“I should have known not to give you a chance.” She shoved her cue stick in Cain’s hand and walked away.
The crowd dispersed as she headed to the counter. JB covered his mouth, while Marcy hurried to her sister’s side, and Cain just stood there in disbelief. He had to do something. Had to make Betsy smile or sass or even flip him off. He didn’t care what he had to do, but this evening couldn’t end on this note.
“Thanks for letting me win, Betsy,” he shouted after her. “Let me know when to make the reservation for dinner.”
She stopped and turned, fluffed her hair as if she had let him win. “You’re welcome, Cain. But don’t?—”
Coming back from the men’s room, Earl bumped into Betsy and Marcy hard enough to knock them against the wall. Cain heard more than saw JB get to his feet and head toward them.
Staggering, Earl spun around, reaching out to help the women. Instead, he stumbled backward. Barely standing, his body circled from his waist up. Knees buckled.
“Call 911.” Cain caught the service manager before he hit the floor. “Tell them they’ll need the Narcan.”
Eyes wide in panic. Pinpoint pupils. Pale. Earl grabbed Cain’s hand and squeezed. “Hel…help.” His hold tightened. “Help me. Tell them I’m sorry.”
“Hang on, Earl. I’ve got you.” Cain lowered him down, never letting go of Earl’s hand.The man’s body went limp.
“Stay with me, Earl.” Cain had seen this too many times not to know what would happen next. Just like every other overdose he’d ever witnessed, he hoped like hell this time he was wrong. “Stay with me.”
Breathing stopped. Heart stopped.
Cain jumped into compression mode on Earl’s chest, pumping again and again and again. He knew the rhythm. Knew the pace. Knew the procedure. “Come on back, Earl. You can do it. Think of your family. Your wife. Think of Steven. Fight, man. Fight.”
In the background he heard JB make the paramedic call. Heard Marcy and Joanie clearing people to the other side of the room. Heard half the voices in his own head shouting defeat, the other half shouting you can save him if you don’t quit.
Cain didn’t quit.
The man’s eyelids popped open as he inhaled a breath on his own. Within another minute, the EMTs arrived. Cain stepped back to let the professionals handle the situation as JB walked over to the group of Earl’s friends all huddled together in the corner.
“Betsy!” he shouted. “Call Earl’s wife and son. Have them meet the ambulance at the hospital.”
Without a second thought delay, she pulled out her phone and followed his instructions.
Cain had wondered about Crayton’s drug problems the other night with Randy. That incident had been a buried news story. Now a good, hardworking, respected family man had OD’ed. Meant front page news. Lead radio news for the day. That would scare the local community. No ignoring the situation now, Crayton’s drug problems had just made an appearance, loud and clear.
Citizens would rise up in arms. Form a committee. Make a plan. Demand action before it was too late. Someone needed to get the word out that it was already too late, because whether the drug was heroin or fentanyl, for some lives it was already too late.
Right on time, beads of sweat peppered the back of Cain’s neck. He hated that sensation. No, hate wasn’t even close to what he felt. He rubbed the dampness away, but it peppered again.
There’d been other towns he’d been assigned to for DEA surveillance. People he’d saved. People he couldn’t. Maybe he should have stayed undercover. Kept walking that line between right and wrong until a bullet made the choice for him. He swiped his palm down his face, struggling to push the thoughts aside. He’d given a lot of years to saving others.
Hopefully, Shadow would have more leads to share the next time they made contact.
Part of the reason Cain had taken the leave of absence from the DEA was to find some kind of peace. From what he’d just seen, peace and moving on wouldn’t be coming any time soon.
He glanced at the paramedic. “Will Earl make it?”
CHAPTER NINE
For the past hour, Betsy had stood off to the side, staying out of the way as police did a quick questioning of everybody in Joanie’s. A déjà vu moment spiraled her back to Phillip. On drugs. Belligerent. Paranoid. Was Earl using? She’d never seen him like tonight. Nothing unusual at work.
A line of customers had formed at the checkout counter to pay their bills and leave. All thoughts of fun for the evening had ended, and Joanie had decided to close early.
Betsy moved to the pool table she and Cain had played on earlier in the evening. Trying to get the vision of Earl’s collapse out of her mind, she pulled the balls from the pockets and racked them in the center of the felt. Gently she tapped her fingers against the cue ball and watched it skim the length till lightly bouncing off the far rail. For a moment the heaviness of the evening lifted.
“Let me pay and I’ll be right there.” Walking toward the checkout, Cain shouted across the room to Deputy Evans and JB leaving out the front door.
“What’s going on?” Betsy asked. “I mean, I know drugs seem to be everywhere now, that’s why I’m so determined to keep my workers out of harm’s way. Peyton’s is a drug-free zone, and everyone there knows my rules. Maybe it’s not drugs. Earl’s a good family man.”
