by Jana DeLeon
“I’ll worry about that tomorrow. The key?”
Jasper struggled with his crutches and rose from the car, completely ignoring Alex’s offer of help. He dug the key out of his pocket, then limped up the sidewalk and handed it to Holt. Alex said a silent prayer that Erika was inside and alive and that Lorraine was at a long dinner at her country club or a beauty trip to New Orleans as Holt slid the key into the lock and opened the door.
“Where’s the entry to the basement?” Holt asked.
“The kitchen,” Jasper said, and pointed right to a hallway.
“Alex,” Holt directed, “follow behind him to make sure he stays with us.”
Alex nodded and fell in step behind Jasper, who shot daggers into Holt’s back as he hurried down the hallway to the kitchen. The door to the basement was already open by the time Jasper and Alex reached the kitchen.
“You should get off that leg,” she said, and pointed to the breakfast table.
She walked over to the basement door and looked down, but the basement took a sharp turn at the bottom of the stairs, so all she could see was the stairwell.
“Holt!” she yelled down the stairs. “Did you find anything?”
She waited a couple of seconds, but when she didn’t get a response, she started to panic. What if Rommel wasn’t the only criminal on Lorraine’s payroll? It was something they hadn’t even paused to consider, but the reality was Holt could have walked right into a trap.
“Holt!” she yelled again, then glanced back at Jasper, who was sitting at the breakfast table not even trying to mask his aggravation.
“I’m all right,” Holt called out.
A wave of relief passed over her, then Holt appeared at the bottom of the stairs. When Alex saw Erika in his arms, clutching his neck and crying softly, she almost fell to the floor in relief. Holt carefully worked his way up the narrow stairwell, carrying his precious cargo as he finally stepped into the kitchen.
Jasper’s jaw dropped and he stared at Erika in disbelief.
“Erika!” Alex cried, and the little girl immediately reached for her. Alex wrapped her arms around her and squeezed her tightly, not wanting to let go.
Finally, she sat the girl in a chair at the breakfast table and looked her over. “Are you hurt anywhere?”
“No,” Erika said, still a little overwhelmed and weepy. “But I want Mommy.”
Alex hugged her again. “Of course you do, honey. We’re going to take you to Mommy in just a few minutes.”
Alex looked up at Holt, who was studying Jasper.
“Do you have any idea where Lorraine is?”
Jasper shook his head, but it was clear that all the fight had gone out of him. “I don’t understand…”
“She gave me a sandwich,” Erika said.
“How long ago?” Alex asked.
Erika shrugged. “Not very long.”
Holt opened the door to the garage and said, “Her car’s still here. She may be hiding in the house.”
“Where’s her bedroom?” Alex asked.
“Upstairs and to the right. The first room on the left.” Jasper struggled to rise from the chair and Holt helped him steady himself. He grabbed his crutches and headed for the staircase.
Alex extended her hand to Erika. “I want you to walk close behind me. Okay?”
Erika shook her head. “I don’t want to see the bad woman again.”
“I know, but we need to find the bad woman so the police can lock her up. That way she can’t hurt you again.”
Erika didn’t look completely convinced, but she trusted Alex enough to believe she was safe. She put her hand in Alex’s and followed her up the stairs.
As they stepped onto the landing of the second floor, Holt stepped out of the bedroom and shook his head. “She must have seen us pulling up.” He picked up Erika. “The bad woman won’t be able to hurt you again.”
Alex sucked in a breath and stepped into the bedroom. Lorraine lay in her bed as if posed. Alex knew immediately that she was dead. Jasper was on his knees in front of the bed, sobbing softly.
“Why?” he asked. “What was the point of all this?”
Alex squeezed Jasper’s shoulder as she placed her fingers on Lorraine’s neck. Her body wasn’t cold, but there was no sign of a pulse. An empty pill bottle stood on the nightstand, a piece of folded paper underneath it.
Even though Alex knew she should wait for the police, she removed the letter from under the bottle and unfolded it.
Jasper,
If you’re reading this, then everything went wrong, and I took the coward’s way out. I want you to know that I never meant to hurt you with my actions. You are the one light in my life and I would do anything to protect you. But I could not live with your father’s constant betrayals.
They were all his—the girls that disappeared years ago. While I struggled to get pregnant and suffered through miscarriages, every whore he lay down with seemed to get pregnant immediately. They all looked just like his mother when she was young. That’s how I knew they were his children.
Sarah was his, too, but by the time she was born, I had you. I thought your father would change after you were born and for a long time he did. So Sarah was spared.
I couldn’t believe my luck when a young, virile man like Martin showed an interest in me all those years ago. I should have known it wasn’t love, but like a fool, I believed him. When I found out he was cheating on me, I couldn’t handle it. It was as if I’d been transported thirty-six years into the past. Then I saw Sarah’s daughter for the first time since she was a baby. She looked exactly like the other girls. I could see your father’s face in hers. And I couldn’t live with that.
I’m sorry I hurt you. I’m sorry I didn’t choose a better father. I’ll love you always,
Lorraine
SARAH WAS STANDING at the curb when Holt and Alex pulled up to her house. The car had barely stopped before Erika burst out of the backseat and ran into her mother’s arms. Sarah sank to the ground, arms wrapped around her daughter, giant tears of happiness running down her cheeks.
She looked up at Alex and Holt. “Thank you.”
Alex smiled at Holt, overwhelmed with relief and happiness. “It’s been quite a day.”
“Ha. Yeah, that’s one way of putting it. At least this day had a happy ending.”
“Not for Jasper.”
Holt sobered. “No. I still haven’t processed it all. I can’t imagine what he’s going to be dealing with.”
“I guess we need to head to the sheriff’s department and give our statements to the state police.”
“We have a few minutes before they come looking for us, and I have some things I need to say to you.”
“Okay.” Alex felt her pulse increase, wondering what Holt was about to say.
“I was wrong. I left here believing that I couldn’t be the kind of man you needed because I was destined to be just like my father and my grandfather. I never wanted you to hurt the way my mother did, and I couldn’t bear the thought of having kids and having them grow up as confused as I did.”
“Holt, we all make our own decisions about how we live our lives as adults. There is no part of your DNA that controls free will. You can be any man you choose to be.”
“I know that now.” He reached for her hand and held it gently in his. “I love you, Alex. Have always loved you. I choose to be with you…if you’ll have me.”
Alex choked back a cry. It was everything she’d ever wanted to hear from him and now that it was happening, she was too overwhelmed to fully comprehend it.
“I understand if you don’t want a relationship,” Holt continued. “I’ve had no good example of what a marriage should be. I’ve made bad decisions and run from my problems. I can only promise you that I won’t run again
. I may make a mess of things, but I’ll stand here right in the thick of it with you.”
“You fool. Of course I want you. I think I’ve wanted you my entire life.”
She threw her arms around him and pressed her lips against his. He wrapped his arms around her and lifted her completely off the ground. Alex threw her head back and laughed, amazed at how alive she felt after all the tragedy they’d been through the past week.
Holt lowered her back to the ground and she heard Sarah clear her throat. She looked over to see her cousin and Erika grinning from ear to ear. Before she could even speak, Sarah and Erika tackled them with a bear hug. Alex and Holt each wrapped an arm around Sarah and Erika.
Family.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Alex hung up the phone and leaned back on the couch in Holt’s cabin.
“What did your boss say?” Holt asked, as he took a seat beside her.
“She completely understood my reasons for needing a leave of absence. I want to spend some time with Sarah and Erika and make sure they’re okay. I would have worked with Jasper, too, if he’d let me.”
Holt sighed. “Jasper’s gone. He resigned from the sheriff’s position and left the state.”
“I know. He came by Sarah’s on his way out of town to apologize for treating her badly. We know now he’d gotten all that venom from his mother, but now that he knows the real reason for it, he’s feeling pretty bad.”
“What did Sarah say?”
“She cried, and hugged him, and told him everything was all right. You know Sarah.”
“How’s Mathilde doing?”
“She’s doing well. I really appreciate you having the deputy take me out to the island today. Her hand is healing nicely and she is so tickled that we found Erika.”
“And that her name is finally cleared of all wrongdoing?”
“I suppose, although she seemed to take that news with less interest. I guess she hasn’t worried about what others think for so long that all it really means to her is that maybe people won’t come poking around her island anymore.”
Holt nodded. “Her peace has been way too long in coming.”
“What about you—did you find out anything else about Rommel today when you were in New Orleans?”
“Oh, yeah. The crime scene unit lifted his prints from Lorraine’s house, but they don’t come up in the system. They also took some hair and ran DNA matching, and then something interesting happened. The trace came back negative in the national database, but about an hour after we ran it, the FBI called the New Orleans Police Department and started asking questions.”
“Really?” Alex sat straight up on the couch. “So what do you think is going on?”
“My best guess is that whoever Rommel was before was classified. Maybe military, maybe CIA. He must have been flying below their radar a lot of years.”
“What did the FBI say?”
“Not much at all. Everything is classified, so we’re not likely to get much out of them. They didn’t seem all that sad to hear he was dead, though. Likely, he went rogue years ago and they’ve kept the feelers out but didn’t want to sound an alert. From their point of view, his death is a closed file on a potential threat.”
“You think he was a professional…an assassin, I mean?”
“It wouldn’t surprise me.”
“Wow. I guess that makes sense, but it seems so strange. I mean, why choose Vodoun?”
“I think he saw a chance to hook up with a rich, foolish woman who wouldn’t ask too many questions. The feds are going over the financials at the restaurant, and he was laundering a fair amount of money through there—upwards of a million a year.”
“Laundering from what?”
Holt shook his head. “Drugs, maybe. Rommel said Erika was to be sold to a Russian family. I don’t like to think about the money involved in the trafficking of little girls, but it’s possible some money came from that. You can bet they’re trying to find it. What about you? Did your assistance help the FBI when they searched Lorraine’s home?”
“I guess. I mean, given that I knew her personally, I was able to create a better profile of her mental decline than a stranger would have.”
She sighed. “We found more of the dolls in a storage bin in the basement. I can only assume she bought them years ago to implicate Mathilde and kept them. At least now we know where the dolls came from. Erika finally admitted that she’d seen the doll outside her bedroom one night and crawled out the window to get it.”
“A logical explanation.” He smiled. “How about that?”
“Yes, but still no logical explanation for the crows, or how Mathilde’s reading was right, and definitely no logical explanation for Grand attacking Rommel.”
“Are you kidding? Grand’s attack on Rommel is the only thing that does make sense.”
“Mathilde claims she’s never seen Grand on that side of the island. She claims the spirits summoned him there to intercede on our behalf. That’s why she threw the necklace when she did.”
Holt stared at Alex. “And you believe her?”
Alex shrugged. “Why not? And besides, what does it matter why it happened when the outcome is the same. Still, I won’t be so limiting with my point of view in the future. I still think there are more things unexplained in this world than explained, and a large share of them are in Mystere Parish.”
“Yeah, you know, this entire situation got me to thinking.”
“About what?”
“If you hadn’t believed that Sarah was telling the truth and that there was no way Bobby could have taken Erika, this investigation wouldn’t have happened. It was your assessment of their credibility that made me go along in the beginning, despite Jasper’s objection.”
“Maybe, but I think you would have gotten around to that way of thinking eventually.”
“But what if it was too late once I did? Have you ever wondered how many people have been in situations like this—where they know something bad has happened, but there’s no evidence for the police to go on to create a case? Meanwhile, the clock is ticking.”
Alex frowned. “I guess it happens more often than I’d care to think about.”
“Exactly, so I was thinking that I finally found a use for my inheritance. I want to open up a detective agency that specializes in cases where the police don’t have the evidence to determine a crime has been committed.”
“Oh! Holt, that’s a great idea.”
“And I want you to make that leave of absence permanent and be my partner.”
“Me? I’m not qualified to investigate. This entire mess with Erika darn near gave me heart failure.”
“I don’t know. A little more training with Ms. Maude and you’d probably be chomping at the bit, but that’s not what I had in mind. I was thinking you’d be perfect to assess the credibility of the clients and suspects. If you’re interested, that is.”
Alex stared at Holt, his idea rolling around in her mind, and the longer she thought about it, the more she liked it. After all, she’d gone into medicine to help people. This way, she’d be helping people who were out of options, but still using her medical training to do so.
“I think it sounds wonderful, and of course I want to do it.” She leaned over and kissed him.
“I already have our first two cases.”
“Really?”
“First, I’d like to try and find the girls who were kidnapped thirty-six years ago. Rommel said Erika was to be sold to a Russian family. If
something similar happened to the other girls, we may be able to find them. It’s a paper-thin chance, but I have to try.”
Alex nodded. “And the second case?”
“My father’s murder. Right before Grand dragged Rommel into the bayou, his shirt sleeve came up all the way. He had the eye tattoo on his biceps. Whatever he was doing in Vodoun, Rommel wasn’t doing it alone.”
Alex placed her hand in Holt’s and squeezed. “Let’s get started.”
* * * * *
Deputy Tanner Dempsey has been trying to keep his PTSD from returning. But three years after the incident that caused it, he and his new girlfriend, Bree Daniels, have to confront the truth when the prisoners he put away are mysteriously killed and someone makes them the next target.
Read on for a sneak peek of SECURITY RISK by Janie Crouch.
CHAPTER ONE
The noose around his throat slowly strangled Tanner until gray blurred the edges of his vision. At the very last moment before he lost consciousness, he forced his weight onto his legs, providing blessed air. He knew the relief was short-lived. One leg was broken, the other almost useless after the hours of trying to support his weight on just his toes on the stool where he balanced precariously.
“Tell us who the cop is, and this can all end.”
Tanner could barely see through his swollen eyes. “I already told you.” The words were garbled whispers—blows to the face and the trauma to his throat had insured that. “I’m the cop.”
Someone pushed his leg out from under him, causing the rope to tighten around his neck once again, his hands tied behind his back rendering them useless. Airflow immediately ceased, although he didn’t jerk or move unnecessarily. He’d learned after the first hour that flailing didn’t accomplish anything but using up more energy and oxygen.
He had a limited supply of both.
“Which one of them is the cop? We know you were communicating with one of them.”
The voice was referring to the two men also tied up with Tanner, but sitting in chairs, one barely twenty-one years old. Tanner couldn’t see them. Couldn’t hear them. Could only try to survive this moment.
