Big Easy (Cowboy Craze)

by Sable Hunter

  But what about the vision she’d seen after reading the cards on the day they met?

  How could she reconcile the heartbreak she’d witnessed with the joy and optimism she felt now?

  “Come on, psychic, what’s the answer?” Jewel whispered for her ears only.

  “What did you say?” Easy mumbled.

  “Nothing.” She turned her head to find his lips. “Morning, handsome.”

  “Morning, love.”

  “Yes, you’re my love.” After last night, the endearment came easy to her lips. “I guess it’s time to get up.”

  “Oh, I think we have a little extra time.” He tugged her to lay on her back, covering her body with his own. “How about we start the day off right?”

  Jewel was just about to tell him he was a genius when a loud noise from outside interrupted their playtime.

  “What in the hell?”

  They both scrambled from the bed to go to the window. When they saw the three cop cars in front of Hazel’s and the swarm of uniformed cops surrounding the house, Jewel jerked on her robe, then threw open the window to yell at the top of her lungs, “What are you doing? I didn’t call 9-1-1.”

  “I’ll get on my clothes and go down there to see what’s what,” Easy volunteered as Jewel waited for an answer from below.

  Sheriff Hill broke from the group to saunter under Jewel’s window. “Got a warrant, Ms. Baptiste.”

  “A warrant?” Jewel exclaimed, her heart rising in her throat. “For what?”

  “Looking for evidence,” he said, then spat tobacco juice on the ground. “Don’t bother coming down. We’re already in.”

  “I’m dressed. I’m going down there,” Easy muttered.

  Something told Jewel to stop him. “No. Wait.” What was she going to do? Tell him to skip out the back and head out through the swamp?

  “Oh, I’ll be right back. This has to be some type of mistake.”

  While he left to go next door, Jewel dressed quickly. She arrived at her mother’s house just in time to find them handcuffing Easy and reading him his rights. “Easy?” her voice rang out with horror and shock. “What’s going on?”

  “We’re arresting your friend for the murder of Marion Cole,” Sheriff Hill stated bluntly.

  “I didn’t do it,” Easy declared emphatically.

  “This says you did.” The sheriff held something up, dangling from the end of his finger. When Jewel drew near enough to see what it was – she recognized the signature necklace she’d last seen in the possession of Willie Mae Hill.

  As they led Easy to the squad car, Jewel followed. “This can’t be happening. Easy didn’t hurt anyone!”

  “Don’t worry, treasure.” He looked over his shoulder as they pressed him into the back seat. “Call Philip for me, will you? Tell him what happened. He’ll know what to do.”

  In total shock, Jewel watched as the cop cars pulled out and left. Her mind was spinning. To see the necklace meant that Willie Mae hadn’t been able to leave or tell anyone what she knew. Almost in a trance, Jewel retraced her steps to the other house. As she climbed the stairs, a cold chill passed over her as she remembered the odd void she’d felt when she sat in the seat at the reading table, the one Willie had sat in last. What if Everett discovered his wife’s intentions? What if she never left Thibodaux? Unbidden – a scene played through her mind.

  Everett stood over his wife, his face a mask of fury, the necklace in his outstretched hand. “You showed this to the witch? You went to see her after I forbid you to go?”

  “You can’t tell me what to do, Everett. You hurt me. You cheated on me! Now, you’ll face the wrath of a woman scorned!”

  “You idiot,” he snarled. “You fuckin’ idiot. You don’t know the meaning of wrath.”

  “Oh, God. Oh, God. Willie.”

  With her mind full of turmoil and terror, Jewel wasn’t paying good attention. She was reaching for the door handle when she noticed something that didn’t belong. At first, her mind refused to recognize it – when she did, Jewel jumped back and screamed. Inches from her hand, a five-foot black water snake hung from the doorjamb. Lodged in its mouth was a mouse. Jewel didn’t have to be told what it meant; her mother had taught her well. This was a dire warning to a transgressor, threatening her with the same fate as the mouse. “Dammit!” She wanted to cry. Jewel knew the snake was dead, but it was just so gruesome. Running back down the steps, she looked until she found a stick, then returned to lift the revolting spectacle from her door and fling it out into the yard. The fire ants would make short work of it, she hoped.

  Now, that she’d dealt with the repugnant matter, Jewel let herself consider how it got there.

  Really, there was only one explanation – one of the lawmen who’d come to search Easy’s house had slipped over and left her a little present. A direct message from Everett Hill. She could almost hear his sneering voice in her ear, telling her what would happen if she dared open her mouth.

  “Well, too bad, asshole.” She was still reeling from the revelation of what happened to poor Willie. “I’m not going to let you hurt anyone else.”

  Marching into the house, she went straight for her phone, looking up the number of Philip’s satellite phone. Frustrated after four rings, Jewel was about to hand up when he answered.

  “McCoy.”

  Realizing he wouldn’t recognize her home number, she stammered out her name, “Jewel. Jewel Baptiste.”

  “Jewel? What’s wrong?”

  “It’s Easy, Philip, he’s been arrested for Marion Cole’s murder.”

  Until he told her to, “Calm down and tell me everything,” Jewel didn’t realize her voice was shaking.

  “He didn’t do it.”

  “Of course, he didn’t do it.”

  “He was with me. Pl…plus, I know who did it.”

  “You what?”

  “I know who did all of this.”

  This startled Philip. “You do?”

  “Yea, I need to tell somebody.”

  “Just sit tight and let me get somebody to help. I’ve got my lawyer on alert. Let me call Zane and he’ll be on the next plane.”

  Jewel didn’t even get the chance to say goodbye before Philip was off the line, hopefully phoning someone to help Easy. Feeling completely helpless, she tossed the phone onto the couch, where it bounced off a cushion and onto the floor. “What do I do?” Just the thought of him being taken to jail for something he didn’t do infuriated her beyond enduring.

  Pacing the floor, she weighed her options. If she went down there, would they even let her see him? No, she knew they wouldn’t. Easy would be taken straight to interrogation. Questioned about a murder that the head of the department knew he hadn’t committed. “God!” Jewel wanted to pull her own hair out by the roots.

  Needing to do something to occupy her mind and her hands, she set out to put together the court case spell. Taking a piece of parchment from the cabinet, she wrote Velma’s husband’s name on the paper, along with his birthday. Next, she wrote her name on top of his, crossing and covering it nine times. “Come under my command. I command you to hold your tongue.”

  Still working on automatic, she found nine sewing needles and brought them to the sink. After washing most of the blood from the tongue, she sprinkled it with cayenne pepper. “May your words burn in your mouth if you speak against your wife.” Taking the paper in hand, she folded it away from her, symbolically keeping the man away from them, then turned the paper and folded it away from her once more. “Now for the icky part.” She took a knife and slit the beef tongue open with a horizontal cut, just big enough to put the folded paper inside. Next, using the nine needles, she pinned the tongue shut once more, bound it over and over again with kitchen twine, all to make sure Palmer Duggar remained tongue-tied. “You will not tell lies on your wife, you abuser!” Lastly, she placed the dressed beef tongue in the freezer to set the spell and keep it potent.

  As she gazed at the other frozen items, Jewel’s eyes lit
on a long link of smoked sausage. Gritting her teeth, she snatched it out and slung it in the microwave to thaw just long enough for a knife to go through it. When the beep sounded, she took it out, and while her emotions still ran high – Jewel carved Everett Hill’s name along its length with the tip of a knife. Then…she viciously cut it in pieces, whispering words with absolute intent. “I bind you, Everett Hill. You will not hurt Easy Blackhawk. You will not hurt another woman! I curse you. You will become weak, impotent, unable to lift a finger against anyone!” When she was through, the sausage lay chopped and eviscerated. And she found she could breathe just a bit easier.

  But there was still one more thing she could do.

  With the press of a button, she put in a call to Witch Hazel.

  Time to call in the big guns.

  * * *

  As far as Easy was concerned, he’d just fell through the rabbit hole. “I didn’t do this,” he muttered as two armed lawmen led him into the front entrance of the sheriff’s office. “I won’t talk until I see my lawyer.” He’d seen enough reruns of The Practice and Boston Legal to know not to talk until he had a lawyer present.

  “Tell it to someone who cares, bud,” said the chubby florid-faced deputy on Easy’s right. “You’re in Sheriff Hill’s custody now, the outside world doesn’t exist anymore.”

  Easy couldn’t believe an officer of the law would say something so obviously crazy. There was no doubt in his mind that Jewel had been right about the Hills. Despite the futility, he couldn’t help but struggle against the men who held him. When their grip tightened painfully, he didn’t even flinch. Easy wasn’t about to give them the satisfaction. “I want my phone call. I’m entitled to a phone call.” He knew Jewel would call Philip, but he wanted to call Daniel. Right now, he needed for his older brother to know he was in trouble.

  As they guided Easy down a narrow hallway, he kept expecting to be thrown into an interrogation room. Instead, they kept on walking until they came to a back staircase. Before Easy knew it, he was jammed through the opening into the darkness. “Cool your heels here, Redskin.” This jibe came from the other deputy, an older man with a handlebar mustache. “Someone will be by to talk to you one of these days.”

  When the door slammed behind him, Easy was stunned. “Hey, I can’t see a damn thing! Aren’t you going to take off the cuffs?” He remained on the steps, having no idea what lay below him. After a period of time, it became evident no one would be returning anytime soon. “Well, shit.” Putting his back to the wall, he slowly moved down the steps until he came to the flat surface of the floor. Using his hands to see, Easy was able to determine the walls were made of brick. Slowly, he made his way around a small enclosure. This was some type of basement. “Or a damn dungeon.” There was no window. No bathroom. And no place to sit. He stood up for the longest time, then slid to a seated position. The worst part of this was his arms being held behind his back. They were already aching and soon they’d be numb.

  In the darkness, there was nothing to do but think. Easy’s thoughts were all over the place. He was worried about Jewel. What was she doing? What she safe? She couldn’t be thinking he was guilty of this, could she? “All right. All right. Let’s calm down.” He’d been arrested because they found Marion’s necklace. The same necklace Jewel told him Everett Hill’s wife had in her possession. “So, how did it get in my house?” Bowing his head, he forced himself to concentrate. It didn’t take him long to find the answer. “Fuck,” he hissed, realizing the break-in at his home wasn't meant to steal something from him, but to plant the evidence against him. Easy couldn’t miss the fact that this was an orchestrated effort to frame him for murder.

  As time wore on, the silence became deafening. Easy lost the ability to tell how many hours were passing. He felt like he was trapped in a nightmare. Yes, he’d known stuff like this happened in the world. Innocent people being railroaded for crimes they didn’t commit. He’d just never thought – not in a million years – it could happen to him. Of course, Easy wasn’t a stranger to prejudice. He knew there were people in the world who still looked down on him because of the color of his skin…but this was something different. He wasn’t chosen as a scapegoat because of his last name. No, this was much more insidious. Easy felt like he was being accused because he was convenient. He’d stumbled onto the wrong place at the wrong time.

  How long would he be here? Would Philip be able to help? Would Jewel be all right without him? He wanted to yell out for his family to come to him. How he wished he could see his father now. “Dad, you said you’d never leave me. You said you’d be with me through the storm! This is what you meant, wasn’t it? Well, are you here?”

  Easy waited for what seemed like forever – his eyes straining in the darkness. Desperate to see something that wasn’t there. He was a grown man. A big man. Fully capable of taking care of himself and what was his. Yet, he found himself shackled in the darkness, accused of something he’d never do. Giving up, he bowed his head. Feeling helpless. Alone.

  And then it happened…

  Out of the thick blackness, a light appeared. In started out as a faint glow, no bigger than a firefly. At first, Easy thought he was imagining it. He’d wanted a sign from his father so badly that he’d made it up in his mind. Staring at the small dot of illumination, he blinked – trying to clear the mirage from his view. But the pinpoint of luminescence didn’t disappear. Instead, it grew. Becoming larger. Brighter. Pulsing. Giving off more than light. For Easy could feel love emanating from the orb. Reassurance. A promise that he would never be forsaken.

  From the glow he could see the room where he was confined. Like he’d suspected, it was empty. Just a shell. A cage. Still, he wasn’t alone. Easy stared at the beacon, knowing the source of the light was his father. When he couldn’t hold his eyes open anymore, he bowed his head. As sleep overtook him, his last thought was of Jewel.

  * * *

  Jewel couldn’t be still. She needed to do something. Anything. She couldn’t believe Easy was being held for questioning for the murder of Marion Cole. Pacing across the floor, she wrung her hands, imagining what he was feeling. What he was going through. All of this was a total sham. And the worst part was that she knew full well who was responsible – in whole or in part, she wasn’t sure – but Jewel had seen enough to know the Hills were anything but innocent.

  “So, what are you going to do about it?” she asked herself.

  Gone was any reticence she felt because of fear. Gone was any hesitance she might feel because of shame. She wanted to charge into battle like a mother grizzly after her cub. The only thing holding her back was the desire to do it right.

  And that was why she was waiting for Philip McCoy and the lawyer he was bringing. Philip promised they’d come to her as soon as Zane met with Easy. He’d also assured her that Zane was the best at his job. Jewel hoped so. She fervently hoped so. The idea of Easy in jail hurt her more than she could’ve ever imagined. Who would’ve thought she’d be on the phone asking her mother for help? Yea, that was how desperate she’d become. Jewel would do whatever it took to make sure Easy didn’t take the rap for Marion Cole’s death.

  Needing to rid herself of nervous energy, she set out to take a walk. She’d no more than reached ground level when she saw an unnerving sight. Written in what looked like blood on the windshield of her car were these words: Mind your own damn business, witch.

  Taken aback, Jewel stopped and stared, feeling unnerved. Turning in a circle, she looked all around her. This message was left after the lawmen had taken Easy away. She clasped her arms, rubbing the chill from her skin. Could the person who’d written those words still be lingering near? Whirling around, she ran back inside and locked the door. Jewel resented how someone could make her feel unsafe in her own home.

  Leaning against the wall, she bowed her head, tears running down her cheeks. She wished her mother was there already. It wouldn’t be long, however. Hazel promised she’d waste no time in coming to be with her. From
the moment Hazel picked up the phone, she let her daughter know she understood the situation before Jewel even got the words out of her mouth. “Forget your worries, I’m on the next plane. Don’t worry about picking me up at the airport, I’m booking a rental car even as we speak.” Even in the face of all the turmoil and worry about Easy, Jewel couldn’t deny there was a big part of her relieved to be connecting with her mother again. She was tired of being angry at someone she loved so much. Seeing Easy reconcile with his father was awe inspiring and made her realize how fortunate she was – for she didn’t have to wait until Hazel was dead – she could mend fences with her mother now.

  “Okay, get a grip. You need to get your thoughts together.” She intended to write down everything she could remember about her visions.” Muttering to herself, Jewel found a pad and paper. She sat down at the reading table to make a list. The warning outside was ignored for one undeniable reason – Easy was her business. “Get ready Everett Hill. If you think a woman scorned is dangerous, wait until you meet a pissed witch.”

  * * *

  “I’m Ezekiel Blackhawk’s lawyer and I demand to see my client right now!” Zane Saucier faced down the red-faced deputy who didn’t appear to be willing to cooperate.

  “Mr. Blackhawk is indisposed at the moment,” the young man replied with a sneer.

  “Unless you want a federal judge breathing down your neck, you’d better let me talk to my client!”

  Philip nudged Zane as the barrel-chested sheriff made an appearance at the end of the hall. “What seems to be the problem, Howie?”

  “There’s some fancy Texas lawyer here asking to talk to the half-breed, Sheriff.”

  Zane glanced at Philip; his eyes wide. “Do you believe this shit?”

  Philip shook his head, his gaze never leaving the sheriff who sauntered toward them with his hand on the pistol at his side. “Southern hospitality at its best.”

  “Lawyers.” The sheriff spat on his own floor. “Scum of the earth. Especially Texas lawyers. You can’t come in my state and tell me what to do, sonny. I’m afraid you don’t know how Louisiana law works.”