by Jana DeLeon
"You have to promise to never tell Dorie that I said anything about this to you."
Richard nodded. "'That's one promise I'm definitely interested in keeping."
Apparently satisfied, Jenny leaned against the counter and lowered her voice. "Now, what I'm gonna tell you is all hearsay, 'cause I wasn't even born when the sheriff brought Dorie home, but I've heard my momma and my aunts talk through the years."
He nodded and motioned for her to continue.
"Momma says it all happened so fast. The sheriff was gone from Gator Bait for a couple of days. Back then, one of Buster's cousins was the deputy, and the sheriff left him in charge. 'Course everyone knew that Buster actually called the shots when the sheriff was gone, but they were all polite and everything to the deputy anyway. Momma says the first anyone knew of Dorie was when the sheriff called Buster's wife to come over and help him with learning to prepare a bottle and diaper. Well, you could have knocked everyone over with a feather. Why, the sheriff didn't even have a special lady friend as far as folks in Gator Bait knew, much less someone serious enough to have a child with."
She stopped for a moment, in obvious thought, then continued. "Momma says when the ladies of Gator Bait heard about Dorie and the sheriff, they all pitched right in. Took turns watching her while the sheriff worked and each of them spent time with the sheriff in the evenings and on weekends teaching him how to take care of a baby. Momma says it beat all she had ever seen. There was the sheriff, so strong and gruff and such a confirmed bachelor, and you only had to look at him when he was holding that baby, and you could tell he was in love. Momma says it was the sweetest thing she'd ever seen."
Richard smiled, thinking of the sheriff with Dorie as a baby. "But no one ever asked about Dorie's mother?"
Jenny shook her head. "Not really. Folks around here might seem a little off to someone like you being from a big city and all, but when it comes to certain things, we mind our own business. That's just good manners. I guess everyone figured that if the sheriff had wanted them to know the situation, he would have told them. Momma and the other women always figured it was a one-night stand sort of deal. Someone who didn't want the inconvenience of a baby. They figured whoever she was just signed Dorie over and disappeared."
"So no one knows who Dorie's mother is," he said and considered this for a moment. "I wonder if Dorie does."
"No way. I remember her catching flack at school one time over not having a mother. One of the Miller twins was ribbing on her pretty bad. Dorie got in a good left hook and he stopped his talking, but I came across her on my walk home from school. I used to cut across the marsh even though Momma told me not to, and there she was, sitting up against a clump of brush, crying her eyes out. Now, I really didn't know her, mind you. I'm a couple of years younger and at that age, a couple of years is a lot."
Jenny took a deep breath and swallowed. "I stopped in front of her and told her that if she needed a friend, I'd be proud to be one. I remember her looking up at me and I thought for a moment that she might just stomp me right there in the marsh. But instead, she smiled and stretched out her hand. We shook on it, and ever since then, there is little or nothing that I wouldn't do for Dorie Berenger. Or her for me. You know she cosigned on the loan for me to open this place? Without her help, I couldn't have done it." She brushed one hand across her cheek, catching a teardrop.
"Dorie only said something that one time to me about her mother. She said that she didn't really understand why anyone cared who her mother was, because she didn't care at all. She said any woman that ran out on her baby was no use to anyone. I think that's why she gets so worked up over the animals that way. You know, like the baby gators the other day."
Richard nodded, completely confused. Jenny's story didn't line up at all with his thoughts on Dorie's parentage, but one look at Jenny's face, and he knew that she was speaking the absolute truth, at least as far as she knew it. Was the person she described really capable of joining up with the likes of Shawn Roland? Even if they were somehow related? Everything inside of him felt it couldn't be true, but there was one person left to speak to before he could put that thought to rest, even if it put Roland on notice.
He put one hand on top of Jenny's and smiled. "I appreciate what you've told me. And I want you to know that you did nothing to hurt Dorie at all. Everything you've told me only makes my opinion of her better."
Jenny sniffed and nodded. "Thanks. I appreciate that. I hate to think I was breaking a confidence, but I don't know where you're going with all this. I guess maybe if it all works out then you can tell me. Or maybe not. I just know that I want this guy out of Gator Bait. And I want Dorie back in the cafe griping about everything and Joe too scared to speak to me."
She looked directly at him. "What I'm trying to say is I want my life back. And if talking to you helps things along then I'm willing to do it."
He nodded in understanding. "You've helped me make up my mind on a very important issue, Jenny, and for that, I'm in your debt. I want nothing more than for your town to get back to normal." He rose from the counter and started toward the door, certain that the next conversation he needed to have was with Sheriff Berenger.
Joe dropped his cup of coffee to the table with a bang, and narrowly missed sloshing his hand. "I don't believe it," he said.
Dorie sighed and set her coffee mug on the table, the hot liquid doing nothing to calm her nerves. "Do you think I want to believe it? This is my worst nightmare, Joe. All this time I've been worrying about having to arrest someone in Gator Bait, and the way it stands, my dad and Buster are the prime suspects."
His eyes flashed and he stared intently at her. "Are you planning to tell Richard about this?"
She shook her head, feeling miserable. "I don't know. I don't think so. I don't think they're involved with Roland this time, but it wouldn't look good for them anyway. If I thought the information would help Richard at all, I'd tell him, but I don't see how it could." Could it?
Joe considered this for a moment then nodded in agreement. "I'm with you. I don't see how it could help at all, but it certainly could hurt a lot. If this got out in Gator Bait, the sheriff would be ruined, which affects you."
Joe took a deep breath and ran one hand down the side of his face. "I don't know where it would leave Buster. People around here gotta make a living. But I still say it could be made miserable enough for him that he takes an early retirement or sells out completely to one of the big commercial firms."
“I know. No matter how you slice it, if this got out, it would cause a lot of problems in Gator Bait. And I'll admit-problems I'm not ready to deal with."
"Me either. And I don't want you feeling guilty about this, Dorie. It's too far in the past to be an issue now, and there's nothing we could do to change it anyway."
She blew out a breath. "I know. But it doesn't stop the hurt, Joe. My own father." She pounded the table with one fist and brought a few looks from the other diners. "For Christ's sake," she said, lowering her voice a bit, "it was his job to keep anything like this out of the town, and instead, he covered it all up and pretended it had never happened. All for money. It makes me sick."
Joe shook his head. "It wasn't really for money. It was to protect a friend. Besides, if they'd kept the money, some of it would still be around. Your dad did what he thought was best for Buster and Gator Bait. I don't agree with his decision, but I don't see where it was motivated by any personal gain."
"The reason still doesn't change the facts. By not reporting Roland to the authorities, they committed a crime. Because of what they did, that man felt safe enough to come back to Gator Bait, and the rules are different now." She looked Joe straight in the eyes. "With the attempts that have been made lately, I can't help wondering just how close I am to the person involved with Roland. Someone doesn't like where I'm headed with this investigation, and they apparently have a bigger problem with my involvement than yours or Richard's."
Joe nodded and looked miserable, cle
arly wanting to disagree but unable to argue with the facts. "So what do you think is going on?"
Dorie blew out a breath. "I think that Roland's partner is scared I'm on to him and he's sent Roland into action to rectify the problem. Which can only mean it's someone close enough to me to think I'd figure them out."
Joe nodded.
"I don't think he's going to quit until I'm dead," she said. 'There's too much on the line for them to screw this up."
Joe stared back at her and nodded once. "Then we'll have to see that he doesn't get a shot at you. And that means we have to hunt him down. I know how you feel about justice, Dorie, but I have to tell you that this is one case where I will not shoot to injure."
Dorie stared out the window at the highway, realizing that Joe had just suggested they hunt a man down and kill him in cold blood. "The worst part is," she said finally, "that's the best idea I've heard all week."
Richard waited at the small garage while the young man pulled the tires off of his car. "Whew," the young man blew out a breath. "Someone did a real number on these. I can't patch this at all. Whoever did this knew what he was doing."
"Lucky for me," Richard said. "I always wanted a car with no tires."
The young man laughed. "I'll see what I can find for you. We don't have anything like this and definitely not in a set of four, but I can probably find something that will get you to Lake Charles so you can get a matched set, although it might ride a bit rough."
Richard nodded. "That would be great. When I get them changed, I'll bring the others back. Charge me double whatever you normally do. My company's footing the bill for this one."
The young man's eyes widened in surprise. "Cool. Thanks a lot, man."
Giving the man a smile, he stepped out of the garage, pulled the cell phone from his pocket and dialed the agency. "This is Agent Richard Starke," he said to the woman who answered. "I need all the information you have on Dorie Berenger."
"Oh, yes, I pulled that file this morning. Do you want it faxed?" she asked.
"No. I don't have access to a fax at the moment. Just read me what's in the files and I'll take notes on anything important."
"Agent Starke, there are over twenty pages of information in this file."
Richard looked into the garage. The young man had at least forty different tires scattered on the floor, trying to find anything remotely matched. He pulled a small pad of paper and a pen from his pocket. "I've got time," he said. "Go ahead."
Dorie and Joe spent most of the afternoon attempting to salvage anything from Dorie's boat. They made it back to the sheriff's office toward evening. The message light blinked on the antiquated phone system and Dorie pressed the button on the machine. Sherry's voice immediately poured out. "Dorie, I just want you to know that DEA agent is here talking to the sheriff. Now, I don't know what got you so upset this morning, and I couldn't exactly refuse him a visit, but I don't like all these goings-on. It's not good for your daddy's heart."
The message stopped and Dorie gave Joe a frightened look. "What is Richard talking to Dad for? He didn't say anything to me about talking to Dad."
He slowly shook his head. "I don't have any idea, but I don't like it."
"Neither do I. You don't think Dad would be stupid enough to tell him about Roland, do you?"
He blew out a breath. "God, I wouldn't like to think so. But then, if he thought Richard would make you leave town like he wants, he might."
"Damn it!" She banged her hand on the desk. "What the hell is Richard doing?"
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Richard knocked on the sheriff's apartment door and was told to enter. He pushed the door open and stepped inside the living room where the sheriff sat in his favorite spot. Sheriff Berenger looked surprised to see him and continued to stare at the door, even after Richard closed it behind him.
Was he expecting Dorie? Doubtful. She and Joe had been there that morning, but based on the anxious expression on the sheriff's face, Richard knew something was definitely up. Studying the man in front of him, he wondered exactly what had transpired between Dorie and her father that made the man so nervous.
"Dorie's done been and gone if you're looking for her," the sheriff said and took his gaze away from the door.
"No," Richard said and took a seat on the couch. "Actually, I came to talk to you."
Sheriff Berenger stared at him for a moment and nodded. "Go ahead, then."
Taking a deep breath, he began. "I need to know about Dorie's parentage."
Sheriff Berenger stared at him in obvious surprise. "Ain't nothing to know about her parentage. I'm her father and her mother is long gone and irrelevant."
Richard shook his head."That's not good enough, Sheriff. The DNA results on the hair samples from Buster's camp came back this morning. There were two matches-a full on Shawn Roland and a partial on Dorie."
Sheriff Berenger gave a start and the blood drained from his face. "That's impossible," he said, his voice barely a whisper.
“They ran the tests twice to be sure. Blood tests too. There's no mistake." He stared at the sheriff and was fairly sure the man wasn't breathing. For a moment, he wondered whether the sheriff was about to have another heart attack. That would be a nightmare. But just when Richard began to rise from the couch to call for help, the sheriff waved a hand to stop him.
"I'm fine," he said, coughing a little. "Well, as fine as I can be, given what you just told me."
"Sheriff, I need to know what this means. You understand my position here? How this looks to me and my superiors?"
Sheriff Berenger nodded. "I understand. I just can't believe this is happening. What are the odds, right?" He gazed past Richard and stared at the wall, his face full of sorrow.
"Can I get you anything?" Richard asked, still worried about the pale color in his face.
"No, no. I best just tell you since you're all off in the wrong direction. It's not gonna get any easier with a drink" He gave Richard a small smile. "Especially since I had to get off the good stuff a long time ago."
Richard nodded and settled back on the couch, hoping if he looked relaxed, it would encourage the sheriff to tell his story.
The sheriff sat in silence a moment longer, as if deciding how to start, then cleared his voice and began. "Of course, it was over thirty years ago when it happened. I was a hell of a lot younger then and still full of piss and vinegar-like most young men are when they come back from the war a decorated hero. There wasn't a woman who could hold me. Everyone called me The Heartbreaker, and the name was well-deserved."
He gave Richard a broad smile. "Man like yourself ought to understand that." His smile faded and he shook his head. "Still, I had no intention of settling down. My mother hadn't been any prize. She ran around on my father back in the days when women just didn't run around. When I was six, she left completely. I've never seen or heard of her since."
He looked at Richard, a hollow expression on his face. "It makes a man think twice," he continued. "You know, about women, relationships. I had plenty try to get me, but I wasn't having any of it. I had my work and an occasional woman in Lake Charles, and that was more than enough for me." He nodded. "Yep, that was more than enough for me. Until that Tuesday-the day my life changed forever. That was the day I met the girl I would love for the rest of my life."
Richard shifted to a more comfortable position and nodded for the sheriff to continue, sure he was about to reveal the truth about Dorie's mother.
"I'd been out in the marsh most of the day. Gators had been breeding in some odd areas that year, and I was doing my best to keep them contained. Didn't want some unsuspecting fisherman to hap pen across a female and her nest. We'd already had two attacks that year, and I wasn't wanting a third.”
"The day had been long and hard," the sheriff said, "and there was nothing I wanted more at that moment than a hot shower and a cold beer, but they were going to have to wait. It was late evening by the time I got home and I could see something next to my door wh
en I pulled in the drive. Hell, I was always ordering something by mail, so I didn't think nothing of it until I got out of the car and heard the crying."
"Dorie?" Richard asked.
Sheriff Berenger nodded. "'There she was, all wrapped up in a pink blanket and sitting in a cardboard box next to my door, wailing like the dickens."
"What did you do?"
"I grabbed her up right away, thinking maybe she was hurt and that was the reason for all the noise. As soon as I got her inside I checked every inch of her, but didn't find so much as a scratch. There was a small bag in the box with her and I opened it up. Inside was a can of formula, a couple of diapers and the letter."
Richard sat up straight. "What did it say?"
The sheriff looked Richard eye to eye. "I remember the exact words to this day. It said 'I can't keep her safe. Please find someone who will.’ That was it. No signature, no indication of who the mother was or why she couldn't care for the child." Sheriff Berenger shook his head. "I'm not a fanciful sort of man, but something about those words gave me a chill and I wondered what in the world that woman had gotten herself into. And why an infant would be at risk."
"Did you try to track down the mother?" Richard asked.
Sheriff Berenger narrowed his eyes. "Of course I did. What kind of lawman do you think I am? Any woman who's got to give up a part of herself has bigger issues than raising an infant alone. I aimed to help her if possible, but couldn't find a thing. I checked the hospitals for recent births, but everyone on record was happy at home with their families. Meantime, I left the baby with a friend of mine in Lake Charles who worked for Social Services. He and his wife fostered kids, and they were more than happy to help."
"So you never found anything?"
"Not a thing. It's as if the woman appeared in Louisiana by a puff of smoke and disappeared the same way."
Richard nodded. "So how did you manage to keep her?"
Sheriff Berenger blew out a breath and lowered his head. "I lied. I broke the law, pure and simple." He looked up at Richard, his eyes beginning to redden around the edges. "After a week with absolutely no success on locating the mother, I went to my friends, intending to take the baby and make her a ward of the state. When I walked in the house, she was wailing, just like she had been that day on my doorstep. Linda was trying to soothe her, rocking her slowly in a chair, but it wasn't doing a bit of good. I stepped next to the chair and put one hand on her head."
