The Last Jeskey - Chapter 36

 

The Last Jeskey

By Karen Singer

 

Chapter 36

 

(Day 8 – Thursday)

 

Sheriff Cobb

 

The minute I heard about the money I was up from my desk and all action.  Amanda was already out there, but I told Russ I needed four more deputies to go with me out to the Jeskey place.  We had been searching for the money in the wrong place.  It wasn’t in the woods, it was in the house after all.

My own car had been delivered back to me that morning and Russ and I got in it.  Russ wasn’t going to be left behind, which was fine with me.  The more deputies I had out there the better.  Especially with Gary still on the loose.

While I drove, I pulled my cellphone out and called Pamela.  She said she’d make time and come out to the house to see.  My next call went to Natalie.  Nat was just as excited as I was over it and told me she was already on her way.

As soon as we were out of town I hit the lights and the gas.  We rocketed down the rural highway at speeds that looked like we were chasing someone.  Natalie’s car was already there by the time we arrived.  Going inside, the house seemed full with all those women in there.  “Where?” I asked Amanda.

She led me to a closet by the back door where the entire floor had been pulled up.  Another hidey hole that Bo must have made.  I certainly hadn’t known it was there.  I wondered what other places he had built in that house.  I briefly entertained the idea of having the entire place torn down just so I could see.

Inside that area of the closet floor though, I saw five handguns, one for each of the Jeskey boys, and underneath those guns…money.  Stacks of money.  And it looked like there were a lot of them.

“Russ,” I said.  “We’re going to need those guns out of there and cataloged.  And that money needs to be counted before it leaves this house.”

Russ immediately started issuing orders.  I moved everyone away from the closet and the deputies went to work pulling all that money out.  They stacked it on the table and before long I had four of them working together to count it all while everyone else looked on.

“Does this mean we can get paid?” I heard Lisa ask Nat.

“More than likely,” Natale told her.  “I do think though that a judge would rule that all that money belongs to Gary.  But at the same time, since Gary will be arrested and will most likely spend the rest of his life in jail, and especially after the things that Gary and the others have done to Freaky, I believe that any judge in the world would take pity on Freaky and award all, or at least some of it to her.  So yes, in the end, I think we’ve got a good chance of giving you and Shantel at least a little something from it.  Once in a while.”

Somehow, I didn’t think that was quite the answer that Lisa was looking for.  But it was better than nothing I guess.

“Sheriff,” Russ said a little while later.  “Fifty-thousand.  Exactly.”

Fifty-thousand.  It looked like a lot of money, and it was.  I realized something else.  “One gun for each of them, and ten-thousand for each.”  And then it dawned on me.  “This wasn’t their main stash of cash,” I said.  “This was just their emergency stash.  Maybe for if they needed a quick getaway.”

“Could be,” Russ agreed.  “So where’s the rest?”

We were interrupted at that point by the door opening again.  I saw Pam McGregor walk in.  “We have money?” she asked.

“Some,” I told her.

“How much?”

“Fifty-thousand.  But I’m guessing this was nothing more than their emergency stash.  There were five guns in with it.  One gun and ten thousand for each of them.”

“Fifty-thousand still sounds like a nice workable amount,” Natalie said to Pam.

“It certainly does,” Pam agreed.

“Lisa just asked if she and Shantel can get paid now.”

Pam held up one finger and pulled out her cellphone.  A moment later I heard her say, “Judge Reinhart?  They found some money at the Jeskey place.  Fifty-thousand.  Since Gary is still alive, I know he would probably have first claim on it, but in light of everything those men have done to Freaky, and the fact that Gary will most likely be heading to jail for the rest of his life, what’s the chance of us using this for Freaky’s needs?”  I watched as she listened for a minute, then she said.  “Okay.  Thanks.  I’ll keep you in the loop.”  She turned to Lisa.  “Yes, Lisa, we’ll be able to pay you.  At least for now.  But we’re going to have to work out the details, and I can already tell you it’s going to be nothing more than minimum wage.”

Instead of Lisa answering, it was Shantel.  “Miss Pamela, that’s just music to my ears.”

Pam turned to me.  “The judge said to tell you to double check the amount and register it all as evidence, then release it to us and we’re supposed to open a bank account with it to protect it.”  She turned to Natalie.  “And he said to hurry up and find that third person to manage the trust.”

“But who?” Natalie replied.  “We’ve gone nuts trying to think of someone.”

“I talked to that detective Benson from Knoxville this morning.  He hasn’t had time yet to even look for any relatives of Clive’s wife.  He promised to try and do that today.  If he finds some, I’ll drive down there tomorrow and go with him to let them know that their daughter’s murderer has been found.  I’ll make the decision then if perhaps one of them might be a good choice for our third wheel person.”

“If there isn’t a third person, maybe we can just leave it at the two of us,” Natalie suggested.  “It would make things easier.  Especially if the third person lives a thousand miles away.”

“True,” Pam agreed.  “But at least we’ve got some money now to actually comprise a trust fund.  And it’s a decent amount to work with too.”

“Yeah,” Nat agreed.  “At least there’s that.  And it’s good news.  Even with my salary, Will and I can’t afford to feed so many people for too long.  Did the judge say how long before we can spend some of it?  I know they need food here.”

“Yes!” Lisa said.  “We do.  We need a few things.”

Pam considered that then looked at me.  “Sheriff, how long will it take you to do what you need to with it?”

“We know how much is there,” I told her.  “We don’t have to count it again.  I can have a couple of deputies take it straight to the bank for you.  Just get me a deposit slip for my records and we’ll be good.  I would imagine the bank will have no problem issuing you a credit card or something right away if you want, or I guess you can just use cash.  That’s your problem to figure out.  So it just depends on how long it takes to get the banking done.”

“Perfect!” Pam replied.  “She looked at Natalie.  “You and me will need to both go to the bank to set things up.  After that, I’ll leave today’s shopping to you.  I’m so far behind on my work I don’t know what I’m going to do.  And if I have to go to Knoxville tomorrow that’s just going to make things worse.  It’s got to be done though.”

“I’m way behind with my clients too,” Natalie told her, “but I’ll fit it in where I can.”  She turned to Lisa and Shantel.  “Maybe we can go shopping right after lunch,” she told them.  “Do what you can to make a list so we can get it done as quickly as possible.”

“Fine,” Lisa told her.  “Except there isn’t enough food here to have lunch.”

Natalie seemed a bit flustered at that.  “Then we’ll have lunch out somewhere too, and then go grocery shopping.”

“Miss Natalie,” Shantel said.  “I have a question.”

“What?” Natalie asked.

“Any chance we can visit a church today.  Just so I can take a quick look.  I promise I won’t look long.”

I watched Natalie’s face.  It took a moment, but she gradually seemed to relax.  “Sure, Shantel.  As long as it doesn’t take too long.”

“Thanks Miss Natalie,” Shantel said happily.  She looked over at Lisa.  “Leese, I’m goin’ back to church!”