The Prey Bites Back: A Jesse Watson Mystery Book #8 (35 page)

“Nothing yet,
brother. Have you been watching the news?”

“Yeah. Looks like
the sheriff left you guys out of it. You got lucky on this one. The press won’t
be knocking down your door to hear your side of the story.”

I added my
thoughts to the conversation. “There was no mention that Denise Sutton was shot
and killed at our house. Maybe Sheriff Hudson and Captain Trainum wanted all
the glory for catching a dangerous serial killer, or maybe, they didn’t want to
have to explain our part in it. It doesn’t matter. I’m just glad not to be
bothered. The press is like vultures circling a dead carcass. They never give
up, and then they say or print whatever they want. Who needs that?”

“I just got a
call from my friend about the wine bottle found in Preston’s car. Negative for
antifreeze. Positive for minute traces of arsenic.”

“Arsenic? Who
uses arsenic anymore? That was stupid.”

“Here’s something
else for you. The guys searching Preston’s car found a soda can shoved up under
the driver’s seat. Guess what they found in it?”

Billy raised his
eyebrows. “Traces of antifreeze.”

“Yep. Guess she
tried everything in her bag of goodies. Oh… never did come up with anything on
the wedding band, but I guess that’s moot now.”

“We’ve been
watching the news, and they reported the capture and subsequent death of the
suspect, but that’s it. Very few specifics, and then they went on to reporting
something else.”

“By tonight, this
will be old news, brother. When the cops want to keep something out of the
news, they have people who make it happen. You know that.”

“What you got
going on there?”

“Nothing. Just
hanging out around the house… waiting for the sheriff to come and arrest me.”

“Same here.”   

“You know we’re
going down for this one, brother… don’t you?”

“My feeling isn’t
good, but jail isn’t part of that feeling. We made a few blunders, but so did
the sheriff. I’ll be sure to point that out when he pays us a visit. He didn’t
have his mind on his job, or he would’ve locked us up the minute he saw the
video of us sneaking in
The Body Shop
. Perhaps the sheriff has something
more serious on his plate than us right now.”

“I think you might
have something there. I’ve been picking up chatter about recent abductions in
the area over the past few months, and the cops are up in arms over it. At
first, they treated it as a missing person’s case, you know runaways or the
like, but now they’re rethinking their stance because of the similarities. Lu
Ann’s been called in, so you know they must think they have a serial killer running
around.”

“You kill one,
and another takes its place.” Billy paused. “That was meant to be a joke.
Listen. After all that’s happened, the worst we’ll get is community service. No
doubt in my mind.”

“Let’s hope
you’re right, but whatever happens, we’ll deal with it. Man, this has been a
weird case. I kinda feel sorry for the woman.”

“Save your pity.
She made her choice. She didn’t have to go on a killing rampage.”

“Yeah, you’re
right. She chose to kill. She doesn’t deserve my sympathy. She got away from
her abusive husband. That should’ve been enough, but instead of being happy,
she started getting revenge. When is that ever right?”

“Never.”

“Wouldn’t it be a
trip if we all ended up in jail because of her? We’d be the ones who’d suffer
the fallout of her insanity… just another one of her casualties. When does a
person go from sane to insane?”

“That’s a
question for Lu Ann.”

“Keep me
informed.” Jonathan disconnected.

The mood in the
room had taken on an ominous feel. It was as if our life had been put on hold and
would stay that way until we got the call… or a knock at the door. For the
first time, our lives could easily change from something very good to something
really, really bad. Jail could be part of our future. I knew it, and Billy knew
it, but he said nothing of the sort, and tried to put our fears at rest.

“You all heard
what I told Jonathan. This is all going to blow over soon, and we’re going to
be fine. Jesse and I might have to pick up trash off the side of the road for a
few weeks,” Billy looked at me and winked, “but that’s okay. We’ve dealt with
trash before. So… until we hear from the sheriff, we need to go about our
business as usual.”

Helene acted
surprised. “You mean, take on another case? Are you serious? You can’t do it… I
mean, you shouldn’t do it. Not now.”

“No, we’re not
taking on another case until we finish our business with the sheriff.” Billy
started to slowly pace around the dining room table with his hand on his chin.

I knew he was
formulating something in his head. I’d seen that look many times.

“I’ve been
thinking. If I was the sheriff and I really wanted to make someone suffer, I’d
make them sweat it out. If he was going to throw any of us in jail, we’d be
there right now. No… he’s got plans for us. He’s going to make us sweat it out
for a couple of days, and then he’s going to tell us what he wants. Like I
said, we’ll probably get community service.”

Hmm… was Billy
right or was he sugar coating the outcome? I just didn’t know what to think. I
prayed for the best, but…

“Community
service, my a…” Helene refrained from finishing her sentence, knowing how much
Mom hated profanity. “Wake up. If you think you’re going to get a slap on the
wrist, you’re dreaming. Sheriff Hudson’s going to throw the book at you. We
need to face up to the fact that…”

“What about me? I
shot Gavin Preston in the foot.”

“If Billy’s
right, Minnie, you’re going to be picking up trash right along with him and
Jesse.” Helene looked over at Eddie. “I guess we’ll have to take care of the
kids and do the housekeeping while they’re out beautifying America. That is… if
we’re lucky.”

Mom waved her
off. “Stop being a downer, Helene. Jesse doesn’t look worried, so I’m not
either. If she didn’t believe what Billy said, I’d know. We’re going to be just
fine. Besides, I don’t mind picking up trash.” Mom smiled at Billy. “It’ll be
worth it.”

“We’ll see about
that.”

Billy raised his
hand and broke in. “Enough. We’re not going to argue. Since we’re going to be
homebound for a while, we’re going to take advantage of our time. I’ll talk to Lila
at the office and tell her to continue screening cases and refer perspective
clients to Larry Mayhew over in Greene County, unless something big comes
along.” He looked at me. “We can do a lot from home. The computer is a magical
thing.” He looked over at Eddie. “Think you’re up to making a sketch of your
new home? You draw it, and Jonathan can make up the blueprints. It doesn’t have
to be perfect, just something to give him an idea of what you want. He’ll do
the rest.”

“Sure, I’m game.”
Eddie looked at Mom. “Tell me what you want, Minnie, and I’ll draw it.”

Mom smiled. “I
think it’s a wonderful idea. It’ll keep us busy until we have to start picking
up trash.” She looked at Helene and chuckled.

As the day wore
on and there was no sign of Sheriff Hudson, the more I believed Billy had been
right. He said the sheriff was going to make us sweat, and we were sweating.
Even though we’d kept busy, we still had that underlying feeling of a disaster waiting
to happen.

Dinner came and
went, and when it was time for bed, we were more than glad to call it a day. We
were exhausted. Stress does that to a person, and we’d all had our fair share
of stress for one day.

By the time the
lights went out, I was snuggled up close to Billy, waiting for a restful,
uneventful sleep. My mind went from one scene to another, playing out the
recent events, until finally, I closed my eyes and drifted off, sleeping
peacefully throughout the night. No bad dreams. No one chasing me. I woke
refreshed and ready to take on a new day. I heard the kids playing and the
occasional bark of one of the dogs. I smelled food cooking. I crawled out of
bed, got dressed, and then headed to the kitchen.

“You’re up
early,” I said to Billy as I walked up and gave him a kiss. “Where is
everybody?”

He handed me a
cup of coffee. “The kids are playing, waiting on their breakfast, and your Mom
and Eddie are in the den still going over the plans for their new house.”

“And I’m here.”
Helene waved as if I hadn’t seen her. “Cooking breakfast. You hungry?”

“I’m starved.”

Billy’s cell
phone rang.

“Hmm…it’s
Jonathan. Mighty early for him to be calling. I smell trouble.”

“It’s probably
the bacon,” Helene joked. “I burned a couple of slices.”

Billy touched the
screen. “Hope you have good news for me.”

“Not so much. They’re
here. Sheriff Hudson’s SUV followed by a plain, white van… and wait… they’re
pulling into your driveway. Oh… I know what’s happening here.” Jonathan
laughed. “You were right all along, brother. No jail. Call me.”

The call ended.

Billy and I
glared at each other.

“Why was he
laughing?”

“I have no idea,
but it must not be too serious, or he wouldn’t be laughing. See… I told you
everything was going to be all right.”

I went over and
looked out the window, my heart skipping a beat with every step. I looked back
at Billy. “It’s the sheriff and Cole, and there’s some guy getting out of the
van. The guy’s carrying a big, black suitcase thingy. You think our striped
vests are in it? I mean, they have to wear those vests when they do highway
cleanup, right?”

“Calm down, `ge
ya. I think I know why Jonathan was laughing.”

“Well, then
please fill me in before I have a heart attack.”

There was a loud
knock at the door, and then the sheriff said, “Greene County Sheriff.”

Billy gave me a wink,
and then opened the door. “Come on in, Sheriff Hudson. You look well,
considering what you’ve been through. How about a cup of coffee?” He held out
his hand to the sheriff.

The sheriff
offered his hand and said, “We need to talk in private. I don’t want to disturb
your breakfast, but I have a busy day ahead of me.”

“Yeah, I’ve
heard.”

“What have you
heard?”

“About the
abductions. I know every police department around must be frantic.”

The sheriff
started to say something, but Billy cut him off. “Helene, why don’t you call
everyone to breakfast? We’ll be in the den.”

Billy motioned to
the sheriff. “Follow me.”

When Mom passed
the sheriff in the hallway, she didn’t say a word. She just kept walking.

Once in the den,
Billy closed the door, and then turned to the sheriff. “Who’s your friend?”

I walked over to
the recliner and sat down. My hands were shaking as I held my cup of coffee and
waited to see what was going to happen. It was now down to the wire, and I was
afraid we were about to be hung. Then, I realized that if we were going to be
arrested, it would’ve happened the minute the sheriff walked in the door, so
what was really going on here? I couldn’t stand it any longer. I had to say
something or explode. “So… are you going to throw us in jail or not?”

“I wasn’t
planning on it, but if you want me to, I’m sure I can accommodate you.”

“Why not? You’ve wanted
to lock us up for as long as I can remember. What…”

Billy gave me a
stern look. “Jesse… let the sheriff talk.” He looked back at the sheriff.
“Shall we sit down and talk about why you’re here.”

“Sure we can, but
I think you know why I’m here.”

The sheriff and
Cole sat down on the sofa while Billy waited for the other guy to sit.

“Have a seat,
Billy.” The sheriff pointed to the guy dressed in street clothes. “He has
official business to attend to.”

Billy sat down in
the recliner next to mine.

By now, my heart
was in my throat. “God! Stop with the polite chitchat and get to the point!” I sneered
at the sheriff. “You know I have anxiety! Are you trying to kill me?”

“I want to
introduce you to Tommy. He’s with our home monitoring system, and he’s here to
fit you with your new police jewelry.”

“What jewelry? Is
this a joke?”

Billy reached
over and patted my hand. “Ankle bracelets, Jesse. Tracking devices.” He looked
at the sheriff. “Are we under house arrest or just tracking?”

“Both. You’ll be
under house arrest for thirty days and then you’ll be tracked for an additional
sixty days. I’m sure you know how the system works.”

This was the last
thing I had expected. I was shocked, but at the same time I was almost euphoric
knowing we weren’t going to jail. This is what Billy was about to tell me
before he answered the door.

“House arrest
ain’t so bad, Billy. We can still go to work, right Sheriff?”

The sheriff
laughed. “You know the drill, Jesse. You’re not going anywhere for thirty days,
and then, when the thirty days are up, you’ll be able to leave the house. Just
remember, I’ll know where you are every minute of the day for ninety days. I’ll
be like the pink elephant in the room. If you have a problem with this
arrangement, there is another alternative.”

Tommy pulled out
a two-inch wide, black leather strap with a tiny box-like thing attached and proceeded
to hook it around my ankle. The monitor beeped, and I was all set. It took all
of five minutes. Five minutes and now I would be confined to this house for thirty
days. Would I go insane?

“What’s the other
alternative? I’m willing to pick up trash off the road. This thing already
itches.” I reached down and scratched around the bracelet for emphasis.

“The other
alternative is, I arrest you and you go to prison—you, Billy, and Jonathan. How
many times have I told you that obstruction of justice is a serious charge?
Judges don’t like it when you get in our way. You’ll go down, and you’ll go
down hard. I don’t want to see that happen, but I have to do something. And…
there is that matter with your mother shooting Gavin Preston in the foot.”