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

sour breath. Then
he poked his other arm through, grabbed the back of my head, and slammed my
face into the cell bars. I pulled back, but he had too much of a hold on me. He
slammed my face into the bars again and again.
    The pain was
excruciating. I was sure I was going to die this time. The last thing I
remembered before passing out was the unbearable smell of the man’s breath. It
smelled like meat gone bad.
    I woke up in
the hospital with a headache and blurry vision. I couldn’t see what my face
looked like, but when the memories of what had happened to me flashed back, I
figured it was pretty bad. How many times had that man slammed my face into
those bars? Two? Three?
    “She’s coming
around,” I heard my mother say. “Billy!”
    “Just lay still,”
Billy said, taking hold of my hand. “That guy beat you up pretty bad. The
sheriff said he smashed your face into the cell bars. You have eight stitches
in your forehead and a black eye.”
    “Thank goodness
they have cameras in that place,” Mom added. “A few minutes later, and you’d be
dead. Thank God those deputies acted so fast.”
    “I know, Mom,”
I replied. My throat was dry. “Can I have some water?”
    “I’ll get you
some,” she replied. Mom stepped out of the room and then returned with a
plastic pitcher and glass. “Here, Jesse.”
    I took the
glass of water and guzzled it down. “What time is it?”
    “It’s five in
the morning,” Billy answered. “You’ve been here for a couple of hours. Do you
remember what happened to you?”
    “Yeah.
Everything’s coming back to me. Who was that guy? Why did he do this to me?”
    “Some people
are just bad, Jesse,” Sheriff Hudson said as he walked into the room. “Guys
like him don’t need a reason.”
    “I’m not
talking to you ever again,” I said, angrily. “Go away.”
    “I’m so sorry
this happened, Jesse. I never intended…”
    “You wanted to
teach me a lesson and you did. I don’t want to ever go to jail again. You got
your wish, Sheriff. Now go away and leave me alone.”
    “I wanted to
teach you a lesson, but not like this.”
    “Oh, yeah? Is
that so? See, I figured you put him in there so he could rough me up. You
wanted me to know how bad it was to be locked up. You win. Now I know.”
    “You have it
all wrong,” Sheriff Hudson said. “I don’t know him. We picked him up over at
Sal’s for being disorderly in public. Jesse, I would never do this to you or
anyone else.”
    “You’re lying!
You planted him there to harass me, but he went too far. He smashed my face in…
and… oh, Lord… he had the worst breath. Smelled like rotten meat. Next time you
do this to someone, get the guy to brush his teeth and gargle first.”
    “Sorry about
the bad breath, but I don’t control people’s hygiene, and as far as the assault
on you, I’m going to reprimand my deputies.”
    “No! You can’t
do that. It wasn’t their fault. I never should’ve gone near that guy.” I took
another sip of water. “Your deputies saved my life.”
    “I’m glad
you’re going to be all right.”
    “So who was the
creep that beat my face in? One day I’d like to return the favor.”
    Sheriff Hudson
didn’t answer my question, but instead said, “I’m not making excuses, but my
deputies at the station house were overloaded with work. They caught the attack
on screen just when you hit the floor, but missed what led up to it. As I said,
they had their hands full. So, after viewing the playback, it’s hard to tell
who started the altercation. You’re the one who stuck your arm through the bars
first, and he’s claiming it was an unprovoked attack.”
    “Are you nuts?”
I shrieked. “He attacked me! Look at this mug!” I demanded, pointing to my
face. “Does this look like an unprovoked attack? I gave the guy my leftover
Twinkie, and this is what I got in return.”
    “You can file
an assault charge against him if you want to, but until my guy analyzes the
video, I can’t