Dream

By Donna Hatton

Debbie Helton fights to prove that her beloved sister's death was murder and not a heart attack. Debbie enlists the help of friend and neighbor Detective Gary Layton to prove her theory of greed and lust that brought on her murder. Detective Gary Layton uncovers the most heinous crime he has ever witnessed that makes him rethink his career choice.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Fulton Books, Inc.
• Release date: Dec 28, 2022
• ISBN: 9798887310015

Book preview

Chapter 1

Phones ringing in the dead of night was never a good sign. The ringing of the phone woke Debbie Helton from a sound sleep. She looked at the clock on the table next to where her cellphone was plugged in, a little disoriented from the darkness of the bedroom. She looked over at her husband sleeping soundly; the phone had not awakened him. She reached for the phone, silencing it before it rang again.

Hello?

Aunt Debbie, I need help. I’m sorry for calling so early, but they just admitted Mama to the hospital. It is bad. She is in a coma. Her niece Mykala ended with a sob.

Mykala, what hospital? I am on my way. Is anyone with you now?

Dan came in with the ambulance. Ryan is with me, but he will need to leave as soon as we hear anything. None of us know anything. I’m afraid of what is happening. We are just waiting to see a doctor. We are at Northwest General.

I am on my way as soon as I get dressed. Relax, baby, she is in good hands.

She carried her phone into the bathroom, and her husband followed.

What is going on, baby?

That was Mykala. They rushed Judy to the hospital. She is unconscious and in a coma. Don’t know anything else. Mykala is upset and asking for me. I’m sorry the phone woke you. Go on back to bed.

You want me to go with you?

Thank you, but you have too much to do tomorrow, or today. I will call if and when I know anything. I don’t know how long I will be gone, but I will let you know when I know. I will be fine.

I don’t like you driving in the dark.

I know, but this is an emergency. I will drive slowly, and the freeways are lighted all the way to the hospital. There won’t be any traffic. I will be fine.

Good luck and give Mykala and Judy my love. Drive safe. He trudged back to bed, happy to know he wouldn’t be needed at the hospital. He hated hospitals. Don’t we all? But this was an emergency, and Mykala needed someone that understood her and what she was going through. Judy had very little family left: two sisters, one sister who she didn’t get along with, and her son, Shane, who Debbie knew would not be at the hospital. He was too lazy to get out of bed. Judy had been married to Dan Wolf fifteen years, and she was not happy.

Debbie was easing her car out of the garage when she remembered the picture. She rushed into the house, found the photo, and hurried back out to the car. Debbie lived outside the small town of Humble on the east side of Houston. It was an up-and-coming town growing fast with people tired of living in the big city of Houston. It wasn’t far to the hospital on the northwest side of town, in the new medical center in Cypress. Debbie had gone to high school in Cypress many years before. It was a small hospital, but the closest one to Judy and Dan’s house. At least Dan had the sense to rush her to a close hospital. He wasn’t good for much else.

Memories assailed her as she hurried to the hospital. Judy was fifteen when the family met her. Her brother Ronnie had met the dark-haired beauty and fell in love with her, or lust. He was seventeen, and hormones were raging at that age for him. Having anyone he wanted came easy for him: tall, even at seventeen, with a beautiful smile, easy-going ways, and very humorous. He wasn’t hard to look at either, but he did have a reputation in our small community of being a bit wild, and Judy’s mother had forbidden her to date the young cowboy. Judy would sneak out of the house to see Ronnie.

One night, when Judy returned home after seeing Ronnie, her mother was up and waiting. She had already packed Judy’s things, and they were waiting by the back door. Her mother would not let Judy in the house.

So Judy was introduced to our family at breakfast the next morning. At nineteen, I was intrigued by Judy, sitting next to Ronnie, happy and laughing. You would think they were already married, acting like newlyweds. Seeing a stranger at breakfast was nothing new for us. Our parents were known as the hangout parents in our community. Any time a teenage boy came up missing, the first place those parents called were our parents, not the police.

My dad did not believe in putting young kids out of a home, and sometimes teenagers would wind up at our house after having a fight or disagreement with their own parents. They were always boys though; this was the first time my parents had harbored a girl. The stays would last anywhere from three days, to one boy, Reggie, who didn’t want to go home, so he stayed three months. Everyone loved my dad, and they all entrusted their wayward boys to him.

Judy fit right in with our bunch. She was a beautiful girl, always laughing and smiling. But Daddy had rules. Judy had to call her parents and let them know she was not on the streets, and there were strict sleeping arrangements. She would sleep with my sister and I, and Ronnie would remain in the bedroom with our oldest brother, Wayne.

At night, we would lie under the covers laughing, and more than once, Daddy would call out to us to tone it down. Judy moved into our home and our hearts and never returned home. Her parents never called her or asked that she’d return home. She lived with us until she turned eighteen and married Ronnie. By then, she was pregnant with Mykala.

Mykala was born eight months after I had my first child, and my daddy was delighted to have babies in the house again, even if it was just for visits.

He relished being a papa, and those two girls were loved and happy.

Mykala was three when Judy and Ronnie divorced, but she continued to be a big part of our family. Judy lived with us, and Ronnie had moved on.

He spent a year in Wyoming, working on a ranch; a year we went without seeing him. Mykala settled in happy as she could be. But Judy still loved Ronnie and said he was the only man for her. She said her heart would never let him go.

Judy went to work cleaning high-rise office buildings in Houston. She started with one four-story office building. She worked nights, and Mykala was left at home with my mom and daddy. Judy loved what she was doing, and she took care of herself and Mykala, not receiving any help from Ronnie.

When Mykala started school, Judy found an apartment and, among cries and tears, moved out on her own. But she spent her weekends with my parents, not hers. And we stayed close. I told her she was a sister-in-law by marriage, but a sister by love. Over the years, we remained close, and Mykala always had babysitters. She was an adorable and well-behaved child and, like her mother, very beautiful.

Ronnie remarried, and Judy cried for a month. Ronnie still visited her, which gave Judy the feeling he would return. He never did. When Ronnie died at forty-six, Judy was his second widow. But with his passing, she had no hope of his return, so she married Dan.

Chapter 2

Dan was a mistake for Judy. He was a policeman she met while she was working in one of her office buildings. Judy had gone from working one office building to hiring more women and working more buildings. When she married Dan, she had six buildings and fifty employees. She had started her own business without realizing what she had started. She had branched out to wealthy residences, and her clients were extremely happy with her work ethic.

She only hired like-minded women over the years and had gotten to the point where she only worked when needed. She ran the business by herself and was doing very well. She had given up apartment living and bought her own home when Mykala was twelve.

She had also inspired me to follow my dream, nursing. I was finally playing out my own dream working in a hospital. I loved my job, and the hospital is where I’ve met my husband, Joe. He came into the emergency room with a deep cut and was bleeding all over the floor as I exited the hospital at the end of my daily shift. He said it was love at first sight for him, but I was gun-shy from my previous divorce with my children’s father. It took me five months before I agreed to go out to dinner with him. One thing I could say, he never gave up, and I am glad he didn’t. He loved Judy and Mykala and accepted them as my sister and niece. But he moved me away from Houston to a small town, where he was born. I loved the slow-paced living, and I loved my new home that Joe built with his own two hands and crew.

Judy and I remained close over the years, and I was a part of Mykala’s life by long distance. We were only fifty miles from where Judy and Mykala were. I loved Judy and Mykala, but I didn’t like Dan. Dan thought I was too close to Judy, and he wanted her to himself and isolated her from anyone she cared about. He moved her to a small town in the opposite direction from me, and our visits were shorter and too long for weekly drives. We communicated by snail mail and phone calls, but it wasn’t enough. I missed my sister.

I pulled into the hospital’s parking lot and called Mykala to let her know I was there and asked where they had Judy. Mykala told me to meet her in the lobby, and we could talk in private. Meaning, Dan was hovering too close.

I met Mykala, and she was crying, loud sobs with tears streaming down her cheeks.

Baby, is it that bad? All she could do was nod as I gathered her into my arms and let her cry. Ryan came in and stood close by. He was a sweetheart, and Mykala had found her soulmate in high school. He stayed by her side through college and married her as soon as they graduated. He was not a pretty man, but he was a good man, and he loved her dearly. He was crying as he watched his wife sobbing. I led them to a group of chairs in the corner and asked Mykala to tell me what was going on.

When did the doctor come out to talk to you?

About an hour ago. I sent Ryan home, but I see he is back, with clothes. I am still in my jammies. Thank you, Ryan. You need to go to work. There is nothing anyone can do for Mama.

I was waiting on Aunt Debbie to get here so you would have someone to protect you. I love you, baby. Call if you need me or anything, okay. Hey, Aunt Debbie, good to see you, just sorry about Judy. I know what she means to you. Call me if Kala needs anything. She won’t.

I will, Ryan. Thank you. Don’t worry, I will protect her.

And Melinda is here. Keep her away from Kala.

I will. Go on, and don’t worry about Kala.

He kissed his wife and hurried out.

You really lucked out on finding a good man. Wish Judy had been as lucky. Tell me what is going on.

They are still running tests, but it is her heart. I don’t understand what they are doing, but Mama is so cold. She is almost blue. Doctor says her blood pressure has bottomed out. I don’t know what that means.

Low blood pressure is why she is so cold. How long has it been low and how low is it?

"She has only been here three hours, and the doctor said it has been extremely low for hours, up to ten hours. It was 68 over 39 when she came in. Why didn’t she do or say anything when it got low? She spent yesterday morning with me, and she never complained of anything but a headache. She left early to go lie down at home.

Dan never called me until he was on the way to the hospital, following the ambulance. I called earlier yesterday to check on her, and he said she was at the grocery store. I know better. She headed straight home and to bed. She had let me know when she got home, and she told me she had trouble seeing when she was driving. I told her to go to the hospital. She was only a mile from home when she called me. She told me she loved me, and she was so proud of me and my kids. And she asked me to keep an eye on Shane, then she hung up. It was like she was telling me goodbye.

Baby, she has lived with this heart problem for so many years, and she might have thought it was the end, and she wanted to tell you how she felt about you. Maybe she thought it was the end, and she wanted you to be the last thing she talked about. She loved you so much.

The doctor said she is in a critical mode. He said he will do everything he can, but it may not be enough. Is Mama going to die?

If she is in critical mode, it might be the doctor is right. Who is the doctor?

Dr. Samuel is her family doctor, and he came in as soon as the hospital called him. He is with her now.

Let’s go see him. I will talk to him and see what he thinks.

Dan was talking to a tall silver-haired man in jeans and sport shirt. Debbie recognized him as a visiting doctor from her hospital; meaning, he came when one of his patients were admitted.

Mykala interrupted Dan. Dr. Samuel, this is my aunt, Debbie Helton. She is a nurse, and she has some questions. Has something happened to Mama?

I was just explaining to Mr. Wolf what we are doing to warm up your mother. We have her attached to a machine that warms her blood circulation. We need to warm her body to run some more tests.

Dan walked off without saying anything. The doctor watched him walk off with a quizzical look on his face. He shook his head and looked at Debbie. I think I recognize you from Presbyterian, is it?

Yes. I work in cardiology. Has Judy’s body temperature raised any?

Not in such a short length of time. I just started the procedure. It may take twenty-four hours before we notice a significant change.

Thank you for coming in and taking care of Judy. Judy is my sister, and I know about her heart condition. What happens next?

Mykala, why don’t you go in and check on your mom while I talk to your aunt. Shop talk. Then I will send her in to you. Mykala looked at me, and I smiled as she turned to walk into her mom’s room.

We don’t know her condition at this time. That is why I am trying to bring up her body temperature. Like I said, it may take twenty-four hours before we know anything. She has had a stroke, and it seems to be a massive one, but we won’t know the damage until and if she regains consciousness. She may not regain her consciousness and pass within that twenty-four-hour period. I wanted the family to be aware and have her family here in case she passes.

Dr. Samuel looked at me and smiled. I know family can be emotional at a time like this, but I didn’t want to tell Mykala there is no hope. It will be a blessing when she passes. Her EEG showed minimal response. I think she will pass long before the twenty-four hours is up. She would be in a vegetated state if she survived. You can tell your niece what you want, but she needs to be prepared. Judy has a DNR, so there isn’t much I can do. Does her daughter know about the DNR?

I don’t think she does. Judy always protected both her kids. They didn’t know the extent of her heart disease. Judy knew, and so do I. But I just saw her, and she said she was doing so much better with the new medication. This was what I was expecting when I got the call from Mykala. Doctor, I want an autopsy. Call it instinct, but there were problems with the husband. Can you do that for me?

I want that anyway, so there is no problem. I want to know what happened. I didn’t foresee this happening to Judy this abruptly and to this extent. I thought we had her problem under control. She has worked hard these past months to lower her cholesterol, and she quit smoking years ago. I thought she had a few more years from her last visit. And between you and me, there is something off about the husband, so I am glad you asked.

Thank you, Dr. Samuel. I will talk to Mykala and let her know what is happening. Will you be at the hospital?

I am not leaving the hospital. I have my partner taking my calls today and this weekend so I can stay here with Judy. If you need me, ask the nurse at the station, and she will call me. Good luck with Mykala. It is going to be rough.

She had seen many patients pass away, and when she walked into Judy’s room, she knew she wouldn’t last twenty-four hours. Her skin was pale with a blue tint, showing she was not getting enough oxygen to keep her blood circulating. Her breathing was being done by a machine, and there were intravenous needles in her veins receiving medications and hydration from three bags. The machine that was warming and circulating her blood was silently working.

And Mykala was silently crying, sobs wracking her body. She looked up at Debbie and said, She doesn’t have long, does she?

No, baby, it is not good news. She has a DNR order, but the doctor is trying everything in bounds of that order to try to save her, but if she survived, she would be in a vegetated state. She wouldn’t want that, and I know you couldn’t handle seeing her that way. Call the rest of your family. It won’t be long now. I am so sorry. And Mykala started crying, sobs racking her body.

Chapter 3

Debbie was in the room, holding Mykala when the door flew open, and Melinda walked