A Crying Shame: A Jesse Watson Mystery

by Ann Mullen

  “And invite trouble? I don’t think so! No, we’ll go to your mom’s house as planned. If there’s anything terribly wrong, we’ll find out then. At least it’ll give us a head’s up if there’s a problem. I’m sure it’s nothing.”

  “It better be nothing! My baby’s father is not going to jail! Be honest with me, Billy. Do you think anything will come of this? You did the right thing, but will Sheriff Hudson see it that way?”

  The light turned green before Billy had a chance to answer. As he drove through the intersection, the last thing I remember seeing was a big yellow dump truck heading straight for us. The rest was a blur.

  CHAPTER 4

  The crash pounded in my ears at first, and then I could barely hear anything at all. I kept fading in and out as the rescue workers placed me in the ambulance. Billy was by my side, holding my hand and telling me over and over that everything was okay as he held a blood-soaked rag against his head. Finally, overwhelmed by the pain, I closed my eyes and succumbed to the darkness.

  “I’m sorry, Mrs. Watson,” I heard a familiar voice say. “We’ll just have to wait and see.”

  “Wait and see about what?” I mumbled as I tried to open my eyes. The soft light over the hospital bed cast shadows on the wall of an otherwise dark room. “Where am I?”

  I was having a difficult time remembering all the details, but I knew one thing for sure—Billy and I had been in an automobile accident. I didn’t know how bad the accident had been, but it must have been serious, because I hurt all over. My arm felt restricted as I tried to move. I looked down and saw the reason why. A cast ran from my wrist to the bicep on my right arm. As if a light bulb had just gone off over my head, red flags went up. What about my baby?

  “Mom,” I moaned as I tried to sit up. A flash of pain shot through my spine, bringing me back down. “Oh, God, that hurts. What’s wrong, Mom? Am I okay? Is my baby okay? Where’s Billy? Is he okay?” I cried out in pain. I couldn’t move without something hurting.

  Mom reached down and touched me with her warm hand. “It’s all right, Jesse. The baby’s fine. Billy’s fine. You were in an accident, but you’re okay now.”

  “Are you sure, Mom?” I cried. “Tell me the truth. I can handle it.”

  “Yes, honey. You know I wouldn’t lie. Now why don’t you just lay back and try to get some rest? The doctor says you need to rest. Your body will heal itself sooner if you take care of it.”

  I tried to relax and go with the pain as I settled back down. I lay my head against the pillow and drifted off before I had a chance to ask Mom about Billy’s whereabouts.

  I must have slept for several hours, because when I awoke, it was daylight. The curtains in the room had been pulled back and the sun was shinning through. Unfortunately, the beginning of a new day didn’t change the pain that I was in. I gritted my teeth and called out.

  “Billy! Mom! Where is everybody?”

  A woman in hospital scrubs walked in the room. It was obvious from her attitude that she wanted me to hush. “Please, Miss Blackhawk, this is a hospital and there are other patients here who need their rest, too. What can I do for you?” She walked over closer to the bed and checked the I.V. attached to the top of my hand. “How do you feel?”

  “I feel like crap. Where’s my family? I know someone must be here.”

  “Your mother was here, but I think she left a little while ago. She’s been here all night.”

  “Where’s my husband?”

  “I’m afraid I don’t know. Perhaps your mother can tell you.”

  “But she’s not here and I need...”

  I looked up just as Billy entered the room. The right side of his forehead had a large bandage on it and he sported a shiner. I wanted to jump out of the bed and hug him, but that wasn’t going to happen. It took all that I had just to sit up.

  He came over, leaned down and planted a kiss on my lips. He hugged me for a long time. His grip was firm and he held onto me as if he let go, he would lose me.

  “I’m sorry that I wasn’t here when you came to,” he whispered.

  “What do you mean came to? How long was I out?” I asked when he released me.

  He sat down in the chair next to the bed. He leaned over, propped his elbows on his knees and placed his head in his hands. He stared at the floor. When he raised his head, I knew something bad had happened. I could tell from the look on his face.

  “You’ve been in and out of it for three days.”

  “Three days! Are you serious?” I let his words sink in for a few seconds and then reached over and grabbed him by the sleeve. “Tell me the truth, Billy. Is our baby all right?”

  “Oh, yes, `ge ya. The baby is fine. Dr. Bryant has been monitoring him very closely. Did you know that our little warrior could fit in the palm of my hand?”

  “You should see the look on your face when you talk about our son. It’s so adorable…” I stopped short and looked into Billy’s eyes. “How do you know it’s a boy?”

  “I am a Cherokee; we know these things.” He smiled at me and waited for a response.

  “So it’s a boy, huh? You’re sure of it?”

  “Yes, I am.”

  It so touched my heart to see the proud look on his face. I loved him more and more with each passing day. I smiled back at him. I lay back and soaked in the news. For some weird reason, I had a strange feeling that Billy might be right on this one. Chief Standing Deer swears that some of his people have a special gift, so who am I to doubt him? He was right when he predicted that I was pregnant. Maybe Billy has some of his father’s insight, or maybe he’s just guessing. It couldn’t be but so hard. He has only two choices. So it’s a boy, huh? This is going to be fun. I don’t know a thing about raising a boy. What am I saying? I don’t know anything about being a parent. My mind drifted back to the forlorn look Billy had on his face earlier.

  “Why was I out of it for so long? Was I in a coma?”

  “No, you weren’t. You were unconscious for a while and then you were in and out of it. Dr. Bryant said you were fighting off the pain.”

  “What’s the difference between being unconscious and being in a coma?”

  “You can’t roust a person who’s in a coma.”

  “At least I’m awake now, and the three of us are okay, right?”

  “Yes, we are, but we have another problem.”

  “What other problem?”

  “How much has your mother told you? Did she tell you where I’ve been?”

  “She hasn’t told me anything. I asked her where you were, but then I fell asleep. When I first woke up, I heard her talking to the doctor. He said we’d have to wait and see.”

  “He was right,” Mom said as she walked in the room carrying a large, colorful flower arrangement. A small, cheerful card attached indicated that the flowers came from Pat’s Floral Design in Madison, Virginia.

  I thought it was odd how I noticed a simple little thing like where the flowers came from, yet I could barely see well enough to read. I guess it was because the name rang a bell. I remember Mom telling me a while back that she met a nice lady at the Madison County Fair last summer who owned a flower shop. They became instant friends.

  “I asked him how long it would be before you were back to your old self again, and he said we’d have to wait and see. I knew you’d be all right. You’re one tough cookie, Missy. You remind me so much of your dad. He always had that spunk in him. Nothing got him down.” She walked over and gave me a hug. “Your dad would be so happy to see how you’ve turned out. You’re married to a wonderful man and you’re going to have a baby. I wish… oh, never mind. Let’s talk about something cheerful.”

  “Thanks, Mom,” I said. “The flowers are beautiful.”

  “I figured you’d need something to brighten up this drab hospital room.”

  I looked around. “Oh, it isn’t so bad. Actually, it’s pretty nice. UVA is a terrific hospital. That is, as far as hospitals go. If I was going to be laid up, this would be the plac
e I’d want to be. I like the staff here.”

  “You are laid up,” Mom said and then chuckled. “I’m so glad you’re okay, and your sister sends her love.”

  The temperature in the room dropped. I could feel tension in the air. I looked at Mom and then back at Billy. “Okay, let’s have it. What have I missed? What happened besides the car wreck? Speaking of which, is the truck destroyed?”

  “You could say that it’s pretty much a goner,” Billy said. “The dump truck tore off the bed. The rescue workers had to pry us out of the cab. We were very lucky. If we’d been hit a few more feet in the other direction, they’d be scraping… it probably would’ve been fatal.”

  “We were lucky then, I guess.”

  “God has a plan for everyone,” Mom said. “I’ve always said that when it’s your time, you’re going whether you want to, or not. It just wasn’t your time to go. Your work on this earth isn’t finished. For that, I’m grateful. Both of you are too young to have…”

  “That’s enough preaching, Mom. Let’s get down to the nitty-gritty. What happened while I was incapacitated?”

  “Carl’s missing,” Mom replied.

  My first response was to ask who cared, but then reality set in. If Carl was missing so soon after the kidnapping, I was sure the police would think Billy had something to do with it. He did go to Carl’s house and take the kids from him.

  “I have a feeling I’m not going to want to hear this, but I guess I have to,” I said, looking over at Billy and then back to Mom. “Okay, who wants to go first?”

  “The reason I haven’t been here the whole time while you’ve been in the hospital is because I’ve spent a lot of my time answering questions at the sheriff’s office. Wake Hudson came to the hospital the second day and politely asked me to accompany him to his office for questioning. It seems the D.C. Police suspect foul play. They have an eyewitness who said Carl told her several days earlier that he was taking his kids on a vacation. She asked him if he was getting back with his wife, and he said that he hoped so, but if that didn’t work out, he had other plans. The night he went missing, she said she saw the police at his house, and then later, a couple of guys showed up. After that, the police showed up again. She didn’t suspect anything at the time because she knows Carl has a lot of friends. She said that cops were always at his house. When she went to bed around eleven, everything seemed okay. No one has seen Carl since.”

  “He probably took off to avoid prosecution,” I suggested.

  “I told him Claire said she wouldn’t press charges if he let me take the kids.”

  “Yeah, but at the time he didn’t know that you were stealing the kids right out from under his nose either, did he? Maybe he was afraid Claire would have him arrested after he realized she had the kids back.”

  “I doubt it. Where’s the proof that he did anything wrong? He has shared custody and regular visitation rights. Any decent lawyer could get him out of that mess.”

  I had a gnawing feeling in the pit of my stomach. For a split second, I had my doubts about what really happened that night. I had to ask.

  “Carl was all right when you left him, wasn’t he?” I looked at Billy and immediately saw the hurt look on his face. “Forget that I asked. I don’t know what got into me. I know you wouldn’t hurt a soul. Please forgive me.” I felt like a jerk. I had doubted my husband and he knew it. Would he ever forgive me?

  Billy touched the side of my face and then I had my answer. “It’s okay, `ge ya. I understand. It does look bad.”

  “Carl’s such a jerk. He’s probably in hiding. What better way to get back at Claire?”

  “I could see that happening,” Mom chimed in. “It wouldn’t surprise me one bit for Carl to pull a stunt like that. Any man who would steal his own children would do anything. I’m just glad the kids are too young to realize what’s happening.”

  “I’m glad Claire’s finally divorcing the rat.”

  “I’m afraid that Claire thinks I had something to do with his disappearance,” Billy said.

  “What?”

  “Yeah,” Mom added. “That’s why she insisted the two of you come over to the house the day of your accident. When Carl didn’t call her, she called him. I guess she just couldn’t let it rest. I told her to let it go, but no, she had to give him a piece of her mind. She called and called, but never got an answer. After a while she made up this whole scenario in her head, and before you know it, she’s throwing accusations around. She thought that Billy had beaten him up, and maybe he was hurt and couldn’t answer the phone. I tried to talk some sense into her, but she was in such a tizzy.”

  “You’d think that she’d be glad to have her kids back, regardless of how she got them. I know I would.”

  “Like I said, she was in such a tizzy,” Mom went on. “No sooner had she gotten off the phone with you, the sheriff showed up at our front door.”

  “Imagine his surprise when he found out the kids were back at home,” Billy added as he rolled his eyes. “He immediately knew how that came about.”

  “Why did the sheriff show up in the first place, Mom?”

  “He wanted to check on Claire and tell her the options she had to get the kids back. He’s such a nice man. You see, the sheriff called us the night Billy went to get the kids and told us that Carl had been questioned and had told the D.C. Police that he was within his rights. His wife knew he had the kids and it was okay. He said Claire used drugs and sometimes forgot things. Can you imagine that? Anyway, before Claire had a chance to call you or Billy and tell you what the sheriff had said, Billy walked in with the kids. We were so glad to have the kids back home that we forgot to call the sheriff and tell him. When he showed up the next day, he was confused.”

  “I bet Sheriff Hudson’s mind was going a mile a minute.”

  Billy stood up and walked over to the window. He turned to look at us. “Let’s put it like this, what started out as a kidnapping case has turned into a missing person’s case with suspicions of foul play. So you know who they’re coming after now.”

  “Why foul play?” I asked.

  “The sheriff called the D.C. Police Department and told them the situation, and they in turn paid Carl another visit.”

  “What did Carl say?”

  “He didn’t say anything because he’s missing and my kids aren’t,” Claire said in an ugly manner as she walked in the room. “I guess that does raise an eyebrow.”

  “And you think for one minute that Billy is involved?” I said, trying to crawl out of bed. “That’s stupid! You should know better.”

  If my severe pain had not have kept me from getting out of bed, I surely would have slapped Claire for this one. In my mind, I have always threatened to do that when she got on my nerves, but I never have... or ever really thought that I would. However, this time was different. I didn’t like her attitude and I especially didn’t like the fact that she was talking trash about my husband, the man who had rescued her children! I fell back in the bed. Pain shot through my head like I had been hit with a ball peen hammer. Tears slid down my cheeks.

  “You ungrateful witch!” I said.

  “Whoa! Wait a minute!” Mom said. “There’s no need for name-calling, Missy. You need to calm down. It’s not good for you or the baby.” In a surprise gesture, Mom turned to Claire, pointed her finger and said, “If you’ve come here to give Jesse grief, I think you should leave. She doesn’t need this now!”

  “I’m sorry, Jesse,” Claire said in a hushed tone. “I don’t know what’s gotten into me lately. I’m a nervous wreck all the time.”

  “It’s okay,” I said as I calmed down. I held out my hand. “We’re sisters—we’re supposed to argue.”

  Claire crossed the room and came to my side. She took my hand in hers. “I was so worried about you. If I hadn’t been so mean that morning this wouldn’t have happened.”

  “Nonsense,” I said. “It wasn’t your fault. Things happen.”

  “I’m going to the cafete
ria to get something to eat,” Mom said. “Anyone care to join me?”

  “I could use something myself,” Billy said as he put his arm around Mom’s shoulder. “How about you, Claire, care to join us?” He reached over and put his other arm around Claire’s shoulder.

  Immediately, as if in pain from his touch, she flinched. Everyone had a stunned look on their face… except me. She couldn’t fool me.

  “Are you all right, honey?” Mom asked.

  “I’m fine. I slipped on the ice at Cole’s house and hit my shoulder on the handrail. Let’s go get some lunch. I’m starving.”

  “Bring me back a Pepsi, please,” I said as they turned to leave. “I’m thirsty for a soda.” Under my breath I said, “And I’d like to know what that was all about. Cole James, I have a feeling that the two of us are going to have words.”

  Ten minutes after they left, Dr. Bryant entered my room.

  “Hey, Doc,” I said. “When can I get out of this place and go home?”

  “Let me see you get out of bed.”

  I sat up and tried to throw my legs over the side of the bed. That was a mistake. I felt dizzy and the pain in my head rushed back and knocked me for a loop. I felt nauseated.

  “I think I’m going to throw up.”

  He grabbed the plastic trash can and held it for me as I leaned over the side of the bed and did just that. Unfortunately, there wasn’t anything on my stomach, so the only thing that came up was liquid. My throat burned from the experience.

  “I guess I’ll stay here another day.”

  “I guess you will, young lady,” Dr. Bryant said as he put the trash can down. “You have a serious concussion. I brought you some information to read so you’ll understand the severity of your situation. Head trauma is very serious. It’s imperative that you rest and heal so that you won’t have problems later. Sometimes there can be side effects, and you need to be prepared. I want you to read all of this.” He handed me a couple sheets of paper.

  “Oh, come on, Doc,” I said as I shuffled through the paperwork. “It’s just a little crack in the skull. I’m more concerned about this broken arm. I’m right-handed.”