“Coulter, dis is not your affair,” he hissed.
I moved between him and Sara Dalton, pressing close to his face. My heart was beating at a furious pace and I could hardly breathe, but I felt no hesitation. “Get the hell out of here and leave her alone.”
Seemingly from nowhere he pulled a long knife that was instantly in front of my face. As our eyes locked, he said, “You back away and don’ think I won’t cut your balls off.”
The familiar feeling of uncertain fear from the front in France returned at that moment. All the weeks of agonizing over my tentative reaction to Jess and Hanna that night in Atlanta and not confronting my father more forcefully for his dreadful behavior swept over me in a moment. I felt the same emptiness returning in my gut, but I stood there, face to face with the man.
Lila came running down the steps and tried to push between us, screaming, “Both of you stop!”
Boudreaux seemed bewildered by the reaction from all of us. He put the knife back in his belt and looked over at Sara who had backed away up onto the porch with her daughter, Melanee. “I will be back for you, sister,” he said to Sara, and then he fell back into the seat of the truck and the hired driver took him away.
As they drove off leaving a cloud of sandy dust in the air behind them, all of us gathered at the bottom of the stairs. Sara now had her daughter in her arms and Melanee was hiding her face in her mother’s hair. There was a sense of dazed tension among us.
I was trying to catch my breath and calm down when Sara said in the saddest voice, “Mathew, this is none of your affair. Best that you not interfere again.” Her eyes looked straight through me. I was more than a little surprised by her reaction and this strange association with a man who had just acted so terribly.
Lila stepped forward and put her arms around me and held me close. Then she whispered in my ear, “Thank you.”
I pulled back and acknowledged her with a nod. The three of them walked back up into the hotel. I stood there for a moment thinking about the encounter with Boudreaux. The knife had sent a chill of fear through my body I had tried to suppress for so many years. Clearly, he would be back and it was frustrating to think there may be nothing any of us could do if, in the end, Sara decided to leave with the man. It was unimaginable to think she would expose her daughter to such a situation or even consider leaving her again. What would lead a woman to behave in such a selfish and cruel manner?
As I was turning to go back to the house, Anthony drove Palumbo’s big car around the corner and pulled up in front of the hotel in a choking cloud of dust. Palumbo struggled some as he climbed out of the back seat and it appeared he had consumed a few drinks during his day at the club.
“Mathew, nice to see you, son,” he said as he came over and gave me a big bear hug. I could smell the liquor on his breath.
“Willie,” I said simply in greeting, pushing myself away.
“Just saw Eleanor down at the club. She just couldn’t stop asking about you. Wonders why you haven’t been into town to see her.”
I considered that to be a very good question at the moment. The tedium of my existence these past weeks was beginning to wear thin. Perhaps a ride into town was not such a bad idea, I thought. “You give her my best, Willie.”
“Mathew, come up on the porch here with me. I want to ask you about something.” I followed the big man up the steps and we sat down together. “Been thinkin’ about your brother some. It’s just a damn shame how this has come down. I have a few connections up in Atlanta if you’d like me to look into this a bit more, son. Who’s this family, the O’Leary’s? Somebody needs to string their asses out on a line.”
While his offer was at first attractive, I was quite certain his involvement would only lead to more trouble for everyone. “Willie, I’m sure my father and his men are… well, let’s just say they will be dealing with the O’Leary’s, I have no doubt.”
He looked at me with blurry eyes and nodded back, seeming to take my response with a measure of acceptance and then he said, “Okay then, enough of that.” He turned to look out at the beach. I saw his wife, Louise, was walking back up through the dunes, her big straw hat in her hands, no sign of Seth Howard and the horses. We both watched her come up the stairs. She got a big smile on her face as she came over, sat on her husband’s lap and gave him a kiss. I couldn’t help but notice the sand on the rear of her skirt and a twig of beach grass stuck in the back of her hair. I had hoped she and the Howard boy had sense enough not to be engaging in what her tousled appearance seemed to clearly indicate. Palumbo didn’t appear to notice and I suppose would have no reason to be suspicious. He patted her on the backside and told her to go in and get ready for dinner. As she walked away, I thought to myself I was definitely not going to be the one to bring this affair to light. Hopefully it would pass and Howard would marry the Bidwell girl and all of this would be long forgotten. Then again, I was coming to find that events rarely take such a tidy course.
The temptation of those long glorious legs finally, were too difficult to ignore and I found myself that night sitting at the bar at Palumbo’s Panama Club, a mug filled with whiskey in my hand. As my luck would have it, Eleanor was not scheduled to work that night. I sat and stared at myself in the mirror behind the bar, brooding about my unfortunate sense of timing, oblivious to the crowd and noise around me. The band was playing over in the corner. A few couples were dancing. Smoke drifted heavy on the air, pushed in billowing swirls by the ceiling fans.
I felt a touch on my shoulder. In the mirror, I saw Eleanor unexpectedly standing there beside me. On her night off, she was dressed like many of the other female patrons, although in my eye far more appealing; a black short dress plunging low in front and a gathering of shiny jewelry around her neck and hanging from each ear. Her face was beautifully made up and framed by the wavy curls of that striking blonde hair. She leaned in and kissed me on the cheek. I made room for her to sit down on the stool beside me.
“What a nice surprise,” I said, trying to act as if this was all just a mere coincidence.
She nodded to the bartender who knew immediately what she wanted. He came over and placed a white mug down in front of her on the bar and she took a quick sip, then she placed her hand over mine on the bar. “I’ve missed you so, Mathew Coulter. I’ve been tempted to have Mr. Palumbo bring me home to see you out there in the wilderness,” and then she smiled, looked deeply into my eyes and took another drink.
I couldn’t help but melt into her every word and the feel of her skin on mine was electric. “You look magnificent,” I finally managed to say.
She smiled back at me. “It’s such a beautiful night. Let’s take a walk on the beach.” Again, she motioned to the bartender. He came over and refilled both of our mugs. I left some money on the bar and we walked out together. The fresh breeze was welcoming after the closeness of the air inside. It was still warm, although the sun had been down for quite a while. We walked through the parking lot and crossed the road onto a path that led down to the beach. A near full moon was rising high from the east, brilliant white against a clear, starry sky. Eleanor reached down and took off her shoes. I did the same and we left them there against the dunes in the grass. She took my hand and we walked down through the loose sand. At low tide, what little waves there were broke far out in the darkness, slipping almost silently up onto the shore break. We walked west along the beach for some time. There was no one else about and only a few small houses tucked up in the dunes. She turned to me and in the low light from the glow of the moon I could see her beautiful face smiling at me. I pulled her close and kissed her.
She pushed me away and said, “Let’s take a swim.”
My first reaction was to look out into the darkness of the night and the water with thoughts of very big toothy fish swimming in shallow, looking for an easy meal. But, then she stepped back and pulled the straps of her dress from her shoulders and let it fall to the sand at her feet. She stood there in only a
small pair of white panties and held her hand out for me to join her. All thoughts of predators and danger seemed suddenly far away. I was quickly down to my own shorts and we were walking hand in hand out through the waves. When we were out waist deep I pulled her close again. Her body and her kiss were warm and welcoming in the chill of the water and the waves. The next wave knocked us over and we fell together under the salty water and held on to each other until it passed. She wrapped her arms around my neck and we drifted there in the surf together, kissing and laughing. Soon we were coupled as one in a rising swell of motion and touch, and seemingly weightless we drifted off with the tide through the night.
Chapter Sixteen
I woke the next morning in Eleanor Whitlock’s bed in the house she shared with the two other girls from the club. The sunlight was pressing hot through the thin fabric of curtains hanging across the one window in the room. The door to the bedroom opened and Eleanor walked in with two cups of coffee in her hands. She was dressed in a long pink silk robe that brushed at her bare feet and showed all of her marvelous curves as she moved across the wood-planked floor. She sat down next to me on the bed and handed me one of the cups.
“Good morning, Mr. Coulter,” she said with a delightful grin across her face that still showed the signs of sleep and early morning drowsiness. I propped a pillow against the wall and sat up to sip the coffee and then she leaned down and kissed me. “Did you have a nice swim last night?” she asked.
“One of the best I can remember,” I said, thinking back on the night’s events on the beach and then back here at the house. “Are you working today?”
“No, not until tomorrow night, actually,” she said.
“Why don’t you come out to Grayton with me? We can spend the day at the beach. You can help me paint the house. We’ll have a wonderful time.”
“I’m not sure about the painting, but…” She put her coffee cup on a small night stand beside the bed and took mine and put it there as well before climbing into bed beside me. She rested her head on my chest and ran her fingers over my stomach. “Do we have to go right away?” she said and then looked up at me with an inviting smile.
In the end, Eleanor stayed in town, claiming she had a full day of errands and chores to do around the house. About mid-day I drove past the hotel in Grayton Beach and I was not surprised to see the sheriff’s car parked in front. Rebecca Bidwell’s horse was also tied up to the rail at the porch. Sheriff Lucas Crowe was a regular at Lila’s, often stopping by for a cup of coffee or occasionally something stronger; a small contribution to ensure a blind eye toward all things possibly in violation of the Volstead Act. Lila had confessed one evening that she and Sheriff Crowe had, in fact, become quite close over the past year and from the few times I had met the man, he seemed pleasant enough. I was happy for Lila she had found someone to share the solitude of this remote place.
I drove on past and pulled up in front of the Headley cottage. As I was getting out of the car I saw Lila coming down the road toward me, a look of ashen shock on her face. When she came up I grabbed her softly by the arms and helped her to lean back against the car.
“Mathew, the Howard boy, Seth, was found dead this morning.”
As I listened, I felt my heart sink in my chest as I quickly thought through the implications of what she was telling me. Lila was rubbing her eyes with her hands. “What’s happened?” I asked.
“Rebecca was out riding and found Seth along the road in from Point Washington. It was just horrible, Mathew. She came riding in early this morning in a panic because she couldn’t get him up on the horse by herself. I went out there with her in the car. He was lying by the side of the road. There was blood everywhere. He had been stabbed so many times. We managed to get him in the car to bring him back to town and I called Lucas who just got here a while ago.”
“Lila, I’m so sorry. How is Rebecca?”
“Oh, she’s just a damn wreck. Sara is sitting with her.”
“Where’s Palumbo?” I asked and she looked at me, clearly aware of why I was asking.
“He’s been gone since last night. He and Louise had a terrible fight and he and that dreadful man Anthony left in a huff. I didn’t think much about it. Those two have been fighting so much lately.”
“So, you haven't seen him? He hasn’t come back?
She shook her head no, and I could see her hands were trembling.
“Did you say anything to the sheriff about Seth and Louise Palumbo?” I asked.
She looked at me with a frightened stare and started to cry. “Mathew, I’m so afraid of what Palumbo might do if I say anything.”
I thought about what she had said for a moment and then realized she had been right to keep the affair to herself. Why should she get in the middle of this and risk the murderous wrath of this crazy gangster? And yet how could either of us keep this secret, knowing what this man had probably done. “And how is Louise?” I asked.
“She hasn’t come down from her room since I told her about Seth.”
“We don’t know for sure what’s really happened here,” I said. “I think it’s best you not say anything about Louise and the boy.”
“Lucas will never forgive me if this all comes out,” she said.
“Let’s just wait a bit until we’re sure what’s going on,” I cautioned her.
We both heard the engine noise at the same time. We turned to see Palumbo’s car pull up and stop in front of the hotel. Willie Palumbo climbed slowly out of the back seat and Anthony drove the car around to park it in back. Palumbo’s clothes were rumpled and in disarray with part of his white shirttail hanging out of his pants and suspenders, his jacket and hat in his hand. He saw us watching him and waved and then walked over to us. His gait was slow and deliberate, almost a shuffle as if he had barely enough energy to move the mass of his body. Lila looked away as he came up, trying her best to hide her tears.
“Morning folks,” he said with a surprising calmness in his voice.
I tried to read the look on his face, but found no sense of guilt or awareness of what had happened. Though my first inclination was to just walk away and not get involved, I suddenly felt compelled to ask, “Have you heard about the Howard boy?”
He looked at me with a quizzical expression and after a moment said, “Seth Howard?”
I nodded, waiting to see any gleam of recognition or responsibility in his eyes or his reaction.
“No,” he said, “what about the little punk?”
Lila spoke first and I could hear the anger rising in her voice. “He’s lying dead over in the parlor.”
Palumbo looked at her with a dazed expression and then back at me. “What the hell happened?”
I just stared at him, again trying to read his expression. Finally, I said, “He’s been murdered, Willie.”
The man scrunched up his face, rubbing the overnight stubble of his beard and said, “Oh shit. That why the sheriff’s over there?” I nodded slowly. “That boy had no sense… not surprised at all he got crossed with somebody,” he said.
“Where’ve you been Willie?” I asked, suddenly not concerned about the obvious accusation.
He stared back at me and then turned and looked out toward the beach. “Me and Louise had a little go of it last night and Anthony and I stayed in town at the club.”
“Didn’t see you. I was in town last night,” I said.
“Yeah, heard you left early with Eleanor. Hope you two had a nice time of it,” he said, and a lecherous smile spread across his face. “That girl is some piece of cake, boy,” he said, and then turned and apologized to Lila for his remark. “You two seem to be hittin’ it off real good.”
I didn’t answer and Lila was obviously growing frustrated with our topic of discussion. As she walked away, she said, “I need to get back.”
“This is a damn shame, Mathew,” he said, as we both watched her start back to the hotel, “that boy getting married and all.”
&
nbsp; “So, you stayed in town all night?”
He looked at me again and I watched the red flush of anger fill his round cheeks. “You best be careful about who you’re accusing of something like this, son. I was at the club all damn night and I got twenty witnesses can vouch for me.”
“You know Sheriff Crowe had to have heard about the fight the two of you had a few weeks back and that we went over to the Howard place to apologize.”
“People have disagreements all the time. Doesn’t mean they’re gonna kill somebody,” he said.
We both turned and watched as an old truck pulled up next to the sheriff’s car. Seth Howard’s parents got out and the elder Howard looked over at us with a malevolent glare. He helped his wife walk up the steps and into the hotel. “Just a damn shame,” I heard Palumbo say again.
A few moments later I saw Sara Dalton coming out with her daughter Melanee holding her hand. They walked past the cars and started down toward the beach. I left Palumbo standing there and that was the end of our exchange. I joined Sara and Melanee on the boardwalk through the dunes. “You two all right?” I asked.
“Hi Mathew,” the little girl said. “Did you hear about Seth?” she asked sadly.
“Yes, I did. I’m sorry.” Sara just kept walking without responding. She had her long hair pulled back in a braid and her pale face was scrubbed clean of makeup, gaunt and sallow. She was wearing a long plain yellow dress and Melanee had on a bathing suit. We reached the end of the boardwalk and started out across the white sand and then she looked over to me and said, “Thank you for what you did. Trying to help with my friend from New Orleans, I mean.”
I smiled back at her and then reached down and took Melanee’s other hand to help her through the loose sand. “Has he been back?”
Grayton Winds Page 15
