by Ann Mullen
“Hello,” Mom said. Her voice was groggy. “Who is this?”
“It’s me, Jesse.” I gave her a few seconds before I spoke again. “Were you asleep? How can you sleep at a time like this? Have you heard from Billy?”
“Calm down, Jesse,” Mom said. “I haven’t heard from Billy. Why, what’s the matter? Did something go wrong?” Her voice became more distinct. “After y’all left, Claire and I had something to eat, and then I laid down on the bed. And the next thing I know, you call. What time is it?”
“It’s almost midnight and I told Billy to call the minute he had the kids. D.C.’s only two hours from here and he’s been gone almost four. I called all the numbers on the list he gave me and couldn’t get an answer from any of them. I was hoping that either you or Claire had heard something.”
“Let me go see if Claire’s awake. I’ll call you back in a minute, okay?”
“Call me right back, please.”
Ten minutes passed and then twenty and still no phone call.
“What is with these people?” I said to the dogs as I paced back and forth. “Don’t they realize I’m going nuts here?” I couldn’t stand it any longer. I walked over to the phone and dialed Mom’s number. “Just wait until I get someone on this phone! I’m going to give them a piece…”
“Hello,” Billy said.
“Hello!” I yelled at him. I was irate and at the same time I was so glad to hear his voice. “What’s the matter with you guys? Don’t you realize that I’ve been worried to death? You promised to call me hours ago!”
“I’m sorry, Jesse.”
“Is that all you can say? Where’re the kids? What happened tonight? Why didn’t you call like you promised?” Tears began to pour out. I felt sick to my stomach.
“Calm down, `ge ya. Everything is all right. It went better than we’d planned. You were right about Carl. He didn’t put up much of a fuss even though he did stand his ground. I wasn’t threatening or anything. I talked to Carl just long enough for Daniel and Robert to slip in the back door. We were out of there in less than fifteen minutes. He said the kids were in bed, so it wouldn’t surprise me if he still doesn’t know they’re gone. He doesn’t seem to be the type who would go back and check on them after I left.”
“What about Jonathan? Where was he?”
“He was our lookout. He hid in the bushes.”
“What would’ve happened if… oh, never mind. Are you coming home now?”
“We’re just getting ready to leave.”
“We’ll talk about it when you get home. I want to know everything.”
An hour later, Billy walked in the front door. He looked ragged and beat. I hugged him while he tried to take off his coat.
“I was so worried that something had gone wrong. It’s awful sitting home waiting for the one you love to come back from a mission such as this. I should’ve been there with you.”
“No, you shouldn’t have. I know how you are. You would’ve made it worse. You would’ve been all over Carl. As it turned out, it wasn’t so bad.”
“Come on over to the sofa and let’s sit down. I want to hear what happened. Can I get you something to eat or drink first?”
Billy hung his coat on the rack by the door and then walked over to the sofa. “No, I’m fine. On the way home, we stopped at Apple Jacks and got something for the kids. I had a burger. I think it’s still talking to me.” He sat on the sofa and stretched out his long legs. He crossed his arms and closed his eyes. By the time I sat down next to him, he had dozed off.
“Billy, come on,” I said as I shook him. “Let’s go to bed. We’ll talk in the morning.”
He rose from the sofa and headed to the bedroom. “I’m sorry, but I’m too tired to talk, Jesse. This has been a long, long day.”
“I know it has, Billy. Our life sure does have a lot of excitement in it, doesn’t it? I mean, you drove all the way from Tennessee and then had to turn around and drive to Washington, D.C. I’m surprised you can still walk.”
“I didn’t drive to D.C., Jonathan did. I fell asleep as soon as we hit the road, and slept the whole way there.”
I pulled the covers back as Billy went to the bathroom to brush his teeth. I was surprised that he didn’t jump in the shower before hitting the sack. He was such a stickler for good hygiene. I went to the bathroom and stood next to him to brush my teeth. I stared at his image in the mirror. Here was the man I had been waiting for my whole life. He was perfect. He’s the kind of man all women hope to marry. I looked forward to sharing my life with him. I knew every day was going to be wonderful and exciting. When I crawled into bed next to him, I had no idea of how exciting things were going to get. I leaned over and kissed his cheek.
“Sleep well, my love,” I whispered in his ear. “Everything is the way it should be.”
CHAPTER 3
The next day was the start of a new life for us. Billy and I were married, had a wonderful honeymoon, and were now home and ready to begin our journey through life together. We had a baby on the way, a business to run, and I was ready to become a full-fledged private investigator. All I need is my license to make it official. I was sure that Billy would just as soon have me forget about that endeavor under the circumstances, but a lot of women work while they’re pregnant and so could I. Besides, I had almost eight more months to go before the baby arrived. I had to do something. I couldn’t just sit around all day and think about nothing but babies. I’d go crazy. I crawled out of bed and followed the smell of fresh brewed coffee. Billy was sitting at the kitchen table reading the newspaper.
I walked over to him, gave him a kiss on the forehead and said, “Have you been out already? Where did you get the paper?” I turned and headed to the kitchen for a cup of coffee. “What’s the weather like outside?”
He looked up at me, smiled and said, “Let’s see. I went to Crumpler’s Market up the road and bought the paper, and the temperature outside is in the low forties. The paper says we’re going to get snow this weekend. It’s supposed to start tomorrow afternoon. We could get as much as five inches.”
“Hey, that’s not bad. We’ve had worse, haven’t we?”
“Yeah, we’ve had our share. This winter is the first one I’ve seen where it’s snowed so often. Usually we get four or five good snowfalls and then it just fades away into spring. But I guess this time it’s going to be different.”
“That’s right. I’m here. I’m a city girl who’s not accustomed to snow, and so what happens? It snows every week. That’s okay. I love it.”
“I’ve had enough.”
I sat down at the table with my coffee and picked up a piece of the paper that Billy had discarded. “I’m surprised Claire hasn’t called this morning. You know by now Carl’s well aware of what you pulled last night. I bet he’s really ticked off.”
Billy let out a chuckle. “I bet he is. He’s probably already thinking up a plan of retaliation. I wish I could’ve seen the look on his face when he realized what we did. You know he’s mad.”
“Tell me exactly what happened.”
“It’s simple. I went to the front door, knocked, and as soon as he opened the door, Daniel and Robert slipped in the back way. In a few minutes, I heard the signal, so I ended the conversation and then left.”
“What signal?”
“The hoot of the owl,” Billy said as he smiled. “That’s the signal we always use.”
“What did you and Carl talk about?”
“I told him that what he did was wrong and the police would be after him shortly, and if he knew what was good for him, he’d better let me take the kids back home. I told him Claire promised she wouldn’t press charges if he cooperated. Of course, he refused. He said the police had already been to his house and he told them he had visitation rights and that he was exercising those rights; his wife knew all about it. He told the cops that his wife took a lot of tranquilizers. Then he said some pretty nasty things about Claire and her relationship with that deputy. He’s go
ing to sue for sole custody. He said Claire was a drunk and a slut. He was rather adamant about his feelings. He also mentioned the fact that he’s a pillar in the community and has many friends in the police department, as well as being friends with several judges. He has many claims, but I think his head is bigger than his popularity. However, I could be wrong.”
“He does know some people in high places. I think that’s one thing that scares Claire. There’s no telling what he could do to her, if he sets his mind to it. He’s such a creep! I’m going to call him and cuss him out. How dare he talk about my sister like that! Claire isn’t any of those things. After all the crap he’s pulled…”
“Let it go, `ge ya. The kids are safe and back home with their mother. Our work is finished.”
“I guess you’re right. Maybe I’ll call Claire and see what the police had to say. I’m sure they’ve been by to talk to her. Carl’s probably in an uproar. By now he knows that you’re the one who took the kids. I bet he’s been burning up Sheriff Hudson’s telephone line. I’m surprised the sheriff hasn’t been by already.”
“How would they know that I took the kids?”
“Oh, come on, Billy. You know Wake Hudson’s a pretty smart guy. He knew you’d go after the kids the minute he sorted out the situation… actually, the minute he found out it was Claire’s kids. He knows our family and he knows the two of us, all too well.”
“I guess we have had a few dealings with him.”
“A few?” I said as I rolled my eyes at him. “Since I’ve met you, I’ve visited the Greene County Sheriff’s Office more times than I care to count. I’ve been chased by bad guys; accused of murder; been shot at more than once, and been carted off to the hospital way too many times. UVA Hospital now owns a piece of my soul.”
“See, now aren’t you glad you married me?” Billy looked up from the paper and winked.
“I’m surprised that Carl hasn’t called here.”
“Oh, he probably will. That’s okay; I can handle anything he throws my way.”
“I know you can,” I said. I got up from the table and walked over to the wall phone. “I’m going to call Claire. I’m dying to hear what he had to say to her.”
I picked up the receiver and punched in Mom’s number. The phone ran several times before I realized that no one was going to pick up. “That’s strange,” I said to Billy as I turned and hung up the phone. “It’s a little early in the morning for them to be gone.”
We both looked over at the digital readout on the microwave and smiled.
“I guess it really isn’t that early,” I said. “It’s ten o’clock. They probably went shopping. Claire deals with stress by shopping, and I’m willing to bet that last night was probably the most stressful moment of her life, ever.”
“I would think so, `ge ya.”
The phone rang suddenly and startled me. “Whoa! I bet that’s Claire,” I said, picking up the receiver. “Hello, Jesse speaking.”
“Hi, honey. This is your mom.”
“Hi, Mom, how’s everything? I just called a few seconds ago.”
“I know. I saw it on Caller ID. I was in the shower.”
“Where’s Claire? Why didn’t she answer the phone?”
“It’s a long story. Maybe you and Billy could come over and we could talk about it.”
“You want us to come over right this minute? We just sat down for coffee and…”
“Please, Jesse. You need to come over now.”
“What happened, Mom?”
I could hear rustling and the sound of someone whispering. Claire was now on the line and she spoke to me in an unusually loud voice.
“Get over here! Oh, and be sure to bring your wonderful husband!”
The line went dead.
I turned to Billy in amazement. “Claire just hung up on me.”
“I can see that.”
“She yelled at me. She told me to get over there right now and to be sure to bring you. She called you my wonderful husband. I’m going to have to smack her. I can see it coming. What’s her problem? You rescued her kids and now she’s in a tiff about something. You’d think she’d be grateful. Oh, crap… it probably has something to do with her new sweetheart, Cole. I told you he’s gone nuts. There’s something weird about that guy. Ever since he got shot, he’s been a totally different person.”
“Calm down, Jesse. First off, you’re not going to slap Claire, and secondly, this might have nothing to do with Cole. It probably has something to do with her husband. Let’s go to your Mom’s house and see what’s going on. I don’t have any plans for today, do you?”
“I thought maybe we could go to the office, check things out, talk about our baby and the fact that I should continue to work, and then decide what we’re going to do with the rest of our lives. I need to check the post office to see if my letter from DCJS is in the mail, and once I have my picture taken and get my identification card, I’ll be a real private investigator. That’s going to be exciting. I can’t wait until I get to flip out my wallet, show people my ID, and then tell them that I’m a real...”
“That’s right; we did put our mail on hold,” Billy said as he tried to ignore my comments about my career as a snoop. “We need to go pick it up. Bills need to be paid, and...”
I let the matter of my career drop for the time being. I knew Billy didn’t like the idea of me carrying his child and chasing after dangerous criminals. He wanted me to stay home where it was safe. Silly me, what was I thinking?
“We need to buy you a new cell phone. Other than that, I don’t have any plans.”
Billy got up from the table and walked over to me. He leaned down and kissed my forehead. “Let’s go see your mom,” he said and started to walk away.
I grabbed the sleeve of his shirt. “You gotta do better than that, Injun.”
He laughed and then grabbed me up in one of his big hugs. “You’d better be nice to me, or that little Injun ain’t gonna like it.” He rubbed my tummy.
How lucky can one woman get?
Thirty minutes later as Billy and I were about to walk out the door, the phone rang.
“Maybe I should get that,” I said.
“If it’s important, they’ll call back.”
“Let me just run and check Caller ID.”
“Okay, but hurry up. I left the truck running.”
Athena and Thor stood by the door, ready to leave. Their patience was running thin, too.
I ran over to the computer desk and looked at the portable phone. The number was the Greene County Sheriff’s Office in Stanardsville—I knew it by heart. I looked over at Billy. “I don’t like this. It’s the sheriff.”
He motioned for me to hurry. “Come on,” he demanded. “Something must be up.”
“You think so?” I asked, snidely. “I haven’t killed anyone lately, have you?” I meant for my remark to be a joke, but all of a sudden, it didn’t sound very funny. The sight of Laura and Brad Westover lying bloody and dead on my living room floor flashed through my mind. I stared up at Billy. “I didn’t mean to say that.”
Oddly, it appeared as if Billy wasn’t listening to me. His thoughts were somewhere else.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
“Yes,” he softly said. “I’m ready anytime you are.”
We locked the house and decided to make Athena and Thor stay home. We could hear their loud barks as we crawled up into the truck. They weren’t happy.
“They’ll be okay,” Billy said as he looked in his rearview mirror. “I know you don’t like to leave them alone.”
“It’s okay. It’s probably for the best. Who knows what’s going on over at Mom’s house?”
“I have a feeling we might have to go visit the sheriff.”
“I don’t see why. We haven’t done anything wrong. They can’t arrest you for going to Carl’s house and taking the kids considering he was the one who stole them in the first place. What grounds do they have?”
“I think the words
you’re looking for is obstruction of justice. If it comes right down to it, they could prosecute me for interfering with their investigation.”
“Are you serious? They can’t do that!”
“They most certainly can.”
“But you did their job for them.”
“Sheriff Hudson might not see it that way. Up until now he’s never had a reason to arrest me, but this is a different story. This could be his chance to throw me in jail and make it stick, if he wants to. I’m a private investigator; I know all about the law. I know the difference between right and wrong. But I also know that they don’t usually prosecute on those grounds unless you…”
“Unless what?”
“…cause harm or death by your actions.”
“Please don’t tell me that,” I said. “I think I’m going to be sick. This whole situation just keeps getting worse.”
Billy could see that I was getting upset. He reached over and placed his hand on mine. “I’m getting ahead of myself. I’m starting to act just like you. I’m letting my imagination run wild. The sheriff doesn’t even know I was involved, but when he finds out, I’m sure he’ll thank me.”
“That was a good one!” I replied. “Billy, you’re such a bad liar. I thought it was second nature for private eyes to lie.”
“We do our best.”
After that statement, Billy and I rode in silence until we reached the Ruckersville intersection. The light turned red as we approached.
“The silence is killing me,” I said. “What is it that you’re not telling me? I know you’re keeping something from me, Billy. You have that weird look on your face... the kind you get when you don’t want to tell me something because you don’t think I can handle it. But I can handle anything you throw my way. Tell me before I go crazy.”
“As I said, my imagination was beginning to get the best of me. I know how things can seem so simple and then turn into a major disaster. I’m a little concerned about that phone call from the sheriff’s department.”
“See, I knew I should’ve answered the phone!” I hissed. I looked over at Billy and saw his eyebrow go up… a sure sign that something was bothering him. “Should we stop at the sheriff’s office first?”