Ellen frowned, “Oh, if it were that easy. We have to let Roger know what we have found out and he has to find a way to send mortal help for them. He can’t explain how he knows things we tell him, remember?”
That does complicate this angel class of “Helping Mortals” quite a bit. We can give mortals information, but they have to figure out how to explain knowing things. Never did like that rule.
Just then one of the men threw the door open and stood leering at Chelsy. Chelsy leaned in closer to her mom and Sarah screamed, “Stay away from us! Let us go!”
The man kept sneering and walked up to touch Megan’s hair. She started crying and the man laughed and turned to leave. “We can party later.” He closed the door and all three women began crying.
Mary had her hands on her hips. “Well, this is not going to happen!”
Ellen sighed, “Gals, you have had over a year of training now. You have been given a great many skills and tools to assist you. I am being told to return to New Orleans and make sure Roger and Cat are receiving all of the communications they need. That means you gals are on your own.”
Teresa smiled, “No problem.” Uh oh. I know that facial expression of hers and we are definitely going to have problems.
Ellen smiled, “You gals will think of something. Good luck!”
Ellen was gone.
We all were just floating around the room wondering what we should do first. Sarah was trying to comfort the girls. Mary started singing “Oklahoma”. Linda joined in. Teresa and I just looked at each other.
When Mary finished, Teresa put her hand up. “What are you doing?”
Mary answered, “Music always makes mortals feel better.”
Teresa nodded, “Except they can’t hear you.”
Mary looked over and a light pink glow was surrounding Sarah and the girls. “Yes, but see the aura? It is helping to calm them.” Mary looked at Linda, “Let’s keep singing them show tunes while Vicki and Teresa figure something out.” Linda started singing, “Oh, What a beautiful morning.”
Teresa and I went up to the deck to assess the situation. Teresa had a brilliant idea. “If we could steal one of their cell phones and get it to Sarah…”
“Sarah could call her husband!” Perfect. The man up in the cabin deck had his cell phone lying next to him on the console. We figured he would miss his phone right away, so we flew down to the two men drinking beer on the deck.
We nicknamed one man ‘Arnold’, he was huge, and the other man ‘Einstein’ because of his crazy hair. Einstein offered to get fresh beers. We could see his cell phone bulging in his pants pocket.
Teresa said, “We should trip him or something and take his phone.”
I thought he looked a tad too big to mess with physically. Too late. He no sooner got up and Teresa had moved his chair to trip him. He was laying on the deck floor laughing.
Arnold threw his head back laughing, “You don’t need any more beer!”
I got the cell phone out of his pocket and Teresa and I flew to the stairwell. We could walk right through the door at the bottom. The phone couldn’t.
I looked at Teresa, “Now what?” I knew this was too easy.
Teresa smiled at me as she turned the door knob and opened the door. “We could do this the normal way.” Oh.
Linda yelled at us, “Stop! Sarah can’t just see a phone float over to her. We have to make her think they left it.”
Teresa placed the phone on the counter next to her and said, “Make it ring.”
We all stood staring at the phone.
Mary squealed, “We have an app for that on our watches!”
Heaven has apps?
Mary hit a couple of buttons on her watch as Linda and Teresa watched. I don’t even want to know.
The phone on the counter started making a beeping noise. Sarah jumped up and looked around until she saw the phone. She picked it up and punched in a number. One second later she waved Megan and Chelsy to come stand with her. “Joe? Joe, its Sarah! We’re on a boat! Men abducted us from the hotel!”
We listened while Senator Welsh explained to Sarah that the FBI was with him and wanted to trace her call. While they talked, we decided we had better go back to the deck to keep Arnold and Einstein from coming down the stairs.
Mary started singing show tunes again, with Linda joined in for the choruses.
Teresa and I sat on the landing at the top of the stairs.
The Director of the FBI placed a call to the Solicitor General’s personal cell phone. The Solicitor General had been waiting for the call and answered, “Your message was received and I have drawn up the documents personally. No one else knows they even exist. I prepared an order for the FBI to exhume the body of William Jarvis and an FBI directive to reopen the Molly Jarvis murder case and drop the charges against Mr. Edward Meyer. You’ll have signed copies as soon as you tell me where to send them.”
The FBI Director thanked him and gave him a secure e-mail address. “Dan, I really appreciate your cooperation in this. Any idea yet on who is calling the shots at your end?”
The Solicitor General sighed, “I’m still working on that, but have narrowed it down to two people. I have outside people placing equipment tonight. Once this shit of yours hits the fan in the morning, we should know.”
Cat paced his living room reliving what he knew of the Jarvis case. One thing was certain. Someone in his building was monitoring the Jarvis case file access, but why? If William Jarvis had been the real target, practically anyone with a political motive was a suspect and would have benefited. But not just anyone could monitor DOJ case files.
It still seemed more likely that Molly was the target, and William had committed suicide. A crossed out time on a death certificate could easily be explained as an aging Medical Examiner operating under severe stress during the Katrina aftermath. Dillard Boggs certainly benefited from Molly’s murder. The class action suit against him had been dropped and all community pressure against his establishments had been buried with Molly. Boggs easily could have a special friend in Cat’s office. He would likely pay dearly to keep the Jarvis case buried if he were guilty. He certainly was smart enough to set up Ed. Cat made a note to check the financials the FBI had sent over an hour ago for payoff type transactions.
Senator Dalton’s murder was another angle and especially troubling. The timing, the professional aspect of his murder, all suggested people of influence being involved. Dalton’s participation as a surprise witness for the Department of Justice was known only to a very few people at the Solicitor General’s office, and a select few in Cat’s building. Clearly the common threat was that someone at his office was dirty, and had to be helping whoever was guilty.
Cat sat down and forced himself to focus on what he knew. He had always liked the expression ‘the way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time’. Cat twirled his pen and decided to start with Edward Meyer. Cat sent an email to Roger requesting a full data review on Ed. There may not be much available, considering Ed had been declared dead eight years ago and claimed to be living invisible.
Cat was troubled why Ed had waited so long to come forward. He let his son believe he was dead for four years. When he did finally meet with Reuben he discovered that Otis had a video that could prove he had been set up. Why wait another four years? Cat dialed the number Reuben had given him for his father.
Ed saw the caller ID and his heart began pounding. He was halfway to Otis’s Grocery. “Yes, Mr. Delacroix?”
“Call me Cat. Ed, I would like to meet with you now. Where are you?”
Ed answered, “I’m on my way to Otis Grocery. I’m almost there. Where do you want me to go?”
“Stay there. I know where it is. I’ll be there soon.”
Cat put a fresh shirt on. He remembered what the bartender had told him. No suits in the hood. Too bad. Cat strapped on his shoulder holster and checked his gun. He put his jacket on. Roger would not be happy he was heading back to the hood.
Ro
ger had just taken a call and waved Paul over to join him. “Keep me posted.”
Roger smiled, “Somehow the Senator’s wife got a hold of one of her abductors cell phones. She called the Senator and we are using the satellite now to locate her. They are on a yacht off the Coast of New Providence Island.”
Paul shook his head, “I bet the angels have something to do with this. That was more than lucky.”
“Yes, it was.”
Roger’s cell rang again. It was Core asking if he had someone in the hospital.
Roger answered, “We do. Senior Assistant Attorney General Steven Marks. He was shot three hours ago. He survived surgery. Jeanne and Zack are guarding him. Why?”
Core answered, “Acer just got orders to go to a hospital. Someone fresh out of surgery.”
Roger’s pulse quickened. “Shit.”
Roger ran to Thor’s office, Frank Mass was there. Roger asked, “Where’s Thor?”
“I think he went to the hospital to relieve Jeanne.”
Roger dialed Thor, “Where are you?”
“I’m just about at the hospital. What do you need?”
“Acer is on his way there.”
Paul poked his head in the conference room and told Nelson to take statements from Marla and Reuben and get their items to forensics a.s.a.p. Paul added, “Keep Dooley in holding. We have to leave.”
Zack and Jeanne watched a man in a doctor’s jacket walk toward them. His head was down reading. The passing nurses exchanged greetings with him. He had the appropriate lapel pin on. Jeanne noticed he was reviewing a medical chart and a clipboard. Her mind flashed to the photo of Acer that Roger had circulated. She noticed the doctor had the same type of haircut and basic features. She focused on his face as he walked closer. He got within five feet of her and she saw the slightest glint of a pistol emerge from under the clipboard. Acer had wrongly determined Zack was the greater threat. In the instant Jeanne yelled “Gun” Acer dropped the clipboard and shot Zack two times in rapid succession in the chest.
Jeanne kicked the gun from Acer’s hand and landed a chop blow to the side of his neck. She pulled a knife from her waistband with her left hand. Acer’s eyes were filled with rage as he twisted around and kicked Jeanne’s legs from under her. Jeanne had twisted enough that Acer’s blow did not cause a break, but she was injured and dropped to the marble tile floor. She rolled, raised her torso, and threw her knife. It stuck deep in Acer’s chest.
Acer didn’t even pause. He yanked the knife from his chest with a loud growl and raised his arm to throw the knife back at Jeanne. Jeanne had already pulled another knife from her boot and raised her arm to throw. A gunshot sounded from behind her and Jeanne saw a small red dot appear on Acer’s forehead. His knife clanged to the floor. Acer slowly folded at his knees and fell forward. Jeanne turned to see Thor advancing with his weapon drawn and screaming for help for Zack. Jeanne crawled over to Zack and placed her hands under his head. “Stay with me. Stay with me!”
Thor and Jeanne backed against the wall and inched their way to a corner to leave room for the swarm of medical staff attending to Zack. One nurse leaned down to check on Acer. Thor yelled, “Let that one rot.” Thor squeezed Jeanne’s hand and with his arm, pulled her to him. He looked into her eyes. They could read each other’s minds as clearly as if they were speaking. Jeanne kissed Thor’s cheek and squeezed his hand back. Thor exhaled. It would be hours before his heart quit pounding.
Roger and Paul ran from around the corner. Roger’s eyes scanned the mass of people at the end of the hall. Zack was wheeled past him to a nearby operating room. Roger was washed with relief when he saw Thor and Jeanne. Roger didn’t try to conceal his concern. He had grown very fond of Zack last year. He knew Core would be devastated.
A bloodcurdling scream filled the air. Roger and Paul ran to help. A nurse was found thrown on an empty bed in a vacant room. Her badge had been taken. That explained how Acer had been wearing a badge. The nurse’s neck had been broken. She was dead. Her fellow nurses were sobbing and trying to re-establish some sort of order. The PA system pleaded for all available trauma staff to report to that station.
Roger and Paul joined Thor and Jeanne outside of Marks’s room. Thor realized the current chaos could be a cover for a second attempt. He wouldn’t move until the area was declared safe.
Core turned the corner in a sprint and saw them standing in a huddle. He ran up to Roger, “Where’s Zack?” Even as he asked, he already knew.
The steady beeping from Steven Marks’s monitor filled the now silent air. Roger touched Core’s arm, “Zack’s still alive.”
Nelson had one of the new agents drive Reuben and Marla home. Nelson poked his head in the holding room where Dooley sat fuming. “Going to be a while yet. You want a pop or something?”
Dooley hissed, “I want to know why I’m here.”
Nelson answered, “Because you wouldn’t answer why you were there. At Florey’s place.”
Dooley slammed his hand on the table, “I saw you guys nosin’ around. I was just doin’ my job.”
Nelson left the room laughing. Dooley threw a chair against the wall. Pablo had been watching through the observation window. “Piece of work, isn’t he?”
Frank Mass sprinted down the hall to where Pablo and Nelson were talking. “Just had a shooting at the hospital. One dead and one in surgery.”
Mass was struck by Pablo’s shocked expression and suddenly remembered that Jeanne was his sister. “Jeanne is okay. Damn, I’m sorry. I forgot she’s your sister. Core’s guy Zack was shot twice in the chest. Shooter’s dead.”
Forensics arrived to take the items left by Reuben and Marla. Pablo was on his cell trying to call Jeanne. Nelson told forensics to hurry. Start on the bloody shirt first.
Mass looked at Nelson, “Need you and Pablo to take over for Jeanne and Zack at the hospital. Stay alert.”
Wednesday 6:00 pm
Spicey, Sasha, Dakin and Agents Troy and Weaver arrived at Pete’s Swamp Boat Rentals just as Abram was sweeping off the dock. Last job of the day. Abram was damn glad, too. He had thought about those killer bubbas through three swamp tours.
Jackson had seen the black SUV pull up through his office window. When Spicey got out of the car, he freaked out. “Oh Lordy, no! What she want now?” Jackson went out on the porch of the office and yelled to Abram. Abram glanced over and put his hands on his head.
Jackson walked over to Spicey. He nodded at the men in suits and looked at Spicey, “I ain’t glad to see ya and not particularly interested in what you want.”
Spicey chuckled and slugged his arm a little too hard. “Funny man. Funny, funny man. Listen here. You be takin’ us all to Mambo’s.”
Jackson thought he was in some kind of nightmare. “First, I don’t go that direction in the swamp. Too spooky. Second …well, back to first. Ain’t no point in gettin’ lost. We only got about an hour daylight. Sane people don’t do the swamp in the dark. There. That be two things.”
Spicey smiled, “These here be FBI, Jackson. You know, the peoples that gave you the money to buy this here business.” Abram had slowly walked up to the group and kept smiling at Dakin. He was now close enough to hear what was being said.
Spicey continued, “We got to take these here items to Mambo to stop them Betty Sue dudes from killin’ Dakin here.”
Abram looked at Jackson, “Mambo, the Voodoo Queen? For real? You be foolin’ now, right?”
Jackson shrugged. “I told you I don’t know how to get there. You might as well just turn around and go away.” That sounded good to Agents Troy and Weaver. The stench coming up from the swamp was only topped by the creepy noises starting to fill the air.
Spicey started walking toward the docks, “I know how to get there. Go with Willie all the time.” Spicey stopped and turned around, her hands on her hips. “Who owns a swamp boat tour place that be afraid of the swamp? Got to get this stuff to Mambo tonight.”
Abram pulled his cell phone out. “I done hear
d a solution in this problem. Let’s call Willie.”
Sasha shook her head, ‘He be at a meetin’ for the big Woodstock Reunion. Ain’t in town tonight.” Sasha turned to the two agents, “Bunch of old folks gonna play it again! Peoples comin’ from all over the world. Bands and everything! Got themselves two jars of love potion, too!”
Weaver and Troy glanced at each other.
Jackson rubbed his forehead, cursed and looked at Abram, “Ain’t no point arguin’ with Ms. Spicey. We be needin’ two flat bottom boats. Can’t have too much weight or ya sink.”
Spicey started walking toward the docks and turned to smile at Jackson. “I knowed you’d do the right thing.” She yelled back at the others, “Let’s load up. Grab a couple hammers from that there pail ‘fore you get on. Case you gotta smack a gator.”
Dakin was clapping her hands as she ran past everyone to be the first on a boat. She grabbed a hammer and twirled it in the air as she squealed.
Weaver looked at Troy and hissed under his breath, “Aw, shit.”
Roger and Paul arrived back at the field office from the hospital. Paul went to update Frank Mass. Roger watched Dooley through the observation window of the holding room. A layman would interpret anger and arrogance in Dooley’s body language. Roger’s profiler training saw fear and guilt. This was a man currently fueled by panic.
Ellen called Kim and reminded her that she was the only mortal that could communicate with Roger for the angels. Kim had remembered and asked, “What do you want me tell him?”
Ellen asked, “Do you remember when we read the minds of some people and repeated it to you, so you could tell Roger while it was happening?”
Kim said, “That time you used the earpiece for Roger?”
Ellen answered, “Yes. I want to do that again.”
Kim called Roger. “Hey, handsome. Ellen wants to do the earpiece thing again.”
Catahoula: Shallow End Gals (A Shallow End Gals Book 4) Page 18