The Morelville Mysteries Collection

Chapter 11 – Mel & Mayhem

Chapter 11 – Mel & MayhemKris and I had just gotten home with Beth, after her big motocross race, when Holly called me. We were on an emotional high. Beth hadn’t won but she’d held her own and kept up with far more experienced riders. She was even approached about joining a circuit when she had a little more motocross experience and, we had a list of dates and places where she could acquire that experience.

Holly was picking up extra hours working the patrol desk. She was very apologetic when I answered the phone.

“Sheriff, I know it’s your day off but we have a situation.”

“What’s up?”

“We got a call from the liquor store over on 3rd. A customer tried to pass a counterfeit twenty there. The owner is holding him at gunpoint. A store clerk called us. A patrol deputy is headed to the scene and should be there momentarily. I called Webb already, let him know and gave him directions. He’s en route also.”

“I’m supposed to be Webb’s liaison. I better go. Let patrol know I’m en route with an ETA of 20 minutes. I’ll call Webb myself.”

“Will do, Sheriff.” She hung up.

I said my apologies to Kris and Beth, and went to jump into my truck. Beth’s dirt bike was still strapped into the bed. I jogged back into the house and let Kris know I’d be taking her car.

Once I was safely underway, I called Webb. He was just arriving at the scene and he reported that there was a patrol car already parked nearby. He said he’d wait for me since patrol didn’t know him. He didn’t want to chance anyone getting too trigger happy.

I arrived ten minutes later and immediately found Webb. A small crowd had gathered by that time.

“I’m Sheriff Crane. Please disperse. There isn’t anything to see here.” I waited a beat then, when the crowd began to grumble and break up, I turned to Webb. “Follow me”.

I opened the door very slowly and showed my badge first. “It’s Sheriff Crane and Agent Webb. We’re going to enter the scene.”

“Come ahead Sheriff. Everything’s under control,” the patrol deputy called back.

I entered the store with Webb following. The store owner was still holding his pistol but it was pointed at the floor. The clerk was just leaning against the counter. My deputy, Treadway, had already corralled the young man accused of passing the bad bill. I didn’t recognize him.

Addressing the owner, I said, “I’m Mel Crane, the Sheriff. It’s okay. You can put your gun away now.” After he placed it somewhere out of sight, he pointed to a bill on the counter.

“That’s the bill he gave me right there.” Webb stepped over to look at it. He pulled on gloves and turned it about and then placed it in an evidence bag.

I turned to the man Treadway was holding. “We’re going to go down to the station and talk about that twenty. Do you have any I.D.?”

The deputy handed me the man’s driver’s license. He was Grady Johnson, age 23 from a little burg in Knox County, about 45 minutes away.

“Agent Webb, do you want to talk to him?”

“Go ahead and run him into the station. I have to ask a few questions here and then I’ll come in and question him.”

“All right.” I turned back to Treadway and Johnson. “Run him over to the station. I’ll be right behind you.” I knew Webb would be doing the questioning but I definitely wanted to sit in. The Secret Service might handle counterfeiters, but this was still my turf. I needed to know everything that was going on.

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I never got the chance to sit in on my first Secret Service interrogation. As I pulled up to the station in my sister’s little Ford Focus, Holly called again.

“What now?” I said with a chuckle.

Her tone was instantly sobering. “Shots fired at your house Sheriff. Patrol is on the way.”

I yelled, “En-route” and then floored the gas. I dodged other cars, blaring Kris’s car horn as I went. It was after 8:00 PM by then and finally getting dark after what had really been a beautiful spring day. I was driving recklessly but the only thing I could think about was my family.

When I arrived at my home, two of our patrol cars and a “Statie” were already on the scene. A department deputy was holding off a crowd of my neighbors who were intent on getting a look at what was going on. I could hear sirens screaming toward us. I charged past my deputy and into the house.

I entered through the side door off the driveway. I ran through the kitchen and the living room to the crowd gathered in the family room at the very front of the house. My twin sister was lying on the floor looking pale but conscious. The State Patrolman was holding a compress over her chest on the upper right. I went a little woozy at the sight of all of the blood that was visible.

I shook my head to clear it and looked around the room. The front picture window was shattered. Someone had apparently shot Kris right through it. The kids were in a corner of the room with one of our next door neighbors; “Miss Karen”, as they called her. Both kids were sobbing. I moved toward them.

As I went to Beth and Cole, an ambulance screamed into the driveway. Beth shrieked. I took a hold of her, held her and tried to calm her. A patrol deputy went to the door to direct the paramedics. They came in and immediately began working on Kris.

I needed to get the kids out of there. I looked at Karen and caught her gaze. I looked quickly at both of the kids and then tipped my head toward the door. She nodded that she understood. We started moving the kids out together.

When we were out of the chaos of the family room I stopped for a moment. The waterworks from Beth finally subsided and that’s when the questions began.

“Aunt Mel, who would shoot my mother?” came from Beth.

“Why did this happen?” came simultaneously from Cole.

“Guys, I don’t know but I’ll get to the bottom of it, I promise. Right now, we need to get your mom to the hospital.” I do know who did this. Sally has escalated out of control! She mistook Kris for me after I left the house in Kris’s car. Damn it! Why didn’t I unload that bike and take the truck? When I find her, she’s going to fry for this!

I turned to Karen, “Can you take them to your house for a bit, while I try to get a hold of our parents?” Our mom and dad, Faye and Jesse, lived a few miles outside of Morelville on our small family farm. The house Kris and I and the kids were living in was the house mom grew up in and lived in until she married our dad.

Beth cried out, “I’m going to the hospital with mom!”

Karen jumped in, “Now sweetie, we can decide who all should go over there and when, as soon as your grandpa and grandma get here. It’ll be okay.”

“I’ll go in the squad with your mom. I won’t leave her side.” I turned to Karen. “The officers in there will want a statement from you. They’re not going to let me process a crime scene in my own home.”

“No problem. I’ll talk to them later. I’ll take the kids now and let that officer by the door know where to find me when they need me.”

I smiled weakly at her and croaked out my thanks. She waved me off, corralled the kids and was gone moments after speaking briefly with the deputy.

I stepped back into the family room and found a corner in my sister’s line of vision. I wanted her to know I was there but I knew better than to be in the way of the paramedics or the officers in charge of the scene. Like me, moments before to Karen, she smiled weakly at me. Her action brought little relief to my sense of guilt over what had happened.

My duty cell rang. “Sheriff Crane.”

“It’s Holly. What’s happening? I’ve got a security detail on standby. Do you want me to send them over now?”

“My sister’s been shot. I think someone mistook her for me. They’re getting her stabilized and then she’ll be transported to Genesis. Patrol is over here and a State Cop. I’m assuming State will have to handle the investigation. I’ll get with him once I see to my sister and we’ll figure those details out. The kids will go to the farm so no worries there. No security needed right now but I’m going to need someone to cover a window while I go in the bus with Kris.”

“Gotcha, and done. Keep me posted and be careful Sheriff. We don’t need any more people shooting at you!”

“Aye ma’am!”