River Mourn

by Bill Hopkins

Chapter 45

  Tuesday Morning, continued

  Ollie ran from the window to Tina's bedside. "Did he carry you to the mental hospital?"

  "We drove directly to River Heights Villa. That's where I was the whole time before Rosswell rescued me. For a little while, I tried to hide my pregnancy. I think they already knew I was carrying a baby."

  Rosswell said, "Let me interrupt a minute."

  Jim Bill said, "Is there any way to stop you?"

  "I want to clarify something for Tina," Rosswell continued. "Jim Bill wants to know why Nathaniel didn't kill you immediately or ship you out of the country at once or otherwise get rid of you as soon as possible."

  Jim Bill emitted what sounded to Rosswell like a low growl. "I'd planned on being a tad more diplomatic."

  Tina said, "Rosswell doesn't spend much time on diplomacy."

  Rosswell said, "Thought I'd run straight to the point."

  "I don't know what was in Nathaniel's mind. He knew that people would be after him. Maybe he wanted to use me as a bargaining chip." Their son stirred but didn't wake. Tina rubbed the baby's back. "The night Rosswell rescued me, they gave me a pill. I didn't swallow it. When they left the room, I flushed it down the toilet. A heavy dose of something to knock me out is my guess. I didn't want to hurt the baby before he was born."

  Jim Bill said, "But you slept through being carried out of the hospital and being dumped in a car to drive up to Sainte Gen?"

  "I was exhausted. I was hurt. Even when I'm perfectly healthy and not pregnant, I sleep the sleep of the dead." She paused for a moment. "Maybe they put something in my food."

  Rosswell said, "Nathaniel never killed us, because he couldn't use you as a bargaining chip if I was dead. He figured he could blackmail me into doing about anything to keep you safe."

  Jim Bill said, "We've considered you a hostage all along. But we never knew for sure where you were until the night you were rescued. And we've had Nathaniel under constant surveillance since your disappearance."

  "Who is this?" Rosswell showed Jim Bill the business card he'd received earlier. "Nicolas Rodriguez. Or Ramon Cortez. Or whatever he changed his name to when he walked out of the hospital this morning."

  Jim Bill thrust the card back at Rosswell. "Never heard of him."

  "You've never heard of anyone, yet Philbert and Theodore seemed mighty close to you right after you got shot."

  "Speaking of those two, I do have some good news."

  Rosswell wanted all the good news he could hear. "Spill it."

  "Theodore and Philbert checked Nathaniel's escape route. It seems that the white clown outsmarted himself. He didn't take into account the high water on the river. When he went down the hole in his library, part of it caved in and, we hope, swept him into the Mississippi."

  Ollie said, "Have they found the body?"

  "Not yet. From what I hear, there's no way he could've lived through that."

  Rosswell drew out the card Nicolas Rodriguez had given him. "Here. Call him and tell him that Nathaniel is dead."

  Jim Bill snorted. "Told you once. I don't know the guy."

  It was Tina's turn to talk. "Jim Bill, you said you didn't know Theodore and Philbert and then you tell us about their investigation. You're keeping secrets from us." She brushed away a lock of hair that had fallen over her eyes. "Every day that I spent in that prison, I vowed that nothing bad would happen to me or our baby. I knew Rosswell would find me. And it was you who made that possible."

  She left the bed and planted a kiss on Jim Bill's cheek. Rosswell felt a burst of pride in his chest. Tina had made that speech without crying. She was tougher than a new railroad spike.

  Ollie said, "Ditto." Rosswell didn't mention it, but he thought a tear rolled down Ollie's cheek.

  Jim Bill added, "I'll tell you one thing about Nathaniel's baby-selling ring. Women who look like Tina produce fair-skinned babies, often with strawberry blonde hair and blue or green eyes. Those kids are particularly valuable in Venezuela, China, North Korea, and Cuba. The Communist elite pay good money for them. They're trophies. Racist trophies."

  Rosswell thought he was going to puke. No. That would be bad form in front of his wife-to-be and son. He would pray to Whoever to get that image out of his mind. Unwilling to dwell on the enormity of modern slavery, he instead forced himself forward.

  "Earlier, I started telling Ollie about Lazar and Maman."

  "I want to know about them, too," Tina said. "How did she know where I was?"

  Rosswell stared down his nose at Ollie. "I did a bit of researching also."

  "You always get in trouble when you ignore me and try freelancing."

  "Lazar does nothing but buy and sell second hand junk all over the county. Everyone knows him and he talks at length with anyone who will tell him stuff. He remembers all of it and then goes to tell Maman."

  "And," added Ollie, "Sheriff Gustave Fribeau, too."

  "Anyway, if Maman needs more info, Lazar goes out again and talks to more people. She analyzes everything. Someone in Nathaniel's organization-maybe even Gustave-must've told Lazar where Tina was and Lazar told Maman. I paid with silver to hear a riddle about what she found out."

  Tina appeared a second away from exploding. "You paid her good money? Why didn't she come right out and tell you plainly where I was?"

  "She's a woman. She can't state anything directly and simply," Rosswell said, immediately realizing his blunder.

  "You want to try that again?"

  Rosswell backed and filled as quickly as possible. "I found out Maman's big secret. You know how old she is?"

  Ollie said, "No, but you do."

  "No, I don't."

  Tina said, "Then why did you ask?"

  Jim Bill said, "What does her age have to do with anything? She's an old woman. So what?"

  Rosswell said, "From my snooping, I found references to Maman Fribeau living out there on that bluff going back to the year 1751."