by Ann Mullen
“Don’t you want to sit down?” Billy asked.
“No, I’ll stand.”
I paced the room.
After a while, my legs were tired, so I walked over and sat down in the chair. Waiting isn’t something I do well. I’m impatient and when I’m upset like I was now, I could become very belligerent. It wouldn’t be long before I would turn hostile and aggressive. I was fit to be tied by the time the sheriff came out into the waiting room and showed his face.
The sheriff greeted us with a friendly smile.
“We’ve been waiting fifteen minutes! What took you so long?” I yelled as I stood and walked over to him. “Where’s my mother?”
The sheriff looked at Billy and then back to me.
“The deputy was correct, Jesse. She’s not here. What made you think she was?”
“Billy’s mother said one of your deputies came out to the house and placed her under arrest. She hauled my mother off to jail like a common criminal, and I want to know why. Now let my mother go!”
“She’s not here, I swear,” Sheriff Hudson repeated. “We don’t have an arrest warrant out on her and we haven’t arrested her. Are you sure this isn’t some kind of joke?”
“Am I laughing? This is no joke, I can assure you. Besides, if it were a joke, it wouldn’t involve my mother. She doesn’t like stunts.”
“There’s been some kind of mistake, because I can promise you that we don’t have her. Come into my office and I’ll call CPD. Maybe she’s there. Perhaps Billy’s mother made a mistake. But don’t worry, we’ll straighten this out.”
The sheriff put his hand on my shoulder as if to comfort me and then led me through the door to his office. He motioned for us to sit down.
We sat and waited for him to make his call. After listening to his conversation, I knew trouble had reared its ugly head.
My mother had been kidnapped by a cop!
I panicked and went into a rage. I screamed at the sheriff and anyone within hearing range. I let off enough steam for everyone in the room to become soaked in the moisture.
Instead of arresting an unruly person who was going into a rage, which he could have done, Sheriff Hudson calmly stood, watched and listened as I cursed his department, him and any and everyone who had ever worked there. Finally, out of wind and desperate, I sank back down in the chair and cried.
The sheriff looked at me and said, “Now that you’ve gotten that out of your system, let’s see what we can do about finding your mother.”
Billy held me as I cried and rocked back and forth.
Emotional outbursts were becoming a part of my life. I had to get it together!
Sheriff Hudson told us to sit and hold tight as he left the room.
We did as he said. What else could we do?
Billy and I talked while we waited.
“Why…” I tried to say. I sniffled as I sat in the chair and wondered why someone would do this to my mom.
“I think the question is who,” Billy said. “Who would go to such lengths as to kidnap your mother?”
“Oh, Billy, that was a perfect way to grab someone without arousing suspicion. By the time we find out it was a ruse, Mom could be long gone.”
“A risky ploy.”
“Oh, the woman didn’t think she’d get caught. Whoever pulled this off knew what she was doing. It was a woman cop. That’s what your mother said. A woman deputy showed up and arrested Mom. You know Mom wouldn’t stand up to someone in uniform. If a cop tried to arrest her she wouldn’t resist.”
“I’m going to have to have a talk with her about that when she gets back. She’s too trusting for her own good.”
“You know how she is. She’s always thought the cops were the good guys. Hey, what about that deputy who came to our house after Kansas was killed? You know the one I’m talking about.”
“Katherine Kingsley,” the sheriff said as he walked back into the room. “Deputy Kingsley is on her honeymoon. She got married yesterday and they flew off to Hawaii. She’s probably on a sunny beach with her new husband right about now. So if you think she had anything to do with your mother’s disappearance, you’re wrong. She has an alibi.”
“I was just trying to piece this together,” I said, embarrassed that I was about to accuse one of his deputies. “I don’t know what to make of this. Why would someone be after my mother? She’s a grandmother, for Heaven’s sake! I’m more of a criminal than she is.”
The sheriff raised an eyebrow at my comment.
“You know what I mean. If anyone was more likely to commit a crime, it’d be me, not my mother.”
“Stop, Jesse,” Billy said. “We get your point.”
“Yes, please do,” Sheriff Hudson. “Next thing I know you’ll be telling me something I don’t want to hear.”
That was my cue. I stopped talking and listened to what the sheriff had to say. Regardless of the intensity of my anger, it wasn’t getting me anywhere.
“I want you two to go home.”
I opened my mouth to speak, but the sheriff held up his hand to shush me. “I’m going to bring a deputy and we’re going to follow you home. I need to talk to Mrs. Blackhawk. Hopefully, we can uncover something that will help us find your mother.”
“But what if she doesn’t remember anything helpful?”
“Then we’ll go from there, but for now, it’s the best we can do.” The sheriff looked over at Billy and said, “I called Captain Waverly at CPD. He’s going to meet us at your house.” He looked back at me. “Our department will work together with his to find your mother. I called in CPD because even though your mother is a resident of Greene County, she was abducted in Charlottesville. They have jurisdiction. The crime was committed in their front yard. The Greene County Sheriff’s Office will offer its support.”
“I don’t care who looks for my mother as long as somebody does. I’m just glad you’re going to help, Sheriff Hudson.”
“That’s my job.”
Ten minutes later, we were on the road headed home. We rode in silence half the way there. Finally, I looked up at Billy as he drove and said, “I’m scared. I feel weird.”
“I guess you do,” he replied. “I imagine all sorts of things are going through your head. I’m surprised you haven’t hit someone… and from the looks of things, if you don’t get home soon and feed your child, you’re going to explode.”
I looked down and noticed the front of my blouse was wet. “Oh, Lord,” I cried. “I’m embarrassed.”
“Don’t be, `ge ya. Mother Nature is telling you that you’re needed somewhere else. When we get home, I want you to take a shower and then go take care of Ethan. You need to calm down or the stress could cause your body to stop producing nourishment for our child. It is something you must do. I will see to your mother’s care. I will make sure she is returned home.”
Billy is Cherokee and when he gets upset he starts talking funny. That worried me more than irritating Mother Nature. If he was talking strangely it was because the situation was out of his control. Billy didn’t like it when people were bad, especially if it affected his family.
“What will you do?” I asked, nervously. If Billy had a plan, I wanted to hear about it.
“I will call my brothers.”
I let out a sigh of relief. Memories of a past rescue mission involving Billy and his brothers came back to me in all its glory. They set out to bring Claire’s children home after her soon-to-be ex-husband, Carl, took them back home to D.C. with the intention of not returning them. Of course, things got a little ugly, and then Billy and Jonathan were hauled off to the police station for a short visit.
Unfortunately, Carl had previously gotten involved with a killer who soon turned her sights on everyone around her. It was a dirty fight, but in the end, we won. This little tidbit lifted my spirits. I could relax. Billy would do as he said. He would find my mother.
“I hope that sigh was one of relief.”
“Oh, it was, Billy. All I needed to hear was yo
ur saying everything was going to be okay. When you say that, I know it will.”
“You can put your faith in me.”
“I always do.”
A few minutes of silence passed. As we came to the stop light at Hydraulic Road, Billy looked over at me and said, “The first person I thought of when we found out about your mother was Daisy.”
“We know she’s not the one who did this. She’s in the hospital.”
“Let’s piece this together.”
“Okay,” I said. “Let’s do what we do best.”
When Billy and I worked on a case and things started getting hairy, like it is now, we’d brainstorm until we could come up with the answer. It usually worked. This time I was too close to be objective, but I was determined to use my proven talent of deductive reasoning to get to the bottom of this situation. I tried to think of this as being someone else. Where would I start? I would start from the beginning.
“We’re talking about the Stanardsville Social Club.”
“It’s time to elect a new club president,” I said.
“Daisy has already admitted to feeding Pat mushrooms she thought would cause her to act weird. The mushrooms didn’t do anything, so even though Daisy thinks she poisoned Pat, she didn’t really. Pat, unfortunately, died from E. coli bacteria. She wasn’t murdered, but she was the start of the domino effect. She fell, and then others around her fell.”
“I’ll try not to imagine my mother in that group of dominos.”
“I’m sorry. I guess I shouldn’t use that expression.”
“Don’t worry. I understand what you mean. Let’s continue.”
“Harriett Shifflett dies from arsenic poisoning which gives us another unsolved murder.”
“Alice cries foul and hires you and my mother to investigate Daisy. Alice gets run off the road and dies in a car accident.”
“June Robinson, the one person who sees the accident goes missing and hasn’t been found.”
“But she’s not a member of the club. She’s collateral damage just like Jonathan. Let’s not forget that he got shot.”
“Kansas Moon breaks into your mother’s house and gets killed.”
“He was more collateral damage. I’m sure he wasn’t supposed to get killed. Someone was using him to get to Mom, but he lost control of the situation. He had lost control of the situation the moment an extra person got involved. That’s where I come in. I put a crimp in the plan. I could’ve been collateral damage, but fortunately, I wasn’t.”
“Your mother has been abducted. She is not collateral damage. Her abduction was intended to get someone’s attention.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Up until now, all evidence pointed to Daisy. Everything fell at her feet, even the death of her own brother.”
“But we know Daisy wasn’t involved in my mother’s abduction. She was in the hospital.”
“That was the abductor’s mistake. Her intended fall guy, or should I say intended fall woman, was incapacitated at the time. That’s what will bring her down. She fouled up this time. Hopefully, we can trap her before she disappears. We have to move quickly.”
“I bet the police have been running around in circles trying to figure out this one. I bet they haven’t even linked any of this together.”
“We’ll find out how much the police know when we get home. All we have to do is ask the right questions.”
“I have a few questions of my own.”
“Jesse, I want you to go home and do what I said. Let me do the talking.”
“You have to be kidding! Do you actually think I’m going to sit back and say nothing?”
“I should’ve known better.”
We turned onto Bear Mountain Road and then made the left onto our driveway. The road seemed to go on forever before we finally pulled up in front of our house.
It had been a long day.
As we got out of the 4Runner and were walking up the front steps, Sheriff Hudson’s car pulled in behind us. Before we could make it through the front door, three Charlottesville police cars pulled in behind him.
“The gang’s all here,” I said.
Sarah met us at the door. She was holding Ethan, who was half-asleep.
I leaned over and kissed his forehead and whispered, “How’s he doing? Has he been a little angel as always?”
“They both were. I was just going to put him down for a nap.”
Billy walked over and kissed Ethan on the cheek. He rubbed the dark hair on his head and said, “You are such a good child. He is a true Cherokee. He will make a fine warrior.”
“I think we’ve talked about this before, Mr. Blackhawk,” I joked. “He’s going to be a doctor.”
“Oh, today he’s going to be a doctor, huh?”
A woman walked down the hall to us. She was holding Maisy. Following behind them both was a man.
“I guess you must be Geneva,” I said. “And you must be her husband, Eli. Glad to meet you both. I’m sorry the circumstances aren’t so good.”
“I’ve been in this family for a long time,” Geneva said. “We’re filled with drama. It’s nothing new to me.”
“Yeah,” Eli agreed.
Eli and I stood eye-to-eye as we greeted each other.
He was a thin man with a small potbelly, and even though his hair was gray, it was plentiful. His darkened skin was a testament to his love for the outdoors, or at least some activity that required one to be outside a lot. His voice was strong, but not loud.
“I see what you mean.” I reached out to Maisy and she instantly held out her arms. I took her and hugged her. I’m going to take a shower,” I said as I handed her back to Geneva. “If you can stay a while, maybe we can get a chance to talk. I want Maisy to know her grandparents, but I’m not ready to go much beyond that for now.”
“I understand,” she said. “Your house is in trouble. You need to see to your home before you have time for me. Do what you have to do. I’m not going anywhere.”
Eli nodded in agreement.
Geneva looked so much like her sister, Sarah. They were both about five feet tall, thin, and had gray hair. Their voices even sounded alike. She seemed like a nice person… and she wasn’t pressuring me. For that I was thankful. Now was not the time to get on my bad side.
I walked to the bedroom as the living room filled with law enforcement people. I closed the door and went straight to the bathroom.
Normally, I would be right out there in the middle of everything, but I was too consumed with a feeling of doom to participate in their conversations. I needed time to myself. As I turned the shower water on, I heard them talking. It sounded like a madhouse. I did my best to tune them out while I stripped down and then jumped in the shower. I sat down in the tub and cried for my mother while the hot water beat down on me.
Chapter 22
After a long and refreshing stand under the pulsating hot water, I finally turned off the spray and stepped out of the tub. I grabbed a towel, dried my body, and then stared at myself in the mirror. Bags had appeared under my eyes. I hadn’t slept well and my waking moments in the middle of the night were long. My sleep pattern had changed from long, uninterrupted hours to periods of short naps. I would sleep for an hour and wake up for as long. Then I’d go back to sleep for another hour. I guess having children to tend to does that to a person. Add that to all the drama in my life and there was no wonder I had bags under my eyes. I sat down on the closed toilet lid with a cold washcloth pressed to my eyes. Hopefully, this would reduce the puffiness. After ten minutes of solitude and a cold rag to my face, I looked in the mirror again. The bags had gone down some, but that wasn’t what bothered me. I saw the reflection of my mother staring back at me. She was holding out her arms, pleading with me to help her. She was in a dark place. Her breathing was labored and she was near death.
My heart began to pound in my chest and I couldn’t catch my breath. I was having a panic attack! I couldn’t let anyone see me like this. I reached d
own in the cabinet under the sink and pulled out the paper bag I kept under there for times such as this. I put the bag up to my mouth and began breathing in through my nose and exhaling through my mouth. I continued with this breathing exercise until I felt my heartbeat slow down. Once I had calmed down, I folded the bag and placed it back in the cabinet. I guess this is better than talking pills, I told myself. At least, it worked.
A light tap on the bathroom door startled me.
“Yes,” I said.
“Are you all right?” Billy asked.
“I’m fine. I’ll be out in a minute.”
I grabbed the robe off the hanger on the back of the door and slipped into it. I wrapped a towel around my head and then opened the door.
Billy stood there smiling.
“What is it?”
“You’re so beautiful.”
“Even with the puffy eyes?”
“Your eyes aren’t puffy.”
“That’s because I had to put a cold compress to them. I look like a train wreck.”
“You look fine. Actually, you look better that fine.”
Billy reached out and wrapped his arms around me. He kissed me gently on the lips.
“Have I told you lately that I love you?”
“Many times,” I whispered. “I’m so lucky to have you.”
“I agree.”
I pulled away from his embrace and walked over to the dresser. As I searched through the drawers looking for something to wear, Billy came up behind me and said, “We’ll find your mother, Jesse. I promise.”
I broke down in tears. My heart ached at the thought of losing my mother. She has been the one stable factor in my life, other than my father. But my father was gone now, and I was determined not to lose my mother.
“My mother’s in a dark place, Billy,” I said. “She called to me. She needs my help.”
“Soon we’ll have the entire police force out looking for her.”
“I’m amazed that they jumped right on this. Usually, they’re slow as molasses in winter when it comes to looking for a missing person.”
“They don’t consider your mom a missing person. She’s been abducted and they’re not too happy that someone disguised as one of their own is the culprit. They put an APB out on the car. Mom said the officer was driving one of the brown cars. It shouldn’t take too long to spot it. Sheriff Hudson is confident his deputies will find your mother, but just in case, I called my brothers. They should be here any minute. You might want to get dressed. I know you want to be in the thick of things, and I don’t blame you. So hurry up and get a move on it.” Billy swatted at my rear end as he smiled and walked out of the room. He closed the door behind him.