Hook, Line and Blinker (A Miss Fortune Mystery Book 10)

by Jana DeLeon

  “This way,” I said, and slipped in between the crypts to move to another row. When I got to the end of the crypt, I paused and peered around it. About fifty yards away, at the end of the row, I saw John Seal round the corner with the duffel bag.

  “I see him,” I said. “Come on.”

  I took off at a dead run for the end of the row and could hear Ida Belle behind me. When I got to the end of the row, I slid to a stop and looked around the last crypt as Ida Belle ran up beside me.

  “The fence runs as far as I can see,” I said, “but there’s a gate about twenty yards up. I don’t see him anywhere, so I’m guessing that’s where he went, but there’s a tall hedge blocking my view of what’s on the other side of the fence.”

  Ida Belle nodded. “What about Bart?”

  “No sign of him, but he might be ahead. Keep your eyes and ears open.”

  I slipped around the crypt and hurried to the gate. I looked over the gate and saw a small parking lot and the Seal brothers standing next to what was likely another stolen car. Two other cars occupied the lot but both were empty. I took all of this in with a single glance and whirled back around behind the hedge, signaling Ida Belle next to me.

  “They’re about twenty feet away,” I said. “It’s a parking lot.”

  “You got the money?” Bart said.

  I heard the zipper on the duffel and a couple seconds later, John said, “Yeah, it’s here.”

  “How much?” Bart asked.

  “Enough to get out of here,” John said. “It has to be.”

  “What about the evidence?” Bart asked.

  “I don’t know,” John said. “We’ll look later. It doesn’t matter anymore. There’s too many people after us and if we don’t get out of here, we’re going right back to prison because they’ll pin Willie and Hot Rod on us.”

  I looked at Ida Belle and lifted one eyebrow. She knew exactly what I was asking. If the Seal brothers were going to take the money and run, maybe we just let them go. I didn’t think they’d killed Willie or attacked Hot Rod, and we were safer if they left. I could find a way to get the evidence to the proper authorities, and if a story broke, maybe they’d see it on television and wouldn’t come back. If not, maybe the threat of the Heberts looking for them would be enough. They had shot Mannie.

  Which was a whole other problem.

  “What about Big?” I whispered.

  “You’re a librarian. I’m a senior citizen. They got away.”

  It suddenly occurred to me that she was right. Granted, the Heberts had seen me somewhat in action and knew I was more capable than the average person, but they didn’t know the extent of my ability and they didn’t know anything at all about Ida Belle’s military past.

  But it bothered me. Could I just let them walk away? Yeah, they’d gone to prison for ten years, probably for something they didn’t do, but they were drug dealers and generally all-around useless people. That wasn’t likely to change. I pulled my pistol out. I couldn’t do it. Ida Belle shook her head and smiled, and I felt my heart tug. She was the best friend a girl could ask for.

  I was just about to burst through the gate when I heard a voice I hadn’t expected to hear. One that had me frozen in my tracks.

  “I’m afraid I’m going to have to take that bag,” Lucinda said.

  I looked over at Ida Belle, who was doing her own statue impression, her eyes wide.

  “Mom?” John said.

  Mom!?

  I looked at Ida Belle. What the hell was going on here? Just when we thought we had most of it straightened out, the entire world turned upside down. I couldn’t risk looking through the gate again. I was completely exposed that way, so instead, I reached into the bushes and tried to push some of the branches aside so that I could see where Lucinda was standing, but no matter how many ways I moved the thick green leaves, I couldn’t see through the dense foliage.

  “I tried so hard with you boys,” Lucinda said, “but you’ve been more trouble than you were ever worth. All those years I did so well in the business, but you two didn’t inherit one ounce of my ability. I’m not going to let you take me down. I’ve waited too long for certain things and just when they were falling in line, you two showed up, looking for that damned key again.”

  “You set us up?” John asked.

  “How could you?” Bart asked.

  “To save myself, of course,” Lucinda said. “You shouldn’t have drawn attention to yourselves with the drugs. You don’t have the skill set for what you were attempting. If you’d kept boosting cars, things might have been different. Now drop your guns and kick them to the side. Careful now. You know I’m quick with the trigger.”

  I heard the guns hit the ground, and Ida Belle whispered, “Can you get a shot?”

  I shook my head. “Can’t see through the bushes. I’ll have to chance it over the gate.”

  No way was Lucinda getting away with this. She was the one who’d stolen the vehicles from Hot Rod’s place, and I’d bet anything Ralph had been her accomplice. The brothers had probably told their uncle and mother about the evidence Gary left for them, thinking they would help find the key. They had no idea they were feeding information to the enemy.

  When I had some time to reflect, I would be properly sickened and outraged over the entire thing, but now, I had to take Lucinda down before she killed the brothers and left them on the hook for even more crimes she’d committed. I clenched my pistol and nodded at Ida Belle, then eased to the very edge of the bushes and started the countdown.

  One. Two.

  I never got to three.

  Two shots rang out and I whirled around the gate, gun leveled and ready to fire at Lucinda, but she was on the ground, blood seeping from her chest and a hole in the middle of her forehead. The Seal brothers were staring in shock, hands empty, so I scanned the parking lot, figuring one of the Hebert clan had flanked them.

  But it was Patrick Marion who appeared over the hood of a parked vehicle, leveling a pistol at the brothers. I spun back around, hoping that Marion had been concentrating on the brothers and hadn’t seen me, but I didn’t hold out much hope. The last thing I needed was a deputy putting me in his report. Especially this report. A scandal was going to be big news, and I was willing to bet that there was so much more to this one that we didn’t know.

  “You know who I am?” Marion asked.

  “You’re that cop,” John said. “The one whose kid died. We told you we was set up.”

  “And I believed you, but I had no proof,” Marion said. “Ms. Morrow and company, I know you’re there behind the bushes. I followed you here. I’m not interested in anyone else getting hurt or quite frankly, in arresting anyone. All I want is the evidence.”

  “It’s supposed to be in the bag,” John said.

  “What do you think?” Ida Belle whispered.

  “I think we’re screwed regardless,” I said. “He’s a cop. He can show up to arrest us at any time.”

  I shoved my pistol in my waistband and stepped out from behind the bushes and into clear view. “They don’t have the evidence,” I said. “I removed a USB from the bag before I gave it to them. I was going to turn it over to law enforcement so the people looking for it stopped targeting my friend.”

  Marion nodded. “I figured as much, especially with you bundled up with Deputy LeBlanc. Did you know my boy never did drugs before that night? Hair tests proved it. They found GHB in his system.”

  I shook my head. “Someone drugged him, then shot him up with bad heroin to make it look like an OD.”

  “Yes,” Marion said. “To the cops it looked like any other drunk college student tragedy, but I knew better. I’d received the threats, but I didn’t listen, and my son paid for it. I couldn’t risk the rest of my family. Not with nothing else to go on.”

  “So you stopped your investigation,” I said.

  “And left the New Orleans PD. Moved to a small town and ran herd over drunks, wondering for ten years if that evidence really existe
d. If these two were telling the truth about being set up.”

  “Now you know,” I said. “I’m going to remove the USB from my pocket.”

  He nodded, and I pulled it out and placed it on top of the gatepost.

  “Get out of here,” he said. “You don’t want to be caught up in this mess. It would take over your lives for a long time.”

  “What are you going to do with them?” I asked.

  He stared at them for several uncomfortable seconds.

  “Nothing,” he said finally. “They served more time than they were due for their actual crimes.” He looked at the brothers. “Take the bag and get in your car and leave. I don’t ever want to see you anywhere in Louisiana again.”

  The brothers’ eyes widened in surprise. “You don’t have to worry about that,” John said. “Once we get out, we ain’t ever setting foot here again.”

  John moved forward hesitantly and grabbed the bag of money. He hurried back to the car and they climbed inside, their expressions clearly showing their disbelief at this unexpected good fortune. He started the car and burned rubber leaving the parking lot.

  When they were out of sight, Marion looked at me again. “I meant what I said. Get out of here. I don’t want to file a report including civilians, and I’m going to guess you don’t want to be in a report that includes information about you consorting with the Heberts. Nor do I want people to know that I just let the Seal brothers go.”

  “What do I tell people if they ask?” I asked.

  “Whatever you want to tell them,” he said. “But as far as I’m concerned, we never met.”

  I nodded and whirled around, pulling Ida Belle’s arm. “Let’s get out of here before the cavalry shows up.”

  “What are we going to tell the Heberts?” she asked.

  “You’re going to tell them that you couldn’t keep up and lost me.”

  “What about you? Little knew you had the USB.”

  “The Heberts don’t care about the USB or what it contained.”

  “They care that Bart Seal shot Mannie.”

  “I’ll figure it out. Come on, hustle before the police show up. All this gunfire is bound to bring law enforcement, and I don’t want to have to give a statement, even one that says I didn’t see anything.”

  We ran all the way back to the main parking lot. It was a good half mile, but neither of us slowed until we reached my Jeep. The Hummer was gone, and we figured they’d taken Mannie for help. I tore out of the parking lot and my cell phone buzzed as soon as we pulled onto the highway. It was Gertie.

  “Where are you?” she asked.

  “Just got on the interstate. How’s Mannie?”

  “Fine,” she said. “Bart is a lousy shot, thank God. The bullet grazed his thigh but he hit his head on a crypt when he fell. He was just coming to when Little and I got there. Did you get the Seal brothers?”

  “They got away,” I said, and looked over at Ida Belle. “I’ll tell you about it when I see you. Are you going to the warehouse?”

  “Yes, we’re halfway there. See you soon.”

  I disconnected and put the phone in the cup holder. I pressed the accelerator a little harder, anxious to get my conversation with the Heberts over with. I was contemplating lying to people who lied for a living. Granted, I’d done it all the time during missions, but that was always to people I didn’t like. Targets. I was actually kind of fond of Big and Little, even though it probably wasn’t in my best interest to be.

  “You can pull this off,” Ida Belle said, cluing in to my thoughts.

  “I hope so.”

  Little let us into the warehouse and we went straight upstairs to Big’s office. Mannie was lying on a couch, his leg wrapped up and an ice pack on his head. He smiled and waved when we came in, so I guessed he was feeling all right, considering. Little motioned us to our usual seats, where Gertie was already perched and drinking a double serving of whiskey.

  “I’ll have what she’s having,” Ida Belle said as she dropped into the chair.

  “Me too,” I said.

  Little poured the drinks and Big looked across the desk at us. “I understand the Seal brothers got away?”

  I took a drink of the whiskey and nodded. I’d already decided that the best thing to do was to tell the truth. The Heberts might not be happy about the Seal brothers getting away, but surely they would understand why I wasn’t interested in getting in a shoot-out with a cop.

  “I caught up to them at a parking lot,” I said. “I lost Ida Belle somewhere along the way.”

  “I couldn’t keep up,” Ida Belle said. “Maybe thirty years ago…”

  Big nodded. “I understand completely. So what happened?”

  I started filling them in on everything, Lucinda, Marion, his story about his son, and how he’d followed us to the cemetery hoping for the evidence.

  “You gave him the USB?” Little asked.

  “I couldn’t see any reason not to,” I said. “We didn’t need it and he did, especially to prove why he shot Lucinda. Just saying she had a gun wouldn’t be enough to get him off, and although I think the cops will eventually uncover everything, it will probably take a while.”

  Little nodded. “So you think Lucinda was behind killing Willie and attacking Hot Rod?”

  “Yes. The brothers were shocked that Lucinda set them up,” I said. “That was apparent.”

  “And she was their mother?” Gertie asked. “What about Carol?”

  “I have no idea,” I said. “But I’m sure it will all come out eventually.”

  “So this cop let the Seal brothers go,” Big mused. “Why?”

  “He said because they’d already served more time than their crimes called for,” I said. “I don’t know. Maybe he felt a little sorry for them that their own mother had set them up. I have to admit, I felt a little horror and a lot of repulsion myself.”

  Big shook his head. “It’s an amazing twist, and one that I’ll admit I never saw coming.”

  “Me either,” Little said. “And I’m usually pretty good at spotting such things.”

  “I’m sorry they got away,” I said to Big. “I know you want to address them shooting Mannie and shooting at Little, but I didn’t feel I had much of an option.”

  “You didn’t have any option,” Big said, “unless you were crazy enough to exchange gunfire with a cop. You’re a risk taker, but not stupid. Besides, I tend to agree with Marion. The brothers have probably suffered enough, and Mannie will recover quickly from his injury.”

  Relief coursed through me. It was over.

  We’d gotten away with it all. Again.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Three days later, I was reading a book in my hammock and hoping to get in a nap when Carter walked into my backyard and took a seat in the lawn chair. Since the showdown in the cemetery, things had gotten crazy. Marion had gone public with his story, and the video contained on the USB had featured Lucinda and Ralph discussing how they planned to kill Marion’s son and frame John and Bart. How Gary Thibodeaux had gotten the footage would probably remain a mystery, as all attempts to locate him had still proved unsuccessful. I wondered if the club owner had been intercepted by Lucinda before he could escape.

  So far, Marion had kept his promise and neither my name nor Ida Belle’s had popped up during the investigation. As far as Carter knew, I’d never set foot in that cemetery nor had I ever had the USB in my possession. We’d simply left Big’s office and returned to my house, pretending we knew nothing until Carter showed up on my doorstep to tell us it was officially over. We’d waited a day before retrieving Ida Belle’s SUV from the storage facility, then Ida Belle and Gertie had returned to their homes; everything was back to normal.

  Sort of. Carter and I were still sidestepping the big issues between us, but at least we were talking again without arguing about every sentence spoken. It helped that there were plenty of other things to talk about. It allowed us to easily avoid the harder stuff.

  “How’s t
he discovery going?” I asked.

  Marion had officially apologized to Carter for using him to gain access to Hot Rod’s shop under the guise of helping. Given the situation with Marion’s son, Carter hadn’t been holding a grudge anyway, but the apology hadn’t hurt, and when Marion had asked for his help uncovering the web of deceit that Lucinda and Ralph had designed, he was happy to assist.

  “It’s incredible,” he said. “I thought I’d seen things, especially lately, but this is a doozy.”

  “Can you tell me anything?”

  He nodded. “Marion is releasing everything to the press as we uncover it. With Lucinda and Ralph both dead, there’s no trial to secure the evidence for.”

  “So?”

  “Well, for starters, Lucinda isn’t Lucinda. She’s Carol.”

  “What?”

  “Carol Seal was a dedicated employee of the tax assessor’s office by day and a drug supplier for one of the local mobsters by night. When Marion started getting too close, she issued the threat and took out his son. Unfortunately, it appears that the family she worked for was afraid she was too exposed and put out a hit on her.”

  “So she faked her own death,” I said.

  Carter nodded. “Ralph identified the body, and Carol became Lucinda and disappeared to Sinful.”

  “Didn’t you say Ralph was the accountant for some drug dealer in New Orleans years ago? Wasn’t it risky relocating Carol to Sinful?”

  “I’m sure Ralph met with all his questionable clients in New Orleans. Neither party would want to be seen together in Sinful. Too much talk. Besides, it appears he parted ways with that client shortly after Carol’s ‘death.’”

  I nodded. Hiding in plain sight, sort of. It made sense. “So who was the woman in the car?”

  “Probably some unfortunate junkie who resembled Carol enough to avoid a red flag with the coroner. They’re going to exhume the body to get DNA. Maybe they’ll find a match to a missing persons case.”

  “How does Ralph fit into all of this now? If he wasn’t still in the hinky accounting business why all the worry over an audit?”