by Jana DeLeon
“But you can’t keep going like this,” Gertie said, “or it’s just going to be worse if you end it later.”
I knew she was right, but I didn’t have to like it. The last time Carter had written me off, I’d fallen into a pit of depression and sorrow unlike anything I’d felt since my mother died. I hadn’t even known I was capable of feeling that bad. The thought of doing it all over again was awful, but then so was the idea of trying to change who I was. The feelings of sadness over a failed relationship with Carter probably wouldn’t last. The feelings of regret over letting someone else dictate what I did with my life again would probably never fade.
Chapter Sixteen
It was long after midnight when I made the rounds upstairs, peering through every bedroom window and scouting for any sign of movement around the house. Ida Belle made patrol with me, going one direction while I went another, both of us making the full loop then meeting back in the hallway at the top of the stairs. Gertie had crashed on the living room couch about thirty minutes before and we could hear her snoring carrying all the way up to the second floor.
“If they get close enough to the house, they’ll definitely know we’re in here,” Ida Belle said. “I bet they can hear Gertie snoring in the next parish.”
“Maybe they’ll think we’re in here juggling chain saws, and it will scare them away.”
Ida Belle laughed, but I could tell it was strained.
“Why don’t you get some rest?” I asked. “I’m wired enough and I can wake you if I need a break.”
“I couldn’t sleep even if I tried.”
I nodded. “Then let’s head to the kitchen for another cup of coffee. This night isn’t getting any shorter.”
We headed downstairs and into the kitchen, and Ida Belle poured us both a cup as I retrieved the sweetener.
“I didn’t see Carter this time,” Ida Belle said as we took seats at the kitchen table.
“No. But I’m sure he’s somewhere close. He probably ditched his truck and is lurking in the bushes across the street.”
“You could have invited him to stay, you know.”
I shook my head. “They were watching us in town. If Carter was here and they figured it out, they’d never make a move.”
Ida Belle stared. “You want them to make a move, don’t you?”
“I want to get this over with, so yeah. Why not? If it was only about being safe, we’d be sitting in a hotel in Florida about now, having room service and looking at the ocean.”
“I think I got ripped off,” Ida Belle said. “Next time, I’m going with that ‘get out of town’ option, especially if you’re doing the planning.”
“Maybe that’s something we should do…take a trip. There’s nothing stopping me really. I doubt Ahmad has people combing the beaches for me.”
“No, but there’s far less of a chance of him having people in Sinful.”
“True, but a big floppy hat and huge sunglasses go a long way to disguising a person.”
“Traveling with two old ladies would probably pass scrutiny as well.” Ida Belle plopped her mug on the table, sloshing the coffee up the sides. “Hell, let’s do it then. As soon as this crap is over, we head for sand and surf. We can sit under an umbrella and drink fancy drinks. Gertie can knit, I can sleep, and you can figure out what you’re going to do with the rest of your life.”
“I think a beach and drink service would be the perfect setup for deciding what I’m going to be when I grow up.”
“No one said you had to grow up. That’s just mean.”
I started to laugh, but Ida Belle grabbed my arm and pointed to the door. I could hear scratching and went over to let my cat, Merlin, inside. He walked in with the stroll that only cats can manage—the one that says I’m king and I’m irritated all at the same time. He let out a loud squall, then sat in the middle of the kitchen, his tail twitching back and forth.
I looked down at him and frowned. “He’s mad.”
“Did you forget him outside?”
“No. He doesn’t always come in at night. I figure sometimes he’s tomcatting around. I called for him earlier and he just stared at me from the lawn chair. That usually means he won’t show up until first thing in the morning, demanding his breakfast. But this is different.”
I walked over to the kitchen window and peered between the blinds. “Something has him riled.”
Ida Belle stood up. “Something’s not right outside.”
I nodded. “The problem is it could be nothing more than a rival cat or another animal he feels is encroaching on his territory.”
“But it might be something else.”
“Go upstairs and check the street…see if there’s a car that wasn’t visible before. And remember, it might not be the same one we saw today. No telling how many vehicles these guys have lifted.”
Ida Belle hurried out, and I waited until I heard her going up the stairs before slipping through the living room and into the office located off the living room at the back of the house. I rarely went in there but right now, it had something I needed—a window that led into the backyard and was hidden by the bushes. Ida Belle would be angry when she realized I’d sent her upstairs mostly to get her out of the way, but I’d deal with that later. The bottom line was suitability. Ida Belle was a crack shot, but I was lethal in hand-to-hand combat. Besides, if someone was lurking around my house, they had to get here somehow. As long as she had eyes on the street, I had coverage from above.
I shoved up the window and peered outside. The hack job we’d done on the bushes had thinned them a good bit, but I’d had the forethought to wear black pants and tee, so they probably wouldn’t see me exiting the house. I just had to make sure they didn’t hear me. If they were in the backyard, then they’d seen me let the cat in and knew I was awake.
I slipped my legs over the window and lowered myself to the ground. So far, so good. I hadn’t rustled so much as a single leaf with my exit. A faint rustling sound echoed somewhere off to my right, and I crouched down and crept to the end of the hedges, peering out as I went. The light from the back porch illuminated a small piece of the backyard and provided enough light to get me halfway down the hedges, but after that, progress was by feel and memory only. I prayed we weren’t all in the bushes, headed on a collision course. I hated the thought of having a fight among all the jagged branches.
When I got to the end of the house, I stopped and peered around the corner. The streetlight lit up a good piece between my house and my nosy neighbor Ronald’s, and it was clear. I heard the rustling noise again and this time it was behind me, somewhere in the backyard. I scanned the backyard through the bushes, squinting as I tried to make out movement, but the clouds overhead blocked the moon, leaving most of the yard in complete darkness.
I was just about to head back the other direction when the clouds parted a bit and the moon cast a faint glow over the yard. I scanned from one end to the other and then I saw it. A shadow slipping behind the storage shed. The shed held lawn and fishing equipment and some power tools, but it wasn’t big enough to hold an economy car, much less an SUV. Why would someone be lurking around there? The only thing I could figure is that they must be using the structure to conceal themselves while they watched the house, because there was no good reason to break into the shed.
I waited for the moon to disappear behind the clouds again, then dashed across the open space into Ronald’s yard. He had a thick row of azalea bushes on the property line and I hurried down them toward the shed, planning to ambush the intruder as soon as I had enough light to spot him. When I reached the stretch of bushes across from the shed, I stopped and stared into the darkness. My eyes had started to adjust and probably would have been able to pick out someone standing in the middle of the yard, but with the trees and bushes, the area around the shed was pitch black.
Come on, moon.
The seconds ticked by like hours, and I grew more antsy. The more time went by, the more chance there was that Ida B
elle would find the open window and come out to help. I could hear rustling near the shed and was just about to move on the sound when the clouds cleared and I spotted two shadowy figures at the small window on the back side of the building. One of them took out a flashlight and shone it inside.
I had everything I needed.
Chapter Seventeen
I launched through the bushes and threw a flying kick at the guy holding the flashlight. The flashlight flew across the yard, and he flew backward into the second man, sending them both to the ground, which was exactly what I’d been hoping for. Before they could scramble to get up, I pulled out my pistol and chambered a round. There’s no mistaking that sound.
“Move and I’ll shoot,” I said. “Put your hands up in the air and don’t make an attempt to leave a sitting position.”
The dim glow from the moon didn’t allow for me to see anything more than the silhouettes of their bodies on the ground, but I could see their arms go up over their heads.
“There’s been a misunderstanding,” one of them said.
Were they kidding me? A misunderstanding? As though they’d accidentally strolled through my flower beds or delivered a package to the wrong address? Not the kind of misunderstanding where they were here to steal an SUV and potentially bash us over the head when they didn’t find it. Were these two the Seal brothers? Ida Belle and Gertie had said they weren’t very bright, but did they really think I would buy that line of bull?
“You’re darned right there’s been a misunderstanding,” I said. “You’re trespassing on private property. Threatening women. Who sent you? And what are you after?”
“We’re not at liberty to say,” one replied.
“You’re going to be at liberty to wear some hot lead in your butts if you don’t.”
I was just about to fire off a warning shot, both to get them talking and to call for backup, when a spotlight hit us all and lit up the area surrounding the shed as if we were on stage. I put my left hand over my eyes and turned my head slightly to block the worst of the light, but made sure I kept my pistol trained on the two men on the ground, who, now that I had a good look at them, didn’t appear to be the Seal brothers at all.
Unless the Seal brothers had aged and liked to wear black suits.
Uh-oh.
There was only one kind of person who drove an unregistered black sedan and who crept around at night wearing a black suit.
“I’m Deputy Carter LeBlanc,” I heard Carter’s voice sounding from behind the spotlight. “Everyone stay exactly where they are. Miss Morrow, could you please lower your weapon?”
“Not a chance,” I said. “Not until I know who these men are and why they’re sneaking around my property.”
Carter stepped up next to the men, spotlight in one hand and pistol in the other. “I’ve got them covered.”
I stuck my pistol in my waistband and stared down at the two suits. The back door flew open and Ida Belle and Gertie came running outside and hurried over to me.
“What’s going on?” Gertie asked.
“I’m still waiting for them to answer that question,” I said.
“You heard the lady,” Carter said. “Who are you and what are you doing lurking around her property?”
“I need to reach for my ID,” one of them said.
“Two fingers,” Carter said.
The guy reached into the inside pocket of his jacket and pulled out a wallet, then opened it, showing the federal identification that I’d been expecting to see.
Carter peered down at it. “ATF? Would you like to tell me what you’re doing in Miss Morrow’s backyard?”
“We’re not at liberty to talk about an investigation in progress,” the ATF agent said.
“Really?” Carter said. “Well, I’m not at liberty to allow the harassment of citizens in their own homes, so you can come down to the sheriff’s department and wait there until you acquire that liberty you need to loosen your tongues.”
“You can’t be serious,” the ATF agent said.
“Hey,” Carter said. “I’m doing you a favor. This is not the sort of town where you go sneaking around private property at night. You’re lucky she didn’t shoot you, and I might add, she would have been well within her rights to claim a threat. You can spill it now or later, but rest assured, I have enough federal connections of my own to find out why you’re here. So you can save all three of us a long night of stale coffee by just spitting it out.”
“Fine,” the agent said. “We got a report that these three women were involved in the manufacturing and distribution of illegal alcohol products.”
I stared. It was all starting to make sense now. Celia’s trip and her smug threats. This was her next play.
“I’m going to sue Celia Arceneaux for harassment,” I said.
The agent flinched, and I knew I’d hit the nail on the head. I leaned forward and stared down at him. “Did you really think I had a still in my shed? Do I look like someone who’s that stupid?”
“All right,” Carter said, his jaw twitching. “Get up and get out of here. I don’t know what you’ve been told and frankly, given the source, I don’t care. That woman is nothing but trouble, and if you’d bothered to do a little research before you started sneaking around, you could have found that out rather easily.”
“So you’re saying these women do not sell illegal alcoholic products?” the agent asked. “Because Mrs. Arceneaux brought a sample.”
“It’s cough syrup,” Gertie said. “Herbal remedy, and we’ve been selling it for decades.”
Ida Belle shook her head. “You’ve been played. There’s nothing here to see but a bitter, angry woman who can’t get the better of three women she hates. You’re welcome, of course, to search our houses and sheds and anything else we own, but you’re not going to find what you’re looking for. She’s wasting your time.”
The two agents got up and the first one shoved his ID back in his suit coat. They brushed the grass off their jackets and glared at all of us.
“This matter is not concluded,” the agent said.
“Sneaking around my town at night is concluded,” Carter said. “You want information, you better be knocking on front doors in broad daylight and holding a warrant. Get out of here. People have lost enough sleep over you.”
The two agents stomped off across the yard toward the front of the house.
“I can’t believe her,” Gertie said. “The ATF? What did she think that would accomplish?”
“Making trouble,” Ida Belle said. “That’s all she’s really after. She probably thought if she fed them a big line of bull, they’d poke their nose around and find a smoking gun she wasn’t aware of.”
“If they’d been smarter about it,” I said, “her plan might have succeeded. At least in my case.”
“Oh my God,” Gertie said. “I hadn’t thought… That bitch. She could have blown your cover.”
I nodded. “This war with Celia is becoming a real problem.”
“I’ll deal with the ATF,” Carter said, but I could tell he was worried about how bad this could have been.
“That only solves this particular problem,” Ida Belle said. “Celia’s not going to stop, and until Fortune’s situation is resolved, she will continue to be at risk.”
“If that woman’s stupid crap forces the CIA to relocate Fortune,” Gertie said, “I swear to God, I’m going to shoot her myself.” She looked at Carter. “And you can put that on record. If Celia gets shot, just go ahead and prepare my cell. I’ll even make it easy and turn myself in.”
I smiled. While I didn’t want to see my friend on trial for murder, I appreciated the sentiment.
Carter held his hands up in the air. “I don’t think it will come to that. Let me see what I can do, and please, let’s all keep our weapons to ourselves.”
“Well,” I said, “since the odds are against two sets of intruders in one night, I vote we go to bed. For real this time. No more patrol.” I looked over at Carter.
“Thanks for the backup. I was about to fire a warning shot. That probably would have been a lot more trouble.”
“I suppose just calling, like I asked you to, was out of the question?” he asked.
“Oops,” I said. “Sorry, I kinda went into mission mode and forgot.”
This time, it was the absolute truth. When I’d thought there was someone outside, I automatically shifted into action. My only external concern had been keeping Ida Belle out of the fray.
He sighed. “I figured. Hey, just wondering—how did you get them both on the ground?”
“Oh, I did a flying kick and knocked one into the other,” I said.
Gertie shook her head in admiration. “You must kick like a mule.”
“I would have paid to see that,” Ida Belle said.
Carter smiled. The first time I’d seen him smile in forever. “I would have, too. You ladies get inside and lock up. I’ll be watching things a little longer but I think Fortune is right. I think all the excitement for tonight is over. If anyone else was intending to make a move, all this commotion would have scared them off.”
Ida Belle, Gertie, and I headed for the back door. I could feel Carter’s eyes on me as I walked. What did that smile mean? Was he coming to terms with my outlaw personality that had me consorting with known criminals and generally doing things most girlfriends never even thought about doing?
Or was he simply amused that two Feds got their butts kicked by a girl?
We were a tired bunch at the breakfast table the next morning. Even though we’d all gone straight to bed after the throw-down with the Feds, I was betting no one had slept well. Based on the dark circles under everyone’s eyes, I was also betting no one would take that bet. We all shuffled into the kitchen around 8:00 a.m., poured coffee, and plopped into chairs.