Free The Prey Bites Back: A Jesse Watson Mystery Book #8 by Ann Mullen

you. I see now that I was right. I’ll be watching you closer in the
future. I don’t want Billy to suffer because you can’t stay out of trouble.”
    At least I’m
not going to Orange County Regional Jail, I thought to myself. That would be
very bad. I could get lost and never be heard from again. I was so relieved.
I’d do my time and never return to this place again.
    As soon as the
sun went down, the criminals started rolling in. First, they put a drunk in the
cell next to mine and all he did was puke, fart, and then pee on floor. The
sounds made me gag, and I was so glad when they released him. Regrettably, the
next one locked up was a drunken woman in her late thirties. She, too, puked,
farted, and peed on herself. It wasn’t pretty.
    “What you in
for?” she asked me after she got her bodily functions somewhat under control.
    “I killed a
drunk.”
    She didn’t say
anything else to me after that. If she wasn’t sober before, she was now. She scurried
over to the corner of her cell and stayed there until she was let go.
    A janitor came
in after the woman’s release and cleaned up after her and the previous drunkard.
What a yucky job. I was glad I didn’t have to do it.
    I stretched out
on the cot, hoping no bed bugs or other infesting critters would attack me. The
smell of urine and puke wouldn’t allow me to sleep, so when Deputy Rager walked
up to my cell, I was so glad for the distraction.
    “I’m getting
off duty soon and I was wondering if you wanted something to eat before I
leave. I can call one of the deputies on patrol and see if he’ll get you
something.”
    “How can anyone
eat in a place like this? The smell alone is obnoxious.”
    “Sheriff Hudson
said to make sure you had dinner.”
    “I’ll pass, but
thanks anyway. You’ve been very nice to me. I appreciate it.”
    “Well, it’s not
as if you’re a real criminal, but if you don’t do what the sheriff says…”
    “I know. I
know. I’ve been…”
    A ruckus was
going on down the hall, so I jumped off the cot to have a look. Two deputies
were dragging an unruly man toward my cell.
    “What the…”
    “Step back, ma’am,”
Deputy Rager said. “We got us a repeat offender here. He’s crazy and won’t hesitate
to grab at you through the bars.” She looked at the man and said, “How many
times do you have to be locked up Percy, before you stop beating your wife?”
    The man had
been drinking. I could smell alcohol on him when he passed my cell.
    “I didn’t beat up
nobody,” he yelled. “Let me go!”
    The deputies
opened the cell and shoved the guy in. Percy stumbled back and fell. A deputy
slammed the cell door and said, “You’re lucky I didn’t beat the crap out of you
like you did your wife.”
    “I didn’t beat
up my old lady, and she ain’t pressing no charges against me, so let me outta
here! You can’t do this to me. I got rights.”
    “You got
nothing,” Deputy Rager said to the man. “You’re lucky Mabel didn’t crack you
over the head with a frying pan. Percy, one of these days, after she’s finally
had enough of your abuse, she’s going to take a shotgun to you. Is that what
you want?”
    Percy jumped
up, leaped at the cell door, and then spit on Deputy Rager. Glad to say, his
spit hit her shirt and not her face. His actions angered me to no end. I yelled
over at him, “You’re lucky these bars separate us old man, otherwise I’d be on
you like flies on s...”
    “Ah, shut up,”
he yelled back. “What’s a puny little punk like you gonna do to me? You
couldn’t beat up nobody.” He laughed at me.
    Deputy Rager hushed
him when she said, “You better watch out, Percy. That puny woman over there is
a serial killer. She’s been on the loose for years, killed over twenty some
people before she ended up here in our jail. Now we got her locked up, and she
ain’t happy. You better stay away from them bars, because she’ll grab you and kill
you with her mind. She’s evil. She knows black