The Prey Bites Back: A Jesse Watson Mystery Book #8 (12 page)

Jonathan’s cell
beeped and he excused himself, walked over to the nurse’s station, and then
returned with a woman wearing scrubs.

“You can use
this room.” She pointed to a door with the letter B on it. “I’ll send in a
grief counselor.”

“That won’t be
necessary,” Jonathan said, leading us into the room and then closing the door.
He hit the speaker key on his cell and said, “Lu Ann has been doing some
digging on
Preston
. Go ahead Lu Ann.”

Everyone stood
and listened.

“Here’s what I
have on
Preston
. He was abused as a child by his father,
who happened to have the misfortune of falling on his chainsaw and decapitating
himself when
Preston
was seventeen. This is what we’d call a
stressor—an event that sets someone off. But there’s nothing in
Preston
’s background that would indicate his father’s death had
any ill effects on him. He lived the straight and narrow for fifteen years, and
then his mother killed herself. He cherished his mother, so if there ever was a
stressor, this would be it. A couple of years after his mother’s death, he went
to work for Dakota.”

“Such a tragic
story.”

“The one thing
we know for sure is that two days ago he started smashing in faces. All we have
to go on is Mae Bridges’ accusations that Dakota killed her husband, or either
got
Preston
to do it. Remember, this is a woman who
said she wanted her husband dead, and then paid money after he was killed.”

“But Mae wasn’t
serious,” I said. “She was just playing along.”

“Mighty
dangerous game, don’t you think?” Lu Ann said. “Who would do something so
stupid? Would you?”

“No, I wouldn’t.”

“Maybe he’s a
latent serial killer,” Helene added. “He could’ve had it in him all along and
now it’s coming to the surface.”

“He’s not a
serial killer,” Lu Ann replied. “If he were a serial killer there would have
been signs of it in his past… trouble in school, torturing of small animals,
fighting… juvenile stuff. There’s nothing like that in
Preston
’s past. If anything, he was a good kid.”

“Then perhaps
he’s just a hit man for Dakota,” Billy said. “You said his mother’s death was a
stressor. That could’ve gotten him started, made him susceptible to outside
influences, especially when money’s involved. What about his financial status?”

“According to his
bank account, he deposits five hundred a week, and thanks to Gator’s hacking
ability, we now know
Preston
lives high on the hog. Has a fancy condo,
wears designer clothes, and eats at all the best restaurants.”

“Blood money,”
I retorted.

“No police
record,” Lu Ann continued. “Clean as a whistle, that is, until Sheriff Hudson
locked him up on that disorderly charge.”

“What about his
health?” I asked. “His breath was awful. He must be sick or something. I’ve
never smelled…”

“Ah, the bad
breath,” Lu Ann said. “Seems he has a stomach ulcer. His medical record says
he’s been seeing a doctor for the ulcer and diabetes. He’s also had lots of
dental work—a couple root canals and crowns. He probably had an abscessed
tooth. That could account for his bad breath.”

“Well, it
didn’t work,” I sneered. “His breath still stinks.”

“Could be the
ulcers,” Lu Ann offered. “Perhaps Dakota makes him use mouthwash and eat breath
mints before they have sex.”

“Ah, they’re lovers,”
I added. “That makes sense. She uses sex to get him to do what she wants.”

“Sex… and the
money,” Lu Ann replied. “He came from a family who barely scraped by. Now look
at him. He has it all—money, job, and sex with a beautiful woman.”

“Who pays him
to kill people,” Helene added.

“Maybe,” Lu Ann
remarked. “Gator’s been digging into her background, but he isn’t having much
luck, just like y’all. There seems to be nothing on her life before she moved
to
Charlottesville
. We need a fingerprint or a
DNA
sample.”

“That shouldn’t
be too hard,” Shark said. “We can search her house.”

“She lives at
The
Body Shop
,” Lu Ann said. “So does Olivia Swales. Can’t dig up anything on Olivia
either. Stolen social security numbers is all we have on them. They’ve gone to
great lengths to cover their tracks. Even a
DNA
sample and
a fingerprint might not do us any good, but it wouldn’t hurt to try.” Lu Ann
paused and then said, “If Preston is Dakota’s hit man, why didn’t he kill Jesse
and Eddie? He had the chance. Hit men don’t play around. They don’t warn their
victims by making threats. They kill and then get out. Here’s something else. Y’all
think
Preston
killed Mae Bridges, but the nurse at the
hospital told the police that a nurse had gone in Mae’s room just before she
saw the man leaving. She didn’t recognize the nurse. That nurse could’ve been
Dakota Stone in disguise. Perhaps, the only thing
Preston
is guilty of is being stupid.”

“Lu Ann,”
Helene said. “I’m confused. Is he a hit man, serial killer, or just a guy who
got involved with the wrong woman? What kind of profile is this?”

“I’m just
telling you what I’ve come up with on
Preston
. It’s
not like you see on TV, Helene. Profilers base their profile on facts and
information they piece together, but here, all we have is a man with a clean
background until he got locked up and then beat up a couple of people, and two
women with no background. What we can be sure of is that
Preston
viciously attacked Jesse and Eddie, and that proves he’s
dangerous.”

“Our guys will
put him in the dirt,” I said.

“We can handle
that,” Jonathan said. He looked over at Billy. “Just say the word.”

“Whatever you
plan to do,” Lu Ann warned, “do it fast, before
Preston
’s
assaults escalate into something worse. He could be coming unhinged.”

“So, he’s not a
killer yet, he just likes to beat up people. Is that what you’re saying?”

“I think Dakota
killed those men, he knows about it, and maybe he likes it. Most likely, it’s some
kind of release for him.”

“Dakota?” I
said, having my doubts. “She’s too prim and proper…”

“Anyone can
pull off a murder in a crowd,” Lu Ann interrupted. “A gunshot goes off and
people scatter. The only one left is the dead person, and no one saw a thing.”

“What about
cameras?” Helene asked. “They’re everywhere nowadays.”

“There’re
always blind spots,” Lu Ann replied.      

A knock at the
door startled us.

“Gotta hang
up,” Jonathan said. “I’ll call you back.”

Billy opened
the door and Mom walked in. “I came out and y’all were gone. You scared me. I
thought you had left us here by ourselves.”

“How’s Eddie?”
I asked. “Is he going to be all right?”

“
Preston
went easy on him. It could’ve been much worse. His face is
busted up and he has bruises on his body, but no broken bones, no internal
damage.”

“So now he
looks like me,” I said, jokingly. Then a thought hit me. “Is he alone?”

“Just for a
minute…”

Jonathan looked
at Shark and said, “Go!”

Mom let go of
Shark’s shirt and he quickly took off.

“Can Eddie
leave the hospital?” Billy asked, looking at Mom. “We need to get out of here.”

“Yes, as soon
as they finish the paperwork.”

“Let’s go get
him out of here!” Jonathan demanded.

Mom had a
strange look on her face, but didn’t hesitate when Billy grabbed her hand.
“Y’all are really scaring me now,” she said. “Is Eddie still in danger?”

“We all are,
Mom. We need to get to safety and stay there until the guys can find
Preston
.”

We briskly walked
the corridor in a tight little group, until we reached Eddie. Shark had already
gotten Eddie into a wheelchair and was heading toward us.

“Where are you
taking him?” a nurse asked. “He can’t leave without the doctor’s…”

Dr. Bryant
walked up just in time. “It’s okay, Miss Fowler. I’ll handle this.”

“Sorry, Doc,”
Billy said. “But we have to leave right now.”

“Someone in
danger again?” He didn’t wait for an answer. If trouble was close by, he wanted
us out of his emergency room. “Go ahead and leave,” he replied. “I’ll handle
the paperwork.” He looked over at Eddie. “Aspirin ought to help out with the
pain, but if not, get this filled.” He handed the prescription slip to Mom and
was about to say something else, but Shark escorted her and Eddie out before the
doctor had a chance.

“Slow down, Shark.
He’s in a lot of pain,” Mom demanded. She looked at him as he pushed the
wheelchair a little too fast for her liking. “He could get hurt worse than he
already is.”

We didn’t
bother to wait for the SUVs to be brought around. We high-tailed it out into
the parking lot. Shark, the behemoth, guarded our backs, while Billy and
Jonathan carried Eddie. We were in a mad rush, making a fast dash to the cars.
No one slowed down.

We were
scrambling to get in the SUVs when a gunshot went off, dropping Shark to his
knees.

“I’m all right!”
Shark yelled. “Got me in the leg.”

Billy and
Jonathan grabbed him under his armpits, dragged him into the SUV, and after I
jumped in, Jonathan slammed the door. I drove while Billy tended to Shark’s leg
wound. Eddie, Mom, Helene, and Jonathan followed us in the other vehicle.

Two black SUVs
hauling butt down Rt. 29 gets everyone’s attention. They must’ve thought we had
the President of the
United
States
in one of them,
because they all got out of our way.

The shooter
didn’t pursue us. Gavin Preston had failed to kill his target again. What ever
would Dakota say? I was still under the assumption that
Preston
was a hit man, but after listening to Lu Ann, I didn’t
know what to think anymore. Could Dakota Stone possibly be the killer?

I figured we’d
head home and plan our strategy for capturing Gavin Preston, and then beating
the truth out of him, but when we entered the Blackhawk Compound, Billy told me
to turn into Jonathan’s driveway.

“We can’t go to
Jonathan’s house!” I said, looking back at him. “Our kids are there. What if
Preston
’s following us?”

“We need to
talk,” Billy said, seriously. “There’s something I’ve been meaning to tell
you.”

“And you’re
picking now to tell me? Right in the middle of outrunning bullets?”

This didn’t
sound good. Billy’s tone meant only one thing—someone else had died—or so I
thought.

“There’s a
bunker under Jonathan’s hangar, and the Blackhawk property is now protected by
laser beam security system.”

“That’s all?” I
asked, relieved. “I thought you were going to tell me someone else had been murdered.”
It took a few seconds for Billy’s confession to sink in. “I get the thing about
the bunker. I suspected that all along.” I glanced in the back seat at Billy
again. “What I don’t understand is the alien beam from outer space thingy. How
does that work?” I couldn’t help but laugh. “Do we have little green men in
spaceships patrolling the compound?”

After what just
happened, I wasn’t thinking straight. If I had been, I would’ve known what
Billy was talking about. Instead, I acted like an idiot, spouting off about
spaceships and little green men. What a putz.

“I’m sorry,
Billy. I’m not myself. People getting killed does that to me. When did you put
in the system, and why didn’t you tell me?”

“Months ago,” Billy
replied. “I didn’t say anything because I didn’t want to alarm everyone. After
the bunker and hangar were complete, it was the next logical thing to do.”

“How far does
the beam go? All around the property?”

“Let’s just say
that we’re covered.”

“We’re all safe
in our tight little circle. Now we really can call this place a compound. It’s
a fortress. Where’s the main location for the security system? In the bunker!
Of course! That’s the perfect place. I can’t wait to see it!”

“You’re not mad
that I didn’t tell you?”

“I didn’t say
that.”

I drove down the
hill behind the hangar as Billy instructed, and pulled up close to what
appeared to be garage doors leading to a basement under the hangar. The doors
automatically opened, and we filed in. The doors closed with a loud clank. I felt
like I was in a James Bond movie. I’d seen bunkers like this before on TV, but
had never been in a real one. It was amazing. 

I stepped out
of the Hummer and looked around. I expected the bunker to be a mass of
cinderblocks, concrete and steel, drab in color and cold, but it wasn’t. The
garage floor was concrete like any other garage floor, but the walls had been
finished off and painted a warm cream color, with dark stained baseboard trim
that matched the interior doors. Once we went through the door on the left, the
décor was also pleasing as if we were entering someone’s house, not just a
bunker. The walls were painted the same cream color as the garage and had the
same trim. The only things missing were pictures hanging on the walls. I was
going to ask Jonathan what he needed with a house when he had this place, but
he was busy taking Shark somewhere. My guess was that he had a medical room
down here. Everyone followed him. Billy was helping Eddie hobble along with Mom
holding onto his shirt.