Code Redhead - A Serial Novel

by Sharon Kleve

  “Should we bypass the bar and go straight to the food?”

  “No. I can wait.” It took another ten minutes to get to the bar. Remy introduced me to his mom and dad, two of his brothers, some of his childhood friends, cousins, and more aunts and uncles.

  “Would you like a glass of wine or would you like a Hurricane?”

  “I don’t remember the last time I had a Hurricane.”

  “You don’t? Maybe it’s time to refresh your memory.”

  “No. I mean after drinking a couple Hurricane’s I don’t remember anything from that night—the drink or the dancing or falling into bed, only the headache the next morning,” I admitted.

  Remy chuckled. “Now that I can understand. More than one Hurricane and I’m dancing on tables, doing stripteases and completely embarrassing myself. Let’s stick with wine.”

  “Perfect.” It would have been entertaining to see Remy dancing on a table, especially if he felt inclined to strip down to…well… nothing. Heat and desire slid over my body at the thought of Remy naked. I gulped a quarter of the glass of wine before Remy noticed.

  “Hey. Is everything okay?”

  Remy was wonderful, and I hadn’t let myself have fun or flirt for a very long time. It was time to start. “I was just picturing you on top of that table—naked,” I whispered in his ear.

  He grabbed his waist with both arms, bent over, and laughed so hard everyone stopped talking to watch Remy. When he finally straightened and stepped closer to me, everyone went back to their conversations. Then he grabbed my hips in his large hands, lifted me in the air, and twirled me in circles. “Ambrosine, you take my breath away.”

  Everyone started cheering and chanting Remy’s name. I couldn’t help but laugh along with them at his silly antics.

  “Remy, put that girl down and come get some barbecue!” one of his cousins yelled.

  He did, but not before planting a quick kiss on my lips. He led me across the yard to a table filled with food. The feel of his lips lingered through dinner, but when dinner was over, I had a thirst only Remy could quench. I touched the top of his hand with my fingertips. “Would you like to dance?”

  “Yes, but I have to warn you, once I get my arms around you I might not let you go.”

  He helped me to my feet. “That’s not much of a warning. More like a promise youʼd better keep.”

  He rested his forehead on mine. “Before your grandmother died, she insisted on reading my palm. She told me to forget the past and open my heart. That someone special was coming my way. I guess she saw you…”

  That brought happy tears to my eyes. I remember my grandmother insisting on reading my palm before she passed away. She looked shocked and then pleased. She knew….

  Remy tilted my chin up with his fingertips. “Hey. That wasn’t supposed to make you sad.”

  “I know, and I’m not. Let’s dance.”

  Remy led me around the dance floor for hours. By the time we gathered Beetles, said our goodbyes, got into the Jeep and drove home, it was almost morning.

  “Are you sure you don’t want me to tuck you in?”

  “Tuck me in? Are you kidding? I need at least a few hours of sleep and if you tuck me in that won’t be happening.”

  “You got that right.” We both laughed. “How about dinner tomorrow... I mean tonight?”

  “I’d love that.” A jaw-breaking yawn escaped my mouth. “Sorry. I better go upstairs before I fall asleep in your car.”

  “I’ll walk you two to the door.”

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Beetles barely made it up the stairs to my apartment, he was so exhausted from running and playing. After brushing my teeth and taking a quick shower, I fell into bed. It seemed like I’d been asleep for hours when a noise from the shop below woke me. It sounded like glass breaking and things being knocked over. The clock on my nightstand told a different story. I’d only been asleep thirty minutes. The noise continued as I fully woke. Chills raced down my arms. Someone was in my shop. My silent alarm would’ve notified local law enforcement of an intruder. I also had security cameras inside the shop and around the perimeter of the building.

  I called 911 anyway to confirm they were on the way, got dressed quickly, grabbed a baseball bat in case the intruder came upstairs, and waited by my apartment door for the police to arrive.

  Sirens sounded in the distance, I figured the police were pretty close, so I made my way down the stairs just as the door to my shop flew open. Two guys in camouflage T-shirts and ski masks ran out and headed down the alley away from me. They didn’t even see me, but I saw them. One of them had my laptop under his arm, the other didn’t look like he had anything unless it was hidden in his clothes.

  They were long gone, when the patrol car arrived. I stayed out in the open so the police didn’t mistake me for the thieves, and then identified myself as the owner. “I’m Ambrosine Dubreauil. I own this shop.”

  “I’m Officer Roy.” He pointed to the second officer. “This is Officer Jackson. What happened here?”

  “Two men came out of my shop and ran north. They had my laptop. It didn’t look like they got anything else, but I haven’t been in my shop yet.” My voice shook

  “Where did you come from? Do you live nearby?” Officer Roy asked

  “I live upstairs.”

  “You shouldn’t have come downstairs.” He gave me a stern look. “Why don’t you go back to your apartment where it’s warm, until we check out the shop?”

  I nodded and pointed to the stairs that led to my apartment. “I’ll be waiting there.” I shifted back and forth on my feet and then made my way back to my apartment. Beetles was waiting at the door. “It’s okay, buddy. Go back to sleep.” He rambled back to the bedroom.

  Ten minutes later, there was a knock at the door. “It’s all clear. Do you want to go in and take a look around? See what else they might have taken?”

  “Yes.” I grabbed a coat and locked up.

  Officer Roy was really sweet. He walked with me throughout the shop, but I didn’t find anything missing. “That’s strange. They were down here long enough to take more than just my computer.”

  “What do you keep on the laptop?” Officer Jacksonʼs tone suggested he was suspicious.

  “All my shop’s information. It’s a standalone computer, and itʼs password and fingerprint protected. Unless the thief is an expert hacker, they won’t be able to get into it—plus, it’s worthless to them. They would have no idea how to use the information. It’s all written in my grandmother’s cryptic style. I’m the only one who can decipher it.”

  “Well, someone wanted it.” Officer Jackson looked around the shop again and spotted a camera. “Do those cameras work?”

  “Yes. I can’t believe I forgot about those. The monitor is in the back.” I wanted to slap my forehead.

  We watched the two thieveʼs break the glass to my front door, one of them walked straight to the backroom and come out a few minutes later with my laptop. The other one knocked boxes to the side and randomly tipped things over. What a jerk. Then he slipped off his mask to wipe his face with the back of his hand and then slipped it back on. It was dark, but I noticed a scar above his right eye and he had a visible tattoo of a large snake on the back of his hand.

  “We might be able to get a match on the tattoo,” Officer Roy said.

  “That’s great.” We walked to the front of the store.

  “Do you have a piece of plywood we can board up the door with?” Officer Jackson asked.

  “Yes.” I gave him a piece and some nails and a hammer. It only took a minute to cover the broken glass.

  “Do you think they might come back? Should I stay down here until I can get the glass replaced?” I wrung my hands in worry.

  “No. Go upstairs. We’ll have patrol officers drive by and it’ll be light soon.”

  “Okay. Hey, can I print the guy’s picture? They obviously knew what they wanted when they broke in. Maybe one of my customers will recognize the
guy with the tattoo.”

  “Go ahead, but make sure to contact us if you find out anything.” They both handed me their contact information, the number of the report so I could get a copy for the insurance company and then left. After locking up, I called Delia.

  “Hello.” Her cheerful voice sounded wide awake.

  “Hi, Delia. We had a break-in at the shop.”

  She gasped. “Oh my gosh! I’ll be right there.”

  “No, no. Stay put. Everything is fine, but can you open up for me?” I still needed to contact my insurance company.

  “Of course. What did they take?” She sounded calmer now.

  “They took my laptop and made a mess. Do you mind putting the shop back together and note anything that can’t be repaired?”

  “No problem. Please call me if I can do anything.”

  “I will. If anyone needs a potion today, call me on my cell. One more thing. Can you come get Beetles and keep him down there? I’m afraid I’ll sleep right through a needed potty break.”

  “I will. Bye.”

  My insurance company was sympathetic and assured me they would get the glass replaced by the end of the day and to send in a claim for my stolen laptop and broken items. Then I fell fast asleep.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Sometime around noon, my cell rang, code red, code red. I read the text and called Delia. “Hi. What’s up?”

  “Remy’s here and wants to know why the glass is broken on the front door. He said it wasn’t like that when he dropped you off last night,” Delia whispered.

  “You can tell him about the break-in. I need to take a shower and then I’ll be down.”

  “Okay, but I have a feeling he’s going to want to talk to you about it. He’s seems a little more than smitten. See you in a bit.”

  I’d like Remy to be smitten with me. But first, I needed a cup of strong coffee to start my day. I made a double espresso and downed it before slipping under the hot water of my shower. I toweled off as my cell rang again. “Hello.”

  “Why didn’t you call me last night? I can’t believe you didn’t call…” Remy’s voice trailed off.

  “Everything happened so fast and by the time it was over, I was too tired to talk.”

  “Can I come up, please?” Remy’s voice wasn’t his usual go-lucky self.

  “Yes, but give me ten minutes to get dressed.” I sat down on the bed. “Will you bring Beetles with you?”

  He hesitated and then softened his tone. “Yes. Can I bring you something to eat too?”

  “You don’t have to get me anything. I can make some toast.”

  “Let me do something for you. I’ll be up in about fifteen minutes, okay?”

  “Okay…”

  I just sat down when there was a knock at the door. The peephole showed Remy standing stiffly with two bags in his hands and Beetles at his feet.

  “Hi,” I said. Beetles pushed his way through Remy’s legs and walked in, sniffed my leg, and continued toward the bedroom.

  “Hi, yourself.” Remy touched my cheek. “You look like you need a little more sleep.”

  “I look that bad, huh?”

  “You’re beautiful to me.” He stepped into my apartment, closed the door, put the bags down, and then wrapped me in his arms. “Why did you go downstairs? You could have been hurt.”

  I stepped back. “I didn’t tell Delia about that.”

  “I called my friend at the NOPD. He told me everything and he sent me the picture of the jerks that broke in.”

  “Why?”

  “Are you kidding? My family knows everyone, even a few crooks. I sent it to everyone. If they’re local, we’ll find them.”

  A tear slipped past my defenses and made its way down my cheek.

  “Now, now. None of that.” He wiped the tear away. “Let me get a plate and I’ll serve you a nice lunch and then we can talk about why you didn’t call me.”

  The muffuletta sandwich with marinated olive salad, layers of mortadella, salami, mozzarella, ham, and provolone on round Sicilian sesame bread, hit the spot and tasted wonderful. I was almost ready to start my day, but first Remy wanted answers.

  Remy took what was left of my sandwich, wrapped it up, and put it in the refrigerator. “Are you ready to talk about what happened?” he asked as he sat next to me on the couch and took my hand in his.

  “I’m sure your buddy at the police department told you what happened.”

  “He did, but I want to hear it from you.” He stroked the top of my hand with his thumb while he talked. It had a soothing effect on my nerves.

  “The police were close and I thought the thieves must have already gone.” Looking back, I felt foolish for going downstairs. His body tensed beside me and then he took a visibly deep breath. “Please, please never do that again.”

  “I know. It was stupid.” I leaned my head on his shoulder.

  “Why don’t you go back to bed?” His soft voice filled my head as I almost dozed off.

  I slowly stood with Remy’s help. “No. I have a few things to do before I can enjoy that luxury. First thing, I have to buy a new laptop and then I need to load my backup hard drive on it. I don’t want to let my customers down.”

  “Have you thought about why that was the only thing they took?” Remy asked.

  “Yes. I’m sure it was to steal my potions, but they won’t be able to use them and most of my regular customers would know that. Grandmother was very vocal about how personalized they were and that only a priestess could perform the ritual to make them work. So, it must not be someone familiar with magic.”

  “Rest assured, the LaCroix family considers you family now, so they will do everything in their power to find the men who did this.”

  “Thank you, Remy.”

  “You’re welcome my sweet, Ambrosine.” He ran a hand down my hair, then brushed a kiss onto my lips.

  That wasn’t enough for me. Boldly, I deepened the tempting kisses into something more and welcomed the building desire. I tilted my head to make it easy to kiss him. His body was warm and hard as his arms enfolded me and held me close. With Remy, I was safe. With him, I was whole. My mouth moved under his, our lips sliding together then slipping apart. But, it was Remy who eventually had the strength to stop.

  “I want this more than anything, but right now you’re recovering from a shock. Can we continue this when I know one-hundred percent you’re sure?”

  “A couple more minutes of kissing you and it wouldn’t have mattered if I was ready.” I laughed nervously.

  He moved his lips softly across my ear and then stepped back. “I guess it’s a good thing I’m an honorable guy. Call me if you need me.” He winked and closed the door behind him.

  Love wasn’t a word I used lightly, but I could see myself falling head-over-heels in love with Remy.

  CHAPTER SIX

  Delia ran the shop while I loaded all the information from the hard drive onto my new laptop. Once that was done, I felt better. I stayed in the backroom and unpacked a new shipment and organized the shelf of extra stock. The door glass was replaced and things seemed to be back to normal until I heard Ines’s voice.

  “I can’t believe he’d do such a thing. I’m going to ring his stupid thick neck,” Ines shouted.

  I stepped out from behind the curtain and around the counter. “Hi Ines. What’s going on?”

  Ines rushed toward me and hugged me against her large bosom. “I’m am so sorry. It’s all my fault.” She let go and removed a white tissue from her purse and dabbed at her eyes.

  “What’s your fault?”

  “Well… the robbery of course. When I came home from Baton Rouge I told my nephew all about my good luck at the roulette wheel and he wanted to know all about it, how much I won and all that. I shouldn’t have, but I told him about you, your good luck charm.”

  “What does that have to do with the break-in?” A chill raced through me.

  “He told me that he needed to find a new way to earn a living. He d
idn’t know why but he didn’t want to catch gators any longer. He said with a good luck potion he could be a professional gambler. It would be easy money. He asked how much you charged for the good luck potion. When I told him, he muttered, ‘I don’t have that kind of money’. That’s when I got a bad feeling in my stomach. I should never have told him.” She started to weep.

  I patted her on the back. “Please don’t cry. It’s not your fault.”

  “But that’s him in the picture. I recognize that stupid snake tattoo. Instead of paying for a potion, he stole your computer. I’m so sorry…” She wrung her hands.

  “If you’re sure it’s him, I’ll call the police, and they can question him.”

  She sniffled and then wiped her nose. “His name is Bernard Thomas, and I’m sure the other dummy is his best and only friend, Jean Prosper. They have been inseparable since childhood.”

  “Everything will be okay, Ines,” I tried to reassure her.

  “He’s been getting into trouble his whole life, and he keeps swearing he’ll be a good boy.” She pulled out her cell phone. “I’m calling his mama.”

  I went in back and made the phone call. Officer Jackson said he would be in touch when they had more information.

  When I came back out Ines was sitting down drinking a cup of tea. “Why don’t you tell me about your trip? It sounds like you had a wonderful time.”

  “Oh, I did. I won five hundred dollars and met the nicest gentleman. We’ve been spending most evenings together. I haven’t had this much fun in years.”

  “I’m glad. Now, you forget about your nephew. It wasn’t your fault.”

  “Thank you, my dear.”

  I left her in Delia’s caring hands and went back to straightening the backroom. A short time later, I received a text, code redhead, code redhead. Why was Delia texting me when I was back here? It had been a strange couple days, so I called her. “What’s up?”