Mercy & Mayhem: A Mercy Mares Cozy Mystery by Ava Mallory Read Free Book Online Page A

dress shoes. Again, I assumed he either lived on a farm or worked on a farm because his shoes were covered in dirt and twigs. I thought it better to leave them alone. Besides, interrupting a private conversation wasn't exactly kosher, no matter where you were from.
     
    I was probably the last person he wanted to be seen speaking with in public anyway. I mean, he did witness the debacle of a day I had. No point in hashing up what I hoped was old news. Nope, I was determined to not make this day a repeat of the one before it.
     
    I woke up feeling anxious, took a few minutes to chat with my friend and felt ready to start on a good foot and leave the past in the past.
     
    *
     
                  I heard the screaming as soon as I walked out of the locker room. Not even fire doors could keep the noise contained. It didn't take a rocket scientist to know that the noise was coming from the dementia unit. I just hoped my new favorite resident wasn't the one engaged in it.
     
    Taking a deep breath before I slid my entry card into the slot, I willed myself to have a good day and to remain calm.
     
    Before I even had the door partially opened, Betty came rushing at me, full force, carrying a suitcase, that she hadn't completely secured shut yet, with the contents streaming out of it behind her.
     
    "Whoa! Hi, Betty. Are you leaving?" I tried to use my body to block her. Normally, that did the trick. At five feet three inches tall and a curvaceous, I'd like to think, one hundred and fifty pounds, give or take a pound or two, I could be pretty strong if I needed to be. In this case, I didn't have to be. The spunky senior didn't weigh more than a hundred pounds soaking wet, so I was feeling pretty confident that I could keep her from making a run for it.
     
    Behind her was a red-faced Kathy and two of the nurse's aides, who were working when I made my first grand entrance. They readily grabbed Betty and tried to persuade her to come back onto the unit, but Betty was not having any of that. She had a plan and she was sticking to it.
     
    "Let me go!" The veins in her neck were sticking out. "I am leaving. You can't keep me here."
     
    I really didn't want to get in the middle of whatever this was, but I had to help. No reason to have Betty so distraught. She already had enough to deal with after watching Rowdy die.
     
    "Betty, let me help you. I'll carry your suitcase for you. You don't want to leave that stuff here, do you?" The others looked at me like I'd lost my mind, but I knew what I was doing. Betty had a plan and fighting her wasn't going to work. She would resist every attempt to keep her on the unit, so why not oblige her and let her see for herself why she shouldn't leave? I'm sure she didn't intend to walk in the two feet of snow that had fallen overnight, and given that she was wearing a short sleeved, button up shirt and slacks with slippers, I didn't think this little foray was well planned in the first place. Something must have triggered her and I needed to get her away from whatever that something was and get her engaged in something else. Since it was obvious that no one else was going to do that for her.
     
    I gathered her belongings, mostly photos from her walls and put them into the suitcase. One of the aides, Sarah, held the unit door open for us. Betty stood right at the door and didn't take off running, so my little plan must have been working. After I secured her suitcase shut, I winked at Kathy and escorted Betty off the unit and let her dictate which way she wanted to go.
     
    Just as I thought, she had no real plan in mind. In fact, as soon as the unit doors closed behind us, she took a deep breath, straightened our her blouse, and took my arm.
     
    "Shall we?" she asked.
     
    "We shall." I answered.
     
    We wandered aimlessly through the hallways, passing by other units and an array of locked doors. I actually appreciated having the time to get acquainted with the facility. Yesterday's