Good Night Sleep Tight Don't Let the Stalkers Bite (Charlie Bannerman Mysteries)

by Teresa Watson

  “You know about that, do you?” I nodded. “Dad was an abusive putz. My mom was smart; she got out and divorced him. My stepmom wasn’t that bright. I was fifteen when he married her. I’ve got to hand it to her; she tried her best to protect me from him. Cash was ten. I didn’t know we shared the same father until I enlisted. When I was gathering all the paperwork I needed, I found our birth certificates. Seems Daddy dearest cheated on Mom.”

  “How did Cash feel about you two being related?”

  “I’m not sure that he cared one way or another. The only other thing that we had in common at that time was our hatred for Dad.”

  “Did Deja know that the two of you were related?”

  He shook his head. “Not until she moved here.”

  “How did she put two and two together?”

  Fox sighed and sat down in Cash’s faded plaid recliner. “In 2002, Missouri State Police found the mutilated body of a 70-year-old man. No I.D., fingertips burned off, and all of his teeth removed from his mouth.”

  “Sounds like overkill to me.”

  Fox glared at me. “To you, I’m sure it does. But to two men who had been abused as boys, it wasn’t enough.”

  “You mean that dead man was your father?” Fox nodded. “What did Deja have to do with his death?”

  “Nothing. She knew the story about the death because she was living there at the time.”

  “So how did she figure out you had something to do with it?”

  “Cash got drunk one night. Deja was looking for something in his desk, and found his birth certificate. She asked him why she had never met his father before. He told her it was because he was dead. Naturally, she asked him how his father died. The bastard told her everything.”

  “Is that why you killed her?”

  He raised an eyebrow at me. “Who says I killed her?”

  “Actually, I think Cash killed her. I think you’re the one who blew up the car with her body in it.”

  “That sounds dangerously close to slander.”

  I stood up and stretched. “You know how to handle explosives because of your military experience. “

  “Sit down.”

  “I’m getting the feeling back in my muscles. I need to walk around for a minute.”

  “Just so you know, there are booby traps everywhere. If you try to leave the house without me disarming them, you’ll die.”

  “So will you,” I pointed out. There was no way I was going to die in this house.

  Fox shrugged. “At this point, it would be better for me if I get killed. No way am I going to survive in prison. They eat cops alive in there.”

  “You should have thought of that before you started killing people.”

  “How did you learn all this stuff about me?”

  “I have connections.”

  “Not Bernie. He doesn’t know his head from his butt when it comes to computers. It must have been your nephew Zayne.” I didn’t say anything. “Don’t worry, I’m not going to go after him.”

  “He gave me some of the information.”

  “And Deja gave you the rest,” he said.

  “What makes you think that?”

  “I know for a fact that she went to your house twice before Cash killed her. I figure she must have told you during one of those visits.”

  I shook my head. “She came to my house looking for Cash. She thought he was cheating on her with me.”

  Fox laughed. “Stupid woman. He talked about you all the time just to drive her crazy. He seriously didn’t want to have anything to do with you.”

  I stared at him. Did he seriously believe that? “I think he fooled both of you, but that’s irrelevant at this point. Why did you kill him?”

  He rubbed a hand over his face. “When Deja and I were married, I took out a life insurance policy on both of us. One of those that paid double in case of accidental death. Cash and I agreed to split the policy. But after I blew up the car, he wanted more money. He said he had more to lose because he was the one who had actually killed her. But he really pushed it when he said that he was the one who had killed Dad.”

  “Did he?”

  “No. He was throwing up in the bushes when I killed him.”

  I could understand the urge. I wanted to throw up myself after listening to him talk about killing two people so nonchalantly. “What about Harvey Martin?”

  “I do regret killing Harv. He was a good man.”

  I paced the floor, wondering where Bernie and his men were. I hoped the GPS unit that they had put in my shoe was actually working. “Why come after me?”

  “Like I said, I had to know what she told you.”

  “I didn’t know anything until her lawyer sent me an envelope. That’s where I got the rest of the information.”

  “She was smarter than I gave her credit for,” he replied.

  “Why did you steal Cash’s truck and run us off the road?”

  “To force you to go back to town. I needed you to stay to keep tabs on you.”

  There was a loud explosion in the front yard. “Looks like we have company,” Fox said.

  I went to the window and looked outside. I could see someone on the ground. “What did you do?”

  “I told you I put out booby traps,” Fox replied, coming to stand beside me. “I knew Bernie would come out here after you. He got here a bit faster than I thought he would.” He looked over at me. “You set me up.”

  “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

  He grabbed my arm and pulled me closer. “You’re wearing a wire, aren’t you?”

  “No, I’m not.”

  He patted me down. “Where is it?”

  “I don’t know what you are talking about,” I replied as another explosion shook the house.

  Fox grabbed my left arm and dragged me to the bathroom. “Get in there and don’t come out until I tell you to.” He shut the door.

  There was no way to lock the door. I knew that from all the time I had spent here when I was dating Cash. I also knew that he had been a bit paranoid. He had good reason to be, considering he was always getting into fights and threatening everyone who crossed him.

  There was a sink cabinet in here, and in the bottom drawer, there was a .38 Smith and Wesson. Cash had showed it to me once; he said I needed to know where it was for my own safety. At the time, I thought he was overreacting. Now, I was grateful he had told me.

  I pulled it out, made sure it was loaded (thank you, Bernie, for all those shooting lessons!), quietly opened the bathroom door and looked around. I could hear Fox muttering near the front window. I glanced at the side door, and noticed the stun gun sitting on the kitchen table. Looking back at Fox, I saw Richardson’s gun in his waistband. He had a small box of switches in his hands. I assumed they were hooked up to some of the traps around the house.

  Moving slowly, I walked to the middle of the living room. I was at least ten feet from him when I raised the gun and pointed it at his back. “Put the box down, Richard,” I said.

  He turned around, and his eyes widened when he saw me holding the gun. “Where did you get that?”

  “You didn’t know your brother very well. He was more paranoid than you are. I dated him for nine months, remember? I know where everything is around here.”

  “What are you going to do, shoot me?” he laughed. “You don’t have it in you. Besides, you’re holding the gun in your left hand. I know for a fact you’re a righty. Your aim will be way off.”

  “Are you willing to find out?”

  He looked down at the box in his hands. “I don’t think you’ll do it because you don’t want anyone else to get killed.” He saw my uncertainty. “I’m right; you’re not going to shoot me. You’re a damn softy.”

  I lowered the gun and fired a shot near his foot. Aiming at his chest again, I said, “You still want to test that theory?”

  He threw the box at me, hitting me on the arm. He charged me, and we hit the floor. Besides knocking the wind out of my l
ungs, the gun went flying. He punched me a couple of times in the ribs, causing a fresh wave of pain. I returned the favor and kneed him in the groin. He grunted and rolled off me. I scrambled to my feet and grabbed the stun gun off the table. I ran back to him and zapped him before he could get up.

  There was a loud banging on the side door. I grabbed the black box and went to the door. Bernie and Keaton were standing there. “Open up, Charlie,” Bernie said.

  “I can’t. He’s got it booby trapped. I looked over my shoulder and saw him start to move, so I went back and zapped him again. I checked the box; it looked like a simple set up. Just flip a switch to turn it off and on. “Stand back away from the door,” I told them. I waited until I thought they were far enough away and turned the switches off.

  Fox moaned behind me, and I turned to see him trying to get to his feet. “Crawl over to the back door and open it,” I told him, pointing the gun at him again.

  “I can’t move.”

  “I’ve turned all the switches off. Are all the traps defused?”

  “Wouldn’t you like to know?”

  I fired a shot near his right hand. “I’ve got four shots left. The next shot goes into your knee.”

  “Charlie!” Bernie called from outside. “Everything alright in there?”

  “Just fine. We’re just having a discussion about the pros and cons of cooperation.”

  “Who’s winning?”

  “I think I am at the moment.” I felt a hand on my ankle. I aimed at his knee and fired. His howl of pain hurt my ears. “I’m definitely winning now.”

  “You…shot me!”

  “I told you I would! Now, are you going to disarm all your booby traps, or am I going to shoot you in the other knee?”

  “Give me the damn box,” he growled. I put it on the floor in front of him. After a few minutes, he was done. “Now get me a paramedic.”

  I walked backwards to the door, unlocked it and stood to the side as Bernie and Keaton rushed in. “Are you alright?” Keaton said.

  “He punched me in the ribs, but I’m ok. He’s not.”

  “She shot me in the knee!”

  “You’re lucky she didn’t shoot you in the ass,” Bernie said, slapping a pair of handcuffs on Fox.

  “Are Sydney and Richardson ok?”

  Bernie nodded. “Fox forgot to take the handcuff keys apparently. Once Sydney was able to move again, she helped Richardson out of the cuffs. Thanks to the GPS piece we put in your shoe, we were able to find you.”

  “You’ll need this,” I said, pulling a micro tape recorder out of my cast. “Everything you need is on here.”

  “You totally set me up! I’ll claim entrapment.”

  “Go right ahead,” Bernie replied. “We found your bomb making equipment at the storage locker you rented in Red Oak. We also found your fingerprints in the backseat of Harvey Martin’s car.”

  The paramedics came in, bandaged Fox’s knee, loaded him on a gurney, and wheeled him out. Bernie said, “You need to get those ribs looked at again.”

  “I’ll take her in,” Keaton said.

  Bernie nodded. “I’m going to ride in the ambulance with Fox, just to make sure he doesn’t do anything stupid, like try to escape.” He started to walk out the door, but turned around, walked over to me, and gave me a hug. “I’m glad you’re alright. And I’m sorry.”

  We watched him leave. “Well, how do you like that?” Keaton said. “I never thought he’d apologize in a million years.”

  “Miracles happen every day,” I replied.

  Chapter 46

  I got checked out at the hospital, and was given a relatively clean bill of health. After that, we drove over to Braden’s apartment.

  “Charlie!” Sydney said as I walked in the door. She gave me a big hug, causing me to wince. “Are you ok?”

  “Just a little sore. How about you?”

  “Besides missing a few hairs after he ripped that wig off my head, I’m alright.”

  “Give us all the details of what happened,” Braden said. We told him everything that we knew for certain, with a few guesses thrown in.

  “Can they charge him for the murder of his father?” I asked Braden.

  “It depends on what kind of evidence they have. It’s probably listed as a cold case, so Bernie will have to get in touch with a detective up there to see what they can do.”

  “But wouldn’t that be a moot point anyway, considering they will probably charge him with capital murder for the death of Harvey Martin here in Texas?” Keaton said.

  “That’s for the lawyers to work out, but I think your assessment is correct.”

  “I hate to be a party pooper here,” Sydney said, “but there are a few things you seem to be forgetting: 1) who burned your house down; 2) who left those notes on Keaton’s car, warning him to stay away from you; and 3) who did all the damage to his car? Was it Deja or Cash?”

  “Neither,” I replied. “Are Aspen and Nikki still in town?” Sydney nodded. “We need to go over there.”

  We found Aspen sitting in the den, listening to her iPod with a textbook in her lap. Nikki was doing the same thing. “Hey, Charlie!” Aspen said when she saw us. She pulled her ear buds out. “Did you catch him?”

  I nodded. “Everything went according to the plan. Thank you for getting us the wig.”

  “No sweat. I just explained to Mr. C, the theater teacher, that I needed for a project. I had to promise to work his next show, but it was worth it.”

  I glanced over at Nikki, who was trying hard to ignore us. “There are just a couple of things I need to clear up.”

  “Like what?” Aspen said.

  “For instance, the fire at my house. Officer Fox didn’t set the fire. He was on patrol that night. The arson investigator said that someone used gasoline to start the fire.”

  “Who would want to burn down your house? It was already going to be demolished.”

  “The same person who left notes on Keaton’s car, warning him to stay away from me. They also smashed his car, and ran us off the road in Cash’s car.”

  Aspen looked at Keaton, then Sydney and me. “You don’t think I did it, do you? That’s crazy!”

  “No, I don’t think it was you.” I took a deep breath. “Do you know who it was, Nikki?”

  “Why ask me?”

  “We talked to your mother. Keaton’s company added another room onto your house last summer, didn’t they?”

  “Just a sun room for Mother. So?”

  “Your mother said Keaton was there almost every day, and that you spent a lot of time talking to him.”

  “Aspen was out of the country on some trip, and I was bored.”

  “And Keaton was someone who paid some attention to you, talked to you, even took you to lunch a few times. He made you feel special. But you thought it meant something more, didn’t you?”

  I could see the tears in her eyes. “Is that why you haven’t gone out with the gang this year, Nikki?” Aspen said.

  Keaton knelt next to Nikki. “I’m flattered that the time we spent together meant so much to you. I enjoyed our conversations; you always asked me the most intelligent questions. But I’m much too old for you, Nikki. You need to find a nice young man who will see the same things in you that we all see. I know they seem awkward and stupid right now, but I promise they’ll grow out of that phase. There’s someone out there for you, but it’s not me.”

  “Are you going to press charges?” Nikki asked quietly.

  “That’s not up to me,” he replied. “Arson is a felony; you caused a serious accident that injured two people. You need to turn yourself in to Chief Gibson.”

  She started crying harder at that point, and Aspen led her out of the room. “I’ll stay with them for a while,” Sydney said. “Why don’t you two go home?”

  “Home,” I said as we walked out. “I don’t have a home. I have a concrete slab, and that’s not the most comfortable thing to sleep on.”

  “You’re welcome to stay
at my condo as long as you like, Charlie,” Keaton said, opening my car door. “I’ve gotten used to you being there.”

  “I don’t think that’s such a good idea.”

  “Why not?”

  I waited for him to get in the car. “I guess I’m just an old-fashioned girl, Keaton. I worry about what my parents will think.”

  “I can respect that. So why don’t you stay at the condo, and I’ll stay at my parents’ house? They’ve gone away on a trip.”

  “I can’t chase you out of your home.”

  “Charlie, I don’t mind. As long as you are happy, that’s all that matters to me.” He put his hand on top of mine. “Let me help you. Please. No strings attached.”

  I chewed my lower lip. My relationship with Cash had left me scared and unsure of myself. I had known Keaton all my life, but I had always thought of him as a friend. He had proven to me that he truly cared about me, and would stand by me no matter what. I could be like Nikki, and hide in the shadows. Or I could step out of my shell and take a chance.

  “So what’s it going to be, Charlie? Will you let me help you?”

  “I accept.”

  I had a feeling those two words were going to start me on one heck of a ride!

  About the Author

  The daughter of a Methodist minister, I’ve spent most of my life in Texas and New Mexico. I graduated from West Texas A&M University with a bachelor’s degree in 2000. Among my many titles, I am a daughter, sister, granddaughter, mother, wife, freelance editor and writer. I currently live in North Texas with my husband and son. Good Night, Sleep Tight, Don’t Let the Stalkers Bite is my sixth book.

  I enjoy hearing from you! Follow me on Twitter (@authorTeresaW), my Facebook page (www.facebook.com/teresaleewatson), my blog, www.myfunnyviewoflife.com, or send me an email at teresaleewatson@gmail.com

  Table of Contents

  Other Books by Teresa Watson

  Acknowledgements

  CHAPTER ONE

  Chapter 2

  CHAPTER 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9