Wrong Side of Forty

by DeLeon, Jana

  “The surprise was that I had a date,” Marina said, and laughed.

  “He said she looked great,” Adelaide said. “It was all I could do not to kick him in the crotch.”

  “Don’t do anything that can get you arrested or sued,” Luke said. “Especially in this house.”

  Adelaide waved a hand in dismissal. “Do you know what the biggest advantage is to being the grouchy old lady?”

  “Elastic-waist pants?” Marina guessed.

  “That’s second. The biggest advantage is that I can just pass things off as nerve damage or losing my balance. Who’s going to argue?”

  Luke’s smile turned to a frown and Marina realized he was looking over her shoulder.

  “Trouble is headed our way,” he said. “Stay calm, Marina.”

  “You!” Chastity LeDoux yelled as Marina whirled around.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  “You have the nerve to show up at my house,” Chastity ranted. “After what your daughter did?”

  Marina stared at the girl, whose black eyes showed through the makeup. Her nose was still swollen to twice its normal size. And she felt the room tip just a little. How had things gotten this out of control?

  “Maybe if you hadn’t been stealing from her, she wouldn’t have tried to stop you,” Marina said.

  Chastity’s face flashed with anger. “I wasn’t stealing. Harold gave me those clothes.”

  “Harold has no right to give away the property of another adult. But then, you have a habit of trying on other people’s clothes. Maybe you should talk to your daddy about upping your allowance so that you can buy your own.”

  “You bitch!” Chastity yelled and leaped at Marina, grabbing her around the neck. Marina fell backward into the table stocked with glasses for the bar and the whole thing collapsed, sending them both crashing down. Marina could feel broken glass pressing into her back and pieces nicked her arms and the side of her face as she struggled to pull Chastity’s hands from her throat. She was just about to let go with a solid right hook when Chastity flew off of her.

  Adelaide and the hardware store manager helped Marina up and she saw Chastity dangling in the air as Luke clutched her around the waist. She was kicking and screaming like a small child. The entire crowd of partygoers was staring at her in horror, including the love of her life, Harold.

  Dottie rushed up to Marina, clearly distressed. “Are you all right? Do you need the paramedics?”

  “No,” Marina said. “I’m just a little banged up and have some glass cuts.”

  “Unbelievable,” Dottie said and whirled around to look at Chastity.

  “What the hell is wrong with you?” she asked.

  The fact that the question had come from Dottie, including a curse word uttered in her completely serene voice, rendered everyone silent.

  “It’s not me!” Chastity screamed. “It’s all her fault.”

  Dottie shook her head. “Your parents ruined you. It’s pathetic.”

  There was a sharp intake of breath from those standing around and everyone froze when Preston came running up and demanded that Luke put his daughter down.

  “I’ll do that when she’s in handcuffs,” Luke said. “Not a minute before, and you really don’t want to try to make me. I’m done with you people.”

  “Handcuffs?” Preston stared at Luke as if he’d lost his mind.

  “Your daughter attacked Mrs. Trahan,” Luke said. “She’s cut from the glass and has marks on her neck. There are about twenty witnesses, so don’t even think you’re going to weasel out of this one.”

  Preston’s expression shifted from outrage to calculating as he glanced around at the potential witness pool. “We’ll just see about that, won’t we?”

  “Clear the way,” the sheriff yelled, and people moved aside for him to walk through. He took one look at Marina and the collapsed table, then at the still-screaming Chastity, and Marina could tell he wished he were on a long vacation.

  Time to fish or cut bait.

  “What happened here?” he asked.

  “This thing attacked Mrs. Trahan,” Luke said. “Mrs. Trahan will be pressing charges, so I suggest you put the problem in handcuffs before she launches at anyone else.”

  “You can’t do that,” Preston said to the sheriff.

  “I don’t see that I have a choice,” the sheriff said and motioned to Luke. “Flip her around and I’ll cuff her.”

  “What?” Chastity screamed, completely outraged. “You’re arresting me? What about her? She shouldn’t even be here. Are you arresting her too?”

  The sheriff looked over at Marina. “Mrs. Trahan, were you invited to this event?”

  “Yes,” Marina said. “I’m here with Luke. He’s one of the guests of honor.”

  He looked her up and down and Marina knew he was taking a mental inventory of the torn dress, the nicks and cuts from the glass, and the marks on her neck.

  “I’ll need you to come down to the sheriff’s department and file a statement,” he said.

  “Now?”

  “I think that might be best,” he said.

  “Works for me,” Luke said. “This party sucks.”

  The sheriff walked off, pushing Chastity, who’d shifted from screaming to wailing, in front of him. Preston hurried after them, still arguing, but the sheriff just kept walking without responding.

  “Don’t worry,” Adelaide whispered. “I got you.”

  “Can someone please get me a damp towel for Mrs. Trahan?” Luke called out.

  A caterer rushed up with the request and Luke blotted her face and arms.

  “I’m afraid this won’t do a lot of good,” Marina said. “I can feel cuts on my back as well.”

  He nodded. “Then let’s get this over with and get you home.”

  “Can we stop and pick up my sister on the way home?” Marina asked. “I’m going to need some help with my back and even though you’ve seen me partially clad, I’d prefer to keep the rest confidential.”

  He smiled. “I prefer to call it ‘saving it for later,’ but I’ll go with whatever you’d like. And yes, we can stop and get Halcyon. Probably best that she stays with you anyway. To keep her out of trouble.”

  Marina blushed at his “saving it for later” comment. Was he really interested in her? She’d thought his invitation was because he felt sorry for her and held plenty of dislike for the LeDoux. It hadn’t occurred to her that he might really be interested and she wasn’t sure, at all, how she felt about that.

  On the upside, she didn’t have to make a decision about it tonight and since she still hadn’t a clue where the ring was located and her time was almost up, that decision might never require pondering.

  “Wait up front with Adelaide and Dottie. I’ll get the truck,” he said.

  Adelaide gave him a nod and the three of them headed for the front door. Dottie was shaking her head the entire time.

  “I just can’t believe it,” she said. “I know the LeDoux are white trash who conned their way into money, but this is beyond the pale.”

  “Doesn’t surprise me in the least,” Adelaide said. “Why do you think I bullied you into bringing me?”

  “Well, you were right on that one,” Dottie said. “I thought maybe some snide comments and at worst, someone flinging a drink at someone else. But this? This is unacceptable on every level.”

  Adelaide shrugged. “You know what they say—you can give people money but you can’t give them class.”

  “Clearly,” Dottie said, and Marina could tell she was genuinely upset.

  When they got to the drive to wait on Luke, Dottie put her hand on Marina’s arm. “I am so sorry.”

  “For what?” Marina asked. “You didn’t do anything. In fact, you’ve helped me.”

  “I think I could have done more,” Dottie said. “I never expected things to go as far as they did, but I should have known after that business with Avery that Preston was going to double down on stupid. If you want to file a civil suit, I wo
uld be happy to pay for your attorney. I know one in New Orleans who specializes in such things. Normally, I loathe that sort of thing when it’s personal business but the LeDoux have taken things entirely too far. They’re ruining this town.”

  “Thank you,” Marina said. “Right now, I just want them to go away, but if I change my mind, I’ll let you know.”

  “Please do,” Dottie said. “And I’ll be making some changes myself. Come tomorrow morning the people of this town are going to have to choose a side. No more riding the fence.”

  “What are you going to do?” Adelaide asked.

  “For starters, I’m going to pull my donations to every organization that has a LeDoux on the board.”

  “That only punishes the organizations,” Marina said. “Don’t do that.”

  Dottie raised one eyebrow. “Do you really think people will choose Preston over me and my money? I don’t care what he has on them or how low the average IQ here is. No one is that stupid.”

  “She’s right,” Adelaide said. “Worst case, anyone who really feels they can’t go up against Preston will simply abdicate their position on the board or committee.”

  “I don’t know what to say,” Marina said. “I can’t tell you how much I appreciate the support you two have given me. It was totally unexpected, and yet I feel like we’ve been in the trenches together for years.”

  “You’re a class act,” Dottie said and then pointed to Adelaide. “And Lord knows, this one can make me cringe like no one else, but her values are solid. That’s more important than social graces.”

  “You heard her,” Adelaide said. “Next time she’s telling me to act right, remind her of that.”

  Marina smiled at them as Luke pulled up. “Thanks again.”

  Adelaide opened the door as Luke hurried around to help her, then he jumped back in and they headed off. As he pulled out of the driveway, he looked over at her.

  “Are you okay? Do you need to go to the hospital first?”

  She shook her head. “I’ll be okay. Ask me again tomorrow after my back has had a chance to process everything.”

  “Lumbar?”

  “Yeah, how did you know?”

  “You live long enough and well enough, you have lower back problems.”

  “How old are you, anyway?”

  “Forty-five.”

  She nodded. “You’re not going to ask me how old I am?”

  “Nooooooooo.”

  She laughed. “Forty-eight. A very exhausted forty-eight.”

  “Most people would already be prone if they’d had the week you have.”

  “Prone sounds really good about now.”

  “Let’s get this thing with the sheriff over with, then you can go home and lie around for a whole day if you’d like.”

  She nodded but her mind was already whirling. Another visit to the sheriff’s department. Was the sheriff going to kowtow to Preston again? Would she somehow end up taking the blame for this too? And what would that mean for Avery?

  “Can I ask you a question?” Marina asked. “It’s kinda out of left field but it’s something that’s been nagging at me.”

  “Sure.”

  “You said you’ve owed Adelaide a favor for a long time, but Adelaide said she didn’t know you well.”

  Luke frowned and nodded. “Both those statements are true. I have faint memories of Adelaide from when I was young, maybe five or so, but then I didn’t see her again until I contacted her about applying for the game warden position. I wanted to get her take on things.”

  “Why did you go so long without seeing her?”

  “Because my mother and I moved out of state. My father was a cruel man and he took his failures out on her. The last time left her in the hospital. Adelaide heard about it through some family and drove straight there and wrote my mother a check. That money helped us get away. Probably saved our lives.”

  Marina shook her head. “That’s incredible. It’s amazing all the wonderful things you never know about a person.”

  “Marina?”

  “Yes?”

  “I just want to say that this has been the most interesting date I’ve ever been on.”

  She smiled. “That’s me. Bringing creativity and visits to the sheriff’s department into the lives of others.”

  * * *

  Preston’s car was parked outside the sheriff’s department when Marina and Luke arrived. Marina blew out a breath. The sheriff’s arm was probably twisted all the way behind his back by now. Luke reached over and squeezed her shoulder.

  “The fact that he left his own party and raced to get here before us says everything,” Luke said. “He’s scared because he knows how bad this is.”

  “But he’s probably in there blackmailing the sheriff. The truth won’t matter. And the people who saw what happened probably won’t have the backbone to say anything.”

  “Adelaide and I will.”

  “Neither of you will matter to the prosecutor or the judge. That’s why Preston gets away with everything.”

  “Not this time.”

  Marina nodded and climbed out of the truck but she didn’t feel very optimistic as they made their way to the front door. She could hear yelling as soon as they got close.

  “You can’t be serious!” Preston yelled. “You can’t allow her to press charges. It’s her word against Chastity’s.”

  “I’m afraid not,” Sheriff Owen said. “You see, someone took video of the entire thing. It’s up on YouTube and already has five thousand views.”

  Marina looked over at Luke, who shook his head. Video? YouTube?

  Then she covered her mouth with her hand to keep from laughing.

  Adelaide.

  “It just happened!” Preston continued to rant. “There aren’t even five thousand people in Last Chance.”

  “Apparently people outside of our little town are interested as well. I can’t help you with this, Preston. Chastity attacked Marina Trahan without any provocation. Marina didn’t even defend herself. She only tried to pull Chastity’s hands from her neck. You best see about getting her a good lawyer. This is going to be ugly, especially given the situation with Avery.”

  “That’s our cue,” Luke said and walked inside.

  “I agree with the sheriff,” Luke said. “You should get a very good lawyer for your daughter. That video is irrefutable evidence. I don’t care how many people you’ve got dirt on. They’re not going to put themselves out there when there’s no loophole. You might need to adjust your methods now that everyone has a smartphone ready to go.”

  “I’ll find out who took that video,” Preston said. “They’ll take it down and then they’ll pay.”

  “I seriously doubt it,” Marina said. “But I’d love to see you try.”

  “You can’t threaten me,” Preston said.

  “It’s not a threat,” Marina said. “Just simple facts. Look at my injuries, which I will be photographing as soon as I get home. Or maybe I’ll go ahead and make that trip to the ER. You know, just to get everything on record.”

  “It appears you’ve reached an impasse,” Luke said. “Both of you have daughters facing assault charges. I could make a suggestion that clears the slate for everyone.”

  Preston’s face flashed with anger. He knew exactly what Luke was suggesting and he wasn’t having any of it.

  “No way,” he said.

  Luke shrugged. “Suit yourself, but we both know Chastity has no defense against video. Avery, on the other hand, was being robbed. Which case do you think is stronger? And while you might be ruler out here in the sticks, this sort of corruption has a way of finding itself into news stories in bigger cities. News stories tend to bring scrutiny. Unwanted scrutiny, if I’m sitting in your seat.”

  “Listen to the man,” Sheriff Owen said. “The prosecutor won’t have any issue dropping the charges if Chastity says so and, given the circumstances, might do it anyway. This could be a big mess for everyone—Chastity, you, me, the prosecutor, the j
udge. You push this and you risk alienating everyone for good. No one is going to stick their neck out over this one. They can’t. Video trumps everything and you know it.”

  If Preston had been packing, Marina was fairly certain he would have shot them all right there. His face was so red and his body so tense that she wondered if he might just have a heart attack on the spot. He’d never been in a situation he couldn’t control and he was having a huge problem admitting defeat.

  “What do you say, counselor?” Luke said. “Either we all put this behind us or we all move forward and let the chips fall. You want to roll those dice?”

  “Fine!” Preston spat out. “I’ll have the charges against Avery dropped.”

  Marina nodded. “As long as that happens and remains the case, I won’t press charges against Chastity. But I will be requesting a restraining order. Fair is fair, right?”

  “Whatever,” Preston said, and stormed out.

  “I still want to give my statement,” Marina said to Sheriff Owen. “I don’t trust him and quite frankly, I don’t trust you either. So this will all be by the book. The two of you aren’t going to sweep things under the rug this time.”

  Sheriff Owen had the decency to look embarrassed. “I’ll take your statement now. Do you want your lawyer present?”

  Marina looked over at Luke and smiled. “No. I want my date present.”

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  “I still can’t believe this,” Halcyon said as she dabbed Marina’s backside with peroxide.

  Marina jumped at the sting. “I know. It’s sorta out there.”

  “‘Sorta out there’ describes your entire life lately. How can someone who has gone overboard trying to keep her life on the down low have so much drama in such a small amount of time?”

  “Beats me. It’s not like I asked for any of this.”

  “Oh, honey, I’m not blaming you. I’m just dumbfounded by it all. I mean, if outrageous things happened to me, no one would bat an eye. But you’ve always been the straitlaced one. The nice one.”

  “I’m still the nice one. To people I like, anyway.”