Wild Need

by Donna Grant

  “At least the girls packed us extra socks.” Lincoln shook his head as he laughed. “Extra socks. Do you know how many times I walked around all day with wet ones?”

  “Yep. All our lives.”

  “Exactly, but what does my Ava think of? Dry socks.” Lincoln looked up at the sun and closed his eyes. “How is it that women think of those things, but we don’t?”

  “You’re the one with a woman. You should know.”

  Beau knew it was the wrong thing to say the moment Lincoln looked at him with his penetrating gaze. Beau wanted to groan in annoyance. He might have gotten away with saying that to Vincent, but Linc looked deeper, listened harder, saw more.

  Lincoln rubbed his chin silently for a moment. “Are you really going to follow Christian in his absurd quest to remain alone?”

  “Why not? You and Vin have everything covered. Both of you will have children to carry on the Chiasson name.”

  “Do you really think that’s what our parents wanted? Just for two of their children to carry on?”

  Beau shrugged and dug his toes into the damp earth. “Riley will also have children. Fortunately, she and her offspring will be far away from this life.”

  “You won’t hear me arguing about that.” Lincoln leaned his forearms on his knees. “But do you really want to be alone? Don’t think about what we do or how we live. You’re talking about spending decades by yourself instead of with someone else.”

  “I can’t think about a future without considering what we do and how we live. We didn’t even have normal high school years, Linc. Not a single one of us went to college, except for Riley, and only because we forced her to go. What kind of normal is there for us?”

  “Are you worried about a woman accepting what you do? Ava and Olivia understand things.”

  Beau sighed and shook his head. “Olivia grew up here. She had already heard the stories about our family, and she knew we were different. Ava, damn, Linc. You were fortunate there. She was born here, and her father was already in our line of work.”

  “You’re a fool if you think that made things easier,” Lincoln said with a wry twist of his lips.

  Beau shrugged and watched as a young crane tried to fly, only to land awkwardly on a branch just a foot above the water. A moment later, a gator sprang up out of the bayou, his jaws snapping around the crane before he fell back into the water.

  “It’s not that I want to be alone,” Beau finally said. “It’s just...I don’t want a woman to see how we live. I don’t want to have to justify things, or talk her into this way of life.”

  “If she loves you, it won’t matter.”

  “Bullshit. It matters. You think Ava likes you going out every night? You think she likes the worry involved, wondering which night you’ll come home badly wounded? Or if you’ll die.”

  “That’s life, Beau. Anyone’s life. You think it’s any different for those who commute into work? Each time they get into a vehicle could be their last.”

  Beau gave him a droll look. “You’re actually going to compare driving to what we do?”

  “No.” Lincoln made a sound at the back of his throat, his forehead furrowed and his eyes filled with growing anger. “You know I’m not. I’m trying to prove a point that life itself is full of dangers. You think the innocents that die around here don’t know there is danger out in the world?”

  “I know.”

  “Do you really, little brother, because I’m not so sure. If there’s someone you want, go get her. You deserve happiness. Hell, we all do. It took me a long time to realize that.”

  Beau unzipped his pack and pulled out a bottle of water. He drank deeply before he glanced at Lincoln. “I know I won’t survive having someone taken from me the way Mom was taken from Dad.”

  “Who says that’s going to happen?”

  “The odds are stacked against us with our lifestyle. You can’t expect to keep Ava locked in the house all the time. And what about your children? They’re going to want to get out and see friends. How are you going to protect them?”

  “Mom and Dad protected us. I’ll do the same.”

  Beau had no doubt Lincoln would go to extremes for his family. Any of them would. “I know you mean well, but when faced with what we do, it’s better that I remain alone.”

  Lincoln took a sandwich out of his pack and unwrapped it before taking a bite. “One day you’ll find someone who will change your mind,” he said around the food.

  Beau didn’t bother telling him that had already happened.

  ~ ~ ~

  Christian pulled the truck to a stop and turned off the ignition. He sat with his hands on the steering wheel, his gaze out the windshield.

  “What’s going on?” Vincent asked from the passenger seat.

  “I think someone has caught Beau’s interest. I thought he might want to come into town with me, but he was quick to decline. Too damn quick.”

  Vincent opened the door to let in some air and turned his head to Christian. “He was acting peculiar this morning. I chalked it up to him waking with that odd feeling.”

  “It’s more than that. He won’t admit it, but I think there’s someone.”

  “Who?”

  “That’s the question. Let’s take a walk around Crowley and see who we run into that could be a candidate.”

  Vincent laughed. “He’s so going to kick your ass when he finds out.”

  “Don’t you mean our asses?” Christian asked as he got out of the truck and shut the door.

  “Hey,” Vincent said with his hands raised as he came around the back of the truck. “I’m just along for the ride.”

  “Yeah. No one around here believes that shit,” Christian said, lacing his words with heavy sarcasm.

  Vincent playfully shoved him as they walked down the street. The smile Christian wore faded as he looked around with his trained eye. The usually smiling, friendly folks kept their gaze on the ground and their footsteps quick as they went about their business.

  “I was really hoping Maria and Beau were wrong,” Vin said from beside him as they came to a stop. “But from what I’m seeing, there’s no doubt something is stirring.”

  “There’s only one reason for people to change so suddenly.”

  Vin ran his hands through his long hair. “Yeah. Evil. They may not recognize who it is or where it’s coming from, but they sense it.”

  “Most of what we hunt never affects any of the people unless they’re targeted. It looks like Maria had cause to be afraid.”

  Vincent nudged him and walked a little further down the street. They encountered short tempers, rude stares, and hateful words.

  “Vampire?” Vincent asked.

  Christian shook his head. “People sense them, but it doesn’t cause them to act like this.”

  “A demon could.”

  “Yep, except I’ve not seen anything else to point to a demon or possession. It could be a poltergeist.”

  Vincent gave a rueful shake of his head. “In a small town like this? We would’ve already heard about it.”

  “Why do I get the feeling this is going to be something we’ve not tangled with before?” Christian asked.

  “It may call for some time pouring over the Chiasson journal.”

  Christian nodded a greeting at an elderly couple as they passed. The journal was a record of every supernatural being the Chiasson family had ever encountered, its strengths, its weaknesses, its habitat, and how to kill it.

  As a young child, Christian had often snuck downstairs and poured over the journal with a flashlight under his father’s desk. A large portion of it had kept him up many nights afterward, afraid to go to sleep.

  It wasn’t every child that grew up knowing there really could be monsters under the bed. The only thing that did get him to sleep was knowing that nothing could ever penetrate the house and get him or his siblings while they were inside.

  “I’d hoped having a look around would give us some kind of clue. We’ve driven for hou
rs down dirt roads and rice fields, and there are only so many times you can drive up and down the roads in Crowley before someone gets suspicious.”

  Vincent reached a corner and waited for the stoplight to turn red before he crossed the street. Christian was beside him, his curiosity spiked as to what might have caught his brother’s attention.

  Then he realized the reason when Vincent walked to the small office Ava used for her law practice. Vincent unlocked the door and strode inside. It took the two of them just a moment to do a quick search to make sure no one had been there.

  “What did you think to find?” Christian asked.

  Vin shrugged and fiddled with the keys. “Nothing. I just wanted a look around. Lincoln would’ve come here first.”

  “Yeah, he would’ve,” Christian said with a nod. “Ava can remotely access her computer here, so I’ve no doubt she’s working from the house.”

  Vin looked around once more. “Let’s head out and see if Linc and Beau found anything.”

  Beau was the first out of the office. He turned and watched Vincent lock up. “Since we’ve not heard from either of them, I’m betting they came up as empty-handed as us.”

  “Most likely,” Vincent said and pocketed the keys.

  They turned as one, and Beau’s gaze snagged on a woman with straight blond hair that just skimmed her shoulders. She got into an old Dodge car and drove off.

  “What is it?” Vin asked.

  “The town’s newest occupants. We might want to look into them. There were two sisters that moved into Crowley about a year ago,” he said.

  Vin shrugged. “We do occasionally get people who actually want to move into the parish. Crowley is a decent city and very close to all the smaller towns.”

  “Whatever,” he said and waved away Vincent’s words. “What do we know about the sisters?”

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  “Have you lost your damned mind?” Lincoln asked Christian. “Those two sisters aren’t the newest people to move into the area. What about that weird family who bought the old Richard rice farm? If you want to look into anyone, that’s who I place my vote for. Have you seen their two kids?” Lincoln shuddered. “Right out of a Stephen King novel.”

  Beau looked around the table at the empty dishes pushed aside from the evening meal as they talked. Just as Vincent had predicted, they had found nothing during their search. Beau had yet to say anything, but what was there to say? He also wanted to know more about the Arcineaux sisters. The fact that it had nothing to do with whatever they were hunting didn’t need to be stated.

  “Fine,” Christian said. “We look into everyone new.”

  Olivia set down her glass of lemonade. “Need I remind you, Christian, that it wasn’t a new member of the area that killed your parents or those women a few months ago? It wasn’t new people who came after me, either.”

  “She’s got a point,” Vincent said.

  Christian looked away from the table. “We can’t look into everyone.”

  “No,” Ava said. “Trust your instincts. If the sisters and that family stand out, then look into them both. There’s no reason Olivia and I can’t do some digging. We’re pretty handy with computers.”

  Olivia’s eyes brightened. “Yes! I need something to do.”

  “Beau?” Vincent said. “What are your thoughts?”

  Beau threw up his hands and then let them fall to his thighs. “Ava’s idea sounds like a good one.”

  “You don’t have an opinion?” Christian asked with a roll of his eyes. “There’s something wrong.”

  “Nothing’s wrong,” Beau hurried to say.

  Lincoln’s blue gaze was once more on him, and no matter how hard he tried, Beau couldn’t hold it. Beau pushed his chair back and walked to the fridge. He pulled out a bowl and set it on the table in front of everyone. “I made banana pudding for dessert.”

  He walked out of the kitchen and straight into the office. He sat behind the desk and opened the laptop. Once his fingers were on the keyboard, however, he couldn’t manage to type anything. It seemed wrong for him to dig into Davena’s past. She hadn’t done anything amiss in her time in Crowley, but there was no doubt he would find something if he looked. Everyone had something in their past they regretted and wanted forgotten.

  If he went searching, he would find something. What if it was something that led the others to believe she and her sister were the ones in danger? What if he told Davena what he did, and they were wrong about her and her sister? What if the Arcineaux sisters weren’t, in fact, the ones being targeted?

  What if she decided she never wanted to have anything to do with him?

  Beau’s phone vibrated in an S.O.S. signal. It was Riley’s code that she had programmed in all four of their phones so they would always know when she called.

  “Hey, squirt,” Beau answered.

  “Hey!”

  He sat back, instantly on alert at the false happiness in her voice. “What’s up?”

  “Apparently not my boobs,” she said sarcastically. “Do you know they don’t stay perky all that long.”

  “Riley,” he said with a sigh. “I don’t need to know about that stuff.”

  “Who else do I talk to about it? It’s not as if I have sisters,” she complained.

  He pinched the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger. “You’re about to get a sister-in-law in Olivia, and I don’t think it’ll be much longer before you can call Ava that, as well.”

  “I know, and I adore both of them. We talk almost every day.”

  Beau’s eyes snapped open. He knew without asking that neither Lincoln nor Vincent knew how often Riley and their women spoke. Riley had always been outnumbered in their family, but suddenly, her side was gaining.

  She laughed through the phone. “Now that’s got you worried, doesn’t it.”

  He stretched out his legs and crossed them at the ankle. “You didn’t call to talk about your boobs or to shock me.”

  “I sure didn’t. Damn, but you’re perceptive.”

  Beau couldn’t help but smile. Since he and Riley had been the youngest, they got left together a lot. It had brought them closer, and if there was ever a problem, she normally came to Beau first.

  “You might as well just tell me instead of hem-hawing around.”

  Instead of the loud, dramatic sigh he was expecting, there was silence. A thread of fear raced through him.

  “You aren’t in trouble are you?”

  “No, no,” she hurried to answer. “I want to come home.”

  He almost wished she were in trouble. It would be easier to handle than telling her she couldn’t come home. “Your deal with Vincent was that you remain in Austin and get your degree from the University of Texas.”

  “LSU is closer. Can’t I transfer there?”

  “Look, squirt, you know I want you home. You also know why we all agreed to send you away.”

  “It’s not fair, Beau. I’m a grown woman. I can make my own decisions.”

  This was what they had all dreaded. When Riley told them to kiss off and did what she wanted. Beau knew it would one day come, but Vincent believed Riley would do what he wanted for the sake of the family.

  “Finish the semester-”

  “I’m finished with my summer classes,” she interrupted.

  Beau looked at the computer screen, the cursor waiting for him to type in his search. “Finish the fall semester. I’ll convince Vin to let you come home for Christmas, and we can talk to him then.”

  “Thanks, Beau.”

  He frowned when he heard the sadness in her voice. “Is it really so bad up there?”

  “I’ve got friends. I’ve even gone on a few dates. Austin is nice, but it isn’t home.”

  “Be safe, squirt. You know we love you.”

  “Love ya, too,” she said and ended the call.

  Beau set aside the phone and sat up, ready to type in his search when his gaze landed on all three of his brothers in the doorway. His gaze
shifted to the couch as Ava and Olivia waved at him. When had they all come into the office? Was he that preoccupied with Davena and Riley that he hadn’t noticed?

  He really was going to have to get his own place. He desperately needed his own time.

  “How is Riley?” Christian asked.

  Beau met Vincent’s gaze. “She wants to come home.”

  “We gathered that,” Vin said tightly.

  Lincoln walked into the office and sank into the chair near the desk. “I think her coming home for Christmas is a great idea. It’s been a few years since we’ve seen her.”

  “Which I warned you wasn’t a good idea,” Beau added. “I told you to let her return on her breaks, Vin.”

  “It’s for her own good,” Vincent said.

  Olivia raised a brow at him. “Careful, babe. That might come back on you soon.”

  Beau narrowed his gaze on the girls who exchanged a look. They knew something. He would bet his LP collection on it. With as often as they spoke with Riley, no doubt all three had formed some kind of plan.

  He bit back a smile. Beau really couldn’t wait to see how everything all played out. No doubt it would be a doozy for sure.

  “I thought y’all were eating dessert,” Beau said.

  Lincoln shrugged. “We figured you were doing some research, so we thought we’d come and help.”

  That was the thickest load of crap Beau had ever heard. If he weren’t careful, they would discover his interests lay with one Davena Arcineaux.

  “What did you find?” Christian asked.

  Beau glanced at the blank screen. “I haven’t even started.”

  “I have,” Ava said.

  Every eye in the room focused on her. She pushed up her reading glasses and adjusted herself on the couch. “I typed in Delia Arcineaux and found an obituary for six years ago.”

  “Where?” Vincent asked.

  Ava glanced up. “A small town called Algiers right outside of New Orleans.”

  “That means nothing,” Christian said. “It’s common for criminals to find names in obits and use them.”