Biloxi Sunrise (The Biloxi Series Book 1)

by Jerri Ledford

  “Yeah.” He rubbed sleep from his eyes and pushed himself up on the bed.

  “Jack.” Leslie’s voice was shaky.

  “What.” He was awake and ready for a fight after their confrontation earlier. She’d had time to work up a good tirade by now.

  “Jack, I’m scared.”

  Jack opened his mouth to argue then stopped. He expected her to scream at him, to give him hell for what had happened earlier, but he did not expect her to need him.

  “What’s wrong?” Jack was wary. If Leslie didn’t call to fight, then she must have some new drama because one thing was certain; Leslie always had drama.

  “My phone keeps ringing. Like four times in the last few hours. The first three calls, there was no one there. Just a hissing sound on the line. The last call, there was this deep voice. God, Jack it was the most frightening sound I have ever heard.” Her voice cracked and then Jack heard her deeply draw in air and exhale loudly.

  He pictured her smoking. He’d always thought of her as a smoke stack when she was upset. Inhaling and exhaling cigarette smoke was her release valve unless she happened to have some kind of drug on hand to take the edge off.

  “Leslie, calm down and tell me what the person said.” The hairs on the back of his neck started to prickle, but he still wondered what Leslie was really up to. She wouldn’t have called him unless there was something in it for her.

  She exhaled hard again and Jack imagined her holding a cigarette close to her face, her hand trembling so hard the smoke wafted from the tip in a ragged zigzag.

  “He said that I would pay.” Deep exhale. “That I am a bad mother and I will pay for what happened to Lisa.”

  Who said? Jack forgot to be wary of Leslie’s ploys. Who knew what happened to Lisa? And how did they know? Questions bounced around Jack’s brain like acorns falling from a tree as he fully absorbed what Leslie was telling him.

  “Did he say anything else?”

  “No.” It was more a whine of denial than a real answer. “That’s all. And then he hung up. But I don’t know, Jack. I’m scared.”

  “Leslie, listen to me.” Jack wanted to reassure her. He wanted her to hear what he was saying. “It’s probably a prank call. I don’t know who would know…what’s going on.” He couldn’t bring himself to actually name what had happened between Lisa and Tim.

  “I doubt you have anything to worry about.” He didn’t really doubt that, but no need to feed Leslie’s drama monster. “I’ll make some calls. I’ll get someone to patrol by the house every few minutes for the rest of the night, okay?”

  The only response was the click of a lighter as she lit another cigarette.

  “You still need to call the police. Make a report. Tell them everything you told me okay?”

  “Jack, can’t you just do it? Can’t you come over?” Leslie sounded desperate and small.

  Despite his anger over the whole situation earlier, Jack urgently felt the need to make it all better for Leslie. To take care of his sister the way he had done when they were younger and someone had picked on her.

  “I’ve had enough of police for a while.”

  The way she said “police” crawled up Jack’s spine. He was the police, but she seemed to forget that unless it was somehow valuable to her.

  He looked at the clock and stifled a groan. 3:50 a.m. It was almost time to get up, but family duty was family duty. “I’ll come by, Leslie, but it might take me a little while to get there. Until I do, stay inside and keep the doors locked. I’m still going to call in a patrol. And you still need to report this.”

  “Yeah,” Leslie said, but she sounded like her mind was somewhere else. “Jack, I’m sorry about earlier. I know you were just trying to protect us, but it’s not your place to say how I should handle my life. You don’t know, Jack. You just don’t know.”

  “Don’t know what, Leslie?” He dreaded this conversation. They should really give it more time before he tried to convince her that what was best for Lisa was not having Tim as part of the family. But she’d opened the door so he might as well prepare for battle.

  “Never mind.” Leslie’s tone changed. It was sharper, stronger. “Don’t worry about coming by. I’m sure we’ll be fine with the extra patrols, and I’ll call the cops, too. We can talk tomorrow.”

  “Leslie—”

  “It’s fine Jack. I’m okay, really.” A dial tone punctuated her words.

  He shook his head and then called dispatch. The officer on duty answered and Jack told him about Leslie’s phone calls. “Can you get a patrol out there to ride by about every fifteen minutes or so?”

  “I don’t know Jack. That Messenger of Judas concert was tonight. Half the city is up in arms. Put a pagan name on a rock group here in the South and people get crazy. The religious folks are in an uproar. There’s been picketing in front of the coliseum all day and we’ve been breaking up fights all night long. We had to put extra people on it in case of a riot.”

  Jack ran his fingers through his hair. He had forgotten that was tonight. They’d been pulling extra officers in all day to deal with the chaos. This was the middle of the Bible Belt. Religious groups were usually able to keep that kind of stuff away from the area.

  It must have been a major coup for the group to land the booking. It probably wasn’t even about the ticket sales or the money the concert would earn. It would be lucrative for sure. But the statement that could be made having such a controversial concert in such a conservative area would be priceless. Every newspaper in the country was probably following it.

  The concert should have been over hours ago. “It’s almost four in the morning. Isn’t it over yet?”

  “It ended about one. But there were parties all over the place. A whole group of people got together and got a permit to have a bonfire and camp out at the Broadwater Marina. Heavy partiers. And it’s still going strong. I hear the band is even there, stirring people up and making it worse.”

  “How’d they get the permit?” Jack mumbled more to himself than to the officer on the other end of the phone. Since Hurricane Katrina had wiped the Broadwater Marina completely off the map, all that was left was rubble and open spaces. The original owners hadn’t sold, but they hadn’t rebuilt either. It could mean only one thing, there was serious money involved. He wondered what the price tag to the band had been.

  “What’s that? It’s loud in here. I can’t hear you too well.”

  “Nothing. Listen, I’ll take care of it. Don’t worry about pulling anyone off the beach okay?” Jack raised his voice to be heard over the commotion in the background.

  “That’s good. I’m just not sure how we could manage tonight, man. I’m sorry.” And the officer on the other end of the line sounded like he meant it.

  “No worries,” Jack said just to say something. There was no way they could spare people for a personal favor right now. And even if Leslie did call it in, they probably wouldn’t get someone over there to take a statement for hours. It wasn’t that the cops didn’t care. Budget cuts had left the force short-handed and stretched thinner than the Mississippi school budget.

  He’d just have to go watch the house himself whether Leslie liked it or not.

  As he hung up the phone, he swung his legs off the side of the bed and sat there for a minute with his head in his hands. Then, with a deep sigh he shuffled into the bathroom. The light burned his eyes, and it took a minute for them to adjust to the brightness.

  When they did, he looked in the mirror. His middle aged face stared back at him. His chin was covered with thick stubble, and although his face was deeply tanned, he could see dark circles outlining the story of the stress he’d already faced this week.

  He took a quick shower and shaved. He wasn’t even going to tell Leslie he was there. He’d park on the street a couple of houses down from hers and watch the house for a while just to be sure Leslie and Lisa were safe, and then he would go on to work. Leslie would never have to know.

  In the kitchen he br
ewed a quick pot of coffee, thankful he’d splurged to buy one of those fast brew coffee makers when his old one died just a few weeks ago. Two minutes and he had coffee. He poured a thermal cup full and then dumped the rest into a metal thermos.

  He flipped off the lights in the house. But something plucked at the back of his brain like he was forgetting something. In the past he had considered getting a dog, but wasn’t home enough to take care of one. Now he wished again that he had one to take along for the company over the next few hours. As it was, it would be just him and the night. He looked around, but could find nothing that he might be missing. Satisfied there was nothing left behind, he pulled the door shut behind himself and locked both the knob and the deadbolt.

  The night air was cooler, but still heavy with humidity. Mississippi was one of the few areas he’d ever been where the majority of the year was just plain miserable. Here, people often wore shorts at Christmas and coats at Easter. Sometimes he questioned his decision to move back here after he got out of the Army, especially with Susan and Lilly gone. But deep inside he knew he wouldn’t be happy anywhere else. And however much he didn’t like Leslie, she and Lisa were still family. His only family.

  He daydreamed about all the other places he could be as he made the drive to Leslie’s small house in North Gulfport. He pulled into her subdivision, spotting the chain link fence running the perimeter of the lot next to hers before seeing her house. All the lights were off. There were few streetlights in this neighborhood, so he pulled to the curb in a shadowed area a few houses down from hers. Then, he settled back in to the seat and waited.

  He fiddled with the radio until he found a station that was playing classic jazz. He turned it down low for background noise. It was more to keep the ringing in his ears from taking over the silence inside the car.

  Alternately, he watched the house and then the sky. Already the sky was starting to lighten. Soon Leslie would be up…if she’d ever actually gone to sleep. Then, if he had to, he would explain why he was the one watching over her house. If he was lucky, and she didn’t see his car before he noticed she was up, he might not even have to explain.

  After a while, his thoughts turned to Dana. He could see her in his mind. She wore tight jeans and a soft silk blouse. Her short bobbed hair was shiny and smooth, and her complexion was just a shade too light for her hair color, which made her eyes stand out even more. In his mind, he replayed the conversations they had earlier, the better ones anyway. Her laughter chimed in his head. A soft, gentle laughter that lightened his soul.

  Electricity had buzzed across his skin when she touched him. He liked it but was also puzzled by it. At times it felt exhilarating, other times it felt like a warning, almost painful. He didn’t need the complication of a relationship right now, either. But if that was the road she wanted to travel, he just might be okay with those complications. It had been a long time since any woman had caught his attention. The only woman he really spent time with was Kate. While he cared deeply about her, they were partners. Anything more had never been a question.

  It’s infatuation. I don’t know Dana that well. But infatuation was not deep enough. There was also a curiosity. He almost felt like a Mississippi mosquito being drawn to a bug light. There was this overwhelming certainty he was going to get zapped, but he couldn’t help his own curiosity over her.

  He wanted to know what Dana was all about. But if she learned about his past and found out who he really was, it would end badly. Who wanted a man who couldn’t even protect his own family?

  He stared toward the horizon. The Eastern sky turned pink in honor of the rising sun. It probably wasn’t worth the risk to get to know her better, but he would still do it. Even though he knew with certainty that it probably wasn’t going to end well.

  Dana was smart, and grounded. She was a professional, and she liked him. At least he thought she liked him.

  Movement near the back corner of Leslie’s house caught his attention. He squinted at the shadows, trying to see anything solid. The barely-there light of the early morning sunrise made it hard for him to see. It was still dark enough that nothing had any real shape or form, and there wasn’t enough light to run the shadows back into their hiding places.

  He listened through his open window for any sound that might indicate there was something amiss in the neighborhood. No dogs barked. No one screamed. But that shadow at the corner of the house looked out of place. And then it moved.

  He was certain of it. It only shifted, but even in the growing light, there was no reason for that shadow to shift. There was not even the slightest breeze to cut through the early morning humidity.

  Jack slipped out of his car, careful not to slam the door in case what he was seeing was not just a trick of the light. He touched the small of his back to make sure his gun was securely in place. Thankfully, the neighborhood had few street lights, so he was able to cross the street and creep along a neighboring fence to reach Leslie’s house.

  He stopped behind a hedge. Still. Waiting. The shadow moved again. The form of a slender person, creeping around the back edge of Leslie’s house blended into the darkness. He edged his way around the bushes, careful not to brush through them. Any noise right now would alert the prowler.

  Jack reached the back edge of the fence and heard a door open and close in the house behind him. He stopped. Waited. The shadow stopped as well. In profile it looked as if the shadow’s attention was focused directly on him. Jack held his breath. Whoever it was couldn’t hear his breathing from this distance, but that didn’t matter.

  As Jack’s head began to feel like it might explode from the lack of oxygen, the shadow turned back to whatever it was doing. Jack exhaled a long, quiet breath and edged closer. But he forgot about the stump from the tree that had been blown down during Hurricane Katrina. The tree had missed the house, but still had to be cut into smaller pieces to be hauled away. Leslie had never had anyone come and grind the soft pine stump away.

  Jack tripped over it, landing hard on the damp grass. His breath whooshed out with the impact, and before he even realized exactly what happened, a dog that sounded like it was right at his heals began to growl. The growl grew into a bark and, as Jack tried to push himself up from the ground, the bark increased to a frenzy. The neighbor. How could he forget that Leslie’s neighbor had a dog? That was probably the door he’d heard. Her neighbor was letting the dog out.

  Jack glanced to where he’d seen the shadow. Nothing moved. But the form of the shadow had changed. It was now a normal shadow, the kind thrown by the trees and houses all over the neighborhood.

  Whoever had been there was gone. Jack ran, hoping to catch sight of the prowler before he got away. If he could find him, Jack could catch the guy.

  At the farthest edge of Leslie’s property, he heard brush at the beginning of the woods rustling. He pulled the gun that he had in the waistband of his jeans and pointed it in that direction. “Police. Stop where you are.” Stupid really, but he had to try.

  The rustling continued but grew fainter, farther away. Jack raced to the edge of the woods, but he could see only darkness. He pushed through the thick underbrush then stopped. This was a bad idea. He couldn’t see anything, and running into the woods blind would do nothing more than get him killed.

  Leslie’s back porch light came on.

  “Who’s there?” That was Lisa’s voice, not Leslie’s.

  “Lisa, it’s me. Uncle Jack.” She probably recognized his voice, but he didn’t want to scare her.

  “Uncle Jack?”

  Jack headed for the circle of light near the back porch so she could see him.

  “What are you doing in the backyard?” Her voice shook.

  With the porch light blinding him, he couldn’t see her face. She remained still, holding the door open with one hand.

  “It’s okay Lisa. It’s a long story, but everything is okay.” He inched toward the porch, unsure if he should tell her about the phone calls Leslie got. He didn’t want
to scare her.

  “But what are you doing here?”

  He was close enough to see her face now. The dark makeup distorted her features, making her look older than her seventeen years. The rats-nest, raspberry colored hair didn’t help. Standing there in a skin-tight mini-skirt and a low cut shirt, she looked like a grown woman. But she wasn’t. She was just a vulnerable kid.

  “What are you doing up?” Jack hooked his thumbs into his front pockets just to have something to do with his hands.

  “I was getting ready for school. Then I heard the Peterson’s dog. He sounded like he was about to go rabid on someone. I wanted to see what it was, but when I looked out, I saw someone running across the back yard. What’s going on?” She was more forceful now, fear replaced by frustration.

  You’re going to school dressed like that? But Jack didn’t say it out loud. It was hard enough to communicate with Lisa without bringing up what she wore right now.

  “I thought I saw someone messing around the back of the house. Is your mom up?” He should probably tell Leslie that he was here and what had just happened.

  “She’s sleeping. On the couch. She never gets up when I go to school any more. Most mornings she’s just going to bed when I get up.” Sadness clouded Lisa’s blue eyes, but was quickly replaced by anger. “Why were you here to start with? Mom told you to stay away.”

  “I—” Jack didn’t know what to say. He didn’t want to scare Lisa, but something was very wrong. Telling her probably wouldn’t do any good, though. “Everything is okay now. Don’t worry about it. Just finish getting ready for school and I’ll call your mom after a while, okay?”

  She stared at him for a long time but Jack stood straighter under her scrutiny.

  “You shouldn’t have hit him.” She crossed her arms over her chest.

  He should have known this was coming. “I know, Lisa. But I don’t think this is the right time to get into the conversation. I need to get to work, and you need to get to school.”

  He stepped forward to give her a hug, but Lisa stepped back and closed the screen door before he could reach her. He stood just outside the door considering all of the things he could say to her. But he wanted to talk to her when they would have time to really talk. He wanted the luxury of digging in and finding out what was going on in her life.