by Sharon Sala
Johnny was nervous, but didn't hesitate.
"Yes, sir. They'll be here."
"See you later," Josh said, and next called Wade Garrett.
"This is Wade."
"This is Chief Evans. Are you both at the motel?"
"Yes, sir."
"I'll be there shortly. I have information," Josh said.
He disconnected, then made one more call to Stella Bales.
Unlike Wade Garrett, Stella was slow to answer, and when she did, he could hear a lot of noise in the background and guessed more family had arrived.
"Hello. Stella speaking."
"Stella, this is Chief Evans. Sounds like you have a lot of company."
"Yes, sir. We do."
"I am going to add myself to the mix, if you don't mind. I have some new information to give you."
"Yes, okay. We'll be here," she said.
Josh disconnected, then called home, listening to it ring and waiting for the sound of his Reenie's voice. And then she picked up.
"Hello."
"Reenie, it's me."
"Hi, sweetheart! Are you on your way home?"
"Not quite yet. I have to talk to a few families first, and then I'll be there."
"I heard all the sirens," she said. "Y'all did good, didn't you?"
He heard a smile in her voice.
"Yes, baby. We did good."
Wade and Logan were sitting on the bed, talked out and anxious, while waiting for that knock on the door.
"What do you think he's going to tell us?" Logan asked.
"You heard the same sirens I heard. I think it's going to be good news."
Logan leaned her head against his shoulder.
"I hope so. I just want to find Damon and go home."
"I know, and I want that for you... for both of us."
They were so intent on listening, that when the knock finally came, it made both of them jump.
But it was Logan who went to the door.
"Come in," she said, and then sat back down on the bed, leaving the chairs for the men to choose from, but Wade stayed beside her. When the chief began talking, Wade slipped his arm around her waist.
Josh had come here first out of respect for the fact that her brother was Barton's first victim. He pulled a chair up to the bed where they were sitting, and went straight to the reason he was here.
"Barton DeChante has been arrested for the murder of your brother, Damon, of his wife, Faith, of Justin Baptiste, and of Danny Bales."
"Oh my God, how did you know who it was?" Logan asked.
"Danny Bales’ first wife arrived from California with a story about a man renting Danny's pickup the same night that Jody Bales was murdered on the south side"
Logan shuddered, and then looked at Wade.
"I never did know who that was, but I saw the body in the street. That all happened before Damon came home."
Josh heard her and nodded. "That same night, it was Connie's brother who had rented Danny's truck. He turned out to be the one wanting his wife killed so he could marry another woman, and we do have the right man. He confessed."
"Barton DeChante lived in that big house with the rose gardens, didn't he?" Logan asked.
The chief nodded.
"Yes, which happens to be where he buried his wife and Johnny Baptiste's cousin, Justin. He spread a lie that they were having an affair and told everyone they ran away together. Then he killed Danny so he wouldn't put two and two together and remember he was the one who’d had the truck the night your brother was killed."
"You couldn't make this stuff up," Wade said.
"Truth. And Logan, just so you know, the Parish sheriff is notifying all the proper agencies, and if you're up to it, with your assistance, they will begin the recovery of your brother's body tomorrow."
"Yes, oh yes," she whispered. "Finally ... Yes, I'm up to it and yes, we'll be there. Just tell us what time."
"You two can follow me out in the morning. It'll probably be close to nine before all the agencies can gather in the same place. This is unusual to get this much cooperation from different agencies so quickly, but they’re all sympathetic to your situation. I'll call you in the morning when I leave," he said, and then stood.
Logan stood up and shook his hand.
"I will never be able to thank you enough."
"I'm sorry we got off on the wrong foot, or this might have ended sooner," Josh said.
"It's over, and that's the main thing," she said.
Josh nodded, then shifted his gaze to Wade. "See you both in the morning," he said, and left.
Wade locked the door after the chief left and then turned and took Logan into his arms.
"You did it, Boss Lady. You found your brother's killer."
Logan laid her head on his shoulder as she settled into his embrace.
"Yes, and now all I need is to find my brother."
Josh drove to the Bales home next and had to park in the street because of the number of vehicles in their yard. He was walking toward the house when Stella and Connie came out to meet him.
"Whatever it is you have to say, would you come inside and tell all of us at once," Stella asked.
"Yes, ma'am," he said, and followed them inside.
Stella introduced him and offered him a seat, which he declined.
"I won't stay. I just need to give all of you an update. You'll get details later, but thanks to Logan Talman and Connie Bales, we found the killer."
Everyone in the room looked at Connie, who was in tears.
"Oh my God, was I right?" she asked.
He nodded.
She collapsed into a chair and started sobbing.
"What's going on? What are you saying?" Stella cried.
Josh couldn't imagine how this was going to play out, since the killer was related to Connie.
"We just arrested Barton DeChante on four counts of murder."
Stella gasped. "Barton? Four? He murdered four?"
"Yes, ma'am. Damon Conway, Faith DeChante, Justin Baptiste, and your husband, Danny."
Stella shook her head, unable to follow what he was saying.
"But Faith and that Baptiste man ran away together."
"No, ma'am. That's the story he put out to cover what he'd done. Unfortunately, Justin Baptiste's only crime was being in the wrong place at the wrong time. DeChante just used him as the excuse to explain away his wife's sudden absence. He buried them both in the rose garden. We'll be recovering their remains within a few days."
When the people in the room erupted in questions and tears, and all talking at once, he knew it was time to leave.
"My condolences to all of you. I have one more family to talk to before I can close my eyes tonight."
Stella grabbed his hand.
"Thank you. Thank you for giving our Danny justice."
"Yes, ma'am. Just sorry it happened at all," and then he was out the door.
Josh got in the car and then sat for a few moments, gathering his emotions. This was a hard way to end a day, but it was the best outcome any of them could have hoped for.
Two down and one to go.
He next drove to Caitlin and Johnny's house. There, the family cars were all parked along curbs up and down the streets. There were so many people in the house that some of them had spilled over onto the front porch, and others were in lawn chairs out in the yard.
Johnny came out of the house before Josh was up the steps and welcomed him inside.
"Here we are, Chief, at your request."
Josh stood at the door so that everyone could see and hear him. As soon as they quieted, he began.
"We just arrested Barton DeChante for the murder of Damon Conway and for the murder of Danny Bales."
There were gasps of shock and disbelief.
"The reason I'm telling all of you this is because the entire tragedy began because DeChante wanted his first wife killed so he could marry another woman. When Damon Conway refused, Barton killed him, which then meant he had
to kill his wife on his own."
He heard gasps and whispers beginning and knew they were starting to understand why he was there.
"What you need to know is that Justin Baptiste was an innocent. He just happened to be in the wrong place when DeChante needed a reason to support his wife's absence. He killed and buried them both in his rose garden. Your Justin did not cheat on his wife. He was a victim, like the others. Details will be forthcoming, and we will be recovering all of the bodies in the coming days. Is Justin's wife here?"
A small brown-haired woman stood.
"I'm Lila Baptiste. I'm Justin's wife."
"Ma'am, my sympathies for your loss. The authorities will be notifying you when your husband's remains are recovered so you can properly lay him to rest."
"I thank you," she said. "I knew he had to be dead. I just didn't know what happened. I told them all he wouldn't leave me. I told them, and they still chose to believe the worst."
The family was gathering around the grieving widow as he walked out. He headed for home, needing the time he would spend with his sweet woman before the recoveries began.
He would be glad when this summer was over.
It was a somber night in Bluejacket.
Logan was in bed, trying to relax enough to sleep, and Wade was lying behind her, aware of her discontent.
Logan was mentally psyching herself up to face what ten years in the swamp would have done to Damon.
Wade knew she was bothered, and didn't know what to say to make it better.
"Boss Lady, I would do anything to take this burden from your shoulders, but I can't, and I accept that. This is your grief. I just want you to know that I'm here. Lean on me tomorrow. Don't hurt your recovery by overdoing it, okay?"
Logan heard the promise and felt the love.
"Yes, I hear you. And while tomorrow will be a sad and trying day, it's nothing compared to the night I rolled him in that grave. Okay?"
"Definitely okay."
Then she closed her eyes and finally slept, safely cradled in Wade Garrett's arms.
Morning arrived with a clear, cloudless sky, and air so thick and heavy from the humidity that you could almost taste the salt from the Gulf.
Wade and Logan followed Chief Adams out to the dig site without talking. Logan was mentally bracing herself for the day and grateful for Wade's presence.
The crime scene team from the Louisiana State Bureau of Investigation was already there and waiting. They would be heading up the recovery.
Officers from the Parish Sheriff's Department were there to provide protection for the recovery team and were standing guard with weapons drawn, ready to dispatch any gators or snakes if the need arose.
Chief Evans from the Township of Bluejacket was on scene, partly on Logan's behalf, and partly because he was the one who'd solved the cases.
As soon as Logan arrived, she was asked to spray-paint an X on the ground where Damon had died, and then spray-paint the area where she’d dug the grave. She handed a crime scene investigator a paper on which she’d drawn a diagram of the levels of layers within the grave, and what they would find before they reached the depth where the body would be, and she had been specific enough that she'd impressed the entire team by what she'd done.
She had written that they would first find the two small boulders she’d rolled onto the deadfall.
Then the layers of decayed deadfall, and then below all that, the tarp-wrapped body of her brother.
Once they settled her into a folding chair within some shade, had stomped down all the swamp grass to make sure the area was clear of snakes, they began to dig, going one slow shovelful of dirt at a time.
The day was like all others, already hotter than hell and turning blood to a languid liquid, making hearts compensate by beating faster just to finish a task.
And all the while that the sun moved higher toward its daily zenith, the temperature rose. Not even shade could provide any kind of relief from the thick, airless swamp.
Initially, Logan sat motionless and as the first layer was removed, she glanced up to see where Wade had gone, and instead caught a glimpse of movement in the trees beyond the clearing. Goosebumps rose on the backs of her arms as she stood up to look closer, but it was gone. She sat back down.
While the dig site was surrounded with the turmoil of too many people and ongoing racket, the swamp had become silent. The air grew heavier. Sweat rolled in rivulets.
When they found the boulders, the men who were digging were shocked at their size, and once again, she was eyed with new respect.
Logan didn't notice. She was on her feet again, staring into the trees beyond them. Something—no, someone was there. A glimpse of shoulder, a brief flash of long legs. The quickening of her heart took her aback.
Recognition!
Wade walked up behind her and handed her a cold bottle of water. She drank thirstily and gave it back without speaking.
Another hour passed, and then another, and they were down through two more feet of dirt and hitting rotted wood when Logan's gut began to knot.
She stood up again, watching him weaving his way toward her through the trees. She knew him now. She felt the love. He was here to witness and to thank.
Suddenly one of the men down in the pit stood up.
"We've got him," he said.
Logan pushed out of Wade's arms and moved forward until she was standing at the edge of the pit.
"Ma'am, you need to get back," an officer said.
"I put him there. I told him I’d be back, now I need to watch you bringing him out."
Wade wrapped his arms around her waist, then whispered against her ear and pulled her back to a safer location.
"Lean on me."
So she did.
The digging crew abandoned their small shovels for even smaller trowels and brushes, until finally, the rotting tarp was clear of debris.
Four men slipped down into the pit and carefully lifted the tarp and its contents to the surface, while another group carried it away from the grave and gently lowered it to the ground.
When Logan finally saw the tarp come up from the hole, if it hadn't been for Wade, she would have collapsed. She was shaking now, and suddenly so cold.
Someone went to get a body bag, and while everyone else was focused on the tarp and its contents, Logan was looking into the trees.
She could see him clearly now, standing in a patch of shadow. He hadn't moved, but she heard the words.
Thank you. Love you. Look forward, not back.
Tears blurred her vision, and as they did, he faded away.
She felt the loss again, just as she had the night he took his last breath. She lifted her arm to wave, but he was gone.
"I love you. I miss you. Rest in peace."
Epilogue
Dallas, Texas—One year later.
Sunlight reflected on the surface of the pool and into Logan's eyes. She shifted her stance and looked away, and when she looked again, Wade was climbing out of the water and walking toward her.
He was tall enough she had to reach to put her arms around his neck, but just right for making love. He loved her without caution, and she felt it all the way to her bones.
And then he held out his hand.
"Come into the water, darlin’."
When she took a step forward, sunlight caught on the diamond on her finger, and then all of a sudden, he'd swung her off her feet and into his arms.
She laughed, so full of joy she could not contain it.
"Crazy man. What are you doing?"
"You took too long making up your mind," he said, and still holding her in his arms, jumped into the deep end of the pool.
She shrieked, and then the water was over their heads as they sank down, down, until he touched bottom. Then he shoved off, and they were going up, up, up, shooting out of the water and into the sunlight, laughing.
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The End
Copyright © 2017 by Sharon Sala
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This novel is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination, or if real, are used fictitiously. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including photocopying, recording, or by an information storage and retrieval system, without the express written permission of the author or publishers, except where permitted by law.
All Rights Reserved.
Book Cover: Kim Killion The Killion Group, Inc.
www.thekilliongroupinc.com
With regard to digital publication, be advised that any alteration of font size or spacing by the reader will automatically change the author’s original format.
About the Author
Sharon Sala is a long-time member of RWA, as well as a member of OKRWA. She has 113 books and novellas in print, published in five different genres – Romance, Young Adult, Western, Fiction, and Women’s Fiction. First published in 1991, she’s an eight-time RITA finalist, winner of the Janet Dailey Award, five-time Career Achievement winner from RT Magazine, five time winner of the National Reader’s Choice Award, and five time winner of the Colorado Romance Writer’s Award of Excellence, winner of the Heart of Excellence Award, as well as winner of the Booksellers Best Award. In 2011 she was named RWA’s recipient of the Nora Roberts Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2017 Romance Writers of America presented her with the Centennial Award for recognition of her 100th published novel.
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Her books are New York Times , USA Today, Publisher’s Weekly best-sellers. Writing changed her life, her world, and her fate.
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For book list go to her website www.sharonsala.net
