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

kids doesn’t mean I can’t still go
out and beat down someone’s door.”
    “I guess I’m getting too over-protective.”
    “Well… snap out of it! I’m still just as tough as I’ve always
been!”
    “The day has been trying.”
    Billy seemed relieved I wasn’t mad at him. Who in their right
mind wants to deal with an angry wife when they’ve had such a rough day?
    “That’s right,” I said, changing the subject. “What happened
today? You said we’d talk about it later… and now it’s later. Did Raleigh get busted? I sure hope he’s in jail
and off the streets.”
    “He’s dead.”
    “What?” I freaked. “What do you mean, he’s dead? What
happened?”
    Billy slowed the truck down, coming to a stop at the intersection
of Rt. 29 and 33. It was a week night, late at night, but that didn’t seem to
affect traffic. Cars were everywhere.
    “I think I might’ve made a mistake, Jesse.”
    I knew trouble was ahead. Billy rarely called me Jesse. He
always called me ‘ge ya… meaning woman in his Cherokee language.
    “This can’t be but so good,” I muttered. “I don’t like the
sound of this story already.”
    “I thought about what you said about bringing the cops in on
it, and decided that you were right. So, about midday , I hooked up with one of Captain Waverly’s undercover cops
who set up the buy with Raleigh ,” he said, starting his explanation.
“We were to meet up with Jones at three o’clock in the parking garage at the Downtown Mall.”
    “At the mall? Are you serious?”
    “Contrary to what most folks believe, drug dealers like
public places. They think it’s inconspicuous to sell their wares in a crowded
place. They think they blend in. They get more brazen all the time. “
    “What happened when you met up with Raleigh Jones?”
    “I have it all on tape.”
    Billy had a mini camcorder he would mount on the inside of
the truck’s grill when he needed to keep it hidden. This had been one of those
times. He reached down under the seat, pulled it out, and then handed it to me.
    I flipped on the camcorder and watched the scene play out
while Billy talked. “The buy went down without a hitch, and then the police
swarmed the area. Jones panicked, pulled a gun, and the next thing I knew, he
was laying on the concrete with a bullet in his head.”
    “What was the mistake you made? You worked with the cops to
bring down this guy. You didn’t have to. All you had to do was get pictures for
the insurance company. You could’ve stopped there, but you didn’t. You helped
take a drug dealer off the streets. What’s the problem?”
    Billy rubbed his forehead and said, “The mistake I made was
to ever trust the cops. I know better. They used me.”
    “Used you how?”
    “Remember Officer Downey?”
    “Of course, I do. He was the officer who read me my rights at
the hospital that time.” I thought about the experience for a second, and then
added, “Yes, I remember him well. I was in the hospital across the hall from
Rose Hudgins. The two of us had just been through a harrowing ordeal. Being
locked up in a car, buried underground was something one never forgets.”
    “At the scene, he walked past me and made a comment about
Captain Waverly. Really took me by surprise.”
    “What did he say?”
    “He said they’ve been after this guy for a good while.
Captain Waverly had every intention of bringing down Raleigh Jones at all
costs, sooner or later. I made that possible sooner than later.”
    I thought about the implication for a minute. Then it hit me.
“Are you saying that the captain planned to kill Raleigh Jones?”
    “No, not planned, but if the opportunity presented itself… I
gave him that opportunity.”
    “Hey, if you hadn’t, someone else would have. But, I’m
stunned that Waverly didn’t trust the judicial system to do its job. He’s a
cop. They’re supposed to believe in the system. It’s just too bad you fell into
his trap.”
    “Cops are out for