by Ann Mullen
“You mean you can actually do that?”
“Yep, but it means hacking into DMV to get the VIN number, and then hacking into the carmaker for the GPS code. Easy as pie, if you know what you’re doing, but you have to be really good not to get caught. Gator and Mason are two of the best hackers you’ll ever meet. She’s on I-64 heading east.”
“I’d love to be able to do that.”
“Do what, Helene, be a hacker?”
“Yeah, Minnie, just think of how much fun that would be.”
“With my luck, I’d get caught and wind up at Gitmo, getting tortured by two big, burley military men.”
Helene laughed so hard at Mom, coffee shot out of her nose. After she regained her composure, she wiped her face and was still chuckling when she asked her how she knew about Gitmo.
“I watch the news. I know all about that place.”
“All right, everybody be quiet. I’m calling Dakota.”
Billy got another text and stopped me. “Hold off a minute. Let’s see what we have here first. Hmm… Dakota jacked a car from the hotel parking lot. Gator says it’s registered to one of the guests.”
“How does he know that,” Mom asked. “Did he hack into the hotel’s computer, too?”
“Yes, he sure did. The car wasn’t registered to The Body Shop, so he compared the owner’s name to the guest list at the hotel. The car belongs to Ray Forester—a white Toyota Camry. I told you he was good.”
“I got plenty to tell her now, so can I make the call, or is there anything else?”
“Go ahead.”
“She won’t answer,” Helene said, recovering from her coffee blast. “She’s probably already dumped the phone.”
I made the call, and much to everyone’s surprise, Dakota did answer.
“Hello, Jesse. I sure didn’t expect to hear from you so soon. What can I do for you?”
“First thing you might want to do is dump the stolen car. Ray Forester wants his white Toyota Camry back.”
We heard a noise in the background like a glove box being opened, and then papers being shuffled around.
“Got you thinking, haven’t I? By the way, how’s the weather on I-64? Is it still storming there? It sure is here. I’m telling you, this storm is the worst I’ve seen in a long time. It’s a real killer, but fortunately for Nancy, it didn’t kill her. That’s right, she’s still alive. I can’t wait to hear what she has to tell the cops. My… my… what a mess you left behind. She’s going to lead them straight to you.”
“I’ll be way gone by then.”
“Oh, honey, she’s already awake. She took an indirect hit and was revived. You can thank Jonathan for that. He gave her CPR until the ambulance arrived. Just thought you’d like to know.”
“You’re lying.”
“You might want to send one of your buddies over to UVA Hospital and have her killed. Oh, that’s right, you don’t have any friends left except Olivia Swales. You killed off all the rest. Well… except me.”
“We’re not friends.”
“We’re not? Now that hurts my feelings. I thought we were pals, best buds and all.”
We heard some kind of racket, tires screeching, and then the line went dead.
I disconnected and looked around at everyone. “Sounds to me like she tossed the phone out the window. I guess she didn’t like what I had to say. That’s too bad. I’ll miss our conversations.” I rolled my eyes.
“And those tires we heard squealing was probably her getting off the interstate,” Billy said. “I bet she’s on her way to UVA Hospital to tie up loose ends. Good going, `ge ya.” He kissed my forehead. “You put doubts in her mind about Nancy being dead, and now she can’t flee while there’s still a witness left behind. She has to kill Nancy Woodward. I told you she’d make a mistake. When she comes back, the cops will be waiting for her.”
“Throwing her cell phone out the window was pretty stupid.” Mom rubbed her forehead. “I don’t get it. Why didn’t she just call the hospital and find out the truth? That’s all she had to do.”
Helene looked at Mom. “The hospital won’t give out that information over the phone, Minnie. No… she has to go there to find out anything. I think Billy’s right. She’s coming back to tie up loose ends. If Nancy had died, she’d be free and clear to make a run for it, but now that she thinks Nancy might be alive, she has to do something to shut her up. She’s coming back to kill her.”
Billy picked up his cell phone. “I’m going to call Sheriff Hudson and tell him about Dakota calling Jesse… and I’m also going to tell him she’s on I-64.” He looked around at the three of us. “He’ll want to know how we knew she was on I-64, so I’m going to say she told Jesse. We don’t want to tell him the whole truth about this one. It wouldn’t play well for any of us.”
I smiled. “Tell him she’s driving a white Toyota, and that she bragged about stealing it from the parking lot of the Omni Hotel where she’s been hiding.”
“Before I call the sheriff, I have one thing to do first.” Billy lay his phone down, picked up mine, and made a call to Jonathan. “Hack into Jesse’s phone and retrieve her recorded calls. That’s right… yes… permanently delete them from her phone. Okay… that’s fine. Do whatever it is you do. Yeah… I’m getting ready to call the sheriff and tell him where she is. I will. I’ll let you know.” When the call was complete, Billy handed me the phone. “It’s done. The calls you recorded have been downloaded to a secure place in Jonathan’s system, and deleted from your phone.”
Mom rubbed her eyes. “Hurry up and call the sheriff, Billy. I need to know if it’s safe for me to go to bed. I’m bushed.”
Billy called the sheriff, put the phone on speaker, and then laid it on the table.
“I hope you have something for me, Blackhawk. I’m pretty busy at the moment.”
“Then, I’ll get right to the point. Dakota Stone called Jesse about thirty minutes ago. She told her she was on I-64 in a white Toyota, heading east. She’s making a run for it like we said she would.”
“Why would she tell Jesse that, unless it was a lie to throw us off-track?”
“She might be lying, but I don’t think so. You know how Jesse can be when it comes to riling someone up. Dakota didn’t stand a chance against my woman.”
“I agree there.”
I smiled.
“Dakota bragged about stealing the car from the Omni, where she’d been staying. However, she got quite upset when Jesse told her that Nancy Woodward wasn’t dead. She’s coming back, Sheriff.”
“But Nancy Woodward is dead.”
“Yeah, and Dakota heard that on your police scanner, but Jesse convinced her that the initial report was wrong, and Nancy is still alive.”
“All right, Billy. I’ll check it out, but you’d better be right. The State Police don’t take kindly to wild goose chases, and neither do I. Waste our time and people die.”
“I don’t think it’ll be a waste of time, Sheriff.”
“Okay… I’ll contact Captain Trainum and let him know she might be coming his way.”
“Who?”
“Your old pal, Frank Trainum.”
My sister, Claire, and I were the first to meet Frank Trainum a few years ago when her scumbag ex-husband, Carl, kidnapped her kids and took them to D.C. to the house where they had lived. In the middle of the night, Billy and his brothers rescued the kids and brought them home safely, and then Carl mysteriously disappeared, leaving a dead body in his basement. Claire and I found the body. That was our introduction to Detective Frank Trainum. He didn’t particularly care for me, but that changed somewhat when he fell in love with a woman named Alexandra and moved to Charlottesville.
“What happened to Captain Mealphall?”
“Misfortune. His guys botched a big case and someone had to take the fall, so he was asked to retire. That better not happen to me, Blackhawk. If this turns out to be a load of crock, I’m not going to be happy. Get my drift? I plan on being re-elected in the next e
lection, and you’d better not mess it up for me by… ”
“Just check it out, Sheriff.”
The call ended abruptly when the sheriff disconnected.
Billy looked at us. “I guess all we can do now is wait and see what happens next. I sure hope they catch her, because if they don’t, the sheriff’s going to be out for blood.”
“Do you hear that?” I asked, looking around at everyone.
“Hear what?” Helene stood up, walked over to the kitchen sink, and set her empty cup down. “I don’t hear anything.”
“That’s just it. I don’t either. I don’t hear thunder anymore. I guess that means the storm has passed.” I got up from the table, walked over to the front door, and opened it to look outside. “Yep, and the rain has quit, too. It sure is getting cold out there.” I closed the door. “Maybe it’s going to snow. Nah, it’s too early for snow.”
“Don’t bet on it. Here in the mountains it can start snowing at any time. Remember the year it snowed before Halloween?”
“I’m going to bed. I’m beat.” Helene walked back over to the table. “How about you, Minnie? I know you’re tired. It’s been a very long day.”
Mom got up to leave, but stopped. “Hey, the red light isn’t on anymore. It’s green now.”
We all looked at the keypad, and a second later, Billy’s cell phone rang.
“Hey, Jonathan, I see the red light is off. What’s going on? Okay. Let me put you on speaker phone, so I don’t have to repeat myself. The women are ready for bed, and so am I.” Billy looked at us and said, “Wait, don’t leave just yet. Jonathan has some news. Go ahead, Jonathan.”
“You’re not going to believe this, but the cops just busted the psycho twins. According to State Police, the driver, psycho twin number one, Dakota Stone, threw her cell phone out the window doing almost eighty on the interstate, and it hit the windshield of the car beside her. The man in the car lost control, and slammed into her, forcing her car into the guardrail. After that, it was like a domino effect.”
Mom, Helene, and I were dumbfounded. We just stood there with our mouths hanging open. The news didn’t seem to faze Billy. It was as if he expected that it would end badly for Dakota and Olivia.
“How did you find out?”
“The dot on the screen stopped moving, and usually when someone stops on the interstate that means they’ve either had a flat tire or an accident. No one just stops on the interstate without a reason, unless they’re a fool, so I called my state trooper buddy, Wally, and he filled me in on what happened. No fatalities, but seven people were being transported to either UVA or Martha Jefferson Hospital… and two of those seven folks are our psycho twins—Dakota Stone and Olivia Swales. Wally said they don’t think the Swales woman’s going to make it. She’s pretty bad off.”
“At least they’re not going to be able to hurt anyone anymore. I hope the cops handcuff them to their beds.”
“I’m sure they will, Minnie.”
“Oh, God, I’m going to get blamed for this.”
“You? What did you do, Jesse?”
“I was the person she was talking to just before she threw the phone out the window.”
When I said I was going to get the blame, I didn’t mean by the cops, but by Dakota. If she survived and Olivia didn’t, she would hate me even more, and be determined to get revenge. All I could do was hope the cops put her away for a long time, but if they didn’t, my nightmare was just beginning. She would come after me with everything she had, and I feared that my family would suffer the fallout. The best way to get back at a person is to hurt someone they love.
“You don’t have anything to worry about, Jesse. She’s finished. She stole a car and caused an accident, and if anyone dies, she could be held accountable. Once the cops start digging around, I’m sure they’ll find something else to charge her with. She’s been a very bad girl, and Sheriff Hudson knows it. He won’t quit until he gets his answers. I think we can all sleep well tonight.”
“I hope you’re right, Jonathan, but if they cut her loose, she’ll be coming after me. How am I going to sleep knowing that? If she wants retribution, someone in our family might die other than me.”
“Forget about her. All is well.”
Unfortunately, I had a nagging feeling that all was not well and never would be as long as Dakota Stone was still alive.
Chapter 12
I tossed and turned all night long, and when I did get some sleep, Dakota’s face haunted my dreams. I knew that if she was released from the hospital and wasn’t taken to jail, she’d be heading my way, coming after me or Billy or Mom, or worst, my children. She wasn’t going to run again until she had gotten even with me.
It was still dark when I woke up covered in sweat, drenched with the strong odor of fear. Everyone was still asleep, so I jumped in the shower, and was in the kitchen making coffee when Helene walked in.
“You’re up mighty early this morning, Jesse. Couldn’t sleep?”
“I had nightmares about Dakota all night. It was awful. I can’t wait to find out what happened to her. I sure hope Sheriff Hudson has her in his jail. I’ll sleep better knowing that she isn’t out running around killing people.”
“Jonathan said she was taken to UVA or Martha Jefferson. I would think the Charlottesville Police would be in charge of her arrest. Why don’t you give Captain Trainum a call? He’s your buddy, isn’t he?”
“Somewhat… but if I call him this early in the morning, he won’t be for long.”
An hour later, the house came to life. Everyone, except Billy, was awake and ready for breakfast. The kitchen was buzzing with chatter when he walked in dressed in a white T-shirt and lounging pants, his long, dark hair hanging loosely down his back, still damp from his shower.
“Don’t you look handsome,” I said as I jumped up and gave him a kiss. “I hope I didn’t keep you awake last night. I didn’t sleep well.”
“No, you didn’t. I went out the minute my head hit the pillow, and slept like a baby.” He looked around the kitchen table. “Good morning, everyone.” He went over and kissed Maisy and Ethan, and then told Ethan to stop feeding his bacon to the dogs.
“But they like it, Daddy.”
“I’m sure they do, son, but it’s not good for them. That’s why they eat dog food. It’s made just for them and has all the nutrition they need. Bacon clogs their arteries.”
“What about us?” Maisy chimed in. “Should we be eating bacon?”
“Probably not.” Billy chuckled, while making his way over to the coffee pot. “Probably not.”
As I poured his coffee, I noticed something weird. The marble bowl with its little masher thingy that Helene used to grind up herbs or whatever else she needed to mash, had a small mound of white powder in it. The first thing I thought of was cocaine. I poked Billy, pointed to it, and whispered, “Is that what I think it is?”
He looked at the bowl, licked his finger as if he was going to taste it, but I stopped him. “No, please. We don’t know what it is. It could be anything… poison.”
He got Helene’s attention and waved her over. He pointed to the bowl. “Do you know what this is?”
“It’s Athena’s doggie downer. I can’t get her to take the pill, so I mash it up, scrape it onto a slice of cheese, ball up the cheese, and then she woofs it down. Geez, with all the commotion, I guess I forgot to give it to her. I’m sorry.” She smiled after a second. “What did you think it was?”
Billy and I looked at each other and grinned. “We thought it might be cocaine, a present left by Nancy when she paid us that visit.”
“I’ll put the lid on it and clamp it shut. Athena might need it today. The weatherman predicts another storm starting about midday. He called it ‘thunder snow’, and said we could get a few inches out of it.”
“Thunder snow? Never heard of it. Sometimes, I think they make that junk up.”
“No, it’s for real, Grandpa Eddie.” Maisy explained. “It’s like getting a thunders
torm with lightning and everything, except instead of rain, it snows. I think it sounds cool.”
“Global warming.”
“That’s right, Grandma. I read about it in class. Mrs. Baker also said we’ve been polluting our planet. She said we should recycle more, and that people shouldn’t throw their trash out their car window. Then, she told us about this commercial where this Indian guy is crying because the river has trash floating in it.”
The breakfast conversation started with global warming and ended with designer clothes, the adults avoiding any discussion of what the day might hold. When the kids finished eating, Helene took them to get cleaned up, leaving us to plan our next move.
“I need to check in with Jonathan for an update, then we’ll go from there. If Dakota and Olivia are in custody, I think it’ll be safe for Minnie and Eddie to go home and pack up their stuff. Just the essentials, Minnie.” He looked at Mom. “And before you argue with me about it, I want you to stay with us until your house is finished. We’re going to get on that right away.”
“But…”
“No buts, Mom. It’s the only way you can be safe. Even if those women are in jail, they might get out. We can’t take any chances.”
Mom looked as if she was going to protest, but she didn’t. “If that’s what you want, Billy.”
“It is.” He looked at Eddie. “I hope you don’t mind, but we can’t protect you if you’re going to be living out there in the middle of nowhere. You have no security, and your neighbors live too far apart to be of any help.”
“I agree. Minnie and I talked about it this morning, and I like your idea, but we’re not going to let you do it for free. You’re giving us the land, so we want to pay for the materials and your time.”
“We’re family. You can pay for the materials, but you won’t pay us for our time.”
“Case closed,” I said, beaming with joy. “I’m so happy, and the kids will love having y’all so close by.”
“All right, here goes. I’ll put it on speaker, so nobody misses anything.” Billy pulled out his cell phone and punched in Jonathan’s number. “What have I missed, brother?”
