The Prey Bites Back: A Jesse Watson Mystery Book #8

by Ann Mullen

  “I’ll be sure to tell her.”

  Billy and I turned and walked out of the room.

  “What next, kemosabe? Where do we go from here?”

  “To the truck first. We have a date, remember?”

  “Oh, you bad boy.”

  The wind had picked up and the snow had gotten heavier. Once we were seated in the truck, Billy started it and then sat there for a minute, thinking.

  “What’s on your mind? What happened to our date?” I looked around at the people getting in and out of their cars. “I guess we’ll have to wait. Too many people around.”

  “I was just thinking about what Russell said about finding the evidence.”

  “And…”

  “Something Preston said has got me wondering.”

  “Wondering about what?”

  “If I told you that I had been giving you wine with poison in it, and then I set the bottle down in front of you, what’s the first thing you’d do?”

  I thought for a second. “I’d grab the bottle and head for the hospital.”

  “Exactly, but Preston didn’t go to the hospital, he was way too sick by that time. He knew it was too late to save himself, so he came to us. He wanted to do the right thing. I think the bottle might be in his car.”

  “And we still have the car, don’t we?”

  “We certainly do.”

  Billy put the truck in gear, backed out of the parking space, and drove to the garage exit. Once he paid the parking fee, we were on our way back home. The going was slow, and I was getting antsy.

  “Can’t you drive any faster?”

  “I could, but I’d rather make it back alive.” He wiped the inside of the windshield with his hand, and then reached over to turn up the defroster. When he looked back up, the traffic had come to a stop. He had to hit the brakes to keep from running into the car in front of us. The truck skidded, but finally came to a halt just in time.

  He wiped his forehead with his hand. “I need to slow down. That was close.”

  “We’re crawling as it is, Billy.” I reached over and touched his leg. “You’re doing fine. If I’d been driving, I probably would’ve hit that car. We’re excited because we think Preston took the wine bottle and it might be in his car, but it might not be, so forget about being in a hurry. Preston’s SUV might not have anything in it at all. I’m sorry I tried to rush you. I should know better.”

  “We never searched it.”

  “I’ll call Jonathan and ask him if anyone searched Preston’s car.” I took out my cell phone and hit the speed dial number for Jonathan. A minute later, I disconnected and said, “The car wasn’t searched. Jonathan’s meeting us at Beth’s with her house key.”

  It took us forty minutes to make the twenty minute drive. The snow was still coming down harder than ever, and as predicted, the roads had been a mess. When we pulled up to Beth’s house, Jonathan was already in the garage waiting for us.

  “Have you searched the car?”

  “No, I just got here.” Jonathan aimed the keypad, hit the button, and unlocked the doors and the hatchback. “What are you looking for?”

  “A bottle of wine.”

  Chapter 14

  The bottle we were looking for lay on the floorboard of the passenger seat wedged underneath the seat. The pieces of the puzzle were starting to fall together, and we now had the evidence we needed to put Dakota Stone in prison for the murder of Gavin Preston. Without thinking, I went to grab the bottle.

  “Don’t touch it!” Jonathan yelled, and then grabbed my arm. “Fingerprints, remember? You need gloves.” He reached in his pocket and pulled out two pairs of latex gloves and handed us a pair. “I’m sorry, Jesse. I didn’t mean to yell at you, but we don’t need for the boys in the lab to find your prints on that bottle. You could be implicated, and we sure don’t want that to happen. Are you okay?” He hugged me. “I’m just looking after you.”

  “I know you are. I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I know better than to touch evidence. I guess I was just too excited to think straight.” I looked at Billy. “What do we do now?”

  “We call the sheriff.”

  “He never asked us where Preston’s car was. I mean, we already told him Preston came to us, so why didn’t he ask about the car?”

  “I don’t know, but I wasn’t about to bring it up. I knew he’d get to it sooner or later. He’s got a lot going on, just like we have. Let’s look a little closer before we call in the cavalry.”

  The SUV was clean. The only thing we found was the wine bottle, but that was all we needed to bring down Dakota Stone. She was going to fry for killing Gavin Preston.

  Jonathan looked at Billy. “So who do we call, Sheriff Hudson or Captain Trainum?”

  “I say we call both.” I had recovered from the shock of having Jonathan yell at me. “We don’t want to leave anyone out. They might think we’re hiding something.”

  Billy winked at me. “Oh, that time has come and gone. We have been hiding something—this car. I guess we’ll have to answer for that also.”

  “It’ll be worth it. I mean, what can they do to us? We solved their case for them.”

  “I don’t think they’ll see it that way.”

  “Oh, come on, Billy, they’re not going to do anything to us. They’ll see it as a gift on our part. We came up with the murder weapon… so to speak.”

  “A gift?” Jonathan laughed. “They’ll see it as withholding evidence, so be prepared for repercussions. I hear trouble knocking at the door.” He put his hand to his ear.

  I looked around, listening for the sound of someone knocking, and then realized he was speaking metaphorically. “You had me going there for a minute, Jonathan. I’m out of it. Must have been that Xanax I took. You know, lasting effects.”

  “Perhaps you should stay away from drugs, Jesse. Your mind ain’t on the job.”

  Jonathan was right. My mind was somewhere else, but I didn’t know exactly where. I was a wee bit light-headed and feeling very carefree. I glanced over at Billy, thinking how sexy he was and how much I wanted to be alone with him. I wanted his naked body, his lips, his hands caressing my…

  “Oh, God! All I can think about is sex. It has to be a side effect from that pill. It’s an aphrodisiac! I get all warm and fuzzy just thinking about crawling in the sack with my man.”

  Billy slipped up close and snuggled me. “You don’t hear me complaining. I like it!”

  Jonathan pulled out his cell phone. “Geez… get a room.”

  “Wait! Don’t make that call yet. I just thought of something. Shouldn’t we move the car back to your house, Jonathan? That way we can say it was in the backyard the whole time, if someone should ask. At least this will be one charge they can’t pin on us. The car would have been in plain sight the whole time. We didn’t try to dispose of it.”

  “I was just thinking the same thing. We’ll look guilty as sin if the sheriff sees this car in Beth’s garage. Let’s do it. It’ll be one less thing we have to explain.” He looked at Billy. “I’ll drive Preston’s car, you drive mine, and Jesse can drive your truck.”

  We moved the SUV back to Jonathan’s house, parked it out back, and waited a half-hour so the snow could accumulate on it as if it had never moved. Then, Jonathan made the call.

  “Hmm… voice mail. Sheriff Hudson, this is Jonathan Blackhawk. We have physical evidence that proves Dakota Stone killed Gavin Preston. Come to my house as soon as you get this message. I’m also alerting Captain Trainum. Thanks.” He looked back at us. “One more phone call to make.” He touched the screen and waited. “Voice mail again. Where is everybody? Hello, Captain Trainum, this is Jonathan Blackhawk. You need to get over here. If you forgot where my house is, just follow the Greene County police cars. We’ll be waiting.”

  Jonathan put his cell phone back in his pocket. “It’s done, now all we have to do is wait. Shall we go inside where it’s warm?”

  The three of us slipped off the latex gloves and shoved them
in our pockets. We walked through the garage, down the long hallway, and to the den where Lu Ann was sitting, watching TV.

  “Ah, you’re back.” She got up, walked over to Jonathan, and gave him a kiss. “Is everything all right? You had me worried there for a minute.”

  “The cops will be here soon.” Jonathan went on to explain about finding the wine bottle. “We brought the SUV back. We didn’t want the cops to think we moved it.”

  “That was smart. It’d be a little hard to explain why it was sitting in Beth’s garage.”

  “Yeah, we thought about that, so we brought it back.”

  “Let’s go to the kitchen and I’ll fix some coffee.”

  We followed Lu Ann to the kitchen, took off our coats, and then sat down at the table. We talked about how this was going to go down, but in all honesty, no one knew how Sheriff Hudson was going to take the news.

  “When he finds out Preston’s car has been sitting in your backyard all this time, he’s not going to be happy, and when we show him the wine bottle, he’s really going to be mad.”

  “Maybe not,” Lu Ann said. “He’ll be glad to finally have the evidence he needs. Oh, he might be mad at first, but he’ll get over it.”

  “That’s what I said, Lu Ann. If it wasn’t for us, he’d still be spinning his wheels.”

  “Well, I wouldn’t tell him that. You know they don’t like it when someone else does their job for them. They see it as interfering—obstruction of justice. He’s liable to lock you up.”

  “I’m ready for him. I can handle anything he throws my way… and if he gives me a hard time, I’m going to sock him… and Frank Trainum, too! I’m tired of them pushing me around. I’m going to give them a piece of my mind.”

  “No, you’re not, Jesse. You don’t have much to spare right now.” Jonathan looked at Billy. “Maybe you should take her home. I can handle this one.”

  I was getting riled up. “You’re out of your mind. I’m not going anywhere. Why do y’all always try to shut me out? I’m a big girl. I’m not afraid of the cops. If anything, they should be afraid of me. I’m dangerous, too… when I want to be.”

  “Your mouth is going to get you arrested. I’m taking you home and putting you to bed.”

  Lu Ann looked at my eyes. “What did you take? You’re not acting like your old self.”

  “That’s just it. She is acting like herself… on Xanax.”

  “No wonder she’s acting like she’s drunk.” Lu Ann looked at me. “Maybe you should go splash some water on your face. You’ll feel better. Come with me. I’ll take you to the bathroom.”

  “I kinda do feel a little drunk, but I think I can make it to the bathroom by myself.” I got up and hurried to the bathroom. I thought for sure I was going to puke before I got there, but I didn’t. I went to the sink, turned on the facet, and splattered my face with the cool water. After I was convinced I could hold it together, I walked out of the bathroom and went back to the kitchen. I saw Jonathan and Billy standing at the front window.

  “They’re here,” Billy called out.

  I walked over and stood between them.

  “I don’t like the looks of this, brother.”

  “Me, either. I don’t think they’re too happy with us.”

  Cop cars were flying up the driveway, driving with a vengeance, skidding sideways with their lights flashing and sirens blasting. They were in a real hurry, and most likely, ready to do battle.

  “They’ll get over it, and we’ll be rid of Dakota Stone once and for all…and we’ll be free to go on about our business.”

  “Yeah, in about five to ten years.”

  “That’s not funny. Is he serious, Billy?” I looked from Billy to Jonathan. “Tell me you’re not serious.”

  “I’m not serious, but this isn’t going to go smoothly. I can promise you that. Who do you think can yell the loudest, Billy? Sheriff Hudson or Captain Trainum?”

  “I’d say they’re both about even.”

  Sheriff Hudson yelled to his men and motioned for them to follow him as he made his way through the accumulating snow to the front door. He rang the doorbell, and when Jonathan opened the door and let him in, I whispered, “And the yelling begins…” I smiled at the sheriff.

  “You can wipe that smile off your face, Mrs. Blackhawk. This isn’t a social call.” He looked at Jonathan and then at Billy. “Okay, what’s this all about? Got another dead body for me?” He looked at his men and said, “Okay, search the house.”

  “Whoa… wait a minute.” Jonathan stepped in front of the line of deputies. “There’s nothing in here to see. It’s in the backyard.” He looked at the sheriff. “Unless you have a search warrant, your men aren’t going to traipse through my house.”

  Sheriff Hudson motioned for his men to halt, and then turned back to Jonathan. “Show me what you got, and this better be good. You dragged me away from…”

  I walked over to the sheriff. “Shouldn’t we wait for Captain Trainum? This is his jurisdiction, isn’t it?”

  “He’s not coming. He has his hands full with…” The sheriff hesitated.

  “With what?”

  “That’s none of your business, Mrs. Blackhawk. I’m in charge here, so show me what you got. I don’t have all day.”

  “Are you mad at me? What’s with this Mrs. Blackhawk? I thought we were on a first name basis.”

  The sheriff gave me a stern look. “Now you’re starting to tick me off, Jesse.” He emphasized my name. “Okay, so what’s in the backyard?”

  “Evidence.”

  The sheriff didn’t say a word, instead he motioned to his men. They all turned and headed out the front door to the backyard behind him. We grabbed our coats and followed.

  “Whose car is this?” After a second, he shook his head and sighed. “This is the car Gavin Preston was driving, isn’t it?”

  “Yes, it is, Sheriff Hudson, but before you go off the deep end, there’s something you need to see.” Billy led him over to the passenger side of the car and pointed to the wine bottle on the floorboard. “I’m sure you’ll find Dakota Stone’s fingerprints on the bottle and antifreeze residue on the inside. Here’s the evidence you need to put that woman away. This proves she killed Gavin Preston.”

  The sheriff signaled to one of his men. “Bag it, tag it, and get it to forensics. Take Peters with you and make sure you maintain chain of custody protocol.”

  His deputy complied.

  The sheriff looked back at the three of us. “My… my… my. How convenient. Where’d you get the bottle? I know you didn’t get it from The Body Shop. You couldn’t get in. It’s still a crime scene.”

  Jonathan grinned. “Give us a little credit, Sheriff Hudson. The bottle has been there the whole time. Nobody noticed because it was stuck under the seat, and even if we’d seen it, we wouldn’t have thought anything of it at the time.”

  Billy held up his hand. “Okay… we made a bad judgment call when we moved the body. We admit that, but you can’t let your anger at us stop you from getting to the truth.” He pointed to the bottle again. “There’s your proof.”

  “Yeah,” I added. “We found the proof, so you owe us.”

  The sheriff’s face turned blood red and the shouting started. “I owe you nothing! You’re renegades, all of you! This time you’ve gone too far! I’m sick and tired of trying to keep you out of jail! I’m done with covering your butts! All you do is give me grief!” He turned and walked around the car. A phone call later, he returned and started in on us again. “I called a tow truck, and you better hope those forensic guys don’t find one hair from either one of you in that car, because if they do…” He looked directly at me. “You better start making arrangements. You’ll need someone to take care of your kids while you’re in prison.”

  Sheriff Hudson was madder than I’d ever seen, and this time he was serious about sending us up the river. We’d crossed the line so many times he had just plain had enough. The only way to save ourselves was to convince him tha
t we were doing the right thing. We just went about it wrong. He knew we lied about Preston asking us to take him back to The Body Shop. Heck, even I wouldn’t fall for that one. We moved the dead body to lay blame on someone else, and now we were offering up the murder weapon. I could see why he was aggravated. If I could get him to calm down, perhaps we could keep things under control… and stay out of jail. I had to convince him to see the situation from our perspective.

  Sheriff Hudson was an old softie when it came to crying women, so I brought out the big guns. I started crying. “I can’t believe you’d do that to me. My kids need their mother, and now you’re going to put me in jail because Dakota Stone killed Gavin Preston. You’re an awful man.”

  Billy walked over and put his arms around me. I buried my face in his jacket and cried harder. “We’re going to jail, Billy. Our kids are going to grow up without us, all because of that man.” I pointed to the sheriff. My nose was running and I’d cried so hard that I was getting the hiccups. I looked at the sheriff. “I did it all… just keep my mama out of jail… please. She’s… innocent.”

  I couldn’t read the look on Sheriff Hudson’s face, and that really bothered me. Was he buying any of this, or was I wasting my time? I had to keep trying. I ran over to him, threw myself in his arms and pleaded, “Please don’t send my mama to jail, I beg of you. Put me in jail instead. I’ll confess to whatever you want, but just leave my mama alone.”

  The sheriff gently pushed me away. “You had me right up to the point where you said you’d confess to anything. I know you better than that. Wipe your face. You look like a mess.” He pulled out a handkerchief and handed it to me. “Go over there and stand by your husband before I slap the cuffs on you right here.”

  I took the handkerchief, wiped my tears and my nose, and then handed it back to him.

  “Keep it.”

  “Thank you. My mama always said you could tell a man was raised right if he carried a handkerchief.” I whimpered and wiped my nose again. “I’ll get her to wash it for you and return it. By then, I guess I’ll be in jail” I let loose again with the tears.