Chloe Babineaux Private Investigator

by Lisa Clancey

  Chapter Six

  I ate lunch, hugged them both, and then drove to the Rapides Parish Sheriff’s Department. It was built right outside the Alexandria city limits about eight years ago, so it didn’t have the run-down feeling yet. I showed my ID at the deputy at the front, limped upstairs to the detective’s unit and went directly to Cody’s desk.

  “Hey, little brother.” I smiled and pulled a chair over to his desk. There was always an empty chair somewhere. The people that had to come for that, ‘When you get the chance come for a chat,’ had to sit somewhere.

  “Why are you limping?” Cody asked.

  “I jumped from a tree,” I said with a straight face.

  “Do I want to know?”

  “No,” I said shaking my head.

  Rick was leaning against Cody’s desk with his arms crossed, grinning. “Don’t ask her about the tree thing. Sometimes it’s best not to know,” Cody said glancing up at his partner. Rick’s grinned broadened; he really wanted to ask about the tree thing.

   “Anyway, we’re twins, and she was born first. When we were kids, it used to bother me when she called me little brother. We turned ten, I grew taller, and it stopped bothering me.”

  I shrugged and said, “Yeah, hard to believe at one time I was taller. But he was still prettier.” I grinned.

  “I still am.” He grinned back.

  “Not where I’m standing,” Rick said, eying me from top to bottom and smiling a sexy crooked grin. I wanted to squirm. He just checked me out.

  “Whoa. You know she’s his sister right?” A deep bass voice said from behind me. I turned and looked up into a smiling, Lt. Anders. His face was very tanned because he liked to be outdoors, jogging, golfing, tennis, or fishing; as long as he was outdoors, he was happy. His hair was turning gray, but it suited him and made him look authoritative. Yeah, like he really needed that to make him look authoritative. The man was average height and weight, but his attitude spoke volumes.

  I didn’t know what to think. Did Rick just say I was pretty? Okay, he said prettier than Cody. No big deal.

  Cody looked at Rick, narrowed his eyes and said, “She’s the one that held her .22 on you. You do remember that, right?”

  “What? What is this about a .22?” Lt. Anders asked wide-eyed.

  “Long story, Lieutenant,” I said, narrowing my eyes at Cody and talking through clenched teeth. “He’ll have to tell you later.”

  Lt Anders pulled up a chair from another desk and said, “No, this is too good not to hear now. Why did our sweet Chloe hold her.22 on you? And why didn’t you tell me about this before?” The grin on his face was huge; I thought I was going to be blinded by all those white teeth.

  Cody started laughing and said, “Sweet Chloe ran off the road near Rick’s house, and when he offered her a ride home she pulled her .22 on him.”

  Lt. Anders looked at me with narrowed eyes and asked, “Why were you near his house? He lives out in the middle of nowhere.”

  “That’s what I want to know,” Rick said with a crooked smile.

  I glared at all three of them and said, “I told you. Cheri and I were looking for a friend’s house and took the wrong road. And in my defense, it was dark, raining hard and so cold my brain froze up. He lives on serial killer alley.” I swung my arm toward Rick. “He could have been a serial killer for all we knew. We also didn’t know he was Jackass’ new partner.” By the time I had finished my sentence I was almost yelling and swinging my arms around.

  All three were laughing hard now. I not only entertain Cheri, I entertain all the people in my life. I either need new friends or a new line of work. Oh, hell finding new friends and a new line of work took too much effort. Besides, that would mean I would have to grow up and figure out what I wanted to do.

  “I don’t know whether I should be shocked or proud of you?” Lt. Anders said, breathing hard trying to regain his composure.

  “Forget it,” I said as I stood up looking hard at Cody. “I only came by for you to take a look at this list. I wanted you to tell me if you recognized any of them.” I shook my head and added, “I’m leaving.”

  “Wait, don’t go yet. Let me look at it,” Cody said taking the list from my hand while still giggling.

  “Have you eaten yet?” Rick asked also grinning.

  “Yes, I ate with my grandfather and my aunt. And you could’ve told them I had the gun on safety and pointing at the floor, not at you. You could’ve also told me you were Cody’s partner,” I said, glaring at him with hard, narrowed eyes.

  “Yes, I should have. I’m sorry, but in my defense, I didn’t know you were Cody’s sister. You were some woman holding me at gunpoint,” he said smiling a little less broadly.

  “You ate with Pops and Aunt Mavis? Did she ask you to ask a man what he thought of her?” Cody asked cutting in and changing the subject. “She’s seventy-five and has a very active uh…life,” he explained to the other two. Saying sex and Aunt Mavis in the same sentence takes a lot of stamina. She’s still pretty and has a nice shape, but she’s our father’s aunt, for crissakes.

  “No. But she did ask me if I could tell if a man that was leering at her was taking a little blue pill,” I answered, pulling my eyes away from Rick. I don’t even know him and he’s already aggravating me.

  “Oh, God,” Cody said shaking his head and laughing. “What did Pops say to that?”

  “He told her to stop talking about sex in front of me. I thought he was going to have a conniption when she asked me if I was a virgin,” I said rolling my eyes. “I told her I would rather talk about her sex life. I mean, the woman has more…let’s not go there.” I shook my head and rolled my eyes.

  Cody also rolled his eyes and handed the list back. “No one pops out at me, but if you need help Rick might help you if you hold a gun on him,” he said laughing again.

  Rick laughed and said, “You won’t even have to hold a gun on me.”

  “No thanks,” I said with a cocked head and a tight mouth, “I got this. I’m going to pawn shops. A crazed dog and a shotgun-totin’ idiot are enough for one day. Besides I have another job, I have to finish.”

  “Shotgun-totin’…come back here!” All three laughing hyenas were yelling at me to come back, but I kept my back turned and waved goodbye. I bet they’re glad I had my .22 now.