by Ann Mullen
“Hello, this is Billy Blackhawk. We have a situation here.”
Chapter 2
That phone call stirred up a hornet’s nest. By the time Billy hung up, we had every deputy in Greene County at our doorstep. Ten minutes later, Sheriff Hudson arrived.
By then, Mom and Claire were in a tizzy, and I wasn’t a happy camper. Accusations flew, and when one of the deputies asked Mom if either one of our dogs had ever attacked anyone, I went ballistic.
“Just what are you trying to say?” I screamed, throwing my hands up in the air. “Are you blaming this on our dogs? Are you out of your mind? They wouldn’t hurt a fly.”
“Ma’am, we’re just trying to get to the facts,” the deputy replied. “We have to cover all the bases.”
“Well, I don’t like what you’re implying. Can’t you see we’re all pretty upset, and now you’re blaming this mess on our dogs?”
Sheriff Hudson stepped in. “I’ll take over from here.” He motioned for the deputy to step aside. “I’m sorry, ma’am. He’s just doing his job. We’re well aware of how upsetting this is, but we need every bit of information we can get. The only way we can get it is by asking questions.”
“My name is Jesse. Please don’t refer to me as ma’am.”
“Of course,” he replied, showing a beautiful set of perfect white teeth. It was then that I noticed how good-looking he was. His blue eyes were the shade of a cloud just before a thunderstorm and his blond hair had a nice tapered cut. He wore the same brown pants and tan shirt as the other officers, but he was much smaller than they were. I guessed him to be around 5’10", 165 lbs., and somewhere in his late thirties. I wondered if he was married. I didn’t see a ring on his finger.
Billy must have sensed my endorphins kicking into high gear. He walked over to join in the conversation. He gently nudged me aside, giving me one of those looks he gives me when his patience has run out.
“What?” I asked, playing dumb.
“Where do we go from here, Sheriff Hudson?” Billy asked, ignoring me. “I know these dogs and I can tell you, they’re all bark and no bite.”
“That’s weird,” I butted in, looking at Billy. “Did you notice that when the police arrived, Athena and Thor didn’t move from that corner? They didn’t even bark. You know they bark when the clouds move or the wind blows. Look at them. They know something. I bet if I turned them loose, they would lead us right to where they found the hand.”
All eyes turned toward the culprits. They didn’t give us a second glance.
Sheriff Hudson ran his hand through his hair and scratched the back of his head. “You might have something there, Miss Watson.” He walked over to the two officers standing by the door, whispered something, and then walked back. They in turn, walked outside. “My deputies are gearing up for the search. But for now, they’re going to cordon off the area and wait for us. We have three units on site, and another three on the way. Before I call in Search and Rescue, I’d like to give your idea a try. Do you think you could get your dogs to cooperate?”
“I’ll see what I can do,” I said and smiled.
Billy looked at me as if he wanted to slap my face, but I ignored him. If he was angry with me for something, I was sure he’d let me know later. If that look was jealousy in his eyes, well, he deserved it. He had stressed me out enough lately by being too friendly with Claire and now it was about time he got a dose of his own medicine. Besides, why would it bother him if I flirted with someone? All of this raced through my head as I gathered my wits. What was I thinking? This wasn’t the time or the place to be thinking these thoughts. I had to pull myself together.
“Just give me a minute to change into something warm.”
I left them to their planning while I ran upstairs to get dressed. I put on a white, turtleneck sweater and a pair of black ski pants, and finished off the outfit with a pair of heavy-duty snow boots. I grabbed my red, down, hooded coat, and matching gloves. I was ready for any kind of weather. At least I was color-coordinated. As a matter-of-fact, I looked like a pack of Marlboro cigarettes. By the time I returned downstairs, everyone except Claire had their coats on and was waiting for me. I walked up to Mom with a look of surprise on my face.
“I sure hope you don’t think you’re going with us, do you? It’s about twenty degrees outside, and there’s probably ten inches of snow on the ground. There’s no way I’m going to let you go out in the freezing cold and tromp through that mess.”
“I beg your pardon, Missy, but this is my property, and I’ll do what I please. Your dad is not here to run this place, but if he were, he would be right out there with the rest of them. It’s my responsibility now. If you don’t mind, kindly step aside. You seem to forget that I’m an old Carolina girl. I can handle just about anything.” She made a motion as if to dismiss me. “I’m going, my dear.”
I was dumbfounded. Mom had never been the pushy, take-charge type of person. For most of her life she had lived in the shadow of her husband. He was the head of the household and was awarded the respect he deserved. She was the housewife who supported his every decision. Once Dad died, she was determined to take over his responsibilities and do what was best for her family. This brought out a whole different personality in her. She became aggressive and quickly learned how to take control of a situation. I’ve also noticed that she now has the uncanny ability to reach out and jerk one of us around—without doing a thing. She’s barely five feet tall and weighs about 160 lbs., and we never discuss her age. However, I know she’s been going through the change for at least ten years—Dad told me so on many occasions. All things considered, I guess she was due for a little change in personality.
I looked at Billy for help. “Please! Tell her she can’t go with us.”
“I can’t tell her anything,” he replied as he walked over to the door where she stood. “I can only tell her it would be better if she stayed here.” He shifted glances between the two of us, and then turned back to Mom. “Trust me. I’ll take care of everything.” He gave her a kiss on the cheek as she started to take off her coat. Billy sure did have a way with people... especially my mom. She would listen to him.
Sheriff Hudson, who had stood by quietly listening to our banter, gave the order to move out. “Let’s go, folks.”
I walked over to where Athena and Thor were napping; wondering the whole time if this crazy idea of mine was going to work. To my surprise, when I slapped my leg and gave the command, they jumped to attention.
“I guess we’re ready.”
Once outside, a cold blast of air hit my face, taking my breath away. I grabbed for the handrail to steady myself. On the next step, my feet flew out from under me, and I landed butt first in the snow. My dignity was shattered.
“I can see this is going to be fun,” I mumbled to myself as Billy grabbed me by the arm to help me stand. His feet didn’t appear to be very steady either, but we managed to get our footing.
Athena and Thor took off running in one direction as Cole’s cruiser came up the driveway in the other. As much as I wanted to run up and wrap my arms around him the minute he got out of the car, I had other duties to perform. My lust had to wait.
After regaining our composure, Billy and I took off after the dogs. The sheriff and his men were hot on our trail. Cole was back behind us.
We stumbled through snow, slid over rocks, and waded through two small, ice-filled streams before both dogs stopped dead in their tracks. Their barking ceased. Thor sniffed around in a circle, and started digging. Athena ambled over to me, and lay down. I expected to hear her snore any minute.
A second later, they were both off and running again. Before anyone could react, Athena and Thor came to an abrupt halt. Their barking gave way to whimpering, and I knew they were on to something. They had found what we were looking for, and it was not a pretty sight.
A foot was the first thing I saw.
“Oh, yuck,” I turned, and bent over. That sick feeling I had in my stomach when I first saw th
e hand was returning. I couldn’t believe what was happening. I straightened up and came face-to-face with Sheriff Hudson, and knew right away what his eyes were saying. I had a vision of Mom, Claire, Billy and I with my two mongrel dogs standing in a jail cell, our hands and paws clutching the cold metal bars, crying, “I didn’t do it!” I know how easily the wrong person can be accused. I’ve seen it firsthand.
“Don’t even go there,” I said, before the sheriff had a chance to open his mouth. I turned away from him and grabbed Athena and Thor by their collars. “You have your body and now I’m taking my dogs home.”
We brushed past him and the rest of his deputies. By the time we reached the end of the woods to the back yard, I let go of their collars. Athena and Thor took off running and left me to stumble my way through the snow, up the steps, and into the utility room.
Cole was right behind me.
I tapped the snow from my boots and took off my coat.
“Jesse, what’s wrong with you? Why did you act like that to Sheriff Hudson? He’s not accusing you of anything.” Cole brushed the snow from my hair and leaned over to kiss my cheek. “Is there anything I can do?”
“Yes! You can go back to your boss and tell him to kiss my...”
“Whoa, wait a minute!” Mom said as she walked in to the utility room carrying a dirty towel. “Watch your language young lady! I won’t have that kind of talk in my house. Throw this in the clothes hamper, please. I dried the snow off the dogs.” She tossed me the towel and then looked up at Cole. “How’re you doing, Cole? I hope everything’s okay. The weather’s pretty nasty out there, isn’t it?”
“Yes, it’s bad out there,” he replied. “And I’m fine, thank you. I was just telling Jesse not to get so upset. Nobody’s trying to put the blame on you guys. We’re just doing our job.”
“Put the blame on us for what?”
“They found a woman’s body on our property, Mom.”
A sick look came over Mom’s face and she started to weave back and forth.
“Are you all right, Mom?” I cried. “Grab her, Cole. I think she’s going to faint. Help me get her over to the sofa, please.”
Cole jumped to my command and grabbed Mom. The two of us managed to get her to the sofa before she collapsed. I ran to the kitchen and rummaged through a drawer to find a dishtowel, wet it, and ran back to the living room.
“Here, Mom,” I said as I applied it to her face, and dabbed gently. “You don’t look well. Are you going to be all right?”
“I’ll be fine, honey.” She took the rag and patted her face. “It was just a shock to find out there’s ...”
“I’m sure everything’s going to be fine,” I said, trying to calm her. “There’s no way in this world anyone could possibly think we’re involved. Don’t worry, the police will find out who did this and the whole thing will be cleared up in no time.”
“What about that poor woman? How did she get there? If it hadn’t been for the dogs, she might not have been found until the snow melted, and that could have been a long time.”
Athena and Thor responded by prancing about and running around in circles. They loved attention. Give them a pat on the head, and they would be on their backs with their feet in the air in a second. Mention their name and they would be all over you like rats on a chunk of cheese. Thor, in particular, had a weird thing he would do when he wanted all the attention. He would get this sad look in his eyes and start licking at the air. If that didn’t get your attention, he would whimper and drool.
What a bunch of watchdogs, I thought to myself. If you pat them on the head, they’ll follow you anywhere. Yet, I have seen both of them go nuts around someone they don’t know. Every time the power meter man comes to the house to read the meter, they chase after him like a pack of wolverines. When people walk down the road in front of our house, which happens quite often—we’re in the mountains, and here, that’s what people do for exercise—the dogs run out to the end of the driveway and let everybody know just who is protecting this house. This is their territory.
“Oh, my God, what’s wrong with Mama?” Claire flew to her side. “Are you all right, Mom?” She spun around to me. “What did you do to her?”
“Take it easy, Claire. She’s fine. She just got a little light-headed.” I didn’t want to deal with Claire right now.
The front door opened and Billy walked in, smoking one of those nasty cigars that I hate so much. However, the only time he smokes one is when he’s gotten the upper hand on somebody so my curiosity was piqued.
“Is everybody alive in here?”
“Mom almost fainted because of Jesse,” Claire sneered.
“Stop it, Claire, that’s not true,” Mom scolded her. “We’re all doing fine. What happened out there, Billy?”
Claire was acting like such a child. What was wrong with this woman? Why was she constantly trying to get my goat? She never used to be like that. Was it because of Billy? Had she developed feelings for him and become jealous of me? The nerve of her! She hasn’t even gotten rid of Carl yet and here she was going after Billy.
“They found the body of a woman, and there’s no doubt that the hand belonged to her.” He rubbed his hands together, blew on them, and sent a quick glance my way. He walked over and sat down on the sofa beside Mom. “This is a very serious matter. They’re going to have to lock this place up tighter than Fort Knox because there’s a dead body on your property. I explained to Sheriff Hudson that you have family coming to visit for Thanksgiving. He assured me his men would not cause any problems. Unfortunately, the crime scene tape will have to stay up, and there’ll be a couple of deputies stationed here for a while. You might as well go ahead and call Jack and anyone else who’s coming and alert them to the situation. Once the press gets wind of it, it’s going to be a circus around here.”
“Do they have any idea who the woman is?” Claire asked.
Cole responded to her question before Billy had a chance to say anything. “No, they don’t. Right now we’re still sealing off the area. We can’t do anything until the medical examiner arrives. The forensics team will collect evidence and then the body will be removed.”
Mom seemed to shiver on that note.
“Are you cold, Mom?” I looked at her and then at the fireplace.
Last month Billy had talked Mom into letting him install an insert. “This will save on your propane bill, plus, it’s cozy,” he had told her. There was nothing but embers burning and I didn’t see any firewood stacked in the log holder. I looked over at Billy and Cole.
“Will you guys help me bring in some wood? I think we need to warm this place up a little.”
“Sure,” they both answered and followed my cue.
We left Claire to watch over Mom while we went outside to get the firewood. Cole and Billy stood beside the detached garage where the pile of firewood was stacked, leaning their heads together. The snow was blowing in my face as I stacked firewood into the crook of my arm.
“Okay,” I yelled above the wind and snow. “Let’s have it. What’s going on? Cole, I want the truth.” I stood there, my arms full of firewood and a demanding look on my face. “This is my family we’re talking about. I know how the police are. They’d better not mess with my mom.”
It was dark outside and I could barely see their faces. Yet, the glow coming from the woods where the body was found was unmistakable. The sheriff was setting up camp.
“What are they doing back there, camping out?” The loud, hostile tone in my voice made Cole step back.
“Just calm down, Jesse,” he said, trying not to fall down in the snow. “I know you’re upset, but don’t take it out on me.”
If I had been a spectator watching this scene play out, I would’ve rolled over laughing. Here was a guy the size of Paul Bunyan who was being intimidated by Little Red Riding Hood. It had to be funny to somebody, but it wasn’t funny to me. I knew what cops were capable of, and I was not going to let them drag my mother into this. They would have to
deal with me first!
“I’m not going to let anything happen to your mom,” he said, stepping closer. “You can count on me.” He reached out and folded his arms around my waist, pulling me close to him. The scent of his after-shave drove me wild. I lost all train of thought. When his lips touched mine, I forgot all about the world around me. I hadn’t been near him for almost a week and my juices were flowing. I wanted more.
Billy cleared his throat loud enough for our neighbors down the road to hear him, and then said, “We have company, kids.”
Sheriff Hudson and two of his deputies walked up. They were covered with muddy snow.
“Miss Watson...” the sheriff began.
“You can call me Jesse,” I said and batted my eyelashes. I was acting like a silly school girl, but it was dark outside and nobody could see me. Unfortunately, the gods were not smiling down on me. The minute I smiled, one of his deputies clicked on a flashlight.
“Oops, I’m sorry, ma’am.” He quickly directed the beam of light in another direction. “I didn’t mean to flash the light in your eyes.”
It was too late. In the blink of an eye, all five men around me knew I was flirting with the sheriff. I thought Billy was going to puke, and Cole appeared shell-shocked. I could see trouble ahead because of my bad behavior, but I would deal with that later. I was more concerned with this nasty little incident than I was about a bunch of men and their egos.
“Jesse,” Sheriff Hudson said, smiling back at me. “I’m afraid we’re going to have to ask you and your family not to leave the premises for the next couple of hours. The medical examiner’s on his way and as soon as he’s finished, I’ll want to talk to all of you again.”
“I hope you realize none of us had anything to do with that woman’s death, don’t you? I mean, my dogs might have dragged her hand home, but she was already dead. Isn’t that right? Why would we call you if we were the ones who killed her? The thought is ridiculous.”
