What You See (28 page)

She spoke to us as a group. “I hope you’ll excuse my earlier
behavior. This is all new to me.” Her gaze fell directly on Jack. “Maybe one
day you can sit down and explain the meaning of a gay relationship to me. I
just don’t understand it all. In the meantime, I want you and Dennis to feel
right at home.”

What a day! Perhaps some things did surprise me.

“You’ll have to excuse me,” I said. “I have to go to bed.
It’s been a long day and I’m beat.”

Billy had been sitting quietly at the table. “I think it’s
time for me to go home. It was nice to meet you, Dennis. It has been a pleasure
to see you all,” he said as he got up from his seat. “I’ll call you in the
morning, Jesse. Good-night, Minnie.” He leaned over and gave her a kiss.

I went to bed that night with a terrible headache. I tossed
and turned for what seemed like forever. Dreams of my brother doing all kinds
of immoral acts and my sister falling all over herself in a drunken stupor
clouded my night. I knew it was only a dream. It wasn’t true. My sister wasn’t
really a drunk, and who cares if Jack’s gay? That’s life.

A flash of something awoke me. I rolled over and looked at
the clock beside my bed. Two in the morning! What was that? Then it came to me.
I had been dreaming about the Hudgins’ place. I was standing on the front porch
looking at the small green mound through the trees off in the distance. It was
a cozy place that would be great for a picnic. But something else was bothering
me. Now I remember! I jumped out of bed and ran to the bathroom.

Splashing water on my face to wake myself up, I realized what
it was that was so eerie about our last visit. I couldn’t put my finger on it
at the time, considering the place was in such a mess from the antics of a
crazed teenager, but something was nagging at me. Somewhere in the back of my
head I kept hearing what Billy had said to me while we were at the river, “A
car’s a different story. You’d have to dig a hole and bury it to keep it hidden
from the police.”

That was it! I could feel it. Jay Hudgins had killed Helen
Carrolton and buried her car in the woods. That’s why the car hasn’t been
found, but why hasn’t the body surfaced? Did he dump her off in some remote
area, hoping nobody would find the body until she had turned into nothing but
bones? What about
DNA
?
DNA
tells you everything about a person, whether it comes from one single hair, or
a drop of saliva. Bones are a dead giveaway. Why did he kill her? What was his
motive? Was I grasping at straws?

The house was quiet, yet I was wide-awake. I didn’t want to
wake up anybody, but I couldn’t go back to sleep after what was going through
my head. I tiptoed downstairs and went to the kitchen. I heard a thump in Mom’s
bedroom and then the click of toenails on the hardwood floor. Athena came
around the corner, wagging her tail. I bent down and rubbed her coat. She
responded by licking my hand.

“Did I wake you up, girl?” I whispered. I walked over to her
food and water bowl. “Yep, you have plenty of food and water. Ole’ Grandma takes
pretty good care of you, doesn’t she?” She looked up at me. Her legs slid out
from under her as she plopped down in the middle of the floor, rolled over and
threw them up in the air. “Oh, you want a belly rub, huh?” I rubbed her stomach
and watched her legs twitch. Dogs—it doesn’t take much to make them happy. Too
bad people aren’t that easy to please.

I searched the cabinet for the jar of instant coffee. I knew
Mom kept it somewhere. I was hoping coffee would help clear my head. I got a
cup down, filled it with water and put it in the microwave. The buzzer on the
microwave blared through the downstairs like a sonic boom. “Darn!” I screeched
as I hit the off button. Unlike me, Mom had always been a sound sleeper, but it
was so quiet here, I figured it wouldn’t take much to wake her up. Or was it
Dad who had been a sound sleeper? I couldn’t remember. My mind was totally off
somewhere in left field, and for some reason, I just couldn’t think straight. I
had to talk to Billy.

After adding milk to my cup of coffee, I picked up the cup,
went over to the table and sat down. I could sure use a cigarette right about
now, I thought to myself. As usual, the lamp in the living room had been left
on and it cast a dim glow across the coffee table. Mom had always left a light
burning at night ever since I could remember. Speak of the devil! There in
plain sight was Claire’s pack of cigarettes. The only flaw my sister had was
that she smoked. I ran over and picked up the pack. Should I... or shouldn’t I?
I’d quit smoking a long time ago, so one wouldn’t hurt. I lit up and took a
deep drag. It was so nasty, I thought I was going to puke, but I didn’t put it
down. That would turn out to be a big mistake.

I sat at the table, drinking coffee and smoking cigarette
after cigarette, trying to decide what to do. Should I call Billy and tell him
I was having these revelations? He already thinks I’m a little bit crazy
because I let my heart lead me around. What if I’m completely wrong about Jay
Hudgins? What if I’m persecuting an innocent person? What am I doing in the
middle of this mess, anyway? I’m not a private investigator. I couldn’t put
those questions out of my head, yet at the same time, I couldn’t get over this
nagging feeling that I was right. Who else could it be?

I picked up the phone and dialed Billy’s number.

“This better be good,” he ranted, coughing into my ear.

“Billy, this is Jesse. I need to talk to you. Are you awake?”

“Right,” he said. “I’m always awake at...
2:30
in the morning. What’s the matter? Is something wrong? Is
everyone all right?”

“Everybody’s fine. I just need to talk to you.”

“Can’t it wait until morning?”

“No, it can’t. It’s important, and I want to talk about it
now.”

He made a rumbling noise and I heard the flick of a light
switch. “All right,” he said. “I’m awake now. What’s so important?”

“I think I know the location of Helen Carrolton’s car.”

“Is this another one of your gut feelings, or do you actually
have proof?”

“Don’t make fun of me. Gut feelings aren’t without merit.”

“Sure.”

I lit another cigarette.

“Are you smoking?” he asked. “You are smoking! This must be
good. Tell me what you’re thinking.”

“Remember when you told me you’d have to bury a car to get
rid of it? We were over at the stream when you said it, remember?”

“What? Yeah, I remember saying something like that. So what?
It didn’t mean anything. People don’t just go around digging holes in the
ground and burying cars in them. What’s your point?”

“I never told you, but I saw something that was a little odd
at the Hudgins’ place. It was a mound of dirt covered with what looked like
brand new grass. It was off in the woods. I saw it through a tiny break in the
trees. Anyway, it was just the right size.”

“The right size for what?” he asked, obviously confused.

“Allowing for the size of the car and the displacement of
dirt, it would be the right size for someone to have buried a car there.”

“Where did you say you saw this?”

“At the Hudgins’ place, silly,” I replied. “Someone buried
Helen’s car on the property and I’m willing to bet she’s in it. That’s why
nobody’s found her or the car. They’re both buried underground.”

“You’re crazy. I’m going back to bed. We’ll talk about this
in the morning,” he hissed, and then hung up the phone.

Perhaps it wasn’t a good idea to call Billy. I woke him, and
he wasn’t the nicest person in the middle of the night.

“Be that way,” I growled, slamming down the phone.

I crawled back into bed and tried to get over my hurt
feelings. What’s the matter with him? Doesn’t he realize I’m onto something?

I slept peacefully. As daylight filtered through my open
bedroom window, I rolled over and felt the tiny hands of a child stroking my
head.

“Let’s play!” I heard a tiny voice say.

I opened my eyes and saw Claire walk into the room.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “Benny wanted to come see his Aunt
Jesse.” She gently took hold of his hand and started to lead him out.

“Hey, it’s okay,” I replied, sitting up in bed. “Come over
here, Benny. I haven’t seen you in a long time. What you been up to?”

He jumped up on the bed and yelled, “Ant Jess, I missed you
so much.”

“You did?” I asked, hugging him. “You’ve gotten so big. Look
at you. You’re so handsome. How old are you now? Ten?”

He giggled.

“He’ll be five in September, and Carrie will be three in
August,” Claire said as Carrie squiggled in her arms. “Come on, Benny.
Grandma’s cooking breakfast.” She held out her hand. “Let’s go down and get
something to eat. I’m hungry, aren’t you?”

Benny smiled at me, jumped off the bed and then followed his
mother. Their footsteps were quiet compared to the laughter they shared as they
went down the stairs. I wanted that so badly... kids... family... and a good
husband to love.

I glanced over at the clock. It was
six o’clock
. I didn’t have to get up for another hour. Don’t
these people ever sleep late? Mom was downstairs fixing breakfast, and Claire
was running around being herself. Even though I didn’t have to get up for
another hour, once I thought about last night, I sprang out of bed and grabbed
my robe. I had to get moving. I wanted to get to work as fast as I could, so
Billy and I could talk. I had to prove to him that my theory was right. I was
sure I knew where to find Helen Carrolton! If Billy thought I was nuts and
didn’t want to go with me, then I’d go by myself.

I took a quick shower. My shoulder was scabbing over, so I
didn’t bother to put a dressing on it. I slipped into one of the cotton skirts
and a silk blouse I’d purchased when I first met Billy. Searching my closet for
a pair of matching heels, I reminisced about the day I bought the new clothes.
It seemed like a lifetime ago. I folded a pair of jeans and a T-shirt and
stuffed them in a duffel bag, along with my tennis shoes. I wasn’t sure if we
were still going to see the Carroltons, now that I was convinced of Helen’s
whereabouts, but I wanted to be ready for anything. I found my handbag lying on
the floor and checked to make sure my gun was still in it. Grabbing my
briefcase and my cell phone from the charger, I headed downstairs, thinking
that I’d have to remember to put my gun away somewhere safe while the kids were
here.

“Would you like something to eat?” Mom asked.

Claire was sitting at the table drinking coffee and smoking a
cigarette, while the kids were on the floor playing with Athena.

“Just some coffee, please,” I replied. “I’m in a hurry.” I
walked over to Claire and asked for a cigarette.

“I thought you quit,” she smirked, reaching into the pack and
pulling one out. “You know these things will kill you.”

“I did quit, and you’re a fine one to talk. Look at you.”

They both eyed me suspiciously, but didn’t make any comments
about my falling off the wagon... again.

“Tell Billy if he needs me today for anything other than
answering the phone to give me a call,” Mom said to me as I headed to the door.

I mumbled in agreement, but didn’t glance back. I was in a
hurry and on a mission.

As
usual, the traffic on Rt.29
was moving at a snail’s pace. Up ahead, the police were working an accident at
the
Forest
Lakes
intersection. This reminded me of the traffic in
Newport News
—always congested. Perhaps I should find an alternate route
to work. This was nerve racking. I stopped at a gas station and bought a pack
of cigarettes, just in case my addiction had returned.

When I pulled into the parking lot at work, I noticed a white
Buick laden with antennas parked beside Billy’s old Mercury. It was too early
in the morning for him to be seeing clients, so I could only assume the worst.
I hesitated to enter, but knew I couldn’t put off the inevitable. It was time
to face the consequences of our deeds. I grabbed my handbag and briefcase, shut
off my Jeep, and went inside. Billy was standing by my desk talking to two
gentlemen. The familiar beep-beep of the alarm caught their attention.

“Good-morning, Jesse,” Billy said, walking over to help me
with my briefcase. “This is Detective Hargrove, and his partner, Detective
Willis, from the Charlottesville Police Department. They’ve been asking
questions about the Helen Carrolton case.” He led me over to my desk and set my
briefcase down. Looking at the two men, Billy introduced me.

I could only imagine what this was all about as I searched
for the right things to say. I looked at Billy, noticing the small beads of
sweat on his forehead, and prayed I was doing the right thing.

“Is this about the purse your nephew found?” I asked.

Detective Hargrove was a tall, well-built black man with a
shaved head and a pencil-thin mustache.

“So you know about the purse?” he asked.

“I don’t know a whole lot,” I replied, sliding my handbag
under my desk. The last thing I needed was for them to find a gun in my purse.
“Billy’s brother called and said his son found a purse in the woods while he
was doing his volunteer work. He asked Billy what to do with it.”

“What did Billy tell him?” the other detective asked.

Detective Willis had short, red hair and freckles on his nose
and cheeks. He was a foot shorter than his partner, and was twenty pounds
lighter.

“He asked him if there was any identification in it.”

“And was there?”

“Shockingly, there was,” I said. “It belonged to Helen
Carrolton. The Carroltons hired Mr. Blackhawk about a month ago. It seems they
were unhappy with the progress of the police.”

“That’s a little convenient, don’t you think, Miss Watson?”
Detective Hargrove asked.

“Sir, I wouldn’t know,” I answered. “All I know is when Mr.
Blackhawk found out who the purse belonged to, he immediately told his brother
to turn it over to you guys.”

“And did he?”

“I don’t know, but I assume he did. It appears you have it.
Why else would you be here?”

“Wouldn’t it hinder your case if you were to turn the purse
over to the police?” he asked.

“It’s not my case. I’m sure Mr. Blackhawk would agree that
the most important thing is to find Helen Carrolton. Who finds her first isn’t
important.” I turned to Billy. “Isn’t that right?”

Billy nodded his head in agreement.

The red-haired detective flipped through his pocket-sized
notebook.

“I see, according to my notes, Miss Watson, that you reported
to Deputy James of the Greene County Sheriff’s Department that Mr. Blackhawk had
possession of the purse, before it was turned over to the police. Is that
correct?”

Trying to appear embarrassed by hanging my head and fiddling
with the papers on my desk, I murmured, “Yes, I did.” I looked at Billy. “I’m
sorry.” I turned my gaze to the two detectives. “You see, Deputy James and I
are dating. We were having a conversation about the case, and when I told him
about the find, I was kind of ... well, let’s just say I had too much to drink.
Normally, I’m not a drinker, so it doesn’t take much to get me a little tipsy.
Anyway, I guess I led him to believe I knew more about what was going on than I
really did. I wanted to impress him, so I embellished.”

“So you’re saying you filed a false report with the police.”

“I didn’t file anything. All I did was talk to my boyfriend
about it,” I whined, looking in Billy’s direction. “I’m sorry. I had too much
to drink. I didn’t realize everybody would take this so seriously. I made a
mistake by shooting off my mouth.” I turned back to the detectives. “All I know
is that Mr. Blackhawk told his brother to go see you guys.” I stared at Billy
again. “Am I going to lose my job over this?”

Appearing patronizing, Billy put his hand on my shoulder and
said, “No, Miss Watson, you’re not going to be fired. Everybody makes mistakes.
I just hope you learned something from your error.”

Apparently, Detectives Hargrove and Willis believed my story.
They mumbled something about confirming what Billy had already told them and if
they had any more questions you could bet they’d be back. They said good-bye,
turned and left.

Once they got into their car, Billy grabbed me and gave me a
bear hug. “You were good! I thought for sure you’d lose it.” He stepped back.
“You made me proud. Are you always this good at telling stories?”

“I was scared to death,” I answered. “All I could figure out
to do was say what I thought you’d say. I got lucky. It was obvious they had
something. I just had to decide what it was.”

“You did a fine job,” he said, patting me on the back. “Let’s
get to work. Call your mom and tell her we’re in the office and we’ll be
answering the phone until about
ten o’clock
.
After that, I’ll have the calls forwarded to her. Mrs.
Jordan
’s coming in at nine. She wants to
talk to me about her daughter. Someone’s stalking the girl.”

“Wait a minute.” I got in his face. “What about the case?”

“I’m getting ready to call the Carroltons right now.”

“What are you going to tell them?”

“I’m going to update them on our progress. I’ll tell them
about the purse and assure them that just because her purse has been found
doesn’t mean she’s dead. I see no reason to show up at their door without
something concrete.”

“Like Helen’s dead body?”

“You’re too wise.” He disappeared into his office and closed
the door.

False hope was two words that came to mind. That’s what Billy
was giving the Carroltons.

In the meantime, I’d called Mom and told her what Billy said.
I filed paperwork that had been left in my basket, and went through the motions
of being a secretary. I also fixed a fresh pot of coffee and then sat at my
desk drinking a cup, waiting for the outcome.

Twenty minutes later, Billy emerged from his office and said,
“I talked to the Carroltons and told them we’d keep them posted on any new
developments. They were pretty upset. They wanted to pick up the purse, but I
told them it would be held as evidence. They said they’d wait to hear from us.
What else can they do?”

“What are we going to do next?”

“Mrs.
Jordan
should be here any minute. After we
talk to her, we’re going for a little ride.”

“Where’re we going?”

Before answering my question, he stood there as if in a daze.
After a minute he asked, “Do you think your mom would let us use your dad’s
little truck? Call her and ask. Seems to me she said one of the reasons your
dad bought the truck was so he’d have something he could drive through the
woods. That’s why we need it... to drive through the woods. I don’t want to
take my truck through the brush, and I sure don’t want you to take your new
Jeep. I know the Mercury would have a hard time of it.” He was rambling as he
left and walked back toward his office.

“Hold on, pal. What’s going on?” I asked. He wasn’t making
any sense.

He stared at me. “We’re going to follow up on your crazy
suspicions and we need a tough, old rugged truck that can make it through the
woods. So call your mom.”

I dialed the house and explained to Mom what we had in mind.
She was more than glad to see someone get some use out of Dad’s truck. She said
that he never really got to use it much. I told her we’d be home to pick it up
around
noon
.

“I’ll have some lunch ready when you get here,” she said.

I sat in and took notes while Mrs.
Jordan
explained to Billy about her
problem. Her daughter, Angela, had been dating a college freshman at the
university she attended. When she decided to break it off, he didn’t take it
well. He started calling her all the time and kept leaving notes on the
windshield of her car. He began following her everywhere she went.

“The police are doing all they can, but they said until they
get some hard evidence of wrongdoing, their hands are tied,” she explained. “He
knows they’re on to him, but he’s smart and sneaky. They can’t catch him at
anything. It’s been two months. My daughter’s going out of her mind. She’s
scared to death. We need your help.”

“I’ll need to know everything about your daughter’s habits: a
list of her classes; where she eats; who her friends are; the whole nine yards.
Any information about her lifestyle you can think of would be helpful. Don’t
worry, Mrs.
Jordan
,” Billy said. “We’ll take care of
this guy.”

Billy sounded like a hit man. All I did was sit there and
take notes. It was not my job to judge. I’m sure Billy knew what he was doing.

“What was that all about?” I asked after she left. “You
sounded like you were going out to hunt this guy down, and heaven forbid what
would happen when you found him.”

“That’s about the size of it,” he said. “You might want to
change your clothes. Maybe dig something more comfortable out of the back of
your Jeep. You know... dig something out of that Pandora’s box you keep back
there.” He knew me all too well by now.

Billy and I were about to embark on another wild adventure. I
could see it coming... jail was just a footstep away.

I changed clothes in the bathroom down the hall, while Billy
waited impatiently by the front door. He was no longer dressed in his suit with
the cowboy stringed tie, but was clad in his familiar attire of jeans and a
T-shirt.

“You sure are fast,” I grunted.

Billy sat quietly in the passenger seat. I didn’t have a
whole lot to say either. The one thing that kept coming back to me was that
Cole had done his job. He reported my statement to his superiors. Billy was
right all along. Cole was an honorable man and would do what he had to do,
regardless of the consequences. What I had to deal with was the fact that I
wouldn’t be able to confide in him about certain aspects of my job. In other
words, I had to keep him at arm’s length. This didn’t make for a good
relationship, in my eyes. Communication was an important aspect to any
relationship.

“You’re awfully quiet, Jesse,” Billy spoke up. “What’s on
your mind?”

“I was just thinking about Cole.”

“Yeah, I guess you know where the line’s drawn now.”

“Like my mother would say—true love has no boundaries.”

It was eleven-thirty when we reached the house. Mom and
Claire were just beginning to prepare lunch, while the kids sat in front of the
television watching cartoons. We had barely gotten in the front door when Jack
and Dennis pulled into the driveway.

“It looks like the whole crew’s here,” I pointed to the
window. “Jack just pulled up.”

Mom stopped what she was doing and walked over to the wall
phone. “I told Cole I’d call him when y’all got here.”

“What does he want?” I objected.

She turned to me with the phone in her hand and said, “He’s
having lunch with us. He said he wanted to talk to you before he goes on his
four-to-twelve shift this afternoon.”

“It’ll have to wait,” I snapped. “Billy and I aren’t staying
for lunch. We’re in a hurry. Can we have the keys to the
Toyota
, please?”

She hung up the phone and went over to the key rack hanging
by the bar, removed the keys and handed them to me. The expression on her face
said she knew something was going on, but was gracious enough not to bring it
up in front of everybody.

“You might need to put gas in the truck,” she said.

“Thanks, Mom.” I gave her a quick peck on the cheek, and
Billy and I made a fast exit. I waved to Jack and Dennis as we entered the side
door of the garage. I hit the door opener to raise the garage door.

“What was that all about?” Billy asked as he tried to squeeze
his large frame into the small truck.

“Nothing,” I said, adjusting the seat up as close as I
could, so my feet would reach the clutch, and then I turned on the ignition.

“Oh, this is going to be fun,” he joked, pointing to his
confined leg space. “Hey, I know you’re angry about something, but could you
give me another notch for my legs? My knees are under my chin.”