Middle River Murders (21 page)

“Come on,” Billy said as he stepped back. “We can’t be
smooching right here in the lobby. Let’s go to the car and do it.”

“Do what, you crazy old man?”

“You know you love this crazy old man, `ge ya. Come on. Let’s
go make love in the car.”

“You’re out of your mind.”

“I can’t help it. You’re so sexy!’

“It’s these big boobs that turn you on.”

“I do like them,” Billy said as he put his arm around my
waist and led me outside. “But I found you sexy before you had big boobs, and
I’ll still think you’re sexy when they go back to their normal size.”

“Oh, stop! You’re making me depressed.”

“We can’t have that.”

We crossed the road and walked the flight of concrete steps
to the upper level of the parking garage. Billy held my hand as we made our
journey. As soon as we approached the 4Runner, I looked down and noticed that
we had a flat tire.

“What on earth? I can’t believe I have a flat tire on my
brand new car. Someone sure has a lot of nerve!”

Billy stooped down to examine the tire.

“It’s been slashed.”

“Are you for real? Someone slashed my tire right here in
broad daylight. I don’t believe it. What’s this world coming to? Oh, Lord. I
sound just like my mother.”

“I don’t think that’s so bad. Your mother is a fine `ge ya,”
Billy said as he opened the back hatch and began to take out the car jack and
spare tire. “I’m proud to have her in my family.”

“She’s proud to have you in ours. She tells me all the time
how lucky I am to have you. She was sure I was destined to be an old maid. Then
you came along and saved me from what was sure to be a life filled with
emptiness and despair.”

“Sometimes you can be such a cynic.”

“I know. My mother taught me not to trust strangers. I think
that’s what put me on the path to cynicism. I’m always looking for the evil
hidden behind those fake smiles.”

“Now you’re blaming your poor mother.”

“Actually, it was her fear that someday one of her kids would
get snatched up by a stranger and never be seen again that helped me to
continuously be aware of my surroundings. Women, especially, should never let
their guard down and they should always be on the alert.”

Billy jacked up the car and removed the flat tire. He
replaced it with the spare and then said, “We need to get a new tire
immediately. This is a donut tire and it’s not meant to be driven on for long.
It’s only a temporary fix.”

“How soon is soon?”

“We should stop at Redman’s Auto and see if Daniel has one in
stock.”

“Right now?”

“Yes, and the sooner the better. These tires are only meant
to be driven on for about fifty miles. We might get a hundred miles out of it,
but that would be pushing our luck. As I said, these tires are a temporary
fix.”

“Oh man. I forgot to call Mom.”

“What?”

“I just remembered that call in the hospital. It came from
our house. I checked Caller ID just before that old grouchy nurse made me turn
off the phone. I’d better call home right now.”

I turned on the phone, waited for it to do its thing and then
pressed the number one. The phone automatically dialed the house. As I stood
and waited for someone to pick up on the other end, I looked up and saw the
face of the same woman who had been staring at me in the hospital lobby.
Without thinking, I slammed the phone shut and said, “There’s that woman I saw
in the hospital, Billy. I’m going to find out who she is.”

“Jesse, don’t…” Billy started to say, but by then I was
already out of earshot.

I threw the strap of my purse over my shoulder so that it
crossed my body and kept me from having to carry it. I dug inside and pulled
out my can of mace. I didn’t have my gun on me because we were going inside the
hospital and they don’t take kindly to people entering a hospital carrying a
gun, unless they’re a cop. All I had on me for protection was the mace, but in
a pinch and aimed just right, the mace would serve the purpose. It would stop
the perp in his tracks… or her tracks.

The woman had disappeared behind the parked cars and trucks.

As I rounded the corner in the parking garage, I came
face-to-face with Billy.

He grabbed me by the arm and said, “What are you doing? Have
you lost your mind?”

We heard tires squeal and looked up just in time to see the
woman who had been following us fly by.

“That’s the woman in the hospital. She’s been following us,
Billy.”

She peeled rubber and was out of sight in a flash. She was
fast, but not fast enough.

“Write this down, Jesse.”

I did as he said. I opened my purse and took out a pen and a
small tablet. Billy rattled off the license plate numbers and identified the
car as a green, Ford Mustang convertible.

“When we get home I’ll find out who owns this car,” he said.

I stood admiring the car that just flew passed us. “Nice
car,” I said. “I’ve always liked the Mustang. When I was in high school I dated
a guy who had one, and I swore that one day, I’d have one of my very own. But
that never happened.”

“It’s not too late,” Billy said.

“Ha… ha. I can see me now with two kids riding around with
the top down and the kids strapped in the back seat. Child Services would be
all over me. No thanks. Not to mention the fact that it wouldn’t be good for
the kids. Have you ever ridden in the back of a convertible with the top down?
The wind is so strong, you can hardly breathe. Imagine what it would be like
for a little child. I’ll pass.”

“The car would be a fun car, not a family car.”

“Okay, I’m sold. Buy me one,” I joked.

“I’ll run right out and get you one,” he replied. “What color
do you want? You choose.”

Knowing Billy as I do, he probably would. It seemed that his
goal in life was to make me happy, a trait of his that didn’t go unappreciated.
I am truly thankful to have a man so devoted to me. Men like Billy are few and
far between. This, no woman would dispute.

“Thanks, but not today, dear. Let’s put that on the back
burner for the time being.” I patted him on the back and then put my arms
around his waist and said, “You’re going to spoil me.”

“That’s my job.”

We walked back to the car. Billy finished with the tire and
as we pulled out of the parking space, it dawned on me that no one had returned
my call. I was sure the phone had rung at least two times. That was enough for
Caller ID to pick up on the call. Why hadn’t someone called me back?

I pulled out my phone and hit number one again.

The phone rang and rang. I was just about ready to close it
up when someone on the other end answered. The voice didn’t sound familiar.

“Who is this?” I asked.

“This is
Geneva
,” the woman said. “Who is this?”

“This is Jesse. Where’s my mother?”

“Just a minute,” she said. “I’ll go get Sarah.” She placed
the phone down and then yelled out Sarah’s name.

A minute later, Sarah picked up the phone and said, “Jesse,
is that you?”

“Yes, it’s me. What’s going on there? Where’s my mother and
what is
Geneva
doing at our house? She wasn’t
supposed to come until this weekend. She’s a little early.”

“I tried to call you, but got disconnected. I called several
times and a recording came on. Has your phone been off?”

The pit of my stomach churned.

“Sarah, where’s my mother?”

“You need to come home right now. Your mother’s been
arrested.”

“Where is she?”

“I assume that she’s at the Greene County Sheriff’s Office. I
didn’t recognize the deputy, but she had on a
Greene
County
uniform and was driving one of their
cars.”

“How are the kids?”

“They’re fine, Jesse. We’ve been…”

“We’re going to the Sheriff’s Office. Don’t let
Geneva
take Maisy anywhere until we get
back and I have a chance to talk with her. I’ll call as soon as we find out
anything.”

I slammed the phone shut.

“What’s the matter, `ge ya. Your face is pale.”

“Mom’s been arrested. We need to go help her.”

“Where’s she being held?”

“She’s at the Greene County Sheriff’s Office.”

Instead of making the turn that would put us on our way home,
Billy continued through the traffic light on Rt. 29, heading toward the
intersection in Ruckersville, and then on to Stanardsville.

“Let’s go get your mom out of jail,” he said with a slight
chuckle.

“It’s not funny, Billy.”

“I snickered because it’s usually one of us who’s been
arrested. I can’t picture your mom behind bars. She’s never done a bad thing in
her life.
Nu-da-nv-dv-na
! There goes her reputation!”

“Insane, huh?”

“Very good, `ge ya. You’re getting better.”

I had to agree with Billy. My mother being in jail was like
arresting the sheriff. It was insane. She’s the one who has a set of rules for
us to live by, and she enforces those rules. Her word is law. Isn’t that how
it’s supposed to work?

However ridiculous the idea of my mother sitting in a jail
cell was, that image terrified me. Hardened criminals are in jails! My mother
didn’t belong there! My anxiety level soared as I started to breathe hard.

“Oh, God,” I said. “Here we go again. Where’s my paper bag?”

The drive to the Greene County Sheriff’s Office took us an
hour and twenty minutes. The traffic had been backed up due to an overturned
semi-tractor trailer in front of Sheetz gas station and had been rerouted via
Advance Mills Road
. The speed limit was twenty-five mph
and slow going. Traffic was at a standstill most of the way.

By the time I got out of the 4Runner, I was livid and
uncontrollable. My head felt as if it was going to explode. I don’t know what
was worse—the anger I was dealing with because of my mother being arrested, or
the fear I felt at the thought that someone might do her harm while in custody.

Billy had tried to console me. He assured me that Mom would
be placed in a cell by herself.

“How do you know?” I asked.

“I know Sheriff Hudson. Trust me, Jesse. Nothing is going to
happen to your mother. The sheriff will see to it.”

“Why do I have a hard time believing that?”

“You’re scared,” Billy said. “You love your mother and you’re
worried about her. It’s only natural that you’re concerned. I’m sure she’s
fine.”

“There’s been a mistake.”

“I’m sure there has been. Your mother’s done nothing wrong.
Don’t worry. She’ll be back home before you know it. Just you wait and see.”

“Yeah… why would they arrest Mom? She hasn’t done anything.”

“Has she been selling drugs?”

I looked at Billy as I grabbed the door.

“I know you’re trying to make light of the situation by
joking, but I’m in no mood to laugh. This is serious.”

“I’m sorry, `ge ya. When we take your mother home and
everything settles down, you will laugh about this.”

“I doubt that.”

We got out of the 4Runner and headed inside the Sheriff’s
Office. We walked up to the glass partition that separated them from us.

The deputy behind the window pointed to the telephone on the
wall.

Billy and I looked over at the wall and then walked over to
the phone.

I picked up the receiver and said, “We’re here to get my
mother out of jail. It seems that one of your deputies came to our house and
arrested her while we were gone. So now, if you please, would you go get my mother?”
I looked at Billy. “This is so ridiculous. I can’t believe they arrested Mom.
She’s never…”

“Miss…”

“My name is Jesse Watson Blackhawk and I want to see my
mother right now!” Tears streamed down my cheeks and my heart pounded in my
chest. I banged on the glass with the palm of my hand.

The deputy jumped. Startled, he responded quickly. “Miss, you
need to calm down. I don’t know who your mother is, but I can assure you she’s
not here. As a matter-of-fact, all the cells are empty for a change. There’s no
one here except me, a few other deputies and the sheriff. I can ask Sheriff
Hudson to come out and talk with you if you’d like.”

Stunned was a weak word to describe how I felt. Shocked and
confused, I gather my wits and said, “Yes, please ask the sheriff to come out
here. I want to talk to him.”

“Hold the phone for just a minute,” he said. The deputy got
up and walked out of the room for a second. When he returned, he said, “Sheriff
Hudson will be with you as soon as he can. He’s on the phone right now. Why
don’t you have a seat?” He pointed to the chairs along the wall.

I hung up the phone and then walked over to the chairs. Billy
stood beside me.

“Don’t you want to sit down?” Billy asked.

“No, I’ll stand.”

I paced the room.

After a while, my legs were tired, so I walked over and sat
down in the chair. Waiting isn’t something I do well. I’m impatient and when
I’m upset like I was now, I could become very belligerent. It wouldn’t be long
before I would turn hostile and aggressive. I was fit to be tied by the time
the sheriff came out into the waiting room and showed his face.

The sheriff greeted us with a friendly smile.

“We’ve been waiting fifteen minutes! What took you so long?”
I yelled as I stood and walked over to him. “Where’s my mother?”

The sheriff looked at Billy and then back to me.

“The deputy was correct, Jesse. She’s not here. What made you
think she was?”

“Billy’s mother said one of your deputies came out to the
house and placed her under arrest. She hauled my mother off to jail like a
common criminal, and I want to know why. Now let my mother go!”

“She’s not here, I swear,” Sheriff Hudson repeated. “We don’t
have an arrest warrant out on her and we haven’t arrested her. Are you sure
this isn’t some kind of joke?”

“Am I laughing? This is no joke, I can assure you. Besides,
if it were a joke, it wouldn’t involve my mother. She doesn’t like stunts.”

“There’s been some kind of mistake, because I can promise you
that we don’t have her. Come into my office and I’ll call CPD. Maybe she’s
there. Perhaps Billy’s mother made a mistake. But don’t worry, we’ll straighten
this out.”

The sheriff put his hand on my shoulder as if to comfort me
and then led me through the door to his office. He motioned for us to sit down.

We sat and waited for him to make his call. After listening
to his conversation, I knew trouble had reared its ugly head.

My mother had been kidnapped by a cop!

I panicked and went into a rage. I screamed at the sheriff
and anyone within hearing range. I let off enough steam for everyone in the room
to become soaked in the moisture.

Instead of arresting an unruly person who was going into a
rage, which he could have done, Sheriff Hudson calmly stood, watched and
listened as I cursed his department, him and any and everyone who had ever
worked there. Finally, out of wind and desperate, I sank back down in the chair
and cried.

The sheriff looked at me and said, “Now that you’ve gotten
that out of your system, let’s see what we can do about finding your mother.”

Billy held me as I cried and rocked back and forth.

Emotional outbursts were becoming a part of my life. I had to
get it together!

Sheriff Hudson told us to sit and hold tight as he left the
room.

We did as he said. What else could we do?

Billy and I talked while we waited.

“Why…” I tried to say. I sniffled as I sat in the chair and
wondered why someone would do this to my mom.

“I think the question is who,” Billy said. “Who would go to
such lengths as to kidnap your mother?”

“Oh, Billy, that was a perfect way to grab someone without
arousing suspicion. By the time we find out it was a ruse, Mom could be long
gone.”

“A risky ploy.”

“Oh, the woman didn’t think she’d get caught. Whoever pulled
this off knew what she was doing. It was a woman cop. That’s what your mother
said. A woman deputy showed up and arrested Mom. You know Mom wouldn’t stand up
to someone in uniform. If a cop tried to arrest her she wouldn’t resist.”

“I’m going to have to have a talk with her about that when
she gets back. She’s too trusting for her own good.”

“You know how she is. She’s always thought the cops were the
good guys. Hey, what about that deputy who came to our house after
Kansas
was killed? You know the one I’m
talking about.”

“Katherine Kingsley,” the sheriff said as he walked back into
the room. “Deputy Kingsley is on her honeymoon. She got married yesterday and
they flew off to
Hawaii
. She’s probably on a sunny beach
with her new husband right about now. So if you think she had anything to do
with your mother’s disappearance, you’re wrong. She has an alibi.”

“I was just trying to piece this together,” I said,
embarrassed that I was about to accuse one of his deputies. “I don’t know what
to make of this. Why would someone be after my mother? She’s a grandmother, for
Heaven’s sake! I’m more of a criminal than she is.”

The sheriff raised an eyebrow at my comment.

“You know what I mean. If anyone was more likely to commit a
crime, it’d be me, not my mother.”

“Stop, Jesse,” Billy said. “We get your point.”

“Yes, please do,” Sheriff Hudson. “Next thing I know you’ll be
telling me something I don’t want to hear.”

That was my cue. I stopped talking and listened to what the
sheriff had to say. Regardless of the intensity of my anger, it wasn’t getting
me anywhere.

“I want you two to go home.”

I opened my mouth to speak, but the sheriff held up his hand
to shush me. “I’m going to bring a deputy and we’re going to follow you home. I
need to talk to Mrs. Blackhawk. Hopefully, we can uncover something that will
help us find your mother.”

“But what if she doesn’t remember anything helpful?”

“Then we’ll go from there, but for now, it’s the best we can
do.” The sheriff looked over at Billy and said, “I called Captain Waverly at
CPD. He’s going to meet us at your house.” He looked back at me. “Our
department will work together with his to find your mother. I called in CPD
because even though your mother is a resident of
Greene
County
, she was abducted in
Charlottesville
. They have jurisdiction. The crime
was committed in their front yard. The Greene County Sheriff’s Office will offer
its support.”

“I don’t care who looks for my mother as long as somebody
does. I’m just glad you’re going to help, Sheriff Hudson.”

“That’s my job.”

Ten minutes later, we were on the road headed home. We rode
in silence half the way there. Finally, I looked up at Billy as he drove and
said, “I’m scared. I feel weird.”

“I guess you do,” he replied. “I imagine all sorts of things
are going through your head. I’m surprised you haven’t hit someone… and from
the looks of things, if you don’t get home soon and feed your child, you’re
going to explode.”

I looked down and noticed the front of my blouse was wet.
“Oh, Lord,” I cried. “I’m embarrassed.”

“Don’t be, `ge ya. Mother Nature is telling you that you’re
needed somewhere else. When we get home, I want you to take a shower and then
go take care of Ethan. You need to calm down or the stress could cause your
body to stop producing nourishment for our child. It is something you must do.
I will see to your mother’s care. I will make sure she is returned home.”

Billy is Cherokee and when he gets upset he starts talking
funny. That worried me more than irritating Mother Nature. If he was talking
strangely it was because the situation was out of his control. Billy didn’t
like it when people were bad, especially if it affected his family.

“What will you do?” I asked, nervously. If Billy had a plan,
I wanted to hear about it.

“I will call my brothers.”

I let out a sigh of relief. Memories of a past rescue mission
involving Billy and his brothers came back to me in all its glory. They set out
to bring Claire’s children home after her soon-to-be ex-husband, Carl, took
them back home to D.C. with the intention of not returning them. Of course,
things got a little ugly, and then Billy and Jonathan were hauled off to the
police station for a short visit.

Unfortunately, Carl had previously gotten involved with a
killer who soon turned her sights on everyone around her. It was a dirty fight,
but in the end, we won. This little tidbit lifted my spirits. I could relax.
Billy would do as he said. He would find my mother.

“I hope that sigh was one of relief.”

“Oh, it was, Billy. All I needed to hear was your saying
everything was going to be okay. When you say that, I know it will.”

“You can put your faith in me.”

“I always do.”

A few minutes of silence passed. As we came to the stop light
at
Hydraulic Road
, Billy looked over at me and said,
“The first person I thought of when we found out about your mother was Daisy.”

“We know she’s not the one who did this. She’s in the
hospital.”

“Let’s piece this together.”

“Okay,” I said. “Let’s do what we do best.”

When Billy and I worked on a case and things started getting
hairy, like it is now, we’d brainstorm until we could come up with the answer.
It usually worked. This time I was too close to be objective, but I was
determined to use my proven talent of deductive reasoning to get to the bottom
of this situation. I tried to think of this as being someone else. Where would
I start? I would start from the beginning.

“We’re talking about the Stanardsville Social Club.”

“It’s time to elect a new club president,” I said.

“Daisy has already admitted to feeding Pat mushrooms she
thought would cause her to act weird. The mushrooms didn’t do anything, so even
though Daisy thinks she poisoned Pat, she didn’t really. Pat, unfortunately,
died from E. coli bacteria. She wasn’t murdered, but she was the start of the
domino effect. She fell, and then others around her fell.”