Wrong Side of Forty

by DeLeon, Jana

  “Let it out, honey,” Halcyon said. “Upset always comes first but mad is on the way, I promise you.”

  “I’m pretty sure it’s arrived,” Marina coughed and choked out a few more cries before stopping. She pulled back and looked at Halcyon. “I can’t believe this. Everything I’ve spent my entire life working for is falling apart.”

  “I know it feels that way, but we can handle this.”

  “No. It doesn’t just feel that way. It is that way. If Chastity doesn’t drop those charges, Avery will lose her scholarship. I can’t afford to pay for the university and even if Harold could, why would he? He didn’t even care enough to keep that tramp out of Avery’s closet.”

  “We’ll find an attorney, okay?”

  But Marina could tell that Halcyon was as worried as she was. “Where? Do you have a gentleman caller with a law degree? Because the only one in Last Chance is siding with the enemy. Along with the deputy, the sheriff, and the judge. We’re in big trouble here. I don’t even know where to start.”

  “Start with explaining what the hell happened. I feel like Avery was talking in another language.”

  “She was. Teen. Basically, Avery isn’t extra, which means overly dramatic.”

  Halcyon stared. “Avery doesn’t think she’s overly dramatic?”

  “She certainly appears to have been in this situation, but in regular teen world, she’s not. Trust me, I went into an online forum for teens to see if I could figure out lingo and stuff, and I almost had a heart attack at what those kids were up to. Avery is high-maintenance but she’s not regular teen drama.”

  “Okay, so what was the rest of that?”

  “Chastity was flexing about Harold, which is showing him off. That, combined with the clothes thing, set Avery off.”

  “And rightfully so. Why doesn’t Preston give his daughter a bigger allowance so that she can get her own clothes? So what’s this ‘thot’ thing?”

  Marina sighed. “Shorthand for that ho over there.”

  Halcyon stared at Marina for a couple seconds, then burst out laughing. “Oh my God. That’s awesome. I’m so sorry. I don’t mean to laugh. Actually, I do.”

  Halcyon took a minute to pull herself together, then blew out a breath. “Okay. So the first order of business is a lawyer, right?”

  “No. The first order of business is Harold. He needs to get his sidepiece to back off pressing charges.”

  “You can try, but I wouldn’t expect much. Harold is deep in the new-nooky fog. My guess is that Little Miss Chastity can’t do any wrong.”

  Marina started her car and pulled away. “He better get out of the fog before he loses his daughter.”

  She drove by the CPA office but Harold’s car wasn’t in his parking space so she headed for the house and pulled in behind his shiny new Mercedes. She stomped up to the front door and banged on it.

  “What the hell are you doing?” Halcyon asked. “Open the door.”

  “I threw my key in the bayou the day I moved out.”

  “Good grief.” Halcyon dug in her purse and pulled out a key, then unlocked the door. “It’s Halcyon and Marina,” she called out. “I suggest you get out here where there are multiple escape routes because you don’t want me to corner you.”

  There was a noise from the master bedroom and a minute later, Harold shuffled into the living room. He didn’t bother to say anything. Just stood there looking impotent.

  “Avery is in jail,” Marina said. “Locked up in a cell like an animal. You let them take her.”

  “What was I supposed to do?” Harold asked. “Deputy Pitre arrested her. I couldn’t stop him.”

  “You didn’t even call me,” Marina said. “I had to hear about this from Adelaide. That’s our daughter! I know you don’t care about me, but how could you abandon her?”

  Harold stared at the floor, shaking his head. “There was nothing I could do.”

  “Maybe not then, although I doubt it,” Marina said. “But you can certainly do something now. You can call off your little girlfriend. If this goes to court, Avery will lose her scholarship. Her future. She’s already lost her father. How much more should she pay for your bad decisions?”

  “Don’t you think I tried?” Harold said. “I’ve been begging Chastity all morning to drop the charges. But she won’t back down. And the truth is Avery did attack her.”

  “Completely and totally unprovoked, right?” Marina asked. “Because sweet Chastity would never do anything to rub salt into a wound. Especially to Avery, who she’s always had a problem with.”

  Harold’s shoulders slumped. “I can’t change her mind. Avery should have never come here.”

  “Shouldn’t have come where? Her home?” Anger coursed through Marina. “You shouldn’t have cheated! And definitely not with Chastity LeDoux. You picked the worst person possible and you know it. The least you can do is get your little pet in line. Clearly, she has daddy issues, so tell her to drop the charges or you’re going to ground her.”

  Harold’s jaw tightened. “I already told you there’s nothing I can do.”

  “Unbelievable,” Halcyon said. “I always thought you were a limp dick. Turns out that body part went missing right along with your common sense and your backbone. The least you can do is cough up money for the attorney we need to find. Your daughter is in jail, Harold. Jail!”

  “There’s no money,” he said quietly.

  Marina and Halcyon looked at each other, then back at Harold.

  “What do you mean, there’s no money?” Marina asked. “We’ve lived well beneath our means our entire lives. Where did it go?”

  “I made some bad investments, okay?” Harold said.

  “Like hair plugs, and veneers, and your new Mercedes?” Marina said.

  “Don’t forget Chastity,” Halcyon said. “How much have you wasted on her?”

  “What does it matter now?” Harold asked. “Marina already took half of everything in our accounts.”

  Marina felt the blood drain from her face. “That was it? That was every dime we had?”

  Harold nodded.

  “Oh my God,” Marina said. “What have I done with my life? All that time spent working until my hands ached, then taking care of this house and Avery and you. And I have nothing to show for it except a daughter who will have a record and no college education and a husband who pissed our entire life’s work away on a whore. Everything I’ve done is a failure.”

  She whirled around and ran out the door.

  “Marina, wait!” Harold yelled after her, but she didn’t slow.

  As soon as Halcyon climbed into her car, Marina shot backward out of the driveway while her sister struggled to get the door closed. As she tore off down the street, Halcyon buckled her seat belt and made the sign of the cross.

  “We’re Baptist!” Marina yelled.

  “I’m nervous, okay?”

  The genuine fear in her sister’s voice made her immediately lift her foot off the accelerator. As the car slowed to a stop in the middle of the road, the breath Halcyon had been holding came out in a whoosh.

  “I’m sorry,” Marina said. “I don’t even know what I’m doing anymore. I don’t know what to do next. Do I pull over and use my phone to try to find an attorney? Do I drive home? Or maybe into the bayou?”

  “You drive to my house,” Halcyon said. “And we’ll use my computer to find an attorney. Maybe there’s one in Double Deuces that can handle something last-minute.”

  Someone knocked on Marina’s window and she yelped. She looked up and saw Adelaide staring down at her, her normally dour expression full of concern.

  “Adelaide,” Marina said as soon as she lowered the window. “Thank you so much for calling me.”

  “Of course,” Adelaide said. “Is Avery all right?”

  “Not really,” Marina said and gave the older woman a quick rundown of the situation.

  Adelaide let out a stream of cursing that Halcyon gave a nod of approval, then she sucked in a breath a
nd blew it out.

  “Somebody has got to do something about the LeDoux before they ruin this town,” Adelaide said.

  “That would be awesome,” Marina said, “especially if they could accomplish it today. But no one has the clout or the nerve or whatever it would take.”

  “Balls,” Adelaide said. “And this town is running short on those as well.”

  “Except for some of the women,” Halcyon said.

  “Goes without saying,” Adelaide said. “Is there anything I can do?”

  “Not unless you have an attorney in your pocket,” Marina said.

  Adelaide frowned. “I just might. I’ve got a distant cousin who just moved here. He has a law degree, but he didn’t like it so he quit. But as far as I know, he’s still licensed.”

  “What didn’t he like?” Halcyon asked.

  “From my understanding, he hated the politics and all the shady stuff,” Adelaide said. “He had some high ideals about making a difference and found out quick-like that it wasn’t possible with all the corruption and red tape and stupid laws.”

  “Sounds like just the experience we need,” Marina said. “Do you think he’d help?”

  “I think he might,” Adelaide said. “He’s a good sort. I’m sure he’d be hacked off about the situation, given all the shadiness. And he definitely wouldn’t want a young girl paying for bad adult behavior. His father was no prize.”

  “Who is he?” Halcyon asked. “I can’t recall seeing anyone new lately.”

  “He’s a bit of a loner, from what I understand,” Adelaide said. “Went back to school and got a master’s in forestry after he dropped the lawyering gig. He’s the new game warden.”

  Marina sucked in a breath and Adelaide stared down at her.

  “You’ve met him?” Adelaide asked.

  “Sort of,” Marina said. “We had a bit of a run-in last night when he mistook me for a poacher.”

  “Good, then he owes you,” Adelaide said. “I’ll give him a call and explain the situation.”

  “I don’t…” Marina started. “I’m not sure…”

  “Do it, Adelaide,” Halcyon said, then looked at Marina. “We don’t have many last-minute options here. Actually, more like none. Anyone is better than Marina and me trying to handle it ourselves.”

  Marina blew out a breath, trying to wrap her mind around the many exploded pieces of her life. “You’re right. And thank you, Adelaide. For everything. I owe you big-time.”

  “I’ll collect later in hair rolls,” Adelaide said. “I’ll go call right now. You girls might want to make some notes for Luke. He won’t have much time to get up to speed.”

  “That’s a good idea,” Halcyon said. “That way, we’re not emotionally rambling and getting off course ranting about the LeDoux.”

  Adelaide gave them a wave and headed toward her house. Marina put the car in gear and headed down the street, wondering if her life would ever be normal again.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Halcyon paced back and forth across her kitchen as Marina typed notes onto her laptop. Adelaide had been right about jotting things down. Putting them in writing had forced her to be succinct and detailed at the same time. And time was something they couldn’t afford to waste. Unfortunately, her sister’s pacing was interfering with her scattered mind’s ability to think clearly.

  “Can you please sit down for a minute?” Marina asked.

  “If I sit, I’ll want to start smoking or eating,” Halcyon said. “And since I gave up the first years ago and need to give up most of the second, this is my new way of dealing with stress.”

  “And normally, I’d agree that it’s an awesome option, but it’s distracting and I’m only one step away from a room next to my mother’s.”

  Halcyon perched on a stool next to her. “Why don’t you text Alexios? He’s part god. If this treasure hunt is so important, surely they’d be willing to help.”

  Marina stopped typing and nodded. “I’ve been thinking about it, but what if Zeus’s idea of fixing things is wiping out all the LeDoux?”

  “Then we’d all wear red for a month?”

  “Stop joking. I don’t want them dead. I just want them to leave Avery alone. And in the big scheme of things, to stop riding herd over this town.”

  “But who’s to say the gods can’t make that happen? It doesn’t hurt to ask.”

  “I suppose you’re right.” She pulled out her phone and sent Alexios a text. A couple minutes later, he knocked on Halcyon’s front door.

  “Why didn’t you just come in?” Halcyon asked as she let him inside. “It’s not like the lock would have stopped you.”

  “Yes, but it’s rude to enter a person’s home without permission, especially if you’ve never been there before,” Alexios said.

  “You came into my home without permission,” Marina said.

  “Because you wouldn’t have let me in otherwise,” Alexios said. “But this is your sister’s home. Not yours. So I’m back to rude. I abhor rude.”

  “Good,” Halcyon said. “Then you’ll be first in line to help with our current predicament. The people involved take rude to a professional level. Actually, they’ve progressed so far beyond rude that if they could just get back there, everyone would probably celebrate.”

  Alexios frowned. “I take it your world has produced problems of a personal level, somehow involving these beyond-rude people?”

  Marina nodded and gave Alexios a rundown of the situation with Avery. He listened intently but without a change in expression, and when she finished, he sat in silence for so long that Marina wondered if he was in some sort of trance.

  Finally, he sighed. “I’m afraid there’s nothing I can do.”

  “Why the hell not?” Halcyon asked. “Your boss is a god. And not just any god—the head god. Seems to me that something like this should be a snap for him.”

  “And under normal circumstances, that would be the case,” Alexios said. “But I’m afraid the circumstances right now are anything but normal.”

  “What do you mean?” Marina asked.

  “I’ve lost contact with our world,” Alexios said. “I tried to transport home last night but I was blocked. All channels of communication with them are cut off.”

  “Is that normal?” Marina asked.

  “It’s never happened before,” he said.

  “Then how can it happen now?” Halcyon asked.

  “Two ways that I can think of,” he said. “Either Zeus closed everything down to prevent an invasion there and anyone from tracking me here, or the invaders have gained control. I’m really hoping it’s the first one.”

  “Invaders?” Marina asked.

  “From another world,” Alexios said. “We think the faction from our world that is attempting to take control has aligned themselves with some group from another world.”

  “Holy crap!” Halcyon said. “How many other worlds are looking to knock off another species?”

  “You probably don’t want to know,” Alexios said. “It would just make it harder to sleep at night.”

  Marina threw her hands in the air. “Then what good does it do to find the ring if you can’t even get it back to them?”

  “If Zeus closed everything down as a preventive measure, he’ll get word to me somehow,” Alexios said. “And he’ll arrange a way for me to communicate any success with the search so that the ring can be safely returned to our world.”

  “And if your world was taken by the enemy?” Halcyon asked.

  “Then your personal crisis won’t matter,” he said quietly. “Nothing will matter.”

  Marina’s thoughts whirled as his words sank in. If she chose to believe the ring existed and that she had some sort of special calling, then she didn’t have the luxury of ignoring the negative aspects of the situation. Very negative aspects. And his expression left no doubt that Alexios was seriously worried. In fact, he looked stressed out of his wits.

  “Isn’t there something you can do?” Halcyon as
ked. “You’re half god, right? Doesn’t that count for something?”

  Alexios frowned. “I’m afraid my godly abilities only extend to not being killed by your weaponry, walking through locked doors, and living in an invisible condo. I can’t see that those would help.”

  “They might,” Halcyon said. “If we need to spring Avery from prison and stash her somewhere, I’d say you’re first on our list to call.”

  “No one’s going to prison,” Marina said, her breath catching in her throat. She looked at Alexios. “Okay. All of this sounds really, really bad. What do I need to do?”

  “What you’ve already agreed to do,” he said.

  “How the hell is she supposed to bop around playing Lord of the Rings when her daughter is sitting in jail?” Halcyon asked. “Do you understand what kind of stress that places on a mother? Mothers have killed people because their daughters didn’t make cheerleading teams. I think this is a bit worse.”

  “I suppose killing this woman pressing charges is an option,” Alexios said. “Unfortunately, I can’t do it.”

  “Why not?” Halcyon asked. “You could do the job and whisk away in your magical condo. No harm. No foul. Unless you don’t have the stomach for such things.”

  “It’s not my stomach that’s in question,” he said. “It’s against our rules for any of us to kill humans. There were too many using your kind as entertainment and Zeus didn’t like it. Except in the case of self-defense, if we kill a human, we go to the gods’ equivalent of prison. And trust me, what you have here is the Ritz-Carlton compared to where Zeus sends you.”

  “What?” Halcyon asked. “Does he send you to Hades?”

  “Yes, actually.” Alexios glanced up, clearly uncomfortable.

  “Jeez,” Halcyon said. “I was joking.”

  “Yeah, well, Zeus isn’t big on jokes,” he said. “Not unless he’s the one making them.”

  “Typical,” Halcyon said.

  “No one is getting killed,” Marina said. “Not by us, at least. I’ll figure something out.”

  “Find the ring,” Alexios said. “With a million dollars, you can buy Avery’s way into any university she wants to attend.”