Page 28 of Fatal Witness

“Pastor Rick called. The doctor was able to break up the clot, and she’s been admitted to the intensive care unit.”

Marge was also on the church prayer chain. “Did he say if they were keeping her in Pearl Springs?”

“Yes. Mae was adamant about staying at the local hospital, and I don’t blame her. She’d just be another patient in Chattanooga, and here the doctors and nurses all know her ... and the nurses love her.” Marge chuckled. “The verdict is still out on some of the doctors.”

Alex laughed with her. Not all physicians agreed with Mae’s belief that her homeopathic herbal remedies were better than prescription drugs. “Yeah. Gram told me Mae and Dr. Wexler tangled at her appointment last month, but he’ll do his best.”

After she disconnected, Alex pulled into the hospital parkinglot and looked for an empty space. Evidently there were a lot of sick people in the hospital. She found a spot in the back row, and Nathan pulled in beside her.

“When we leave here, you want to grab a bite to eat?” he asked as they walked to the entrance.

Her stomach growled. She had missed the snack from their usual ten o’clock coffee and was hungry. “Sounds good.”

“Pete’s Diner?”

“Sure.” Since Pete’s scare with his heart, he’d changed his cholesterol-laden menu to include a few healthy alternatives and even carried diet Dr Pepper.

Inside the hospital, they went straight to the ICU waiting room. Morgan and Ben Tennyson stood and waved them over when they entered the room. Two other men stood with them, one Alex didn’t recognize, but from the resemblance to Ben, he had to be kin. The other was Rick Adkins, the pastor at Community Fellowship, where Mae attended. Alex, too, when she got to go.

“Sorry about Mae,” she said and hugged Morgan.

“We need to get together,” Morgan said.

“When this is over, we will.” Alex turned to Ben, and he enveloped her in a hug. “I’m so glad you’re here. I’m worried about Mae.”

“I am too.” Since Ben was ten years older, they hadn’t been close as kids, not like Alex and Morgan. “How is she?”

“I’m not sure,” Ben said. “I was only allowed in for a few minutes. Then Rick went in.”

Alex turned to her pastor. “How do you think she was?”

“Confused,” Rick said. “But she’s a strong woman.”

“That’s the way she was at her house.”

Ben nodded at the man standing beside him. “I don’t know if you two have met my uncle, Craig Tennyson. He moved home from Chattanooga recently. I was with him when you called about Mae, and he brought me to the ER.”

Alex dipped her head toward the older man. “We met when Ben first opened his office. In January, wasn’t it?”

“It was,” Craig said. “Good to see you again.”

She hadn’t been surprised to see Rick at the hospital, but she’d wondered why Craig was here since he wasn’t a blood relative. Alex studied the man, seeing the way the mayor would probably look in twenty years, then she shifted her attention back to Ben. “Did she know you?”

“Yes, but she wasn’t totally coherent.” Ben frowned. “Kept mentioning Neva, and once she said something about Three Musketeers. I don’t know what that was all about.”

“That’s what she used to call us,” Morgan said.

And it told Alex that Mae was stuck in the past, thinking her daughter was still alive and the Three Musketeers—her nickname for Danielle, Morgan, and Alex—were still nine years old.

Alex turned to Craig. “How do you know Mae?”

“I was friends with her son-in-law, Bobby Bennett. Neva too. Met Mae a few times at their house. She’s one feisty lady.” He turned to Ben. “You think Morgan can take you back downtown? I have an appointment.”

“I’ll make sure he gets back,” Morgan said.

As Craig walked away, Alex asked, “Did you get a chance to ask Mae what happened?”

“Not really. She mumbled something about Bobby and diamonds. They hadn’t treated her yet—she hadn’t even had the CT scan—and she wasn’t making a lot of sense. I’m afraid the stroke has affected her mind.” Ben glanced past her and held up his hand. “Dr. Wexler, we’re over here,” he called out.

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