The Prey Bites Back: A Jesse Watson Mystery Book #8 (24 page)

“Mom, they can
do anything they want.”

“Actually,
Jesse, there is a protocol, but since Swales is dead and Dakota is under
arrest, they have every right.”

“Good! Maybe
now we’ll find out just who this Dakota woman really is. I’m sure she’s been
fingerprinted before.”

“Maybe not,
Minnie. Some people go their whole lives without ever being fingerprinted.”

“What about her
footprints? Hospitals have been taking footprints of newborns ever since I can
remember. Perhaps they can match up…”

“Hmm… now
that’s a thought, but I don’t know if footprints are like fingerprints. With
fingerprints, no two are alike. They’ll all different. I don’t know how it
works with footprints, and as far as I know, footprint patterns may change as a
person ages. In theory, it sounds like a good idea, but I’ve never known anyone
to be caught based on their footprints as an infant. But hey, with the
technology we have now, nothing would surprise me.”

“Is there any
way Dakota might escape from the hospital?”

“No way, Billy.
She’s handcuffed to the bed, and there’re two police officers stationed at the
door. The only way she’s leaving the hospital is in handcuffs, escorted by
Trainum’s men. She’s not going anywhere… at least not yet. Once she’s in jail,
it’ll be up to Russell to obtain her release, and that might prove to be a hard
sell. There’ll be no bail for a woman who has been using the social security
number of a dead woman for the last five years. That’s a big, red flag. The D.A.
will eat this case up. She’ll be indicted and the rest will be up to the judge.”

“Does that mean
we’ll be safe to go on with our lives?”

“It looks that
way, Minnie, but you can count on us to keep our eyes opened. The minute
anything changes, we’ll let you know.”

“Well, folks,”
Billy said. “It looks like this case is closed.”

“The only way
this case will be closed is when that woman is in prison. I won’t feel safe
until then.”

“Don’t worry,
Minnie. We’ll make sure nothing happens to you or Eddie… or anyone else in this
family.”

“By the way,
Jonathan, how are Sarah and Chief Sam doing?”

“They’re doing fine.
Great, as a matter of fact. Mom seems to be her old self again, and Dad’s…
well, he’s just Dad. Why do you ask? You got something on your mind you want to
share?”

“I was
wondering what Nancy Woodward was doing so close to your folk’s house? Why
didn’t she leave after she planted the photos, unless she wasn’t finished?”

“Wow, pretty
good, Minnie. I know why Billy and Jesse want you working with them. It never
occurred to me that she had more work to do. I thought she was just trying to
find a place to hide until the storm passed, but…”

Billy frowned.
“You got something else, Jonathan?”

“The police
recovered a baggie of cocaine from her purse, more than one person’s usual
stash, unless they have a heavy cocaine addiction… and lots of money.”

Billy and I looked
at each other.

“Hold on a
minute, Jonathan.”

Billy walked to
the kitchen and checked out the white powder that was supposed to be the mashed
up pill for Athena. “I thought that was a lot of powder for one pill. It’s
cocaine.” He dumped the powder down the sink and turned on the water, rinsing
the bowl afterwards.

“What’s the
matter?” Jonathan asked.

“Billy just
found cocaine in the bowl where Athena’s doggie pill was supposed to be. Helene
mashes it up and wraps it in cheese, so she can get Athena to take it. Athena
has a hard time swallowing pills.”

Mom’s eyes
widened. “I wonder if she planted cocaine in my house, too. Oh, Lord, we could
be arrested.”

“I can see
where this is headed. Let me get off the phone and call my friend, Rex, and get
him to bring out his K9. If there’re any drugs present, that dog can find them.
I’ll get back with you.”

Jonathan
disconnected.

“That’s a scary
thought,” Eddie said.

“What is?”
Helene asked, walking into the room with the kids. “What did I miss?”

“Being arrested
for something you didn’t do.”

“It happens all
the time. If you ask anyone in jail, they’ll tell you they’re innocent. Isn’t
that right, Billy?”

Billy nodded in
agreement, and then asked Mom to take the kids to the den.

Without
hesitation, Mom and Eddie gladly led the children out. They looked almost
relieved to be leaving the room and away from all the talk about murder, drugs,
and psycho women.

Once they were
gone, Billy filled Helene in on the conversation with Jonathan. “Olivia Swales
is dead, and Dakota Stone is handcuffed to her hospital bed. She’ll be going to
jail as soon as she’s released.”

“Jonathan said
she was pulling an insanity stunt, acting all crazy and everything. They
strapped her to the bed, and then slapped on the handcuffs. It sure made my day
to hear that.”

Billy continued
to tell Helene the entire story, ending with, “That white stuff in Athena’s
bowl wasn’t her pill, it was cocaine. Jonathan’s getting a buddy to bring his K9
dog to check everyone’s house. We don’t know how much she planted before she
got killed, but she still had plenty left on her. We now think Mom and Dad’s
house might’ve been hit by her, too.”

Helene smiled
at me. “If you hadn’t ticked off Dakota, she would’ve never thrown her phone
out the window, caused that accident, and then gotten caught. Ironic how things
work out, isn’t it?”

“I don’t want
to take the credit. With credit, comes blame. Next thing you know, Sheriff
Hudson will be showing up at my door with a warrant, arresting me for
contributing to a crime, or something stupid like that. No… I take no credit.”

Helene started
clearing the table. “What are we going to do next? I mean, do we go on about
our business as usual, or do we wait around to see what that crazy woman will
do next?”

“She’s done in,
so we move on.” Billy walked over to the front window. “Looks like rain. Maybe
we’re going to get some of that thunder snow you were talking about.”

“Are you making
fun of me, Billy Blackhawk?”

He walked over
and gave Helene a hug. “You know I would never do that.” Then, he laughed. “It
sure feels good to laugh again. Dakota Stone has plucked my last nerve… as
Minnie would say.”

Helene and I
started laughing and couldn’t stop. I think our joyous moment had a lot to do
with relief. There was no longer anything to fear from Dakota Stone. We all
knew there’d be some blowback from Sheriff Hudson for the part we played, but
we’d survive.

Mom rushed into
the room, followed by Eddie, the kids, and the dogs. “Have y’all gone nuts? We
can hear you all the way back in the den. What’s so funny?”

“Ah, Mom, we’re
just glad the case is closed. Billy’s nerves have been plucked.”

That got
everyone laughing and the dogs barking, but all soon ceased when we heard a
loud clap of thunder overhead. Athena yelped as if she’d been hit with a stick.
A moment later, she was shivering and twitching, so much so that you could hear
her toenails scratching on the hardwood floor.

“Time for a
pill. Follow me, girl.” Helene went to the kitchen and took down the bottle of
pills from the cabinet. A minute later, she fed the chunk of cheese to Athena,
and not to leave Thor out, gave him a slice minus the pill.

Mom clapped her
hands and the kids’ eyes lit up when she said, “How about a bowl of ice cream?
We need to celebrate!”

“It’s too early
in the morning for ice cream.”

“You didn’t
object last night when we gave the kids a cookie before bedtime, Billy.
Besides, it’s never too early for ice cream, is it kids?”

I winked at
Billy. “You’ve created a monster, and just think… she’ll be right next door soon.”

Billy threw his
hands up as if to surrender as Mom and the kids made their way to the kitchen.

Over a bowl of
ice cream, we discussed the day’s plans. Billy was going to get Shark to go
with Mom and Eddie to pack up a few things, and Helene would stay home with the
children.

“We don’t know
what this
thunder snow
is going to do…” Billy was cut off before he
could finish.

“Yes, we do. I
checked the weather while we were in the den. Channel 29 says the snow’s going
to start in this afternoon and we’re going to see significant accumulation by
nightfall. The thunder isn’t going to last long.”

“Minnie, you
don’t trust the weather channel, do you?” Helene got up to collect bowls from
those who had finished their ice cream. “They never get it right.”

“I don’t trust
the national weather channel, but if Norm Sprouse says it’s going to snow ten
inches, I believe him. He’s not an actor like those people you see on TV, he’s
a real meteorologist.”

“He said we
were going to get ten inches?”

“No, he said
eight to ten, but that’s just an estimate. He said we could get more or less.
It’s hard to predict exactly, but he says we will get snow.”

“That’s a
contradiction in itself, Minnie. What Norm’s saying is, they don’t know. The
sun could come out and get up to eighty today.”

Billy chuckled.
“I don’t think so, Helene. Okay… where was I? Oh, yeah. Rex and K9 Suzy are
coming, so someone needs to be here. That’s you, Helene. It goes without saying
that I don’t want the kids to go anywhere, what with a mutant storm coming, so
you, the kids, and the dogs can stay home and wait for Rex. Jesse and I will go
visit our friend at the hospital.”

“
Savannah
?”

“No, Minnie,
but we’ll check on her while we’re there, and then give you an update. Don’t
you worry, we’ll call you as soon as we find out anything. I know you’re
concerned about her.”

“I’m really
worried, Billy. Please call me the minute you hear anything, okay?”

“We will, Mom.”
I glanced at Billy. “What about the cops at the entrance? Are they still there,
and more importantly, can we leave the compound? Sheriff Hudson said…”

“Our
restriction applied to last night.” Billy grinned. “I got a text from Jonathan
saying all is clear.”

“Daddy, why
does the sheriff pick on you and Mom? He tells you when you can and can’t leave
the house. I thought this was the land of the free. That doesn’t sound like
freedom to me.”

“Ah, Maisy…”

There are some
things we don’t tell our children, and one of them being the extent of our
questionable behavior, and what happens when we don’t live up to our promises.

“He does it for
our safety. He’s the sheriff. His job is to protect people, so if he says to
stay home, we stay home.”

Maisy wasn’t
buying my cover-up, but said nothing. She knew the truth, and her question was
her way of saying we were being pushed around by the sheriff. We were, but we
had deserved it. I’m sure she knew that, too.

Billy’s a Cherokee
Indian and the Cherokees believe in teaching their children how to hunt,
survive off the land, and think for themselves. He had taught Maisy well. At
the age of six, they were out in the backyard shooting targets with a rifle. Of
course, I protested, but then gave up when I realized I was wasting my time. When
she was almost seven, they came home with two rabbits, and she had been the one
to make the kill. Billy was so proud, and I was just glad they made it back
home alive. Hunting, using a knife, and roughing it in the woods, especially
with all the bears and wild animals around, gave me plenty of restless moments,
but the part about Maisy learning to think for herself made it all worthwhile. Now,
all I had to do was survive the trauma one more time. Soon it would be Ethan’s
turn.

“Sometimes we
have to do things we don’t like, but it’s for our own good.” Mom winked at
Maisy.

Eddie glanced
out the front window. “There’re a couple of cars coming up the driveway, a
black Hummer, and I think the other one might be a cop car.”

It was Shark, Rex
and his German shepherd, K9 Suzy.

The first thing
Rex said after being introduced was, “Jonathan says you have a cat. You might
want to lock him up. K9 Suzy loves cats, but they don’t seem to care for her.”

“I can see
why.” Helene went over and grabbed the kids by the hand, getting them out of
their chairs, and then stepping back. “She looks intimidating… as if she could
chew you to pieces.”

“Ah… not to
worry.” Rex bent down and patted her head. “She loves kids. She’s just like any
other dog, except that she has a job to do.” He looked at Maisy and Ethan. “She
sniffs out stuff for people. She’s friendly. You can pet her if you want to.”

Both of them
delighted in doing so, and K9 Suzy was just like he said. She was charming and
playful. Rex, on the other hand, looked more intimidating to me than his dog.
He was a replica of most cops around here—tall, handsome, and built for the
kill. He looked to be about thirty-five, and I was surprised when he said he’d
been doing this for almost thirty years, ever since he got out of the police
academy. That would make him about forty-eight, but he sure didn’t look his
age. I told him so.