things like getting the crops in the field and even told her that the twins have been playing with some new chicks that had hatched in the last few days. Well, at least Mikey was playing with them. Jay would watch from a few feet away until after his brother would show him that the babies were calm enough for even his little brother.

He then went on about how he and his cousins were looking forward the next race in a couple of weeks and how Luke would be driving in it. Basically, he did his best to take his wife's mind off of the terror that she had lived through only a week ago.

Once they pulled up at the cabin, he helped her out of the car and swore that Kim flinched at his touch. Bo silently cursed the man responsible and hoped that he was suffering in hell for what he'd done to his wife. As they walked up the small walkway he explained that the family hadn't thought that she'd be up to a lot of company but that they'd check in later on.

The two went inside and Kim could feel Bo's eyes on her as she absorbed the feeling of security that her home gave her. Of course, only a week ago she would have thought that nothing could have ever harmed her in her office in town, too. So was she really safe here after all? She reached out for Bo's hand and walked over to the couch to sit down. She just wanted to take comfort in her husband and the fact that, for right now, she was with someone who loved her and would protect her.

~01~

Boss walked into his office at the courthouse and saw an envelope sitting on his desk. He snatched it up and tore it open to read the latest note from his blackmailer. The note reminded him that he had failed to resign as commissioner by the end of the month. Now he was given one last chance to do so before the anonymous polecat would deliver their pictures to the state police showing him accepting a delivery at night.

Taking his cigar out of his mouth he started to mutter to himself. He then sat down at his desk and pulled out the copies of the pictures that his blackmailer had sent as proof of the evidence to be used against him. Taking a hard look at the pictures with a clear mind, Boss couldn't see where anything in them showed him actually doing anything illegal. Circumspect, maybe; not illegal.

Glancing around the office, he noticed that his window was cracked open. He knew that he'd closed it before he left out before lunch which means that whoever left the envelope had to have come in through it. In fact, that might even be the way that the person has been getting in each time that they've left messages.

"One thing is for sure, I'm not giving up my job without a fight. Especially since these pictures don't prove anything. Now, I've just got to figure out who's had the gall to try to blackmail me."