Stratagem

by Robin Caroll

  “I’m sorry, man. I know you were divorced, but that was still your wife. A piece of paper doesn’t cut out what you’ve felt for someone.”

  Exactly. “Yeah. I appreciate that.”

  “I hope you know that if there had been anything I could’ve done…”

  “No, I’ve heard what happened. You couldn’t have done anything without her EpiPen.” Which was mysteriously unused, unopened, and stored as usual in her makeup bag, which was in the suitcase delivered to Monique’s hotel.

  “All the same, I’m really sorry.”

  “Thanks.” They reached his office. “I’m going to check my email and messages and such.”

  “Sure. If you need anything, shout.” Vic turned and headed back down the hall toward his cubicle.

  Grayson stepped inside his office and shut the glass door. He should’ve come in the back door, but it was so far in the back of the building that he rarely used it. He dropped onto the couch, staring at the bookcase. There hadn’t been whispers that he’d heard, but the sympathy and inquiries were just as draining. Or maybe it was his earlier visit with Brandon and Danielle. Which reminded him, he needed to call Ian and fill him in on that interrogation.

  He stood, then stopped and stared at his display case on the bookcase. Sitting there with the scorecard from St. Andrews golf course was his mark repairer and ball marker.

  Hmm. If his ball marker was still here in the office, why had Anna Belle had one in the bedroom where she’d stayed?

  Where she’d died?

  TWENTY-ONE

  “Female DNA, huh?” Danielle slipped into the passenger’s seat of their cruiser.

  “I’m not gonna doubt Kara.” Brandon got behind the steering wheel and latched the seat belt. “So there’s definitely a woman out there who has some serious beef with Grayson.”

  “But he’s such a charmer.”

  Brandon started the car but left it in PARK. He couldn’t take being at odds with his partner much longer. “Danielle…”

  She shook her head, clicking her seat belt. “Look, about earlier. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have bit your head off like that.”

  “It’s okay.” He softened his tone to match hers. “I’m not just your partner, you know. I’m also your friend. What’s the deal?”

  She shrugged. “My sister.”

  Her little sister, the one they’d set up on the blind date with Grayson, was quite a beautiful girl. She seemed a little immature to Brandon, but that wasn’t such a big deal. “Yeah? What about her?”

  “I feel silly reacting the way I did over this.”

  Brandon gave her shoulder a gentle shove. “C’mon, partner, you can tell me anything.”

  She looked at him, her eyes shimmering with moisture. “Krissy’s had a rough go lately. After her date with Grayson, she really thought he liked her. When he didn’t call her, she was pretty devastated.”

  “You know that really had nothing to do with her. He wasn’t ready to date yet. We kinda bullied him into taking her out.” He’d regretted it as soon as Grayson had called him the next morning.

  “I do know that. On some level.” She shook her head and stared at the dashboard. “I told Krissy that, but I’m not sure she accepted it. She started dating this real lowlife.” She locked gazes with Brandon. “And I mean lowlife—like the kind we deal with.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “Well, she didn’t just date him, she started talking about how much he loved her and so on.” Danielle shook her head again, gripping the armrest. “It drove me insane to see how stupid she was over this scum.”

  Brandon couldn’t think of any words of comfort because he couldn’t relate. He was an only child and still had his parents. When Danielle’s mom died two years ago, Danielle took it upon herself to try and parent her little sister. While Krissy was only five or so years younger, she had been sheltered more in life. Danielle was a cop, had been in the reserves, and definitely was worldlier.

  “Anyway, next thing I know, she tells me she’s pregnant with the scum’s baby. I wanted to scream. Cry. Hit something. Hit someone—a particular someone. But I knew I couldn’t.” She leaned back against the headrest. “Icing on the cake was when she told him she was pregnant, he called her names and left her.”

  “Dani, why didn’t you say something to me?” Had he given her any indication that he wouldn’t be there for her if she needed him?

  She gave a fleeting but sincere smile and shrugged. “Embarrassment, to some degree.”

  “Why be embarrassed? I mean, it’s your sister. You love her, but her actions aren’t yours. Neither was the scum’s.”

  Danielle swiped at the tears and stared out the front windshield. “Not action, but nonaction. You see, I’d always been anti-abortion. Pro-life all the way with me.” She looked at Brandon. “You know how I’ve reacted to the clinics when we had to go break up a picket.”

  He did, which was why her defending Anna Belle so staunchly had confused him. He nodded. “I remember.”

  “But when Krissy told me she’d decided to have an abortion, I didn’t open my mouth to stop her. I didn’t argue that I thought it was morally wrong. I didn’t tell her I thought it was murder.” Tears trickled down Danielle’s cheek. “I didn’t even tell her to think about it a little longer. All I could see was my sister and her life if she had that baby.” She wiped the tears away with the back of her hand. “I even paid for the procedure.” Danielle sniffed. “Me, the pro-lifer, paying for my sister’s abortion. How’s that for irony?”

  Now it all made sense. Her reaction to Grayson. Her defense of Anna Belle. Everything. Brandon reached over and took Danielle’s hand. “I’m so sorry you went through that. Even sorrier that you went through it all alone.” He squeezed her hand. “I wouldn’t have known then anything more to do for you than I do right now, but I would have been there for you. Always. Regardless.” He released her hand and loosely held the steering wheel. “I’m not one to judge, Dani. Not when it comes to matters like this. I’ve not walked in your shoes. I don’t have a sister, so don’t know what I would’ve done in your position.”

  “Probably not paid for an abortion.” She sniffed again.

  “I don’t honestly know, but what I do know is that I make mistakes every single day. I don’t have the answers to most complex situations. All I can do is pray for wisdom, do my level best, send up prayers of thanks if things go well, and ask for forgiveness if I messed up. I think that’s all any of us can do.”

  “But I knew it was wrong before. Doesn’t that make me horrible?” Her eyes pleaded with him for something he couldn’t give.

  “Danielle, I’m not a priest or a rabbi or a preacher. I’m just a man who loves God. What I do know is that God forgives. I know that if you confess your sins and ask for forgiveness, He will forgive you. That’s one thing I do know.”

  “I just feel so guilty, and that’s why I lashed out at you.” She wiped her face again. “And if I’m being honest, why I’ve been so hostile toward Grayson. It wasn’t his fault what happened to Krissy, but he gave me somebody to blame besides myself.”

  “You have to forgive yourself, Dani. If you’ve asked God for forgiveness, He’s forgiven you already, but you have to let it go. You have to put it aside.”

  “I know, I know.” She grinned. “Thanks, partner.”

  Brandon smiled and nodded. “But next time, talk to me.” He put the car in gear and steered onto the road toward the Darkwater Inn.

  Danielle pulled down the visor, wiped her face as she looked in the mirror, then closed it. “So, who do you like for suspects in the vandalism against Grayson?”

  “Female DNA. Initially I thought of Emmi Dubois, but then I started asking what would she have to gain? She clearly didn’t like Anna Belle, so the message wouldn’t make sense.” He took a sharp turn at a red light.

  “Unless she was trying to throw him and us off.”

  “I thought of that, but if she killed Anna Belle, she wouldn’t want to thr
ow the scent off another prime suspect.” He took another turn, then eased the car into the parking lot of the Darkwater Inn.

  Danielle nodded. “It hasn’t been in the press, so we have a smallish circle. Considering the message, the woman would be someone who is upset that Anna Belle is dead, and wants Grayson to pay for her murder.”

  “By that right, the only female I can think of would be Anna Belle’s mother.” He pulled the car into an empty space and parked. “And how convenient that we’re here to speak with her right now. Do you want to take lead or want me to?”

  They got out of the car, and he locked it before striding to the front doors of the hotel.

  “You, if you don’t mind.” Danielle pulled out her notebook. “Says she’s in room two twelve.”

  “Lead the way.”

  They entered the massive hotel that had a history almost as old and rich as the Crescent City itself. The Darkwater homed several original structures that had survived the ravages of time and hurricanes, such as the Isle Dernières in 1856, Audrey in 1957, Camille in 1969, and most recently, Katrina in 2005. It was a landmark of Bourbon Street.

  They crossed the lobby to the elevators, smiling at the elevator attendant who took them to the second floor and sent them on their way with a “Have a nice day.” They paused only a moment outside Monique’s room before Danielle nodded, and Brandon gave the door a sharp rap.

  She opened it almost immediately and welcomed them into her hotel room. They took the two chairs while Monique settled herself on the cushioned ottoman pushed up against the wall. “This is where I’ve spent most of the time reading over the papers from the clerk of court and such.”

  “Again, Mrs. Fredericks, we’re so sorry for your loss.” Brandon found that most grieving parents of adult children appreciated the acknowledgment of their loss. Often when younger adults died suddenly, the focus of sympathy was on their children or spouse, which was understandable, but the surviving parents were often left out.

  “Thank you. Losing a child is always difficult.”

  “We hope to solve the case soon so that you’ll at least have some comfort in knowing that she’s gotten justice.” Danielle nodded, not a single trace of her earlier emotional outburst visible. She truly could be a consummate detective. He was proud she was his partner.

  “I’d appreciate that, dear. How can I help?”

  Brandon figured they might as well just throw the door open wide. He leaned forward in his chair and smiled. “Tell us about Anna Belle, your daughter. We’ve heard from her employer and coworkers and her ex-husband. Tell us what we don’t already know.”

  Monique didn’t smile back. “I loved my daughter very much, please understand that. I don’t want you to think I’m some horrible mother. I loved Anna Belle and gave her everything I possibly could. Maybe I gave her too much, I don’t know, but Anna Belle could be difficult.”

  Brandon eased open his Field Notes notebook and pen. He didn’t know what he’d been expecting, but it wasn’t this.

  “Difficult?” Danielle probed.

  Monique gave a little smile. “Even as a child, Anna Belle was demanding. Of mine and her daddy’s attention … of everything she saw that she wanted. She was a determined little thing too. She could worm her way around just about anything to get what she wanted.”

  Sounded like most kids he’d known as toddlers.

  “After her daddy was gone, Anna Belle changed. She seemed angry all the time, which at first I understood. I was angry he was gone too. But then I realized she was angry at me and at every person who disagreed with her. I tried talking to her, but that did no good. She resented that I had to work to cover our bills. She always wanted more, and when I couldn’t give it, she got angry. And stayed that way. Most all of her teenage years she was angry all the time. At the teachers. At her friends who didn’t bow to her wishes. At every poor guy she dated who didn’t give her everything she wanted and let her have her way all the time.” Monique shook her head. “Those were some turbulent times in our household, that’s for sure.”

  Brandon could only imagine.

  “Oh, but when she was happy…” Monique’s eyes took on a faraway look, and she smiled, appearing more like her age of sixty-eight than she usually appeared to be. “When everything was right in Anna Belle’s world, it was like the sun lived in that girl. She’d flit around, sending out rays of pure joy and wonderfulness. When she was named prom queen her senior year, you’d have thought the heavens had opened and you were seeing bursts straight from there.”

  Brandon had seen Anna Belle smile at Grayson before. Not all the time, but once, it’d been a look that he’d remembered. “So after graduation, she attended LSU in Baton Rouge, right?”

  Monique seemed to snap out of her waltz down memory lane and nodded. “She received several scholarships, hating every time she filled out an application that I couldn’t pay for her education. She went from being furious at me to being angry with whoever created the application and all its questions, and with the group offering the scholarship because of all the questions they asked. But in the end, she got enough to go where she wanted.”

  Brandon knew that’s where she and Grayson had met. But he also knew that she didn’t have the easiest time at college. “I understand she had a stalker.”

  Monique nodded. “It was a very difficult time for her. She was in her senior year and had taken a full load so she could graduate that May. She was also sending out applications for jobs because she refused to leave college and not have a plan in place. College seemed to have brought her focus. She had to plan. Everything was a calculated move with her once she got settled in there, so a stalker threw her for a loop.” She let out a sigh. “She didn’t tell me about it until he’d been arrested and she was going to testify against him. By then she was dating Grayson. I went for the trial, and that was the first time I met Grayson. I approved of him immediately.”

  “Why’s that?” Danielle interrupted. “What made you immediately approved of him as your daughter’s boyfriend?”

  Monique smiled. “I saw the way he looked at her. That kind of look, the kind that has all the love in the world in it, can’t be faked. I knew he would love her and take care of her. He was very attentive to her, seeing to her before she even asked. Little things like wrapping his jacket around her before she could shiver. Getting her a soft drink before she realized she was thirsty. It was like he could anticipate what she was thinking before she even realized what she wanted.”

  Brandon knew that to be true, not only because it was Grayson’s personality and his profession, but also because he’d seen how the two of them were. Well, at least how Grayson was toward Anna Belle. “That must have made you relieved, as a mother, that your daughter had found someone who loved her?”

  “It did. Very much.” Monique looked right at Brandon. “I still think he was the best thing for Anna Belle, even though things went so south.”

  “Oh?” Danielle straightened in her seat and glanced at Brandon.

  Monique nodded. “It saddens me and embarrasses me that my daughter did Grayson so wrong. She wasn’t raised that way, I’ll tell you that. After she and Grayson married and she moved into his house in the upper class, where she always wanted to be, she started taking my calls less and less. Had more excuses not to come visit for holidays. Always said it was work, but I knew the truth—she wanted to forget where she came from. Forget that she’d been raised by a working mother whose husband had gone off and left her for a younger woman.”

  Brandon didn’t know how to respond, so he focused on his notes.

  “I knew that. I didn’t like it, but I knew how she felt about where she’d come from and who I was. It hurt, sure, but that was who she’d become. So focused on money and position and standing.”

  “You said you were saddened…” Brandon eased her back on subject.

  “Yes. She embarrassed me by committing adultery, and considering that’s what her father did, it shocked me a little that sh
e would dare such a thing, knowing how it hurt us. I know now why she did it, and it had nothing to do with Grayson and everything to do with Anna Belle. She had an affair with her boss to further her career, but that actually makes it worse.”

  “She told you this?” Danielle asked.

  Monique grimaced, making her ample wrinkles more pronounced. “Of course not, but as soon as I realized who she’d cheated with, and knowing how she’d turned out, I figured it out. Not hard to do.” She shook her head. “So disappointing.”

  “What about Grayson? Did you ever see the two of them argue or anything? Even the spats we know all married couples have?” Brandon wouldn’t let Danielle call him biased, although he doubted she would now.

  “No, but to be fair, I wasn’t around them together except maybe once or twice a year.” She straightened and met Brandon’s gaze. “Having said that, however, I will tell you that I never saw Grayson treat Anna Belle with anything other than the utmost respect. I did, however, see my daughter treat him rudely and sometimes just downright mean. And that’s not easy for a mother to say about her own child.”

  Brandon glanced at Danielle, then back at Monique. “Do you have any reason to think that Grayson had anything to do with your daughter’s death?”

  “Absolutely not. He loved her even though they were divorced. You can see how hard her death is on him even now. Even after everything she did, everything she hid from him—even all the things we didn’t know about until after the fact—he still has a soft place for her.” Monique shook her head. “Grayson Thibodeaux’s a good man, and I’m proud to call him my son-in-law. I’d stake my life on the fact that he had nothing to do with Anna Belle’s death.”

  “We’re going to speak to the hotel staff about the suitcase that was left here for you with some of Anna Belle’s things. Have you received anything else?” Danielle asked.

  “Nothing. Just that suitcase, which Grayson said he’d give to you police.”