The Prey Bites Back: A Jesse Watson Mystery Book #8 (2 page)

“I am fine, `ge
ya. We must carry on. When we finish here, I must go be with my father. He will
need my comfort.”

“Sarah’s going
to pull through this, Billy. I know she will. She’s strong…”

“I fear the
worst,” he said softly. “She did not look well at all. She is pale. Her words
did not make sense. ”

Contractions.
When Billy didn’t use them, he was in Cherokee mode. This was something I had
learned early on about him.

I expected the
dogs to knock us down trying to get off the bus, but instead, they quietly
followed Helene into the house. Neither one let out a single bark. Neither one
tried to run off into the woods. That was a strange, rare occurrence. It was as
if they were sad, too. Spice Cat was… well… Spice Cat. His main concern was his
next meal and finding a spot to lounge.

We took the
children in the house, got them settled, and then went back to the bus to
finish the daunting task of unloading our belongings. When I’d carried in the
last bag of gifts and set it on the kitchen table, the bag fell over, spilling
out the silk scarf I had chosen for Sarah. I picked it up, looked at Billy, and
then started crying.

Normally, he
would be right by my side the minute the tears came, but not this time. This
time, he was in his own world. I didn’t say anything when he picked up his cell
phone and walked outside. He would talk to me about his mother when he was
ready. Helene had disappeared.

Like a robot, I
put the dirty clothes in the laundry room, the clean ones where they belonged,
and then restocked the cabinets with the leftover canned goods and food from
the bus. I grabbed up the bags of gifts and took them to the hall closet,
crying the whole time. Unlike Billy, I had to get it out. I finished my tasks
and then went to the kitchen to make a pot of coffee. Coffee always seemed to
help, no matter what the problem was.

My cell phone buzzed
and then played a tune I had recently set for my mother—a nifty little number
from James Garner’s TV series,
Rockford Files
. Now that Mom was deep
into the snooping business, I found it only fitting.

“Hello, Mom,” I
said in a low, sad tone. “I’ve been crying, so don’t mind me.”

“I understand,”
Mom replied, sympathetically. “We’re all praying for Sarah. Did the doctor say
what they’ve found out? The last I heard, Chief Sam said she’d been acting
strange and then she just flipped out… went off the reservation.”

“Billy said she’s
in another world, Mom.”

“Oh, my word. I
didn’t know. I saw her early this morning and she seemed okay. I mean, she was
a little out of it, but she could carry on a conversation… somewhat.”

“What do you
mean, somewhat?”

“She acted
like…”

“Like what,
Mom?”

“Well… she said
some weird stuff. She talked about her kids as if they were still little. She
was angry at Chief Sam because he wouldn’t let the boys play in the snow. Then,
she looked at me and asked me if I wanted to go to the mall. I just figured it
was the drugs they were giving her.”

“Maybe she had
a stroke.”

“No, she
didn’t. I asked the doctor.”

“I can’t
explain it, Mom. Sarah has always been as sharp as a tack.”

“I know. That’s
what surprises me. She didn’t seem herself, but I figured it would pass when
she started getting better.”

“I can’t get
Billy to talk about his mother. At first, when I asked how she was, all he said
was that she was not well.”

“Give him a
little time, honey. He’s probably in shock after seeing his mother acting
crazy. He’s used to her being the sane one in the family. He always said she
was the one who held everything together. Now she’s falling apart and he can’t
handle it.”

“The last few
hours have been bad. Billy’s gone silent. You know what that means.”

“He’s not
getting ready to kill someone, is he?”

I laughed at
Mom’s silliness. “Not today, Mom, but the day isn’t over.”

“Sarah will get
better and then he’ll come out of it.”

“I made a pot
of coffee.”

“We’ll be right
over. Is that all right?”

“Please do. I
need someone to talk to. Billy’s outside on his cell phone, the kids are
napping, Helene’s wandered off, and even the dogs are nowhere to be seen, not
to mention Spice Cat. I have no idea where he is.”

“Maybe we can
talk about the case,” Mom added. “Give you a chance to think about something different.
I’ve… we’ve come up with some interesting stuff.”

“I doubt if
I’ll be able to concentrate. I can’t get my mind off Sarah.” I took a deep
breath. “It’s so sad, Mom.”

“I know,
honey.”

“Billy didn’t
want us to see Sarah until he’d had a chance to figure out what was going on. I
figured he needed time with her alone, so I didn’t argue. This is just so
weird. Sarah has to get better.”

“Chief Sam said
she’d been acting a little strange, but it got worse right after the big
wedding shindig. I hope it wasn’t too much for her. I mean—three couples
getting married at the same time at her house was a lot for her to take on. I’d
hate to think it was our fault. Maybe it put too much strain on her.”

“No way, Mom.
Sarah loves throwing big parties and she’s good at it. It wasn’t that, I’m positive.”

“I sure hope
not.”

Mom and Eddie
arrived an hour later. By then, the kids were up, Helene was fixing dinner, and
Billy was still outside. After a quick shower, I was sitting at the kitchen
table, drinking coffee. Helene had added a shot of bourbon to my cup.

“I just talked
with Billy,” Mom said, walking over to the table. She gave me a hug and then
moved on to the kids, giving each a hug and a kiss. Eddie did the same. “He’s
holding up well. I figured he’d be a head case by now. Says he’s going to see
the chief in a little bit. I guess he’s psyching himself out, so he can see his
father without falling apart.”

My mother’s a
fine, semi-old-fashioned (but getting more in-tune with each passing day,
thanks to Billy and me) Southern lady who doesn’t smoke, drink or curse, and
she has God on her side. They don’t come much better than that. I would say we
were a bad influence on her, but that would be a lie. She likes the work we do
and loves getting involved in our cases.

“Has there been
any further word on Sarah’s condition?” Eddie asked. “She seemed fine the last
time we saw her, well, more like her old self.”

“Can I get
y’all some coffee?” Helene asked from the kitchen. “I’m making spaghetti for
dinner in case anyone’s hungry. Care to stay?”

Eddie walked
over and showed Helene a covered dish. “Minnie made a casserole. I think its
tuna fish.” He opened the refrigerator door and placed the dish inside. “Maybe
you can have it tomorrow night.”

The front door
opened and Billy walked in.

Billy’s
six-three, a muscular one-eighty-five, and has long, shiny coal black hair
(with a few gray strands), and he’s very good looking… but today wasn’t one of
his best. He looked ragged, and it hurt me so to see him like that. I wanted to
rush to his side, wrap my arms around him and tell him not to worry, but I knew
it wouldn’t do any good. He was going to struggle until his mother got better.

Some people are
intimidated by Billy. Just the fact that he’s an Indian sometimes scares the
crap out of them. They act as if they expect him to pull out a hatchet any
minute and whack off their heads. They just don’t know him like I do. He
wouldn’t use a hatchet when he has a perfectly good gun to do the job. Men fear
him, and women adore him. Luckily, I’m the one who snagged him. I still don’t
know why he picked me when he could have any woman he wanted.

Me… I’m a head shorter;
one-thirty five on a good day, and my brown, shoulder length hair has a mind of
its own. I might not have the size, but I can hold my own in a gunfight. Maybe
that’s what Billy found so attractive about me. We do have a slight age
difference. He’s thirteen years older than I am. He’s older and wiser. We make
a good couple.

“I’m going to
take a shower and then I’m going to see my father.” He looked around the room
and then leaned over and kissed my forehead. “I see you’ve already taken a
shower. You look good.” He turned and walked out.

“Contractions!”
I squealed softly. “He’s back to using contractions. I knew he’d get it
together. He’s one tough dude.”

Mom and Helene
smiled. Eddie looked confused.

“If Billy talks
stiff English, he’s not in a good way or he’s really unhappy about something,”
Mom explained to Eddie.

“Helene, coffee
for everyone!” I said, plastering a smile across my face.

Mom sat down
next to me and whispered, “I need to tell you something about Sarah.”

“No need to
whisper, Minnie,” Helene said, sitting a cup of coffee down in front of her. “There
aren’t any secrets in this family.”

“What about
Sarah? Does it have something to do with the case?”

“Sort of.”

“This case—we’re
talking about a body shop, right? What could she possibly have to do with a
body shop? Did she have a fender bender? Hey… maybe she hit her head…”

“Not exactly. This
shop isn’t for cars. It’s a shop for the body. You know, like a spa for the
soul. It’s a high class club where rich women go to get their bodies and heads
straight. You almost have to be rich just to be able to pay their fee. I’m
telling you, Jesse, you gotta see this joint. I didn’t even know places like
this existed until now.”

“Oh, Lord.”

“Sarah joined a
couple of months ago and talked me into joining when Eddie and I got home from
our honeymoon, which was spectacular, by the way. Anyway, I wanted to get
information about the club and what better way to do it than to join? Besides,
I can always use a little pampering, and believe me, this is the place to get pampered.
The fee is five thousand dollars a year! Can you believe it? But on the plus
side, you get a five-day free trial before you have to pay. They’re very selective.
Savannah
said they run background checks on
everyone. She’s a member, too.”

“Moving right
along,” I said, motioning for Mom to get to the point.

“On my second
visit I had a session with a nutritionist and was given a goodie bag to take
home. I guess by then they know they have you hooked. Anyway, I was in Sarah’s
bedroom getting her ID out of her purse for Chief Sam when I noticed her goodie
bag sitting empty on the dresser. So, nosy me, I went to her bathroom and
picked up the bottle of shampoo. Mine smelled so good, I wanted to check hers
out. I opened the bottle, took a whiff, and almost gagged. It smelled rancid.
Now, that didn’t seem normal. Maybe it had poison in it.”

“Maybe it had
gotten old.”

Billy walked
back into the kitchen and went over to the coffee pot. He looked refreshed.

“We’ll talk
about this later,” I whispered. “I’m sure Sarah’s illness has nothing to do
with a bottle of shampoo, Mom.”

“But what if there’s
a connection? This could get bad. Imagine what the Blackhawk men would do if they
found out their mother had been poisoned by a bottle of shampoo. They’d be on
the war path. It could happen, you know. She washes her hair and the poison
seeps in through her scalp. It sounds farfetched, but I’ve heard of stranger
things.”

I looked at Mom
from the corner of my eye, brushing the thought aside.

“Bad? Bad is
when you take a long vacation and come home to find your mother in the
hospital, headed for the loony bin. Now, that’s bad.”

I had no idea
at the time how close Mom was to the truth, but we all were about to find out.
Trouble was headed our way. Bad trouble.

Chapter 2

A day later, Sarah had fully
recovered and was released from the hospital. Doctor Bryant discovered the
cause of her illness had come from a mix-up in her blood pressure medication.
After examining the bottle, he found her prescribed Atenolol pills mixed in
with another type of pill—Panatral. Tox reports confirmed it.

Panatral can
cause a whole host of problems when taken in large doses, and it seems that
Sarah had been taking the highest dosage available. By the time the tests came
back, she was on the brink of insanity. Once the medication was stopped, Sarah
recovered quickly.

How the mix-up
happened was anybody’s guess. The pharmacist said he never filled a prescription
for Panatral and had no idea how they got in her bottle. Sarah, of course,
never suspected she was taking anything other than her Atenolol.

Billy and I
would find out how this happened to her, but for right now, we were just glad
to have her back home and feeling like her old self. In fact, she was feeling
so good, she wanted to throw a party to celebrate her recovery. So, the next
night the family gathered at her house for dinner.

The party came
to a halt when Beth announced that she was in labor and the baby was coming
right then. There was no time to make it to the hospital.