The Prey Bites Back: A Jesse Watson Mystery Book #8

by Ann Mullen

  “Lu Ann,” Helene said. “I’m confused. Is he a hit man, serial killer, or just a guy who got involved with the wrong woman? What kind of profile is this?”

  “I’m just telling you what I’ve come up with on Preston. It’s not like you see on TV, Helene. Profilers base their profile on facts and information they piece together, but here, all we have is a man with a clean background until he got locked up and then beat up a couple of people, and two women with no background. What we can be sure of is that Preston viciously attacked Jesse and Eddie, and that proves he’s dangerous.”

  “Our guys will put him in the dirt,” I said.

  “We can handle that,” Jonathan said. He looked over at Billy. “Just say the word.”

  “Whatever you plan to do,” Lu Ann warned, “do it fast, before Preston’s assaults escalate into something worse. He could be coming unhinged.”

  “So, he’s not a killer yet, he just likes to beat up people. Is that what you’re saying?”

  “I think Dakota killed those men, he knows about it, and maybe he likes it. Most likely, it’s some kind of release for him.”

  “Dakota?” I said, having my doubts. “She’s too prim and proper…”

  “Anyone can pull off a murder in a crowd,” Lu Ann interrupted. “A gunshot goes off and people scatter. The only one left is the dead person, and no one saw a thing.”

  “What about cameras?” Helene asked. “They’re everywhere nowadays.”

  “There’re always blind spots,” Lu Ann replied.

  A knock at the door startled us.

  “Gotta hang up,” Jonathan said. “I’ll call you back.”

  Billy opened the door and Mom walked in. “I came out and y’all were gone. You scared me. I thought you had left us here by ourselves.”

  “How’s Eddie?” I asked. “Is he going to be all right?”

  “Preston went easy on him. It could’ve been much worse. His face is busted up and he has bruises on his body, but no broken bones, no internal damage.”

  “So now he looks like me,” I said, jokingly. Then a thought hit me. “Is he alone?”

  “Just for a minute…”

  Jonathan looked at Shark and said, “Go!”

  Mom let go of Shark’s shirt and he quickly took off.

  “Can Eddie leave the hospital?” Billy asked, looking at Mom. “We need to get out of here.”

  “Yes, as soon as they finish the paperwork.”

  “Let’s go get him out of here!” Jonathan demanded.

  Mom had a strange look on her face, but didn’t hesitate when Billy grabbed her hand. “Y’all are really scaring me now,” she said. “Is Eddie still in danger?”

  “We all are, Mom. We need to get to safety and stay there until the guys can find Preston.”

  We briskly walked the corridor in a tight little group, until we reached Eddie. Shark had already gotten Eddie into a wheelchair and was heading toward us.

  “Where are you taking him?” a nurse asked. “He can’t leave without the doctor’s…”

  Dr. Bryant walked up just in time. “It’s okay, Miss Fowler. I’ll handle this.”

  “Sorry, Doc,” Billy said. “But we have to leave right now.”

  “Someone in danger again?” He didn’t wait for an answer. If trouble was close by, he wanted us out of his emergency room. “Go ahead and leave,” he replied. “I’ll handle the paperwork.” He looked over at Eddie. “Aspirin ought to help out with the pain, but if not, get this filled.” He handed the prescription slip to Mom and was about to say something else, but Shark escorted her and Eddie out before the doctor had a chance.

  “Slow down, Shark. He’s in a lot of pain,” Mom demanded. She looked at him as he pushed the wheelchair a little too fast for her liking. “He could get hurt worse than he already is.”

  We didn’t bother to wait for the SUVs to be brought around. We high-tailed it out into the parking lot. Shark, the behemoth, guarded our backs, while Billy and Jonathan carried Eddie. We were in a mad rush, making a fast dash to the cars. No one slowed down.

  We were scrambling to get in the SUVs when a gunshot went off, dropping Shark to his knees.

  “I’m all right!” Shark yelled. “Got me in the leg.”

  Billy and Jonathan grabbed him under his armpits, dragged him into the SUV, and after I jumped in, Jonathan slammed the door. I drove while Billy tended to Shark’s leg wound. Eddie, Mom, Helene, and Jonathan followed us in the other vehicle.

  Two black SUVs hauling butt down Rt. 29 gets everyone’s attention. They must’ve thought we had the President of the United States in one of them, because they all got out of our way.

  The shooter didn’t pursue us. Gavin Preston had failed to kill his target again. What ever would Dakota say? I was still under the assumption that Preston was a hit man, but after listening to Lu Ann, I didn’t know what to think anymore. Could Dakota Stone possibly be the killer?

  I figured we’d head home and plan our strategy for capturing Gavin Preston, and then beating the truth out of him, but when we entered the Blackhawk Compound, Billy told me to turn into Jonathan’s driveway.

  “We can’t go to Jonathan’s house!” I said, looking back at him. “Our kids are there. What if Preston’s following us?”

  “We need to talk,” Billy said, seriously. “There’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you.”

  “And you’re picking now to tell me? Right in the middle of outrunning bullets?”

  This didn’t sound good. Billy’s tone meant only one thing—someone else had died—or so I thought.

  “There’s a bunker under Jonathan’s hangar, and the Blackhawk property is now protected by laser beam security system.”

  “That’s all?” I asked, relieved. “I thought you were going to tell me someone else had been murdered.” It took a few seconds for Billy’s confession to sink in. “I get the thing about the bunker. I suspected that all along.” I glanced in the back seat at Billy again. “What I don’t understand is the alien beam from outer space thingy. How does that work?” I couldn’t help but laugh. “Do we have little green men in spaceships patrolling the compound?”

  After what just happened, I wasn’t thinking straight. If I had been, I would’ve known what Billy was talking about. Instead, I acted like an idiot, spouting off about spaceships and little green men. What a putz.

  “I’m sorry, Billy. I’m not myself. People getting killed does that to me. When did you put in the system, and why didn’t you tell me?”

  “Months ago,” Billy replied. “I didn’t say anything because I didn’t want to alarm everyone. After the bunker and hangar were complete, it was the next logical thing to do.”

  “How far does the beam go? All around the property?”

  “Let’s just say that we’re covered.”

  “We’re all safe in our tight little circle. Now we really can call this place a compound. It’s a fortress. Where’s the main location for the security system? In the bunker! Of course! That’s the perfect place. I can’t wait to see it!”

  “You’re not mad that I didn’t tell you?”

  “I didn’t say that.”

  I drove down the hill behind the hangar as Billy instructed, and pulled up close to what appeared to be garage doors leading to a basement under the hangar. The doors automatically opened, and we filed in. The doors closed with a loud clank. I felt like I was in a James Bond movie. I’d seen bunkers like this before on TV, but had never been in a real one. It was amazing.

  I stepped out of the Hummer and looked around. I expected the bunker to be a mass of cinderblocks, concrete and steel, drab in color and cold, but it wasn’t. The garage floor was concrete like any other garage floor, but the walls had been finished off and painted a warm cream color, with dark stained baseboard trim that matched the interior doors. Once we went through the door on the left, the décor was also pleasing as if we were entering someone’s house, not just a bunker. The walls were painted the same cream color as the garage
and had the same trim. The only things missing were pictures hanging on the walls. I was going to ask Jonathan what he needed with a house when he had this place, but he was busy taking Shark somewhere. My guess was that he had a medical room down here. Everyone followed him. Billy was helping Eddie hobble along with Mom holding onto his shirt.

  I seriously thought about calling Lila to get a Xanax for Mom, but I didn’t want to drag her into our mess. Mom was scared and her husband had been brutalized. She could use a tranquilizer right about now. I pulled Helene over to the side and asked, “Got any drugs in that purse?”

  “Just some aspirin,” she replied. “Why?”

  “Mom needs to be tranquilized. She’s a wreck. Look at her. I’ve never seen her like this.”

  “On the ride over here Minnie said something to Jonathan about getting Eddie’s prescription filled, but he told her not to worry because he had something for his pain at his Reboot Center, so maybe he has something for her.”

  “Reboot Center?”

  “Seems he has a trauma room down here. They call it a Reboot Center because that’s where they go to get fixed up and reboot. Kind of like a computer. Patch up and go back to work. Yeah, it seems Jonathan has everything you need right here to survive a nuclear attack.”

  “Hope he isn’t expecting one.”

  “No,” Helene replied. “He expects a collapse in the economy. What do you think he means by that, Jesse?”

  “I don’t want to think about it.” And I didn’t, so I brushed that thought aside. I had enough to worry about.

  The second door on the left was the Reboot Center, it said so on a brass plate, and as we entered, I could see why Jonathan had named it that. The room was equipped with everything you’d see at an emergency room. It even had an x-ray machine overhead.

  “Wow!” I said, impressed. “Who needs a hospital when you have this? All you need now is a doctor.”

  “That would be me,” Jonathan said as he helped Shark up on the table.

  Billy led Mom to a seat off to the side. “Sit here, Minnie. I need to help Jonathan.”

  Mom complied. The rest of us stood out of the way and watched as Jonathan and Billy helped Shark. Billy grabbed a pair of scissors and started cutting Shark’s pants while Jonathan went to a cabinet and unlocked it. He grabbed a bottle of pills, walked over to Eddie, and offered him one for his pain.

  “I’m okay,” Eddie said, declining his offer. He looked at Mom. “Got anything for her in that cabinet? She’s very distraught.”

  “I’m fine!” Mom said. “I don’t need anything.”

  “Yes, she does,” I agreed. “Unless you want her to flip out. Look at her hands. They’re shaking like a leaf on a windy day.”

  Jonathan walked back to the cabinet and then returned with a different bottle. “They’re very mild,” he said to Mom. “I promise you won’t get addicted. Just take one, okay?”

  “If you say so.” Mom took the pill and washed it down with the glass of water I’d fetched for her. “But if I start acting crazy, I don’t want to hear a word about it.”

  Once Shark’s pants had been cut, exposing the gunshot wound, Jonathan said, “Anyone with a weak stomach might want to leave now.”

  Blood was running from an open gash in Shark’s leg. That was enough for me. I walked to the door and started to leave the room.

  “Perhaps we all should leave,” I said. “We’ll go see the kids.”

  “Eddie can’t walk and I’m not leaving him,” Mom said.

  “I’ll be fine, Minnie,” Eddie said. “I’ll sit right here. Go with Jesse.”

  “Take a left,” Jonathan said. “The hallway leads to the house basement.”

  I grabbed the doorknob and opened it at the same time the door across from us opened, and a man walked out.

  The man didn’t look like he belonged in Jonathan’s group of butt-kicking, cutthroat, body smashing guys. Instead, he looked more like someone who manned the security system or ran errands. He was five-eight, weighed about one-sixty, and his muscles didn’t bulge. And, he was Mexican. How destructive could he be considering his size? Another guy walked out behind him. He, too, was Mexican, same size, same dark, curly hair and dark skin. The only difference between the two that I could see was that one wore small, round glasses. Neither one looked like they could hurt a fly, but I’ve learned that looks can be deceiving. Perhaps, that was the case here.

  Both men were speaking rapidly in Spanish, arms flailing, eyes bulging. I wasn’t sure about anyone else, but I couldn’t understand a word they were saying. However, the look on their faces was undeniable. Something urgent needed attention.

  Jonathan stepped into the hallway. “Speak English,” he said, and then went on to quickly introduce them to us. “Meet Gator and Mason. They monitor everything that goes on, but don’t let their size fool you.” Jonathan looked directly at me. “I know what you’re thinking, but you’re wrong. They’re just as tough as the rest of us. They’re fast and can snap a neck with the best of them.”

  “I didn’t say anything.”

  “We’ve been monitoring Gavin Preston’s cell phone location by GPS,” Mason the guy with the glasses said. “He just pulled onto Bear Mountain Road.”

  “Intercept him,” Jonathan commanded, motioning to Mason and Gator. “Bring him here.”

  Both men turned and took off down the hall to the garage.

  Jonathan spun around to Billy and said, “Get them out of here. Take them to the house until I tell you everything is secure.” He looked over at Eddie. “He can stay with us.”

  Billy rushed us down the hall as fast as he could. Mom didn’t want to leave Eddie behind, but Billy assured her he would be in good hands.

  “I want to be here when they catch Gavin Preston. I want to give him a piece of my mind,” Mom said to Billy.

  “You’ll get your chance, but for now, we’ve got to get out of here, Minnie, so please move a little faster.”

  “The kids,” I whispered to Billy as we climbed the basement steps to the house. “I hope they don’t freak out when they see me. The last time I came home with a black eye, Maisy cried and Ethan looked at me funny.”

  “They know pain when they see it,” Billy said. “You can’t shield them from life, `ge ya. They can deal with a few bruises as long as they know you’re still here. I have talked to both of them. They just want to see their mommy.”

  What a good man.

  Twenty minutes later, Billy got a call on his cell phone. Mason the Mexican with glasses was on his way over to the house to guard Lu Ann and the kids while Gator, Jonathan, and a patched up Shark had Preston under control in the bunker. That’s what Billy said when he got off the phone.

  “Let’s go!” Mom demanded, and was the first one to head to the door. “I have a few things to say to that man!”

  “Wait a min…” Billy started to say, but was interrupted.

  “Don’t tell me to wait, Billy Blackhawk. You said I would get a chance to speak my peace, and I’m going to!”

  “Mom, please don’t go,” I begged. “Let the guys handle him.”

  “I’m not going to do anything stupid. I just want to see the man who has caused us so much pain.”

  Helene got up and started to follow.

  “Where do you think you’re going?” Billy asked, defiantly.

  “Hey, today I heard Minnie cuss for the first time ever. There’s no way I’m going to miss this.”

  “Okay,” Billy said, looking frustrated. “But everyone stays behind me. Am I clear?”

  “Gotcha,” Mom agreed. “You’re the man. You lead the way.”

  “You don’t have to worry about me,” Helene said. “I don’t want to get near that guy. I just want to hear Minnie cuss him out.”

  “I’m not going to cuss…”

  “Come on,” Billy interrupted. “If y’all are coming, let’s go.”

  The four of us made our way down to the stairs and hallway to a different room.

  “
Here,” Billy pointed. “They’re in here.” The door clicked, and he opened it making sure the rest of us stayed behind him as he entered.

  The room was completely empty, except for the chair Gavin Preston was sitting in. He was bound at the feet and his hands were tied behind his back. He had been beaten and looked pretty bad. Blood ran from his face. His head hung down in defeat. Jonathan and Shark stood on either side of him.

  “How does it feel?” I asked, hatefully. “Not so good, huh?”

  All of a sudden, Mom stepped out in front of us, pulled a small handgun from her purse, and then shot Gavin Preston in the foot. “The Bible says an eye for an eye. That’s for hurting Jesse and Eddie.”

  Gavin Preston screamed from the pain; Mom had gotten her revenge.

  Sometimes, you can only push a person so far, even a good-hearted one like my mother.

  Chapter 8

  Mom stuck her little handgun back in her purse, slipped the straps of the purse back over her forearm and crossed her arms as if nothing had happened. “What?” she asked, looking around the room. “He got what he deserved.”

  I was dumbfounded, as was everyone else. My sweet, God-loving, Southern Baptist mother had turned into one of us. I guess you can only push a person so far.

  “Hand it over, Minnie,” Billy demanded, “before you shoot someone else.”

  “I can’t believe you just shot the guy,” Helene gushed. “You got more guts than …”

  I grabbed the purse from her, pulled out the gun and handed it to Billy. “Mom, have you lost your mind? Where’d you get this gun?”

  “Your dad bought it for me when we moved here. It’s only a twenty-two. It’s a bee sting compared to the monsters you guys carry. Besides, I didn’t want to kill him… just cause him pain like he caused you and Eddie. It’s not as if I shot him with that big gun Billy gave me.”

  “Trust me, Mom. He’s in pain. Look at him.”