Bone-a-fied Trouble

by Carolyn Haines

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Tabitha heard the confrontation between Hannah and Roger. They were just outside the door of the room she was being held in. Alan Dotsun’s body remained on the floor, and neither Hannah nor Antoine seemed concerned. They pretended it wasn’t there. Hannah had left the room, but Antoine remained, his gun trained on her.

  “Where is my sister?” she asked. “Just tell me that Trudy is okay.”

  “Your sister displays a remarkable stubbornness, just like you. You’ve put yourself in real danger. Her too. And Roger.”

  “That’s no answer. Is she safe?”

  Antoine walked around Tabitha, the barrel of the gun never leaving her. “You would both be a lot better if you’d minded your own business.”

  Tabitha turned to follow him as he walked around the room. When he was in the far corner, he pointed toward the ceiling. It took Tabitha a minute to realize he was pointing at a camera. The room was bugged—and Antoine was letting her know that. She started to say something and he shook his head and began moving again.

  “If only you’d stayed in New Orleans, and your sister too. Both of you would be safe, Roger would be safe, and Hannah and I would be in control of Long Agricultural. That might not be Charline and Samuel’s chosen outcome, but no one would be dead. Now look. Lisa East. Alan Dotsun. Perhaps more.”

  “What is it you want?” Tabitha asked. “Why do all of this? Kill people? Hurt others? Why?”

  “You have no concept of how much money is tied up in research for cotton and food, do you?” He laughed at her, an ugly laugh. “G9-14, the cotton seed your nosy little sister couldn’t leave alone, has ripple implications that go all through the food chain.”

  “That seed is poisonous. If the same science is producing corn and soybeans and…” She didn’t finish the thought. “You’ll kill millions of people. Animals. If that stuff washes into the Gulf it’ll be an epic disaster.” The big picture was more horrific than she’d ever anticipated. “That was what Lisa and Trudy were trying to stop.”

  “Bingo. And you see where it got them. This is a global concern. It’s bigger than the Mississippi Delta or even the United States.”

  “And when all of these people are poisoned and dead?”

  “Admittedly, that wasn’t the goal. We’d hoped for a cotton seed that would blaze a trail for other seeds. One that would allow crops to be grown without the pesticides and fertilizers that are destroying land, rivers, and the oceans.”

  “But it was a failure, and Trudy and Lisa were the first to document that.”

  “I have to admit, I never suspected two women without any real training would ferret out the problem. Poor Lisa came to us, tried to warn us. And when she realized we had no intention of stopping production of the seed, she made a fatal mistake. She threatened us. But she was key in luring Trudy to her house so that we could take her.”

  “Is my sister still alive?”

  The door of the room swung open and Roger was thrust inside. Hannah was on his heels, the gun still pointed at her son. He went to Tabitha and pulled her into his arms. “Are you hurt?”

  She shook her head. “Antoine was about to tell me if Trudy is still alive.”

  “She’ll be here soon,” Hannah said. “But I don’t know how much longer any of you have to live.”

  Tabitha saw Hannah glance at the camera in the ceiling and then signal Antoine with her eyes. What was going on between them? She couldn’t begin to guess, but something was definitely up. They were aware of the surveillance and both were not being secretive about it. They wanted Roger and her to know. So that meant someone else was involved. Someone that Antoine and Hannah answered to.

  She rushed back into Roger’s arms and whispered. “There’s a camera. Your mom and Antoine are trying to let us know. Someone is watching all of us.”

  They didn’t have long to wait. The door opened again and Trudy was shoved into the room in front of a slender blond woman. Lily Kennedy. She was the last person Tabitha had expected to see. But suddenly it all made sense. Lily talking to Felicity. Felicity setting her up. Felicity working for Roger and knowing about Lisa’s plans for investigating the cotton on her calendar. The whole thing clicked into place—except for Antoine and Hannah.

  “I’m fine,” Trudy said, rubbing her wrists as she moved closer to her sister and Roger. “I’m sorry I dragged you into this,” she said. “I should have warned you, Tabitha. I should have told you the truth about what I was doing. About Green World and going undercover to stop this poisonous crop from being released. I just knew you’d try to protect me. Roger, I’m sorry.”

  Roger put a hand on her shoulder. “No apologies necessary.” He turned to Lily. “I should be shocked, but I’m not. There was always a…ruthlessness about you. It’s one reason I never understood why Dirk would marry you. How deep is Dirk in all of this?”

  Lily scoffed. “Dirk is too stupid to be involved. In the world of the Delta, a woman of my position needs a man. Dirk suited me nicely. And he would have been free to do whatever he wished. He just couldn’t stay in his own lane. All he had to do was plant the fields like I told him, let the cotton grow, and play the wealthy landowner to my Scarlett. And keep his pants on like a good fiancé. When I realized he was seeing Trudy behind my back, I couldn’t let her work him for information.”

  “You were jealous of Trudy?” Roger asked. “You took pleasure in hurting Dirk.”

  “It was beautiful to watch. He’d show up for dinner at my home and moon out the window, depressed and worried. I’m going to wait until he gets here before I kill Trudy. You first, Trudy, then your sister. We’ll pin the whole thing on Roger. Antoine and Hannah will take over Long Agricultural and we can expedite production of the cotton seed.” Lily kept the gun trained on Trudy and pretended to pull the trigger. “Blam, you’re dead.”

  “All your big plans. Dirk never loved you.” Trudy got in Lily’s face. “You were social status, money, the road to success, but you were never loved by Dirk, though he did try. I know that for a fact. He put his whole heart into trying because he wanted that for both of you. The problem is, you’re just an unlovable witch and not even your daddy can love you. He loved Dirk far more than he ever loved you.”

  “Trudy, stop it!” Tabitha could see that Lily was furious. Any minute she’d pull the trigger and kill Trudy. “Just shut up.”

  “Listen to your sister,” Lily said, her face flushed with anger. “I want to see Dirk suffer, but not as bad as I want to kill you.”

  “Then do it, you coward!” Trudy hurled the words.

  “You little fool!” Lily stepped forward and hit Trudy on the side of the face with the gun butt. In a split second, Roger was flying across the room into Lily. Roger knocked the gun out of Lily’s hands and it spun to a stop in front of Hannah. Tabitha went for it, but Hannah was faster. She picked it up and stepped back. Antoine rushed toward Roger and Lily, fighting on the floor. Antoine grabbed Lily’s arm and pulled her to her feet. Instead of releasing her, he pushed her against the wall. “Lily Kennedy, you’re under arrest.”

  Roger got slowly to his feet. Tabitha rushed to Trudy’s side. “Are you okay?”

  “Maybe,” she said, “but it’s going to be a whopper of a headache.”

  Tabitha scrambled to her feet. Hannah still held a gun, but it was pointed at the floor. “Drop the gun,” Tabitha said. She was unarmed, but she meant to back up her order.

  Hannah stuck the gun in a holster. “I’m working with Green World,” she said. “Antoine and I have been undercover for months, trying to find out who was actually behind this new seed. And now we have Lily’s confession, on tape.” She pointed to the camera in the ceiling. “The whole time the cameras were rolling. Now we can drop the charade. We couldn’t tell you sooner, because if this had gone the other direction, Antoine and I needed to protect our cover.”

  For a long moment, no one broke the stunned silence. Then Lily began to curse Hannah and Antoine, and a loud commotion st
arted in the hallway. A cat yowled and a young woman began to scream.

  “Trouble!” Roger and Tabitha said at once. They rushed the door to find Felicity cornered in the hallway. She’d been trying to run, but Trouble wasn’t about to let her pass. Roger stepped forward and grabbed her by the arm while Tabitha scooped up the cat. She hugged him to her and kissed the top of his head. There were a lot of unanswered questions, but Trudy was safe and Roger wouldn’t have to see his mother behind bars. All in all, it was turning into a glorious evening.

  * * *

  Roger drove to the highway where he had cell phone coverage and called Budgie and DeWayne and told them where he was.

  “You’re a lucky man,” DeWayne said. “We’re on the way, and Sheriff Peters is with us. He and Sarah Booth just got home, and they have one very upset black cat at Dahlia House.”

  “We have a black cat of our own, here,” Roger said. “I think they both need to be deputized.”

  “That could happen,” DeWayne said. “See you in fifteen.”

  Roger was still reeling from the revelation that his mother and Antoine were working to capture the bad guys—and that they weren’t bad themselves. He owed Hannah and Antoine an apology, and when the time was right, he’d do it on a grand scale. But Lily Kennedy took the cake. He’d known her his whole life. She’d been the golden girl, the girl with the most land and money. She’d had everything and it wasn’t enough.

  Headlights fell in behind him as he drove back to the research facility. It was too soon to be the deputies. He parked and waited, his mother’s gun in his hand. Just in case.

  Dirk almost tumbled out of his truck he was in such a hurry. “Lily called me. She said to get here fast. What is this place?”

  And Roger had at least one answer. Dirk wasn’t involved. He was just another victim left in the wake of Lily Kennedy’s greed.

  “Trudy is alive, Dirk. She’s not hurt.” He grasped his friend’s shoulder. “I have some bad news about Lily.”

  “Is she injured?” He was instantly concerned.

  “No, not injured. But she’ll be going to jail for a long, long time. She abducted Trudy and killed Lisa East. Alan Dotsun too.”

  “What are you saying?” Dirk stopped.

  “That cotton seed, G9-14. There’s a problem. A big problem. We’ll have to figure that out tomorrow, how we deal with what we’ve planted. But we can do that. Together. And we will. What’s important now is that Trudy and Tabitha are safe. My mother…” He laughed out loud. “My mother works for the good guys. She and Trudy both. She tried to tell me, but I wouldn’t listen.” He laughed out loud. “Man, oh man, I can’t wait to see Samuel’s and Charline’s faces. They’re going to be so surprised.”

  “Lily was behind all of this?” Dirk almost staggered. “Why?”

  “Greed. Simple greed. If Lily had been able to get all of the farmers to plant this new cotton seed before they learned of the consequences, she could have controlled cotton production in a lot of places. But part of it was also to punish you because of your feelings for Trudy.”

  “I do love her,” Dirk said. “I fought it. I didn’t want to care. But I do, and I can’t pretend with Lily anymore. I didn’t mean to hurt her, but Trudy is so…loving and honorable. And Lily…isn’t.”

  Roger and Dirk entered the building and were greeted by one pacing black cat. “Trouble is on the side of the angels,” Roger said. He entered the room where Antoine and Hannah kept Felicity and Lily under control. Tabitha and her sister were hugging in a corner.

  “Just have a seat and relax,” Roger said. “The law is on the way. It’s all over now but the crying.” He took a seat by the door and Tabitha joined him. The black cat jumped on his lap. “I couldn’t have done it without you, Trouble.”

  * * *

  The night has passed. Breakfast—a delicious mahi-mahi in a light sauce—has been consumed. Pluto is safely home with his bipeds, and Trudy is a guest of the Longs. She’s been reunited with the charming Miss Vesta, and what a heartwarming scene that was. My work here is almost done, and a good thing, because Tammy will be heading back to Wetumpka in a matter of hours, and I must be with her. While I do my best for the humanoids I work with, in my heart of hearts, Tammy Lynn must come first. Only a few loose ends to tie up.

  How wonderful to see my psychic beauty and Mr. Farmer ogling each other. They are about to catch on fire, which is amusing for me, an old hand in the art of attraction. There is no longer any impediment in the way of their lustful longings. So it has all come round to right. I overheard Tabitha talking with her sister last night, and they’re both considering a vacation in the Delta. Roger has invited them to stay in Long Hall. And let me add that Dirk genuinely seems to care about Trudy. What started for her as an attempt to infiltrate the planters of the area to find out what was happening with the seed and research has turned into an affair of the heart. It looks as if both sisters might find that Cupid’s arrow has hit home.

  As to the rest of the Long family, I have to admit, Hannah and Antoine had even me fooled. I am normally on top of such pretenders and posers, but those two played me like a cheap fiddle. I’m just so relieved that Roger won’t have to visit his mama in jail that I can’t even be mad at them.

  Antoine’s resume was fabricated. His background on the Internet, a total fraud. He’s been an agent with the FBI for the past twenty years. When he became involved with agricultural espionage, and he was assigned to follow the development of this “magic” cotton seed, he made it a point to meet Hannah. At first he meant to use her unwittingly, but as he got to know her, he realized what an asset she could be, with her family connections, to follow what was happening with G9-14—and other crop research. Hannah has always been interested in the environment. It only took a nudge from Antoine to bring her on board and her background as a social flibbertigibbet and scandalous woman served her perfectly. Now, at last, Hannah has found a job where she gained the respect she craved, and the ability to do something good. Antoine allowed her to become the woman that Micah Malone fell in love with. The woman who is Roger’s mother, and now someone that will be welcomed into the family business—if she chooses to give up her work with Green World. I’m not certain that will happen. Antoine and Hannah make a formidable team. They could take on so many issues. And they do work well together. I also sense that there is much more to that relationship than work. For Hannah’s sake, I hope so.

  Hannah has even made peace with Charline—and apologized for her rotten behavior in the past. She spent the morning with Samuel, and I don’t believe I’ve ever seen him happier. The same is true for Roger. Now when he looks at his mother, there is a light in his eyes.

  Before I head back to Wetumpka, Tammy and I will join the Longs, Dirk, and Trudy at Dahlia House, Pluto’s home. We’ve been invited for brunch—a yummy second breakfast as Bilbo Baggins would assert--to celebrate the capture of those involved in agricultural espionage. Hannah and Antoine will be there and I can’t wait to hear about their lives as spies. I’m something of a vagabond and adventurer myself, but I lust for some spy action. Think of it—Trouble, the master spy. And with my British accent, I am perfect. “The name is Bond. James Bond.” It just gives me the chills.

  This visit to Dahlia House is the perfect opportunity for Trudy to take little Vesta to visit. Pluto will be thrilled. We have to make the bipeds understand that Pluto and Vesta are romantically involved. If Trudy returns to New Orleans she must promise to bring Vesta to the Delta on a regular basis for visits with Pluto. I have to convey that.

  The time to depart for Dahlia House has come. I do believe I heard someone mention shrimp stuffed pasta shells. Heaven awaits!

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  The old plantation house sat atop a slight rise. Sycamore trees, just beginning to show the first tiny green sprouts of leaves, lined the driveway. Dahlia House. It wasn’t as large or ostentatious as Long Hall, but it had a charm all its own, Tabitha thought as Roger drove her for the brunch. By all r
easoning, she should be headed back to New Orleans, not going to brunch, but Roger had invited her and Trudy to visit for a week or two. She’d found her sister, and Sheriff Coleman Peters and his deputies had arrested Lily Kennedy and several employees of the Kennedy agricultural business. Lily was charged with the murder of Lisa East and Alan Dotsun. Alan had uncovered the seed issues and threatened to go to the USDA, so Lily had shot him.

  Even as they drove across the fertile fields, a team of bio-scientists were at the research facility where Alan had been killed. They would determine what Dirk and Roger would do with the fields they’d planted with the G9-14 cotton seed.

  “I would never have suspected Lily,” Tabitha said. She held Trouble on her lap. The cat acted like he had ants in his pants. He was talking in little gerbil sounds and spinning in circles.

  “I’ve known her all my life. I never figured her for a murderer, either. I don’t think she ever really cared for Dirk. He fit the role for her, but Lily isn’t just greedy. She’s possessive. Even when it isn’t something she really wants, she can’t stand for someone else to have it.” Roger sighed. “If her father isn’t involved, this will break his heart.”

  “I’m sorry for that.”

  “Two people are dead and no telling how many more will be hurt. But at least the cotton will be contained.”

  Roger’s anger seemed to have left him. Tabitha put a hand on his arm. “Lily was ruthless and she wasn’t used to opposition. Few people in the Delta would go up against the Kennedy family. They had the money and the power to push things their way.”

  “The way I see it, Dirk was the perfect husband and also the perfect place to try that experimental seed. My land was a bonus for her—until Trudy started asking questions.”

  “This is hard to accept. Lily was willing to risk the land, the future?” Tabitha still had plenty of questions.