The Prey Bites Back: A Jesse Watson Mystery Book #8 (7 page)

I laughed right
along with Mom. “I bet I blew her mind when I told her we knew about the stolen
social security number.”

“No,” Mom
assured me. “It was when you tossed the shampoo on her.”

We both enjoyed
a good laughing marathon.

When we finally
got ourselves under control, Mom said, “We’re on her hit list now. Remember
what you said about running scared? I can promise you that she’s really running
scared right about now. She’s probably planning our demise as we speak.”

“She’s probably
packing her clothes. She can’t kill us all.”

“What are we
going to tell Billy? He’s not going to like what we did.”

Before I
realized it we were almost to Ruckersville when we should’ve been heading in
the other direction. “I think we missed our turnaround,” I said, looking out
the window. “I was in such a hurry to make a getaway, I wasn’t thinking about
where I was going.”

“We might as
well stop at McDonald’s and get one of their frozen coffees.”

“That sounds
good. Nothing like having a drink after a failed spying expedition.”

“Yeah, I guess
we didn’t do so well on this one.”

“We did just
fine, Mom. It threw her off-guard when I told her about all the dirt we had on
her. I bet the wheels are turning like a spinning top. Oh, she’s packing up and
heading out of town as fast as her designer shoes will take her.”

“She had the
upper hand. She’s the one who caught us off-guard by confronting us as soon as
we walked through the front door. We thought we were going to have the run of
the place to do our snooping, but she put an end to that real quick.”

“But we did rebound
quite well, don’t you think?”

“You did all
the talking. I was too dumbfounded. I had no idea she was on to us. I froze
when she stopped us in our tracks.”

“You handled yourself
perfectly. Besides, it doesn’t matter. You’re never going back to that place
again… at least not through the front door.” I quickly looked over and smiled
at her. “Let’s go get our Frappe Mochas. Inside or drive-thru?”

“Let’s go
inside. I’m hungry, and I want to sit down and relax. My nerves are shot.
Dakota Stone terrifies me. We know too much about her, and now she knows we
know. She’s coming after us. I can feel it.”

“We’re not the
only ones who know, and she knows that, too. No… she’s running.”

“Running where?”

“Away. Change
her identity again. She’s obviously done it before. Why else would she be using
a stolen social security number?”

“The more I
think about it, the more scared I am. She might really be a killer, just like Mae
said, and if she’s killed before, she’ll do it again. They say it gets easier
after the first time. I think she’s capable of it, don’t you? Did you see the
way she glared at you when you accused her of killing Mae’s husband? That was
downright spooky. Those eyes of hers bore right through you. She’s wicked,
Jesse.”

We pulled into
the Ruckersville’s McDonald’s, and barely had time to get out of the car when a
Greene County deputy car blocked me in from the rear. Deputy Cole James got out
of the cruiser and walked over to us.

“Hello, Cole,”
Mom said, greeting him in her usual adoring manner. She liked Cole a lot. She
just didn’t like him when he dated my sister, Claire. Ah, but that was moons
ago and water under the boat.

“If you wanted
my attention, you got it,” I said to Cole. “You blocked me in. I think it’s
illegal to park there.”

Deputy James
walked up to me, pulled out a set of handcuffs, and told me to put my hands
behind my back. “You’re under arrest for assault,” he said, emotionless as he
slapped on the cuffs. “You have the right to remain silent, and I suggest you
do.” He looked over at Mom. “I’m sorry, Minnie. I’m just doing my job.”

“Don’t apologize
to her,” I said, furious. “Apologize to me! Have you lost your mind? You’re
embarrassing my mother. What’s this all about, Cole? I didn’t do anything
wrong. We were just getting something to eat.”

Cole leaned
over close to my ear and said, “What’s the matter with you, Jesse? You know the
sheriff has his eye on you and Billy.” He reached down and removed my
snub-nosed thirty eight from its ankle holster. “He’s hot. You should’ve seen
him when the call came in. I thought he was going to have a stroke. I’ve never
heard him cuss before.” He looked over at Mom and said, “Minnie, you need to
call Russ Shank.” He looked back at me.

“Who was Jesse
supposed to have assaulted, Cole?” Mom asked as if she didn’t know. “We’ve been
together all day. I’m her alibi.”

“No offense,
Minnie, but you’re lucky I don’t arrest you, too. You were with her at the time
of the assault… and you know exactly what I’m talking about. Have you taken to
lying, Minnie? That’s not like you.”

“Alleged
assault,” Mom corrected him. “Where’s your proof?”

“And who did I
assault?” I demanded. “I haven’t beaten up anyone lately.”

“Dakota Stone.
She called in an assault, and then sent a video of the assault to the Sheriff’s
Office. She demanded that we arrest you, and after the sheriff saw the video,
he sent his men out to pick you up. He said we could arrest you with extreme
prejudice. You’re lucky I’m the one who found you instead of one of the other
deputies. You don’t have many friends in the Greene County Sheriff’s Office.”

“That’s not
funny, Cole,” Mom said, bitterly. “What video?”

“The video
where Jesse throws some kind of liquid on the woman.” Cole pulled out his Smart
phone, slid his finger across the screen, and up popped my face. “Ah… the
wireless highway. Don’t you just love it?”

Mom and I watched
the short video that showed me squirting Dakota. Those two seconds was all that
was on the video. Nothing else.

“It’s been
edited!” I claimed. “Where’s the rest?”

“This is all
that matters, Jesse,” Cole replied.

“But it was
only shampoo!” Mom exclaimed.

“Don’t say
anything else,” I said to Mom. “Call Russ. Ah, crap, call Billy, too. It’s not
as if he doesn’t have enough on his plate already.” I looked over at Cole and
snarled.

“Yeah,” Cole
said. “I’m so glad Sarah’s okay. Mom and I were worried about her.”

“That’s funny,”
I snapped. “I didn’t see either one of you at the homecoming celebration.”

Cole leaned in
close and whispered, “Did you ever stop to think that maybe we weren’t
invited?”

“You didn’t
mention
Savannah
. You two break up already?” I asked
hatefully as Cole led me to the squad car. I don’t know why I was taking my
frustration out on him, but I couldn’t stop. “Gee wiz, who in my circle are you
going to hook up with next? My mother? Oh, no, that’s right, she’s married.
What about my brother? He’s not married, yet.”

“Now you’re
being ridiculous, Jesse.”

“You just hate
me for choosing Billy over you, don’t you? That’s why you’re doing this. You
like getting back at me.”

“Are you drunk?
Stop saying stuff you don’t mean. What we had is over. We’ve both moved on. I’m
happy with my life and so are you. Let it go.”

I was saying
things that were only half-true, but I wanted to lash out at him.

“Where’re the
keys to your car? I can’t leave your mother stranded out here. The sheriff
would have my badge. He really likes her.”

I handed the
keys to him.

He looked at me
as he put his hand on my head to keep me from hitting the car doorframe. “You…
not so much.” He slammed the car door and then walked over and gave Mom the
keys.

“I’ll be just
fine. You just take care of my daughter.” She waved to me and then got back
into the 4Runner.

“No Frappe
Mochas for us today,” I said to Cole when he climbed into the cruiser. “Too
bad. I was looking forward to something sweet.”

As we left the
parking lot, Cole looked straight ahead and said, “This is no joke, Jesse. You
could do jail time. It might not be much, but I guess that depends on how much Sheriff
Hudson wants to press the issue. You did break your promise, and he’s not real
happy. He’s out for blood… your blood. Your best bet is to hope Dakota Stone
decides not to press charges. So far, that doesn’t appear to be on your list of
options. But then again, even if she drops the charges, you’ll have to win over
the sheriff with your charming personality and hope he’s in a forgiving mood. I
don’t see that happening either.” Cole laughed. “No, that’s just not going to
happen.”

“She’s a
killer, Cole.”

“I don’t want
to hear it, Jesse. I told you to exercise your right to shut up, now do it.
Anything you say to me will have to go in my report. You don’t want that. You
could be digging a hole you won’t be able to get out of. Please, for your own
sake, shut up!”

After I was
processed, I spent the next two hours in silence, which was very hard for me to
do. I sat in my jail cell, letting my imagination run wild, and waited for
Sheriff Hudson to come in and read me the riot act, and for Billy to come save
me. And… where was my lawyer?

A female deputy
walked up to my cell carrying a tray of food. “I’m Deputy Rager. Deputy James said
he arrested you getting out of your car at McDonald’s, so I figured you might
need something to eat.”

“Thanks,” I
said eagerly. “I’m starving.” I stepped back against the wall to let her know I
wasn’t a threat. “I don’t want you to pull out your nightstick and beat me to a
pulp. I’m sure the sheriff would like that.”

She opened the
cell door, set the tray down on the cot, and then backed out of the cell. “We
carry tasers now. It’s more effective.” Once the cell door was closed, she
added, “The sheriff is a good man. I think you know him well enough to know he
wouldn’t let that happen… and we wouldn’t do it. We only resort to physical
violence when nothing else works. Look around you.” She motioned with a wave of
her arm. “He was kind enough to put you in our special cell.”

“This is a special
cell?”

“Yes, it is.
It’s normally used for violent, high profile criminals or high profile white
collar suspects. Ones that can’t be kept in general population. You have your
own toilet in that little cubby over there.” She pointed to a room no bigger
than a dollhouse. “It ain’t much, but you’ll have some privacy if you need to
use the john. And you have a private hallway here.” She pointed to the short
hallway. “The door locks automatically. You need one of these to open it.” She grabbed
the magnetic card attached to a recoiling string on her belt and held it out
for me to see. She let the card go and it snapped back into place. “Nobody’s
going to bother you in here.”

I sat down on
the cot, removed the napkin covering the food, and took a whiff. “Hmm. This
smells good. I love chicken.”

“One of the
deputies was having lunch at Blue Ridge Café, so I asked him to pick up
something for you. We don’t usually feed detainees because they’re not here
long. They’re sent to
Orange
.”

“That’s mighty
nice of you to think of me.” I took a big bite out of the chicken leg and then
said, “Give my compliments to the chef. This is so good.”

“I’ll be sure
to pass your message along.”

“It’s been over
two hours, Deputy Rager. When can I get out? Is my lawyer here yet? How about
my husband?”

“So far, no one
has come for you. It’s just you, me, and two other deputies. Everyone else is
out in the field. It’s been a real hectic day, what with that double homicide
over in Ruckersville. You didn’t kill anyone, did you?”

“Not today.” I
joked.

“You’re funny.”

“I’m sure you
know why I’m in jail, deputy.”

I think the
deputy tired of me. “I’d better get back to work, Mrs. Blackhawk.”

“You can call
me Jesse.” I was trying to get her to warm up to me by being nice. I didn’t
need anymore enemies. “It’s creeping me out being in jail all alone. Solitary
confinement is a real drag. And another thing, I regret my earlier attitude
towards you. I’m sorry. It’s just that…”

“What?” Deputy Rager
asked. “You can tell me.”

“I’ve been bad.
I made a promise to the sheriff, and I didn’t keep it. I know I did wrong by
going back on my word, but I had to go talk to that woman in person. She gave
my mama some bad shampoo, and all I wanted to do was make things right. I get so
tired of people cheating people. You sell someone an inferior product, you
should be held accountable. You need to replace it or give the customer a
refund. Don’t you think so?”

“Yes, I do,”
Deputy Rager said. “But I think you went about it the wrong way.”

“Perhaps I did.
Maybe I should’ve…”

She cut me off.
“I’m sure you can work it out with Sheriff Hudson when he gets back. You didn’t
mean to hurt that woman, did you?”

Smart deputy—she
thought she was questioning me without my ever suspecting a thing. But I’m
smarter than she thinks. She wasn’t getting anything out of me that I didn’t
want to give. “I didn’t hurt her. All I did was try to return a rancid bottle
of shampoo. That video doesn’t tell the whole story. I just wanted to get a
refund for my mother. You know how moms are. They don’t want to make waves. The
woman made me mad when she said insulting things to my mom, so I squirted her
with her own rotten shampoo.”