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

by Ann Mullen

  Lu Ann’s good at her job. Sheriff Hudson knows it, and he has great respect for her work. He’s mentioned this a few times after she was instrumental in helping to solve a few cases that he was involved in.

  “After Jesse’s incident in my jail, my office looked long and hard into this woman’s background, especially when we discovered that Preston worked for her.”

  “I bet you didn’t find out much about her since there’s not much to find out.”

  “Don’t bet on it, Lu Ann. We know a lot about her.”

  “Then you know she isn’t who she claims to be,” Jonathan said, speaking for the first time since Billy’s announcement that we were going to tell our side of the story. The shock had worn off. “She’s hiding from something, or someone.”

  “Yes, we know that too, but that doesn’t make her a killer. People have been known to change their identities… for whatever reason. There’s no law against that.”

  “Ah, come on, Sheriff Hudson,” I said. “There’s a law against stealing someone’s identity. Why don’t you arrest her for that? You know what’s going on here. We admit to transporting a dead body. That’s all we did. Suppose Preston hadn’t died. All we would’ve been guilty of was giving a guy a lift back to work. The point is, we didn’t kill anyone, and you know it. We’ve had our ups and downs in the past, but you know we’re good people. So, I lied about the shopping trip. Big deal.” I looked over at Billy and then back to the sheriff. “I didn’t know we were going to share.”

  “I ought to arrest all of you right now just for getting in my way, but I’m not going to. You see, I’m the sheriff and I know everything.” He looked directly at me. “I know a lie when I hear one… and I know the truth.”

  “So what do you want from us?” I glared back at him.

  “I want you to stay out of my way and let me do my job! What you did was…”

  “What we did was the right thing to do. We transported a body. That’s all. You can’t arrest us for that.”

  The sheriff walked over to me, and then kicked my foot with his.

  The look of surprise was on everyone’s face… except the cops.

  “You just assaulted a police officer, right deputies?” He didn’t even glance at his guys.

  “Yeah, that’s what I saw, Sheriff,” one of them said.

  “Me, too,” the other agreed.

  Sheriff Hudson kept his stare on me. “I could arrest you for that.” He stepped closer to my face. “And here, all this time, I thought we were best friends.”

  Memories of the time when Sheriff Hudson saved my mom from a crazed killer came flooding back. I told him then that I’d be forever in his debt, and would love and worship him forever. I guess he’s felt cheated since that day, and he’d have every reason to. He was right. I hadn’t given the man the respect he deserved, and I surely haven’t been a good girl like I promised to be. Old habits never cease. They just lie around and fester, waiting to resurface.

  He stepped back and took a deep breath. “I have a headache, and I’m tired.” He rubbed his head.

  “I can get you an aspirin,” I butted in. I guess I was feeling badly about the way I had treated him since the incident. He had saved my mother from certain death, and in return, I’d done nothing but drive him crazy. Or… maybe I was just trying to sound sincere.

  “I don’t want an aspirin! I want the truth!”

  “We’ve told you the truth! You need to get your men out looking for that woman before she kills someone else… and next time, it’ll probably be one of us.”

  That statement rang true. Before skipping town, Dakota had a few loose ends to tie up—us. We’d ruined her thriving business and put her on the run. She’d be out for revenge.

  “If what you’ve told me turns out to be false, I’ll have all of you in my jail by morning. If you’ve left out one little detail, you’re done.” He looked at me. “And that includes your mother.”

  “Leave her out of it,” I demanded. “My mother knows nothing of this.”

  “Now, see…” Sheriff Hudson shook his head at me again. “I know that’s a lie.”

  Billy waved me off.

  “You have something to add, Billy? You say you didn’t blow up a building and you didn’t kill anyone, so what’s left?”

  “Sheriff, there is one other thing you need to know.”

  Oh, no! Billy was going to tell the sheriff that mom had shot Preston in the foot. It was one important thing that hadn’t come up so far, and I wanted to keep it that way. After the explosion, there was probably nothing left of Preston anyway. The cops would never find out… would they?

  “No, Billy, it’s irrelevant.”

  “No need for secrets now.”

  “God…” the sheriff moaned.

  I could tell by the look on his face that he didn’t want to hear what was coming next. What else had we done that he didn’t know about? I’m sure that’s what he was asking himself.

  “You always save the best for last. Jesse’s begging you not to tell me, so it must be about her mother. What did Minnie do? Please don’t tell me she shot somebody.”

  “As you know, Minnie hasn’t taken this well. Jesse was brutalized in your jail and then Eddie was almost killed. At his age, there’s no telling how long it’ll take for him to be back to his old self.” Billy looked over at Eddie. “No offense, Eddie, but you’re not a kid anymore and you did take a pretty bad beating.”

  “None taken.” Eddie smiled.

  “Enough!” Sheriff Hudson said. “Where’s this going, Billy? Did she shoot Gavin Preston? Is that what you’re trying to tell me?” He didn’t give Billy a chance to say anything. He just shook his head in that usual manner of his. “I’m going to have to arrest her.” He looked over at me. “I blame you for this.”

  “Me? Why me?”

  “Because you’re the one who dragged her into your little criminal enterprises.”

  “I resent that!”

  “And now she’s gone and killed someone! I hope you’re happy!”

  “Stop!” Billy said, stepping between the sheriff and me as if he was trying to break up an argument between two kids. “Minnie didn’t shoot Preston… well, she did, but it’s not what you think. She shot him in the foot.”

  “What?”

  “We gave her a tranquilizer, and she went temporarily insane,” I said, defending my mother. “I’m sure you’re well aware that no jury, if it came to that, would ever find my mother guilty… under the circumstances.”

  Surprisingly, the sheriff chuckled and stepped back. “An eye for an eye, huh?”

  “That’s exactly what Mom said!” I smiled.

  “You people are crazy.”

  “Does that mean you believe us?”

  “What he’s saying, Jesse,” Billy surmised. “Video surveillance from somewhere picked up on us entering the building, and shortly afterwards, the building exploded. It’s all on tape somewhere, right, Sheriff?”

  “Correct.”

  “And in this video, it must show me and Dakota behind the building. It should also show her dropping the detonator and then running off.”

  “We have it. Forensics is checking for prints.”

  “You wanted to question us about the death of Gavin Preston, so you’d have a head’s up,” Jonathan added. “You’ll know when the autopsy comes back whether or not we’re lying. If we are, you’ll be back for us, and if we’re not… then what? By the time all the results are in, Dakota Stone and Olivia Swales will be in Brazil, setting up shop again. If you don’t get a move on, she’ll get away just like…”

  “Just like Vera did,” the sheriff admitted with a sad look on his face. “I was wrong then, but I won’t be this time.”

  Vera was Savannah Kelly’s housekeeper/assistant/friend, that is, until she turned out to be one of the bad guys. She slipped through the clutches of Sheriff Hudson and his deputies. Vera Brown was the one who got away. The sheriff would never forget that.

  “I know y
’all didn’t bomb the building.” He looked at Jonathan. “If you had, there wouldn’t be anything left. Now that I’m somewhat convinced one of you didn’t kill Preston, my efforts will be focused on finding Dakota Stone and Olivia Swales.”

  “It’s about time!” I hissed. I started to tell the sheriff that we could prove part of our story, because we still had Preston’s car, but thought better of it. He should’ve asked.

  “One other thing,” Sheriff Hudson said. “Where’s the other guy?”

  “He’s resting from his wound,” Mom said, walking into the room. “He’s a good man. He saved Eddie’s life, and he got shot in the leg trying to protect us.”

  “Mom!”

  “She’s talking about the incident in the hospital parking lot,” Sheriff Hudson said, looking at me. “Like I said before—I’m the sheriff. I know everything. I need a name.”

  “Find out for yourself,” Mom said. “We’re not giving him up.”

  “Oh, Minnie. I already know who he is. I just wanted to see if you’d tell me the truth. I’m disappointed in you.”

  “I’m afraid it won’t be the last time.”

  I chuckled and then tried to move onto another subject quickly. “If you know so much then why haven’t you caught the guy who shot at us?”

  “Because he’s dead, burned up in an explosion.” After a second, the sheriff grinned. “I guess Preston said he didn’t do anything, huh?”

  “What does it matter now?” Billy asked. “What’s done is done. You need to concentrate on apprehending the Stone woman and her sidekick.”

  “That’s my plan, and I want all of you to stay out of it.”

  “But we can help,” I said. “How many times have we come through for you?”

  “Yeah, but at what cost? Bodies start piling up when you’re around.”

  “Bull.”

  “You’re like little kids fighting,” Mom interrupted, looking at me and then at the sheriff. “Why don’t you two play nice?” She stared back at the sheriff. “I think there might be something to what Jesse said a little while ago. That woman’s coming back for one of us. She has to. It would be her ultimate revenge… to at least take one of us out.”

  “That thought crossed my mind,” the sheriff said, and then looked over at me. “See, Jesse, I do listen to you sometimes.” Then he looked at Billy and Jonathan. “No one leaves your compound tonight. No helicopter rides, no grocery store visits… nothing. I’ll post a couple of my men on the grounds… for your protection.”

  “We don’t need your men,” Jonathan said. “They’d be more useful to you on the streets.”

  “Oh, that’s right,” the sheriff replied. “I forgot you have this whole place hotwired. Pretty fancy setup you have. Like you’re ready for the apocalypse.”

  “Just can’t keep a secret anymore, can you? What’s this world coming to?”

  “I wouldn’t be doing my job if I didn’t post some guys. There’s a possible threat of retaliation, and I know it. I have to do my best to make sure that doesn’t happen.”

  “If you insist, but we can take care of our own.”

  “That’s what I’m afraid of. I want this woman alive. Let my guys do their jobs.”

  “I’m sorry to interrupt,” Mom said, “but the kids need to go home. They’re exhausted.”

  “I think we’re finished for now,” Sheriff Hudson said. He looked at Billy. “Take your family home, stay there, and be safe. My men will be on watch.”

  “And so will we,” Jonathan added.

  I raised my hand. “Whoa… wait a minute, Sheriff. That’s it? You ask us a few questions and we answer them to your satisfaction somewhat, and then you just walk away? No way. It was too easy. Other than harassing us, what’s the real reason you’re here?”

  From the look on Sheriff Hudson’s face, he did have something left to say… something he dreaded talking about.

  Somebody must’ve died.

  Somebody we know.

  “Let me take a stab at it. You have something very uncomfortable to tell us, but you’re not going to, unless we ask, so… I’m going to ask. Who was the person they found in the dryer?”

  “I was hoping you wouldn’t ask, but since you did.” The sheriff paused as if he really hated to say what he was about to. “I wanted to tell you before you heard it on the news.”

  “Who was it?”

  “It was Savannah Kelly.”

  Chapter 10

  The room took on an ominous silence. Everyone gasped at the news. With tears in her eyes, Mom asked the sheriff, “Is she… is she dead like they said on the news? They said the cops found a dead body in the clothes dryer.”

  Sheriff Hudson walked over to Mom, put his hand on her shoulder and said, “Don’t believe everything you hear on the news, Minnie. I don’t have an update, but the last I was told is that she’s alive.”

  “Well, find out! You’re the sheriff. You said you know everything, now make a call and find out how she’s doing!”

  There was no way he was going to get out of making that call. Mom would see to it. He wasn’t leaving until he got an answer for her. That was her way. First, she’d ask, and if that didn’t work (which it usually did), then she’d plead in her own special way, and… if that didn’t work, she’d go into one of her lectures. I could see one coming on.

  “You might as well take the time and make the call, Sheriff. You know how my mother is. Savannah is like a daughter to her, not the good one like me, but still…”

  “Okay,” Sheriff Hudson said as he pulled out his cell phone. He looked up at Mom. “I don’t usually do this, but I’m going to for you, Minnie. I know how much you care about Savannah. That’s why I didn’t want to tell you. So… prepare yourself. The news might not be good. I’ll be right back.” He motioned to his men, and then the three of them walked outside.

  “I’m shocked,” I said, looking around at everyone. “How… why…”

  “I have a theory,” Lu Ann said, glancing over at Mom. “Isn’t Savannah the one who first told you about The Body Shop?”

  Mom hesitated for a second. “She told Sarah about it, and then Sarah told me. I went there once, but I refused to pay that much money. My body can do just fine without that place.”

  “Savannah’s friends come into the picture, and then trouble lands on Dakota Stone’s doorstep. Minnie, you said Savannah told y’all that Dakota checks everyone out before they’re allowed to join, right?”

  “I don’t remember if she told me or if it was…”

  “My point is, most people have a small circle of close friends. Oh, they might know a lot of people, but there’s only a few they consider real friends.” Lu Ann then spread her arms out as if to emphasize her point. “Y’all are Savannah’s circle of friends.”

  “I see what you mean,” Mom said, looking around at our faces. “Private investigators, a bounty hunter, a profiler… and let’s not forget Savannah’s dating a Greene County deputy. All of her friends are in law enforcement or connected to law enforcement in one way or another.”

  “Yeah, but why Savannah Kelly?” Jonathan asked. “She’s a famous writer. Killing her off would cause a real stink with the press. The cops would never give up chasing down her killer. The public wouldn’t allow it. High profile people attract attention, and the media would demand answers. Why not pick one of us instead?”

  “I know where Lu Ann’s coming from,” Billy said. “We’re Savannah’s friends, and when Mae Bridges came to us with her accusations, we started investigating The Body Shop. That’s what got the ball rolling. So… in Dakota’s mind, she traced the blame back to Savannah and tossed her in as an appetizer.”

  “Dakota Stone expected us to die in that building,” Jonathan added. “We’d be blamed for everything. If it had gone as planned, she’d be at the Greene County Sheriff’s Office right now, accusing us of murder and God only knows what else. Then, she’d leave town, and start all over again.”

  “But how did she know we’
d go there?” I asked. “She knew Preston was going to die, and she might have even suspected, or known, he was coming to see us, but how did she know we’d dump his body at her shop once he was dead?”

  “She’s sharp,” Lu Ann said. “I hate to say it, but she’d make a good profiler. I think she can read people well.”

  “You mean read their minds?” Mom asked. “Oh, come on, Lu Ann. You don’t believe in…”

  “No, I mean she’s good at sizing up a person.”

  “All I can say is, I’m glad Shark got a bad feeling about that place when he did,” Jonathan said, “otherwise, a few of us wouldn’t be standing in this room right now.”

  “And thanks for a time-delayed bomb,” I said. “I bet that really ticked her off. She should’ve gotten you to build it for her. It would’ve been a lot more powerful, and it would’ve gone off instantly. We’d all be history… and so would Dakota.” I laughed nervously for a second, and then added, “That wasn’t even funny. I don’t know why I said that.”

  Billy shook his head. “She’ll make a mistake. They always do.”

  Sheriff Hudson tapped on the door, and then walked in. “All I can tell you for now is that Savannah’s alive.”

  “Oh, thank God!” Mom said, relieved. “I’m so glad!”

  “She’s hurt pretty bad, Minnie. The doctors don’t know if she’ll make it, but they’re doing their best to see to it that she does. That’s all I know.” He looked around the room at us. “I can’t help but notice the silence and the look on your faces. Too much confidence. What changed in the ten minutes I was gone?”

  Billy explained our suspicions, and for once, the sheriff said it made sense. The evidence was consistent with our story.

  “We should be able to lift a fingerprint from the detonator.”

  “It’ll be too late by the time the results come in,” I said. He ignored my remark again.

  “Don’t think any of you are off the hook for your part in this mess. Dumping a body and shooting someone in the foot.” He looked at Mom. “I can’t believe you did that.”