by Ann Mullen
“That’s right,” I said. “We were the ones who got the evidence against her for you.”
“And your job should’ve ended there. It was our job to find the weapon, not yours. Your curiosity got the best of you, and now it’s coming back to bite you in the butt.”
“Your men should’ve found the gun, but they didn’t,” I said. “We had to do it for you. You should be thanking us, instead of hassling us.”
“Don’t, Jesse,” Billy whispered, silencing me.
“Listen to your husband, Mrs. Blackhawk. You might want to stop before it’s too late.”
“From the way I see it, it’s already too late. You have your mind set. You want to put us out of commission, so you’re throwing a bunch of trumped up charges at us.”
“Trumped up, huh? Well… let me see if I got this right.” He shuffled through a stack of papers on his desk until he found the one he was looking for. “You illegally searched the woods at the Rhodes’ residence, found the gun, and then instead of turning it in right away, you took it upon yourselves to have a forensic tech run a ballistics test on it in their lab. Is that not correct? Stop me when I say something that isn’t true.” He continued without giving us time to defend ourselves. “Do you think I’m stupid?”
“Of course not, Sheriff,” I said. “We were just trying to get to the truth, and if you remember, Billy was the one who told you that Bruno had possession of the gun. When your men didn’t recover it, we went looking for it ourselves. We were just trying to help. Doesn’t that count for something?”
“It would have if you had followed the law, but you didn’t. You took matters into your own hands, and that’s not how it works.”
“We might’ve gone about it the wrong way,” Billy admitted. “But now you have the weapon that was used in the murder of two people. I’m sure it’s all there in the report Deanna Gates gave you.”
“Let me ask you this, Sheriff,” I said. “Why did Deanna rat us out? We didn’t twist her arm and make her do it. She was more than eager to help.” I lied. I didn’t know what Jonathan had said to her to get her to help us, but if we were going down, I fully intended to bring her down—just for turning us in. “Didn’t she break one of your laws? I’m sure she didn’t go through proper channels.”
“She said she was coerced,” Sheriff Hudson offered.
“That’s bull, and you know it!” I snapped. “If that was true, then why didn’t she hit the alarm? I know there must be a red button somewhere in that place. You can’t even get in without an ID tag.”
“You can hold it right there, Mrs. Blackhawk. I know about Jonathan’s relationship with Deanna, so you’re not fooling anyone.”
“Past relationship,” I corrected him. “And none of this is Jonathan’s fault. We begged him to get her to help us, so he was bound by family ties.” I figured there was no reason for all of us to pay for one little egregious error. “And please call me Jesse. Mrs. Blackhawk sounds so formal after all we’ve been through together.”
“I’m not blaming anyone but the two of you, Jesse,” he replied in a sarcastic manner. “I’m laying this at your feet. You’re taking the fall for this one. You did the crime...”
“But…” I started to say.
“I’ve had two hours to think about how I was going to handle this,” Sheriff Hudson said. “Because you see, two hours ago, Bruno Michaels turned himself in. We let him go after he made a statement to the fact that he hid his sister’s gun in the woods to protect her, but after we went to his house and questioned him, he got scared. He went back to get the gun, and guess what? It was gone. Then I got a call from Deanna Gates. Imagine my surprise.”
“It was all for show,” I said, seeing through his façade. “You’re trying to intimidate us. That’s why you got your men to throw down on us in the parking lot, and that’s why you’ve been threatening us with jail time for the last fifteen minutes. You want something from us, or you would’ve already locked us up. What is it?”
“Don’t think you’re going to bargain your way out of this one,” the sheriff said. “There will be no bargaining here, Jesse.”
I changed my tune. “Just tell us what you want. We’ll do anything to smooth things over with you, Sheriff. We were just trying to get to the truth.”
Billy had a look of recognition on his face when he turned to me and said, “Bruno Michaels is innocent. Why else would he turn himself in? The cops had nothing on him.”
“I was just thinking the same thing,” I agreed. “He could’ve just kept his mouth shut. He didn’t have to come here.”
“Excuse me,” Sheriff Hudson loudly interrupted. “You can talk all you want later, but for right now, here’s how it’s going to play out.”
Billy and I stopped talking and waited. Our heads were on the chopping block, and the axe was raised. Then, Sheriff Hudson delivered the blow. He pulled a piece of paper from the stack on his desk and handed it to Billy. “Show it to Jesse, since she’ll have to sign it, too.” He hesitated only for a minute before continuing. “It basically says that the two of you have been very, very bad, and that I caught you. And… to avoid an arrest and a guaranteed prison sentence, you’re going to surrender your license to me personally, for one year, and you’re going to promise not to practice whatever you do for that entire year. If you fail to live up to your end, the deal is void and you go to jail.”
It didn’t take long for Billy and me to grasp the full gist of the matter at hand. We were going to lose our license as private investigators, so we wouldn’t be able to work for a whole year… at least not doing what we do. We’d have to get a job at Burger King… if there were any. Jobs are hard to come by these days.
“I know you’re wondering if I can do this or not,” he continued. “Let’s just say it’s in one of those gray areas you were talking about. If you notice, the letter’s hand-typed, and that’s the only copy. I’ll destroy it when the year is up. You don’t have to sign it. You can get up and walk right out of my office, but be forewarned, if you do, my men will arrest both of you on the spot. It’s your choice.”
“This basically is a gentlemen’s agreement,” I said. “We have to promise to be good, and you promise to drop all charges if we are.”
“Yes,” he replied. “You see, Mrs. Blackhawk, private investigators are supposed to stay within certain boundaries of their profession, but sometimes they forget what those boundaries are. This is my way of reminding you.”
“Four months,” Billy said. “My family is large. They must have food.”
From the tone in Billy’s voice, and the way his Cherokee talk was coming out, I knew he had gone into his serious mode. He was doing some heavy negotiating. He knew we weren’t going to walk away unscathed. We had to give up something.
“My needs are many. I must provide for my family.”
“Six months,” Sheriff Hudson stated emphatically. “But you knew that already. You knew I’d be flexible on the time, because I know you have to earn a living. Six months, it is. You’ll just have to tighten your belt for awhile.”
“Your generosity is a welcome to my family.”
Enough. I wanted details. I wanted to know exactly where we stood when it came to what we could and couldn’t do. “You’ll have to be a bit more specific on this one here.” I pointed to a paragraph on the paper. “I’m a little confused. What is our limit of contact?”
“It means you can’t do anything when it comes to investigating. No stakeouts. No clients. Nothing.”
“Can we still go to our office?”
“That’s up to you.” The sheriff picked up the phone, pressed a key and said, “Bring in Mrs. Blackhawk’s purse. She needs to get something out of it.” Then he handed me a pen. “You’ll need this.”
A deputy entered the room carrying my purse. “Here you go,” he said as he handed it to me.
I took the bag from him, and dug around in it until I found my wallet. I took out my license and then handed it to Sheriff Hudson. I h
ated to let go of it, but I didn’t have a choice. We’d made a deal with the devil, and it was time to pay up. I say devil, because failure to comply meant we would surely be sent to Hell—that’s what they say prison is like. I’ve also heard that going to Hell would be a vacation compared to what it’s like to do time in prison. I don’t know what it’s like in Hell or prison, and I don’t want to find out. I surrendered my license without a fuss.
Billy handed his license to Sheriff Hudson, and then both of us signed the paper.
“You can leave now,” the sheriff said. “We’re done here. I’m comfortable that we’re not going to have a problem. Look at it this way. I could’ve filed a formal complaint with the Department of Justice with what I have on you, and then you’d be surrendering your license to them. We’ll just keep this among friends.” He smiled.
“Thank you,” Billy replied. “Getting the DOJ involved is the last thing we want. We will comply with your demands.”
“But we just want you to know one thing,” I said defiantly. “Don’t come to us for help.”
“It’s a deal,” Sheriff Hudson said, offering his hand.
We shook his hand, turned, and then vacated the premises. Billy held my hand the whole time. He knew I was unsettled by what had just gone down, and he probably was afraid I’d go off before he could get me to the truck. But… I maintained my cool… until we pulled out of the parking lot on our way back to Charlottesville.
“Where’re we going?”
“We’re not going to interrogate Bruno, that’s for sure. What would be the point? He’s innocent. We might actually make it home in time for dinner.”
I cut loose on the sheriff. “Sheriff Hudson’s a fool if he thinks he can coerce us. He thinks he’s such a big shot, but he’s nothing more than a blackmailer. He’s the one who belongs in jail. It’s too bad Deanna didn’t get her due, but I’m glad Jonathan’s in the clear.”
“Oh, he’s not in the clear. Deanna isn’t finished with him yet. She got us, and now she’s going after him. I have a feeling there will be one less bride and groom at the wedding.”
I kept going back to the sheriff. “Can you believe that man? He’s full of it. That piece of paper is worthless. He can just kiss…”
“No, he can’t, Jesse. We have to abide by the agreement we just signed. We gave him our word. A Blackhawk never goes back on a promise, and that was a promise.”
“You’re serious.”
“I most certainly am. I made a promise, and so did you. We’re going to live up to that commitment. We’ll just be more careful in the future.”
“I thought we were careful.”
“We are, but we’re going to have to be more careful than ever… make better choices... watch our backs. We can work it out.”
“We always do.”
Billy pulled out his cell phone and said, “I have to warn Jonathan about Deanna.”
Once he got Jonathan on the phone, he proceeded to tell his brother what had happened—leaving out nothing. Unfortunately, we weren’t the only ones who weren’t going to survive the day unscathed. Jonathan was about to get his share of grief.
Billy ended his call to Jonathan, and then called Savannah. He was going to tell her the good news about Kaleb. She could pick up her son anytime. She was going to be so happy. She told him that she had already made arrangements with Jonathan to fly her down to Fancy Gap if everything worked out the way she had hoped.
“How did you know it was going to work out?” I said into the speakerphone. “We just got word a little while ago.”
“I was praying it would,” she replied. “Oh, Jesse. I’m so happy… and I could use a little happiness in my life right about now. Thank you so much.”
“I didn’t do anything, but pray. Billy did the rest.”
“I pray, too,” Billy added.
“Thanks to you both. You’ve made me a very happy person.”
Two important calls down, and one left to go. I had to call my mother and tell her everything, before IGA found out, and told her first. I pulled out my new Blackberry whatever, and hit M for Mom. When she answered, I started talking and didn’t stop until I had exhausted every bit of information I had to give. I waited for her response, while Billy chuckled at my fast mouth.
“I already knew,” Mom said. “But I didn’t know about the license suspension. What did Billy have to say about it? I bet he’s not happy.”
“No, he’s not, but he says we have to honor our word.”
“He’s a good man, Jesse. You’ve a very lucky woman. Listen to him.”
“I always do. I have to go. You have all the news that is the news.”
“Give Billy a hug for me, and tell him I’ll do his snooping for him.” She giggled.
A light gesture made in haste. She was joking. Moms say the weirdest things, but after we ended our chat, an idea came to me. Why not? Mom and Eddie would make a great cover for Billy and me. They could do light surveillance and take pictures for us. Easy work. No guns allowed. I mentioned it to Billy.
“I need a drink.”
Billy pulled into the driveway and parked the truck. The long, summer night would soon be upon us. We had survived another day.
“I’m serious. If we can’t work, we have to find someone to replace us. We want to keep the business going.”
“We don’t have to do anything, except keep our noses clean.” He got out of the truck. “Come on, my folks are here. Put on that happy face of yours, and let’s go in and come out winners. We are a proud people.”
“Yeah, right. Whatever. What’s wrong with my idea?” I stopped him when we got to the front porch. “Listen. We just lost our jobs, and unless you have a lot more money than I think you do, we’d better come up with some way to help keep me in the lap of luxury for which I’m accustomed.”
“Money is not a problem.”
“I’m glad to hear that, because being homeless is something I don’t want to experience. Ever. Home is where the heart is, and that’s where I want my butt to be. Safe and sound.”
“You will never be without a home.” He hesitated, and then said, “I must think this over.”
“Good! I’ll call Mom while you’re thinking. Right after I say hello to your folks, kiss the kids, and pet the dogs. Oh, and let’s not forget Spice Cat. You know how he is when he doesn’t get enough attention.”
“He’s been a pretty good boy lately,” Billy joked. “He hasn’t dragged up anything recently.” He put his arm around me, and then led me inside. “Hello, everybody. We’re back!”
“And just in the nick of time,” Billy’s mother said, greeting her son. “What’s this I hear about Jonathan?” She looked at me. “Is the wedding off?”
“I’d say the signs aren’t in his favor,” I replied. “He’s been a very bad boy, Sarah. Men are like that. They do things they regret, but by then it’s too late.”
“He’s a man-pig,” Billy joked.
Helene just about fell over herself at Billy’s remark, but Sarah didn’t crack a smile. She was not at all happy about Deanna coming back into Jonathan’s life.
“I was afraid something like this would happen the minute I heard he was meeting her. He can’t rid himself of his feelings for that jezebel. She’ll be his downfall.”
“Sarah,” Chief Sam said, walking up to her, and then putting his arm around her. “Don’t get yourself worked up. You can’t change the choices your children make. He will take his medicine and learn from his mistakes.”
“The chief’s right,” I said as I walked over and patted him on the back. “We can’t control anyone but ourselves, and sometimes that’s pretty hard to do. Let’s sit down and eat. I’m starving.”
The meal was excellent as usual, and the conversation was enlightening. Everyone at the table got an earful, even the kids—who could’ve cared less.
“How will you provide for your family, son?” the chief asked.
“You can cool it right there, Chief,” I said. “I know
Billy has a lot of dough stashed, so you don’t have to downplay it on my behalf. I’m his partner! We have plenty of money, and now that we’re unemployed and have plenty of time on our hands, we can fly in that new helicopter of yours all the time!”
“Don’t ask,” Billy mumbled to all. “She’s finally discovered that she has a dollar in her pocket, and she’s incorrigible.”
“I may be, but on the good side, I’m very generous.”
“Yes, you are, but if you continue to spend money like there’s no tomorrow, there won’t be. We could go broke! You’d have to get a paper route.”
“I guess buying the new car for Lila is out.”
“Oh,” Sarah said. “You’re going to buy Lila a new car? That’s great. The poor woman needs one. She has two kids you know, and that clunker of hers is on its last leg.”
Billy just rolled his eyes.
“Don’t get cheap on me now,” I said to him. “You promised!”
“I said I’d think about it.”
“What will y’all do for the next six months?” Sarah asked. She looked at Billy. “I can’t believe the sheriff took your license. Is that legal?”
“We didn’t have to surrender them,” Billy said. “We agreed to do it, because if we hadn’t, he was going to arrest us right on the spot, and then file a formal complaint. I’ve never lost my license before, but I can tell you this, he saved our butts. If the DOJ had gotten involved, we’d be out of work a lot longer than six months.”
“Mom offered to take our place,” I said, smiling. “She can get Eddie to work with her, and then they’ll be the new Jesse and Billy.”
Nobody made a comment, they just looked at each other. Finally, Chief Sam spoke up and said, “That sounds like a good idea. Minnie has a natural talent for getting to the bottom of things. She has worked with you before, so she should know the dangers.”
“What dangers?” I joked. “There aren’t any dangers in being a private investigator.”
“Do you think it’s wise to put your mother out there like that?” Helene asked. “You know firsthand how unsafe it is. She could get hurt, or worse, she could…”