A Christmas Kiss

by Caroline Burnes

  "I know." It was all she answered, and she made no attempt to move away from the comfort of his body. "I've come to some hard truths in the last two days. Maybe deep down I always knew them, but I didn't want to accept them. I just drifted around in limbo, hoping that I'd never have to confront the truth."

  "But you did." And now he fully understood why she had come to New Orleans. She wasn't chasing a fantasy, she had finally come to face the truth. She was even more courageous than he'd thought.

  The abrupt cessation of the boat motor halted further conversation. Joey gathered her tightly in his arms, holding her close a moment longer before he let her go, and then he picked up his shirt. In a few seconds he was fully dressed, gun in hand. "Wait here. When I come back, I'll whistle like this." He gave a low, mournful whistle. "That way you'll know it's me, and you won't shoot me." He tried for a lighthearted note. "If anyone else comes up, shoot first and ask questions later. This is your life, Cori.

  Don't think they won't kill you. Emmet Wyatt is already dead. Remember that. I'm sure he didn't expect to be killed."

  She lifted the gun to her shoulder, pulling it hard into the place where her arm met her body. "I've got the shells." They were in her pocket. "I'm ready."

  He kissed her then, a long, desperate kiss that spoke of a future that hung in jeopardy. Then he was gone. Cori watched from the doorway as he went down the stairs and disappeared into the fog in the general direction of the boat landing.

  The fog seemed to muffle ordinary sounds. There was the gentle slap of water against land. She thought it was louder, possibly a result from the wake of the boat slipping silently toward them. It seemed like hours had passed, but she checked her watch and found it was only minutes. Was Joey okay?

  The low, mournful whistle came out of the fog, and she felt her fingers seize on the gun and then relax. She'd expected something horrible, a gunshot or a scream. Carefully she put the shotgun on the floor and then she flew out the door, down the steps and into the fog in the direction Joey had disappeared.

  He heard her footsteps pounding along the dock toward him, and he turned from the boat to catch her in his arms.

  "Joey!" She buried her face in his chest. Whatever else happened, she would never let him walk into danger alone again.

  From the boat came the sound of a low, feminine chuckle. "I think maybe my timing was not so good." Laurette stepped out of the boat and onto the dock with the grace of someone who had grown up making that unsteady transition. She reached back and brought out several guns, a large net and a knapsack of other provisions.

  Still in Joey's arms, Cori was almost too shocked to speak. "Laurette, what are you doing here?"

  she asked.

  Laurette's grin was just visible in the dense fog. "I heard my little brother had left for the swamps with a lady. I've come to defend his virtue and good name."

  Joey's laughter mixed with his sister's, and Cori joined in. "You just about scared us to death," she finally said.

  "So Joey was telling me."

  Joey released Cori and looked at the things his sister had brought. "You're a genius." He lifted the net. "Perfect. How did you know?"

  "I've spent too many years with you fishing these swamps not to know exactly how your mind works."

  Joey pulled his sister to him for a kiss on the cheek. "Thanks, sis. Now, you'd better get out of here.

  I don't know when they'll come."

  "You think I'm leaving?" Laurette slapped his arm. "Think some more, little brother. I'm here to help."

  "Not this time. It's dangerous."

  "Who's the best shot in this family?" She didn't wait for an answer. "No one's been by the landing yet. There's time for some practice for Cori if the fog lifts enough to see a target. Then, tonight, we'll be ready for them when they come."

  "You can't stay here, Laurette."

  She put her arm around Cori and started toward the cabin. "I can't leave, Joey. This is what family is about. Besides, if anything happens to this woman, I don't think I'll ever get to see any nieces and nephews. It's taken you more than thirty years to find this one." She squeezed Cori's shoulders. "I knew the moment I saw you that you were the one. When you got out of that car, with your leg bleeding, I saw the way he looked at you. The big galoot, he didn't even know it then, but I did. And Jolene, she knew it, too. Everyone knew it but you two. I always heard Cupid's arrow could cause blindness. Now I know it's the truth."

  Ignoring Joey's protests, she talked on and led Cori back, to the cabin.

  By ten O'clock, THE fog had burned away, and Cori stood behind the cabin, shotgun to shoulder while Laurette directed her to aim at a makeshift target they'd hammered to a tree.

  "Pull it into you," Laurette directed. "Tight. Sight down the barrel, yes. Now pull."

  Cori pulled the trigger and felt as if a cannon had smacked into her shoulder. She rocked back but did not lose her balance. In a few seconds she had the gun back in place.

  "Excellent." Laurette's smile was wide.

  "Joey said it would kick, but he didn't say it would knock me down."

  "Well, he's usually a very truthful man." Laurette arched an eyebrow at her brother. "One more time, but let me check the target." She hurried to the target and returned. "You were a little to the left and too high. You just caught the corner of it."

  Cori resighted and pulled the gun harder into her. This time the blast was not so bad, and she had the satisfaction of seeing the pellets pepper the target.

  "Excellent!" Laurette said, nodding. "Remember, this is close range. It's harder to aim over a distance." She went to her brother, who sat on a stump. "I brought some food. Maybe Cori could make us some sandwiches?"

  Cori knew Laurette had something to discuss with her brother. "Sure. Let me reload." She broke the breach like a professional and inserted the new shells. Without being told, she carried the gun with her as she walked back to the house.

  She had the cabin picked up and smoked turkey sandwiches on the table, complete with chips and soft drinks, when she heard them coming up the steps. There was a tension between them she sensed instantly.

  "Laurette refuses to leave." Joey's dark eyes smoked with frustration. "You have to be here, Cori.

  Laurette doesn't have to involve herself."

  "My brother is in danger. I'm supposed to go home and cook lasagna for Angela's lunch box?"

  "What about Cliff?" Joey had a sudden vision of his brother-in-law showing up.

  "Angela's with Connie. Cliff's over in Georgia, making a delivery." Laurette grinned. "There's no one to report me to, Joey. Even Papa can't make me mind."

  Joey tried hard to suppress it, but he couldn't help the answering grin. It faded, though, with his next words. "Laurette, if anything happened to you, I'd blame myself forever. This isn't fair."

  "If I left you here with Cori, knowing someone meant to harm you, I could never forgive myself."

  Laurette shrugged. Cori listened to them, envying the closeness that made them fight to protect each other. "You are two lucky people," she said softly. "And I'm lucky, too, because I've met you both. Let's eat."

  "A woman who knows how to end a sibling argument." Laurette took her place at the table. "We have a lot to do before dark."

  Joey's head popped out of the black water, and Cori could see there was a bluish tint to his olive complexion. He was freezing.

  "One more time," he gasped, then ducked beneath the water again.

  "He is one stubborn man," Laurette said, pacing the dock. Cori stood with the heavy towel in her hands, waiting for him to finish and climb out.

  "Why is he putting the net in the water?" Cori had watched the process, but she still didn't understand the reasoning behind it.

  "Aaron will bring the men in." Laurette had come up with the plan almost at once when Aaron told her what Joey faced. "He'll come in pretty fast. The motor will tangle in the net and it will jerk the boat."

  Laurette made a whiplash motion with her hand. "If lu
ck is with us, they'll tumble into the water. The shock of the cold should incapacitate them for a few seconds, and it will certainly mess up their weapons.

  That will give Joey the advantage."

  "And Aaron?"

  "He expects it. He'll be prepared. Ether he'll hold on to the boat and stay in, or he'll jump away.

  Aaron grew up with us, he's very able to take care of himself."

  Cori could visualize it—three or four mobsters all sputtering around in the water. And then what?

  That was the part that concerned her. Would Joey try to take them prisoner?

  "Maybe they won't come," she said.

  Laurette started to speak, then thought better of it. "Maybe they won't, Cori. That would be the best thing for all of us. Still, it's better to be prepared for the worst, don't you agree?"

  "Will it be tonight?"

  Laurette sighed. "Probably tonight. Aaron will guide them in. He can say the darkness will work to their advantage. Actually, it will help us."

  "I hope it's not foggy when they come."

  "Me, too." Laurette watched as Joey surfaced, this time with success evident on his cold face.

  "Done," he called. He'd had to run a cable from the dock to one of the cypresses. The swim was a snap in warm weather, but the cold water was inordinately fatiguing.

  "I'm going to the cabin to see to some things." Laurette beat a hasty retreat, leaving Cori to fold the shivering marshal in the big towel she held out to him.

  Cori rubbed his back, concerned that he felt cold to the bone. "Maybe we should go inside and build a fire," she said.

  Joey turned in her arms, hugging her against him. "Maybe we should start a fire right here." He kissed her, feeling the warmth of her body begin to heat his own.

  Cori pulled away. "Joey, your sister..."

  "Would highly approve," he finished. "Don't think it was my hide she came all this way to save. She likes you. She didn't trust me to take care of this on my own." His dark eyes teased her. "Always the big sister. While I was under the water, did she try to plan a wedding?"

  Cori laughed. "No. She was nice to me."

  "Hah, just wait. In a few weeks she'll be bullying you around the way she does me."

  A few weeks. Cori heard the words and clung to them. In a few weeks this would all be over, she hoped. Until the retrial.

  "If we get out of this, and I find out about Kit, I promise you that I'll go to Texas or California or even Massachusetts. Wherever I'll be safe, and you won't be in danger."

  "We'll get out of this." Joey wiped away the water he'd left on her cheek. "We have to. Then we'll take it day by day. When you went to make the sandwiches Laurette told me that I'm in some difficulties at work. If they can find me, they're probably going to fire me."

  "Joey." Cori felt a wave of guilt.

  "I lied to them about going to Texas, and then I didn't call in, because I didn't want them to tell me I couldn't do this. It's one thing to set a trap when you're an officer of the law. It's another when you're a citizen. I needed the authority that comes with the badge."

  "But it could cost you your career...."

  "You did something two years ago that cost you your career and family. It was a risk I felt I had to take."

  The wind that had finally blown the fog out had steadily increased in strength all afternoon. Even though he was wrapped in the towel, Cori could feel him shiver. "Let's get you inside."

  “Good idea. I think I have a promise to live up to. I would have done it last night, but we got...

  distracted."

  The teasing note was back in his voice. Cori looked up at him as they walked down the dock, his arm around her shoulders. "Is that what you call last night, a distraction?"

  "A wonderful distraction."

  She punched his arm. "I would hope it would fall under life-changing events." She slipped her arm under the towel and around his waist, hugging him. "I think it may have changed my life."

  Joey halted, bringing her around to face him. "No serious talk for the rest of the evening, okay?"

  Cori tried to read his intention in his eyes, but there was nothing there except tenderness, and a whisper of sadness. "Why?"

  "Call me superstitious, but I don't like to challenge the future. We have today, these few hours right now. We have to get through tonight. Then we can make plans for whatever comes next. For the good things that are waiting."

  "So, a superstitious cop." Cori tried to keep her tone light. She couldn't talk about the horror that lay just beneath the surface of his words. "What promise are you about to live up to?"

  "You'll see, because you have a corresponding one to fulfill." He held open the door and ushered her inside.

  After he was dressed, he led Cori to a chair and placed her in it with great ceremony. Laurette's laughter was as mysterious as Joey's behavior, but she refused to reveal any Tio family secrets, no matter how Cori pressed her.

  With Cori's gaze following every move Joey made, he found the fiddle case in the corner and brought out the old fiddle. In a moment he had it tuned and tucked beneath his chin. Laurette retrieved an old accordion from the closet.

  To Cori's delight, they played a few of the old Acadian tunes that had her feet patting the floor. As the tempo slowed slightly, Joey broke into a song with Laurette picking up the harmony. The words were in French, and she had no idea what they meant, but the music spoke to her. It told of dark, velvety nights and the pleasure of the company of the man she loved. There was the sound of water in the songs, and work, and beneath it all the simple pleasure in being alive.

  "That's wonderful." She applauded at the end. "I can't believe you both play so well."

  "Music is part of life," Joey said, putting down his fiddle and sweeping her out of the chair. "We're given only this moment, Cori. So now you'll dance."

  Cori turned to Laurette. "I don't know how."

  "Then it's time you learned." Laurette retrieved the tape player from a corner. She checked the batteries and inserted a tape. "I'm going to catch us some fish for dinner. Joey is an excellent dancer.

  You're in good hands."

  "But shouldn't we be doing something about tonight?"

  Joey eased her into his arms before answering. "We have done everything we can, Cori. Every precaution has been taken. Laurette will keep watch for us while she fishes, and she'll hear any approaching boats long before they can hear us. Now we can enjoy the moment." He started moving forward so that she had to step backward. "The Cajun Waltz," he whispered in her ear. "Listen to the music, feel it. Your body will know what to do."

  After a few awkward moments, Cori gave up trying to anticipate what to do next. Joey's strong arms held her, moving in the three-beat succession of steps that were at first plain and then quickly became gliding swirls of motion as she gained more confidence in herself, and in Joey's ability to lead her.

  One song bled into the next with hardly a moment for Cori to gain her breath. The dance was fast, but it wasn't exertion that made her heart pump too hard. It was Joey. He was as graceful as a cat, and his strength lent her grace.

  "That's it," he said, encouragingly, "and you said you couldn't dance."

  Cori had no response. She only wanted the music to go on and on forever. She was Cinderella at the ball. No matter that she wore jeans and a sweater that had seen cleaner days. She saw herself reflected in Joey's eyes.

  "This is wonderful," she whispered.

  "I think so. I believe every child should be taught to dance in the first grade. I think we'd have fewer criminals."

  He was kidding, but Cori knew there was a grain of truth in what he said. "Maybe you're right.

  Maybe I'll give up my art studio and open a dance studio. Of course, you'll have to work as an instructor." She laughed. "Then again, I'm not sure I'd like that."

  Joey guided her around the entire cabin, circling the sofa and chairs, moving through the kitchen. "In our family, we danced in the yard or the kitchen or the hallway.
My mother and father didn't care where, just as long as there was music and they had each other."

  Cori was about to answer when she heard footsteps on the stairs. They were running.

  Joey heard them, too. As he pushed Cori down on the floor behind the sofa he switched off the music. He took cover beside her, his arm snaking out to capture his gun.

  The door flew open and Laurette dashed into the room, eyes large with concern.

  "Someone's coming, Joey. It sounds like Aaron's boat, but I can't be certain."

  "Damn." Joey stood up. He reached for the rifle and handed it to Laurette. The shotgun he gave to Cori. "Remember the signals."

  "I didn't think they'd come in daylight."

  "Neither did I," he said. "It'll work against us, I'm afraid."

  Cori tasted metal in the back of her mouth, and she realized it was pure fear. She had never been so afraid in her life. These men had come to kill her, and Joey and Laurette stood in danger because of it.

  "Remember the plan." Joey looked at each, waiting for them to nod. "Okay. I'm going out to take my position. Laurette."

  "I'm headed for the tree." She hefted the rifle and made sure her pockets were bulging with shells.

  She hugged Cori quickly and gave Joey a kiss. Then she was gone.

  "Cori?"

  She nodded, patting her pockets to show she, too, had shells.

  "Shoot to kill, no matter if he looks like Kit or not."

  She nodded again, unable to speak. Nothing in life had prepared her for this moment.

  Joey brushed her silky hair back from her face. He kissed each cheek softly, then her lips. "Things will work out." He went out the door and down to the small island of land that would afford him the best shot when Aaron's boat bit the snag he'd constructed.

  Chapter Eleven

  Cori shaded her eyes against the setting sun. An hour had passed, an eternity in hell. The boat motor had been cut, and there was nothing, only the knowledge that they were out there, waiting, biding their time. An eerie quiet had settled over the cabin and surrounding swamp. She could hear the second hand of her watch twitch the slow minutes away, and she could only imagine the torment Joey was going through. Aaron was on that boat. If anything happened to him, Joey would never forgive himself for involving a friend.