Chloe Babineaux Private Investigator

by Lisa Clancey

  Chapter Two

  We didn’t talk much on the drive to my apartment. Not much meant none at all. His mood didn’t seem to improve. I wished I knew why. I wondered if whatshername upset him. I mean, it couldn’t be because he was bringing two unknown women all the way back to Alexandria in the rain while having a gun within reach of one of the women.

  We let Cheri out near her apartment then drove toward the decrepit end of the apartment complex. Cheri’s end of the apartment complex had trees with moss hanging from them with a nice fountain to enjoy and to help keep the road noise out. My end looked out on the street and parking lot. I could see the fountain, but that was only if I craned my head. Otherwise I was looking at the parking lot. It was home, and I could afford it.

  I felt strange getting out of his truck knowing he knew where Cheri and I lived. I know it would have been nothing for him to look up our address on his cop computer but still, it felt strange. So I got out quick or tried to. My purse got hung up on the seat belt lock, and it jerked me back in.

  Rick grinned and said, “What’s the matter? Don’t wanna leave?”

  I glared and said, “Thanks for the ride.”

  “Oh, by the way, tell Cody I said hi.” He was still laughing

  “Yeah. No, not gonna happen. Buh-bye.” I got out and slammed the door.

  It was still raining, so I ran and tried not to slip in the water, ran up the stairs to my apartment, which has an outside entrance so the stairs were slippery and the railing was cold. I noticed Rick didn’t leave until I was inside. I was going to tell myself it was because he wanted to make sure I was safe. I called Cheri to let her know I was home safe and I didn’t have to shoot anybody.

  I changed into my warm sweat pants and made hot chocolate and watched TV. Saturday night. Was I having fun yet? Well, I was having as much fun as Cheri was, but at least she had her boy-toy Brent to vent to. He would probably want to call me and curse me, but Cheri would talk him out of it. It was really her idea to ride home with Rick anyway. Wasn’t it? Yeah, that was the way I was going to remember it. I drank my chocolate and brushed my teeth and went to bed.

  I woke up by the most annoying sound. My phone was ringing. Dang. What day is it? Sunday. Yeah, it’s Sunday.

  I reached for the phone and tried to sound awake. “I’m awake, Cody. But I have a problem.” Every Sunday Cody or his wife Morgan called to make sure I was awake and out of bed so I could get ready for church. Morgan’s a nurse and works every other weekend, so they take turns calling me. I loved them both. I just really wish they would find a new hobby.

  Cody took a deep breath, exhaled and asked, “What’s the problem?”

  With no hesitation, I answered, “I need a ride to church. I hydroplaned last night, and L.P.S. is sitting in a ditch in Deville.” I closed my eyes ready for the outburst. Cody was my twin brother, not my older brother, but he was still a pain in the butt when it came to my safety.

  “Were you alone? Did anybody get hurt?” he asked with a calm voice. Either he’s being distracted by his two adorable little boys, or he was getting used to my adventures. “No, don’t pick that up! Put it down! Now!” Okay. He’s being distracted by his four- and six-year-olds. Bless those little boys.

  “Cheri was with me, and no, we didn’t get hurt. Well, my truck was, but we aren’t.” I was calm and ready to defend myself because any minute it was going to hit him that I didn’t call him. It should happen about…

  “Why didn’t you call me? I could have sent someone there to get you? Were you on 28? Were there people around? How did you get home? Did you call Dad?” He really didn’t sound calm now. He sounded mad, his voice rising the more questions he asked. He must have taken care of the boys’ problems.

  “I don’t remember your first question. I hate it when you ask me fifteen questions all at once. Do you do that when you interrogate suspects to confuse them? No, I didn’t call Daddy. I didn’t want Mama to get all outta joint. We weren’t on 28. I didn’t call you because of that very reason. You would have called someone to pick us up, and then I would’ve had to shoot someone because of all their snide comments. We did not hitchhike if that’s what you want to know. I was able to get a ride home, so let’s just leave it at that.” By the time I was through explaining myself, I was yelling. I took several deep breaths, and so did he. “Are you gonna pick me up for church or not?”

  “Yeah. I’ll pick you up. Can the truck be driven?”

  “I don’t know. It was raining pretty hard and sort of got stuck in a ditch. She’s kind of tilting.”

  “Okay. I’ll call Dad after church and ask if we can borrow his flatbed trailer. We’ll tow it to my house. I’ll take a look at it, but since it’s twenty years old, it won’t be worth putting too much money into fixing it. You might have to think about getting another car.”

  “Truck.”

  “Whatever. Where did this happen?”

  “On Old Marcus Road, I’ll give you directions later. See you in a while. I have to take a shower.” I hung up and crawled out of bed.

  I loved driving a truck. I have friends I like to go out with, and because I have a truck no one likes to go with me, so I rarely have to drive. I’m rarely the designated driver. Not that I’m a drunk, I just don’t have to worry about using my gas.

  I started the coffee and took a shower then dried my hair. By the time my hair had dried, the coffee I had poured was cool enough for me to drink. I’m Catholic, so even though I should be dressing to the T, I’m just wearing a nice sweater, jeans, and boots. Cody would probably dress about the same, even the boots. It’s been like that since we were kids. If he didn’t have to get, all dressed up why should I? Unless he had brought one of his friends with him to church and I wanted to impress him. But times have changed. I dress the way I want to.

  Besides, Morgan won’t be there to make me look bad. Morgan is so hot she could dress in a garbage bag, and I could wear a thousand dollar dress, and she would still look better than me. She was multi-racial—African American, Caucasian, and Native American—otherwise known as Redbone. She was five-eight and thin with an olive complexion, golden eyes, dark brown hair, perfect nose, and mouth. I was five-nine and on the thin side, but far from skin and bones. Cody and I both had light brown eyes and dark brown hair with just enough curl in it to drive us crazy. Correction, to drive me crazy. He’s a man. He just cuts it short and doesn’t worry about it. I put mine up in a ponytail most of the time. Cody’s six feet three inches and weighs two hundred pounds and was muscular. He worked out at the department gym to stay in shape. I do nothing to stay in shape. Oh well, it’s a good thing he’s tall and weighed two hundred pounds, and I didn’t. Life could be worse.

  I had just put on my boots when I heard a soft knocking coming from the lower part of my door. I knew it was one of my nephews knocking; Cody would have pounded. I opened the door and smiled looking down and asked, “Who’s that knocking on my door?” Looking up at me smiling was Charlie, the six-year-old.

  “You’re supposed to ask who it is before opening the door, Aunt Chloe,” Charlie said trying not to smile and look stern.

  “You are so right, sweetie. Opening the door without asking was wrong, but since I already opened the door, you might as well come in so I can grab my purse.” Cody was holding Mason, who was squirming to get down, so I put my arms out to him to give him a big hug and set him on the floor. I really loved my nephews. Other people’s kids drove me crazy, but I could put up with these. I didn’t mind babysitting, probably because I know I didn’t have to keep them. I knew they would be going home with their parents.

  “My new partner,” Cody said while squatting down to tie Mason’s shoe, “lives in Deville so I called and asked if he knew someone with a winch on his truck we could use in case we have to pull your truck out of the ditch. He said he did and would meet us there about one.”

  “Alright. Sounds good.” I wasn’t paying that much attention. Charlie had opened my refrigerator and was pulling ou
t a beer.

  I grabbed the beer and said, “Put that back. You know I don’t let you drink those when your Daddy’s around.”

  After church, we stopped at a Chinese buffet restaurant. The kids ate chicken nuggets, Cody and I ate everything else. That sounded like we ate all the food. We didn’t. It just felt that way. I ate way too much. While we were waiting on the check, Cody called our parents and asked about the flatbed trailer. I could tell my father was not real happy that I didn’t let him know earlier about the accident, but he would get over it. My mother was going to babysit her grandsons while we were out, which was good because it would keep her occupied. She would have wanted to go with us and then she would have fretted the whole time. If she knew it was on a lonely road begging for a serial killer to do his or her thing she would have freaked and I would have had to slap her to keep her from going into shock.

  We dropped off the kids and hooked up the flatbed trailer to Cody’s Chevy pickup truck.

  My mother had already asked me several times if I was hurt but asked again, “Are you sure you aren’t bruised from the seatbelt?”

  “Maybe a little but it’s no big deal. I’m surprised Aunt Geneva hasn’t called you yet.”

  “Cheri was with you? Oh no! Is she hurt?” she asked with concern all over her face.

  “No. She isn’t hurt either. We’re both fine.” Great. Cheri’s gonna love me for this. I may have to slap my mother soon; she’s grabbing the front of her shirt and twisting it.

  “How’d you get home?” Daddy asked with a concerned look on his face. He was looking from me to my mother. He may have been thinking of asking me to slap her as well.

  “That was no problem. We just hooked up with the first man to come along.” I shook my head. “Jeeze Louise, would y’all give me some credit? We got home safe.” Always tell the truth to your parents was my motto. Well, as much of the truth as you can safely get away with.

  We drove to Deville with me being as quiet as possible in the small back seat, between the two booster seats. It was a tight fit, but I wasn’t about to complain. He’d just tell me to ride in the bed of the truck and then I’d have to punch him.

  I’m thirty-two years old. I shouldn’t still be afraid of my father’s wrath. Besides, I needed him to help me find a new truck. The man knew everybody. Then again, he had five siblings, and Mama had four, and add those together with about forty cousins, and I’m sure we could find a truck somewhere.

  We pulled up to my truck, and it didn’t look quite as bad as I thought it would. L.P.S. was stuck, but the wheels didn’t look bent. Cody and my father were looking at it when a red truck pulled up. I was leaning against Cody’s truck feeling sorry for myself when someone leaned against the truck next to me.

  A deep voice beside me asked, “Did you tell Cody I said hi?”

  “Oh shit,” I said as I jerked my head toward him. “No. Does he know you live on this road?” Cody’s partner was the man I was stalking? Oh, just shoot me now.

  “No. Not yet. You know he’ll find out. How did you tell them you got home?”

  “I didn’t. I told them I didn’t hitchhike. I let them assume we called a friend. I told Daddy we hooked a ride with the first man that came along. So I kind of told the truth, even if it was your friend we saw first. I’m sarcastic enough for them not to believe half the things I tell them.”

  “I would never have guessed you were sarcastic,” he said dryly. Then his expression turned serious. “I’m gonna tell Cody, though. Better for him to find out now than later so he won’t think I was keeping something from him.” It had to be Cody’s partner. It couldn’t be just another would-be serial killer.

  Cody turned around and asked, “Why are you hitting on my sister?” He walked over to us with his hand out to shake Rick’s hand adding, “Just because she can’t drive doesn’t mean she has bad taste in men.”

  I shook my head, narrowed my eyes and huffed, “I didn’t drive off the road. I hydroplaned. Did you sleep through the torrential rain storm last night?”

  “What were you doing on this road anyway?” Cody asked with a laugh. “Rick Thompson, this is my Dad, David.”

  My father put his hand out to shake and said, “Good meeting…”

  I cut him off, “I was looking for a friend’s house and took the wrong road. It was raining so hard I got turned around. Can y’all get my truck out or what?” My voice rose louder as I finished the sentence.

  “Yeah. We can get it out, but the frame looks bent so you won’t be able to drive it. Rick, can you pull your truck around?” He jerked his head toward me and said, “By the way, did she introduce herself?” He totally ignored my outburst. Good, I wasn’t in the mood to put up with his sarcasm, and apparently, he could tell.

  “Yes, we met, and there’s something you should know.” He looked directly at Cody without glancing first at me. “I took Chloe and Cheri home last night after they ran off the road. I live on this road.”

  Cody’s jaw clenched a few times. My father’s jaw clenched a few times. My jaw clenched, and I stopped breathing. There was lots of clenching going on.

  “What do you mean you brought her home?” Cody asked. He turned to me and said, “I thought you called someone to pick you up.” It wasn’t a question; it was an accusation.

  “Oh, good God! You were telling me the truth when you said you jumped in the truck with the first man that came along.” My father’s eyes were big and bulged.

  “Actually, he wasn’t the first guy to come along. There was another one. Rick was the one to offer, and it isn’t as bad as it sounds,” I said trying to think of an excuse. Again nothing. I got nothing.

  “What? Two men?” Dad and Cody yelled together.

  “If it makes you feel better she yelled at me for offering to drive her home and held her .22 on me the whole time,” Rick said, grinning. “She didn’t put her weapon away even when I told her I was a detective. Although, she did keep the safety on.”

  “Oh, no, she held her gun on you the whole time?” my father asked. He was between horrified and proud.

  “Yes, she did, and I have to tell you it worked. I stayed on my side of the truck the whole time. Of course, we talked a while before I put the truck in gear. I wasn’t leaving until she showed me her permit to carry,” he said laughing.

  Daddy laughed too and said, “That’s my girl.”

  Cody shook his head and looked embarrassed. But he did smile at me, then looked at Rick and said, “Sorry about that. Thanks for coming out here even if it was for Annie Oakley.”

  I took a deep breath and said, “Look. I wasn’t gonna shoot…well, I would’ve shot…I mean, look at it out here. It looks like serial killer alley! There’s nothing out here!” I stared Rick down and then said, “Do you know how much I hate you?” While Cody and my father were looking around for a serial killer, I asked, “Can we get started now?”

  My father’s cell phone rang, and he talked to whoever was on the other end for a few minutes, disconnected and then said, “I just found you a truck.” He winked and smiled.

  Cody and Rick used the truck’s winch to pull L.P.S. out of the ditch. They then pulled the trailer in front of L.P.S., hooked the trailer to the truck and slowly pulled her up onto the flatbed trailer. My poor baby didn’t look like she was hurt much, but even I could see the frame was bent. Rick brought the truck he borrowed back, and Cody dropped me off at my parents with L.P.S. He visited with my mother for a while then he left.

  My father dropped me off at my apartment, and I called Cheri for a ride the next day and to borrow her car to drive to the bank.

  “Mama called me about the accident. Did you really have to tell Uncle David we jumped in the truck of the first man that came along? Damn. She kept calling you a smartass. A smartass! Mama never talks like that. She was really PO’d.”

  “Oh, it gets better. Listen to this. Cody called his new partner to ask if he knew someone with a winch on his truck because he lives in Deville. Guess who his new p
artner is?” I didn’t give her a chance to guess. “You guessed it. Rick, the guy that gave us a ride home. You know…”

   “Wait.” Cheri talked over me. “The guy you held the gun on is Cody’s new partner?” She sounded floored.

  “Yeah, and he told them he gave us a ride home in front of Daddy. If I had my gun with me right then, I would’ve shot him.”

  “Why did he tell them? Didn’t you ask him not to?”

  We were quiet for a few minutes then she asked, “Did you tell your dad not to tell my parents about the drive home?”

  “No, sorry, but you know as well as I do even if I asked him not to tell anyone, this was just too good not to tell. Daddy’s bound to tell his brother.”

  “Yeah. Oh well, see you in the morning.” She paused then added. “On the bright side, this gives them something to talk about other than my pending engagement.”

  “Yeah,” I agreed. “See you in the morning.” This was unreal. At least Cheri was still speaking to me. She was a whiner, but she loved it.

  I hung up then went to my living room to watch TV. I ate so much for lunch I wasn’t hungry for dinner. I went to bed early; I didn’t want Cheri waiting for me to get ready in the morning.

  I didn’t sleep well; I kept dreaming about trucks and strange men picking me up on the side of the road. It could have been worse; at least I had clothes on. I hated naked dreams unless we were all naked. Let’s not go there.

  Cheri picked me up at eight forty-five; we officially open at nine, so we were early since it only takes about five minutes to drive from our apartment complex to our office. Someone walked into the office right behind us. I didn’t pay that much attention. Cheri often had clients come early so I walked directly to my desk.

  I heard Cheri talking to someone then called to me, “Chloe, you have someone here that wants to talk to you.” She smiled as she walked past my door and continued to her office, leaving a middle aged pudgy woman standing by a desk that was just there to take up space because we don’t have a secretary. Cheri would have had to pay her even if we did; she made more money than I did. The woman in question had brown hair streaked with gray and a sweet smile. She had on jeans, a knit collared shirt, and jacket and looked nervous.

  I stretched my hand out to shake hers, smiled and told her my name, “Hi, I’m Chloe Babineaux, how can I help you?”

  She hesitated, and then said softly, “Do you locate missing items?”

  “I try my best. Why don’t you come to my office so we can talk in private?” Our office was located in a strip mall, had only two private offices, a room we used for storage and a bathroom. We were sandwiched between the Mattress Supply Store and a dermatologist; people sometimes came into our office thinking one of the stores had more than one entrance.

  I sat behind my desk, and the woman sat in a wooden chair across from me. The chair wasn’t that comfortable, but that was, so clients didn’t linger, especially if they weren’t happy with the results of my investigation.

  “Now, what needs to be located? And may I ask your name?” I asked smiling friendly. I was hoping not the family jewels that had been missing since the Civil War.

  She took a deep breath and dove straight in. “My name is Petunia Andreneaux.” She stopped right there and stared at me.

  I smiled again and said, “So what’s missing, Mrs. Andreneaux?” I had noticed a wedding ring.

  Petunia looked down at her feet then slowly back at me and mumbled, “A painting. A painting is missing. It’s been in the Foyt family, my mother’s family, for two generations. It’s supposed to be worth a lot of money. If some other family member has it, that’s fine. I don’t want it. I just want to know where it is. No one claims to know anything about it.”

  “Alright.” I wanted to keep direct eye contact so I could keep her focused. “Who do you think had or saw it last.” I had taken out pen and paper to take notes. Did she say two generations? Oh shit.

  “My mother.” She took a deep breath and continued. “I know that sounds crazy, but she won’t tell me anything about it. She says it’s for my own good. I was hoping she would tell you, a stranger about it.” She gave me a weak smile.

  “I can try. Where does your mother live and what is her name?”

  Her eyes widened, and she said slowly, “Sister Bonita Foyt LaBord. She lives in a convent, Our Lady of Hope. Mama became a nun when my father died and took a vow of silence. She can talk on Sundays or write down anything she wants to be said if you go some other day.” She stared at me unblinking for the longest time. “Mama said she didn’t want me to have anything to do with the painting. It’s bad luck.”

  “That sounds kind of crazy coming from a nun doesn’t it?” I asked with a laugh.

  “Yes, but you don’t know my mother,” she answered with a straight mouth. Clearly she doesn’t know my mother. Cody, on the other hand, says he doesn’t need luck, he has talent. Mama thinks I need all the luck I can get.

  I wonder if my mother could take a vow of silence without becoming a nun.

  “I’ll look into it, but I may not be able to start until tomorrow. I’m in the process of buying a truck. I ran off the road Saturday night in that bad rain storm.”

  “That’s fine, Tuesday’s fine,” she said smiling and eager.

  I told her my fees, signed papers and told her not to worry; I’d find the painting. I can BS as well as anybody. I didn’t ask her if it had to be found within a certain time period. This may take a while.

  I walked her to the door then walked back to Cheri’s office to tell her about the painting.

  “So, you have a new client. Think you can find the painting?”

  “Hope so.” I looked at the floor for awhile and then asked if I could borrow her car.

  Cheri cringed as she gave me her keys and said, “This is scary. Look what happened to the last car you had.”

  “You are so funny. Keep this up, and I might call your mother and tell her what you were really doing on our vacay last summer. Except it wasn’t ours, it was yours and Brent’s.”

  “Okay, okay. Don’t get so hostile. Take the keys,” she said, grinning. She must have been thinking about her vacay with boy-toy.

  I smiled and walked out the door. The bank loan application was easier than I thought it would be. I didn’t need a boatload of money, and I had semi-good credit, so it took only a few minutes to get approval. I called my cousin’s house and talked to his wife about the truck. She told me I could come over anytime. I drove back to the office and Cheri drove me to get my new truck.

  Voila! After calling the insurance company, I was back in business. That evening I was able to follow whatshername to see if she was having an affair with Rick. At this point, I was kind of hoping she was. It would serve him right to have his photo taken with his pants down.

  I looked up her name in my notes and saw that her name was Savannah Adamson. Her husband was Greg; I don’t know why I couldn’t remember her name. Savannah worked at the mall and mostly day shifts. She only worked evenings on the weekend. So I parked outside her store and waited. She finally came out at four thirty-five, and I watched her get into her little Mini Cooper. I could run her over with my big-ass truck and never feel it. Compared to my little Ranger this truck Tundra felt big.

  Of course, we hit every light red. Well, a few were yellow, but she stopped anyway. Teenage drivers could really learn a lot from this woman. Thankfully, she did stop, or I would have had to run the red lights. We ended up at a cosmetology school.

  The school was located in a strip mall. I walked in and told the woman in the front I was thinking about taking a class there but wanted to know what time the classes ended. I was told by the red hair frizz that they ended at nine. Perfect. I could come back and follow her around. I wasn’t going there to have my hair colored. Not that I color my hair. These blond highlights are natural.

  I waited a while until I knew Savannah wasn’t sneaking out and then went home to look up the address of Our Lady of
Hope Convent. The convent was located near Shloe, about forty minutes north of Alexandria. I could easily go there tomorrow and talk to Sister Bonita. Tomorrow was Tuesday, so we’d have to do a lot of hand signs or remember to bring paper to write on. This was doable.

  I heated a can of Ravioli for dinner then took off for the cosmetology school. Just in time, whatshername was coming out. I might not remember her name, but I knew what she looked like, blond that’s a little too bright and just a touch overweight. She was actually kind of pretty. Rick could do worse.

  We drove the speed limit all the way to her house. No playing hide the sausage tonight with Rick. I waited around a while then went home and went to bed. I was sort of disappointed. Now I would have to go to her place of employment and buy a watch I didn’t need. I loved watches so, yeah I wanted it, strike up a conversation with her to find out what her day off was. I was pretty sure she worked in the jewelry department. If not, I would hunt her down like the Ace Detective that I am. Man, I hope she worked in the jewelry department.