Maeve's Girls

by Christine Gael

  "We do have a choice," Sasha insisted. "We can call her bluff."

  "I'm with Sasha," Maggie said, shrugging apologetically. "Sorry, but I've seen enough TV to know that blackmailers don't just take their money and walk away. They're like parasites. They won't stop until they drain you dry."

  "Or you kill them," Sasha said flatly. Everyone turned their gazes on her and she held up both hands. "What? I mean the parasites, geez. I'm not a murderer, but I'm not on board with feeding them, either. I think we need to take a hard stance. Draw a line in the sand."

  "And if that fails? If it pushes them to go to the police?" Kate pressed, still staring at Lena.

  "Alistair flat out said that if Maeve is credibly accused by Clyde's family, and the Sheriff's office is compelled to reopen the investigation, there is a good chance we will be on the wrong end of a major civil suit," Lena reminded them. "Worst case, whatever we don't wind up having to hand over to the McFaddens will go to lawyers’ fees. Not to mention what it will do to Maeve's name in this town. You can forget about The Luxe or selling liquor with her name on it."

  And that wasn't even taking into account what dredging all this up would do to Sasha's emotional state and mental well-being. Kate wondered if she'd considered how painful it would be to have to relive all of that in the La Pierre court of public opinion as everyone tried to find out all the gossip.

  "So you think we should just hand them some bags full of money?" Sasha demanded incredulously. "And then we'll just get on with our lives and live happily ever after?" She let out an indelicate snort. "Never gonna happen. Really think about this, guys. If she had actual proof, why go through all of this? Just bring it to the cops and get it the right way. The legal way. I think she's bluffing, and I'll die on that hill if I have to."

  "Well, bully for you, but that doesn't mean we all have to die out there with you," Lena shot back.

  "What about a compromise," Kate said gently, trying to keep the discussion cordial enough to get to a solution before they came to blows. "We give them an agreed upon amount, and let them know that the gravy train has left the station. That's it. No more. If it works, great. No harm, no foul, and we move on with our lives. If it doesn't, we re-evaluate and go for Sasha and Maggie's idea."

  They all seemed to mull that over for a few seconds before Sasha piped up again. "Could be we're doubly screwing ourselves, then. We have to pay them cash and we still run the risk of them reopening the investigation and suing us."

  "And I say ten grand or so is a bargain price to pay if there is even a ten percent chance they cash in their chips and go home after they get it. If Serina is as broke as I'm guessing, based on how she looked when Maggie saw her, and Jeb the lackey's appearance, ten grand would be a lot of money to her," Lena said.

  Maggie nodded slowly. "Okay. Okay, I can get on board with that. But we've got to agree right now. It's one payment, one time, and no more. I can't imagine what they could possibly have, as far as proof, all these years later that would hold up in court that they haven't mentioned until now."

  "That's the problem," Kate said, leaning her chin against her fist. "It doesn't have to hold up in court. It just needs to cause a commotion and get the case reopened to hurt us." She turned her attention to Sasha. "Are you good with this?"

  Sasha huffed out a sigh and rolled her eyes. "No. What I'd be good with is dragging this woman out of the house by her hair and giving her a Louisiana beat down for putting us through all this. But I'll go along to get along."

  Kate went weak with relief. It might be a short-term fix, but it would at least buy them some time to consider more options and, right now, that was a win.

  "I'll go to the bank today and get the money. The estate can pay me back when it's all settled," Lena said, rising to her feet with a tight smile. "Now, what does one wear to pay a blackmailer, I wonder?"

  When Lena pulled into the park entrance two hours later, Kate was wishing she'd rethought her outfit, as well. She'd gone with a lightweight blouse and jeans, but she was sweating so hard, it was a wonder she hadn't passed out from dehydration.

  "Maybe I should've let Sasha come with me after all," Lena said, shooting Kate a glance. "You're sweating like Maeve at bible study."

  "I have nervous armpits, what do you want from me?" Kate demanded. "It's not like I have a whole lot of practice at this, you know. And regardless of how sweaty I am, it's still better than if Sasha gets pissed off and winds up assaulting the woman and compounding our troubles."

  When they'd decided how to handle the meeting, they'd also decided it would be better if two of them went and two of them stayed behind as a precaution. If they didn't hear from Kate and Lena in the next fifteen minutes, either by text or by phone with an update, they would make a call to the police. They weren't expecting that kind of trouble, but better safe than sorry.

  To her younger sister's credit, she'd handled her position on the B squad with grace, admitting that assault was a distinct possibility if she was within arm's length of Serina.

  Lena inclined her head in agreement. "She's a menace when she's angry. Which is why you're here and not her, Sweaty McGillicutty."

  Kate glared at Lena and shook her head. "All this time, you're about as funny as a heart attack, and now that we're staring into the gaping maw of danger, you're Don Rickles."

  She knew what her sister was trying to do, though. And lo and behold, as they approached the center of the park where the gazebo was located, Kate realized it had sort of worked. She wasn't calm, exactly, but the panicky feeling that had been building since they'd left home had lessened some, at least.

  It wasn't like this was life or death. At this point, it was a simple negotiation. They'd either wind up on the winning side or the losing side. It was what happened after this that had the potential to be truly scary.

  "There's a car there, but not the Pinto," Lena observed, jerking her chin toward the ancient Corolla idling in the parking lot twenty yards from the gazebo.

  Lena pulled in a few spaces down from the car and shifted into park. She glanced over at the other car and visibly blanched.

  "What's the matter?" Kate demanded, craning her head to see, as well. The sun was near set, but the overhead lighting in the parking lot meant they could make out the silhouette and general features of the person in the driver's seat—a man who Kate didn't recognize.

  "You know him?" she asked, clutching the purse on her lap a little tighter.

  She hadn't told Lena, but Sasha had shoved Maeve's old revolver in there before they had left, telling Kate she wouldn't agree to let them go without her if she didn't take it. As much as she hated guns herself, she was glad for the minimal sense of security it gave her now.

  "No, I've never met him before," Lena said, turning off the ignition as she turned her attention to the gazebo. "Looks like Serina is already there waiting. He's probably just here for security. Come on."

  They both stepped out of the car and slammed the doors behind them. Kate's legs felt like jelly as she fell into step beside Lena through the stubby park grass.

  "If it isn't my beloved step-sisters. How have y'all been?" Serina called from the gazebo.

  She was seated on one of the benches, dressed in a pair of cut off shorts and a threadbare tank top, a cigarette perched between her fingers.

  Kate couldn't say she'd have recognized her in this light, but then she smiled and her blood ran cold.

  That smile was all Clyde.

  "Serina," Lena drawled, cool as mint julep at a garden party. She walked carefully up the steps and took a seat across from Serina, leaving Kate to follow suit.

  "Don't you look just like your mama," Serina marveled, giving Lena the once over before turning to Kate. "You, not so much. You always were a plain one."

  Kate bit back a kneejerk retort as Lena cut in smoothly. "As nice as this has been, we're not here to catch up, Serina. We're here to determine what it is that you want from us."

  They'd decided early that evening not
to discuss money until the topic was broached. Maeve had always said, "Only fools negotiate with themselves." Better to let Serina lead the conversation and verbalize her demands, in the hopes of getting her talking about what information she had in the process, if any.

  Serina took her time answering, pausing to take one last drag of her cigarette before flicking it into the grass. "You know what I want, Lena?" she said, saying the name like it was a taunt. "I want to go back in time thirty-five years or so and make it so that your mama didn't kill my daddy."

  She almost spat the words and Kate drew back in surprise. For some reason, she'd convinced herself this was a straight shakedown. Serina sensing an opportunity and taking advantage of it.

  Now, though, she had to wonder...

  "Clyde was a tree-top father on his best day," Lena shot back. "We saw you for two summers and the rest of the time it was like you didn't exist. Besides, what makes you think Maeve had anything to do with his death?"

  "You're here, ain't you? Seems like, if you didn't know it, too, you'd have just ignored me," Serina said, her dark eyes glittering as she leaned forward. "And good daddy or bad daddy, he still used to take care of us. Once he was gone, we lost our house, I had to change schools, my mama had to work three jobs. All while you sat up in that fancy new house y'all bought with the blood money you got from his death. It's a wonder you can sleep at night."

  Kate's throat stuck together as she tried to swallow. Surely, these were the ramblings of a druggy and an opportunist. But the longer Serina talked, the less crazy she seemed and, while her nephew had the teeth and skin of a meth head, Serina looked completely normal. Ragged and bone-weary, like she'd lived a hard life, but not like a drug addict. Could what she was saying be true?

  "Why now?" Lena demanded. "After all these years? If you thought Maeve had something to do with his death, why didn't your mother pursue it then?"

  Serina's gaze flicked away as her toe tapped restlessly against the wood floor of the gazebo.

  "Honestly? Partly for fear of Maeve. She had a lot of connections with a lot of bad people back in the day. Mama said it didn't seem worth it to cross her. And partly because, deep down, I think she felt like he probably needed killing." She let the bold statement stand for a moment before continuing. "But she's dead now, too. Passed last year from emphysema. Now it's just me, my half-brother, and his son. All of us, dead broke, while all 'y'all are still living high on the hog. Hell, even that crazy bitch Sasha is doing better than me. Although, maybe if I screwed every guy in town, I could be doing a little better myself..."

  A surge of anger shot through Kate and she felt Lena's knee press against hers in warning.

  "Be that all as it may, aside from speculation, what proof do you have that Maeve killed Clyde?" Lena asked.

  "I’m sure you’d like to know. But that's gonna cost you," Serina said, crossing her legs at the ankles as she kicked back like she didn't have a care in the world.

  "How much?"

  "That's the question, isn't it? A hundred thousand? Two? How much is enough to repay me and my family for what you took from us? Everything would've been different. Instead of going to a decent school, I wound up going to some dump where half the girls were pregnant at sixteen and the rest were on drugs. The success stories? The ones who got out and," she clawed the air with her fingers in air quotes, "made something of theirselves worked at the bank as tellers. What's the price on that, Kate? Poked around the internet some, and turns out you're a nurse living in the burbs, Maggie has her own company doing something I didn't even know was a job, and Lena is a doctor. Twice, cuz once ain’t enough, I guess?" Her laugh was harsh and bitter. "So yeah, maybe Sasha fell through the cracks, but even there...well, she didn't have to be a whore. She chose to."

  Lena was on her feet, closing the distance between herself and Serina before Kate could stop her.

  She dropped the paper bag on the floor between them and leaned in close, forcing Serina to sit up and crane her neck back.

  "Ten thousand dollars,” she snarled. “Take it, leave La Pierre, and never come back. Because if you ever threaten me or any of my sisters again, you're gonna wind up just like your daddy. Only this time, nobody will find the body, because it’ll be in the bayou for the gators to handle.”

  Kate stood and reached for her sister’s wrist, unsurprised to find she was shaking with barely repressed fury. “Come on, Lena, let’s get out of here.”

  Lena yanked her arm away and swept down the steps of the gazebo with the bearing of a queen. Kate followed, blowing out a pent up breath.

  “Ten grand don’t even scratch the surface, you uppity bitch,” Serina called after them, finally finding her voice and her courage. “This ain’t over.”

  They didn’t slow their pace, and they didn’t respond. When they climbed into the car a few moments later, Kate turned to find the occupant of the other vehicle stepping out and heading toward the gazebo.

  “Well, I don’t recall that being in the script,” Kate said, buckling her seatbelt. She should probably be irritated that Lena had gone rogue and threatened murder, but there was some sort of savage satisfaction in watching Serina’s bravado melt away. At the end of the day, Clyde McFadden had raped their baby sister. His death was nobody’s fault but his own, as far as she was concerned. It was a real shame his daughter had a tough time after that.

  But life was hard for a lot of people, and they didn’t resort to terrorizing people and trying to blackmail them.

  Lena thrust the keys into the ignition and paused, pressing two fingers to her temple. “Can we maybe keep that last part between us? I’ll never hear the end of it if Sasha finds out.”

  “Roger that,” Kate replied. It wasn’t the first secret between them and it wouldn’t be the last.

  Lena backed the car out of the space and started toward home, clearly emotional and in no mood to talk.

  Kate didn’t blame her. They’d failed on all fronts, and now, they were right back where they started, only ten grand in the hole. There was no question Serina meant what she said. The wounds there clearly ran deep, and if she did have some evidence compelling enough to get Clyde’s case reopened?

  This wasn’t over, and ten grand would be the least of their worries.

  Lena

  "This was taken the night of the grand reopening of The Luxe. Your mama was so proud, she was ready to burst!" The soft smile on Harry's face had Lena looking away. She was in no mood to reminisce right now, but they’d already changed their lunch with Harry once, and she didn’t feel right doing it again. Sleep had been hard to come by after their disastrous meeting with Serina, and she'd spent most of the morning wracking her brain to figure out what to do next when Kate had reminded her they'd rescheduled for today.

  He was lovely, as always, but she was short on both time and patience, and pretending to be interested in old photos was more than she could manage at the moment.

  He'd been there since noon and showed no indication of being ready to leave any time soon.

  "I'm so sorry, but I just remembered I have to phone into a conference call at work. Will you all excuse me?"

  Lena stood and managed a smile in Harry's direction. He looked disappointed but masked it quickly with an understanding smile. "Of course, work comes first, my dear. I didn't get a chance to show you the ones I have of you and your mother on your eighth birthday. She really went all out. Balloons by the hundreds and a towering chocolate cake big enough to feed an army. Anyway, I'll leave them here so you can go through them at your leisure."

  She nodded and exited the room, feeling Sasha's disapproving gaze behind her. Too bad. She had enough to worry about without being concerned about whether her sister was annoyed with her right now.

  She'd just sat down and logged on to her computer when her cell phone rang. She looked down and saw it was Joe.

  Briefly, she considered answering. She'd had a lovely time with him two nights ago at the fair...and afterward, but with every day that passed,
it became more and more obvious that it could never really work between them. Not with the way things were. Not just because she lived thousands of miles away. But there were too many lies and secrets between them to ever have something real.

  And all of them were hers.

  She set the phone down and let it go to voicemail. She was still staring at it when the flag came up thirty seconds later.

  Just because she couldn't talk to him didn't mean she couldn't hear his voice...

  She pressed the button and held the phone to her ear.

  "Hi, Lena. This is Sheriff Fletcher. Give me a call back at your earliest convenience. I need to speak with you. Thanks."

  Lena's stomach did a roll and she held her finger over the delete button but didn't press it, instead listening to it a second time.

  Sheriff Fletcher...not Joe.

  That couldn't be good.

  She swallowed hard and pressed the call back button, clearing her throat as she did.

  "Fletcher."

  His tone was all business and she responded in kind, settling on a polite but stiff, "Hello, Sheriff. Sorry I missed your call. What can I do for you?"

  There was a long pause and then a sigh. "Hold on a moment, please." The sound of footsteps and a door closing came through the receiver, and then he was back on the line.

  "Lena?"

  "Yes?" she asked, her pulse racing now.

  "Look, I shouldn't even be talking to you about this beforehand, but I'm going to need you to come into the station so I can ask you a few questions."

  The blood drained from her head to her feet and she swayed in her seat, suddenly breathless.

  "Lena?"

  "Y-yes. Okay, all right. What is this pertaining to, Joe?" Seemed like the type of question a person would ask in this situation, although she already suspected she knew the answer.

  "Serina McFadden came to see me this morning. If you can come in now so we can get this over with, that would be good."