“Jake, I’m so sorry about all this,” she said, looking into his eyes. “I thought you were a smuggler, so I called 911, and they called the sheriff. Why didn’t you say you were an ICE agent?”
He put his hands on her shoulders and looked into her eyes. “Because you were the prime suspect, and a good agent never breaks his cover.”
“Was everything a cover?” she asked.
Jake pulled her close. “Sweetheart, I’ve been undercover so many times, I’d forgotten who I was, until I came back to Delta Ridge. This is the only place on earth where everything is real.”
She caught a glimpse of Miss Alice picking something up from the ground. Holly squinted, not believing what she’d seen. The old gal’s oversize purse bulged as she stuffed it with marijuana from a bale that had busted out of its plastic wrap. Sirens blared, and Miss Alice glanced over her shoulder. She caught Holly looking and lifted a finger to her lips.
Holly grabbed Jake’s arm and walked him away from Miss Alice. An ICE agent might not be able to turn a blind eye to her medicinal harvest.
The tugboat engine revved up as it towed the barge away from the bank an inch at a time. She spotted Mackie chasing after goatee guy. He must have known he was beat, because goatee guy ran for the wheelhouse. Mackie jogged toward the end of the barge. He hurled himself off the barge and rolled onto the bank.
“That’s one tough son of a gun,” Jake said.
Holly clasped her arm around Jake’s. “You don’t know the half of it.”
“Tell me something I don’t know about Mackie,” Jake said, more as a flip comment than a request.
Holly looked up at him and grinned like she knew the secrets of the universe. “I’ll let him tell you,” she said as she slid her soft hand from around his arm. “I need to check on Miss Alice.”
“He’s going to tell me where the devil he’s been and how he ended up in the middle of a bust,” Jake said, marching across the muddy riverbank, toward his dad. The old fart was lucky he hadn’t been killed.
A Coast Guard boat zoomed up behind the barge, and a Guardsman on the speaker called, “U.S. Coast Guard. Kill your engines and prepare to be boarded.”
Mackie dusted his clothes off and headed toward Jake as approaching voices from the levee carried over the water. The cavalry had finally arrived. Better late than never.
The closer Jake got to his old man, the more he realized how much he’d changed. Yeah, he was older, but that wasn’t it. As Jake watched his dad walk a straight path to him, Jake’s steps faltered. Mackie sober?
Mackie stood in front of Jake and stared for a moment. His dad had always been a handshake kind of guy, but he didn’t offer one. Jake extended his hand to get the greeting out of the way before he got down to the business of why Mackie was there. The old man’s eyes glistened with tears as he wrapped Jake in a bear hug. An unexpected tightness strangled Jake’s vocal cords. He swallowed hard.
His dad patted him on the back, then pushed away. Mackie rubbed his workingman’s hand across his eyes. “Oh, man. I haven’t shed a tear since your mama left.”
“Or been sober after dark.” Jake cocked an eye at his dad. “Until now.”
“Twenty-one days.” He grinned. “Get used to it. I went through hell to dry out, and I’m not goin’ there again if I can help it.”
“What brought that on?”
“You.”
“Me?”
Mackie shrugged. “I needed to call you, and I couldn’t.”
“Did you lose my number?”
Mackie shook his head. “I know it by heart. You said I could call you when I was sober.” He sucked in a breath. “But some things are best done in person.”
“You know you’ve got some explaining to do,” Jake said.
“No problem, son.”
Flashlights streaked the night sky as more voices neared them. Jake turned as footsteps sounded behind him. A greenhorn trooper approached, gun drawn.
“Hold on.” Jake held his hands in the air. “I’m ICE. Agent McCann.”
“Show me some ID real slow.”
“I’ve got agents over on the bank, holding six suspects.” Jake eased his ID from his pocket and flashed it at the trooper. “Don’t shoot them, either.” Jake thumbed toward the bank. “They need some cuffs and some muscle.”
The trooper shot a look at Mackie. “What about him?”
Jake tossed a look at his dad. “He’s one of the good guys.”
CHAPTER 40
Back at Holly Grove, Holly sat in the parlor watching the aftermath of the bust. State troopers and ICE agents had swarmed the house and were questioning the guests. Sam had arrived and was scribbling notes like a kid acing an exam. Holly’s head ached from a combination of the nick the bullet left on her scalp and answering too many questions. But she was confident the smuggling at Holly Grove was finally over. And she’d seen the last of Burl, she hoped.
Somehow, Miss Alice had locked her loot in her trunk before she met with the agents. She’d held up like a pro under questioning about how she came to be at the river. She’d insisted she’d only done her civic duty.
Mackie and Jake had had a heart-to-heart about Mackie’s part in the bust, and it looked like Mackie was going to be one of the star witnesses for the prosecution.
A chill inched over Holly. She pulled the blanket the agents had given her earlier a little tighter, then looked over her shoulder for Burl. He wasn’t there. He wasn’t supposed to be. His business at Holly Grove was finished. Yet she couldn’t shake the feeling he was still in the house.
Don’t borrow trouble, Holly. If Burl were here, he’d be smack-dab in the middle of all the excitement.
A little sigh of relief escaped her lips as she slipped upstairs to change out of her damp clothes. Soon everyone would leave or go to bed, and she and Jake would be alone. And then what?
When she opened her bedroom door, she stopped short. All the adrenaline she’d been running on evaporated.
Burl stood staring out her bedroom window.
“Why are you still here?” She slammed the door behind her. “Didn’t you notice the house is crawling with law enforcement? We caught the smugglers. You’re free.”
He didn’t turn around. “You know what’s out there?” he said in a somber tone and didn’t wait for an answer. “Fire and damnation.”
A headache throbbed at Holly’s temples. “So what?” She marched to Burl. “Didn’t you hear me? We caught the smugglers. That was your ticket out of here.”
Burl shot a look over his shoulder. “I didn’t catch them.”
“Okay. Technically, Jake did.”
“Yeah, right.” Burl turned to face her. “Some undercover man. I’ve known he was an ICE agent for a while.”
“And you didn’t tell me?”
His pale brow creased in deep folds. “That bozo was up here looking for you, instead of looking for the smugglers.” Burl thumbed his chest. “I’m the one who sent him to the river.”
“How? He can’t hear or see you.”
Burl gave her a halfhearted grin. “One of my new tricks.”
“See? You helped. Did St. Peter miss that?”
“He doesn’t miss anything.” Burl shrugged, as though trying to slough off a burden. “I don’t know why I’m still here. All I know is I didn’t want to leave you.” He dropped his gaze to the hardwood floor. “When I was alive, I messed everything up for you. Now I feel responsible. This may sound crazy, but it’s like I’m supposed to do something. Watch over you, maybe.”
“Great. Just great.” Holly paced in front of Burl. “Not only do I have a ghost for my ex, but he’s also certifiable. Listen carefully. I don’t want you, and I don’t need you. Now make your exit, while you’ve got the chance, please.”
He lifted a shoulder. “I think I missed it.”
“How did you mess up your chance to weasel your way through the pearly gates?”
“It is what it is.” He glanced toward the window. “The only e
xit I see is out there, and you know if I take one step outside, I roast.” He stuffed his hands in his pockets. “Looks like you’re stuck with me.”
“Oh, no I’m not.” She paced in front of Burl. “If Jake asks me to go with him this time, I’m so going.”
In my dreams. Jake isn’t going to ask and if he did what would become of Holly Grove?
“Really?”
She squared herself, toe-to-toe with Burl. “Really.”
“You’re booked through Christmas. Who’s going to run the place? Nelda?” He laced his hands under his lapels. “I’m not going anywhere, and I seriously doubt she could handle me alone.”
Holly glared at Burl. “Nelda has a reputation as the best cook in plantation country. She’d probably rather get a job anywhere else than be in the house with you. I’ll sell Holly Grove if I have to.” The words tumbled out of her mouth, but she wanted to eat them as soon as they hit her ears. A deep ache settled in her soul.
“You’d sell Holly Grove with me in it, after I saved your life?”
Holly folded her arms over her chest. “Saved my life? Ha! You were stuck here in the house. You didn’t do squat.”
Burl paced in a slow circle around her. “Jake was up here looking for you, while you were getting your hummingbird heinie in alligator trouble down there.” He nodded toward the Mississippi. “I wrote him a message in the mirror, and he hauled tail. If he’d made his shot a second later, you’d be checking in with St. Peter yourself. I didn’t send your Romeo to bust the smugglers. I sent him to save you.” He stopped in front of her and held her stare like he had nothing to hide. “Ask him if you don’t believe me.”
Holly jacked her chin up a fraction. “I will.” She whirled around and stormed out of her bedroom.
“And by the way,” Burl called as she marched down the hall. “He hasn’t asked you to go with him, anyway.”
Just like when he’d left after high school. Her feet faltered, and she did her best to hide it.
As she descended the stairs, she looked for Jake. In a room crowded with testosterone, he still stood out. Actually, he led the pack. Jake barked orders, and “yes, sirs” rang out. He signed digital clipboards and shook hands with men in uniforms designating their service. Jake was the man in charge, and it fit him like he’d been born for it.
He pulled his cell phone from his belt and pressed it to his ear, then covered the other ear before slipping out the back door to the porch. Holly made her way across the crowded room. With any luck, they’d be alone on the back porch. She eased the screen door open, and Jake’s voice drifted across the night air from the backyard.
If Burl was telling the truth, she owed him her life. But she wasn’t about to take his word for it.
Holly stood in the crisp air on the porch. The darkness and shadows hid Jake in the backyard, but she could hear his voice as he talked on the phone.
“Look, I know this operation had a few hiccups, but Dunbar and Sheriff Walker are spilling their guts to save their hides.” He paced as he talked. “If you give me a chance, I can follow the food chain all the way to Central America.”
Her heart weighed on her like an anvil. She’d seen the news. Central America was a dangerous place, and he’d be dealing with the worst.
“In Guatemala? Yeah. I’ve read the briefs on them.” He stopped. His shoulders rose and fell as he listened. “I know the risk. I want to cut the head off this organization.”
He might never come back this time, even if he wanted to.
“Yes, sir.” He shoved his phone in his pocket and then fist-pumped.
“Good news, huh?” Holly said, stepping to the edge of the porch.
Jake turned. His silhouette reminded her of a G.I. Joe doll. He was made for his work.
“Yeah.” He mounted the steps and joined her on the porch. “That was Chief. He sent me down here because I was the only agent who could fit in as the local boy coming home.”
“Worked like a charm.”
“I had some help.”
Her eyes widened. “Who?”
“Mickey, Charlie, Sam, Mackie, Miss Alice. You.”
She raised a delicate hand to her chest. “Me? I thought I nearly ruined the whole thing.”
He gave a wry grin. “You do have a nose for trouble.”
“So I hear.”
His brows took a downward slant. “Well, you nearly got yourself killed.”
“How did you know where I was?”
“If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, I would have never believed it.” Jake dragged a hand across his forehead like that would help make sense of what he’d seen. “A foggy patch formed on the mirror near the front door in the wide hall and three words were written on it. Holly. River. Danger.” He shook his head. “I was just in time to wing the sheriff before he shot you point-blank.”
For once, Burl had told the straight truth. “Looks like I owe my ghost one.”
“I have to be honest.” He hesitated, as though he were gauging his words. “My career was riding on this bust.”
“I was watching you in there.” She glanced toward the house. “Your career means a lot to you, doesn’t it?”
“I used to think it meant everything.”
“And now?”
“It’s my job. I’m good at it.” He hooked his thumbs in his pockets. “That was my chief on the phone, congratulating me on the bust and giving me my next assignment.”
“When do you leave?”
“As soon as I wrap things up tonight.”
Holly nodded. What could she say? She had known he’d leave all along, but . . .
“I may not get another chance to see you alone.” Jake laced his arms around her waist. “Long-distance relationships are complicated—”
“By all means, don’t complicate things. I’ve had smugglers running drugs through Holly Grove. I brought her back from the brink of bankruptcy and did it all with my ex haunting the place. I can handle complicated. Evidently, you can’t.”
“You’ve taken what I said all wrong,” Jake pleaded as voices sounded from the other side of the house and car doors slammed. “Look, I’ve got to go. I probably won’t be able to call you or anything. When I get back, we’ll work something out.”
“Like what? A flight pattern?”
“Come on, sweetheart. What do you want me to do?”
“Don’t make promises you can’t keep. You said you’d be back last time you left Delta Ridge. It took you fifteen years to come back to me, and I didn’t have the added attraction of my ex-husband haunting my house. You may want to drag this out and let it die a natural death, but I can’t do that again.”
Mickey swung the porch door open. “Boss, we’ve got a trooper escort to New Orleans ready to roll.”
“Good-bye, Jake.” Holly turned and ran in the house.
* * *
A week later, on Halloween night, Holly opened a bottle of champagne Toni and Duke had given her as a thank-you gift for the fun they’d had at Holly Grove. With any luck, it would drown her sorrow. Holly missed Jake but reminded herself this was the only way it could end. Jake had outgrown her and small-town life years ago.
She poured a glass of champagne. The purchase offer that had come with the champagne lay next to the bottle on a small mahogany table in the parlor. Toni and Duke had had such a good time, they wanted to buy Holly Grove. Evidently, the Gold Member start-up was doing quite well. She’d been tempted to sign the thing to get away from Burl, but she just couldn’t bring herself to do it. She owed him her life, and besides, she couldn’t part with Holly Grove or put Nelda out of a job.
Thanks to the success of the Haunted Pilgrimage and a steady flow of reservations, she wouldn’t be forced to sell it, at least for now. She’d even set aside money to pay the tax assessment on Holly Grove. She lifted her glass to her lips and took a sip. Bittersweet success.
Rhett’s ears perked as Nelda walked in from the kitchen. She wrinkled up her nose and fanned the air. “You gonna have t
o make them Deltas blow dope someplace else. The back porch smells like one of them flophouses or somethin’. I’m gonna have to take the plastic down and air it out ’fore spring.”
“Only one Delta is using, and it’s medicinal,” Holly said, though she had to admit Miss Cora Beth was a hoot high.
“Yeah. Miss Alice told me Miss Cora Beth can see her cards better after her medicine. Humph. That’s what Miss Alice calls it.” Nelda grabbed her purse. “Guess if I was goin’ blind, I’d puff, too.”
Nelda turned to walk away, then spun back to Holly. “Oh, and don’t go thinkin’ someone stole my big skillet. I’m takin’ it to the church circle to show my sisters. And I ain’t braggin’.”
“You brag all you want. Your gumbo won by a landslide.” Holly raised her glass and took another sip.
“That’s a fact, but I still ain’t braggin’.” She flashed her bright white smile. “I’m sharing a blessin’.” She hoisted her purse on her shoulder. “Me and my big skillet will be back in the mornin’.”
Holly couldn’t help but smile. She’d never seen Nelda so happy. She hadn’t even complained much about Burl since she won the gumbo contest.
Rhett gave a low growl as Burl rolled into the room like winter fog.
Jeez. She didn’t even have to speak of the devil. All she’d done was think of him, and there he was. They’d busted the smugglers and his plane crash had been reclassified as a murder and Sheriff Walker had been indicted for a host of charges. None of it had been enough to get Burl through the pearly gates.
“’Night,” Holly called as Nelda headed toward the door. Knowing she’d be alone with Burl now did nothing for Holly’s mood.
“I waited for Nelda to leave. Aren’t you proud of me?”
Holly sighed. A lifetime was too long with Burl.
He leaned against the mantel and eyed the open bottle of champagne. “You know you shouldn’t drink alone. Allow me to make a toast.”
In no mood for Burl, she rolled her eyes. “You can’t drink.” She topped off her glass of champagne, but not for a toast. It was strictly medicinal.
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