All About the Money (A Jesse Watson Mystery Series Book 7) Read online

  I reached over and put my hand on Savannah’s back, hoping there wasn’t any blood there. “Let’s have a look,” I said as soothing as I could muster. “Tell us everything, and start from the beginning. Don’t leave anything out.”

  The three of us walked inside. To our horror, she wasn’t stretching the truth. Bloody handprints were smeared on the wall and droplets of blood could be seen on the floor. The place looked like a scene from a crime show on television.

  Savannah’s house was a typical mountain home very much like Mom’s. It was big, but not oversized, and normally it was immaculate. But not now. Now, it was a wreck. Furniture was askew, lamps were knocked over, and broken glass littered the floor.

  “Jeez, Savannah,” I said, trying not to overreact and upset her more than she already was. “How awful! This must have been horrifying for you. I’m so sorry.”

  “Let me look at you,” Billy said as he motioned to her, sizing up the situation. “Is that your blood on you, or is it someone else’s?”

  When Savannah held out her hands and unfurled her fingers, blood ran from them and dripped on the flood. Small, but continuous drops were seeping from her wounds, and the flow didn’t seem to want to let up.

  “Defensive wounds,” Billy stated. “Someone attacked you with a knife, and you fought back.”

  “This is the worst of my injuries,” she cried. “Other than the one on my leg. I have a decent cut there.”

  Billy immediately went to the counter drawer, pulled out a couple of dishrags, and then came back and wrapped both of Savannah’s hands.

  I looked down and saw her ripped jeans. A huge bloody patch the size of a saucer had soaked through her pants. I bent down and pulled apart the torn opening and examined the injury to her thigh. “You’re going to need stitches,” I said, and then looked up at Billy. “We need more dishrags. She’s got a nasty little cut on her leg.”

  He grabbed another one, handed it to me, and then I wrapped it around her leg. I tied it as tight as I could, but, hopefully, not enough to cut off circulation. Savannah was a small woman. It wouldn’t take much pressure to do that.

  “Come over here and sit down at the kitchen table,” Billy said, escorting her as he spoke. “I know this must be difficult for you, but you have to tell us everything.” The two of them sat down at the table. Billy reached over and put his hand on top of hers and continued. “Then we have to call the police and the rescue squad. You’re going to have to go to the hospital.”

  “No! We can’t call the cops! They’ll put me in jail! I don’t want to go to jail. It wasn’t my fault!”

  I walked over to her and said, “Of course, it wasn’t your fault, Savannah, but we have to call the sheriff. You have a body in your garage.” I thought for a second, and then asked, “How did the body get there?”

  She didn’t say anything.

  Billy got up and walked over to the kitchen sink. He pulled out a bottle of whisky from underneath the counter, grabbed a glass out of the top cabinet, and then filled it with the liquid. He walked back over to Savannah and handed the glass to her.

  “Here, take a big drink.” He sat the bottle down on the table. “I have a feeling you’re going to need it before this is over. It looks bad here.”

  She did as he said without balking at his demand. She wasn’t much of a drinker, but you’d never know it by the way she downed the alcohol. She held the empty glass back up to Billy and said, “I’m going to need another one of these, please.”

  Billy poured a little more in the glass.

  Savannah guzzled the liquid.

  I’d never seen her drink like that before, but that was then, and this is now. She’d probably need a lot more to recover from this mess. Under the circumstances, if it had been me, I would be demanding much more.

  We gave her a few minutes to try to calm down, and then Billy proceeded with his questions. “What happened, Savannah? Who’s in your garage? I’m not here to judge. I’m here to help. So tell me everything… and start at the beginning.”

  She sighed, and then began her tale of horror. “I went out shopping today, and when I got home…” She started crying again.

  “Okay, Savannah,” Billy said in a soft tone. “Try to calm down. Take a deep breath.”

  She took a deep breath.

  Watching him try to comfort her warmed my heart. No wonder I love this man so much, I thought to myself. He’s so kind and understanding. He was raised well. My mind drifted for a minute. I thought about the other members of his family. They were all just like him. Poor Savannah was covered in blood, had just gone through what must have been the worst moment in her life, and all I could think about was what a wonderful family I had. I guess maybe my mind had wandered off to something good, because dealing with what had happened here was difficult. Seeing our friend in such a bad state was heart wrenching. I brought my attention back to the present situation.

  “Did you leave the gate open when you left?” he asked her.

  “No!” she exclaimed. “I’d never do that. That was the whole purpose of putting up the fence—to keep people out… and… to have security. After what happened last year…”

  Billy and I glanced at each other. We knew exactly what she was talking about. Her stalker! That was a scary ordeal that could have turned out badly. Fortunately, we fixed that problem, but this problem was a whole different matter.

  “Then he must’ve had the access code,” I interjected, looking at her and then back to Billy. “How else could he have gotten past the gate?”

  “That’s not as hard as you might think,” Billy said. “Electronic gates aren’t without their glitches. I’ve seen my fair…”

  “It wasn’t a man,” Savannah interrupted him, her voice just a whisper. “I never said it was a man. I said there was a body in my garage.”

  “I got the impression that a body had been dumped, and you just stumbled onto it,” I said. “You didn’t say anything about being attacked. I had no idea. I’m sorry we didn’t get here sooner. Did you know her?”

  Billy stood up and said, “Okay. That’s it.” He reached out and calmly took Savannah’s dishrag bandaged hand. “I hate to seem insensitive and abrupt, but you’re going to have to snap out of it… and fast. Show me the body. We’re going to the garage, and on the way, you can explain what happened. We’ll look at the body, size up the situation, and then call Sheriff Hudson. We have to do it quickly. The longer we wait, the worse it’s going to appear.” Billy glanced at me and said, “Call Russell Shank. Tell him to get over here as soon as he can.” He looked back at Savannah. “You’re going to need a lawyer. Once those i-na-dvs are called in, it’ll be like a feeding frenzy here.”

  “What?” Savannah asked, not understanding his Cherokee language.

  “Snakes,” I explained, cracking a smile. “I haven’t learned a lot, but a few words do stand out. I’ve heard them repeatedly, especially when he talks about the cops or the press.”

  Billy continued with his questions as he ushered us out the back door. I pulled out my cell phone, made the call to Russell, and then put the phone back in my pocket.

  “When did this happen?” Billy asked. “In other words, how long has she been dead?”

  “Not more than two hours,” Savannah replied.

  “Two hours!” I repeated. “Why did you wait so long to call us?”

  She just shook her head. She didn’t have an answer for me, but I didn’t press the issue. She’d been through enough already without my badgering her. We walked down the steps onto the graveled driveway. Our feet crunched under the tiny pebbles as we made our way to the garage. The moon was out in all its brilliance. Everything seemed normal.

  “Who is she?” I asked.

  “This is where it gets kind of sticky.”

  “We can do sticky,” Billy lightly joked, trying to lighten the mood.

  “She’s McCoy’s secretary, Andrea Holt.” Savannah sighed. “She’s worked for him for a good while. It’s a long st
ory.”

  “Give us the condensed version.”

  Savannah stopped, folded her injured hands across her chest as if to protect herself against what we were about to see, and waited for Billy to be the first one to enter the garage. Billy opened the side door, stepped in just far enough to turn on a light, and then stood back and looked around. I stepped up next to him and peered in. On the concrete floor of the garage, by the front end of Savannah’s green convertible, lay the body of Andrea Holt. Next to the body lay a bloody shovel. That sight said it all. Savannah had been attacked, defended herself with the shovel, and now the attacker was lying dead on her garage floor. No jury would ever convict her. Thank goodness! I took one step to go inside when Billy stopped me. He held out his arm and said, “Nobody goes inside.”

  After what had happened to Billy earlier with the drug sting, I knew precisely why he didn’t go inside the garage, and why he wouldn’t let me enter either. For one thing, he didn’t want to contaminate the scene, which I already knew, but more importantly, he didn’t want us to go down for something we had nothing to do with.

  Too bad it never works out the way you think it will. We didn’t have anything to do with the death of McCoy’s secretary, but we were about to become tangled up in the aftermath.

  Chapter 3

  Billy pulled out his cell phone, stepped away for a minute, and made the call to Sheriff Hudson. He must’ve been on hold, because it seemed like a long time before I heard him speak to anyone. I tried to listen to his conversation, but it was hard to do because Savannah had continued with her explanation of what happened.

  “She came here to kill me,” Savannah said to me, coming to her own defense. She detailed the day’s events as calmly as she could. “She was furious that I had forced McCoy to give up his law practice to move here with me. She said I ruined everything, and that I had to die.”

  Billy was talking on the phone and listening to us at the same time.

  “That’s crazy. She is… was a secretary for a prominent lawyer. I’m sure she could’ve gotten another job. McCoy would’ve given her a good reference, wouldn’t he?”

  “I’m sure he would have,” she replied. “He always said she was the best secretary he’d ever had. He was glad she worked for him. He liked her a lot. He could always count on her.”

  Savannah’s comment brought another thought to mind. “I hate to ask this, but were they having an affair?”

  “No!” she stated emphatically. “McCoy isn’t the kind of man who would do something like that.” She looked over at Billy. “He’s a good man like your husband, and Billy would never cheat on you. Would he?”

  “He knows I’d harm him if he did,” I replied, smiling coyly. I blew him a kiss.

  Billy shook his head as if to ignore me.

  “I must admit I had a moment when the thought crossed my mind after some of the things she said, but no, there was no affair. She wanted his money. That’s all there was to it. Money makes the world go around.”

  “Money?”

  “As crazy as it sounds, money was the bottom line. Money makes people do really bad things. Andrea had been stealing money from McCoy for four years. Over two-hundred thousand dollars! When McCoy closed his law firm, she was out of a job. Her money tree had been cut down. She hated me for doing that to her, and she wanted me dead.”

  “I can’t believe…” I started to say, but changed my mind. Instead, I asked, “What did she think she was going to accomplish? She’d kill you, and then McCoy would return to his law practice as if nothing had happened? That’s insane!”

  “That’s exactly what I told her, but she wouldn’t listen. She went nuts. She was convinced that if she got rid of me, everything would go back to normal. That’s when she started attacking me.”

  “Nothing’s normal about this,” I said, peeking back at the body. “She must’ve been crazy. Was she on drugs? I mean, people do things like this when they’re strung out.”

  “I don’t think so, but anything’s possible,” Savannah said. “You should’ve seen her, Jesse. She was like a wild woman. She came after me with a knife. She chased me through the house! It was so awful. I was sure I was going to die, and I probably would have if I hadn’t gotten lucky.”

  I gave Savannah a strange look, but she bounced back with, “I didn’t mean it like that! What I meant was…”

  “I think I know what you mean,” I replied. “I think lucky was the right word. I don’t believe you would’ve stood a chance against her, knowing you as I do. You’re not the kind of person who could kill someone unless you absolutely had to. You don’t have it in your bones, or your heart.”

  “I can’t believe I killed her,” Savannah softly said. “I’ve never killed anybody in my whole life, except in my books.” She looked around, and then looked back at me. “I didn’t realize how hard it would be to take the life of a person. Is this what it’s like?”

  “I’m afraid so,” I replied. “But you had to do what you had to do.”

  “It is what it is.” A faint smile returned to Savannah’s face.

  Billy closed up his cell phone, walked back over to us and said, “Sheriff Hudson and his men are on their way. I’d give them five minutes, and the press six.” He looked at Savannah. “You’re a celebrity. This is going to get ugly.”

  “It can’t get any uglier,” she said as if that were to be true.

  I glanced at Billy and smirked. I turned to Savannah and said, “Oh, it’s going to get about as ugly as it can get. You’re going to see the bad side of real life… not fiction.”

  Never a truer sentence had been spoken.

  We were still standing by the garage when we heard the first siren. In the darkness, off in the distance, we could see through the trees the flashing lights of Greene County’s best. By the time Sheriff Hudson and his men showed up, the wail of another siren sounded. The Greene County Rescue Squad wasn’t far behind. It was good to know that when someone calls for help, everybody comes running… at least they do in Greene County.

  A while back, I remember Sheriff Hudson telling me that his men were cross trained in crime scene investigation, so it didn’t surprise me when so many of them showed up. They jumped out of their cruisers and went right to work.

  Once the rescue squad pulled up to the garage, they hustled out of the vehicle, promptly sized up the situation, and then took care of Savannah. They escorted her to the back of the truck and started administering first aid. They examined her injuries, bandaged what needed to be, and were ready to take her to the hospital.

  The sheriff wanted to question Savannah, but it was obvious from her state of mind that she was way past the point of being able to rehash the events leading up to the death of Andrea Holt. She was weak, could hardly talk, and was very close to a total collapse. So, he agreed to let her go with a promise that she would be questioned as soon as she had been sutured up and released from the hospital. For now, Billy could answer the sheriff’s questions.

  Savannah Kelley was a well-known and respected writer. She had also won the hearts of the locals including Sheriff Hudson. She was down to earth and never looked down her nose at anyone. Folks had nothing but praise for her.

  Billy and I had established a rapport with Sheriff Hudson over the last year or so. We’ve had dealings with him far longer than that, but it took awhile for our relationship to get on steady ground. He had surely earned my respect when he saved my mother from certain death—with the help of my courageous canine, Athena—and I think he finally realized that we were good folks just trying to do a job. He had also come to learn that we were honest and could be trusted. He knew he could get straight answers from us… pretty much.

  I stood next to Billy and listened to him talk with the sheriff, while I watched the scene play out. It was like something you’d see in the movies. Tripod flood lighting had been set up, illuminating the whole yard, garage, and house. Cops were everywhere, wearing their latex gloves and carrying plastic evidence bags. Crim
e scene tape was being strung.

  A female rescue squad member walked over to Sheriff Hudson and said, “We’re ready to go, Sheriff.”

  Sheriff Hudson gave the go-ahead signal.

  She turned to me and said in a friendly way, “I’m Rebecca. I’ll be helping Mrs. Kelley while we transport her. She asked to speak with you for a moment, Mrs. Blackhawk.”

  “Oh, just call me Jesse,” I replied. “Sure. Lead the way.”

  I followed Rebecca, the EMT, to the back of the rescue truck, stepped up into it, and then sat down next to Savannah.

  “What can I do for you, Savannah? Would you like for me to ride with you? I know you probably don’t want to be alone at a…”

  “I’m fine, Jesse,” she said as she tried to sit up. She had an oxygen mask on her face and a needle stuck in the top part of her hand. She pulled the mask down and said, “You stay here with Billy. All I need for you to do is bring me my purse. It’s on my dresser in the bedroom. I need my insurance card. And if you’ll find my car keys, I’d appreciate it if you’d come pick me up from the hospital. I know it’s a lot to ask…”

  “No, it’s not, Savannah. I’d be glad to. I’ll have to drive your car, because I’m sending my husband home. He had a very busy day. He’s thoroughly exhausted.”

  “I’m so sorry,” Savannah said while the tears spilled down her cheeks. “I hate to be such a bother. You’re a busy person.”

  “Stop!” I demanded. “You’re starting to sound like my mother.”

  She smiled for the first time since we arrived. I patted her shoulder and said, “I’ll go get your purse. I’m sure they won’t wait much longer.”

  Rebecca, the EMT, spoke up, her voice soft. “We’re in a hurry, but Mrs. Kelley does need her purse. Perhaps you could go get it now.”

  I smiled and then exited the vehicle. I would have returned sooner, but I got sidetracked when I found Savannah’s purse. It was exactly where she said it would be, and her keys lay next to it. However, behind her purse was a pouch with several photos in it. It seemed out of place as if someone had just tossed it aside. A couple of the pictures had spilled out. I couldn’t help myself. I scooped up the packet and looked through them. All of the photos were of McCoy and a woman—and it wasn’t Savannah! The woman was the same as the one in the garage! It had to be her! The dead woman in the garage had one distinct feature—most of her left pointer finger was missing—just like the woman in the photo. The worst part was when I got to the last photo. It was a snapshot of Andrea in a hospital bed, holding an infant! It was just as I had suspected—Andrea Holt and McCoy had been having an affair! For all I knew, they could still be having one! However, the most startling part was that they also had a baby together. The pictures were proof. That fact put a different slant on things. If the cops got wind of these photos, Savannah would have a lot of explaining to do. The cops would deduce that she had a motive for murder.