I eyed the plastic bag as I approached it, and then I ripped it from the post. Sure enough, it was the Glad baggie Beatrice had used for Jacques’s treats, only now she’d shoved a note inside. She’d written only two lines on the old Stop-N-Go receipt: Took Jacques for a ride. Might be awhile. She’d even dotted her I’s with smiley faces.
“I guess Beatrice and the dog are best friends now,” I said. “Go figure.”
Hollis joined me on the dock and quickly read the note over my shoulder. “Jacques loves to go for boat rides. He probably hopped in the back when she wasn’t looking, and then she couldn’t get rid of him.”
“Sounds about right.” While I didn’t have to worry about Beatrice, since she’d navigated the Atchafalaya a thousand times over, I faced a new predicament: how to get back to town. I probably had a million e-mails waiting for me at my studio, not to mention an equal number of voice mails on the store’s landline.
“Hollis, I’m afraid I have to get back to work. Do you have any idea where I can catch a ride to town?”
He thought it over. “You can always use Granny’s old Jeep. We keep it in the storage shed for emergencies. I’m sure she wouldn’t mind if y’all borrowed it.”
“Thanks, Hollis.” I threw him a grateful smile. That was one of the best things about living south of the Mason-Dixon Line. The people were so generous. It didn’t matter if someone belonged to your family or not; everyone looked out for each other as a matter of course. “Lead the way.”
Hollis turned, and then he headed for a path that led uphill. It was a beautiful day for a hike anyway, so I happily fell in line behind him. Not only did the top of my head feel wonderful with the warm sun on it, but the soft breeze moving through the tupelos kept the mosquitos at bay.
“Say, Hollis. Do you wanna hear a fun fact?” I wanted to keep the conversation going, since he was helping me out of a jam.
“Sure,” he called over his shoulder.
“Guess what people used to use for mosquito spray?”
“I have no idea. What?”
“Alligator oil!” I waited for my comment to sink in. “They rubbed alligator oil on their arms and backs, like it was Off or something. They learned that trick from the Indians.”
Hollis pretended to shudder. “That’s kinda gross, Miss DuBois. To tell you the truth, alligators stink.”
“Do tell.”
“Yeah. They smell like bad meat.” He still spoke over his shoulder as he walked. “It’s from all the dead animals in their stomachs.”
Now it was my turn to shudder; only my shudder was real. “How could you possibly know such a thing?”
“Easy…I used to swim with the ’gators, back when I was little.”
Hollis tossed out that last tidbit as if it was no big deal. As if swimming with alligators was something everyone should try.
“C’mon…you’ve got to be kidding.” I hurried to catch up with him so I could read his face and tell if he was lying or not. “You really used to swim with alligators?”
“Yup. I waited until the weather got chilly. Kinda like now. It’s when they start to hibernate. They get so lazy, you can toss food right at ’em and they won’t even bite.”
It didn’t look like he was lying. In fact, Hollis stared straight ahead and never once blinked, which was a sure sign he was telling the truth.
“Well, now. Your fact’s even more fun than mine.”
We fell into a companionable silence after that, our strides evenly matched. Soon we reached a plot of land that lay behind Ruby’s house, where she’d planted a small kitchen garden. The soil held lettuce, carrots, and tomatoes—among other plants—judging by the seed packets she’d glued to the plant stakes.
Hollis paused by a stretch of chicken wire that wound around the garden. “This here is Granny’s pride and joy. She’s got a real green thumb when it comes to growing plants.”
“I can see that.” I almost reminded Hollis of the time a killer tried to use his grandmother’s garden for a more sinister purpose—and nearly got away with it too—only it was too nice a day to bring up such a dark subject.
Instead, I focused on the lush scenery all around me. A length of scrub brush created a natural hedge to separate the garden from the path, and clumps of emerald sedge provided a soft carpet for my feet. Once we rounded the far corner of the hedge, I spied a surface road that was covered in crushed gravel instead of the clumpy sedge, which we walked toward.
It looked like a county road. Even though Beatrice had insisted on using a pirogue to reach Ruby, it seemed there was a perfectly good surface road right behind the property. The back road probably provided fire trucks, police cars, and emergency vehicles a safe way to reach the residents in times of disaster.
The road split in two a few yards ahead. From what I could tell, a thicket blocked one of the paths, but the other path stood wide open.
Hollis chose the wide-open path, and then he disappeared around the bend.
“Hollis?”
Once I ditched around the bend too, I found myself on another part of the river. Apparently, Ruby’s mobile home sat smack-dab in the middle of an isthmus, with water on both sides.
“This is so cool,” I said. “It’s like you’re on an island.”
“Pretty much. And the Jeep’s over there.” He pointed to a toolshed that sat across the river. “It’s behind those bushes.”
I shielded my eyes from the sun, hoping to spy the shed. Shards of light glanced off the glassy water, which made it hard to see much of anything.
So, I lowered my gaze and tried again. This time, though, something else caught my attention. It was a brown knob, which protruded from the water on a clump of bright green hydrilla.
“What do you think that is?” I pointed to it.
The brown knob provided the only color on the floating plant. It was either a tree stump or the snout of a sleeping alligator, and I sincerely hoped it wasn’t the latter.
“Could be anything.” Hollis’s gaze followed mine. “Like I said, the alligators start to hibernate right about now. Lemme see.”
He moved south, taking care to lift one of his tennis shoes, and then the other, over an exposed tree root. When he reached the water, he waded in up to his ankles.
“Hollis, come back here! You’re going to ruin your shoes!” Which was nothing compared to what could happen if the brown spot turned out to be a sleeping alligator, after all.
“I’m okay.” He didn’t sound concerned, even though the animal slept only a few feet away from him. “I told you, these guys won’t hurt me. I grew up swimming around here.”
As if to prove his point, he shoved his fingers in his mouth and let out a sharp whistle.
“Hollis! Don’t do that! He’s not a dog, for gosh sakes.”
But hallelujah, the gator didn’t stir. Although I could picture the animal’s massive jaws snapping out of the water, I kicked off my flats anyway and waded to where Hollis stood.
“I really need to get back to work.” I coaxed him back to the shore. “Why don’t we leave the alligator alone?”
Hollis didn’t budge, though. He stared at the brown knob, entranced. After a moment, he plunged forward, and the top of his head immediately disappeared.
“Hollis! Get back here!”
It was too late, though. He’d been swallowed whole by the glimmering water.
“I mean it, Hollis. Come back!”
Just when I moved to fetch him, his head bobbed up again, but this time his eyes were wild with fright. “Call the police!” he sputtered. “Quick!” He flailed his arms about, as if he wanted to grasp something under the water, only he couldn’t quite reach it.
“Wait…what?”
He disappeared again, and when he reemerged, he held something brown and slimy in his left hand. It was a shoe, of all things. An old shoe. A cl
og, maybe?
“What is that?” I yelled.
“It’s Granny’s gardening shoe. She’s down there, but I can’t reach her.”
Everything slowed at that moment. Hollis once more plunged under the water, the river erased all signs of him, and my scream tore through the hedges all around us.
Chapter 3
The next few moments passed in a blur. When Hollis realized he couldn’t budge his grandmother from her watery grave, he finally gave up and splashed to the surface again.
“Hollis!” I stood still, since my legs refused to work right. It was as if his words had paralyzed me, and all I could do was watch him bob up and down.
Finally, he windmilled his arms to propel himself to shore, and then he stumbled forward and collapsed on the riverbank.
“Uuuggghhh,” he groaned.
“Hold on, Hollis.” I moved back to the shore too, and reached for my cell, which I’d stashed in the pocket of my khakis. It was time to find a cell tower—any cell tower—and try to call for help.
I jabbed at a number for the Louisiana State Police Department, which I kept on speed dial. Unfortunately, my hand shook so much my finger slipped right off the screen. After mumbling a quick prayer for strength, I took a deep breath and tried again, and this time the call went through.
Lance will know what to do. The detective always came to my aid whenever I stumbled across a dead body, which happened a lot more often than one would think, although that was neither here nor there at the moment.
The call crackled and fizzed, but it finally connected me with Lance’s phone. He answered on the second ring.
“Hey there, Missy.” His voice was warm and welcoming.
“Lance?”
“Okay, what’s wrong?” After only one word from me, his tone instantly changed. “Where are you?”
When I didn’t answer, he spoke again. “Listen to me. Take a deep breath. I want to hear you breathe.”
I did as he asked and gulped some air. “How’s that?”
“Better. Now, take it slow. Where are you?”
“There’s been an accident, Lance. A terrible accident.”
“Are you okay? Tell me what happened.”
I turned my back on Hollis, since I didn’t want the boy to overhear my conversation. Now that he’d left the water, Hollis had begun to shiver, which meant he was slipping into shock. No need to compound the problem by making him listen to my replay of the last few seconds.
“It’s Ruby Oubre,” I said. “I came out to her house this morning.” After taking so many breaths, I’d almost worked the panic out of my voice. Almost.
“She lives by the Atchafalaya River basin, right? Is that where you are now?”
“Yes. I’m here on some land she owns behind the house. I think she drowned, Lance.”
“Okay. I’ll track your location. Are you anywhere near the surface road?”
“Um-hmm. And I’m with her grandson, Hollis. He’s the one who found her body in the first place.”
When Hollis groaned again, I regretted not lowering my voice even more. “He’s slipping into shock, Lance. Please hurry.”
“I’m calling for a car now. You and the boy stay put. We’ll be out there as quick as we can.”
“Please don’t hang up.” Like always, I wanted to hear Lance’s voice while I waited. It comforted me to know he was on the other end of the phone, no matter how crackly our connection.
“I’m afraid I have to hang up,” he said. “But you’ll be fine. Just stay put.”
“Okay. Whatever you say.” Reluctantly, I hung up from the call and turned to face Hollis. “The police will be here soon. Are you going to be okay?”
Hollis didn’t answer me. Instead, he stared at the river, as if he fully expected his grandmother to rise out of it. So, I walked over to him, taking care not to make any sudden moves. “It’s okay, Hollis. I’m here.” I gently placed my hand on his quaking shoulder.
He didn’t move…he didn’t turn…he didn’t acknowledge me.
“Hollis?”
Since he couldn’t, or wouldn’t, hear me, I was running out of options. Unless…
Slowly, I lifted my phone again. To heck with the crummy cell phone service. There was one more call I needed to make, one more person who might be able to help me.
I searched for a different number in the phone’s speed dial. My fiancé owned the studio next door to mine, where he designed custom ball gowns for high-end weddings. Although it was lunchtime, I knew Ambrose would be in his studio, working on his designs.
Hallelujah, he answered the phone on the second ring.
“Hi, Missy. Don’t worry, I didn’t forget to eat lunch. I was going—”
“Uh, Ambrose?” This was no time for niceties. “I have to tell you something.”
“What’s wrong?” Like Lance, his tone immediately changed when he sensed danger. “You’re not in trouble, are you?”
“No. I’m fine.” I softly patted Hollis’s shoulder again, before I turned away. “But something’s happened out here. I’m on the Atchafalaya River, by Ruby Oubre’s place.” Some static sounded over the line, but at least the connection held steady. “I went to visit her and her grandson this morning, remember?”
We’d discussed my plans over breakfast, since Ambrose and I shared what the locals called a “rent house.” Although we kept separate bedrooms, that arrangement would end soon enough, once we got married next year.
“Sure. I remember what you told me,” he said. “You were going to meet with Hollis about a business venture. So, what happened?”
I struggled to focus. Everything was a blur, which made it hard to stack the details in the right order. “First of all, don’t worry about me. I’m fine.” I glanced at Hollis to make sure he wasn’t listening. “But Ruby is dead. She drowned. I called Lance, and he’s coming right over.”
A low gasp sounded on the other end. “That’s horrible! Stay put, and I’ll come too.”
Much as I longed to see Ambrose, I knew it wouldn’t do any good. “That’s okay, honey. There’s nothing you can do out here. But Hollis is slipping into shock. Will you talk to him for a few minutes?”
“Of course. Put him on.”
I lowered the phone and gently pressed it against Hollis’s ear. “It’s Ambrose,” I whispered. “He wants to tell you something.”
The sound of Ambrose’s voice traveled over the receiver. Although I couldn’t make out the words, Hollis listened intently, and then he nodded at something or other Ambrose had said.
Once their conversation ended, Hollis leaned back from the phone. By now, he’d lost the blank stare and he looked almost resigned to the situation.
I brought the phone back to my ear. “I think you got through to him. What’d you say?”
“I reminded him he needed to stay strong, for his grandmother’s sake. He’s a good kid. He’ll make it through this.”
“I hope so.” Unlike my fiancé, I wasn’t so sure. “I have another favor to ask. Could you please call Beatrice and tell her what’s happened?”
“But I thought she’d be with you.”
“No. She took the boat to her aunt’s house while I worked with Hollis. Now she’s out on the river somewhere.”
“Okay, I’ll try. Maybe I’ll check with some of her family. They might have a landline I can call, since this connection is pretty crappy. Do you want Beatrice to meet you somewhere?”
“No. She might as well go back to the hat shop. She can’t do anything here either.”
“Gotcha. By the way…” He paused, clearly unsure whether he should voice his next thought. “You know you have a terrible knack for finding dead bodies, don’t you?”
“Tell me about it! I’m surprised Lance even takes my calls anymore. But this one hurts. I came out here to do Ruby a favor, but I ne
ver expected this.”
“You poor thing.” His voice dripped concern. “Are you sure you don’t want me to drive down there and wait with you?”
“No, that’s okay.” Much as I wanted to see him, there wasn’t anything he—or anyone else, for that matter—could do. “Lance will be here any minute, and I’ll have to wait while they dredge up the body. Talking to you helps.”
“Okay, sweetie. But call me once Lance gets there. I want to make sure you’re safe.”
“Of course.” No doubt, Ambrose also wanted to make sure I didn’t overdo things, since I tended to get involved with Lance’s police investigations. Speaking of which…
“Oh, shine! I just thought of something else.”
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
“How do we know this wasn’t deliberate? Ruby knew how to swim, Ambrose. She told me so herself when I spoke with her the other night. Lance will have to conduct a police investigation.”
“Missy…” It was the same tone he always used whenever he wanted to save me from myself. “Let the police handle it this time, okay?”
“Hmmm. We’ll see.” While I couldn’t lie to Ambrose, I could be evasive. “There’s no telling what Lance will find. Look, I’ve gotta go. I love you, honey.”
With that, I tapped the screen to end the call. Although I’d turned away from Hollis, I could tell he’d eavesdropped on the conversation, since he tilted his head toward me.
“By any chance, did you hear what I said?” I asked.
“Maybe.” He sounded miserable. “Okay, I did. And you’re right… Granny knew how to swim. So, how’d she end up at the bottom of the river? It doesn’t make sense.”
“I don’t know. But let’s not jump to conclusions, okay? The police will be here any minute, and they’ll know what to do.”
Fortunately, the sound of police sirens reached us only a few moments later. The noise grew louder and louder, the cacophony accompanied by staccato red lights that slashed through the tupelos overhead.
“Praise the Lord,” I said. “They’re here.”
The noise gave way to the crunch of rubber tires on pea gravel as cars skidded to a stop on the surface road.
All Hats on Deck Page 2