chapter 124
LEVI WAS WAITING for Moon Pie outside the Baptist Hospital Emergency Department in Columbus when an ambulance rolled in. He never heard a siren, but the flashing red lights set the stage for bad news for someone. Two orderlies hurried out to help. Levi overheard one of them say that it was a DOA, a gunshot victim from a swampy area north of town.
That got Levi’s attention. He was expecting Moon Pie to drive up, not ride up in the back of an ambulance. He asked, “Huntin’ accident?”
The orderlies didn’t realize anyone could overhear them. They exchanged glances, wondering who this guy was.
“I’m just wondering if it was a hunting accident.”
Levi was dressed respectably and looked like any normal citizen who might be anxiously waiting in the ER.
“I don’t think so,” one replied slowly.
The other orderly crossed his forearms, making an X, signaling the driver to stop backing up.
Levi said thanks and then stood silently as the orderly opened the back doors. The first thing Levi saw was a state trooper sitting inside. No one seemed to be in a rush, and when the gurney and the patient were pulled out, he immediately understood. Whoever was on the gurney was completely covered in blood, as was the formerly white sheet covering the person’s head.
Levi sensed that it was Moon Pie, which wasn’t a surprise. He had always lived on the edge, cheating death more times than Levi could count, but he needed to know for certain that this was his half brother.
Levi exhaled deeply and then approached the medics as they wheeled the body inside. At the last moment, he decided not to ask any more questions that could raise suspicions about him.
“Car accident?” he asked the trooper instead.
“I’m sorry, sir. We can’t give out any information,” the state trooper replied politely.
Levi trailed several feet behind the covered gurney. He watched a young doctor in scrubs hurry to the side of the deceased. He raised the sheet, did a quick examination of the body, and pronounced the victim dead at 11:23 p.m. He pulled the sheet back over the body and pointed down the hall.
From Levi’s vantage point, he clearly saw Moon Pie’s face. His half brother was dead. He looked around the empty ER and then slowly, calmly stepped though the exit next to the automated doors.
As Levi walked to his truck, he realized that he didn’t feel anguish or sorrow. Moon Pie had tormented him all of his life. Ethan “Moon Pie” Daniels was not a good person, and Levi had allowed Moon Pie to lead him down many a wrong road from an early age.
Levi experienced something liberating from Moon Pie’s death, and it occurred with perfect timing. Levi had been at a crossroads and needed guidance or a sign. Moon Pie’s death was one or both. He needed to find out who had killed him.
He glanced back at the hospital. The state trooper was staring at him through the glass door.