Southern Spirits (The Southern Series Book 3)

by Shelley Stringer

  “Say Aba, Matty,” Ava challenged him. He grinned at her and cackled. Elly squealed at him from Constance’s lap, trying to get their attention.

  Constance grinned at her, and then looked up at me. “They’re good therapy for her,” she whispered over Elly’s head as I nodded.

  Banton, Everett, Ty and John returned. As they filed into the foyer, Ava jumped up from her spot on the floor and flew to Banton.

  “Unca Banin! Unca Banin, hold Aba,” she cried as she pulled at his jacket. He shrugged out of it hurriedly, and then picked her up and cradled her to his chest.

  “Ava, it’s okay. I’m home now,” he consoled her as he glanced up at me. I smiled at him as I tried to corral Matty, who seemed to want to crawl in seven different directions.

  Everett and the others wore grim expressions.

  “Bebe, where is everyone?”

  “Well, Mrs. Elaine and Mr. Matt just came back from the funeral home, and Claudia and Julia are in the dining room with them, talking about arrangements,” I answered.

  “Claudia is up?” he asked, concerned.

  “Yes. She said she couldn’t stay up in that room another minute. She’s doing amazingly well, Everett,” Constance answered.

  Banton walked over and sat down beside me and reached to touch my cheek. “I’m sorry we left in such a rush. There have been some developments,” he began as he glanced down at Ava. She watched him intently, her eyes wide.

  “Doodle-Bug, Uncle Banton’s home for the night. He’s not going anywhere else,” I assured her as she shrunk closer to him. “Banton, you might want to go in and sit with your family while they talk about arrangements,” I suggested. He rose and kept Ava in his arms as he leaned over and kissed me.

  Ty sat down next to Constance and took Elly in his lap. John sat down next to me and picked Matty up.

  “So, fill us in. What developments?” I asked.

  “Bebe, I’m afraid I set in motion a chain of events that we can’t stop,” Everett answered as he took a chair by the fireplace.

  “Ev, don’t jump to conclusions. I still say this was a good thing,” John retorted.

  “Would somebody fill me in?” I asked, slightly irritated they were talking over my and Constance’s heads.

  “Reed’s dead,” Ty responded as I gasped. Constance’s eyes widened.

  “How?”

  “He was found in his office, his body mutilated, his blood had been drained. They found him right before we arrived back at base. We went to confront him about being an Aldon,” Everett explained. “I’d called Renault earlier to inform our inner circle there was an Aldon who had been recruiting the Sange-Mele unit.”

  “Wait, you think the Aldon had him killed?” I asked disbelievingly.

  “I don’t know. I do know there are many in the Aldon ranks who have been suspicious of the Navy and their handling of recent events. They specifically were upset about their reluctance to help out when you were attacked at your house, and the way they treated Singleton, replacing him after the N’awlins incident,” he explained. “When I called today, I assumed they would already know about Reed. They were as surprised as I was,” he admitted.

  “Well, obviously it had to be an Aldon or an Orco,” Ty added as John nodded.

  “And this happened right there on base…right after we left,” Constance said as she shuddered. Ty pulled her in closer and kissed her on the forehead.

  “Aldon or Orco aside, Reed’s just as dead. Now Singleton is back in charge. I feel better already,” John asserted as Ty nodded.

  “Be careful, my boys. Keep those opinions to yourselves and stay vigilant. I trust no one,” Everett cautioned as Miss Astrid came into the room.

  “I have dinner ready, if anyone would like to eat,” she urged as Ty and John rose.

  “Chandler, I have their bottles, if you want to feed them now,” Miss Astrid said softly as I nodded. The boys handed the babies back to Constance and me as Miss Astrid handed us their bottles. As we fed the babies, my mind whirled. It seemed too crude for the Aldon to kill Reed and just leave him there like an Orco attack. Something just didn’t make sense.

  “Chandler, what is it?’ Constance asked, snapping me back to the present.

  “The murder. This is all so surreal.”

  “I know. Do you realize, a year ago, my biggest concern was transferring to LSU and finding an apartment?” she said bitterly. Elly finished her bottle, and Constance placed her on her shoulder, placing her lips to her forehead.

  Everett came back into the room and sat down on the sofa beside me.

  “I think I’ll go and fix a plate. Ev, would you take Elly?” she asked as Everett held his hands out.

  “Come here, Ma Petit. Uncle Everett needs you near,” he said, cuddling Ellyson to his chest. She curled up immediately, nuzzling into his chest as he pressed his lips to her hair.

  I leaned my head back on the sofa and watched Everett. “You know, you are the only one who has that much of a calming effect on them,” I observed. Matty finished and pushed up in my lap.

  “They calm me, Bebe. I love them so much,” he murmured, pressing his lips into her hair again.

  “Everett, are you all right? We haven’t had the chance to really talk, since…” I trailed off as he turned his head to rest his cheek on Ellyson’s head. I glanced into the dining room, and Banton stood beside Claudia’s chair, gently rubbing her back as she looked over some papers. I looked back at Everett, and his eyes glowed with the intensity that I’d seen in them after William was killed as Banton tried to console Claudia. I’d seen that same intensity one other time, when Everett had read Marie-Claire’s mother’s entries in the diary.

  It hit me like a bolt of lightning, startling me to my core. I hadn’t even considered it. Everett was in love with Claudia.

  My heart clenched, almost ached. As I continued to watch him, I realized he’d been in love with her for months. Memories flooded in as far back as the day we’d stood in my foyer decorating my Christmas tree, the dress fittings when I’d caught him almost worshipping Claudia during Mardi Gras, modeling as they fitted the dress to her. Besides Banton and Julia, Everett had seemed to grieve William’s death harder than anyone. It was a revelation as I watched him continue to hug Ellyson to him, his eyes never leaving Claudia. He blamed himself for Will’s death and wondered if his love for her had kept him from doing more.

  “Ev, come upstairs with me, please?” I whispered.

  He looked inquiringly at me.

  “Help me with the babies?’

  He nodded and rose. When we entered the nursery, I turned and shut the nursery door.

  “Bebe, what is it?”

  “I know you better than anyone. Better than your own mother, I think. Will you please be honest with me?”

  “Mon chere, you know I will,” he answered, sitting down in the rocker beside me.

  “I know your secret. You’ve hidden it well and fooled us all a long time.”

  He raised an eyebrow at me, managing at the same time to keep his eyes guarded. I studied him, his beautiful dish-water blonde hair mussed a bit, clean starched pale linen shirt opened slightly at the neck, polo khakis. He was muscular, extremely handsome in a “Ralph Lauren Polo ad” sort of way. He pursed his sensual, full lips at me as he waited.

  “You’re in love with Claudia,” I whispered.

  He tensed, his forthcoming mood dissipating.

  “What brings you to that conclusion, Bebe?” he tried to sound nonchalant.

  I rose and placed Matty in his crib and placed a kiss on the corner of his mouth. He grabbed a toy and began to entertain himself as I turned to face Everett.

  “I’ve watched you for months, worshipping her from afar. You told me you were in love with someone, but it was unrequited love. Then just now, I saw the impassioned plea in your eyes as you watched her with Banton. I’ve only seen that much emotion in your eyes twice, when you read Marie-Claire’s mother’s diary, and the day William was killed. You love
her,” I whispered simply as tears gathered in his eyes.

  He rose and crossed the space between us to place Elly in the crib with Matty. They immediately began to tumble and play. Everett watched them for a moment and then turned back to me. He nodded.

  “ love her with all my heart. She’s everything to me. I so desperately want to make this go away…this awful thing she’s going through. If I could have only been quicker, if I’d been here when they attacked,” his voice broke as his eyes began to glow again.

  “Oh, Everett! You don’t doubt yourself for one minute that you didn’t do everything in your power to save William! Please, for me…stop this! Claudia is mourning, but she needs you. She needs all of us. I don’t know where this thing will go between the two of you, but when the time is right you will know. In the meantime, please forgive yourself and just be there for her.”

  I placed my hand on his arm and he pulled me into his chest, burying his face in my hair.

  “Oh, Bebe…I love you so much. You are right, and I will do anything in my power to make her happy. She and Ava, they mean as much to me as you and your children do.”

  Banton pushed the door open and stepped silently into the room. I pulled away from Everett, both of us wiping tears from our eyes as we met his inquiring gaze with a smile.

  “Um, do I need to be worried?” Banton asked as he glanced back and forth at us.

  “No, dear boy, I promise you have nothing to worry about. Our sweet Bebe here is just being her usual, loving self. You do know how absolutely lucky you are?” He turned to Banton and raised an eyebrow at him.

  Banton chuckled and placed his arm intimately around my waist.

  “Believe me, Everett, that is one thing I know. I’m the luckiest man in the universe,” he stated, placing a kiss in my hair.

  Everett looked back and forth at us, and then stated plainly, “Discretion, Chere. Discretion at all costs. Now is not the time.”

  “I know, Ev. I love you,” I whispered as I glanced sideways at Banton.

  “I love you too. Both of you,” he answered as he left the room.

  Banton turned me around in his arms. “So, what was all that about?”

  I sighed. This was another secret Everett was asking me to keep from Banton. I’d sworn I’d never do that again.

  “You’re off the hook. I already know, I’ve known since the attack,” Banton muttered as he played with my collar.

  “What?’

  “That Everett is in love with my sister.

  “You know? Why didn’t you say anything to me?”

  He turned and gave me an incredulous look. “We really haven’t had a lot of quiet gossip time now have we?”

  I sighed and shook my head. “No, I guess you’re right. Now, come and tell me about Commander Reed! Banton, what’s going on?”

  Banton pulled away and took my hand, leading me through the connecting doorway to our bedroom. Settling down on two overstuffed chairs beside the window, he ran his fingers through his hair as I waited for him to begin.

  “I don’t know what to make of all of this. I don’t think the Aldon had anything to do with Reed’s murder. The Aldon would have taken him out, and he would have just disappeared. This was done as a warning to the Navy…to us, to the Aldon maybe. I think the Orcos took him out,” he said as he glanced back over at me.

  “Ev is afraid he had something to do with Reed’s murder because he alerted the Aldon.

  “I think the Orcos took Reed out because the Aldon found out.”

  “Um, you’ve lost me.”

  “Andie, I get the feeling Reed was playing both sides. I talked to Singleton earlier, and there will be an investigation, more than likely I will be involved. But right now, we’ve just got to regroup and let Singleton sort out the immediate situation with the Orcos on the move again.”

  I nodded. “Thank you for telling me,” I said softly, squeezing his hand.

  “Well, none of it is classified, at least not yet, anyway. And you are as involved as I am in all of this.”

  We sat in silence for several minutes, Banton taking my hand in his and tracing his thumb over the back of it as he lost himself, thinking about the events of the day.

  “What did you and your parents discuss?”

  “We just want to make sure everything is as Claudia wants it. All the arrangements are in place. There will be a public service at their Church day after tomorrow at 10:00 a.m.”

  I took a deep breath. “How do you want to handle the twins? I’ve been thinking about this…” I began.

  “I know, baby. We can’t take them out in public with their eyes and their fading, and I really don’t want to take them from the house right now anyway. Everett didn’t want to alarm us, but he said that information the Aldon have about the attack the other day indicated the goal of their mission was to kidnap you and the twins.”

  My heart chilled. I’d feared all along the twins were the ultimate goal.

  “I don’t want to leave them here alone with anyone,” I began.

  “I know, Chandler. I don’t either. I don’t want to leave you, but I have to go and be there for my sister. I’m going to talk to Everett, and see who we can get to stay and guard you and the twins here at the house, while I go with the family to the funeral service. Are you okay with that?’

  “Yes, Banton…of course. Whatever you think is best.”

  “We’ll need Everett and the SEALs with us, there will be such a crowd there. I hate splitting our forces,” he said, rubbing his finger across his bottom lip.

  “Banton, I have Miss Astrid now to help protect the twins. Maybe she and Everett could recruit a few more Aldon, just to watch the house until you return. It will just be for three hours or so.”

  “Yes, that sounds good. I’ll talk to Everett after dinner. Chandler, are you going to eat? Come downstairs with me,” Banton urged, kissing the back of my hand.

  “I think I’ll just lay down with the twins for a bit, I’m really beat,” I replied as he raised an eyebrow at me.

  “I promise, I’ve had my blood shake today. I’m just a little nauseated, that’s all. It’s bath time, and I think I’ll just put them in the tub with me, and then I’ll lie down with them. Besides, I have to make that call to Laurilee. I need quiet time to break this to her gently.”

  Banton nodded and rose. He stood in front of me and then pulled me up into his arms.

  “Wish I could change things for you. I’m so sorry. I just won’t risk the Texas trip or splitting us up. Please tell Laurilee and Dan I am so sorry, and I plan to make it up to them in a big way.”

  I nodded as the tears threatened. I’d had an emotional day and hated to end it with letting my best childhood friend down in such a way.

  “And how are you planning to do that?’ I mumbled, nuzzling against his chest.

  “There is a box, ready to be delivered to the wedding, for them to open at the reception. I’ve arranged for them to have five days in the Florida Keys, all expenses paid, first class room service…the works. I’m giving them their honeymoon, from us.”

  “Banton, that’s really extravagant. That is a wonderful thing for you to do,” I said as the tears threatened as I thought about this being his way of making it up to me.

  “It’s the least I can do. I just hope she’ll forgive me,” Banton said as he kissed my hair.

  * * *

  I woke when Banton slipped into the bed at midnight. He wrapped his arms around me, placing his leg between mine. I’d hoped once I was wrapped around him I could sleep, but my conversation with Laurilee weighed heavy in my thoughts, keeping sleep at bay. After I heard his breathing slow and get into a rhythm, I slipped from the bed. Slipping my robe on, I decided to check the twins. I turned and found them both in the same crib at the foot of our bed as I’d found them the night before. I smiled over at Banton. He’d moved them in with us again. I loved this man so much --this man who wanted to protect me and our babies. My heart clenched at the sudden thought that h
e might have another child out there. The subject of Reece was lost in the events of the last few days. I wondered if Banton had heard anything yet. I quickly pushed the troubling thoughts from my head as I descended the staircase. I paused at the bottom. Claudia sat on the sofa, sobbing softly as Everett held her in his arms. They both stared into the fireplace. After quietly talking to her for a few moments, he placed his cheek on top of her head. I knew it was too soon for anything romantically to develop between them, but Everett would take care of her, protect her, and be what she needed no matter what.

  I padded carefully and silently back to the kitchen and poured myself a glass of milk. As I sat at the breakfast bar, tears threatened as I went over my conversation with Laurilee. She was absolutely heartbroken at my news that I couldn’t risk coming to the wedding. She’d tearfully replied she understood and pleaded with me to stay safe, and convey to Banton’s family her sadness at their loss. But I could hear the disappointment in her voice. I’d ruined her perfect plans for her perfect day. She assured me she would ask one of our friends to stand in for me, and I promised her Banton and I would make everything up to her, but it wasn’t the same.

  The tears spilled as I rolled the glass tumbler that held my milk between my hands. She was there at my wedding, shared our first Christmas together, and she and Dan had made the trip to Louisiana when the twins were born. I felt as though I was letting the world revolve around me, and only friending her when she was needed. I hated this!

  “Chandler, what’s up?” Constance had slipped into the kitchen unnoticed.

  I wiped the tears from my cheeks with the backs of my hands as I cleared my throat.

  “Guilt. I can’t stand letting Laurilee down. She’s devastated that we won’t be there.”

  “I understand the protection thing with everything that has happened. But Banton can’t give you a day? Just fly there and back, the four of us and Everett?”

  I sighed and finished my milk. “I suggested that, but with everything that has happened he doesn’t want to split forces. And to be honest, I don’t think I could leave the babies behind. We know Lucien’s ultimate goal was to kidnap me and the twins.”