The Prey Bites Back: A Jesse Watson Mystery Book #8 (20 page)

Mom turned
around, her face ashen. “I don’t believe this.”

“What is it?” I
crept into the room, hoping not to disturb Eddie, who was now lightly snoring,
and had a look at the photo. “Oh, my God! She’s been here! She’s been in our
house!” Panic set in when I saw the photo of Dakota and Olivia.

Mom and I
stared at each other.

“Hit that panic
button on your phone!” Mom cried. “Call Billy! We have trouble here!”

“It’s on the
kitchen table. Come on.” I grabbed her hand and the two of us hustled
downstairs to the kitchen. I snatched up the cell phone and started tapping
away as Mom and Helene stood and watched.

“What happened,
Minnie?” Helene asked in a whisper. “What was all that racket about? Who’s
Jesse calling?”

Mom held out
the framed photo to show her.

“That’s Dakota
Stone and Olivia Swales. What’s this all about? Most importantly, Minnie, why
do you have it?”

“She’s been in
our house!” I said—scared and mad at the same time. “I’m so nervous, I can’t
get this smart phone to be so smart. I hate these touch screens.” Frustrated, I
threw the cell phone down on the table, went over and grabbed the wall phone
receiver. I punched in Billy’s number.

Wall phones… so
outdated, but so useful sometimes. Although, this time, instead of ringing, all
I got was static. “House phone’s acting up,” I said, hanging up.

“Take a deep
breath, and try your cell again.”

Before I could
do that, Billy and the dogs came in the back door. The dogs were doing their
thing
—
barking,
jumping, and then finding their way to their dog bowls. Soon, they would be
searching for a place to flop down.

“Helene, we
need to give Athena one of those doggie downers. A storm’s coming. I haven’t
heard thunder yet, but I saw lightning.” He stopped when he saw the looks on
our faces. “What is it?”

Mom held up the
photo. “This was in my room.”

Billy pulled
his Glock from its holster. “Get your gun, Jesse!”

I ran over to
the desk in the living room and snatched mine from my purse.

“I’ll get mine,
too.” Mom went for her purse.

“No, Minnie, we
got this one.” He looked at me. “You go upstairs and look for anything out of
the ordinary. I’ll check around down here.” Then, he looked over at Mom and
Helene. “Don’t move. We need to know where you are. We don’t want any accidents.
No running about.”

I guess Billy
must’ve scared them, because they were huddled together and not moving when I
left and headed upstairs.

After the
search, I had come up empty-handed, but Billy found two more photos—one in the
den, and one in our bedroom. All three photos were the same.

“What happened
to that fancy security system we have? How did she manage to get in here
without setting off an alarm?” I was beginning to have my doubts about the
efficiency of our new protection.

“I don’t know,
but I’m sure going to find out.” He put his gun back in the holster and pulled
out his cell phone. “I’ll call Jonathan, see what he’s got.”

Mom and Helene
sat down at the table. I laid my gun next to my cell phone and coffee mug, and then
sat down with them, waiting for Billy to make the call. After listening to his
conversation, we had a pretty good idea of what happened.

“Are you
telling us that system can’t tell the difference between a deer and a person?”
Mom asked. “What good is it then?”

“Jonathan said
a camera scan showed a couple of deer over by the woods close to the barn. The
blip showed up right when the sheriff arrived, so Mason didn’t think much of
it, especially when he saw the two deer. Same thing happened a couple times
earlier, but it was deer then, too.”

“So…she was
here the same time the sheriff was,” Mom said. “That was only an hour or so
ago. Where is she now? Is she still on the property?”

“I want to know
how she got in the house without setting off that alarm.” Helene pointed to the
tiny box by the front door. “That should’ve gone off, but it obviously didn’t.
There’s a malfunction in your system.”

“The alarm
wasn’t set,” Billy replied. “Someone forgot to set it when they left.”

The three of us
looked back and forth at each other, and then I said, “It doesn’t matter now
who forgot to set the alarm, Billy.”

“It’s too late
to worry about who left the gate open after the cow gets out,” Mom added.
“Besides, that thing is so confusing. I figured as long as the green light was
on, everything was okay.”

“It confuses
me, too,” Helene agreed. “I’m with Minnie. I figured the same thing.”

Billy walked
over to the front door. “Come here, ladies. I’m going to explain it to you
again.”

Mom and Helene
got up and headed over to Billy while I sat at the table. They stared at me
when I didn’t move.

“I know how to
work it,” I said as I took another sip of coffee. “Don’t need any lessons.”

Billy went
about explaining how to use the keypad once again and what each number represented.
“See this last row of numbers with this line and the image of a badge? Hit any
one of those, and it summons the police, fire department, and rescue squad.
It’s set up like that in case you have a serious emergency.”

“What does that
blinking red light mean?” Mom asked. “It was green.”

Billy looked
back at the keypad. “That means we’ve gone into lockdown mode. Y’all should be
getting a text any minute now.”

As soon as the
words were out of his mouth, cell phones started beeping. I looked down at mine
and hit the text image. “Mine says, ‘Lockdown Mode’. I guess you forgot to tell
me about that one, Billy.”

“Mine says the
same thing.”

“Same here,”
Mom said. “I know it probably means there’s danger, but does it also mean we’re
locked in the house? Can Jonathan lock everyone’s doors from his bunker?”

Billy chuckled.
“He could, but he won’t unless he actually sees someone lurking about. The text
is a warning to lock everything up and be on the lookout.”

We all turned
to look when we heard someone coming down the stairs. It was Eddie, holding his
cell phone in one hand, and rubbing his eyes with the other.

“I just got a
strange text,” he said. “I was sound asleep, felt something licking my face,
and when I opened my eyes, your cat was sitting on my chest. That’s when I
heard the beep on my phone. The cat took off, so I reached over and picked it
up. Am I missing something?”

Mom explained
to Eddie what was happening. She even took him over to the alarm keypad and
told him what Billy had just told us. “We’re in ‘Lockdown Mode’, so if you ever
see this blinking red light and get a text, you know to lock up the house, and
be on the lookout for trouble.”

Eddie looked
over at Billy. “Do I need to go get my gun, stand watch, or something?”

“You need to go
back to bed, honey,” Mom said. “You need your rest. Remember what the doctor
said. You need to take it easy. You’re not a spring chicken anymore. Besides,
Billy has everything under control, don’t you, Billy?”

Billy gave him
the thumb’s up. “We’re good here. Go back to bed, Eddie. If anything happens,
I’ll let you know.”

Eddie looked at
me. “That’s one smart cat you have, Jesse. He was trying to tell me something.
Is he part Indian, too?” He chuckled and then headed for the stairs. “Wake me
if something goes down.”

“He’s not my
cat,” I yelled to him as he was leaving. “Mom’s the one who let him in to start
with. He ought to be living with her.”

“Oh, Jesse, you
love that cat and you know it, but I’ll be glad to take him home with me if
that’s what you want.”

“He’s yours.”

“She’s not
serious, Minnie,” Helene said. “And besides, the kids would have a fit.”

I looked up at
Billy. “Why didn’t you tell Eddie about the breach?”

“There’s
nothing he can do. He’s too injured to put up much of a fight, so why worry
him? We have enough guns in this house to keep an army at bay.”

“My money says
she’s still on the property… and she’s watching us,” Helene said. “I bet she’s
out there right now, waiting for the right time to come in here and kill us all
in our sleep.”

“Don’t be
ridiculous,” Mom came back with. “She’s long gone, isn’t she, Billy?”

“We’re not
sure. That’s why Shark and Jonathan are out doing re-con. I should hear
something soon.”

“Shark!” Mom
exclaimed. “He’s such a teddy bear! Don’t you just love him?”

I looked at
Billy, and then back to Mom. “Shark’s a good man as long as he’s on your side,
but just remember what it is he does for a living. He has Jonathan’s military
training, and if he’s after you, you’re going to die. He has skills you
wouldn’t want to know about.”

“I’m no fool,
Jesse. I know who Shark is and what he does. I also know about Billy and
Jonathan and the rest of the Blackhawk crew. I know what they can do, and I
love them just the same. It’s a different world we’re living in now. Things
change, and we have to change with it. We have to adapt. I’m adapting.”

“I’m glad you
brought that up, Minnie.” Billy looked at me and then back to Mom. “While
you’re adapting, maybe you should consider adapting to a change in your life.”

“What do you
mean?”

“We’ve been
trying to get you to move in with us for a long time, but we know you like to
have your independence, so Jesse and I picked out a parcel of land on the
backside of our property close to that huge cherry tree you love so much, and
we want to give it to you. The Blackhawk boys will build you a house, any kind
you want. Just say the word.”

I knew Mom
would be surprised by Billy’s offer, but after all we’ve been through in the
last eight years or so, and the lifestyle we’ve lived, I was hoping she might
agree now. It would be best for everyone. She’d be living on the family
compound where she’d be safe, and she’d be surrounded by her family.

“That’s a
mighty tempting offer, Billy, but I already have a house, and I like my home.”

“I know you do,
Minnie, and no one’s saying you have to get rid of it. You can sell it, or keep
it and rent it out. It’s all up to you.” He smiled at her. “It’s time for a
change, don’t you think?”

I grinned. I
could see Billy was winning her over.

“Let me think
about it,” Mom said. “I have to talk with Eddie, see what he has to say.”

I jumped up,
ran over, and hugged her. “I’m so glad, Mom!”

“I haven’t said
yes, yet.” She looked at Billy. “If I do agree, you will sell me the land, and
I will pay the Blackhawk boys to build it.”

“I will give
you the land, the Blackhawk boys will build you house, and you can pay for the materials.
How does that sound?”

“Like I’m not
going to win this discussion.”

“We all win,”
Helene said. “No offense to Billy, but if
Geneva
and Eli
can live on the compound, so can Minnie and Eddie. At least we like them.”

I chuckled.
“Enough… I was wrong about
Geneva
. She wasn’t the money-grabbing villain I
thought she was… and they are Maisy’s biological grandparents.” I looked at
Mom. “You’re the only one of the grandparents who doesn’t live here. Think
about that. Those two poor kids going without Grandma Minnie and Grandpa
Eddie.”

“You’re being
silly, Jesse. They see us all the time.”

“We’ll build
you a nice, big home with extra bedrooms, in case Claire or Jack wants to bring
their families for a visit. You’ll have plenty of room for them to stay with
you, if you want,” I said, trying to encourage her along. “We’ll put in lots of
windows upstairs, so you’ll have a fantastic panoramic view. Wouldn’t that be
great? It’s so beautiful there when that cherry tree blooms.”

“If I was going
to move, I wouldn’t pick a house that had an upstairs. We’re getting too old to
be climbing those stairs every day.”

“No upstairs…
then how about one with a Cathedral ceiling?” Helene was doing her bit to
encourage Mom. “Yeah, and a split-level on each side for bedrooms.” She looked
at Billy. “Would that be called a tri-level?”

“I like that
idea, Helene,” I added. “Who says you can’t have plenty of room if you don’t
have a second story?”

“I kinda like it,
too,” Mom said. “But I’m still going to have to discuss this with Eddie.”

“Eddie loves
you, Mom. He’ll do anything you want.”

“As soon as this
mess with Dakota Stone is over, we’ll get started,” Billy chimed in. “We’ll
have you in your new home by Christmas.”

“Good luck on
that,” Mom said. “You won’t even be able to lay the foundation pretty soon.
It’ll be too cold. Winter’s just around the corner.”

“You leave it
to me, and I’ll make it happen. You made the right choice, Minnie.” Billy
walked over and gave her a hug. “Welcome to the reservation.”