by Jana DeLeon
He waited several seconds for a reply, but none came. Then he heard Justine utter the single word “Sheriff”—not as a question, but as a greeting, and Brian felt his blood run cold. While they’d been inspecting furniture and finding the emeralds, the sheriff could have easily entered the house through the tunnel and waited for them in case his plan to use Deedee didn’t work.
Now he had Justine and Deedee trapped in the sitting room and Brian had no doubt he had his pistol trained on them. He crept silently down the remaining steps and slipped to the back of the entryway and into the hall, trying to determine the best course of action.
Sheriff Blanchard had entered the sitting room from the kitchen, or Brian would have spotted him, so entering the sitting room from the front entry of the house would put him in full view of the man. The best plan was to sneak down the hall and into the kitchen, hope to catch him from behind and hope to hell the floors didn’t creak as he made his way.
He slipped silently down the hallway, careful to tread on the carpet runner down the center of the wooden floor. He stopped just outside the kitchen entry, trying to determine where Sheriff Blanchard stood. He heard movement, but couldn’t determine whether the sheriff had stepped into the sitting room or was still standing in the entry between the kitchen and sitting room.
Just as he was about to move, Sheriff Blanchard spoke and Brian froze.
“You should have taken my warnings from the beginning,” Sheriff Blanchard said. “Being stubborn is only going to get you dead.”
“You thought you’d scare me, having Deedee pose as a ghost?” Justine asked. “Why would you think I’d fall for that?”
“Your mother believed in all of it. I assumed you were brought up on the same stories. How was I to know you were a ‘modern’ woman with different ideas?”
“You might have gotten a clue when I didn’t bolt the first night, but then you’re not all that quick on the uptake, are you?”
Brian tensed at Justine’s harsh words, and knew he had to make a move. It was almost as if she was intentionally provoking him—but why? He inched closer to the doorway and stuck his head in the kitchen, relieved to see the sheriff standing just inside the entryway to the sitting room with his back to the kitchen. Brian lifted his pistol into position and started for a moment when movement in the kitchen caught his eye.
He stared across the room and realized the light from the hall behind him had cast his shadow on the back of the kitchen wall. That’s what he’d seen.
And what Justine could see if she was facing the sheriff.
That explained why she was intentionally goading the man. She knew Brian was in the kitchen, and was trying to keep the sheriff’s focus on her so that Brian could make a move. If she could just distract him for a bit longer, he’d be able to slip into the kitchen and come up behind him.
“Why go to all this trouble over furniture?” Justine asked. “Is it really worth killing people?”
The sheriff laughed. “I have over three hundred thousand dollars in an offshore account collecting interest, thanks to the furniture in this house. And when I sell those emeralds you’re holding, it will be the icing on my retirement cake. Between the furniture money and my police retirement, I would have had enough money to live in luxury the rest of my life. If only that meddling Olivia could have waited one more year to visit here. All of this could have been avoided.”
“I’m so sorry two women doing their jobs interfered with your crime spree. You won’t get away with this, you know. Any expert will spot the fakes and the police will search for the original furniture. It’s only a matter of time until they track it back to you.”
“And thanks to those emeralds, I’ll be long gone before that happens.”
Brian tightened his grip on his pistol and slipped around the doorway and into the kitchen. Only three steps and he’d be right behind the sheriff.
“You may get away from here,” Justine said, “but you’ll still pay. I do believe in some of the old ways, and you have a cosmic reckoning coming to you for using Deedee the way you did. You knew her mind wasn’t stable, and you took advantage of her.”
Sheriff Blanchard laughed. “I guess you would know about Deedee’s unstable mind. She is your sister, after all.”
Brian heard the sharp intake of breath from Justine and knew he had to move quickly. That statement had put her off balance. But just as he stepped behind Sheriff Blanchard, Deedee caught sight of him and screamed. Sheriff Blanchard whirled around, knocking his gun from his hand, but before the sheriff could fire a shot at Brian, Justine hit him from behind and sent both of them sprawling onto the kitchen floor.
Brian leaped for his pistol at the same time Sheriff Blanchard reached for his own, just inches away. As the sheriff’s fingers closed around the hilt of the pistol, Brian leveled his gun directly at the sheriff’s head. “It’s over,” Brian said.
Sheriff Blanchard stared at him, and for a moment Brian thought the man was going to go for it. Then he released the pistol and slumped down on the kitchen floor, finally beaten. Brian retrieved the sheriff’s gun and secured his hands behind his back with his belt. Then Brian extended his hand to a clearly stunned Justine to help her up from the floor. “Are you all right?”
Justine threw her arms around him and squeezed him tight. Surprised, Brian wrapped his free arm around her and held her close to him, feeling her heart pounding against his chest.
“You were right.” Justine looked up at him, tears spilling over onto her cheeks. “When faced with the possibility of my life ending, I realized how much living I have to do. Our night together wasn’t a mistake. It was the best night of my life.”
Brian stared at Justine, stunned. “Are you saying…?”
“I’m saying that, if you’re willing to take a chance, then so am I. I know we’ve sorta jumped the gun and skipped right to the sex part, but I was thinking maybe we could start with a date.”
Brian wanted to believe her, but so much had happened in just the past hour that Justine needed to process. “What about Deedee?”
Justine frowned. “I don’t know if there’s any truth to what he said, but I’ll do my best to find out.”
“And if Deedee is your sister?”
“I’ll get her a lawyer and see that she gets the help she needs.”
Brian lowered his lips to Justine’s for a soft kiss. That was all he needed to hear.
Epilogue
One month later
Justine sat next to Brian at the restaurant table, looking across at Olivia and John, who still sparkled with newlywed bliss. Brian squeezed her hand under the table and she smiled, knowing he felt as good about life right now as she did. They’d been dating since the showdown at laMalediction, and although they didn’t spend time together every day, they talked often and extensively on the phone. Justine knew her heart belonged to Brian and she knew he felt the same way. They’d spent the past weekend looking at houses to rent in a small town just outside of New Orleans, and not even once had Justine had second thoughts.
“It’s official,” John said as he scanned a text message on his phone. “Fish and wildlife picked up that mechanic, Chris Pauley, for poaching alligators on the estate. That explains why Tom saw him there and where he got the money to buy the cabin.”
Brian shook his head. “I knew that guy was up to something. Alligator poaching. That’s a new one for me.”
Olivia laughed. “That’s really a new one for me.” She looked across the table at Justine. “How’s your mother?”
“Declining rapidly,” Justine replied, “but she’s not in pain, and I’ve been expecting this for a long time. I’m prepared. And she deserves a rest.”
Olivia reached across the table and placed her hand on Justine’s. The obvious concern in her expression warmed Justine’s heart, making her thankful all over again for her new family.
“I am so sorry, Justine. What about Deedee?”
“According to the DNA kits, we share the same
mother, but not the same father. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to find any more information on Deedee’s father than my own, so it will likely remain a mystery. She experienced a complete psychotic break after what happened, and she’s been remanded to the state mental facility. She’ll finally get the care she needs.”
Olivia gave her hand a squeeze and reached for her wineglass. “Sheriff Blanchard confessed to leaving you those notes, just like we suspected. With Sheriff Blanchard on his way to a long prison term and laMalediction being transformed into a halfway house with the oil money, I’d say our work here is done.”
“No more dreams?” Justine asked.
“Not a one since the day you found the emeralds.” Olivia frowned.
“I got a letter from Tom Breaux last week,” Justine said. “He has a theory on everything that happened.”
“Really?” John said. “This ought to be good.”
Justine smiled. “He thinks that when the crack in the fountain allowed the water to leave, the binding on the emeralds lifted and allowed the bad spirits to return to claim laMalediction. He thinks the stones called to you and me, given our relationship to the Borques.”
Olivia sighed her head. “Even though he knows Deedee was the figure in white?”
“That’s the interesting thing. Both times I saw the figure, Deedee was working in the café. She was doing inventory late that first night we arrived at the estate, and she was waiting tables the day the figure pointed me to the graveyard.”
“Seriously?” Olivia said. “Then what…?”
Justine shrugged. “I don’t pretend to understand any of the things that happened at laMalediction—in the past or in the present—but I like to think that somewhere out there is a force larger than any of us. It just had unfinished business.”
Olivia smiled and lifted her wineglass. “To finished business, then.”
“Absolutely,” Justine said and leaned over to kiss Brian before lifting her glass.
ISBN: 978-1-4592-0833-9
BAYOU BODYGUARD
Copyright © 2011 by Jana DeLeon
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