Blackmail

by Robin Caroll

  The drive was short, but peaceful. Caleb stared intently out the window. Sadie’s thoughts went to Jon.

  She needed to apologize to him for her behavior. It was inexcusable. She’d acted out of anger and hurt—emotions that shouldn’t dictate her actions. As soon as she saw or spoke to him, she’d ask his forgiveness.

  Something had occurred to her during Pastor’s sermon this morning. She’d been more hurt by Jon because she’d begun to open her heart to him. That’d never happened before. Oh, she’d been involved with men before, many men, but she’d always known she wasn’t the marry-and-live-happily-ever-after type of woman in their mind.

  But Jon was different. With him, she wasn’t constantly reminded of her shameful past, because he never treated her that way. He opened doors for her, bought her meals out, wasn’t afraid to be seen in public with her. Maybe it was best that he wasn’t local, so he didn’t care as much what others thought.

  “Can God forgive anything?” Caleb’s voice jerked her from her woolgathering.

  “Well, now, there is one sin that is considered the unpardonable sin.”

  “So what’s this unpardonable sin?”

  “You know, Pastor can answer your question much better than I can.”

  Her brother turned red. “Nah, that’s okay. I don’t want to know that badly.”

  She parked the car and laid her hand on his wrist. “Caleb, never be embarrassed to ask questions about God and salvation. I’m just saying I’m still learning and growing in Christ, so I have a hard time explaining.” She patted his arm. “Pastor’s a good man, but he has a not-so-flattering past. He knows how it feels to be treated like a second-class citizen. He’ll answer your question and won’t make you feel stupid, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

  Relief marched across Caleb’s face. She caught movement from her peripheral vision. “Look, Pastor’s outside by himself. Would you like to ask him while there’s no one around?”

  Caleb ducked his head and looked at her through his lashes. “Will you ask him for me?”

  “Sure. Come on.” She opened the door and stepped onto the driveway. “Hey, Pastor.”

  He turned and approached. “Hello. So glad y’all could make it.”

  Caleb stood silently beside her. Lord, this could be what he’s been searching for. Please surround him with peace and open his heart to Your word. “Pastor, I was wondering if you could explain the unpardonable sin to my brother. I’m having a hard time on my own.”

  Pastor Bertrand tilted his head and looked at Caleb. “Of course.”

  Caleb’s brows bunched. “What’s that mean?”

  “Basically, denying Jesus is God’s son, profaning the Spirit of God is the unpardonable sin.”

  “So everything else is forgiven?”

  “If you’ve accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior and you confess, ask for forgiveness and repent in your heart, then yes.”

  “Even if you broke the law?”

  Pastor laughed and tossed his arm over Caleb’s shoulder. “Son, come with me. I have a story to share with you.”

  Caleb moved easily with Pastor Bertrand. Sadie felt like an intruder on a spiritual bonding moment. Thank You, Father, for putting the questions on his heart at the right time, when Pastor was able to answer and share. I beg You to touch his spirit, Father. With tears in her eyes, she climbed the steps and knocked on the front door of the house.

  CoCo opened the door. Sadie took a step back. She knew CoCo was married to Felicia’s brother Luc, but she hadn’t expected CoCo to be here.

  The woman didn’t look stunned to see Sadie. CoCo stepped onto the porch and motioned Sadie toward the porch. She hesitantly joined the alligator conservationist on the swing.

  CoCo rested her hands atop her protruding tummy. “I didn’t intend to ambush you. I just wanted to talk with you.”

  Sadie didn’t trust herself to speak, but didn’t want to come across as a mute cooyon. “About what?”

  “Whatever you did to get Mr. Wynn to shut down those facilities in the bayou, well, it’s very much appreciated.”

  Sadie’s heartbeat slowed back to normal. “Well, he’s very interested in protecting th—”

  “Oh, puhleeze.” CoCo laughed. “I know good and well Deacon Wynn is most interested in protecting his pocketbook. So I know the suggestion came from you and I just wanted to thank you.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  CoCo looked out to the bayou. “I know you think I don’t like you because of Luc.”

  Sadie’s heartbeat returned to racing speed.

  “But that’s not true.” CoCo stared into Sadie’s eyes. “I used to be jealous of you because men were drawn to you, but I never disliked you.”

  Swallowing hard, Sadie struggled to find her voice.

  “What I’m trying to say is, can we be friends? I respect how you’ve changed your life and would really like to get to know you better. And I know how hard it is. I think some people will always remember me as a voodoo priestess.”

  Sadie chuckled. “And I’ve hoped people would forget about my past.”

  “Accept it…we might forever be known as the voodoo priestess and the harlot.” CoCo laughed louder and looped her arm through Sadie’s. “But we’ll face ’em all together. Look at how far we’ve come.” CoCo patted her belly. “Who would’ve ever thought I’d be the maternal type?”

  They stood and walked to the front door. Pastor and Caleb approached, both wearing smiles. CoCo dropped her arm and stopped Sadie. “Oh, I did want to warn you about something.”

  “What?”

  “After I heard you’d gotten Wynn to shut down the wells in the bayou, I called the group and told them. Nearly everyone seemed satisfied.”

  Pastor and Caleb reached the porch steps.

  “Thanks. I appreciate your doing that.”

  “Well, there’s one man who isn’t happy. A Derrick Roberts.” CoCo lowered her voice. “He’s a hunter and he’s a little unstable. We’ve locked horns before because he sometimes poaches gators out of season.”

  Sadie’s pulse thrummed. “What do you mean by unstable?”

  “I think he could get violent if he doesn’t get his way. I’m just warning you to watch out.” She smiled brightly at Caleb. “Hey, Boo, I don’t think we’ve been introduced. I’m CoCo.”

  Derrick Roberts could be violent and he was unhappy with her? Could he be unhappy enough to try to blackmail her?

  Her driveway sat empty.

  Jon parked on the curb in front of Sadie’s house. He’d tried to call her last night, but there’d been no answer. Not even voice mail. Who in this day and age didn’t have an answering system of some sort?

  After a sleepless night, he knew he couldn’t go another day without apologizing and trying to make things right between them. So here he sat, in front of her house, waiting for her to return. She was probably at church, he surmised.

  Church. Religion. Salvation. They were all fairly foreign ideas to him.

  Oh, up until his parents had died as a teen, he’d been raised to believe in God and His Son, Jesus. But then he’d gone to live with his aunt Torey, who’d told him God was nothing more than a glorified Santa Claus. After the way she’d treated him, he’d begun to believe her. What kind of God would take his parents and leave him in the care of his irresponsible aunt? But lately, he’d begun to understand that he should have continued in his parents’ faith and ignored his aunt’s nonsense.

  Now he wondered why he’d ever given her the power over his faith.

  He realized Sadie was genuine. Her faith was real, life-changing. Hadn’t her faith been what prompted her to turn her life around and become the lady she was today? That’s the kind of faith he wanted. The kind of faith his soul yearned for. So, at five-something this morning, he’d done something he hadn’t done in years—pulled out his Bible and read. He ended in Romans 12. Tears leaked from his eyes as he finished reading verse eight. Jon set the Bible on the table and fell on his f
ace, praying to God and asking forgiveness for being so angry, and so weak.

  Tires sung on pavement beside him, drawing him from his musings.

  Sadie emerged from her car, staring back at him. Now or never.

  God, please help me apologize right. He slowly made his way up the driveway. “Sadie, please hear me out.”

  “I’m so sorry for my behavior, Jon. Please forgive me.”

  Whoa! Not at all what he expected. “No, I understand. Let me explain.”

  She raised a single palm in the air. “No explanation necessary.”

  Befuddled, he glanced at Caleb leaning against the trunk of the car. Not a shred of belligerence or ill-will lingered on the boy. He turned his attention back to Sadie. Thank You, God. “Then let’s both forgive each other and move on, shall we?”

  Sadie smiled and his world righted. “Agreed. Come on in. I have something interesting to share with you.” As she headed up the walkway, she told him about the potential suspect—a possibly violent and very unhappy Derrick Roberts. Jon made a mental note to check the name tomorrow.

  The three of them were on the porch before he noticed Sadie and Caleb had both gone stiff and tense. He followed their stares. A white envelope lay on the mat in front of the door. An envelope with Sadie’s name written in black, in bold letters.

  He reached for it just as both Sadie and Caleb spoke.

  “No.”

  “Don’t touch that.”

  He grabbed the envelope and darted his stare between Sadie and her brother. “What’s going on?”

  Sadie blinked rapidly, then looked to Caleb. “We might as well tell him, yes?”

  Caleb shrugged. “Whatever you think is best.”

  Curiouser and curiouser, as Alice would say. “What?”

  “Come inside.” Sadie hurriedly unlocked the door and rushed inside, glancing over his shoulder. “How long were you parked in front of the house?”

  “Maybe ten minutes. Why?”

  “Did you see anybody around the house?” Caleb asked.

  “No.”

  Sadie slammed the door shut and dropped her purse on the buffet.

  “Would someone please tell me what’s going on?”

  She waved to the living room set. “Sit down.” She took the envelope from his hand as she followed him.

  He planted himself on the couch, while Caleb chose the chair and Sadie perched on the arm. “Please tell me what’s wrong.”

  “Just a second.” She ripped open the envelope and pulled out a piece of paper. Caleb leaned forward to read over her shoulder. She gasped.

  He couldn’t take it anymore. He grabbed the paper from her hands and read.

  LAST WARNING. IF YOU DON’T BACK OFF OF YOUR INVESTIGATION, YOUR BROTHER IS GATOR FOOD.

  Blackmail?

  “This is because you’re helping me about Bruce?” He ached to think he’d brought this on her.

  “No. It started before you approached me, when I began my investigation into the sabotages at Vermilion Oil.”

  And then it dawned on him. They’d both recognized the envelope. They’d recognized it because this wasn’t the first one.

  “Let me see.” How had she been dealing with this alone?

  She moved to her purse, pulled out two envelopes and tossed them in his lap before returning to the arm of the chair.

  He read the first two letters, his gut tightening. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  Tears shimmered in her wide eyes. “Because I was afraid if you knew, you’d think I couldn’t protect Caleb and would take him away.”

  Caleb leaned forward and patted his sister’s back.

  “Have you taken these to the police?”

  “How can I?”

  “How can you not?” She couldn’t deal with a blackmailer on her own.

  “You yourself said that truth and justice are less important than convictions.”

  He hadn’t put it as eloquently, but that was the gist. “But this is different.”

  “No, it isn’t. The first thing law enforcement would do would be to remove Caleb from the house, yes?”

  “I honestly don’t know.” He’d never had a situation similar to this come up, not in all his years of being a probation officer.

  “We weren’t willing to take that chance. I stay here.” Caleb’s voice was firm.

  “But you have to tell someone.”

  “The letters say not to.” Sadie squared her shoulders. “And I’m not going to give them a reason to come after my brother.”

  “But what if they come anyway? You haven’t stopped investigating, and you couldn’t protect him if they did come.”

  “Dude, I can protect myself.”

  They were both crazy.

  Jon shot to his feet. “You can’t be serious.”

  Sadie rose, as well. “I’m dead serious. And you can’t tell the police, either.”

  “Oh, yes I can. And I need to.”

  She grabbed his arm. “You can’t. It’s not your place to tell.”

  “Come on, Sadie. This is serious. A man’s been murdered and the murderers are threatening you.”

  “I’m taking it seriously, but I can’t let you go to the police. They explicitly said not to. And because they’re murderers, I need to play by their rules. I’ve made it a point to not publicly work on the investigation, but we’re making progress.”

  Which explained her terms about working with him to help Bruce. Now it all made sense.

  “But, Sadie…”

  “Please. Just let me do this my way.”

  Her eyes pleaded with him. His heart felt like it was caught in a vise. Against his better judgment, he nodded. “But I’m kept aware of any letters from them. Anything at all out of the ordinary, you let me know immediately.”

  “Agreed.” She smiled.

  He prayed he wasn’t making the biggest mistake of his life.

  FOURTEEN

  What in tarnation was going on?

  Sadie parked her car and scrambled to her office building early Monday morning. Members of the press hung around the front door like ants at a picnic.

  “Ms. Thompson, what’s the status of this latest facility?”

  Oh, no. Not again. Why hadn’t Deacon called her?

  She shoved past the crowding mass. “No comment at this time.”

  “What do you mean no comment? You’re the PR rep.” Jackson Devereaux stood face-to-face with her.

  “It means I’m gathering details. I wouldn’t want to report anything not factual, now would I?” The sarcasm rolled so easily off her tongue.

  A security guard opened the door and grabbed Sadie inside.

  She let out a heavy breath. “Merci.”

  “Looked like they were about to devour you.”

  “I’ll say.” Sadie glanced at the faces milling about, staring out the window at the blood-sucking press. “Where’s Mr. Wynn?”

  “Haven’t seen him since he came in and headed to his office.”

  Hiding?

  She winked a thanks to the guard and hustled to the elevators. How could Deacon let her get blindsided? Had he just given up? Gone down without a fight? That wasn’t Deacon Wynn. Especially when they were getting so close to a solution. She’d spent the better part of last night talking with the P.I.s and narrowing down the names of suspects.

  The elevator door slid open and Sadie marched down the hall to his office. Irritation caused her to forget manners or diplomacy. She opened the door without bothering to knock, tossing her purse and briefcase onto the credenza.

  Deacon and Lance stood toe-to-toe, faces red and veins in their necks and foreheads bulging. She’d have to deal with the issue of the latest facility in a moment. “What’s going on in here?”

  Her boss glared. “I thought I told you to keep a leash on him.”

  “I’m not a dog to be leashed, I’m a man.” Lance’s fists hung off tensed arms.

  “Then why don’t you act like one?” Deacon looked as if he’d have a hea
rt attack any second.

  “Whoa. Back up a second, guys. Lance, sit over here. Deacon, take your seat.”

  Surprisingly, both did as she directed. She pinched the bridge of her nose. Why did every Monday have to be a beast? “Okay, let’s get me up to speed, yes? Deacon, what’s got you so hot under the collar?”

  “Why’d you have him give a statement to the press?”

  “I did—”

  “I told you, she didn’t know anything about it. I made the decision on my own.” Lance clenched and unclenched his fists.

  Deacon wagged a finger. “You didn’t have the right. You’ve made a bad situation even worse.”

  “Hang on.” She turned to Lance. “What, exactly, did you tell them?”

  “Just that the Wynn family wouldn’t rest until we got to the bottom of the situation.”

  She turned back to Deacon. “I don’t see anything wrong with that.”

  “That’s not all he said.”

  Feeling as if she were caught in a tennis match gone bad, she faced Lance. “What else did you say?”

  “They asked me about my involvement.” He shrugged. “I just told them that I was working with my father to see justice served.”

  “Go on, tell her what else you said.”

  Sadie tossed Deacon a stern look, then focused on Lance again.

  “Well, they asked if the rumors about Vermilion Oil going bankrupt were true.”

  Her heart pounded. “What’d you say, Lance?”

  “I was trying to make light of the situation.”

  “You were not,” bellowed Deacon.

  “Shh.” Sadie held her hand up to her boss, but continued to stare at Lance. “What’d you say?”

  “That we’d only go bankrupt if Dad’s wife got her hands on his checkbook.”

  Deacon scowled. Sadie bit back a groan. Of all the childish things…

  “Okay. This is ridiculous. I’m sick of this petty stuff.” She shook her head. “Lance, I think you’d better leave.”

  “I was only trying to be funny. I want to help.”

  Deacon shot to his feet. “You’ve helped enough as it is. Get off my property or I’ll call security.”

  “Lance, just leave.” She so wasn’t in the mood for a family crisis. Not when she had to find out about the facility.