Deadly Countdown

by Margaret Daley

  She looked toward the wheelhouse. “Hi, Cal. I’m looking for the captain.” She smiled, hoping to thaw his sour expression.

  “My uncle ain’t here.”

  “Do you know where he is?”

  The large, barrel-chested man frowned. “What do I look like? His keeper?”

  “No, but if you don’t want to find another dock for Miss Betty, I need to see Captain LeBlanc.”

  Cal Fayard pointed back the way she’d come and from where she’d just seen his brother, Bo, in the post office. “In town.”

  “Do you mind if I come aboard and see if he left his rent check?”

  “Yes.” His glare pierced through her.

  He’d only been working for his uncle this season, having lived in Houma before that. He’d never been overly friendly, but today Cal reminded Allie of a hungry gator in the swamp waiting for his prey.

  When he didn’t say anything else, she spun on her heel, climbed from the boat and started back toward the Sundowner Marina and Condos’ headquarters up the street.

  “He’s talking to the head honcho,” Cal shouted.

  Allie twisted around and grinned. “Now that wasn’t so hard. Thank you.”

  Most of the men referred to the marina owner as the head honcho because of the infusion of money and jobs his company brought to Port David. She’d wait outside Paul Dupree’s office. When she entered the reception area, Paul’s secretary, Belle Martin, her mother-in-law, was gone—probably at lunch. Allie took a seat to wait for the captain to leave. Maybe she should say something to her employer about having to run down the rent money almost every month.

  After five minutes, too restless with all that had been happening, Allie decided to leave a note on Belle’s desk to have the captain come see her. She walked to the desk and searched for a piece of paper to write a note.

  Belle appeared in the doorway. “Sugar, can I help you?”

  A blush suffused Allie’s face. “I was going to write you a note. Is Captain LeBlanc in Paul’s office? I need the rent from him.”

  “Yes, he is.” Belle put her hand on her waist. “I declare. Is he late again?”

  Allie nodded.

  “I’ll tell him to come see you right away. Will you be in your office here or at the marina?”

  She spent half her time at the marina and half at the headquarters of the Sundowner Marina and Condos. “Here.”

  “You don’t need to wait around. I’ll make sure he gets his rent in if I have to escort him to your office to give you the check.”

  Allie hugged Belle. “I’d appreciate that. If anyone can get that man to pay, it’ll be you.”

  Before she crossed the room, the door behind Allie opened. She stopped and glanced over her shoulder. Paul followed Captain LeBlanc into the reception area.

  “I thought I heard voices.” Paul’s dark gaze settled on Allie, and a smile deepened the lines at the sides of his eyes and dimpled his cheek. “It’s always good to see you, Allie. Do you need me for something?”

  “I came to see Captain LeBlanc.”

  “I bet cha want my check.” The forty-year-old man stuck his hand into his pants’ pocket. “I’ve got it right here. I was gonna bring it to ya after I talked to Paul.” He strolled to her and gave her the check. “Darlin’, thanks for yer—patience.”

  Captain LeBlanc and Cal were a perfect match to work together. They didn’t like too many people. Out of all the fishermen, she could rule those two out as her secret admirer.

  After the captain left, she turned to Belle and Paul. “I got what I came for.”

  “Are you going to the fais do-do tonight?” Paul asked, his gaze traveling down her length then slowly back up.

  Lately he’d been coming on to her. She needed to tell Remy about Paul, although she didn’t see her boss as the type who would leave gifts, especially since he was so open about his interest in her. “Yes, I’m meeting my aunt at the party.”

  He smiled, his white teeth perfect like the rest of him. Paul prided himself in being in good shape and what most ladies around here called handsome like a male model. “Good. Then I’ll see you there.”

  The marina and condos had saved Port David when Paul decided to build it here after Hurricane Katrina devastated the area. The company was responsible for a boom to the region, bringing in tourists who wanted to fish, enjoy the sun, and sample the Cajun culture. Everyone thought Paul could do no wrong, but lately he’d made her skin crawl. She’d better tell Remy about Paul’s interest in her to be on the safe side.

  Allie hastened to her office to finish the report so she could attend the party. She looked forward to seeing Remy again. She hadn’t realized how much she’d missed him until she saw him this morning. When her husband, Landry, had died suddenly, Remy had come home for the funeral. His presence had helped her a lot, especially when they reminisced about all the good times the three of them had as children. Then Remy had returned to Dallas, and she’d only seen him a couple of times a year.

  She unlocked her office door. When she entered the room with a bank of windows that overlooked the Gulf, her gaze riveted to a sheet of paper pinned to the back cushion of her chair. Written in bold, block letters were the words, “You shouldn’t have done that today.”

  Chapter Two

  Allie finished inputting the quarterly report and sent it to Paul a few days ahead of schedule. Thankfully, her computer was password-protected. She couldn’t find any evidence that whoever had broken into her office had tampered with the data.

  She rose and stretched, her muscles stiff from sitting most of the afternoon. Her gaze caught sight of the crushed piece of paper in the trashcan—where she’d tossed the note pinned to her chair.

  On second thought, maybe she should show it to Remy. He was a law enforcement officer, and he might know what to do. The sheriff that served this area was stationed in another town in the parish. She didn’t want to bother him since he was miles away.

  She snatched the paper from the trash and stuffed the note into her purse. With a glance at her watch, she realized the fais do-do had already started.

  As she headed toward the harbor where the celebration was, she could hear the loud Zydeco music blasting the warm evening air. She scanned the area, the street deserted probably because most of the town was at the marina, a long block away. With thoughts of the threatening note, she wished she hadn’t parked her car at the harbor earlier because then she could have driven the short distance. Suddenly she didn’t feel safe walking the streets in her hometown.

  Before today, the gifts from her “secret admirer” had been harmless. Some of them at the beginning had been kind of sweet. She remembered one of the photos on the collage was her walking to the marina as she did often during her workday. What if the person was watching her right now? A shiver snaked down her spine at the thought of the confetti cannon and the warning left in her office.

  She glanced around her and spied movement out of the corner of her eye. Someone was following her. Clutching her purse against her, she began to jog.

  “Allie, wait up.”

  Remy’s voice sent relief through her, and she stopped and turned toward him. The sight of him eased some of the tension in her body, and she relaxed. At times, she had an overactive mind and was thankful that was all it was.

  Remy caught up with her. “Why are you in such a hurry? I’m sure there will be enough food for you.” He took a deep breath. “I bet we’re having crawfish tonight. I miss that in Dallas.”

  “Why aren’t you already there?” She tried to make her tone sound casual. The middle of town wasn’t the place to show him the note. What if someone was looking out a window?

  “It isn’t a party without you there.”

  She eyed him up and down. “Remy Broussard, you were following me because of this morning.”

  “I’m being cautious.”

  “Since when?”

  He cocked a grin. “Okay, I admit when it comes to myself, I’m not what you would cons
ider a cautious man, but this is about you.”

  His assurances warmed her. She would show him the note later in private. Tonight she wanted to forget what happened this morning. She tugged on his arm and forced a smile. “Let’s go before Adrien Vincent eats all the food.” She had her best friend home for a few weeks. She intended to enjoy the time with him before he went back to Dallas.

  A couple of minutes later, she stopped at the edge of the crowd, and Remy leaned close to her, whispering, “You can’t fool me. Something’s wrong. Is it what happened this morning or something else?”

  She slanted him a look and kept her voice low. “Yes. Glitter is still leaving a trail wherever I go.” The band struck up another song. “Now, shh. I want to listen to ‘Saturday Night Special.’ It’s one of my favorites. It makes me want to dance.”

  “You? Dance? Now I know something is going on. You’re not telling me everything.”

  This from the man she used to believe could read her mind at times. He hadn’t lost that gift. “When I left my office this morning, I was gone maybe forty-five minutes. During that time, someone placed a threatening note in my office at the Sundowner’s headquarters.”

  He stiffened, looked around and moved as close as he could. “What did it say?”

  “‘You shouldn’t have done that today,’” she recited the words she wouldn’t forget.

  “Where’s the note?” Remy asked, a tight thread woven through his words.

  “In my purse.”

  He stepped back, checked to make sure no one else was in the immediate vicinity, and held his palm out. “Give it to me.”

  Allie shivered at the intensity in that sentence. This was a side of Remy she hadn’t seen. Commanding. Take charge. Fierce. She dug into her purse, pulled out the wad of paper, and placed it in his hand. “I threw it away then decided I needed to show it to you this evening.”

  “When were you going to?” He stuffed the note into his coat pocket.

  “Later when there aren’t so many people around in case my secret admirer is watching like he obviously was this morning.” Her explanation made perfectly good sense to her, but Remy blew out a long breath of air.

  “He isn’t a secret admirer. He’s a stalker. This is serious. You should have called me right away and left it as you saw it.”

  “I keep my office locked when I’m not there because I handle the company rentals and leases, and I don’t want to lock up all the paperwork that I have on my desk and in my file cabinets. That doesn’t even include all the information on my computer. It’s password-protected, but you can’t be too careful.”

  “Who else has a key?”

  “Dupree has a master.”

  “Anyone else?”

  “I don’t know, but probably the custodial staff. At least Dutch. Paul would know.”

  Remy took her hand. “Let’s go back to your office. I want to take a look at the lock and have you show me where the note was.”

  “Now? But the—”

  “The party can wait.” He led her toward the company’s headquarters, half a mile from the marina.

  Inside the building, Allie relished the air conditioner after standing outside in the humid air. She marched down the hall until they reached her office and gestured at the handle.

  Remy knelt and examined the knob. “There are scratches on this. Someone could have picked your lock unless these marks were already here.”

  She leaned over his shoulder and saw what he was talking about. “I’ve never noticed those before, but that might not mean anything since I often stick my key in without looking down.”

  “Let’s assume he picked the lock although I’m still going to find out who has a key.” Remy rose and turned toward her, inches away.

  Allie’s heartbeat increased, and she caught a whiff of lime. When she passed him her key, her hand trembled slightly. She hadn’t seen Remy since Mardi Gras and missed him being around. No, she had to chalk up her reaction to him as nervousness about what had happened today.

  His gaze roamed over her features, his gray eyes softening, his body relaxing for a moment. “Good thing I came home when I did,” he finally said, breaking the trance Allie felt caught in.

  As he unlocked the door, she rallied her good sense and said, “It was pinned to my chair. The first thing I saw when I came in.”

  “I left my fingerprinting kit at home. I could come tomorrow and see what I can pull up.”

  “Were any on the cannon?”

  “Nope. Obviously wiped cleaned, except what I could rule out as mine or yours.”

  “Where did you get my prints?”

  “From your coffee cup earlier this morning at the café.”

  “You went back and got it?”

  “I knew your prints were on the pipe, and I didn’t want to bother you about getting them.” The undertone in his voice spoke of the seriousness Remy took in this morning’s situation.

  Allie stared at the place where the message had been pinned. By that very act, someone had left no doubt that his intentions had turned devious. “What do you think he meant by the note?”

  “I would say your stalker isn’t too happy for some reason.”

  “It’s because I threw the cannon on the ground. That must have made him mad.”

  “Also he’s stating that he can get in here without a problem.”

  “I’ll have to tell Paul. Maybe we can get a better lock on the door.”

  He clasped her upper arms, looking her straight in the eye. “I don’t want you going to and from work without someone with you. I’ll take you home tonight.”

  “I don’t want to leave my car here. What if he did something to it? Why don’t you follow me?”

  “Fine, but we won’t leave together. I don’t want the guy to think I’m working the case yet.”

  “Working the case? That sounds so official.”

  “Because it is. I’m informing the sheriff, so he knows what’s going on.”

  Intensity poured off him and comforted her. She wasn’t alone with a stalker out there determined to scare her. She was frightened, but she wasn’t going to let this man affect her life any more than he had. “Are you going to have the sheriff come to Port David?”

  “No, I can do the legwork. I was one of his deputies. I don’t want to make it obvious I’m looking into this. The stalker might stop for the time being, and I want to catch him before I have to return to Dallas in a few weeks.”

  Her knight in shining armor. She’d never thought of Remy in those terms, but that was what he was. “I want that too.” She looked into his eyes, and for a moment, she felt ensnared by him.

  Finally, he dropped his arms to his side and glanced toward the door. “We’d better make our appearance at the party.”

  * * *

  The lights of the fais do-do lit the harbor, making it easy for people to mingle and enjoy the food. Guests danced to lively music in an area where the local band was set up. The familiar scents of boiled shrimp and crawfish mingled with the aroma of freshly baked French bread. Remy had missed these smells along with the scent of the bayou and saltwater.

  Remy leaned against a post at the pier, watching Allie move from one group to the next as if she were the hostess of the party, and, in one sense, she was since she was the leasing agent for the Sundowner Corporation.

  He’d seen her work this kind of party before, but not this much. There hadn’t been a person tonight she hadn’t talked to, especially the locals. What was she doing? Trying to figure out who sent her that note? He hoped not. Allie was not a detective, and he didn’t want to see anything happen to her.

  They had been friends since he moved here seventeen years ago. She had lived with her aunt who took Allie in when the state took her away from her mother, who died of an overdose of drugs and alcohol a few years later in New Orleans. Allie had always put up a brave front when talking about their mothers. A parent—hers to drugs and his to husband number three—had abandoned each of them. He occasion
ally heard from his mom, usually at Christmas and his birthday, but Papere was the one who had raised him.

  “I’d ask you what’s got your interest, but it’s obvious that it’s Allie.” His grandfather planted himself in front of Remy. “What’s going on? You’ve hardly taken your eyes off her. Is this because of the prank earlier? Not everyone has a sinister motive.”

  Remy frowned and moved a step to the right so he could continue to watch her. His grandfather always saw the good in people. Papere hadn’t seen the evil he had. “She got a threatening note today that she found in her locked office. I’m going to follow her home when she leaves.”

  “And when were you gonna tell me?”

  Remy’s attention shifted to his grandfather, and he shrugged. “When I was ready to leave?” One corner of his mouth hiked up. “Sorry. I’ve been focused. I don’t have a good feeling about this. If you want to stay, I’m sure her aunt would bring you home.” He decided to turn the tables on his grandfather. Then maybe he would leave him alone about Allie. “I’ve seen how you’ve looked at Evelina Johnson.”

  Papere laughed. “I’m too old for her.”

  Remy returned to watching Allie. She was talking to several local young men. “What, fifteen years? That’s nothing, especially here.”

  “Where the pickings are slim?”

  Remy swung his gaze back to his grandfather and chuckled. “You got me there, but you could always go to New Orleans or even Houma.”

  “Evelina isn’t interested in any man. After her husband died, she hasn’t looked at another one romantically, much like Allie.”

  “Maybe it’s time you let her know you’re interested, Papere.”

  His grandfather’s face flushed. He harrumphed and took a step closer. “You could do the same with Allie. Let me know when you’re leaving.”

  Remy’s full attention fell on Allie. She laughed at something one of the guys said. He couldn’t tell who, since several had their backs to him. She had a lot to offer a man. Every time he came home to see his grandfather, he half expected to find she was dating, but no one had been able to fill Landry’s shoes. That was one thing he loved about her. She was loyal to the end.