Under the Tall Pines
Episode 11: Distant Thunder
By Keith Yates
Published by Keith Yates
Cover Art by: Keith Yates
Smashwords Edition
Copyright February 2012
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Worth peered through the bars of the jail cell at his younger brother. Paul looked pitiful. His dark eyes were encased by deep brown circles. He was unshaven and downtrodden. The orange jumpsuit, that he was wearing, gave him the look of some common criminal instead of a Westerveldt. In his eyes, Paul did not belong behind bars. No Westerveldt had been behind bars since Grandpa Herman used to go on his drunken binges decades ago, and Worth was going to make sure that this one was sprung as soon as possible - no matter what the charge.
“Man! I’m so glad you’re here!” Paul said with a tragic eagerness in his eyes as he ran toward the bars like a caged monkey, scrambling for peanuts. “You get a hold of Judge Callahan yet?”
Worth shook his head as he looked his desperate brother up and down. “Nope, he’s off fishing this morning. Our hands are tied until he gets back from Salmonella Lake. Then, we can get our bail hearing. You picked one hell of a day to get a favor from Jude Callahan. He already did me a huge one by bumping up this divorce hearing to today and agreeing to preside over it. I just hope he can get this all done before my court appearance starts this afternoon.”
“This afternoon?!” Paul said as he ran his hands through his dark hair. “I don’t know how much longer I can take this joint!”
“Sure don’t look much like a Carnival Cruise.”
“I couldn’t even piss much less take a dump without that black man across the way, yelling crazy shit at me. They finally moved his ass!”
“That’s a fuckin’ rank visual, man.”
“We ain’t got time for you to be an asshole,” Paul said with his eyes fixed on his older brother. Worth noted the fierce determination in his eyes.
“Calm down!”
“You’re right,” Paul sighed deeply and relaxed his posture slightly. “Sorry, Worth, I know you're here to help!”
“I am here primarily to stop you from dragging our family name through the mud again!” Worth paused and looked his brother up and down again. “But I suppose that's not the only reason.... I am here also to get you out of this mess...just like usual.”
Worth still could not believe the circumstances behind Paul’s arrest. Just on the word of that white trash lesbo, Eve Moore, his own brother had been put behind bars.
Who the hell was she anyway? A newcomer to this town! A weirdo! A freak!
Worth could also not believe that Drake Anderson had taken her word over the word of Paul Westerveldt’s! I'll make sure that son a bitch loses his badge cos of this!
Could Paul have actually romanced this Eve Moore to kill Pam? Worth wondered. Of course. Do I care? Not really....
If had been the truth behind Pam’s demise, Worth was indifferent. In fact, he almost considered it a mercy killing more than anything else. He knew Paul must have recruited this woman to do his dirty work, but obviously he had not chosen his accomplices too well.
“So, did you do all this? Did you get this woman to kill Pam?”
“No!” Paul insisted in his how-dare-you-suspect-me voice. “Course not!”
Worth could easily tell when Paul was lying. He had been able to do that since they were kids, but no-one could usually tell though. Paul had the power to spin just about anyone into his web of lies...with the clear exception of Worth.
“Look, I don’t care if ya did or didn’t kill her, but I ain’t lettin’ ya go down for this!”
“Thanks man!” Paul said with his voice getting louder. “But I didn’t get that Eve to kill Pam! I don’t even know that bitch!”
“You keep talkin’ innocent like that, and we’ll be in business! But you save this all for the cops!”
“Alright,” Paul said in a whisper. “I’ll talk to ya later on about this.”
“Now, I’m going to see Starkey. You keep to your story!” Worth ordered as he walked away.
He watched Worth swagger down the shadowy corridor. Even though Paul sometimes hated his brother, he knew that Worth was all about family honor and that Worth would protect him at all costs.
Worth will take care of this. He will come through for me.
With a tired look in her eyes, Patty watched Eve through the bars on the other side of the jail.
The husky woman was kicked back on the single cot with her arms behind her head and her feet propped up on the other end. Eve, decked out in an orange jumpsuit, looked up at her sister. Her hollow eyes displayed the misplaced spite that she held for Patty.
“What the hell do you want?” Eve asked malevolently.
“I came here to see if my sister was okay. I am very worried about you!”
“I am fine!” Eve said, rising slowly to her feet. “You can leave now!”
“Eve, you are far from fine,” Patty advised as a matter-of-factly. “You are in jail for murder, and you’re more than likely on your way back to prison for killing that poor, retarded girl!”
“You don’t understand!” Eve hollered. She began to shake her head. “You couldn’t understand.”
“Understand what?”
In a flash, Eve dashed to the bars and grabbed at her sister. She laughed diabolically.
Patty jumped back in shock safe from the grasps of her sister’s large, calloused hands. Eve had lulled into her a false sense of safety yet again and then tried to grab her.
“Why the hell do you keep doing that?!” The nurse shrieked. “What practical purpose does that serve, Eve?”
Eve laughed in a deranged tone, mocking her sister's fear. She stepped back from the bars and breathed heavily through her flared nostrils. “Don’t you see? Pam had to die! She had to be out of the way.”
“Why on Earth did she have to be out of the way?”
“Cos, Paul told me she had to die fore we could be together.”
“So, I was right all along! This Paul Westerveldt seduced you into killing his wife for him!”
“It ain’t like that! Paul loves me!”
“You think this man loves you?!” Patty yelled at her sister. “If he did love you, why is he sayin’ you’re a psycho who is obsessed with him and that you acted alone, huh?”
Eve dove for her sister...a second time. Patty screamed and jumped back again. “Come ‘ere, you fucking bitch! I’m gunna ring your neck for talking about my Paul like that!”
“You are crazy! This man has brainwashed you or something. I couldn’t imagine you going along willingly with something like this.”
“Well, I did!” Eve said proudly as she pounded on her chest. “And I ain’t crazy neither!” Eve stepped back in her cell from another futile attack on her sister. “This is all part of his plan. “That’s it,” Eve said lowly as if trying to convince herself. “Paul will have me outta here faster than a cat can eat its kittens!”
Patty snarled in pity at the delusional wretch in front of her. “I feel sorry for you, Eve.” She paused. “All I wanted you to have was a nice life, and you go and get yourself into this craziness. You must be so naïve and desperate for love that any man could have led you like a lamb to a slaughter.”
“I ain’t gunna wind up alone like you!” Eve hissed.
Patty recoiled momentarily from the verbal punch in the gut. Eve knew her fears all too well, but her own private worries did not stay long on her mind. Eve’s latest escapade far outweighed any of her own relationship fears.
“I am going to help you, Eve, whether you want it or not,” Patty replied calmly. “And you will wake up one of these days and see that I am the only one in your corner.”
“You’ll see!” Eve shrieked. “Paul’s coming fer me! And I’ll show you!” Patty began to walk away. “I’ll show all of yous!”
“Bitch, you trippin’!” A female prisoner said from across the corridor.
“Fuck off, Crazy Brenda!” Eve growled as she plopped herself back on her cot.
****
“Sheriff, thank you for letting me see my sister before our chat,” Patty said as she sat down in the chair across the desk from him.
“No problem, Miss Moore,” Drake replied.
He observed the woman before him closely. Her brown eyes were deeply concerned underneath her mid-length platinum hair. In her comely face, Drake could sense the concern and the responsibility that she felt for her sister. By the pained look on Patty’s face alone, Drake knew that she knew for a fact that Eve was indeed guilty of murder.
“How does it look?” She paused. “I mean, how strong is this case you have against my sister?”
“I believe we got our killer, Ma’am, but there is someone else I want to ask you about.”
Patty looked at him. “It’s Paul Westerveldt, isn’t it?”
“Yes it is, and if you don’t mind I’d like to ask you a few questions about him and a possible connection with your sister.”
“I will tell you everything I know.”
“My first and most important question to you is this: Have you ever seen your sister and Paul Westerveldt together?” The sheriff queried.
Patty exhaled. “No, I’ve never seen the two of them together, but he’s called her on the phone several times.”
“But you’ve never seen them together?”
“No, Sheriff,” she looked down for a second. “But you could trace the phone records, couldn’t you?”
“We did just that and got the report this morning, but not a single call could be traced to Paul Westerveldt.”
“But he called more than once! I know he did!”
“I don’t know that it was him, Ma’am. I can only work with the evidence I have. There were four phone calls over the last couple of days that were made from one of the pay phones from the town square. So, whoever called did a good job of keeping themselves anonymous.”
“I know he was manipulating her though, Sheriff!”
“How so?”
“She was always going on about them being this major couple and how much he loved her. He had to have been doing some mind job on her!”
“But, Miss Moore, your sister has a history of stalking men and violence. Also, it is documented in your sister’s psychological profile that she is prone to spells of delusion.”
Patty’s composure weakened. “I know my sister has some severe emotional problems, but this is not like the other times.”
“According to Mr. Westerveldt, he has never fraternized with Eve. He claims that she must be obsessed with him and acted on her own. He claims to have only met her twice.”
“He’s lying!” Patty stated firmly. “This whole town knows he couldn't stand his wife! It was common knowledge round these parts!”
He wished he could say something to comfort her. She was not a dumb person. The nurse seemed genuine to him, but he knew he had to stick to the facts. “You know I can't convict anyone on rumors and innuendos.”
“I know that,” Patty replied in ravaged spirits. “But Paul Westerveldt can’t get away with this!”
“No-one has gotten away with anything and I assure you that this case is far from closed. If there is a connection between Paul and Eve, I will find it!”
“I am sure you will,” Patty began as she mustered a weak smile. “Think about this though.... How on earth could my sister pull all of this off? I am not trying to belittle her, but she is not smart enough to do all of this! Eve reacts to adversity with impetuous, brute force. She doesn’t think anything through! Look at her file. Look at the psychologist report. It is so beyond her scope of thinking to be able to pull off something this elaborate, from the detailed murder… all the way to framing that Mexican woman. Paul did all of this to her! I just know he did!”
He looked at her. He knew deep down what she was saying was more than likely true and with Paul’s connection to Alanna Rodriquez it was nearly undeniable. Unfortunately, his hand were tied.
“I am afraid that knowing it and proving it are two completely different things though, Miss Moore.”
“Well, I am glad you finally got up,” Olympia said, clicking off the small, portable TV on the table in front of her under the shade of the veranda. “I thought I was going to have to send a search party up there for you.”
Julie stepped into the humid late morning air as the sun shone brilliantly on the green lawn below the grand mezzanine of the veranda. “I'm sorry I bailed on you last night.”
“I know that freaked you out to hear about the divorce hearing being moved up by Worth's lawyer, but you bolted up the stairs like some dramatic moment out of Gone With The Wind.... I was really worried about you, honey!”
Julie sat down and poured herself a cup of coffee from the Iroquois china service on the table. “I guess I did overreact a little. I should’ve known that Worth would call in some favors with Judge Callahan to hear the case.”
“Judge Callahan? You mean Travis Callahan?”
“Uh, yes...do you know of any other Judge Callahans in town?!” She snapped.
“Calm down, honey!” Olympia said, lighting a cigarette nonchalantly. “Remember, you are among friends here.”
“I'm sorry,” Julie complied as she sipped some coffee. “I guess I’m on edge from all of these new developments.”
“Why are you so upset about Judge Callahan hearing your case?”
“He's in Worth's pocket! Worth has used him many times!”
“I didn't know that. You never said anything.”
“Well, I was part of that lunatic family for nine years. It's one of the many little secrets that I know about. Worth has used him on many a shady business deal. Also, how do you think Dean got off of all those underage drinking charges?”
“I thought I knew everything about everyone in this crazy town, so this is news to me. You don't think the judge will give you a fair shake?”
“Hell no,” Julie replied. “Travis Callahan is not going to rule in favor of me when he is in Worth’s pocket!”
“Did you tell your lawyer about this?”
“I would've last night, but I was so shocked at the news. I will tell Shauntel though.”
“This does suck,” Olympia replied as her inner wheels churned. “Do you have any proof that's he's in Worth's pocket?”
“Of course not,” Julie frowned. “I suppose I didn’t have the foresight to gather any evidence.... I’m afraid I am going to end up with that twenty dollar counter offer that Worth came back at me with! God, I can't end up poor. I just can't!” Julie wailed as she threw up her arms and stood up.
“Where are you going now?”
“I am going to look for my cell and call Shauntel and let her know about this major bump in the road.... I'll be back.”
She watched as Julie left the veranda and went back inside the mansion.
So, Travis Callahan is in Worth's pocket. Olympia contemplated. If Worth thinks that he can play this hand against my best friend and get away with it, he has another thing coming! He thinks that Judge Callahan will rule in his favor? We'll just see about that!
Busting through the front, double doors of Dark Pines Hospital, Tim strutted proudly down the long, sterile hallway toward the human resources office for his very first day as a candy stripper. The six dollars per hour pay was not much, but it was better than having no job at all.
Give me a couple of weeks, and I’ll be running this joint!
Smiling, he approached a hallway office...which was below a flickering fluorescent light in bad need of repair.
He was in a much better place than he had been for weeks. Things were finally looking up. After the William/Erik incident and his having been expelled from Westerveldt Jr. College, Tim was grabbing hold of any good fortune coming his way and was not letting go.
I will be the best damn candy stripper that Dark Pines has ever seen!
He tapped on the glass of the office door.
“Come in.” A woman’s voice answered flatly from the other side of the entry.
Brimming over with bravado, Tim took a deep breath and entered.
From behind a desk in the stuffy office, an older woman glared at Tim through her thick glasses. Her gray hair was pulled back into a tense bun. “Yes? How can I help you?”
“I’m Tim Reid. I’m your new candy stripper!” He stated enthusiastically.
“Oh, yes,” the woman replied coldly. “Tim Reid, you are fifteen minutes late!”
“Uh, sorry about that…. I got behind this crazy log truck on the way here, and I couldn’t get around him.”
“Irrelevant!” The thin woman screamed at the top of her lungs as she stood up. “You will plan to be here on time or your first day will be your last! Do you understand me?!”
The smile disappeared from Tim’s face. “Sorry, Ma’am. I promise that it won’t happen again.”
“See that it doesn’t, Mr. Reid!” she replied snidely as she approached him from behind the desk. “My name is Olga McTavish, and I am the director of the candy stripper’s unit here at Dark Pines Hospital.”
“Nice to meet you,” he managed, forcing a smile and extending his hand.
“I have no time for these false pleasantries,” she declared with a dismissive wave of her bony hand.
“Well, okay then!” Tim shot back with some sass in his tone. “It’s sounding like I’ve done walked up here in the middle of your bad day or something!”
Ms. McTavish looked him up and down with a smirk. “Well, it’s good to see you have a little bit of a spine, but we will have no time for that around here!” She approached him. “Candy Stripping is a demanding and fast paced industry! I expect you to be here on time and work harder than you’ve ever worked in your entire life!”
“I didn’t know candy stripping was so important,” Tim questioned. “You sure you’re not getting a little carried away with that?”
“How dare you criticize my life’s work!” Ms. McTavish screamed.
Tim knew he was about to go past the point of no return. “Look, I’m didn’t mean to ruffle your feathers. I’m sorry.” He forced another smile. Obviously, this woman was some sort of nut. “I am here to do a good job for you, and I have a feeling I am going to love this job.”
“Indeed!” She replied, visibly calming down. “You keep to that good attitude, and I am sure we will get on fine.”
“Mr. Holcomb told me that my main job would be fetching magazines and snacks for patients.” He said, getting back to the topic at hand.
“Oh dear boy, there is so much more to this job than that! You must attend to all their non-medical needs. Helping the customers is your number one goal!”
“The customers?”
“Yes, that is what I call the patients. This is a business! Do not be fooled for one second.”
“I see your point,” replied Tim.
“Your most taxing duty will be channel changing in the rooms.”
“Channel changing?”
“Yes, Dark Pines Hospital does not have any remote controls for televisions in the rooms, so each time a patient wants a channel changed...you will get buzzed!”
“That sounds intense!” Tim gasped. “You can’t be serious!”
“I am quite serious, Mr. Reid!” The strange woman hissed. “If you think that is intense, you just wait.... You will also be delivering magazines and books...in addition to the snacks. We have a metal cart that you will push around the hospital continuously. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg.”
“Really? What else is there?”
“A major thing will be running errands for the doctors and nurses, if needed. Believe me, this can be quite demanding!”
“That doesn’t sound too bad. I think I could do that.”
“We shall see, Mr. Reid,” she replied looking him up and down again. “If the professional staff doesn’t drive you crazy, the patients will! They can be very cranky and whiney! You may be called upon to change bedpans or help bathe the patients when requested.”
“Bedpans!” Tim exclaimed sharply. “Bathing people?”
“Yes, my boy, this can be a dirty job at times.”
“Here is your uniform,” she said handing him a plastic bag from atop her desk. “Change into this!”
Tim looked at her funny. “Right here in front of you?”