“What do you think, Billy?”
I asked.
He made a few grunting
noises, blew out his breath, and turned to look at Mom. “Do you have any idea
where this came from? I mean, where the dogs were before they brought it to
you?”
“I heard them barking way
off in the woods behind the house. The next thing I knew, they were on the
porch. You need to ask Claire. She saw them running across the yard.”
“That’s right,” Claire
said. She moved a little closer to Billy. “I was sitting at the kitchen table
when I saw Athena and Thor come running out of the woods. Thor had something in
his mouth, and Athena was chasing after him, barking like crazy. I went to the
front door, and Thor dropped it at my feet. I almost died. Between Mom and I,
we managed to pick it up with a pair of tongs and lay it on the washing
machine. That’s when we called you, but all we got was your recording. We
didn’t know what to do except close the doors to the utility room, and wait.”
As usual, Billy took
control of the situation. He told Mom to bring him a Zip-lock bag so we could
preserve any trace evidence. “The sooner we get this thing on ice, the quicker
we can slow down further decomposition. The temperature inside this house is
working against us. We have to keep it cold. Call the sheriff, Jesse, and let
me talk to him.”
Mom retrieved a plastic bag
for Billy while I made the phone call. Claire sat down at the kitchen table,
away from the hand, and lit a cigarette. She offered me one, which I gladly
took, and started puffing away. It seems old habits die hard.
By the time I got through
the dispatcher to the sheriff, Billy had the hand safely tucked away in the
refrigerator—against the loud protests of Mom and Claire. They just couldn’t
fathom the idea of putting a human’s body part in the refrigerator.
“We can’t put it outside,”
Billy explained. “One of the neighborhood dogs might come along and carry it
away. What about the wild animals roaming the woods? There are more of them out
there than you can possibly imagine. This time of year they’ll do anything to
fill their bellies. They’re hungry, and there’s not much food. I’m sorry, but
you ladies need to realize that you have a crucial piece of evidence. We have
to do everything we can to see that it gets the proper care until the
authorities take possession. Besides, it’s sealed up, for heaven’s sake. What’s
the big deal? They put bodies in the freezer at the morgue.” He chuckled to
himself as he gave the refrigerator a gentle tap.
Mom and Claire flinched.
I snickered, then handed
him the phone. “Sheriff Hudson is on the line.”
Wake
Hudson
is our
newly elected sheriff and has been in office barely two weeks. Rumor was that
although Wake Hudson was quite young for the job, the citizens of
Greene
County
refused
to go another round with the old sheriff. Innuendo of drug use and pay-offs to
public officials ranked high on the list of bad behavior, and those were just
some of the complaints. However, those were also the same complaints made about
other men who had held that position in the past.
Some people say the old
sheriff cleaned up the town, but made a lot of enemies along the way. They also
said the rumors were a bunch of lies—lies spread by envious, jealous, no-good
bible thumpers and flag burners who wanted to ruin the reputation of a good
man. Either way, Wake Hudson now had the job. I guess you just can’t please
everybody.
I hadn’t paid much
attention to the rumor mill. I’d been busy going to night school at the
community college in
Charlottesville
for the last two months to get my private eye’s
license—something Billy and Cole had insisted upon. I’ve had my sister Claire
to deal with, and we won’t even go into how the situation with my brother Jack
and his partner, Dennis, has affected us. In August, Athena was bitten in the
face by a copperhead, and even though Chief Blackhawk and his wife, Sarah,
rushed out in the middle of the night to attend to her, she hasn’t been the
same. She sleeps a lot, and is scared of her own shadow. So between my move to
the mountains and what has happened to me since I got here, the happenings of a
small town sheriff’s department didn’t seem important—until now.
“Hello,
this is Billy Blackhawk. We have a situation here.”
That phone call
stirred
up a hornet’s nest
.
By the time Billy hung up, we had every deputy in
Greene
County
at our
doorstep. Ten minutes later, Sheriff Hudson arrived.
By then, Mom and Claire
were in a tizzy, and I wasn’t a happy camper. Accusations flew, and when one of
the deputies asked Mom if either one of our dogs had ever attacked anyone, I
went ballistic.
“Just what are you trying
to say?” I screamed, throwing my hands up in the air. “Are you blaming this on
our dogs? Are you out of your mind? They wouldn’t hurt a fly.”
“Ma’am, we’re just trying
to get to the facts,” the deputy replied. “We have to cover all the bases.”
“Well, I don’t like what
you’re implying. Can’t you see we’re all pretty upset, and now you’re blaming
this mess on our dogs?”
Sheriff Hudson stepped in.
“I’ll take over from here.” He motioned for the deputy to step aside. “I’m
sorry, ma’am. He’s just doing his job. We’re well aware of how upsetting this
is, but we need every bit of information we can get. The only way we can get it
is by asking questions.”
“My name is Jesse. Please
don’t refer to me as ma’am.”
“Of course,” he replied,
showing a beautiful set of perfect white teeth. It was then that I noticed how
good-looking he was. His blue eyes were the shade of a cloud just before a
thunderstorm and his blond hair had a nice tapered cut. He wore the same brown
pants and tan shirt as the other officers, but he was much smaller than they
were. I guessed him to be around 5’10", 165 lbs., and somewhere in his
late thirties. I wondered if he was married. I didn’t see a ring on his finger.
Billy must have sensed my
endorphins kicking into high gear. He walked over to join in the conversation.
He gently nudged me aside, giving me one of those looks he gives me when his
patience has run out.
“What?” I asked, playing
dumb.
“Where do we go from here,
Sheriff Hudson?” Billy asked, ignoring me. “I know these dogs and I can tell
you, they’re all bark and no bite.”
“That’s weird,” I butted
in, looking at Billy. “Did you notice that when the police arrived, Athena and
Thor didn’t move from that corner? They didn’t even bark. You know they bark
when the clouds move or the wind blows. Look at them. They know something. I
bet if I turned them loose, they would lead us right to where they found the
hand.”
All eyes turned toward the
culprits. They didn’t give us a second glance.
Sheriff Hudson ran his hand
through his hair and scratched the back of his head. “You might have something
there, Miss Watson.” He walked over to the two officers standing by the door,
whispered something, and then walked back. They in turn, walked outside. “My
deputies are gearing up for the search. But for now, they’re going to cordon
off the area and wait for us. We have three units on site, and another three on
the way. Before I call in Search and Rescue, I’d like to give your idea a try.
Do you think you could get your dogs to cooperate?”
“I’ll see what I can do,” I
said and smiled.
Billy looked at me as if he
wanted to slap my face, but I ignored him. If he was angry with me for
something, I was sure he’d let me know later. If that look was jealousy in his
eyes, well, he deserved it. He had stressed me out enough lately by being too
friendly with Claire and now it was about time he got a dose of his own
medicine. Besides, why would it bother him if I flirted with someone? All of
this raced through my head as I gathered my wits. What was I thinking? This
wasn’t the time or the place to be thinking these thoughts. I had to pull
myself together.
“Just give me a minute to
change into something warm.”
I left them to their
planning while I ran upstairs to get dressed. I put on a white, turtleneck
sweater and a pair of black ski pants, and finished off the outfit with a pair
of heavy-duty snow boots. I grabbed my red, down, hooded coat, and matching
gloves. I was ready for any kind of weather. At least I was color-coordinated.
As a matter-of-fact, I looked like a pack of Marlboro cigarettes. By the time I
returned downstairs, everyone except Claire had their coats on and was waiting
for me. I walked up to Mom with a look of surprise on my face.
“I sure hope you don’t
think you’re going with us, do you? It’s about twenty degrees outside, and
there’s probably ten inches of snow on the ground. There’s no way I’m going to
let you go out in the freezing cold and tromp through that mess.”
“I beg your pardon
,
Missy,
but this is my property, and I’ll do what I please. Your dad is not here to run
this place, but if he were, he would be right out there with the rest of them.
It’s my responsibility now. If you don’t mind, kindly step aside. You seem to
forget that I’m an old
Carolina
girl. I can handle just about anything.” She made a
motion as if to dismiss me. “I’m going, my dear.”
I was dumbfounded. Mom had
never been the pushy, take-charge type of person. For most of her life she had
lived in the shadow of her husband. He was the head of the household and was
awarded the respect he deserved. She was the housewife who supported his every
decision. Once Dad died, she was determined to take over his responsibilities
and do what was best for her family. This brought out a whole different
personality in her. She became aggressive and quickly learned how to take
control of a situation. I’ve also noticed that she now has the uncanny ability
to reach out and jerk one of us around—without doing a thing. She’s barely five
feet tall and weighs about 160 lbs., and we never discuss her age. However, I know
she’s been going through the change for at least ten years—Dad told me so on
many occasions. All things considered, I guess she was due for a little change
in personality.
I looked at Billy for help.
“Please! Tell her she can’t go with us.”
“I can’t tell her
anything,” he replied as he walked over to the door where she stood. “I can
only tell her it would be better if she stayed here.” He shifted glances
between the two of us, and then turned back to Mom. “Trust me. I’ll take care
of everything.” He gave her a kiss on the cheek as she started to take off her
coat. Billy sure did have a way with people... especially my mom. She would
listen to him.
Sheriff Hudson, who had
stood by quietly listening to our banter, gave the order to move out. “Let’s
go, folks.”
I walked over to where
Athena and Thor were napping; wondering the whole time if this crazy idea of
mine was going to work. To my surprise, when I slapped my leg and gave the
command, they jumped to attention.
“I guess we’re ready.”
Once outside, a cold blast
of air hit my face, taking my breath away. I grabbed for the handrail to steady
myself. On the next step, my feet flew out from under me, and I landed butt
first in the snow. My dignity was shattered.
“I can see this is going to
be fun,” I mumbled to myself as Billy grabbed me by the arm to help me stand.
His feet didn’t appear to be very steady either, but we managed to get our
footing.
Athena and Thor took off
running in one direction as Cole’s cruiser came up the driveway in the other.
As much as I wanted to run up and wrap my arms around him the minute he got out
of the car, I had other duties to perform. My lust had to wait.
After regaining our
composure, Billy and I took off after the dogs. The sheriff and his men were
hot on our trail. Cole was back behind us.
We stumbled through snow,
slid over rocks, and waded through two small, ice-filled streams before both
dogs stopped dead in their tracks. Their barking ceased. Thor sniffed around in
a circle, and started digging. Athena ambled over to me, and lay down. I
expected to hear her snore any minute.
A second later, they were
both off and running again. Before anyone could react, Athena and Thor came to
an abrupt halt. Their barking gave way to whimpering, and I knew they were on
to something. They had found what we were looking for, and it was not a pretty
sight.
A foot was the first thing
I saw.
“Oh, yuck,” I turned, and
bent over. That sick feeling I had in my stomach when I first saw the hand was
returning. I couldn’t believe what was happening. I straightened up and came
face-to-face with Sheriff Hudson, and knew right away what his eyes were
saying. I had a vision of Mom, Claire, Billy and I with my two mongrel dogs
standing in a jail cell, our hands and paws clutching the cold metal bars,
crying, “I
didn’t do it!” I know how easily the wrong person can be
accused. I’ve seen it firsthand.
“Don’t even go there,” I
said, before the sheriff had a chance to open his mouth. I turned away from him
and grabbed Athena and Thor by their collars. “You have your body and now I’m
taking my dogs home.”
We brushed past him and the
rest of his deputies. By the time we reached the end of the woods to the back
yard, I let go of their collars. Athena and Thor took off running and left me
to stumble my way through the snow, up the steps, and into the utility room.
Cole was right behind me.
I tapped the snow from my
boots and took off my coat.
“Jesse, what’s wrong with
you? Why did you act like that to Sheriff Hudson? He’s not accusing you of
anything.” Cole brushed the snow from my hair and leaned over to kiss my cheek.
“Is there anything I can do?”
“Yes! You can go back to
your boss and tell him to kiss my...”
“Whoa
,
wait a
minute!” Mom said as she walked in to the utility room carrying a dirty towel.
“Watch your language young lady! I won’t have that kind of talk in my house.
Throw this in the clothes hamper, please. I dried the snow off the dogs.” She
tossed me the towel and then looked up at Cole. “How’re you doing, Cole? I hope
everything’s okay. The weather’s pretty nasty out there, isn’t it?”
“Yes, it’s bad out there,”
he replied. “And I’m fine, thank you. I was just telling Jesse not to get so
upset. Nobody’s trying to put the blame on you guys. We’re just doing our job.”
“Put the blame on us for
what?”
“They found a woman’s body
on our property, Mom.”
A sick look came over Mom’s
face and she started to weave back and forth.
“Are you all right, Mom?” I
cried. “Grab her, Cole. I think she’s going to faint. Help me get her over to
the sofa, please.”
Cole jumped to my command
and grabbed Mom. The two of us managed to get her to the sofa before she
collapsed. I ran to the kitchen and rummaged through a drawer to find a
dishtowel, wet it, and ran back to the living room.
“Here, Mom,” I said as I
applied it to her face, and dabbed gently. “You don’t look well. Are you going
to be all right?”
“I’ll be fine, honey.” She
took the rag and patted her face. “It was just a shock to find out there’s ...”
“I’m sure everything’s
going to be fine,” I said, trying to calm her. “There’s no way in this world
anyone could possibly think we’re involved. Don’t worry, the police will find
out who did this and the whole thing will be cleared up in no time.”
“What about that poor
woman? How did she get there? If it hadn’t been for the dogs, she might not
have been found until the snow melted, and that could have been a long time.”
Athena and Thor responded
by prancing about and running around in circles. They loved attention. Give
them a pat on the head, and they would be on their backs with their feet in the
air in a second. Mention their name and they would be all over you like rats on
a chunk of cheese. Thor, in particular, had a weird thing he would do when he
wanted all the attention. He would get this sad look in his eyes and start
licking at the air. If that didn’t get your attention, he would whimper and
drool.
What a bunch of watchdogs,
I thought to myself. If you pat them on the head, they’ll follow you anywhere.
Yet, I have seen both of them go nuts around someone they don’t know. Every
time the power meter man comes to the house to read the meter, they chase after
him like a pack of wolverines. When people walk down the road in front of our
house, which happens quite often—we’re in the mountains, and here, that’s what people
do for exercise—the dogs run out to the end of the driveway and let everybody
know just who is protecting this house. This is their territory.
“Oh, my God, what’s wrong
with Mama?” Claire flew to her side. “Are you all right, Mom?” She spun around
to me. “What did you do to her?”
“Take it easy, Claire.
She’s fine. She just got a little light-headed.” I didn’t want to deal with
Claire right now.
The front door opened and
Billy walked in, smoking one of those nasty cigars that I hate so much.
However, the only time he smokes one is when he’s gotten the upper hand on
somebody so my curiosity was piqued.
“Is everybody alive in
here?”
“Mom almost fainted because
of Jesse,” Claire sneered.
“Stop it, Claire, that’s
not true,” Mom scolded her. “We’re all doing fine. What happened out there,
Billy?”