by BJ Bourg
“More interrogations?”
“No, ma’am. I might need you to help me set a trap.” In my peripheral vision, I saw Amy’s brow furrow and she sat a little straighter in her chair, listening intently now.
“How so?”
“If you’re willing to do so, I might need you to interview a young woman at the Mechant Loup boat launch. She’ll be heading out to Le Diable Lake alone in a kayak. She’s going to say she will not be bullied into staying away from the lake, and she’s going to dare anyone to try and stop her.”
“To what end?”
“We’re hoping to lure the killer out in the open. Since she’ll be the only person on the lake, the killer will only have one option.”
“Won’t the killer suspect it’s a setup?”
“Maybe,” I admitted, “which is why you’re going to interview the mayor and the chief of police and they’re both going to say that they tried to discourage the woman from going out on the lake, and that if she does, she’s on her own.”
“Do you think it’ll work?” she asked skeptically.
“I don’t know, but I’m almost out of options.”
“Will this be an exclusive?”
“Absolutely.”
“Okay,” she said, the excitement starting to build in her voice. “I’ll get a crew together and we’ll await your call.”
“What are we doing?” Amy asked when I ended the call. She had dropped her boots to the floor and was leaning forward. “What woman is crazy enough to go out on that lake alone?”
“Your friend,” I said. “The one you brought here from Tellico Plains.”
Amy took a breath and smiled. “Ah, I love it! She hasn’t been here long enough for anyone to know who she is. But what makes you think it’ll work?”
I told her what I’d figured out during my call to Laura Cavanaugh at three o’clock this morning, and I told her I thought someone was working with Gabe. “Laura won’t tell me who called with the false information, but she says it wasn’t Gabe or Phillip. They could’ve used a fake name, so it might still be Phillip.”
“Are you thinking that Gabe killed Frank and Chrissy on Phillip’s orders?” Amy asked.
“That, or he did it himself and framed his son for it. Of course, there could be a third person.”
She nodded and said it sounded plausible. “But who would this third person be?”
“I don’t know, but if we can catch Phillip or someone else in the act of attacking Regan, we’ll be able to put this case to bed.”
Amy had a dozen questions about the operation and the safety precautions. After telling her what Regan and I had discussed, I called Mallory and told her our plan.
“He’s already out of jail,” she said of Phillip Burke. “Someone showed up with $12,000 cash and bonded him out last night.”
“Who was it?”
“I’m not sure, but I think it was one of his workers.”
I ended the call and turned to Amy. “Are you still going to the lab?”
She nodded. “Yeah, regardless of what happens here, we still need the evidence processed.”
I agreed and told her I was heading south to Old Blackbird Highway. “I’ll canvass the neighborhood and meet you back here after lunch sometime.”
She nodded and hesitated.
I glanced up at her. “What’s up?”
“Thanks for saving my life yesterday. Everything happened so fast throughout the day that I didn’t get a chance to thank you.”
“You would’ve done the same for me,” I said simply.
“Yeah, well, you drove directly into the line of fire. You literally jumped in front of a bullet for me, and I appreciate it.”
CHAPTER 37
After Amy and I parted ways, I headed for Old Blackbird Highway. I drove straight to the location where Gabe’s boat had been docked and stopped abruptly in the middle of the road. The boat was gone.
“What in the hell?” I stepped out of my truck and approached the dock. I looked up and down the bayou. The boat was nowhere in sight. I got back in my truck and drove to the nearest house, which was south of the dock. A lady was on her hands and knees jerking weeds from a flowerbed in the front yard.
“Good morning,” I said loudly from the shoulder of the road. I didn’t want to startle the woman by approaching quietly.
She stopped what she was doing and pushed herself to a seated position, resting her hands on her knees. “Can I help you?”
“Yes, ma’am. I’m Clint Wolf. I work for the Mechant Loup—”
“I know who you are.” She peeled off her gloves and slapped them together. “Is this about what happened to Gabe?”
“Yes, ma’am. I wanted to question his neighbors to see if any of y’all knew something about his activities within the past few weeks.”
Although the woman wore a large straw hat, her face was red from the heat. “Well, I didn’t talk to him much, but I had seen him walking on the side of the road almost every day.”
“When was the last time you talked to him?”
“Let’s see…” She pushed her hat higher on her head. “I think it was three or four days ago. Probably over the weekend.”
“Do you remember what y’all talked about?”
“Well, he wanted to read me a poem he’d recently written about King somebody or other.”
“King Saul?”
She snapped her fingers. “Yeah, that’s it! How’d you know?”
I shot a thumb toward the north. “We found a poem when we searched his boat. What else did y’all talk about?”
“I asked him what he’s been up to and he said he’s been hanging out on his boat. He smelled of alcohol. I asked if he’d been looking for a job, because he mentioned needing a job a while back, but he said he didn’t need one anymore. He said he was renting his boat out for cash.”
“To whom?”
“He didn’t say, but he did say that the angels of death would be coming for him someday.”
“Angels of death?”
“Yeah, he said they would be coming for him someday and he would have to be ready to fight them off.”
I scowled. Had he thought Amy and I were the angels of death? Had someone manipulated him into taking a shot at Amy? In his compromised mental condition, it might be easy to convince him of all sorts of things—things that might get him killed to shut him up.
“Did you hear that he had been scuba diving around boats in the lake and stealing things?” I asked.
“I heard that garbage,” she said with a scoff. “He used to dive, back before he got hooked on pain pills, but he hasn’t been able to dive in years. He would drown if he’d try diving in his condition. He’s always loaded when I talk to him.” She paused and frowned. “Well, he was always loaded. I guess he’s gone now.”
I didn’t acknowledge her last comment. “Was he loaded the last time you saw him?”
“Oh, yeah—he was loaded every time I’ve spoken to him.”
“Have you ever seen him with anyone? Did he have any friends or girlfriends or anyone else who would hang out with him?”
“He would stop along the highway and talk to people who live along this area, just like he’d do with me, but he didn’t really have any friends. Not that I know about, anyway. He used to date a girl back before his accident, but they broke up after he started abusing her.”
“Do you think he’s a violent person?”
She took a breath and studied me for a long moment. “Had you asked me that question last week, I would’ve said no.”
“What changed?”
“Well, I saw the news story where he shot at you and Officer Amy Cooke yesterday. In fact, I heard the gunshots and the crash that followed. Although I find it hard to believe, I do know that’s how it happened. It just seems out of character for him.” She frowned and shook her head. “I can’t help but think someone put him up to it. I’m sure you see it every day in your profession, where people manipulate those who are suffering from mental illness a
nd compel them to do things they would never do on their own.”
“You think someone was feeding him that bit about the angels of death?”
“I have to believe so. I could be wrong. He could’ve read something in the Bible and misinterpreted it, but I’m more inclined to believe it was fed to him.”
“But by whom?”
She shook her head. “That’s one thing I couldn’t tell you. I didn’t know that he had any friends.”
I turned and looked toward the highway and beyond, wondering at the ease of setting up someone like Gabe Burke. He was starving for attention, so it would be easy to strike up a conversation and follow him onto his boat. As a pill addict, he probably spent most of his time sleeping, and that would give the suspect ample opportunity to drive his boat out onto the lake and use it as a base from which to operate. The suspect could simply stash the stolen items onto the boat, along with his scuba gear, and then spread a rumor that Gabe was doing the stealing. Once the murders were committed, we would begin asking questions, and we would learn that he had been stealing from boats. That would lead us right to his boat. If Gabe had been given the stolen pistol and then programmed to believe the angels of death were coming to get him, he would naturally attack us when we showed up to question him. The suspect would know we’d respond with force, and the case would be closed with Gabe’s death.
“Thank you, ma’am,” I said, walking briskly toward my truck. As I did so, I got on the phone and called Amy. “Are you still in La Mort?”
“I didn’t even get to the lab yet,” she said. “What’s up?”
“When we go live with the story, Susan needs to tell the public that Gabe has been cleared as a suspect.”
“Why?”
“Someone set Gabe up to look like our murderer. If the real suspects think we believe that bullshit, they won’t strike again.”
“Yeah, you’re right,” she agreed. “If they drown another person after Gabe has been killed, then they’re essentially telling the world he didn’t do it.”
“Right. We need to let it be known that Gabe has been cleared of all wrongdoing, and we need to let them know that their scheme isn’t working—that people aren’t afraid to go back on the water. That might prompt them to attempt another drowning.”
I reached my truck and got in, continuing my conversation with Amy. I drove to the next house and parked.
“Do you really think Phillip is capable of setting up his own son to take the fall for his crimes?” Amy asked. “Do you think a man would do that to his own son?”
“I’ve seen people do all kinds of evil things to those they were supposed to love and protect.” I hesitated before leaving my truck, remembering the evidence we had found in Gabe’s boat. “But you know what? There’s no way Phillip could fit into that wetsuit we found, so I guess we can rule him out as the actual murderer. But it’s still possible he’s directing the hits.”
“Well, I’m about to pull up to the lab. I’ll head right back when I’m done.”
I stepped out of my truck. It was too late now, but I wished I would’ve known that Phillip was getting out of jail, because I might’ve been able to set up surveillance on him. If the murders were being orchestrated by Phillip, he would probably meet with the killer in person now that we had recovered Gabe’s phone.
Not wanting to dwell on those aspects of the case that I couldn’t control, I set about to finish my canvass.
CHAPTER 38
Susan stood with Pauline Cain behind the cameraman and watched as he prepared to film Laura Cavanaugh at the boat launch.
“I’ll walk this way,” Laura was saying, indicating a path from the tree under which she stood to the area where Regan was preparing to launch her kayak into the water, “and I want you to stay tight on me while I talk about the case. When I reach Regan, zoom out enough to capture both of us and her kayak. After I interview her, I’ll bring the mayor and chief of police in and conduct a quick interview with them.”
The cameraman nodded and, after a brief moment, they began filming.
“Do you think this’ll work?” Pauline asked Susan, keeping her voice low.
“I sure hope so,” Susan said with a sigh.
Clint had called her earlier in the morning after completing his canvass and said he wanted to put this plan into motion. She had met him at the town hall and they’d run the plan by the mayor. To Susan’s surprise—or dismay—Pauline had agreed to go along with it.
“If it’ll bring this asshole out into the open and help shut down this hysteria,” she had said, “then I’m all for it.”
“I don’t know,” Susan had said, “it’s a bit risky.”
Clint had agreed, but said Regan assured him that she was as much at home in the water as she was on dry land.
“And she’ll be equipped with this rescue tank that’ll keep her alive underwater for at least an hour,” he had said. “Besides, Melvin and I will be nearby. We’ll deploy before the press briefing and be in place long before she makes it to Le Diable. I’ve also spoken with Sheriff Turner, and he’ll have a helicopter and some divers standing by.”
Susan had finally agreed to go along with the plan, but she still didn’t like it. As she watched it unfold before her eyes, she became increasingly apprehensive. She had just hired Regan a month ago and didn’t want to put her in jeopardy.
“I asked for this,” Regan assured her earlier when she had tried to talk her new officer out of going through with the plan. “In fact, it was my idea. Just ask Clint if you don’t believe me.”
She hadn’t needed to ask Clint. She knew Regan was telling the truth.
“If something happens to Regan, I’ll never forgive myself for going along with this,” Susan said to Pauline, leaning into her so as not to be caught on the microphone.
“Neither will I,” Pauline said. “Neither will I.”
Susan didn’t know if she meant she would never forgive Susan or herself, but she didn’t ask for a clarification because Regan was speaking now.
“I refuse to give in to fear,” she said, adjusting the strap on her backpack. “Nothing will keep me from the beautiful waters of Le Diable Lake. It’s public land and I’m the public, so I intend to exercise my rights to it.”
“How would you respond to officials who might say it’s irresponsible of you to willingly put yourself in harm’s way? And what are your thoughts on the closure of the lake?”
“We put ourselves in harm’s way every time we get in our cars,” Regan retorted. “There have been only two drowning deaths in Le Diable Lake in a week—two!—and they want to close the lake. More than two people have died on the highways of Louisiana in the short time we’ve been standing here talking, but you don’t see the government trying to shut down the roads. I’m going to Le Diable Lake and no one’s stopping me.”
“Sources have told me that there may be a creature—some kind of swamp monster—pulling people into the water,” Laura pressed. “Does that not concern you?”
“There are no such things as monsters.” Regan stared right into the camera, her blue eyes accentuated by the white sunscreen smeared across her face. “And if there is a monster out there, I dare it to come and get me. I’m not afraid. Fear is for the weak.”
Laura thanked Regan and turned to face the camera. As she talked, she began making her way toward Susan and Pauline.
“I’m here with Mayor Pauline Cain and Police Chief Susan Wolf,” Laura said when she reached them. “Mayor, do you have an official position on Mrs. Steed’s voyage?”
“Officially, I don’t interfere in the lives of the citizens I serve. As long as they aren’t infringing upon the freedoms of their fellow citizens, they can do whatever they want as far as I’m concerned.” She took a deep breath and exhaled painfully. “Now, on a personal level, I wish she wouldn’t go. It’s not safe on the water right now.”
“Is it true that you’re contemplating closing the lakes until this creature is captured?”
; “I’m considering no such thing. It’s very distressing and extremely unfortunate that two people have drowned. We’ve been in close contact with the families of our victims and we’re working hard to resolve these cases.” She took a breath. “However, we’re moving forward with life—it’s what our victims would want us to do.”
“Do you have a message for anyone who might be watching?”
“Mechant Loup is open for business.”
Laura nodded and turned toward Susan.
“Chief, my sources tell me that the man who fired shots at your officers and was ultimately killed was the same man responsible for the deaths of the two victims out on the lake. Can you confirm or deny this information?”
“It’s my policy not to comment on ongoing investigations,” Susan said. “Having said that, I can say this, Gabe Burke is in no way involved in the homicides that occurred out on the lake. He was a troubled young man, but he is completely innocent of this accusation.”
“Do you have any words for Mrs. Steed, our young kayaker?”
“I applaud her for being fearless,” Susan said simply. “However, she’ll be on her own out there. Our officers are busy with several ongoing investigations, so we’re spread kind of thin at the moment.”
“Are you saying you’re okay with her decision to go out on the water alone, while something dangerous is lurking out there?”
“Terrorists thrive on fear. The lack of fear renders them impotent.” Susan indicated Regan in the distance. “If I didn’t have to work, I’d go with her.”
Laura turned and signed off. When the live shooting was done, she turned to Susan and Pauline. “You guys were very convincing.”
Susan frowned. “I’m still not sure about all of this. It’s just too dangerous. Clint and Melvin won’t be close enough to Regan to rescue her if she gets in trouble.”
Laura turned and watched as Regan tied her kayak to the back of the aluminum hull flatboat she would be driving to Le Diable Lake. “I don’t know…it looks like she can take care of herself. I don’t think she needs rescuing from anyone.”