The Prey Bites Back: A Jesse Watson Mystery Book #8 (3 page)

Billy’s sister
Beth and her husband Adam had suffered through two miscarriages, but this time
they were going to get to experience childbirth—the good old-fashioned way.
Chief Sam delivered twins—a boy and a girl—on the pool table in the den less
than twenty minutes after Beth’s announcement.

Holding both
babies in his arms, Chief Sam showed them to us with pride. “Meet Sammy and
Sarah Jane.” A tear slid down his cheek, the first I’d even seen. So, of
course, me being me, I cried.

The paramedics were
called to take mother and babies to the hospital and then the party resumed. After
all that excitement, the booze really flowed. Billy was well on his way to
getting intoxicated. This was the second time today I’d seen something I’d
never seen before—Chief Sam’s tear and Billy getting drunk. Billy never got
drunk, at least not that I could ever tell, and I’m his wife, so when Mom
pulled me aside to talk, I kept one eye on him.

“Her name is Dakota
Stone,” Mom whispered.

“Who are you
talking about?”

“The woman who
runs
The Body Shop
. Actually, she owns it.”

“Are we back on
that again? Can we pick up on this later? I just can’t go there right now.”

I looked up and
caught Billy swaying. It was time to take him home, while I still could. If he
went down, I’d never be able to get him in or out of the car without help.
“Excuse me, Mom. I have to take my husband home.”

“He has had a
bit to drink, hasn’t he? I’ve never seen him like this before.”

“Me, either.” I
kissed Mom on the cheek, and then went to fetch my husband. “Having his mother
almost die took a big toll on him.”

Surprisingly,
he turned out to be more agreeable about leaving than I had expected. I guess my
lie about having a headache worked. I said the first thing that came to mind. I
didn’t know what else to do. Billy crawled into the 4Runner and laid his head
back. He was almost asleep by the time we got to the end of the driveway. Four
minutes later, he was undressed and crawling into bed. Good thing we lived so
close to family, otherwise he would’ve been sleeping in the car.

“He really tied
one on, didn’t he?” Helene stated more than asked as we stood by the bed.
“Billy never drinks to excess. He’s going to regret it in the morning.”

“No doubt. At
least he behaved. He didn’t do anything embarrassing. If that had been me,
there’s no telling what I would’ve said or done. I can embarrass the best of
them.”

“Yeah,” Helene
said, snickering. “I’ve seen you in rare form.”

“Not funny.
How’s the kids?”

“Asleep.”

“Thanks for
bringing them home. I hate that you had to leave.”

“Hey, that’s
what I do. I take care of the kids and sometimes you and Billy.” She grinned.
“Your mother called. I told her you’d call her back.”

“Lord, help
me,” I groaned. “I’m not in the mood to talk about work. I know that’s what she
wants.”

“It might be
important. Minnie and Eddie are pretty good at this snooping business. She told
me what they’ve uncovered so far. She thinks that body shop is just a cover.”

“A cover for
what?”

“Murder!” she
said with gusto. “Go stretch out in the den, and I’ll bring you a glass of iced
tea. Call your mother.”

“Put some
bourbon in that iced tea. I’m going to need it.”

Our house is
pretty big now. A lot bigger than it was when I first moved in. Back then, it
had a couple of bedrooms upstairs with a bathroom and a master bedroom
downstairs with a bathroom. The living room, kitchen, and dining room were all
one room. There was a laundry room off the back of the kitchen. Now, well,
let’s just say, if we add another room, we’ll probably have to get a hotel
license. Families grow, and we needed more space. My favorite room is the den
at the back of the house. That’s the place we all gather at the end of the day.
The sixty-some inch widescreen TV is a real plus. I love to watch television.
It relaxes me, and I really needed to relax now. I picked up the remote, turned
on the TV, and then called my mother on my cell. I stretched out in a lounger
and waited. I was happy when my drink arrived.

“Hello,” Mom
said after the first ring. “I’m so glad you called. How’s Billy doing?”

“He’s asleep.”

She started
talking and didn’t let up. I just sat and listened half-heartedly, until she
said something that really got my attention. “Mae Bridges’ husband was a rich
investment banker until six months ago when he was shot down on
Main Street
in
Charlottesville
.
The police have no leads, no eyewitnesses, so the case has pretty much gone
cold.”

“Call Mae and
tell her to meet us at the office in the morning at eight. I want to talk to
her.”

“Let me call
her right now and make sure that’s a good time for her. I’ll call you right
back.” Mom hung up on me without another word. Five minutes later, she called
back. “We’re on. Mae said she’d be there promptly at eight, so I’ll see you in
the morning.”

I tossed the
cell phone on the coffee table and took a long drink of my tea, but one gulp
was about all I could handle. It was awfully strong and my stomach dared me to
put more of that stuff in it. I got up, walked to the kitchen, and dumped the
rest of the tea down the drain. “I’m going to bed,” I told Helene. “If you’re
up early, will you make sure to wake me? I have to meet my mother in the office
at eight.”

“What about
Billy?”

“If he’s not
awake, let him sleep in. He’ll probably need to.”

I went to check
on the kids, gave them both a kiss, and then tiptoed into our bedroom in the
dark so I wouldn’t wake Billy. Once I stripped out of my clothes, I started feeling
amorous. I longed for him to take me in his arms and make passionate love to me
for hours. On the other hand, he would probably smell like a brewery. I thought
about it for a split second and decided I didn’t care how he smelled. I wanted
him. But he was in a deep sleep and didn’t budge when I slipped under the
covers… naked and hot, forgetting about everything else. So what if he didn’t
brush his teeth before he collapsed in bed? I could handle it. I scooted up
close and slowly caressed his body, hoping he would respond to my touch. Weeks
with your family in a Winnebago doesn’t allow for much lovemaking, so I was
ready for a wild, head-banging night of hard core sex with the man I loved… but
that wasn’t going to happen. Sleep was all I was going to get.

Monday morning
I awoke to the sound of thunder. I looked over at Billy, who was still sound
asleep, and checked to make sure he was breathing. I wanted to take a shower,
but when I saw a flash of lightning, I gave up on that idea.

“What a way to
start the day,” I said to Helene as I walked into the kitchen. “Coffee. I need
coffee.” I went to the counter and poured a cup while Athena shadowed me. “What
is it, girl?” I bent down to pat her head.

“You know she’s
scared to death of thunder and lightning. I think we should get her some
tranquilizers. I’m sure Adam would give us some. Want me to call his office?”

“No, he’s got
his hands full now, but maybe you could get in touch with him later. He’s a
vet. He’ll advise us on what to do.”

“Drugs… that’s
the answer. I’ve talked to him before about Athena and her fear of storms. He
offered to give us something then, but I said I’d have to talk to you first.
Then, I forgot. Why don’t you stop by his office after your meeting? I’m sure
they will give you something. We don’t want Athena to have a nervous breakdown.”

I looked down
and saw Athena shaking. I rubbed her soft coat and said, “Do I need to take you
to a psychiatrist to help you work through your storm fears and riding in
cars?”

She started
barking, twitching, and jumping around. I had to grab her and hold her to quiet
her down. “Shhh,” I said. “You’re going to wake Billy.”

“Too late for
that,” Billy said, walking over to the coffee pot looking sexy as ever. “My
head feels like it’s going to explode, and this thunder isn’t helping.”

I walked over
and kissed him… and he didn’t smell like a brewery. Maybe I should’ve tried
harder last night. I ran my hand around his back and then slowly down his butt.
He looked at me and managed a smile, but that was about all. “I feel rough,” he
said, kissing me on the cheek. He walked over to the table and sat down.
“Remind me to never drink again. Aren’t the kids up yet?”

Helene handed
him a cup of coffee. “Not yet. It’s only five-thirty. Give them time and
they’ll be up and ready to get into something.”

Suddenly, a
flash of lightning lit up the whole room, followed by a loud clap of thunder
erupting overhead. Athena took off running down the hall to safety… wherever
that was this time around.

“That was
close,” Helene said, looking at me. “Maybe you should cancel your meeting.”

“What meeting?”
Billy asked, glancing at me. “What you got up your sleeve, `ge ya, and why
didn’t you tell me?”

“You’ve been
out of it, that’s why I haven’t said anything. Why don’t you go back to bed and
sleep off your hangover. I got this one.”

He pushed aside
his cup of coffee and said, “Maybe I should. My head’s killing me and my
stomach doesn’t feel much better.”

“Here,” Helene
said, offering him a glass of tomato juice and two aspirins. “Wash the aspirin
down with the tomato juice. Great antidote for a hangover.”

Billy tossed
back the aspirin, downed the juice, and then stood up. “Wake me when it’s time
for dinner.” He looked at me. “Whatever you got going on, stay out of trouble.
I don’t feel like bailing you out of jail, and if Sheriff Hudson…”

“Don’t worry
about me. I’ll keep it clean. I promise.”

“God. I feel
like I’m going to die,” Billy said and then stopped. He dropped his head.

I rushed to him
and engulfed him in my arms. “It’s okay, Billy. You’re entitled to feel sad. I
think you’ve held up pretty good considering. All of you have, especially Chief
Sam. Your mother almost died, but she didn’t, and she’s going to be fine. We
need to be happy about that.”

Helene walked
over and gave Billy a hug. “You’ll feel better as soon as you find out how Sarah
got a hold of the wrong pills. I know that’s what’s bothering you.”

“Someone at the
drug store made a mistake,” I added. “It happens. There’s nothing we can do
about it, except make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

Billy smiled.
“Yeah, you’re both right. I’ll get to the bottom of this if it’s the last thing
I do.” He hesitated for a second, and then said, “Sorry, but I gotta go lie
down.” He turned and headed straight to the bathroom down the hall.

“That’s not
the…”

“Let him go,
Jesse. He probably has to throw up. You remember what that’s like, don’t you?”

“Boy, do I
ever.” Visions of my head hanging in the toilet flashed through my mind. “I
don’t want to ever go there again.”

“You might want
to get an early start,” Helene suggested. “Who knows what it’s like out there?
This storm came up in the middle of the night and it’s still going strong. The
roads are probably flooded in some places. I’ll be surprised if your mother can
even get out.
South River
Road
floods at the drop of
a hat. You might want to give her a call.”

Just then, I
heard my cell phone playing Mom’s tune. “Where’s my phone?” I followed the
sound to the den where I had left it last night.

“My power’s
out, Jesse, so I had to call you on my cell and the battery’s about dead. Eddie
said that
South River Road
is flooded. I can’t make it out.”

“Stay put, Mom.
I’ll handle it. I’ll call you later.”

I ended the
call and then went to the bedroom to get dressed. I grabbed an umbrella at the
door on my way out, which Helene quickly snatched from me, asking if I wanted to
be a human lightning rod. She handed me a baseball cap and said, “It won’t keep
you as dry, but at least I won’t have to worry about you getting struck by
lightning. Now go and be careful. It’s going to be a nightmare out there!”

The roads were
flooded in some of the low lying areas, but not so bad that I couldn’t navigate
them in my 4Runner. I loved my Toyota SUV. It could go almost anywhere, and to
prove it, I’ve taken it through some pretty treacherous places. During one of
my more adventurous moments, I drove it across
South River
in a low spot just to see if it would make it. It did, but I
won’t ever do that again unless I absolutely have to.

I took the back
way to the office, avoiding the traffic on Rt. 29, and made it there in no time
flat. I was praising myself when I pulled into the parking lot of Blackhawk
& Blackhawk Investigations, until I hit a slick spot. It was all I could do
to keep from plowing through the double glass doors of the building. The
4Runner seemed to have a mind of its own, but fortunately, it stopped in time
to keep me from turning into windshield pizza. My hands were shaking when I
walked into the office.