All Saints' Secrets (Saints Mystery Series Book 2)

by Nicole Loughan

  After my display, the mood of the dinner was ruined. Beau sat picking at his lobster and oysters. I ate nothing more and sat with my arms crossed.

  “So,” Beau said when the check came. “I guess I know where I stand with you now.”

  “What do you mean by that?” I said sharply.

  “Nothing. Let’s go home,” he said. He paid the bill begrudgingly and slid it across the table making a big show of the amount at the bottom.

  Lisette’s Last Days

  The ride home from Dixie’s was almost completely silent. With the distance of what happened with Banyan away from us, I felt bad for how I treated Beau. I didn’t want him to be mad at me. I knew I’d hate it if he started avoiding me again.

  When we drove by Terry’s house I made sure to say something about it. Our hatred of Terry had always been a common thread.

  “Terry Thibodeax is home tonight,” I said looking at his porch light. “So, I suppose the women of the world are safe for one more evening.”

  He didn’t respond. He must have been really mad. “Beau, I am sorry I made you feel like you weren’t important to me tonight. I had a lot of fun, and I can’t stand the thought of you staying away another month. Please don’t turn on me.”

  “I’m not going to turn on you, Fanchon. Give me a day to be pissed at you. I’ll come around tomorrow,” he said looking straight ahead at the road.

  He dropped me off that night and left me with a quick kiss on the cheek.

  Abolina had waited up for me and was doing needlepoint while she sat on the sofa in the great room. When I walked in she yawned and asked, “How’s the leg?”

  I said great and thank you. Without asking why she said, “You’re welcome.” And we went to bed.

  The next morning we were up bright and early, and Beau was already in the kitchen when I got there. J.B. was there, too, and with Clem the three of them had laid out tackle all over the kitchen table. Clem was holding a fake frog up to the light and threading clear line through it. When Clem saw me he said, “We going fishing this morning, and Abolina said you off house arrest. You want in?”

  “I sure do,” I said and made my way to the fridge. There was a bag of donuts on the top shelf that I helped myself to and took a spot at the table. I had just asked if anybody had an extra rod when the phone rang. Beau was sitting in front of it so he reached up over his head and grabbed the receiver. He looked serious for a few moments then asked somebody to get him a piece of paper. He scribbled something and then hung up the phone and looked back at us.

  “Fishing trip is cancelled. The police just called, and they said they have reports back on Lisette. They need us to come down to the station.”

  We all got ready in a hurry. Abolina didn’t even want to take the time to do her hair so she put on a headscarf and pushed us all out the door.

  When we arrived at the station they put us in an interrogation room together. Beau told us we weren’t suspects or we would be separate. The interrogation rooms were one of the few quiet places to talk. We were all seated, even J.B. and his wife. They were asked to come too as they had heard the accident from their house.

  The police brought us coffee and told us to wait for the lieutenant from the State Department. We waited in nervous silence, and then the door opened and we were greeted by a tall, thin blonde woman. She was not just any thin blonde woman. She was the one who was with Banyan the night before. She walked in and honed in on me. She opened up a file, closed it and greeted the rest of the group.

  “Before we get started I need to tell you all there is some unpleasantness in here, and I have been instructed to give this information to Mr. and Mrs. Clement Chabert privately and the rest of you only after they have had a chance to digest the information. Could the rest of y’all step out in the hallway for a moment? We will catch up with you shortly.”

  We walked out into the hallway, everybody except Clem and Abolina. When we were out I found Banyan waiting in the hallway. I went to him, “What’s this all about? Why did they make us leave?”

  “Because I asked them to,” he said.

  “Do you think we are involved? Am I a suspect again?” I was starting to raise my voice at him.

  “No,” he said through gritted teeth. Then he leaned to me and said quietly in my ear, “I asked them to have you leave, Fanchon, because the news is so bad I was afraid Clem might lose his temper and hurt your leg without intending to.” The moment the words were out of his mouth we heard a loud crash from the interrogation room. Beau and Banyan ran in and when they opened the door I could see the table turned over and Clem about to throw a chair at the two-way mirror on the back wall.

  Later in the day, when things were calm in the interrogation room, Lt. Poortvliet called the rest of us in and told us to have a seat. We learned quickly what made Clem so angry. They found traces of Rohypnol in Lisette’s tissue samples, the date rape drug, and there was further evidence of a possible rape from her underclothes. They also found traces of metal in her skull, inconsistent with the boating accident in which she was supposed to have hit a tree.

  We were all dumbfounded. For years we thought Lisette died accidentally while she was riding home from a party with her high school sweetheart, Jimmy. I couldn’t believe Jimmy would have done this. Sweet little Jimmy with his light blonde curls and the way he always stammered when Lisette was close. He was smitten with her. Then I thought was he smitten in a crazy way? I didn’t think so. It always seemed like an innocent crush to me.

  Lt. Poortvliet told us that a state trooper had picked Jimmy up from Tulane University earlier, and he would be joining us soon at the station. After the news of what happened to Lisette hit us none of us had a word to say. Clem was so distraught they placed him in a cell to calm down.

  Jimmy arrived at the station cuffed and looking white as a sheet. They walked him past us. He kept his head down and didn’t make eye contact. Nothing was communicated except disgusted looks on our side. They ushered him into the empty interrogation room and all we could do was sit outside and wait. Several hours passed and at some point pizza was ordered. It was getting close to dark out and none of us had put anything except coffee into our stomachs for hours.

  At long last Banyan and Lt. Poortvliet left the room, both of them looking like something the cat dragged in. Banyan walked out, ran a hand through his disheveled hair and made his way to me.

  “I need to ask you a few things to see if this story might add up.”

  He pulled me into the small room on the other side of the two-way mirror and gave me the only chair. He leaned against the wall. From where I was sitting I could see a crying Jimmy sitting at the table in the interrogation room.

  “What he is telling us is that he went to the party with Lisette that night. First, they went to the underclassman party, but it was broken up, so they went to the other party at Terry Thibodeax’s house. He said they went there and the party was dying out, but he and Lisette stayed playing cards and drinking. He said by the end of the night it was just, him, Lisette, and Thibodeax.”

  “He said he had a too much to drink and was getting dizzy when he snuck off to Terry’s little sisters room with Lisette. He said the two of them had sex, and it wasn’t until later that something was wrong with Lisette. He said he tried to wake her up and couldn’t get her to come around. He said he went to the bathroom to wash up and get a glass of water for Lisette and then fell asleep on the john. When he woke and went back to the bedroom she was gone. He said he never would have drugged her and that night was the first time either of them had sex.”

  “So, how did she end up on the boat in his story?” I asked.

  “He said he went around the house looking for her, but the only person left was Terry. He said he went out to his boat and saw her in it with her head smashed in.”

  “I don’t understand why he would drive her almost home with her head smashed in and fake an accident.”

  “The explanation he gave was that he was terrified when
he saw her, went in and told Terry. He said Terry got scared and told him to make it look like an accident. Jimmy said he was convinced to lie about it because Terry told him nobody would believe he didn’t kill her given that she had so much to drink and that they had sex. Does any of this ring true to you? You know these people better than I do.”

  I sat and thought a while. “It sounds more plausible to me than that Jimmy would kill her.”

  “I will have them call in Terry. You guys need to get out of here and get some sleep. I will keep you updated.”

  “Wait, Banyan. Why are you even here? How did you get involved in this case? Is this connected to Stepwald?”

  “Not that I have found yet, but the police asked me to help with you guys. They said people in the bayou parishes can be hard to get information out of. They thought you would be more forthcoming with me because I had helped you out in the past.”

  “Well, are you proving yourself useful?” I asked.

  “Trying my best, Fanchon,” he told me. “Now go get some sleep.”

  We walked out of the small room and saw Abolina sitting across from us in the hallway chair. She was rubbing her eyes, which had turned ever redder as the day unfolded.

  She said in a low voice, “Clem ain’t calmin’ down. I’ll just stay here tonight. You and Beau head back and get some rest without me.”

  Banyan bent to her. “I am staying in the hotel next door if you guys need a room. Go ahead and go use mine. I will be here late.”

  I felt bad that I had not offered to get us a hotel room up to that point. I thanked him for his offer, but opted to get us our own room instead. Lina gladly accepted though she was upset that she didn’t have a nightshirt or her face cream.

  We asked Beau if he could run down the street to the Walmart and get us some T-shirts and meet us at the hotel.

  We went next door and got checked in to a room with two queen beds. Abolina and I took the bed closest to the window, giving Beau the one by the bathroom. She and I had both washed up using tiny hotel soaps. Beau came back and brought me a long plain pink t-shirt. I grabbed it and maneuvered it over my head. I was glad Beau remembered to get me a long shirt so I would not have to navigate getting shorts over my cumbersome cast.

  I took the last of my prescribed pain pills and tossed the bottle in the trash. The effects of the drugs were starting to wear off. I had been thinking it was time to be rid of them anyway. I hopped over to the bed and passed right out. My dreams felt urgent that night, and I saw the dark haired girl again. She was thrashing about in the water this time. She seemed like she wanted me to come to her, but I still couldn’t. She was very insistent, saying, “Wrong time, wrong time.” I repeated her words, and she nodded her head. After several minutes of guessing and trying to figure out what she was saying I finally admitted to her, “I still don’t get it. I am so sorry.” She shook her head and her eyes went dull. Her whole body went slack, and she stopped trying to get my attention. Once she was no longer moving the current pulled her away from me. I had a strange feeling that was the last time she was going to contact me. She was giving up and going away. I had failed her.

  I woke up with a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach. It was still dark and Abolina and Beau were solidly asleep. I got on my crutches and wedged the key card for the room in between the metal parts on the bottom of my crutch. I went out to the walkway outside my room, which looked over an atrium. I found a bench seat against the railing and parked myself there for people watching. Only a few stragglers were out of their rooms. I made sure not to draw any attention to myself as I was wearing just a long t-shirt and underwear. I heard an elevator ding near me and saw Banyan get off of it. When he noticed me he came over and sat next to me. He looked exhausted.

  “What are you doing up? It’s late,” he asked.

  “I had that dream again about the girl in the water, and I couldn’t sleep.”

  “The one that Du’Ponde said was you?” he reminded me.

  “Yeah, but she’s not me. At least not yet.” He sat down next to me and leaned his head back. “I am sorry, Fanchon. I want to help you with your riddle, but I am really tired.”

  He looked like he could barely keep his eyes opened. I said, “Sorry, I will go back to my room.”

  “No,” he said and he reached over and touched my hand. “I don’t want you to go. I just have a lot on my mind. Can we just be here not talking?”

  I nodded my head. We were side-by-side on the bench in the hallway for a good while. And I continued my people watching while he was silent. There was a man in the middle of the atrium typing on a laptop and a couple kissing a few floors down outside of their door. When I looked to Banyan I saw him staring at the ceiling. I assumed he was thinking about the case. A man got off the elevator and walked by giving us a strange look. We probably were an odd sight, Banyan in nice pants and a shirt and tie sitting next to a girl with a broken leg in an oversized pink t-shirt.

  “Can we go to your room?” I asked, and he looked at me thinking over the answer.

  “All right,” he said. When we started for his room I noticed he had a bag under his arm.

  “What’s in the bag?” I asked.

  “Beignets. You were right, I love them,” he laughed. He kept his pace slow for me as we walked. And when we got to the room he let me go in first. His room was neat, so neat that it didn’t look like anybody was staying there.

  I went in and sat on the bed leaning my crutches against the wall. He went to the night table and set his gun and badge on it. He walked to the end of the bed and sat his bag of treats on the floor next to it. He started to loosen his tie and looked over at me.

  “I don’t know what to do here, Fanchon. I can’t have you in my room. I don’t know what I was thinking. I’ll walk you back.”

  “Why can’t you have me in your room?” I asked.

  He let out a long breath. “I am the lead investigator on your best friend’s murder and your assault and attempted murder. I am acting as a consultant on the murder of your best friend’s little sister for whom you are a witness. I am sorry, Fanchon. This stuff could get me in a world of trouble.”

  I didn’t think he would really be in trouble, but I leaned over to collect my crutches anyway. I said nothing to him. He reached over and put his hand on my arm. “Wait, I don’t want it to be like that. It’s late, and I’m tired and this is complicated.”

  “I don’t know what’s complicated. I am a grown single woman, and you are a grown single man.”

  “It’s complicated for all those reasons I just told you. I could really hurt my career with you. I have done more than I should at every turn. You don’t even know.”

  “You’re right. I don’t know,” I told him.

  His hand was still on my arm. He looked down at it and slid his hand down to my palm. He held my hand and lifted it to his face, kissed the back of it and said, “I just can’t.”

  But he kept holding my hand. He closed his eyes and moved the back of my fingers up and down his cheek. I felt a spark running through my body where my skin was touching his. He was so warm and soft. Even his stubble was soft. After a moment I found myself turning my hand to cup his face. I moved it slowly down to his neck and he moved his hand down keeping a slack grip on my wrist. I leaned over to him and put my lips to his. He let out a gasp when I did it. I could feel him simultaneously kissing me and trying to stop himself from kissing me. He put his other hand up to my shoulder and gently pushed me away from him. He put his forehead to my forehead and said, “Don’t let me do this. Please go.”

  “No,” I whispered.

  Then he moved his hand to the base of my neck and slid it behind my head. He pulled me to him again, kissing me hard this time. He kissed me so hard it tipped me back on the bed, and his hand cradled my head as I fell. He put his arms under me and lifted me to the top of the bed. In a quick motion he was on top of me, kissing me harder than I had ever been kissed in my life. I felt the power of it running through my
whole body. I had to catch my breath more than once.

  I put my arms around him and ran my nails down his back. He pulled away, got on his knees and pulled off his shirt, revealing broad shoulders. His chest was much more muscular than I expected. I ran my fingers up and down his stomach, and he quickly leaned back over me. My hands found their way to the top of his arms. I tried to guide his hands to my breasts, but when I did he turned his palm, grabbed my wrists and pulled them up over my head. He kept them up with a tight grip. He started kissing me frantically again, which made me gasp. I met his pace and moaned when he pushed himself into my hip.

  He held my wrists with one hand and moved the other down to my upper thigh, where he hooked his finger through my panties. He started to pull them down and let go of my arms so he could use his other hand to get them over my hips. He felt everything along the way, grazing my breasts over the shirt and my stomach. Then he lifted my shirt up past my thighs and gently rubbed the back of his fingers on them as he pulled my panties down. When he got them down to my knees they got caught at the cast. He only pulled for a moment and then he laid his head on its side on my legs and stayed there breathing heavily.

  “What?” I asked.

  He lifted his head and pulled my underwear back on, he sat them on my hips feeling my rear as he slid his hands up my back.

  He brought his face back up to meet mine and kissed me lightly on the lips. “Not yet, cher.”

  “Why?” I asked. “Is this about my leg?”

  “It’s the wrong time,” he said.

  I get that a lot, I thought.

  He rolled off of me and held my hand. He seemed like he was going to say something but instead just lifted my hand to his lips and kissed it.

  I was thoroughly frustrated when I left that night. Luckily, I was back in my bed before anybody noticed I had gone.