Swamp Team 3 (A Miss Fortune Mystery)

by DeLeon, Jana

  Nice. Still two shadows in Ally’s bedroom.

  I texted back.

  Carter is somewhere in house. Careful if you shoot.

  I peeked into the hallway and saw a shadow move at the bottom of the stairs. Carter. If I took the hallway, we’d intersect, and then I’d have to explain how I got into the house. I was pretty sure I’d claimed to have studied gymnastics at some point, but somehow I didn’t think it would cover what I’d just done.

  Then I remembered Gertie and Ally’s conversation about the weird closet. I hurried over to the closet and eased the door open. No light entered from the other side, so I knew it was closed. I slipped into the closet and pulled the handgun from my sports bra. I inched through the closet, praying that the hardwood wouldn’t creak.

  When I reached the door, I put my ear against it, hoping to gauge the situation.

  “This is all your fault,” the stalker said. “All you had to do was like me, but you turned me down. You think you’re too good for me, don’t you?”

  “No,” Ally said. Her voice cracked and my pulse shot through the roof. If I got my hands on that guy, he would never breathe again.

  “Then why wouldn’t you go out with me again? I did everything right. I got the right flowers, took you to the right restaurant. Why wasn’t that good enough?”

  “I already told you. I have a lot on my mind. I can’t focus on a relationship right now.”

  “That’s what they all say. All you bitches are alike. A guy gives up everything to follow you and do you appreciate it? No. You push him away as if he doesn’t matter. Well I matter!”

  “Of course you matter,” Ally said.

  “Don’t lie to me. You were carrying on with that trash that lived next door.”

  “No. I swear.”

  “Liar! Why would he be in your backyard late at night if he wasn’t coming to see you? But I showed him. I cracked him good with that two-by-four. Cracked him so good he died.”

  The rest of the pieces of the puzzle fell into place, completing the picture. When Gertie had knocked Floyd’s fence down, he’d yelled at us that he was tired of us lurking around his property. He must have seen David lurking around before. It was David who broke into Ally’s house and rigged the window. Floyd must have seen him and went to Ally’s house to get rid of his lurker once and for all. David thought he’d taken Floyd out, but all he’d done was make it easier for Marco to finish the job.

  “I did it all for you, Ally,” David said. “But did you appreciate it? No, you didn’t!”

  My heart sank as I heard him rage. Any thought of reasoning with him flew right out the window. He was clearly insane. I wrapped my hand around the doorknob and slowly twisted it open, then I inched the door open until I had a crack to see through. I was relieved to see that fake David had his back to me. Ally sat on the bed in front of him, her hands tied together in front of her with a scarf.

  I clenched my teeth and fought the urge to blast him right through the door, but I could risk the bullet going through him and hitting Ally. I leaned over a little and looked at the dresser mirror and my pulse spiked when I saw he had a pistol trained on her.

  Based on his ranting, I was afraid I didn’t have much time left. He was already over the edge and I didn’t think he was coming back. Carter should be at least halfway up the stairs, if not on the landing. Unfortunately, the stalker had a clear view of the door, and with no way to determine his position in the room, Carter was at the same disadvantage I was.

  Which left only one possibility, and it was a risky one.

  I pulled out my phone and sent a text.

  Going for it. Back me up as best you can.

  A second later the reply came.

  Kick his ass.

  I slipped my phone back in my pocket and pushed the door open a tiny bit more—just enough to squeeze my hand out of it. Then I moved it up, trying to get Ally’s attention. She was staring at David, but when my hand rose just above his shoulder, I saw her eyes widen. I held up one finger and shook it, hoping she’d get the message. She looked down just a bit and lifted her bound hands up to wipe her eyes, tapping her nose with one finger as she lifted her hands.

  I pointed to the door, then held up three fingers. She gave me a barely imperceptible nod and I lowered the second finger. Taking a deep breath, I lowered the last one and simultaneously shoved the closet door open as hard as I could, right into the stalker’s back. As soon as the door flew open, Ally shot out of the room. The impact jarred me so hard that I crumpled to my knees and lost my grip on my pistol. The stalker regained his balance and ran yelling after Ally.

  I jumped up from the closet floor but before I could burst out of the room, I heard three successive rounds go off and a huge thump.

  “Thank God, Carter!” I heard Ally yell and then all I heard was sobbing.

  Relief hit me so strongly, I almost sank to the floor again, but I couldn’t afford the luxury of celebration. I had to make a decision. If I walked out of this bedroom, then I’d have to have a plausible means of having been there in the first place. I could sneak back out the bathroom window and pretend I was never there, but I had no way of letting Ally know to keep my role a secret.

  My phone vibrated.

  Cover in place. Ladder at master bedroom window.

  I smiled and pushed the closet door open. I had no idea how they’d managed it but Ida Belle and Gertie had given me a feasible, if not insane, way to enter the house and accost a madman. I hurried out of the room and down the stairs, passing the stalker’s lifeless body halfway down.

  Carter, who was untying the scarf from Ally’s hands, looked up in surprise. “What the hell? How did you get up there?”

  “I crawled in the master bedroom window. I thought you might need help, but looks like you handled everything.”

  Ally gave me a strange look, then her expression cleared in understanding and she winked. I didn’t know whether she thought I was protecting Carter’s manhood or myself from the butt-chewing he was certain to give me if he knew the truth, but I didn’t care. As long as the details never came out, I was safe from further scrutiny.

  “You could have been killed,” Carter said as he pulled the scarf from Ally’s wrists. “And where did you get that gun?”

  “It’s one of the guns Gertie carries in her purse.”

  Carter looked at me in dismay. “One of the guns…that is so not what I wanted to hear.”

  I smiled and grabbed Ally in a hug. “I’m so glad you’re safe. When I realized David was the stalker. I mean, not really David, but you know?”

  Ally squeezed me tightly and whispered in my ear, “Thank you.”

  I released her and sniffed, silently forbidding myself to cry. A couple of seconds later, Ida Belle and Gertie pounded on the front door, and Carter opened it to let them in. They both rushed over to Ally and hugged her, exclaiming over everything that had happened and complimenting Carter on his shooting ability.

  Ally turned to me, a confused look on her face. “You said he wasn’t really David. What did you mean by that?”

  “Whoever he is,” Ida Belle said, “he’s not David Leger. We ran into someone who knows the real David in town and the inconsistencies showed up immediately. Then Fortune remembered he’d known to bring you tulips and took you to your favorite restaurant…”

  Carter nodded. “He’s probably been following you for a while.”

  “But why use David’s name?” Ally asked. “Why pretend to be someone with connections to Sinful?”

  “I can only guess,” I said, “that he knew the real David Leger at some point. He had too many of the details of David’s childhood and family correct, including knowing that no family had lived here for some time.”

  Ida Belle nodded. “Having an old family connection got him instant credibility with the town, including you. We all saw him as Edith Leger’s grandson, and that made him okay.”

  “That’s so wrong,” Ally said. “Bad enough you’re terrorizing wome
n, but to use someone else’s identity to do it is even lower.”

  “Once we know who he was,” Carter said, “I’ll bet we find out this wasn’t the first time he fixated on someone.”

  Ally nodded. “He said as much. Said we were all bitches that didn’t like him. Do you think he’s the one who tried to burn down my house?”

  “No, but the arsonist is in jail,” I said. “And the FBI got the guy who killed Floyd.”

  “What? Who?”

  “It’s a long story,” I said, “and best told after a hot shower and over a beer. For now, all you need to know is that it’s over.”

  Ally smiled and hugged me again. I looked over her shoulder and Ida Belle and Gertie both gave me a thumbs-up.

  I sniffed again.

  Epilogue

  Saturday turned out to be the perfect ending to a bizarre week. The heat gave us a break and dropped into the low eighties. The humidity even dropped a little and a nice breeze blew off the bayou, creating the perfect environment for being outdoors.

  Ally and I started off the day by having coffee sitting in lawn chairs on the bank of the bayou along with a nonstop discussion of everything that had happened. It was hard to believe so many things had transpired in only five days.

  As soon as Carter ran the fake David’s prints, he’d gotten a hit. His real name was Michael Fuller and he was originally from Lake Charles, as he’d told me. But that’s where his truths ended. Michael had been in the Navy and served in the same unit as David Leger. When Carter contacted the real David and explained to him what had happened, David was dismayed that his identity had been used to harm Ally.

  David told Carter that Michael had bunked in the same building as him, but he’d never trusted him. He seemed nice on the surface, but David always thought there was something strange about him. He didn’t know the specifics, but said that Michael had been dishonorably discharged over a year ago, and rumor was that he’d harassed a female cadet. I had no doubt that rumor was true.

  Michael grew fascinated by Sinful after David showed his bunkmates a picture album he’d brought with him, and used to ask David questions about the town. One of the pictures was a photo that a Sinful teen had taken and mailed to David one summer when he couldn’t visit. He’s listed the names of the teens on the back and a message “You’re missing all the fun.” David remembered Ally’s name was one of the ones listed on the photo. While talking with Carter, David pulled out the album and discovered that the picture was missing. I figure Michael latched onto the picture and his obsession grew from there. He must have tracked Ally to New Orleans and stalked her for a while in order to know her favorite places.

  When she moved back to Sinful, he probably panicked that she was now out of reach. After all, a strange man in a small town drew a lot of attention. I think the idea of impersonating David finally hit him and he put his plan in motion, figuring it was his ticket to instant acceptance since the real David had old connections with the town.

  The whole thing was so twisted and mad. I was positive that I’d dealt with crazy and evil in my CIA work—Ahmad was a prime example. But I’d never interacted with it so closely and definitely not on a personal basis. It left me feeling so dirty that I didn’t think a hundred showers could wash off the ick. I couldn’t even imagine how Ally felt, having gone on a date with the guy. But it certainly explained why she wasn’t attracted to him but couldn’t put her finger on why. I think subconsciously our mind locks onto things that our consciousness doesn’t register.

  Ally took off mid-morning to meet a contractor in New Orleans. The insurance adjuster had deemed the kitchen a total loss, and she was off to choose new appliances. I offered to go with her, but she said she needed to do it alone, to remind herself that she could. She was so excited about picking out an oven that it was almost contagious. Almost. Then I reminded myself how much effort went into cooking and the moment passed.

  I tinkered around the house for a while, then that afternoon, I grabbed a book and headed outside for the hammock. Merlin strolled out with me and crawled onto my stomach, purring so loudly I could hear it over the outgoing tide. I stroked his head and told him how smart he was. After all, he’d given me the idea for the flashlight-bobcat escape, and for that, I was eternally grateful. He gave me a look that said “I already knew all that” and went promptly to sleep.

  I wasn’t far behind.

  I awakened that evening to the sound of a boat, but unlike the others that had traveled the bayou that day, this one cut speed and I heard the bottom scraping as it docked in my backyard. With Ally gone and Ida Belle and Gertie currently boatless, I figured there was only one person left who’d be visiting me by water. I opened one eye and sure enough, Carter was stepping out of his boat and into my backyard.

  I opened both eyes and lifted a hand to wave.

  “You’re not going to throw that cat on me, are you?” he asked.

  “There are enough legitimate things you can accuse me of. You need to let go of the handful of things I didn’t actually do.”

  He grinned. “It makes my life easier to put it all in one bucket.”

  I hefted Merlin off of me and sat up. “Does it really?”

  He nodded. “Then I don’t have to think as hard. That leaves me free time for other things. Like boat rides. I thought you might want to take one with me. Unless, of course, it would interfere with your busy sleeping schedule.”

  “Hey, I’m just trying to catch up from all the loss the past week.”

  “I hear you. I thought the world ended this morning when I rolled over and the clock read ten a.m. I don’t think I’ve slept that late since high school.” He extended his hand to me. “So, about that boat ride.”

  “I’m wearing shorts,” I said as I took his hand and allowed him to tug me out of the hammock.

  He pulled me up and close to him. “You look perfect. Just put on your shoes and let’s go.”

  What the hell? If you have hammock hair and no makeup on and a smoking-hot guy says you look perfect, you’re a fool to argue. I slipped on my sandals and walked to the boat, still holding his hand. He helped me inside, then shoved the boat off the bank and hopped inside.

  He took off down the bayou at a moderate clip, waving at other boaters as we passed. It seemed as if everyone in Sinful were either on a boat or in their yard today. I leaned back in my seat and closed my eyes, enjoying the combination of the wind and setting sun on my face. When we got to the bay that the bayou ran into, he directed the boat to the right, rather than turning around and heading back to my house, as I’d expected him to do.

  “Where are we going?” I asked.

  “It’s a surprise.”

  I watched as we approached a small island that sat off to one side of the bay. Carter drove his boat right up the sloped bank, and motioned for me to get out. “There’s something I want to show you,” he said. “I think you’re going to like it.”

  He extended his hand to me and I climbed out of the boat, then we headed up the bank and onto a path that ran through a clump of cypress trees. I have to admit, walking down the path, holding Carter’s hand, had my pulse ticking up a notch.

  A couple minutes later, we stepped out of the trees, and my pulse went into overdrive. The tiny clearing was covered with low swamp grass, and it sat ten feet above the bay, like a little lockout on the tip of the island. The sun was setting directly in front of us, casting an orange glow over the water.

  In the center of the clearing sat a table and two chairs. Plates with silver lids sat at each seat and a bottle of champagne chilled in a bucket next to the table. The smell wafting up from the table made my mouth water, and I couldn’t stop staring at everything.

  “You did all this for me?”

  “I did it for us. I think I had it wrong before. I thought you might prefer this to a crowded restaurant in New Orleans.”

  I nodded. “The food smells incredible. I can’t believe you cooked for me.”

  “Well, I’m smart eno
ugh not to ruin the evening with my own cooking, but I arranged for the perfect meal.”

  “Ally. She didn’t really have to go to pick out ovens, did she?”

  “No. She’s been at my house all afternoon cooking and lamenting the fact that I have nothing suitable for preparing food.”

  I smiled as a warm, fuzzy feeling swept over me. All Ally’s excitement had been about preparing this meal for Carter and me. It was the coolest feeling to know that someone cared about you so much they’d be excited about going to this much trouble for you.

  Carter pulled the champagne out of the bucket and poured us each a glass. “To whatever the future may bring,” he said.

  Perfect. I clinked my glass against his and took a sip, then I put it down and did what I’d wanted to do since I first saw him walking up the bank at my house—I wrapped my arms around him and kissed us both senseless.

  As my body pressed against his, all I could think was that I never wanted that moment to end.

  The End

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