Chapter 10 #2
Billie Joe shook his head. “What goose? I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“The big white bird you killed and left on my porch.” Bernie glared at the young man.
“I didn’t kill a goose. I didn’t sign up to kill anything.”
Bernie paced back and forth. “I don’t believe you.”
“I didn’t kill no goose,” Billie Joe insisted.
“What happened next?” Gerard pressed.
“Since the pigs didn’t eat the watermelons the first night, I opened the pen the second night and shooed them out. Then I had to smash the watermelons that had already been picked. He didn’t want you to sell the melons.”
Bernie stopped pacing. “And you had to poison my dog to smash the melons?”
He stared up at Bernie, his brow creased. “I didn’t see a dog. The trailer was there with the melons. I climbed into each box and jumped up and down until they were all smashed. No dog came out. I thought for sure someone would hear me.”
“And since the watermelons made it to the market, you decided to burn down my barn?” Bernie shook her head.
“No,” Billie Joe said. “He said that if I didn’t do it, he’d turn me over to the sheriff, and I’d go back to jail.
I had to do it. My parole officer is going to throw the book at me.
” He lay back. “I wouldn’t have done it, but I needed the money to bail my dog out of the animal shelter.
They were going to put him down. I couldn’t let that happen.
Now, he’ll have to go back to the shelter because I’ll be in jail. ”
Bernie knelt next to the young man. “Billie Joe, I understand how important your dog is to you. I get that. I can’t keep you from going back to jail, not after trying to burn my barn to the ground.
But you can’t let the guy who paid you get away with what he was trying to do.
If you tell us who it was, maybe we can have some sway with the judge.
At the very least, I can ensure your dog is placed in a foster home, not the shelter. ”
Billie Joe looked up into Bernie’s eyes, his own glassy with unshed tears. “You’d do that for me after what I did to you?”
She nodded.
He shook his head. “I didn’t kill your goose or poison your dog. I swear to God.”
“What about the text with the death threat?” Gerard asked.
“Don’t know what you’re talking about. Maybe he sent it,” Billie Joe said. “I don’t even own a cell phone.”
Bernie met Gerard’s gaze.
He turned to Billie Joe. “We’ll get to the bottom of that when you tell us who put you up to this?”
“It was that real estate agent, the one with the big black SUV with his name on the side.” Billie Joe’s eyes narrowed. “Burns. He wanted Ms. Bellamy to sell her place to the big resort trying to move into town.”
Bernie had her cell phone out, dialing 911 before Billie Joe finished talking. “This is Bernie Bellamy. Patch me through to the sheriff.”
“He’ll say I’m lying. No one will believe me over him,” Billie Joe said.
She gave Sheriff Bergeron the information, nodded, thanked him and ended the call. “He’s got a plan he thinks will smoke out Burns. We have to get you to a hospital first. He said he might get the judge to go easy on you if you agree to let him rig you with a wire.”
Gerard nodded. “Burns isn’t going to want to leave any loose ends. He’ll come to you in the hospital to make sure you don’t talk.”
Billie Joe blanched. “He’ll kill me.”
“They’ll have you wired and have an officer dressed as a nurse as your backup,” Bernie said. “They’ll keep you safe. If you want even a slim chance of the judge having mercy on you, you’ll do whatever they want you to do to help them get Burns.”
“You’ll take care of Ruger, my dog?” Billie Joe pleaded.
Bernie nodded. “I promise.”
“I’ll do it.” He reached out and touched her arm. “I’m sorry. You didn’t deserve all I did to you. I’m really sorry.”
Bernie sighed. “I believe you. You can make it up to me by helping us nail Burns.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
The sheriff arrived along with an ambulance and two other deputies. While the sheriff and his deputies scoured the area for the shooter, the emergency medical technicians loaded Billie Joe into the ambulance for transport to the nearest hospital.
The sheriff had one of his deputies follow the ambulance to ensure it made it to the hospital without incident.
He’d stay with the Billie Joe until they could put their plan into place the next morning.
Billie Joe’s capture would have spread through town by then.
Burns would know where they’d taken his henchman.
“We didn’t find anyone out there,” the sheriff said. “We’ll send someone in the daylight to look for the casing. In the meantime, I’ll get things set up to bring Burns in.”
“It had to be Burns who shot Billie Joe,” Bernie said. “He wanted to shut him up.”
“But he shot him before he could finish the job of burning down your barn,” Gerard said.
Bernie snorted. “Serves him right.”
“I’d leave one of my deputies here for the remainder of the night, but I’m shorthanded. If you want, I can stay to make sure the shooter doesn’t come back while you sleep.”
Bernie shook her head. “Go home to bed. I’m up for the day. It’ll be daylight in an hour. I have to be at the farmer’s market before sunrise.”
The sheriff gave her a gentle smile. “I’m sorry all of this is happening to you. I’ll be sure to swing by for some fresh vegetables later in the morning.”
Once again, Gerard was touched by how the community looked out for Bernie and her farm.
“Thank you, sheriff,” she said.
After all the vehicles left the barnyard, Gerard wrapped an arm around Bernie and led her back to the house. “I’m going to make an omelet. You’re going to eat it, and then we’re going to drive to town and set up for the market.”
She leaned into him. “I’ll feel better when they bring Burns in. He could be out there now, ready to shoot again. I don’t know why he didn’t just shoot me instead of going to all the trouble of trying to ruin me first.”
“I’m glad he didn’t,” Gerard said. “I like to pay my debts, and I still owe you naked cooking.” He slapped her ass. “Go get dressed for a great day at the farmer’s market. Maybe we’ll get word from the sheriff before the day is over, and you can cash in on that raincheck.”
“I like the way you think,” Bernie said and disappeared into her bedroom.
Gerard was glad they’d caught Billie Joe and that he’d confessed who’d set him up to the trouble he’d caused. But something didn’t feel right. Not all the pieces fit. They were missing something.
Billie Joe hadn’t mentioned anything about the foot. And what about the ring they’d found in the pigpen?
Where did they fit in this scenario?
He pulled out his cell phone and started to call Remy.
His hand paused over the number. It was too early.
Why disturb the man’s sleep when there wasn’t much he could do anyway?
He’d bring him up to speed at a more reasonable hour.
He could touch base with the sheriff or Hank and Swede and find out if they’d heard anything about the DNA from the foot or the fingerprints they’d lifted from the car in the bayou and the barn’s doorhandle.
In the meantime, Gerard had an omelet to make.