The Prey Bites Back: A Jesse Watson Mystery Book #8 (19 page)

“Well, find
out! You’re the sheriff. You said you know everything, now make a call and find
out how she’s doing!”

There was no
way he was going to get out of making that call. Mom would see to it. He wasn’t
leaving until he got an answer for her. That was her way. First, she’d ask, and
if that didn’t work (which it usually did), then she’d plead in her own special
way, and… if that didn’t work, she’d go into one of her lectures. I could see
one coming on.

“You might as
well take the time and make the call, Sheriff. You know how my mother is.
Savannah
is like a daughter to her, not the good one like me, but
still…”

“Okay,” Sheriff
Hudson said as he pulled out his cell phone. He looked up at Mom. “I don’t
usually do this, but I’m going to for you, Minnie. I know how much you care
about
Savannah
. That’s why I didn’t want to tell you.
So… prepare yourself. The news might not be good. I’ll be right back.” He
motioned to his men, and then the three of them walked outside.

“I’m shocked,”
I said, looking around at everyone. “How… why…”

“I have a
theory,” Lu Ann said, glancing over at Mom. “Isn’t
Savannah
the one who first told you about
The Body Shop
?”

Mom hesitated
for a second. “She told Sarah about it, and then Sarah told me. I went there
once, but I refused to pay that much money. My body can do just fine without that
place.”

“
Savannah
’s friends come into the picture, and then trouble lands on
Dakota Stone’s doorstep. Minnie, you said
Savannah
told
y’all that Dakota checks everyone out before they’re allowed to join, right?”

“I don’t
remember if she told me or if it was…”

“My point is,
most people have a small circle of close friends. Oh, they might know a lot of
people, but there’s only a few they consider real friends.” Lu Ann then spread
her arms out as if to emphasize her point. “Y’all are
Savannah
’s circle of friends.”

“I see what you
mean,” Mom said, looking around at our faces. “Private investigators, a bounty
hunter, a profiler… and let’s not forget
Savannah
’s
dating a
Greene
County
deputy.
All of her friends are in law enforcement or connected to law enforcement in
one way or another.”

“Yeah, but why
Savannah
Kelly?” Jonathan asked. “She’s a famous writer. Killing
her off would cause a real stink with the press. The cops would never give up
chasing down her killer. The public wouldn’t allow it. High profile people
attract attention, and the media would demand answers. Why not pick one of us
instead?”

“I know where
Lu Ann’s coming from,” Billy said. “We’re
Savannah
’s
friends, and when Mae Bridges came to us with her accusations, we started
investigating
The Body Shop
. That’s what got the ball rolling. So… in
Dakota’s mind, she traced the blame back to
Savannah
and
tossed her in as an appetizer.”

“Dakota Stone
expected us to die in that building,” Jonathan added. “We’d be blamed for
everything. If it had gone as planned, she’d be at the Greene County Sheriff’s
Office right now, accusing us of murder and God only knows what else. Then, she’d
leave town, and start all over again.”

“But how did
she know we’d go there?” I asked. “She knew
Preston
was
going to die, and she might have even suspected, or known, he was coming to see
us, but how did she know we’d dump his body at her shop once he was dead?”

“She’s sharp,”
Lu Ann said. “I hate to say it, but she’d make a good profiler. I think she can
read people well.”

“You mean read
their minds?” Mom asked. “Oh, come on, Lu Ann. You don’t believe in…”

“No, I mean
she’s good at sizing up a person.”

“All I can say
is, I’m glad Shark got a bad feeling about that place when he did,” Jonathan
said, “otherwise, a few of us wouldn’t be standing in this room right now.”

“And thanks for
a time-delayed bomb,” I said. “I bet that really ticked her off. She should’ve
gotten you to build it for her. It would’ve been a lot more powerful, and it
would’ve gone off instantly. We’d all be history… and so would Dakota.” I
laughed nervously for a second, and then added, “That wasn’t even funny. I
don’t know why I said that.”

Billy shook his
head. “She’ll make a mistake. They always do.” 

Sheriff Hudson
tapped on the door, and then walked in. “All I can tell you for now is that
Savannah
’s alive.”

“Oh, thank
God!” Mom said, relieved. “I’m so glad!”

“She’s hurt
pretty bad, Minnie. The doctors don’t know if she’ll make it, but they’re doing
their best to see to it that she does. That’s all I know.” He looked around the
room at us. “I can’t help but notice the silence and the look on your faces.
Too much confidence. What changed in the ten minutes I was gone?”

Billy explained
our suspicions, and for once, the sheriff said it made sense. The evidence was
consistent with our story.

“We should be
able to lift a fingerprint from the detonator.”

“It’ll be too
late by the time the results come in,” I said. He ignored my remark again.

“Don’t think
any of you are off the hook for your part in this mess. Dumping a body and
shooting someone in the foot.” He looked at Mom. “I can’t believe you did
that.”

“I was insane
at the time.”

“What are we to
do now?” I asked the sheriff. “We don’t know where this woman is, or who she’s
coming after next. We can’t just sit around and wait for her to show up.”

“That’s exactly
what you’re going to do.”

Mom reacted as
if she’d just come to a scary realization. “What about
Savannah
’s son? Where is he? Is he all right?”

“We’re looking
for him.”

“What? He’s
missing?”

Kaleb—the son
of
Savannah
’s dead husband’s one night stand with his
also dead secretary, killed by
Savannah
. But that’s another story.

“Deputy James
went to
Savannah
’s house about four hours ago. He found
blood on the kitchen floor, and
Savannah
and Kaleb
were missing. Her car was still in the garage, and her purse was on the table.
I’m hoping they won’t find the boy’s body in the rubble of that building.
They’re still sifting through the…”

Mom started
crying. I went to her, put my arm around her and said, “Don’t cry, Mom. The
sheriff and his men will find him. He’s going to be okay.”

“She’s right,
Minnie,” Lu Ann said. “I don’t think Dakota’s a baby killer. She only hates
men, not kids. She probably stashed him somewhere, but I don’t think she killed
him. She might’ve even dumped him at someone’s house. If she doesn’t want the
kid to die, she’ll leave him somewhere public. If she doesn’t care, she could
dump him out in the middle of nowhere.” 

The room went
silent again, allowing Lu Ann’s last statement to sink in.

“You’re a
genius, Lu Ann!” Sheriff Hudson said. “Y’all could be a big help if you’d go
home and have a look around, and call me if you find the boy. In the meantime,
I’m going back to the scene.”

“I thought you
were going home.”

“I was, but I
guess that’ll have to wait. I just got a call that needs my attention.” With
that said, the sheriff left.

Billy and
Jonathan stepped out of the room for a quick tête-à-tête. No one asked what
they were doing. We just stood around waiting for their return. We all knew
they were planning something, and once they’d come up with their plan, we’d
hear about it.

Mom’s tears had
dried up and she was now on the verge of getting antsy. The news about
Savannah
had been devastating, and now that she knew she was alive,
Mom would want to go see her. Unfortunately, that couldn’t happen, unless…

Billy walked
back into the room, followed by Helene and the kids.

“We’re taking
the children home,” Billy said. “Minnie, you and Eddie will stay with us, where
you’ll be safe, and we can keep an eye on you.” He looked directly at her. “You
know why I’m saying this. You want to go see
Savannah
,
but I can’t let you.”

Hmm… Mom didn’t
argue.

“Mason’s going
to your house to do a search. Do you need anything while he’s there?”

“Not really.”
She smiled slightly. “We learned from you, Billy Blackhawk. We keep a bag in
the car, and there’s a pharmacy downstairs in case we run out of drugs. We have
that room at your house, and we have more stuff there than we do in our bedroom
at home.” She chuckled. “And by the way, I am going to see
Savannah
.”

“No, you’re
not.”

That was all
Billy had to say.

Mom backed down.
She respected Billy and knew that if he was making a demand on her such as this,
he had a very good reason, maybe one she didn’t even know about.

“Helene, why
don’t you take the kids to the bunker? We’ll be leaving soon.”

Helene promptly
turned and did as he asked.

“We know Kaleb
isn’t at the compound,” he continued once the kids were out of the room. “If
she brought him here, it would’ve showed up on the monitors in the bunker when
she broke the beam. Also, anytime the perimeter’s broken, Jonathan gets a beep
on his cell phone. Gator’s going to… let’s say… make adjustments to everyone’s
cell for security purposes. Minnie, I’ll need your house key.”

Mom walked over
to the sofa, sifted through her purse, and pulled out the set. She tried to get
the key off, but those rings could be so difficult. Seeing her struggle, Billy
walked over, held out his hand, and then got the key off the ring. He handed
the set back to her. “I know you’re concerned about
Savannah
, but I have to think of our safety first. I’ll personally
take you to see her the minute the opportunity arises.” He winked at her… and
Mom was appeased. “Okay, let’s get going.”

As we were
leaving, Mom whispered to me. “Billy Blackhawk never listens to the cops.
What’s he got up his sleeve?”

“I don’t know,
Mom, but I’ll be the first one to find out, and then I’ll let you know. I can
promise you that.”

Once we got
back to the house, we did a search, and after finding nothing unusual… or Kaleb,
we put the kids to bed. Billy took the dogs out to have a look around the place.

“He could be
anywhere,” Helene said as she walked to the kitchen. “Anyone want coffee? I
need something to help me sleep.”

“Not me,” Eddie
said. “Coffee at this hour would keep me up all night, and I’m ready for bed.
But I sure could use an aspirin.”

“I’ll get you a
couple,” Mom said as she went about doing so. She poured him a glass of milk
and heated it in the microwave. “Here you go, honey.”

Eddie tossed
back the aspirins and chased them down with the warm milk.

“Warm milk.
Yuck.”

“You should
give it a try sometime, Jesse,” he said. “It helps me sleep. I don’t know why,
but it does.” He looked at us, kissed Mom on the cheek, and headed for the
stairs. “Don’t wake me up unless a tornado strikes.”

“I’ll walk you
up,” Mom said, and then looked back at Helene and me. “Pour me a cup, and then
we’ll have a little girl’s chat. I have a feeling this night is just getting
started.”

“Okay,” I said.
“You know where your room is.”

Helene looked
at me as Mom and Eddie headed upstairs. “Drink this,” she said, putting a cup
of coffee down on the table in front of me. “I added a little something extra
to warm your belly.” Then, she winked at me.

“You’re a
lifesaver, Helene. What would I do without you?” I was about ready to take a
sip when I heard a wild animal noise, a crash, and then heard Mom screaming. I jumped
up from the table, my heart pounding in my chest, and then ran up the stairs,
taking them two at a time. When I reached the bedroom door, Spice Cat came
scurrying out of the room.

“Is everything
okay?”

“I’m sorry,
Jesse. When I turned on the light, it must have scared the cat. He went flying
off the bed, jumped on the dresser, and knocked over a bunch of stuff. I’m
sorry I yelled. I wasn’t expecting him, and he wasn’t expecting to be
disturbed.”

“It’s been a
long day, Mom, and we’re all a little on edge. Sorry about the cat. I’ll wait
by the door while you get Eddie settled in…just in case that tiger comes back.”
I snickered.

After I heard
the squeak, I knew Eddie was in bed, so I peeked in to see what was taking Mom
so long. She was standing by the dresser holding a picture.

“What is it,
Mom?”