The Prey Bites Back: A Jesse Watson Mystery Book #8 (25 page)

“Thanks, Jesse,
but to be honest, I’ve seen my share of dogfights.”

With that said,
K9 Suzy started barking.

“That’s my cue,
so where’s the cat?”

The pill had
kicked in and Athena had been lying by the fireplace without a care in the
world, with Thor for company. Thor, on the other hand, had lain still too long.
He had been reserved and didn’t approach… until K9 Suzy barked. Once she had
made her presence known, Thor wanted to do the love dance. She was having none
of him, and took off down the hallway.

“Find your cat,”
Rex called out.

The search was
on to find Spice Cat after everyone had confirmed that he hadn’t been seen all
morning. Even Shark, who had said little, helped. We searched the house and
came up with nothing, and by that time, K9 Suzy had finished her job. She, too,
had found nothing.

Helene looked
down at Spice’s food bowl. “He ate most of his food, so he’s probably outside.
That’s why y’all put in that doggie door, and he takes advantage of it. He’s
out there getting into something right now. He’s fine. He’ll come home when
he’s ready.”

Thor moaned and
groaned when Rex and K9 Suzy left. He was in love and heartbroken after being
snubbed. Thor has always been a whiner, but he’d get over it after a few days
of being a crybaby and seeking consolation from everyone. Then, he’d find
something else to whine about. It was his way.

Maisy took
Ethan’s hand, and then motioned to Thor. “Come on, Thor. You can watch TV with
us and cry on my shoulder.” She smiled back at us before leaving the room.

Shark, Mom and
Eddie were the next to go, leaving in two separate vehicles—Shark in the black Hummer,
and Mom and Eddie in her canary yellow 4Runner.

“Billy, we
should ask Mom to get rid of that car. It sticks out like a bad knee scrape.
She needs a more generic color, something black or dark blue that looks like
all the other cars on the road. She can’t do surveillance work in that thing.”

“She has been.”

“And I’ve never
liked it. You’re the one who taught me to be discreet. How can anyone be discreet
when they drive a big, bright yellow banana?”

“We just
convinced her to move out of her house. We can’t ask her to get rid of her car.
Besides, she loves that car. She calls it her grandma mobile. Where’s this
coming from, `ge ya? You never said anything before.”

“Hey, you can let
her use your old Mercury to do surveillance. Nobody pays attention to that car.
They like new, shiny ones, not something that looks like poor people own it.
They think it has a disease and they want to get as far away from it as they
can.”

I was pacing
the floor. “And where’s that darn cat? If he goes out and gets himself killed,
the children will be devastated.”

Billy looked at
me as if he was trying to figure out what had come over me in the last few
minutes. He could tell something was wrong. He stepped in front of me, stopping
me in my tracks, and then put his arm around me. “What is it, `ge ya? You’re
not acting like yourself.”

Helene wiped
her hands on the kitchen towel. “She’s nervous, Billy. All that stuff you said
about everything being all right and the case being closed… well… she has her
doubts… and frankly, so do I.”

We had no idea
that soon our doubts would prove to have merit. Things were not all right, and
the case was far from being closed.

Chapter 13

The weatherman had hit his
mark this time. The front brought in streaks of lightning, followed by thunder that
rolled and cracked overhead. Then the snow started falling. Once the snow came,
the thunder and lightning faded away, much to my relief. Nothing scared me more
than lightning. I’d seen its power and destructive force and what it could do
to anyone in its path. I had refused to go out in it, delaying us from going to
the hospital as planned. I wanted to know the status of Dakota Stone and
Savannah Kelly just as much as anyone, but I put my curiosity on the back
burner. I couldn’t bring myself to step outside until the lightning had
completely quit, and now that it had, it was time to go.

Billy and I
were getting ready to leave when I heard the cat meowing in the utility room.
“Ah, he’s back. That little rascal. He’s probably covered with snow.” I went to
check on him.

Spice Cat was
indeed covered with snow, right down to his soaking wet paws. I grabbed a towel
and started wiping him. That’s when I discovered it. “Billy, come here! Spice
Cat has something stuck in his paw.”

Billy examined
Spice’s paw, and then chuckled. “It’s just a bur, Jesse. He’s been out in the
woods again.” He gently removed it and showed it to me. “See, nothing but a
little old bur.” He rubbed Spice’s head. “You do manage to get into everything,
don’t you?” He ran his hand down the length of Spice’s back, and then stopped.
“What’s this, little fellow?”

I laughed. “He
doesn’t look so little when he gets his winter coat. I wouldn’t be surprised
what you’d find in there.”

Billy slid
something off Spice Cat’s tail and held it up for me to see. “It’s a wedding
band. Now that’s odd. Someone put it on him. There’s no way he could’ve done
this to himself. It’s as if someone slid it on his tail like you would when
placing it on a person’s finger. We were meant to find the ring.”

“If I remember
right, the last time anyone saw Spice Cat was last night when he woke up Eddie.
I wonder if he had it on him then. Do you think
Nancy
did this when she was lurking about?”

“She could have.
What other explanation is there?”

Billy looked
closer at the ring. “There’s an inscription and date on the inside—R & D
4ever 2008. Hmm…”

The wheels
started spinning in my head as I counted off the years. “That was… six years
ago. You think the D could stand for Dakota? I bet she’s married, or was, and
this was her wedding ring. She’s been leaving us clues. Why can’t we piece them
together?”

“I think we
just did.” He stood and called to Helene. “Grab me a sandwich bag, would you
please?” He looked back at me. “She just made it easier for us to trace this
ring.”

“How so?”

“Tracing a
plain gold wedding band would be almost impossible if it didn’t have an
inscription, but this one does. We’ll trace the scriber. It might take a while,
but it’s not impossible. Jewelers keep good records.”

Helene grabbed
a plastic bag from the kitchen cabinet and brought it to him. “What you got
there, Billy?”

“I think it
might be Dakota Stone’s wedding band. Guess she doesn’t want it anymore.” He
dropped the ring in the bag, zipped it up, and then shoved the bag in the
pocket of his jeans. “We’ll drop this off at Jonathan’s and get him to run a
trace on it.”

I looked over
at Helene to explain. “It has an inscription on the inside—R & D 4ever
2008. Six years ago. The timeline fits. Billy says we might be able to get a
trace on it.”

“I guess the D
stands for Dakota. Very good! It’s about time we got something on her we can
use. Boy was she ever stupid.”

“Wow! Déjà vu!
This reminds me of the time Athena and Thor dragged home that severed hand with
that big fat diamond ring on the finger. Creepy. Remember that, Billy?”

“Of course I
do. I remember it quite well. Y’all had a fit when I wanted to put it in the
freezer to preserve trace evidence.”

“Yeah, and
after you put it in the freezer, you kicked the refrigerator for emphasis.
Freaked us out.” I glanced at Helene. “You should’ve seen the look on Mom and
Claire’s faces. At first, they were startled because they were already scared,
and then the idea of a body part being put in the freezer just grossed them out.
When I think about it now, it’s funny, but it sure wasn’t funny back then.”

“I bet.”

Spice Cat had
given us all the time he was going to. He shook as if to throw off any snow I
might’ve missed, and then walked out of the room, leaving a trail of damp paw
prints behind.

I walked over
to the back door, unhooked the latch holding the doggie door to the opening in
place, slid it down, and then locked it. “I don’t want the dogs or Spice Cat to
be able to go outside without one of us knowing about it. This is the only way
to make sure they don’t. The dogs will bark if they need to go do their thing,
and Spice Cat has a litter box, so we’re covered.”

Helene shook
her head. “A cat isn’t like a dog. Spice Cat has always been able to come and
go as he pleases. You change that and he might show you his displeasure by
peeing on the carpet… your clothes… the sofa. Cat pee smell is nasty, and it’s
hard to wash out.”

“He’ll adapt. Besides,
it won’t be for long.”

Billy put his
hand on my shoulder. “Okay, the doggie dog stays closed if it’ll make you feel
better, but you gotta snap out of it. Focus. You’re letting your fear take over,
and that’s not good.”

“Yeah, I guess
you’re right. My anxiety’s kicking into overdrive. Where’re my crazy pills? I
need to chill out.”

“I’ll go get
you one.”

Helene turned,
walked out and was back before I had a chance to tell her that I didn’t need a
pill. I was fine, just a little jumpy. I had heart palpitations, but they, too,
would pass. I had places to go. Then, I thought about it and decided that this
might be the right time for a pill, before my anxiety gets out of control and I
have a full-blown panic attack. I took the Xanax, tossed it back, and then
chased it with a glass of water.

“I’m good.
Let’s go. This pill ought to kick in just about the time we get to the
hospital. Who knows what’ll I say or do, but at least I’ll be calm. I might be
zoned out, but I won’t be anxious.” I laughed.

Helene rolled
his eyes. “I can’t imagine you’d do anything to embarrass Billy.” She was still
laughing when she walked out.

“You’re not
funny, Helene. I know how to act. I got everything under control, even when I
am crazy, right Billy?” I didn’t wait for him to agree. “Grab your coat. I’m
ready.”

The snow was
already an inch deep when we pulled out of the driveway and according to the
weatherman on the radio, there would be plenty more of it to come. Before it
quit, we could get as much as a foot. By nightfall the roads would be
treacherous, and people were being warned to stay off the roads for their own
safety.

“He’s not
talking to us.” I pointed to the radio. “Can’t stop a Dodge Ram.”

“Yep, this baby
will take us through anything.” Billy patted the dashboard, and then leaned
over and kissed me.

“Keep your eyes
on the road, Injun Joe. I no wanna die.”

“Me no wanna
die either.”

Twenty minutes
later, Billy pulled into the
UVA
Hospital
parking
garage, and as always, we had to search for a parking spot. We finally found
one on the third level next to a black, Lincoln Town Car.

“It looks like
Russell’s here. That’s his car. I recognize it by the license plate.”

“Yeah, you know
it’s gotta be a lawyer’s car when the plate says S
UE EM
.”

“Thank God for
elevators,” I said as we entered. “I got a little buzz going on. I don’t think
I could stand a flight of stairs. It’d wear me out.”

“You’re not
getting old on me, are you, `ge ya?”

“Never.” I
grabbed him and gave him a sexy, lingering kiss. “Nope, not me. Do I kiss like
I’m old?”

He didn’t say
anything; instead, he took me in his arms and kissed me passionately, stirring
my emotions and jacking up my sex drive.

“It’s been a
while since we’ve done anything naughty. Want to go back to the truck?”

“We could be
naughty right here.”

“I don’t think
so.”

I kissed him
again, egging him on. We were locked in an embrace, his hands caressing my body
and mine doing the same to his when the elevator door opened. Facing a group of
people, I said, “We just got married.”

They smiled and
wished us well.

Billy smiled back,
and then whispered to me, “You’re terrible.”

“I know. Don’t
you just love me even after all this time?”

“I sure do.
Come on.”

“What about the
truck? Not interested?”

“Later.
Business first.”

“Who are you,
and what have you done with my husband?”

We were walking
to the entrance of the hospital when Billy felt his pants’ pocket. “I forgot to
stop by Jonathan’s and drop off the ring.”

“Call him. He
doesn’t need to see the ring to run a trace on it, does he?”

“In fact, no he
wouldn’t. I’ll give him a call and see what he can find out.” Billy pulled out
his cell phone, called Jonathan, and gave him the information. He put the cell
phone back in his pocket. “He isn’t holding out much hope, but he’s going to
give it a try. Finding the owner of this ring could prove to be a long,
painstaking job, unless he gets lucky.”