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The whole ride out to Virginia and back, we never once talked about Nana’s procedure in the hospital the next morning. She obviously didn’t want to, and I respected that. But the operation, at her age, scared me as much as any murder case could. No, actually it scared me more.
When we got back to the house I went upstairs and called Jamilla. She was at work, but we talked for nearly an hour anyway.
Then I sat down at my computer. For the first time since I got back from Georgia I pulled up my notes on the Three Blind Mice. There was still one big question I needed to answer if I could. Big if.
Who was behind the three of them?
Who was the real killer?
Chapter 102
I FELL ASLEEP at my work desk, woke up about three in the morning. I went down to my bedroom for a couple of hours. The alarm sounded at five.
Nana was scheduled to be at St. Anthony’s Hospital at six-thirty.
Dr. Coles wanted her to be one of the first operations of the day, while everybody on the staff was fresh and alert. Aunt Tia stayed at the house with Little Alex, but I brought Damon and Jannie with me to the hospital.
We sat in the typically antiseptic-looking waiting room, which really started to fill up with people about seven-thirty. Everybody in there looked nervous and concerned and fidgety, but I think we were probably right up there with the worst of the lot.
“How long does the operation take?” Damon wanted to know.
“Not long. Nana might not have gone in first, though. It all depends. It’s a simple procedure, Damon. Electrical energy is delivered to the AV node. The electricity is a little like the heat in a microwave. It disconnects the pathway between the atria and the ventricles and will stop the extra impulses causing Nana’s irregular heartbeat. Got all that? Don’t hold me to it, but that’s fairly close to what’s happening.”
“Is Nana wide-awake while it’s happening?” Jannie wanted to know.
“Probably. You know your Nana. They gave her a mild sedative and then local anesthesia.”
“Won’t touch her,” Jannie said.
So we talked and waited, fretted and worried, and it took longer than I thought it should. I tried not to let my mind wander to bad places. I wanted to stay in touch with the moment.
I conjured up good memories of Nana, and they were a little like prayers. I thought about how much she had meant to me, but also to the kids. None of us would be where we were without Nana’s unconditional love, her confidence in us, and even her needling — irritating as it could be sometimes.
“When is she coming out?” Jannie looked at me. Her beautiful brown eyes were full of uncertainty and fear. It struck me that Nana had really been a mother to all of us. Nana Mama was more mama than nana.
“Is she all right?” Damon asked. “Something’s wrong, isn’t it? Don’t you think this is taking too long?”
Unfortunately, I thought so too. “She’s just fine,” I said to the children.
More time passed. Slowly. Finally, I looked up and saw Dr. Coles coming into the waiting room. I took a quick breath and tried not to let the kids see how anxious and nervous I really was.
Then Kayla Coles smiled. What a beautiful, glorious smile that was, the very best I’ve seen in a long while.
“She’s all right?” I asked.
“Aces,” she said. “Your nana is a tough lady. She’s asking for you already.”
Chapter 103
WE VISITED WITH Nana in the recovery room for an hour, then we were asked to leave. She needed to rest up.
I dropped the kids off at school about eleven that morning. Then I went home to do a little more scut work in my office.
I was looking into something for Ron Burns, a strange but intriguing case involving convicted sex offenders. In return, he’d gotten me some U.S. Army records that I wanted to check out. Some of it had come off ACIRS and RISS, but most came straight from the Pentagon. One of the subjects was the Three Blind Mice.
Who was the real killer? Who gave orders to Thomas Starkey? Who sanctioned the murders? Why were these particular men targeted?
And, most important, why were they set up instead of just having the Three Blind Mice kill them? Was the goal to show them fear — fear that they were being hunted, fear that someone else had taken over their lives?
