The Prey Bites Back: A Jesse Watson Mystery Book #8 (29 page)

“A little. I…”

Before I could
finish, she turned to Billy. “I need some help with my computer, Dad. It keeps
locking up on me. I’ve rebooted it twice, but nothing I do seems to work.” She
looked back at me. “I Googled K9 Suzy. Did you know she has her own website?
She’s amazing.”

“Ah…”

“Will you look
at my computer, Dad, before someone calls and you have to leave again?”

“Sure, honey, lead
the way.” Billy grinned back at us when Maisy grabbed his hand. “I’m your man.
I can fix anything.” The two of them went to investigate the computer crisis.
Helene and I listened to Maisy’s constant chatter as they made their way to her
room.

“She’s growing
up so fast. I remember when the only problem she had was keeping the dogs from
knocking over her teacup set. She’d sit at her little table with her dolls and
serve them make-believe tea in plastic teacups. Oh, those where the days.”

“Wait until she
discovers boys.”  Helene turned and walked back to the kitchen.

A rumble of
thunder rolled overhead.

“Not again.” I
walked over to the sink, stood beside Helene, and looked out the window. Sure
enough, a streak of lightning flashed across the sky. “I thought that part was
over. I’d never heard of thunder snow, until you said something.”

“Hey, Maisy
knows more about it than I do. It was news to me. The first I heard about it
was this morning from the weatherman.”

“Maybe I should
Google it.”

We shared a
laugh, until Athena blew into the kitchen, feet sliding on the floor, and then
coming to a halt after bumping into the cabinet. Her barking brought Thor, who
still had on his whiney face.

“All we need
now is the cat.”

“Ah… he got out
again. I’m sorry. I opened the door to let the dogs out, and he scooted right
by me before I could grab him.”

“He’ll be
back.” I went to the utility room and unlocked the flap to the doggie door.
When I returned, Helene was fumbling around in the cabinet.

Athena’s
barking grew more intense as Helene grabbed the bottle of pills and started preparing
one for her. “Hush, Athena. You’re going to wake Ethan. I’m working as fast as
I can.” She looked at me. “She needs her medication.”

“You gave her
one this morning. Can she have another so soon?” I picked up the bottle and
read the instructions on the label.

“It’s been four
hours.” Helene pointed to the label. “It says one pill every four hours as
needed… and she needs it. I might just mash another one for later. I don’t
think this storm is going to move out for a while.”

My cell phone
rang.

“Got to be Mom.
That’s her ring tone.” I hustled over to the rack by the door and pulled the
phone from my coat pocket. “Hello, Mother. Where are you?”

“I’m at the
Sheriff’s Office. We brought in the cocaine, and now they won’t let us leave…
and they locked up Shark.”

“What? Why?”

“Shark got a
little unruly. He bumped into one of the deputies and the guy said he pushed
him. Bumping and pushing isn’t the same thing. Shark’s not the kind of man who
takes to having someone get up in his face. I think the deputy, who looks like
he just graduated from high school, was doing it on purpose. You know how those
young ones are. They slap on a badge and think they’re God… until they’re
confronted with someone like Shark. Guys like Shark are usually a real
eye-opener for a new kid like Deputy Doolittle.”

“Oh, come on, Mom,
that’s not his real name, is it?”

“Honest to God,
Jesse. I feel bad for the kid having a name like that. You know the children must’ve
teased him all the way through school.”

“Maybe that’s
why he became a cop… to help put a stop to bullying. Come on, Mom. I’m sure
there’s just been some kind of mix-up. The sheriff said he was going to let his
guys know you were coming.”

“Well, he
must’ve forgotten, because they were clueless. They weren’t real happy when
Shark walked into the Sheriff Office with that cannon strapped to his hip, and
when they asked him if he had more weapons, he pulled a knife from his boot,
the taser from his belt, and a tootsie roll pop from his pocket. Deputy
Doolittle said that wasn’t a weapon and he laughed. Shark looked down at the
kid and said it was if you’re shoving it down someone’s throat. The deputy
jumped back like he’d been stung by a bee.”

I chuckled. “He
had.”

“They treated
us like criminals when Shark tossed the bag of cocaine up on the counter, and I
heard someone say something about possession. What was that all about? They
didn’t catch us with the stuff. We brought it in. Anyway, you’ve never seen
anyone move so fast. Two other deputies ran out and surrounded him. Now they
have him sitting in a holding cell. Deputy Della said it was for his
protection, but I think they were afraid Shark might hurt one of them.” Mom’s
voice lowered to a whisper. “I don’t think they know what to do with us. We
told them we were here to bring in evidence—the coke—but they acted like we
were drug dealers or something.”

“Where’s
Eddie?”

“He’s sitting
on the bench next to me. They didn’t put us in jail, but they told us to wait
here, and I can tell you one thing, these seats aren’t comfortable. Eddie’s
back’s hurting him already. Jesse, you have to do something. Call Sheriff
Hudson and tell him I said he better fix this mess. Here we were trying to be
good citizens, and what do we get for our efforts… nothing but trouble.”

“I’ll call him
now, Mom, and then I’ll call you right back. Just sit tight for a minute.”

She
disconnected.

I called the
sheriff and got his voice mail, so I called Captain Trainum, hoping he might
know why the sheriff wasn’t answering his calls, or where he was. I thought
they might be together. If Trainum didn’t know, I was going to ask him if he
could handle the problem. Sheriff Hudson had once told me the neighboring
police departments worked together, so there shouldn’t be any reason why
Trainum couldn’t help me out.

“He’s standing
right next to me, Jesse, here, talk to him.”

“What is it,
Jesse?”

“Did you forget
something… like telling your deputies that my mother was coming in with the
coke? She’s fit to be tied. Your guys threw Shark in a cell.”

“Why did my deputy
put Shark in a cell? There’re no outstanding warrants on him.”

“Well… Shark
did come in fully loaded, if you know what I mean, and I think he spooked
Deputy Doolittle. Mom said your deputy got in Shark’s face, and Shark may have
bumped him, but he didn’t push him like the deputy said. Mom saw the whole
thing, and that’s her account of what happened. Your deputy overreacted.”

“If it isn’t
one thing or another with your family. How could such a simple act turn into
such chaos?” Sheriff Hudson was silent for a second. “Tell your mother I’ll
take care of it immediately and that I apologize. I forgot to call my guys. I’m
so sorry.”

“I thought you
might be at the hospital and had your phone turned off.”

“That rule
doesn’t apply to us. We don’t ever turn our phones off.”

“So… why are
you at the hospital? Stone didn’t escape, did she?”

“I’ll make the
call, Jesse, but I have to go now. I have important business to handle.”

“One more thing
before you hang up, Sheriff. You need to check your cell phone. It keeps going straight
to voice mail.”

“Darn.”

“You rat. You’ve
been screening my calls. That’s not a good idea, Sheriff Hudson. You never know
when it could be important… like it is now.”

“Jesse, with
you, everything’s important. I told you I’d take care of it, and I will.” He
ended the call.

I looked up at
Helene. “He disconnected without even saying goodbye.”

“I wonder why,
Jesse. You and Billy have been a thorn in his side ever since you met. We all
have to some degree. No wonder he screens your calls.”

“One day
something’s going to happen, and he’ll wish he hadn’t screened my call. Then
he’ll really be sorry, but by then, it’ll be too late. Mark my word.”

My cell phone
rang, and it was Mom saying they were on their way home. Sheriff Hudson had
fixed the problem, and the deputy was going to get a stern lecture for his unacceptable
behavior. She was content. She asked the sheriff not to be too hard on the young
guy. He was still learning.

When I managed
to get a word in, I told her about
Savannah
, and
about finding the wine bottle in Gavin Preston’s car. She had no response to
the wine bottle, but she was thrilled to hear about
Savannah
.

“Change of
plans.” She was talking to Eddie. “We’re going to the hospital.
Savannah
’s going to be all right, and I want to see her. Look Jesse,
I need to hang up, so I can call Shark and tell him we’re going to
UVA
Hospital
. I think he’s still a little ticked off
at that deputy. He’s driving so fast, it’s all Eddie can do to keep up with
him.”

“Shark might
have other obligations, Mom. His job was to get you there and back in one
piece.”

“He doesn’t
have to go with us. He can…”

“Yes, he does.
His job isn’t over until you’re safely back at home. I guess you could call him
your bodyguard on a mission.”

Mom liked the
idea of having a bodyguard—especially someone like Shark. She started to go
into a tribute to the man, but I had to cut her off. “Mom, you need to call
Shark. We can talk when you get home. Go to the hospital if Shark says it’s
okay. He won’t let you go without him, so do what he tells you.”

When Mom said
goodbye, I knew her next stop would be the hospital. Shark, a force of a man to
be reckoned with, had a soft spot in his heart for Mom… so they were going
where she wanted to go.

“That was fast.
Sheriff must’ve gotten on the horn the minute after he hung up on me.”

“I guess he’s
scared of your mama, too.”

“No, he’s not.
He respects her. Too bad he doesn’t respect me. Oh, well… I’m going to check on
Ethan, and then see if Billy has made any progress with Maisy’s computer. I’m
sure he has.”

I walked down
the hall and looked in on Ethan, who was enjoying a peaceful slumber, and then
went to Maisy’s room. I stood by the door and watched as the two of them laughed
and carried on the way a father and daughter should every chance they get.

Maisy looked up
when she saw me standing at the door. “Dad fixed it, Mom. It had a worm.” She
looked back at Billy and giggled.

“A worm, huh? Did
it eat up your hard drive?”

Maisy giggled
again. “No, Dad killed it.”

“Yeah, we had a
problem when the lightning started back up. The wireless reception was erratic,
but I managed to save the day.” He kissed Maisy on the head. “Okay, I’m done
here, unless you need more of my expertise.”

“No, I’m good for
now, Dad. Thanks for the help. I need to get back on Facebook. My friend Julie
said she was going to post a pic of her brother. I want to check him out.”

Billy got up
and walked over to me. “I’m not even going to ask.” He rolled his eyes. “Did I
miss anything in the last hour?”

I filled him
in. “There’s no telling when Mom and Eddie will get back. You know she’s going
to stay at the hospital as long as they’ll let her, and Eddie will do whatever
she wants. That’s okay. She has her bodyguard, Shark, there to protect her.”

Billy chuckled.
“Shark isn’t fond of hospitals.”

“Yeah, but he’s
fond of my mother. Who isn’t?”

The thunder and
lightning had slowly moved out again, but the snow continued to fall, carrying
with it strong winds that whipped through the trees, bending them with their
gusts, and blowing snow everywhere. The temperature gauge on the kitchen
windowsill read ten degrees. The snow would remain until the temperature rose, which
could be a while.

Because of the
weather, Billy and I decided to stay home and hang out with our kids, something
we didn’t get to do as much as we’d like. Our job kept us on the go, so when we
got a chance to be with them, we took it. I wasn’t the best when it came to
playing games, but I was good at watching TV. It was safe here, and unless
something major arose, we weren’t going anywhere. The cops had Dakota, and all
was well… until Mom called an hour later. She was crying so hard, she couldn’t
talk. Shark came on the phone and said, “Jesse, you need to come to the
hospital. Eddie had a heart attack, and your mom’s hysterical. I tried to calm
her down, but it’s not working. She needs you.”

“I’ll be right
there.” I disconnected and told Billy to grab his coat. “We gotta go to the
hospital. Eddie had a heart attack.” I looked at Helene. “I’ll call you when we
find out how he’s doing. You know the drill. Keep the doors locked.”

I grabbed my
coat and purse while Billy set the alarm.

All the way to
the hospital, I kept asking myself what else could possibly go wrong. Right
when everything seemed to be going well, something else would happen to upset
our lives. With us, the action never seemed to stop.