Ray whispered, "Why, Larkin? Why does it hurt this much to lose him?"
"It's all right to mourn him, Ray. He was once your best friend. Now, to bed. You need a few hours sleep before you deal with the press. Scoot!" Larkin commanded gently as Ray looked at his brother. "Raif will be just fine right where he is. I'll get the kids up in a little bit for school. You rest."
Ray dragged himself up the stairs and fell into bed.
♥♥♥ The next morning, Deanna LaFontaine broke the news of Robert's murder as gently as possible to her ten-year-old twins, Kyle and Kimberly. Kimberly dissolved in tears, but Kyle nodded without emotion.
Deanna decided not to send the kids to school until after Robert's funeral. She did take Kyle to the side because he seemed almost relieved. She asked with a mother's heart, "Kyle, honey, are you all right? Would you like to talk about it?"
Kyle responded, "I'm fine. Don't worry about me, Mom. I'm sure he probably deserved it. Mom, he was a heartless bastard, and you know it."
"Kyle! He's your father."
"No! He was my sperm donor." Kyle snorted and laughed sarcastically. "That's surprising, too. Mom, the bad news is that I've never had a father. Maybe you should marry Mr. Blackwell. He might make a decent father."
"What do you mean, Kyle?" She placed a hand over her heart. Oh, my God! He knows. How?
"I mean you deserve to be loved, too. I'm not really ten, Mom. I know way too much. But don't worry about me. I'll be fine. How are you?"
Deanna hugged Kyle. "We'll be fine. I love you, Kyle. Stay my little boy for a while longer, please."
Deanna could feel Kyle's silent tears on her chest. It crushed her that her son refused to admit his heart was breaking at the news he had received. Rather, after a moment of release, he wiped his eyes and took his mother's hand. "Come on, Mom. The press is waiting. We'll get past this and move on. We have to."
Deanna LaFontaine stepped outside with both her children and the long-time family attorney, Saul Blackwell, dark curlyhaired, dark-eyed, tall and lanky. She made a brief statement to the press in which she informed the reporters that they would need to get further information from the Eau Boueuse Police Department and any statement the LaFontaine family might make in the future would be handled by Mr. Saul Blackwell. She turned her back to the shouted questions and marched Kyle and Kimberly inside.
♥♥♥ Though sluggish after only three hours' sleep, at seven o'clock before the children left for school, Ray joined his whole family for an interment near their gazebo for their beloved pet. Then, Larkin took their kids to school, while Raif took his, and Chris went to the police station.
At nine o'clock, while Deanna LaFontaine confronted the media in Baton Rouge, Chief Reynolds held a short press conference in Eau Boueuse. He stepped behind the podium and multiple microphones.
"I have a brief statement for you, but I will not be taking questions at this time. Late last night, Senator Robert LaFontaine and his clerk Dinah Horn were found shot to death. At this time we have no leads as to the perpetrator. Detectives Brian Baker and Christine Gautier are heading the investigation, and an FBI team will be here this afternoon. The entire Eau Boueuse Police Department wishes to extend our sympathy and support to the Senator's family. Rest assured we will do everything in our power to find and bring to justice this heartless, cold-blooded killer. Thank you."
A young reporter dogged Ray as he left. "Chief Reynolds, what of your past relationship with the Senator?"
Ray wheeled on the woman. "Did you not understand me? I said, 'No questions.'"
He turned to leave again, and the woman stayed on his heels.
Ray turned and pointed a finger at the young woman. Noting her name tag, he commanded, "Miss Cockerill, don't follow me. News flash—the last reporter who followed me ended up dead." Slowly and with deliberate, clear articulation, Ray said, "Don't. Tempt. Fate."
Ray returned to his office, and the reporter stayed put where she stood.
3 Brother
When Ray stepped into his office, he found his twin waiting for him with a bottle of tequila. Raif shrugged. "I thought you might need something a little stronger than water after meeting with the piranhas." Producing two shot glasses, lemon slices, and a salt shaker, he poured two shots.
Ray laughed as he sank into his chair across from Raif and remembered taking a shot the first time he had ever seen his brother face to face, but without the salt and lemon. He picked up the salt, sprinkled his thumb, licked the salt, tossed the shot back, and sucked a lemon slice. His mirror image followed suit. After the second shot, Raif said, "Need a sympathetic ear?"
"I never thought I would feel this awful over Robert LaFontaine." Ray leaned back. "After all the garbage with him, why do I give a damn?"
"Because you once loved him like a brother. Have you ever considered the possibility that Robert came after what you had because he was jealous of you?"
"For God's sake, why? Why would he be jealous of me?" "Maybe because you actually have the capacity to truly love. In order to shield himself from feeling real love, even for a brother, he had to drive you away."
"Are you changing professions, big brother?"
"No. Robert wasn't hard to read." Raif shook his head. "If he never got too close, then he couldn't get hurt, probably because he had been really hurt. I'm surprised he ever actually got married. Of course, that was a political move. There has only been one bachelor in the White House, and I don't think he was a philanderer. No, America likes a family man, even in these modern times. Still, I don't think he ever loved anyone, least of all, himself. Honestly, Ray, I think his relationship with you was the closest he ever came to love of any kind."
Was Robert gay? Ray looked at his brother with a very strange expression on his face, brows furrowed and nose wrinkled.
Raif waved his hand. "Don't even go there. I've never thought you were gay, Ray. However, Robert might've been, and to keep from admitting it even to himself, he had to have all the women he could get, especially those that belonged to the one person he might've had any real feelings for. So long as you were unattached, you were his in his mind."
Ray's mouth dropped open. "Jesus Christ, Raif! If I had ever considered those thoughts were in his head, I would've killed him."
"I know. When you married Larkin, he realized he had to go forward and create the illusion of being the kind of man America would vote for. And, you know, he probably would've made it to the White House if he had been himself—not that I would've voted for him. But he was a politician. He knew how to manipulate people."
"The more you talk, the more I see exactly what you're saying. Was I just totally blind all these years?"
"Yes, because you could never have accepted these truths if he were alive. Now, would you like to talk about the Robert LaFontaine that you knew and loved like a brother?"
"Not until I've had another shot to help me deal with everything you've said."
Raif poured two more shots, and after Ray killed his, he said, "Where would you like me to start?"
"At the beginning. We've talked over a lot of things in the last fourteen years, but you have said as little as possible about Robert."
With a shrug, Ray grunted. "You know how Mia turned to him after I got shot. And then Larkin." He sighed. "She was the most captivating captive who captured my heart from the getgo."
"We're not discussing your wife, although Robert wanted her as a trophy, someone he thought could win him the White House."
"Well, in my opinion, Deanna is pretty much a prize as well. I'll never forget the way he just showed up at my door with a wedding invitation in his hand and Deanna standing beside him. 'I'm not mailing this one,' he said. He grinned and handed it to me. I know I gaped at him. Larkin elbowed me in the ribs and invited them in.
"As I read the invitation, Rob said, 'Ray, I know we can never be as close as we once were, but can we try to be friends again?' Deanna looked at me with pleading in her eyes. Rob put his arm around her and introdu
ced her."
Raif nodded. "Yeah, he had just come from my house where he delivered our invitation and asked me to design their home in Baton Rouge. I would have turned him down if it hadn't been for Deanna."
"Larkin spoke for both of us and assured them we could get over all the past hurts. I agreed reluctantly. Rob seemed so pleased. He said, 'I won't ask you to be my best man. Even I realize that would be pushing. Representative Comeau has that honor, but I do want you there.'"
"The four of us went together. I suppose we knew our wives would keep us straight." Raif chuckled. "Larkin might have walloped you if you had gotten out of line. Chris would just have glared at me and made me feel like a dog."
Ray laughed. "True. Then the four of us made the pilgrimage to the LaFontaines' first Christmas party in the home you designed."
"A magnificent piece of work." Raif grinned.
"But then, Rob was back a year later with a pink bubblegum cigar and a blue bubblegum cigar. 'We're having twins,' he bragged. He was genuinely happy. Then, he floored me again when he said, 'I have a huge favor to ask of you. You're a twin. You know how significant that relationship is. I want, no, I need, you to be my kids' godfather.' How could I refuse?"
"You couldn't."
Ray leaned back in his chair. "We met in first grade. Robert was a runt, and a lot of the kids picked on him. His blond hair was long and curly, and he had big pale-blue eyes, sort of like a hazy day." He closed his eyes and could see the new kid in school, walking into the classroom for the first time. He sighed. "Kyle looks just like him. I stood up for Robert when bigger boys bullied him. We sort of became inseparable.
"In high school, we both made the baseball team, and we often went on double dates together. One time we went to the very spot he was killed to make out with our dates. Rob related some urban legend trying to get the girls to snuggle closer to us. Before that, when my sister, Veronica, was killed, Robert was there for me. He let me cry; he let me scream." He stopped speaking as he recalled how Robert had actually hugged him. The signs were there and I never picked up on it. "When I told him I wanted to be a cop, he told me, 'Okay, you arrest 'em, and I'll put 'em away.' It seemed to be a team plan."
Ray ran the shot glass through his fingers as if it were a coin or poker chip. "Before Robert was fifteen, his mother had been married and divorced six times to Evan LaFontaine. Seven must have been the charm. They're still married."
Ray set the glass on his desk. "During our senior year, Evan got transferred to Baton Rouge. Robert's mom, Alexis, stayed here until graduation. Then, she moved to Baton Rouge and took Robert with her. The two months before we went to LSU as roommates were the longest two months I had ever endured to that point. Even though Robert could've lived at home, he said he had to get away from his father and moved into the dorm with me." Surely his father didn't molest him. How could Alexis stay with a man that abused his child? Could that be the reason for all the splits?
"We went to college and joined Delta Tau Delta. College was great! Yeah, we played a lot. I dated, but Robert went out with a different girl every weekend. I thought he was just a ladies' man. Now, I see that he was afraid of getting too close. And I know he sabotaged a few of my relationships, but at the time it didn't matter because I wasn't in love with any of them. Like the time Juliana found a thong stuffed under my pillow."
"Juliana?"
Ray nodded. "A girl I dated. She went ballistic!" He laughed out loud. Raif leaned forward, entranced by his brother's reminiscing.
"I told her it was Robert's. He grinned and agreed. She threw the thong in his face and told him it might belong to one of his bimbos, but she still wanted to know what it was doing in my bed. He guffawed and told her my bed offered more support." Ray had started laughing so hard he had tears in his eyes. God I miss those times. I regret it all changing in some ways.
"As she was throwing her tantrum, Meaghan burst through the door asking me if she had left her red thong there."
"Meaghan? How many women did you have, bro?"
"Robert went out with Meaghan, not me. She was a little sister for our fraternity. Anyway, Robert had fallen on his bunk laughing. Juliana took the red thong and ripped it apart before she stormed out the door.
"Robert stood and hugged Meaghan. He said, 'For that performance, you get dinner at Antoine's this weekend.' Then, he turned to me and said, 'What? No thanks for getting that wench out of your life? Ray, that girl was set on marriage. I don't think that's what you want.'
"Shit!" He wiped his eyes with his thumbs. "He was so right at that moment in time. Juliana was, indeed, married to someone else in less than a year.
"Oh, we had so much fun. Like when we went to Mardi Gras the same year that…" Ray stopped as he remembered the tragedy his real brother had endured, being mugged and suffering brain trauma and ultimately an aneurysm that caused him to have schizophrenic-like symptoms, which made him the target of Latrice Descartes.
"Don't stop. I'm fine. Everything worked out just perfectly for me," Raif prompted.
Ray nodded. "We didn't go with the other guys, the guys that beat you up. We stopped to get a tattoo. His was hideous. It was this ugly red-and-black two-headed serpent.
"After we graduated, Robert went to law school, and I went to the police academy. I started dating Mia after I came on the force. Robert finished law school and came to work in the prosecutor's office. You pretty much know the rest."
"Yeah, I do. I have an idea. It's time for a road trip for brothers."
"What are you up to? The last time we took a road trip, we met our birth mother."
"Yep, and look how well that turned out. I'm your big brother. Do you trust me?" Raif slapped his thighs with open palms and smirked.
"Yes, I trust you."
"Your car or mine?"
"Yours is more environmentally friendly. Besides, I don't know where we're going, and you only had two shots. I had three. You drive."
Raif pointed at the shot he had never taken. "You take it. I wouldn't drive if I did." Ray downed the drink.
Both men called their spouses who asked no explanations, and Raif headed toward New Orleans.
4 Marked for Life
"So? Where are we headed?" asked Ray as he relaxed in the
passenger seat of Raif's state-of-the-art hemp-oil-burning Lexus.
"New Orleans. Bourbon Street."
"Why? You hate the big city."
"I do, but we're going to get tattoos."
Ray laughed so hard he coughed. "You have never had a
tattoo. Why would you want one now? What would you get—a great big teddy bear?" "Funny, Ray. No, I know exactly what we're getting. These are special that only we as brothers can get to mark us for life."
"We don't need tattoos to be joined for life."
"No, we don't. They're just symbolic. We'll create a new memory, a good memory, to help ease the pain of old memories. This brother will never betray you."
"Thanks, Raif, but you don't have to get a tattoo for me to know that."
"Then humor me." He glanced right. "Maybe I need this."
"All right. It's a long drive for a tattoo."
"So, we'll have a couple of hurricanes and some dinner at The Top of the World and crash at a hotel because we'll be too drunk to drive home."
"Oh, this I have to see." Ray chortled. "Have you ever been drunk?"
Raif laughed. "Not since before my last Mardi Gras."
"Then, it's time. Let's go have some fun.
♥♥♥
Raif parked in the garage of Harrah's Hotel and Casino. He locked his car and retrieved an overnight bag from his trunk. Bewildered, Ray asked, "Did you plan this from the getgo?"
"Yep. I have a pair of jeans, a shirt, and underthings for you, too. Let's check in."
"Check in? Did you already make a reservation?"
"Yep."
The brothers checked into a ritzy room. Rich mahogany furnishings rested on plush ivory carpet. Lithographs to do with some form of
gambling hung on the walls. The sliding glass door opened to a balcony overlooking the Mississippi River, where tugs and barges moved steadily on the velvety black water. The ta-tump-ta-tump of a paddle boat heralded a nightly cruise to begin soon.
They changed into more casual clothes and headed to the French Quarter.
"Where to, Raif?" asked Ray.
"The tattoo parlor where you and Robert got your tattoos."
"What if it's not around?"
"Then, I'll think of something else."
Ray said, "You know Larkin told me that's where she got hers during Mardi Gras, too. Can you believe that?"
"Absolutely. You two have been joined since before you knew each other."
Ray led the way down a side street. The same parlor, Timeless Tattoos, waited, open for business. It did appear to be cleaner and more organized. An eye-catching young blonde woman in a pink tank top and a full crimson long-stemmed rose tattoo all the way down her left arm looked up from behind the service counter as the door tinkled. She eyed the two identical older men with raven black hair, with a touch of gray at the temples and few flecks of gray here and there, strangely. Their brilliant blue eyes drew her attention like a magnet draws steel. They did not look like her regular patrons. "May I help you?" she asked in a deep sultry voice.
"Yes. May I use your catalog? My brother and I are getting tattoos," Raif replied.
"Of course. Did you have anything in mind?" The young woman escorted Raif to a table of books.
"Yes. We want the Chinese symbols of older brother
and younger brother
right here." Raif tapped his chest over his heart. "I'm the older brother." He smiled and winked at the young woman.
"By thirteen minutes," Ray said.
The woman smiled back pleasantly. She found her two customers to be amiable.
"Do you want the simple symbol or something with more flare?" she asked as she turned to a page of Chinese symbols.
"Now, that I'm not sure of," Raif answered. "My brother got a tattoo here some years ago."
Heartless (The Raiford Chronicles) Page 3