All About the Money (A Jesse Watson Mystery Series Book 7) (12 page)

“What is it?” I asked, looking into his eyes for a hint. “You
sound so serious.”

Helene walked into the bedroom with both children by her
side. She was holding their hands as Maisy continuously chatted, while Ethan
tried to put a few sentences together. The minute they saw me, they both ran to
the bed. Maisy crawled up on it, but Ethan needed a little help. A second
later, both dogs came running into the room, jumped up, and circled until they
found their spot on the bed. Athena and Thor lay down and were content to just
be on the bed with us.

“All we need now is the cat to make this gathering complete,”
I joked, trying to put the images of the bad dream out of my head.

Maisy, understanding what I had said, called out, “Kitty…
kitty.”

Spice Cat appeared at the doorway, looked around, and then
meandered over to the bed. He jumped up and proceeded to make himself
comfortable on one of the pillows.

I looked at Billy and said, “Now that the gang’s all here
maybe you can tell us all what you have to say.”

Both Helene and Billy looked at each other, and then Billy
said, “This we will need to discuss without the presence of the children.”

“I guess that means I’m going to get crazy when you tell me
whatever it is you want to tell me. It must be pretty bad.”

“It is, `ge ya, and I don’t want the kids to see you so
upset.”

By now, I was beginning to get worried. Something really bad
must have happened if Billy didn’t want to talk about it in front of the kids.
The first thing I thought of was my mother.

“Tell me my mother is all right,” I demanded almost in tears.

“Minnie’s fine,” Billy said with a smile. “You know I would
tell you right away if something had happened to your mom.”

I felt a sense of relief. Whatever had happened, I could cope
with it as long as it didn’t have anything to do with my mother. I would have
to face that possibility one day, but hopefully, not anytime soon. I felt
better already.

“Okay, then,” I said relieved. “I guess it’s time for me to
get out of bed.” I leaned over and hugged the kids and then teased the dogs. I
left Spice Cat alone. He had a tendency to get all riled up if someone bothered
him when he wasn’t in the mood. Once, I tried to play with him, and he
scratched me. He wasn’t in the mood and he let me know in his own special way.
So, after that, I wait for him to make the first move. He wasn’t moving today.

After a playful period with the kids and the dogs, I crawled
out of bed. “Time for a shower,” I said. “Mommy is a dirty Bert.”

The kids laughed at me while Helene ushered them out of the
room with both dogs playfully following behind them. The cat stayed put. Nobody
messes with him, or tells him what to do.

Billy kissed me on the cheek and said, “Enjoy your shower,
and then we will talk.” He turned and walked out of the bedroom, leaving me
with an uneasy feeling in the pit of my stomach. What did he have to tell me
that was so important? I pondered this the whole time I was in the shower. By
the time I had finished, I was in a state. My fear had gotten the best of me.
After examining the saucer sized bruise that had appeared in the center of my
chest, I dressed and then hurried to the kitchen—our gathering place.

Billy had a cup of coffee waiting for me. He handed it to me
and said, “You might want to sit down.”

I looked around, and then sat down at the table.

“If you’re looking for the kids, Helene took them to the den
to play. They’ve already eaten, so don’t worry. Are you hungry?”

“No, I’m not. I just want to know what it is that’s so bad
you had to prepare me for. What has happened? Oh, no! Is it your mother? Chief
Sam? Tell me, Billy!” The bruised site on my chest began to ache. If my vest
hadn’t taken a bullet there, I would’ve thought I was having a heart attack.

Billy hesitated as if he was trying to get up the nerve to
lay some horrible news on me, and then he said, “First, let me just say that
Donald Rhodes is going to pull through.”

“That’s good news, isn’t it?” My relief was visible. I
smiled, letting go of some of my tension. “I’m glad to hear it. For a minute, I
thought you were going to tell me somebody died.”

“Someone did.”

“Spit it out, Billy! You’re driving me nuts.”

“McCoy Kelley was killed last night.” Tears filled his eyes
as he continued. “During a domestic dispute.” Billy had become close friends
with McCoy during our cruise on the
Bella Constance
. I knew he was upset
over the news of his death. I sure was.

“Don’t tell me that
Savannah
killed him!” I jumped up from the table, knocking over my cup of coffee in the
process. Billy hurried to the sink and grabbed a dishrag to clean up my mess.
As he wiped up the spilled coffee, I paced the floor. “I don’t believe it!
Killing that woman in self-defense, if that’s what it was, is one thing, but
killing her husband is another. I knew there was something fishy going on. I
hope they lock her up and throw away the key! She belongs in jail.”

“Wait a minute,” Billy said, walking over to the counter to
get more coffee for me. “I didn’t say
Savannah
killed McCoy.” He filled my cup and then sat it back down on the table. “Sit
down, Jesse. There’s something else I have to tell you.”

I walked back over to the table, sat down, and sipped my
coffee while I took it all in. I couldn’t believe that McCoy was dead. The
thought of it made me almost sick to my stomach. I started running off at the
mouth about
Savannah
.

Billy stopped me by saying, “I thought
Savannah
was your friend. You’ve been flip
flopping about this whole situation ever since that woman was killed. One
minute you think
Savannah
’s innocent, and the next, you want her
to get the death penalty. What gives?”

“I stopped trusting her the minute she started lying to us.
She tells one story to us, and then she tells a different story to the cops.
She lied about her and McCoy. They weren’t working things out. Their marriage
was caput.”

“What would you tell the cops if your husband’s dead mistress
was in your garage? Perhaps, she thought they were working it out, until she
was confronted by Andrea Holt.”

I jumped up from the table and started pacing again,
deserting my coffee. “Don’t give me that. She’s a liar. Their marriage had gone
down the tube. It was over, so why did she want people to think any
differently? I’ll tell you why. All she ever thinks about is herself and her
image. She was covering her butt. If she lied about her marriage, then what
else has she lied about?” My voice was going up an octave the longer I spoke
and the more I paced the floor. “She lies about her relationship with McCoy.
She lies about not knowing Andrea—that’s what she led us to believe when she
called us about the body in her garage. At first, I thought it was just an
intruder. Then I find out it was McCoy’s secretary, who just so happens to have
a baby by him. It just keeps getting uglier and uglier by the minute. Now McCoy
is dead. What am I supposed to think?”

“I can’t tell you what to think, but I can say this: you need
all the facts before you make up your mind about who is and who isn’t to
blame.” Billy walked over to me, put his arms around me and just stood there.

I felt a terrible uneasiness about the moment. When Billy
hugged me, I knew there was more. I stepped back, breaking free of his embrace.

“What haven’t you told me?”

Billy took me by the arm and led me over to the sofa in the
living room. He sat me down and began to explain what had happened at
Savannah
’s.

“After
Savannah
was released from jail last night…”

“Yeah… and what about that?” I butted in. “How did she get
out of jail so fast? Nobody gets released that fast. She should’ve been
transferred to the regional jail over in
Orange
,
but she wasn’t. She…”

“Let it go, Jesse. That’s not important.”

“It would be…”

Billy shushed me by putting his finger to my lips. “Russell
took
Savannah
home, and McCoy was there waiting
for her.”

“Russell killed McCoy? No way.”

“Stop, `ge ya!” Billy demanded. “Let me get it all out before
you say anything else.”

“Okay,” I said, softly. “Finish.””

“From what I gather, Russell and McCoy got into it again over
Savannah
. You know Russell has a crush on
her.”

“Who doesn’t? Well… except you.”

Billy didn’t say anything. His pain was overwhelming. I could
see it in his eyes.

“I’m sorry. Go ahead with your story.”

“It got so violent that
Savannah
called the cops. Cole James was the responding deputy.”

The way Billy was talking was like a police officer might talk
if he was explaining the death of someone— professional and compassionate—
without judgment. Silence hung in the air like the ache of a bad tooth.

“What… what are you saying, Billy? Is Cole… dead?”

His eyes welled with tears again when he said, “He’s been
stabbed. They don’t know whether he’s going to live or not, at least not yet.”

I reached over and hugged Billy. I could feel the dampness
from his tears on my shoulder. He had been friends with Cole ever since they
were kids. They’d had their ups and downs—especially when it came to the women
in their lives—but they had still remained friends. I knew he was devastated.

“I’m so, so sorry, Billy. Look… Cole is going to be all
right. I know he is. He’s a fighter.”

Billy got up and walked back to the kitchen. He stood by the
sink as if he didn’t know what to say next. I walked up behind him and put my
arms around him.

“Cole’s tough. He’ll make it through.”

Billy turned around and hugged me. He held onto to me as if
he was afraid to let me go. He regained his composure and said, “I was afraid
you’d be the one to fall apart. I know how much you loved Cole.”

“I did love him,” I replied. “A long time ago, and even
though I don’t love him anymore, I surely don’t want him to die.”

“You’re handling this pretty well. A lot better than I
expected.”

“Oh, I’m not handling it well at all. I’m so mad at
Savannah
, I could strangle her. This is all
her fault! If Cole dies…”

“Don’t say that, Jesse. It’s not her fault. None of this is.”

I was so angry that Billy was defending
Savannah
, I broke free from him and stormed
out of the room. How dare he take her side? She was the one to blame.

Helene and I passed in the hallway
,
but I didn’t say a word. I could tell from the look on her
face that she was concerned, but all I could think about was
Savannah
’s lying ways, and all the trouble it
had caused. Andrea Holt was dead by her hands, McCoy was dead, and Cole might
die. Why shouldn’t I be angry with her? It all started when she killed that
woman. Who else had to die before everyone realized she was nothing more than a
liar and a killer? I sat down on the bed and tried to get my thoughts together.
I had to go see Cole. If he was going to die, I wanted to see him one last time
and tell him how much he had meant to me… how much he had made my life better
just by being in it.

Billy walked into the bedroom and closed the door behind him.
He sat down on the bed next to me and said, “I’m not taking
Savannah
’s side. I just want to give her the
benefit…”

“Stop it, Billy. I don’t want to hear anymore. You can’t see
the truth.”

“Oh, but I can,” he replied. “I see everything. Remember?”

His words calmed me down and brought a smile to my face.
“That’s right,” I said. “That’s what I tell everybody. You are a wise man.”

“I found out a few things this morning when I talked with
Jonathan. Things you don’t know about.”

“Like what?”

“Things that Sheriff Hudson didn’t tell us. They found out
that the email they have is just one of many. When the police in Fancy Gap
confiscated Andrea’s personal laptop, they discovered that
Savannah
and Andrea had been exchanging
emails for a long time. Over two years’ worth.”

“Didn’t
Savannah
lead us to believe that she had only
sent a couple? See what I mean? She’s been lying to everyone all this time.”

“She swears she didn’t send all those emails, and Jonathan
has a theory about that. I can’t begin to explain it in the terminology he
used, but basically, he says that Andrea could’ve sent all those emails—even
the ones from
Savannah
.”

“How’s that possible?”

“Rerouting, bouncing off satellites. I’m not sure exactly how
it’s done, but Jonathan could explain it to you. He knows what he’s talking
about when it comes to computers. He’s even convinced the police in Fancy Gap
to let him have a look at Andrea’s laptop.”

“They won’t do that, will they?”

“For the sake of justice? Sure they will. Jonathan has a
reputation for being one of the best when it comes to computers.”

“He is good. He’s helped us many times.”

“
Savannah
could be innocent.”

“I’ll believe it when I see it.”

“Perhaps we’ll find out that
Savannah
was lying about everything, but I think we should withhold
our verdict until all the evidence is presented. Don’t you? She’s our friend.
We should stand by her. We need to go see her.”

“You can go see her and stand by her all you want. I’m going
to see Cole.”

I got up from the bed to leave, but Billy stopped me. He
grabbed my hand and said, “I will take you anywhere you want to go. I will not
argue with you about
Savannah
. You are my wife. I love you. If you
want to go see Cole, that’s fine with me. I’ll go tell Helene. Get yourself
ready, and I’ll take you to the hospital. We need to leave soon. An hour ago,
he was still alive. He was fighting for his life, but he was still alive.”

I grabbed Billy and hugged him. “I love you, Billy Blackhawk.
Have I told you that lately?”

“Yes, many times.” He lightly swatted me on the butt before
walking out of the room. He hesitated at the door and added, “Hurry, `ge ya.
Time is short.”

The urgency in his voice incited me to hustle. I grabbed my
new cell phone and my gun, stuffed both into my purse, and was standing in the
kitchen ready to go within a matter of seconds. I kissed both the kids, petted
the dogs, and then hissed at the cat—he would expect no less—and then followed
Billy out the front door.

The morning was like so many of the other summer mornings in
the mountains… sunny with a promise of great weather all day long. But
sometimes promises can be broken. That was the first thing I thought about when
I looked up at the sky. What did this day hold in store for us? Would it start
out sunny and bright, but end with a tornado?

My cell phone rang immediately after I sat down in the
4Runner. I pulled it out and looked at the screen, while Billy looked on. He
looked back up at me, but didn’t say anything as he continued to drive.

It was Mom calling, but I wasn’t so sure I wanted to talk to
her. If she went on and on about
Savannah
’s
innocence, I knew I’d pull out my hair. Instead of answering, I hit the button
to ignore her call. My conscience would probably eat away at me, but too bad.
I’d deal with it later.

“That call might have been important,” Billy said as he drove
down the driveway. “You can’t ignore her. It will only make matters worse. You
know she’s going to be upset over
Savannah
and she’ll want to talk about it.”

“I’m sorry, but I just can’t stand to hear one more person
sing
Savannah
’s praises. She’s not who we thought
she was.”

Billy changed the subject, “I called the shop around six this
morning. I guess I’ll have to buy a new truck. We really tore up this one.”

“We?” I responded in a joking manner. “I wasn’t the one
driving. Are you going to get another Dodge truck, or are you going with
something different this time?”

“I’m going to stick with Dodge. They’re great trucks.”

The small talk came to a close when we reached
UVA
Hospital
.

“I bet we’ve been at this hospital more in the last two days
than we’ve ever been.”

“We should buy stock.”

I could tell this was going to be hard on Billy. As soon as
we walked through the front door of the hospital, he went into his own little
private world—a world where he could shut out all his pain. The expression on
his face would reveal nothing. That’s how he would get in situations such as
this.

The first person we ran into was Cole’s mother, Elsie. She
was hysterical. I thought for certain they were going to have to sedate her
because of her uncontrollable behavior. It was a sure sign to me that she had
lost her son. Cole was dead.

I didn’t get to say goodbye to him, and it broke my heart. I
couldn’t hold back the tears any longer. I cried as Billy reached over and
pulled me close. “It’s okay, `ge ya. Let it out.”

Elsie stopped crying long enough to glare up at me, give me
one of those hateful looks of hers, and say, “Stay away from my son. Haven’t
you done enough already?”

Her nasty remark dried my tears up real quick. I guess I had
been itching for a fight for awhile—as my mother would say—but Elsie wasn’t my
target. She was no match for me under any circumstances. She never made any
pretense that she liked me, and I didn’t care, but I wasn’t going to attack her
with my words. However mean and spiteful this woman was, she had just lost the
only person she ever cared about. I wasn’t about to make her suffer more.

“I’m so sorry about Cole,” I said in a sympathetic way.
“I’m…”

“He’s not dead, yet, you moron, so leave him alone, and go
home! He doesn’t need you anymore, and he sure doesn’t want you here. You’ve
been a thorn in my side since I met you.”

I don’t know if I was so glad that Cole was still alive, or
if the need to go off suddenly kicked in, but I snipped back quickly with a
snide remark, saying, “No, he doesn’t need anybody! He has his mother! Who else
could he possibly need?”

Billy politely grabbed me and led me down the hall saying,
“Have you lost your mind?”

“She started it. Did you hear what she said to me? Of course,
you did. Everybody heard her. Why does she have to be so hateful? It’s not as
if I stole her son from her.”

“Be glad that Cole’s alive, and forget about her words. They
mean nothing. Tomorrow, she won’t even remember saying them.”

“Why?” I asked in a hateful voice. “Does she have
Alzheimer’s?”

“Yes, she does. She’s in the early stage.”

“Oh, God,” I cried, hanging my head in shame. I looked up at
Billy. “I didn’t know. No one told me. I shouldn’t have been so mean to her.”

“I recently found out myself. I’m sorry I forgot to tell you.
So much goes on all the time, half the time, I have to ask myself what day it
is.”

“You’re not getting…”

“No. I just meant… oh, never mind.”

Dr. John Bryant, familiar to our whole family, came around
the corner, looked up and saw that it was us, and then walked over. “I knew you
two would be here soon,” he said, greeting us in his usual upbeat manner. “He’s
in ICU, and he’s going to pull through. Cole James is one lucky man. I’ve never
known anyone to survive as many injuries as he’s had. Now, he can add being
stabbed to the list.”

“He’s been stabbed before,” Billy said, casually.

“Not like this, he hasn’t. He literally came to within one
millimeter of dying. If that knife had been a hair to the right, he’d be dead.
No… he’s got somebody looking after him.”

I wanted to say yes, he has his mother, but I refrained from
being so callous... as much as I wanted to.

“We sure are glad to hear it,” Billy said, relief in his
voice. “I’ve been friends and enemies with that man for many moons. It wouldn’t
be the same without him.”

“I know you’re going to want to see him, but only family is
allowed.” Dr. Bryant hesitated for a second. “But if you give me a couple of
minutes, I’ll take you to see him for a very short visit.”

We agreed.

“I’ll be right back.” Dr. Bryant turned and was gone.

“Doesn’t that doctor own this hospital yet?” I asked Billy
after Dr. Bryant left.

“He might as well. He has more clout here than anyone. That’s
why he’s escorting us in to see Cole. Otherwise, they’d turn us away.”

“I guess I never did give you time to finish telling me the
whole story about last night,” I said. “What else happened when Cole answered
the call, and who stabbed him?”

“Basically, it got so rowdy that Cole had to draw down on
McCoy. McCoy grabbed a knife and attacked Cole.”

“What was wrong with McCoy? Why’d he do something so
foolish?”

“He just flipped out.”

“
Savannah
drove him to it.”

“See… there you go again. She didn’t make McCoy do it.”

“Say what you want.”

“There’s just no talking to you when you get like this.”
Billy stopped talking and took a few steps to the side. I guess I had pushed
him far enough.

“I’m sorry. You’re right. It wasn’t
Savannah
’s fault.”

“But…”

“Nothing. I’m not going to say another bad word about her
until I’m sure of what I’m saying. No more guessing. I’m going straight to the
horse’s mouth and ask her outright.”

“That would be the thing to do. Put your mind at ease.”

Dr. Bryant reappeared. “Ready?” he asked. “Just remember. You
can’t stay long. He might not even know you’re here. He’s heavily sedated.”

Billy and I spent fifteen minutes with Cole before we were
asked to leave. It was probably for the best considering he didn’t wake up or
speak the whole time we were there. He was going to live, and that’s all that
mattered.

Fortunately, we didn’t encounter Elsie on our way out of the
hospital. I didn’t know if I could face her after the ugly things I had said to
her. She might not remember, but I would. I felt sick in my heart. I pulled out
my cell phone and called Mom the minute we got out of the hospital.

“Hello,” she answered. “Is that you, Jesse?”

“Yes, Mom. It’s me. You called earlier?”

“Are you and Billy coming over to
Savannah
’s? She needs her friends. She’s
still recovering from a horrible ordeal with that Holt woman, and now her
husband’s dead. She’s a pitiful sight, Jesse. She’s all bandaged and banged up,
and now she’s all alone.”

Guilt pulsated through my body, but I couldn’t bring myself
to see
Savannah
just yet.

“We’ll see, Mom,” I replied. “I haven’t eaten anything yet,
so I think Billy and I will stop somewhere, and then we’ll probably come back
to the hospital to see Cole. He’s going to be all right.”

“I know,” she said. “I called Dr. Bryant. “He said it was
touch and go there for awhile.”

“So it seems.”

“I’m not going to pressure you, Jesse, but it would be good
if you could visit
Savannah
.”