A Dark Horse

by Cooper, Blayne

Anger bubbled up inside Natalie at the sudden look of poorly veiled hurt that seeped into Adele’s face. She was about to say something when Al stepped forward and crushed Ella tightly against him in a hug so fierce it was almost desperate.

  Natalie’s eyes widened at the unexpected sight.

  “Shit, Ella. I’m sorry.” Instantly contrite, he seemed to forget that Natalie was even present as he poured his heart out to Adele. “I didn’t mean that. You know I didn’t. I’m just…” He sighed. “I’m mad at the NOPD. But we’re not all against you, no matter what you think. And I’m mad at Landry because…well, he’s an asshole. And I’m mad at you because we don’t see each other enough. And I wish you would have trusted me enough to tell me the truth. We’re supposed to be tight.”

  Adele swallowed a couple of times before speaking. “We are tight.” Her voice broke ever so slightly on the last word. “And I’m mad at all those things too. But it’s getting better, I promise.” She pulled away gently. “You don’t have to apologize, Al. What you said is the God’s truth. And I do trust you, I just don’t trust the NOPD. You know it would be bad for you if folks knew we were still friends.”

  He looked ready to explode again at her words, but before he could, she added, “But that doesn’t mean I’m giving you up. I’m never giving up on you. We’ll find a way, okay?”

  Relief made Al’s entire body relax, though there was still a hint of resentment in his eyes. “Goddamn! I’ve been waiting ages for you to say that.”

  Adele chuckled ruefully. “I’ve made a mess of things, and I’m sorry I made you wait for me to even start to get my shit together.” She sat down heavily at the wrought-iron table, her back to both Natalie and Al.

  Natalie noticed that Adele’s cane was nowhere in sight.

  “Ella—” Al began as he glanced worriedly at the file.

  “Thanks for the file, Al. Are these copies or should I have this sent back to your house tonight?” It was clear that Adele was done talking about herself.

  Al closed his eyes for a few seconds then said, “Copies.”

  Adele nodded approvingly. “Good. I’ll burn this tonight.”

  He laid a large hand on her shoulder and Adele reached up and grasped it.

  “Ella, are we cool?”

  Adele gave his hand a squeeze. “We’re always cool, Alonzo. Georgia knows where Logan’s school pictures are and will give you one inside. You say hi to Latisha for me, and give the kids a kiss. We’ll see each other again before New Year’s, even if we have to meet out of town to do it safely. Stay safe, all right?”

  Still a little dismayed, he nodded. “Okay. You too, Little Mama. Promise me?”

  Adele turned and winked over her shoulder at him. “I’ll do my best.”

  He shook his head and groaned. “You’re going to open up another shit can of hell-worms aren’t you?”

  “If I’m lucky.”

  Al looked skyward for assistance. “Jesus, I’d better buy some extra bullets.”

  Natalie’s eyes widened. Please let him be kidding.

  “I’ll text on Fridays, like always,” he promised.

  Adele turned back to the file on the table. “Hey, Al, you still owe me twenty bucks.”

  He chuckled, and his words flowed out like a well-worn answer before Adele had even finished speaking. “I haven’t forgotten.”

  Adele squeezed his hand a final time, then opened the manila folder and began to read.

  Al murmured an apology to Natalie for raising his voice earlier and disappeared inside the inn.

  “Sorry about that,” Adele said once Al was inside. She let out a deep breath and closed the folder, letting a little more of her feelings show on her face now that he was out sight.

  “Shaken” was the first word that popped into Natalie’s mind. She frowned, confused over an exchange that clearly carried more meaning than she could understand. After hearing snippets of multiple conversations, it was clear that over the last few years, Adele had closed herself off from most of the people who loved her. Even more disturbing was that someone so strong, and who had a solid support system, Landry aside, had still somehow plunged into an emotional free fall. “That was intense.”

  “Yeah,” Adele grunted.

  Natalie took a seat across from Adele and set her coffee down. It was too cold to drink now, anyway. Natalie tilted her head up to allow the morning sun to warm her face. She didn’t miss the snow in the least. The December breeze was cool but the sun felt wonderful in contrast and she hoped Joshua enjoyed it while he was living here. “You guys seem like you have a…complicated history.”

  “I’m not sure it’s complicated, but it’s important to us both.” Adele’s expression turned thoughtful. “I’ve known Al since he was thirteen years old, back when I was still a beat cop. I arrested him for running his mama’s prostitution earnings back to her pimp.”

  “You arrested a thirteen-year-old?” It was hard for Natalie to picture Adele, a champion of children, hauling them to jail.

  “Hell, yes, I did. He was old enough to already have that hideous gang tattoo, and I wanted him away from that woman…his so-called mother.” She sneered and put air quotes around the word. “There was no dad in the picture at all. Al was smart and sensitive and an exceptionally pretty boy, with those big green eyes of his. I was worried his mother would turn him out.”

  “Wait, you mean sell him for prostitution?”

  Wordlessly, Adele nodded.

  A wave of disgust swept over Natalie. “Jesus.”

  “On one hand, she still had her hooks deep into him. He was just a boy. On the other, he was already essentially living on his own and just getting in with a gang from the Calliope Projects.”

  “So you helped him?”

  Adele nodded, her gaze drawing inward as she spoke. “I kept coming around and checking on him. Over and over. I hauled him in for shoplifting, petty theft, vandalism, anything I could, really. Even when I wasn’t dragging his butt to the cop shop, I talked to him as often as I could. But I pretty much made zero headway in helping him. He was going to end up dead or in prison. I was sure of it.

  “But then his mama was killed, and I spent months doing everything I could to make sure he ended up in a decent home and with a good foster family. I wanted to take him in myself,” she admitted quietly. “But I was dating Landry at the time and Landry convinced me that Al needed more supervision than I could provide. In hindsight, he wasn’t wrong, I guess. But…” Her eyebrows drew together. “I would have made it work somehow.”

  Natalie felt a surge of kinship with Al. No matter what Adele said to the contrary, Landry was definitely a dick.

  “Al’s foster parents lived in another part of town, which got him away from the project and the gang, and they made sure he attended school. I helped with that,” she paused, a little lost in a memory, the corner of her mouth quirked upward. “It proved nearly impossible for a while, but I never quit, and eventually he came around. Over the years we got close.” Then her face seemed to light from within. “I couldn’t believe it when he ended up enrolling in the police academy.”

  Natalie couldn’t help but smile at the pride in Adele’s voice.

  Then Adele glanced back at Natalie with a look of such openness that it made Natalie’s heart twist. “Along with Amelia, I have a brother of my own, but we were never very close. Different interests, I guess. But with Al…it was like we had an instant connection. Knowing him changed my life, and he’s one of the reasons I wanted to work in the Juvenile Division in the first place.”

  Still, Natalie couldn’t help but feel a little protective of Adele’s feelings. “He hurt your feelings today with what he said.”

  “Maybe a little,” Adele acknowledged reluctantly. “He hasn’t forgiven me for pulling away from him after I left the force.” Her nostrils flared. “But I didn’t have a choice. I was covered in stink and I didn’t want it on him. He’s a good cop that shouldn’t suffer because of me.”

  Natalie’
s heart broke a little. Adele had made choices that were best for everyone but herself.

  “He misses you.”

  “I know,” Adele replied gravely. “Like I said, I messed up. Do you remember when I said I was worried about what my family would do to Landry when he moved to Baton Rouge and took Logan with him?”

  Natalie nodded and leaned forward a little in her seat.

  “I was including Al in that statement. Between him and Amelia, I’m actually surprised Landry is still breathing.” Adele suddenly seemed to realize that she’d been talking for an uncharacteristically long stretch. A flush stained her cheeks. “Anyway, enough with my boring history, right?”

  “Ella, there’s nothing about you that I find boring.”

  Adele smiled and looked a little flustered as she focused on the file in front of her.

  Armed with new insight, Natalie felt like she knew Adele that much better. “Josh and I, we reminded you of you and Al?”

  The look on Adele’s face told Natalie she was right. “I take all my cases personally.” Adele’s face softened. “But, yeah, you and Josh were…are special.”

  So are you.

  Adele began to read. “Misty’s death is being ruled accidental.” She flipped the page. “A diacetylmorphine overdose leading to respiratory failure.”

  “What’s dia-whatever?”

  “Smack. You know, heroin.”

  Natalie shivered, the image of Misty with that needle sticking out of her arm embedded in her brain. “God. How horrible.”

  “Mmm hmm…and there was more than enough in her system to kill her.” Lines formed on Adele’s forehead as she continued to skim the report. “Wow. Seven hundred milligrams.”

  Adele glanced up from the page, suddenly angry. “That’s way too high a dose for anything to be accidental unless she had a really high tolerance, which wouldn’t be unusual for an active junkie. Still, with a dosage like that, I can’t believe NOPD is ruling this accidental so quickly,” she said disgustedly. “Unless the final tox screens show something different, no one will ever look at this case again.”

  Natalie’s frustration with the NOPD came rushing back with a vengeance. “They took one look at her track marks and crappy house and didn’t care what had happened.” She cocked her head curiously. “But did you expect to see something else in the report?”

  Adele leaned back in her chair and slowly shook her head. “I didn’t know what to expect. I guess I was just hoping for a clear-cut answer. And this doesn’t give us one. When Misty spoke with you, and she said she was getting her life together, did you take that to mean she was clean?”

  Was it only a few days ago that she’d spoken to Misty? So much had happened that it already felt like ages. “I guess so. She seemed really scared but sort of positive too. She was trying to do the right thing. She didn’t seem suicidal to me.”

  With a puzzled huff, Adele refocused on the pages in her hands. “Did she mention a boyfriend?”

  “You mean, Josh? Well, yeah.”

  “No, no, a boyfriend now. Someone she was living with. The notes say, and I quote, ‘a tweaker named Kurt Mosley.’ Apparently the police questioned him.”

  Natalie shook her head. Even now, it was hard to imagine Misty with anyone but her brother. They’d been joined at the hip as goofy teenagers. “No. Nothing. But, Ella, Misty can’t help us now. So how does any of this get us closer to finding out who killed Josh?”

  Adele closed the file and pulled her blue cardigan sweater closer around her body to ward off the breeze. “Except for the murderer, Misty was the last and only person who we’re certain saw what happened to Josh. Even dead, she’s still the best resource we have. Besides, maybe she told the current boyfriend something about that night that she didn’t tell you.”

  Both women stood, and Adele began to walk. “Natalie, go grab your coat and let’s see what we can find out, okay?”

  “Ella?” Natalie reached out a hand and stopped Adele. “What about Crisco? Misty said he was passed out that night, but maybe he really did hear something.”

  Adele stopped and gave Natalie a curious look. “You don’t know?”

  “Know what?”

  “I always assumed you kept up with him because of your brother.”

  Natalie made a face. “I did until the charges against him were dropped. After that I tried to forget everything about New Orleans so I wouldn’t lose my mind.”

  Adele sighed unhappily. “Crisco’s dead. He got crazy drunk one time too many and ended up facedown in a ditch with a few inches of water in it. He drowned about three months after being released from custody.”

  Natalie’s mouth dropped open. “Holy crap. What about Morrell? Do you think he made good on his promise to hurt Crisco if he recanted his confession?”

  “I talked to the medical examiner myself. The death was accidental. No one saw Crisco fall, but there were plenty of witnesses who saw him that same day and in the area, drinking himself into his typical stupor. There was nothing else unusual about his body except that he had advanced cirrhosis. Considering his alcohol intake that wasn’t a shock.”

  Natalie blanched and sucked in a breath between clenched teeth. “So Misty is another accidental death surrounding Josh’s murder? I know it’s years after the fact, but this seems…” She searched for the right word.

  “Off?”

  Natalie nodded warily, her apprehension multiplying.

  “I know.”

  “Are alarm bells starting to go off in your head too?”

  Adele’s lips formed a grim line. “Alarm bells have been going off in my head since the day you showed up at my inn.” She wound her arm around Natalie’s, grinning a little when Natalie encouraged her with a smile and subtle shift of her body to lean on her for support as she walked without the cane. “C’mon. Let’s go meet Kurt Mosley.”

  “Ella?”

  “Hmm?”

  “What exactly is a tweaker?”

  Chapter Eleven

  It was just past eight p.m. when Adele shut off the ignition of her silver Jeep Cherokee on the block behind Misty’s house. She’d changed her mind about going to see Misty’s boyfriend that morning. Instead, she decided to wait until dark.

  “I will not wait in the car!”

  “Natalie, please.”

  “No. Why did you bring me here if I was only going to sit outside?”

  That was a good question, and Adele hated the simple answer. Because I wanted to spend more time with you. “I wasn’t thinking when I asked you along.” When it came to Josh’s case Adele realized she’d been treating Natalie like a work partner, someone who would know how to handle herself if things got messy. That wasn’t fair or safe.

  Adele shifted in her seat to face Natalie. “I’m not sure if Kurt Mosley is dangerous. I’m trained to handle dangerous people. You’re not.”

  “Be that as it may, I’m still coming with you.”

  Adele raised an eyebrow. Apparently, Natalie was obstinate when she wanted to be. “If Kurt isn’t home, I fully intend to break into Misty’s house and see if I can find any evidence that will help us. That’s why I decided to wait until dark.”

  “Still coming with you,” Natalie said defiantly. She glanced up and down the street warily. “And, honestly, isn’t sitting in the car in this dodgy neighborhood at night more dangerous than coming with you?”

  Adele faced forward and looked out at the tired-looking street and the somewhat rough-looking residents. She gripped the steering wheel tightly. Natalie had a point. Time for the big guns. “Breaking and entering can get you ten years in prison in the state of Louisiana. You’d be someone’s prison bitch inside a week.”

  Natalie thought for a moment, her smile nearly held in check. “But if I get caught, you got caught too.” Her eyes didn’t waiver when they met Adele’s. “You’d help me in prison so that I wouldn’t end up someone’s bitch.”

  Adele’s voice dropped to a frustrated growl. She intended to flat-out lie. She i
ntended to say that if Natalie insisted on doing this, it was every woman for herself. Instead, what came out was, “How do you know you wouldn’t be my bitch?”

  The words shocked them both. The silence in the car was deafening.

  Natalie’s tongue darted out as she slowly licked her lips and swallowed. Her voice was suddenly husky, but crystal clear in the quiet car. “How do you know that I’d mind?”

  Heart pounding and unexpectedly aroused, it was Adele who looked away first. She shifted awkwardly in her seat, torn between wishing she could shove her words back into her mouth and being desperately intrigued by Natalie’s answer.

  Natalie eyed Adele for a long moment before she sighed. “Ella, once I made the decision to stay in New Orleans to try to find Josh’s killer, I was a hundred percent committed. Short of intentionally hurting someone, I’ll do whatever it takes to see this through to the end. Besides, isn’t it illegal for me to sit in this car and act as your getaway driver too? Aren’t we at least accomplices at this point?”

  Goddamned logical professors with pretty blue eyes and smoky voices. “Well, yes, but you wouldn’t—”

  “Please, can you be finished fighting me on this?”

  “Do I have a choice?”

  “Not really. I’ll just follow you anyway.”

  Adele groaned, believing the stubborn woman would do exactly that. “Okay, fine. But you do everything I say.”

  Solemnly, Natalie nodded. “Everything.”

  “I’m not kidding.” And she wasn’t. She actually felt a little panicky at the mere possibility of Natalie somehow getting hurt. Nobody knew better than Adele how a situation could go from bad to deadly in a matter of seconds. “I will literally use my cuffs on you.” Adele’s cheeks turned beet red at her own words as a stunningly sexy image of Natalie penetrated her brain without her permission.

  “As long as you’re not sending me away, it’s a deal.” Natalie tilted her head to the side. “Are you okay?”

  “Yes.” Adele scrubbed her face with one hand. She cast about for a neutral subject. “You didn’t tell me Misty lived in the Tremé, although that doesn’t excuse me for not noticing the street and block in the police report.”