He laughed. “That could involve anything from machetes to a boxing match.”
“Hmmm,” was all I said.
“Okay, let me make a few guesses. Did your day involve any high-speed chases?”
I pictured Fortune’s Jeep tearing up the road between Mudbug and Sinful. But even though she’d been driving a good thirty miles above the speed limit, no one had been technically chasing us. “Sorry, that’s a no.”
“You have a conversation with any interesting characters?”
“I wouldn’t say interesting exactly.” There’d been the bartender at Spanky’s, not to mention the whole rodent sighting discussion with the Bayou Gardens manager, but those were technically more bizarre than interesting. “Fortune and I chatted with Carter and Walter at the general store but that’s about it.”
Kase observed a moment of silence. Not a comfortable silence either. Did he know me so well that he knew I was lying?
“How was your day?” I decided to flip the question on him. As an FBI agent, surely, he’d have done something interesting.
“Nothing that I’m free to talk about, you know that, darlin’.”
An awkward quiet filled the air space between us. I was curled up in a chair in my bedroom at Aunt Ida Belle’s, dressed and ready for our visit to see Big and Little. Anxiety gnawed at my nerves like a little mouse with a hunk of cheese. I understood Fortune’s directive not to confide in Kase about what we’d found out, but she didn’t know what she asked of me. Silence and I weren’t comfortable for long periods of time.
“How are Ida Belle and Gertie doing?” Kase asked.
Now, you would think this would be a simple, straight up question that I would be grateful to hear but it wasn’t. How to introduce the topic of Bayou Gardens? Kase was likely to be as suspicious as Carter and Walter had been. My best bet was to say as little as possible. “They’re both going to be fine. In time, and with plenty of rest.”
“They there with you now?”
Something in his tone of voice warned me that he knew about their new living arrangements. Which meant I shouldn’t lie, at least not about this. I never knew how exhausting it was to be duplicitous.
“No, actually, they’ll be staying for a short while in a convalescent facility.” Before he could pepper me with questions, I launched into a whole song and dance about how this was the best thing for them. I was out of breath by the end of my spiel, but I think I’d managed to convey that everything here in Sinful was normal. Well, as normal as things ever were in Sinful.
“Stephanie,” Kase surprised me by using my Christian name instead of his pet name for me. “Whatever you and Fortune are up to, you’d better be careful. You hear?”
I neither agreed nor disagreed, nor did I divulge or deny anything. Instead, I wished him a goodnight.
Guilt needled me as I made my way out to the living room. Fortune looked up from her laptop. “What’s wrong?”
I plopped on the sofa beside her. “I’m such a liar.”
“Good. There’s hope for you yet.” She got to her feet and motioned for me to do the same. “Let’s go or we’ll be late for our meeting. Now, I want you to put on your proverbial dancing shoes so you can tap dance around the truth when we’re talking to Big and Little. We’re only going to tell them as little as we can in order to get what we want from them. I want you to play it cool, got it?”
I nodded. Play it cool. This I could do.
Chapter Eight
“YOU’VE JUST GOT TO help us, Mr. Hebert. Gertie’s in the worst trouble, and we’re afraid that she’s going to end up murdered.” I sucked in a lungful of air. “On top of that, my great-aunt is angry enough to commit murder. Not Gertie’s, of course, but someone else’s.”
“Good evening to you, too, Miss St. James.” Big Hebert motioned for his son, Little, to pull out two chairs for us. “Have a seat, won’t you, ladies?”
Fortune shot me a look of pure annoyance. Okay, so I hadn’t exactly played it cool, but I had kickstarted the conversation, hadn’t I? I sat and folded my hands in my lap. My little outburst notwithstanding, I needed to mind my manners. “Thank you kindly for agreeing to meet with us.”
Big nodded his head solemnly. “Of course. My son and I aren’t impervious to a call for help from two damsels in distress. Are we, Little?”
I didn’t have to glance sideways to know that Fortune didn’t appreciate being referred to as a damsel in distress.
“Certainly not,” the younger Hebert agreed. He stood beside Big, his hands clasped behind his back. His expression was as inscrutable as his father’s was. “Of course, we hope that we might be able to assist you ladies, but ideally this will turn out to be a mutually beneficial transaction.”
“What do you want from us?” Fortune asked, rather indelicately, to my way of thinking.
“You called us,” Little countered. “What is it that you want?”
“Weapons.”
I reached up and fingered my pearls. My, but hadn’t the conversation turned from loquacious to terse awfully quickly?
Big steepled his fingers and tapped them together rhythmically. His eyes were locked on Fortune. I snuck a glance at her. She sat, outwardly calm, and met Big’s gaze unflinchingly. I wondered if she learned that in CIA operative training. I’d have to ask if she could teach me that trick.
“Why weapons?” Big countered. “How many and what kinds?”
Fortune tackled the second part of his question first, rattling off the names that sounded like a Russian roll call. I wondered how she’d handle the ‘why’ part of the question.
“As for why we need them, Gertie’s life is at stake.”
Neither Big nor Little exhibited an outward reaction to the news. A credit to their mafioso training, I wondered?
“How precisely are weapons going to assist you in protecting her?” Little asked. “Has she been taken hostage?”
Fortune shook her head. “I wish. I’d feel far more comfortable if that were the case. She’s gone and got herself mixed up with someone who isn’t what he appears to be.”
“Someone you don’t approve of, I take it?” Big asked.
“It’s not a matter of approval,” Fortune said. “He’s made one attempt on her life already. And the fact that he’s taken out a life insurance policy on her means that he’s going to try again.”
Big made a tsk-tsk sound with his tongue. “We can’t have that.”
“No, we cannot,” Little agreed. “Where is Gertie now?”
“Bayou Gardens,” Fortune answered. “Ida Belle is staying with her. She’ll do her utmost to keep Gertie safe but we need to eliminate the threat.”
“Naturally,” Big concurred. “You have our support there. But you didn’t answer my question about why you need us to supply you with a stash of powerful assault weapons to eliminate one man.”
“We’re not going to kill him.” I turned to Fortune, suddenly uncertain. “Are we?”
“No, we’re not. But we need to use something as bait to get his attention.” She leaned forward in her chair. “I want to offer him a partnership in a deal so lucrative that the life insurance policy he has on Gertie pales in comparison.”
Our host nodded. “Thus, ensuring her safety. A smart move.”
It was. If it worked. But we needed to move quickly. I shared Fortune’s certainty that Bull was hatching another plan to murder Gertie. In my mind’s eye, I could see Gertie sleeping in her bed at Bayou Gardens, snoring that funny little snore of hers, all the while completely unaware that Bull was advancing toward the bed with a pillow in his hands. A pillow he was going to use to smother her. “Can we borrow Manny?” I blurted out.
“Manny?” Little’s eyebrows rose. “Whatever for?”
“To sit by Gertie’s bedside until we trap Bull.”
“Bull?” Big exchanged a startled glance with his son. “You’re speaking of Bull Dozer?”
I nodded. “You know him?” Why was the little pipsqueak on the Hebert’s r
adar?
“We do,” Big said. His gaze shifted to Fortune. “We’ve recently heard that he’s involved in an activity that we most decidedly disapprove of, truly deplorable. But I imagine I don’t have to elaborate, do I, Miss Morrow?”
She shook her head. “I’m in complete agreement with you.”
Big laid his hands flat on the table. “It’s settled then, we’ll loan you whatever weapons you feel would impress Mr. Dozer.” He pushed a buzzer on his desk. “Manny, join us, please.”
I clasped my hands together. “Thank you so much. We’ll take excellent care of him.”
Big held up a hand. “You misunderstand me, Miss St. James. Manny is going to help Miss Morrow with her weapon selection, nothing more.”
Deflated, I sunk back in my chair. “We can’t have him?”
Little shook his head. “There’s no sense in tipping off Mr. Dozer at this point in the game. We can, however, send a less conspicuous associate of ours to keep an eye on Gertie and Ida Belle, if you wish.”
I smiled my thanks. “Wonderful, now that’s all settled, I feel so much better.” I stood. “If there is anything we can ever do in return, please let us know.”
Big heaved himself to his feet. “Indeed, there is, Miss St. James.”
“There is?” That was fast. “What can I do for you?”
“We need a specific piece of information about a certain someone that we’ve been unable to obtain,” Big said.
“Most frustrating,” his son chimed in.
“Quite,” Big continued. “But I would imagine your boyfriend might be able to provide the information we seek.”
I stared at him for a long moment. “You want me to ask Kase for classified information on your behalf?”
Big shrugged. “Ask, snoop around, however you want to obtain the information. That doesn’t matter to us.” He took up a pen and scribbled a name on a business card and handed it to me. “We need the lowdown on this person within twenty-four hours.”
I took the card and stared unseeing at it. He was asking me to use Kase’s FBI resources to get him information? I couldn’t, and I told him so.
Big’s dark eyes narrowed. “Now, think carefully, Miss St. James, before you make a rash decision that would upset the little deal we’ve just brokered.”
“Surely your friend Gertie’s safety is worth the little trade off?” Little asked, his voice dangerously low.
I looked between the three impassive faces, not knowing if I should be enraged or frightened by what they were asking me to do. But what choice did I have? Gertie’s life was on the line. I had to help. I nodded wordlessly.
This was all Bull Dozer’s fault. And at this exact moment in time, I wanted nothing more than to wring his scrawny little neck with my bare hands.
I MADE IT ALL THE WAY back to Fortune’s house before I lost my cool. Actually, I made it half way through a plate of Ally’s chocolate chip cookies before I lost it. “Fortune, how could you set me up like that?”
She dunked half a cookie in her milk glass. “I didn’t set you up.”
“Funny, it sure feels like it. I can’t betray Kase by feeding information he has to the Heberts.” I swallowed hard, aware that I was choosing Kase over Gertie. Not a fair position to put me in. “It’s not going to happen.”
Fortune chewed thoughtfully. “Of course, it’s not.”
“What are you saying?” I demanded. “Back at the Hebert’s, you encouraged me to agree to their terms.”
“Of course, I did. Agreeing to their terms was the only way to gain access to the guns I want.” She shrugged. “No big deal.”
I stared at her. “No big deal? How can you say that? I consider betraying Kase’s trust a very big deal.” As I spoke the words aloud I realized just how much the thought of losing Kase scared me. I pressed my fingertips to my temples. My head felt like it was going to explode.
Fortune pushed the plate with the last remaining cookie toward me. “Let’s pause for a reality check, okay? I never said you needed to betray Kase.” She held up her hand to forestall my protest. “You just have to give the appearance of doing so. I mean, come on, how would you know how to hack into Mayeux’s computer?”
I wasn’t sure I appreciated her lack of confidence in my espionage abilities, although deep down, I shared it. “You mean we’re going to double cross the Heberts? Isn’t that dangerous?”
“No one’s spying, and no one’s double crossing anyone.”
I tore my gaze away from the cookie that was calling my name. I was confused enough without adding more refined sugar to the mix. “I’m lost.”
Fortune shook her head. “It’s simple, Stephanie. You needed to promise the Heberts a tidbit or two of information on a person of interest to them in order to get their promise to loan us some weapons. If they choose to think that you needed to use under-handed tactics to gain the information, so be it. It doesn’t mean you actually have to, right?”
My expression must have told her that I wasn’t following.
“Just ask Kase for the information you need,” she tried again. “Tell him what you need and why. No subterfuge necessary.”
“You really think he’ll just give me the information I ask for?”
“No. Not if he’s half as good at his job as I think he is. But he’ll likely come up with a little something you can give the Heberts.”
I considered this. I liked the idea that I could be honest with Kase, this was good. But making the Heberts mad was a very bad idea. I verbalized this but Fortune didn’t seem as concerned as I was about the possibility of ticking them off.
“It’s probably time we quit depending on them for help anyway,” she said. “No biggee.”
Perhaps not to her. “But what if they come after me for not giving them what they want?”
“Easy, you just turn them in to the FBI. It’s not that complicated.” She watched me carefully. “Now, if you’ve got that all squared away in your mind, it’s time we talk about the tricky part of our plan.”
My eyes widened. “I thought that was the tricky part?”
Her expression told me she knew I wasn’t going to like what came next. “Just hear me out.”
What good ever came after those words? “I’m listening.”
“So, here’s the thing, I found a flaw in our plan to trap Bull.”
“What kind of flaw?”
Clearly, she was uncomfortable. “My handler in D.C. doesn’t think it’s a good idea if I pose as an arms dealer. It might hit a little too close to home, based on assignments I’ve had in the past.” She studied my face carefully. “Believe it or not, the black market for illegal arms is not as large as you might imagine. My colleague is concerned that if Bull does have any notable connections, and they hear about our deal, they might put two and two together and realize I’m hiding here in Sinful.”
I nodded. “That makes sense.” If it was true. There was still so much I didn’t know about Fortune’s background. But, for now, I was going to go along with her story. “So, we’re going to find another way to trap Bull?”
She shook her head. “No, I still think the original idea is a good one. He’s greedy enough to go along with it.”
Fortune watched and waited for me to put it all together, but she waited in vain. Her words made no sense to me, and I told her as much. “Spell it out for me, please.”
“In a nutshell, here’s the plan. We’re still going to lure Bull into giving up his plans to hurt Gertie by tempting him with the ability to make much more money selling weapons instead of people.”
“We are?”
She bit her lip. “Well, technically, you are.”
I did not just hear that. “Pardon me?”
“You heard me right, Stephanie.” Fortune said. “You’re going to broker an arms deal with Bull, not me.”
Chapter Nine
“BUT I DON’T SPEAK RUSSIAN.” I looked up from the hefty black semi-automatic weapon I was caressing with my fingertip. It lay nestle
d in a case, where it most definitely belonged. I’d never held a real gun. Which, to my mind, made me the worst possible choice to pose as an arms dealer.
“What’s that got to do with anything?” Manny asked. “I’ve seen people dumber than dirt attempt to sell one of these babies.”
I straightened my shoulders and looked him square in the eye. “I simply said I don’t speak Russian, I never said anything about a lack of intelligence.” My frosty tone was in sharp contrast to the sweltering warehouse where we stood around a table littered with weapons that sounded like a litany of past Soviet leaders...Malenkov, Brezhnev, Chernenko...I was beyond bewildered.
“Take it easy, Stephanie.” Fortune looked up from the rocket-propelled grenade she was studying. “You don’t have to know their names. You just have to appear confident enough that Bull believes you’re a dealer. Trust me, once you start spewing numbers, you’ll have him seeing stacks of Benjamins. He’ll be hard pressed to remember you’re even there. Greed is a powerful distractor.”
It had better be. My life depended on it. “I still think I’m not the right person for the job.” In fact, I knew I wasn’t.
“It’s a crazy idea you two cooked up,” Manny said.
He was being far more talkative than usual, maybe because the Heberts weren’t anywhere around. It was just Manny, Fortune, myself, and a table full of lethal weapons. This whole idea didn’t sound any better today than it had last night when Fortune first proposed it.
“It’s all about the bluff,” Fortune said. “Don’t tell me you haven’t bluffed your way through many a situation back in Boston.”
I considered this. She was correct, I most certainly had. “Well, yes, but no one’s life had ever been at stake. Not to mention that none of the awkward meetings I’d had involved actual weapons.”
She slapped me on the back. “Buck up and channel your great-aunt.”
“I guess so,” I agreed. I looked over the selection of weapons in front of me. It certainly seemed as if the die had been cast. I was going to have to find a way to convince Bull that I was an arms dealer, albeit a very unlikely one. I turned to look at Fortune. “What exactly am I supposed to get him to agree to?”
A Sinful Mistake Page 6