Deja Voodoo (A Cajun Magic Novel) (Entangled Suspense) (16 page)

“When did you tell him this?”

“Afore I come to set de fire. Couple hours ago.”

Alex glared down at Theo. “You almost burned my family home to the ground.”

“I dint want dat. Only to get rid of de man what took my gal.”

Alex leaned toward Theo. “When are you going to get it through your thick head. I’m
not
your girl, never was and never…I repeat…
never
will be.”

“You wit’ dis man now?” Theo jerked his head toward Ed.

“As far as you’re concerned, yes.” She challenged Ed with a glare that made his heart kick over and warmed his insides. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to get the sheriff.”

She was back in moments, dragging the sheriff and two of his deputies who’d come to help direct traffic around the emergency personnel handling the fire.

They loaded Theo into their vehicle and took him to Morgan City’s jailhouse on suspicion of arson.

By the time they finished with Theo and returned to the fire and the diminishing crowd, the firemen declared it safe to go back to their homes—except for his rental, which was barely standing. It was nearing morning, and the first streaks of gray lit the eastern sky. Joe and Miz Mozelle had helped Mrs. Boyette and the older children get the younger ones inside and put back to bed.

Then Miz Mozelle, Joe, and Oscar Mills stood outside with Mrs. Boyette, overlooking the smoldering hulk of the rental. Once the last fire engines had left along with all the emergency personnel, quiet finally descended on Bayou Miste.

Ed approached an exhausted Mrs. Boyette and took her hands in his. “I’m sorry.”

“
Mon cher
, what have you to be sorry about?” She gave him a weak smile, the wrinkles around her eyes deeper, and the shadows beneath her eyes darker. She had enough to worry about without him being there bringing trouble.

“I’m afraid my being here has put your family in danger.”

“Don’t be silly.” Mrs. Boyette hugged his arm. “How could that be?”

“I can’t say now, but I won’t be staying in Bayou Miste much longer.” He met Alex’s gaze over her mother’s head.

Confusion warred with hurt in her expression. “Do you want to stay at my house until you have to leave?”

“No. I better not.” Every moment he spent with this family put them deeper and deeper in the danger that was Leon Primeaux’s doing. “I have to go.”

Before he’d taken two steps away from Alex and her family, he paused to listen to the sound of a speeding vehicle headed their way.

The car raced down the street and skidded into the driveway, spewing gravel.

He reached for his gun. “Stay back.”

Mrs. Boyette leaned around him, peering at the car in the driveway. “It’s Ben and Lucie!” She pushed past him and ran toward the driver emerging from the car, landing in her oldest son’s strong embrace.

Alex and Calliope followed, pulling Lucie into a group hug.

“Oh, Lucie, why are you two here, when you should be home with your feet up?” Alex asked.

“I came with Ben.” Lucie rubbed her hand over the mound of her belly. “He said he needed to get to Bayou Miste ASAP, but he wouldn’t tell me why, and I wouldn’t let him leave me. Not after today’s shooting at the courthouse.” She wrinkled her nose and glanced at the damp, smoking remains of the rental. “I’d say we’re a little late.”

Ben shook his head. “I hope not.” His gaze caught Ed’s over the top of his mother’s head. “Heard from our street informant. Word’s out. They know she’s here.”

Chapter Fourteen

Alex glanced from her brother to Ed, wondering what was going on. “What are you talking about?”

Ed’s focus remained on Ben, his face tense, his hand still resting on the gun attached to his belt. “How? No one else should know.”

“Are you two working together?” Alex touched Ed’s arm. “
Now?
”

“Yes,” Ed answered, the word clipped, not inviting more questions from her.

She refused to be ignored. “You weren’t here on vacation to fish?”

“No.” His lips twisted. “Although I did fish as part of my cover.”

“Which would explain why you didn’t know how.” Though she understood what being undercover meant, disappointment gnawed at her insides. He’d lied to her from day one. “And I suppose you’re not a mediator, either.”

He shook his head. “No.”

Dieu
. What
did
she know about him?

Ben’s mouth tightened. “There’s a mole on the force. Someone must have leaked it that you and I were hiding her. A person on the inside could have put a trace on my cell phone usage or contacted the phone company for a records search. Whatever happened, Primeaux’s thugs know she’s in the area.”

“She who?” Lucie’s face had gone white. “The witness who was shot at this morning?” She gripped Ben’s arm. “Tell me she’s not here—she’s not in Bayou Miste.”

“Sorry, darlin’. But Phyllis Ragsdale, the key witness in Leon Primeaux’s trial, has been hiding out on the bayou for nearly a week.”

Alex’s chest tightened. No wonder Ed had come to Bayou Miste. And that would explain why he’d disappeared on occasion.

“Ed’s been undercover watching for signs of Primeaux’s hit squad, while Marcus, our other man, has been babysitting the Ragsdale woman out in the bayou.”

“I’m sorry I had to lie to you,” Ed said to Mrs. Boyette, his gaze shifting to Alex. “I couldn’t say anything to anyone. We didn’t know who to trust, and couldn’t risk word getting out.”

Ben slashed a hand through his hair. “Now that they know she’s here, all hell’s gonna break loose.” His jaw tightened. “Ed and I have to get out there and make sure she survives the day.” He turned to his mother. “Keep Lucie inside and safe.”

Their mother nodded, her face tired but determined. “I will.”

“If you have a gun, get it out, and use it if anyone approaches any member of your family,” Ed said.

Alex swallowed her anger. “If they’re hiring someone to drive an airboat, you’ll need something faster that will go where an airboat goes and get you there before them.”

Ben’s head dipped as if he was thinking hard. “If they could get a local airboat driver out this early without a prior reservation, it would still take time to travel the distance along the canals and tributaries. We need an airboat.”

“Sorry, we’ve been getting by with your mother’s johnboat.” Ed shook his head. “Top speed is about twenty knots.”

Oscar Mills stepped forward, his face smeared with soot from helping with the fire. “Joe’s got one.”

Joe grinned. “That’s right. I do.”

Ben and Ed faced the man and spoke simultaneously. “Since when?”

Joe’s grin widened. “Yesterday. Had it in the shop, rebuildin’ the engine. Was about to start advertising bayou tours. Oscar here was gonna be my first customer.”

“What are we waiting for?” Ben headed for the marina.

“Wait,” Ed called out. “If we go out on the bayou now, and they see us, the chances of getting back unharmed are slim. We need a plan.”

Oscar Mills raised his hand. “I’d like to help.”

“I don’t know you.” Ben frowned. “How do I know you’re not one of Leon’s men?”

“I spent twenty-five years as a DEA agent before I was medically retired.”

“Seems kinda strange, you showing up at the same time I did,” Ed said.

“That was pure coincidence.” Mills’s smile faded.

“Joe says you’ve been out on the bayou every day and that you weren’t taking any fishing gear.”

Oscar shot a glance at Joe. “I didn’t come to the bayou to fish.”

Ed and Ben crossed their arms across their chests at the same time.

“Then why did you come?” Ed asked.

“I came to see Madame LeBieu.” Mills ducked his head. “I heard she was a good healer.”

Lucie giggled. “Seems my grandmother has a following that extends beyond Bayou Miste. What did you need healing for?”

Mills’s back straightened and he held his head high. “I was diagnosed with brain cancer.”

Alex gasped, a band tightening around her chest. “Brain cancer? Oh my gosh, that’s awful!” She laid a hand on his arm.

The agent nodded. “All the doctors have given up on me. I was ready to try anything, even Voodoo.”

For the first time since she’d met the man, Alex noted how deep the lines were around his eyes and how pale his face was. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. It’s not your fault I have cancer. The docs gave me anywhere from four months to two years to live. I decided to not wallow, but try anything and everything. That’s why I’m here.” He laughed. “That, and the fishing’s good.”

Silence fell on the folks gathered. Alex couldn’t think of anything to say that wouldn’t sound trite. Her heart went out to the man who’d been desperate enough to seek help from a bayou legend.

Oscar raised his hands. “It’s okay. Whatever Madame LeBieu has been giving me is working. The tumor has been shrinking. My doctors are calling it a miracle.”

“Can you still shoot straight?” Ed asked.

Mills nodded. “I have my own guns, too.”

“Ammo?” Ben asked.

“Two magazines each,” Mills responded.

“You can ride with Ben in the johnboat,” Ed said. He turned to Alex. “Sorry, babe. Duty calls. Please stay with your mother until we know Bayou Miste is safe.” He cupped her face, brushing a thumb along her cheek. “We’ll talk when this blows over.”

Her heart pounding against her ribs, she gazed up into his eyes, realizing for the first time how much he’d come to mean to her in such a short time. Though he’d lied about who he was, she couldn’t imagine their relationship ending here. She wanted so much more. “Promise you’ll come back?”

“You bet.” Then he kissed her. Although brief and hard, it left her feeling as if it wouldn’t be the last—should he survive the day.

Joe kissed Miz Mozelle, and Ben kissed Lucie and his mother, then the men were gone, headed toward the marina.

Alex stood with Calliope and Lucie, but her heart and her mind went with the guys.

“I want to go. Okay?” Sport’s gaze followed the men. “Maybe help?”

Trust Sport to voice exactly what she had been thinking. She’d give anything to be out there, helping make sure no one got killed.

Calliope held his hand. “No, Sport. They have training.”

“Sport—I have training.” His chest puffed out, his brows dipping low and menacing.

Alex laughed and said softly, “Obedience school isn’t enough, sweetie.”

“I want to help.” Sport stared after the men, his face tense.

She patted his arm. “You can, by helping protect the family.”

Her mother stepped up beside her. “I should have known Ed was a cop or something. He had that look about him.”

“What look is that, Mom?” Alex could have kicked herself for not seeing it sooner, too.

“That need-to-protect look.” Her mom winked. “He’s pretty sexy when he takes charge, don’t you think?”

“Oh, yeah,” Alex whispered. “He’s sexy all right. I just hope he comes back alive so I can tell him what I think about all the lies he fed us.”

“
Ma cher
, he had good reason.”

“Yeah, Alex,” Lucie said. “Cut him some slack. It’s part of the job, and part of yours as a significant other to be supportive.”

“Who said I was his significant other?” Alex demanded, wishing it could be true, despite her pique at not being trusted with the truth.

“You really are blind, you know.” Calliope grinned and spun to face Lucie. “You’ve been so caught up, Alex, you haven’t had a chance to admire Lucie’s baby bump.”

Lucie smiled. “I’d wondered when you were going to say something.”

Alex forced her attention away from the marina and the fear running through her that everything was not all right, and wouldn’t be until Ed returned unharmed.

It had been three months since she had been to Baton Rouge to have lunch with Lucie, and she looked so different it brought tears to her eyes, along with a twinge of envy. “You look wonderful.”

Lucie’s lips twisted. “Fat is more like it.”

“No. You’re radiant and more beautiful than I’ve ever seen you.”

Calliope hugged Lucie. “Pregnancy suits you.”

“Yes, it does.” Mrs. Boyette took her arm. “And I’m sure you haven’t slept all night. Let’s get you inside and your feet up.”

Alex hung back. “Mom, I’m going to head home for a shower and change of clothes.”

Mrs. Boyette stopped on her way into the house. “You heard Ed, he wanted you to stay with us until they were sure all was clear.”

“I’ll only be a little while. I don’t have clothes here and I need to check on…on…my dog.”

“Don’t be long, or I’ll worry,” her mother called out.

“We’ll come with you.” Calliope grabbed Sport’s arm. “Won’t we?”

“Yes, we will,” Sport said, sounding more and more like a man than a child learning to talk for the first time.

Alex prayed that for Calliope and Sport’s sake, the Voodoo spell would last. Sport made a wonderful man, and Calliope deserved to be loved so unconditionally.

The three of them walked to her house as the sun popped up over the horizon in glorious shades of mauve, orange, and yellow. Birds sang, flowers bloomed, and nature continued unimpeded by the danger looming in the bayou.

Alex didn’t let it fool her for one moment.

…

Ed and Joe took the airboat, while Ben and Oscar followed behind in the pirogue, moving much slower and staying low and as close to the vegetation as possible to avoid detection. Loud and rising high above the water, the airboat was the decoy to draw attention to Ed and Joe and away from the small boat.

They made it to the shack without spotting another vessel.

Marcus rose from the grass, his AR-15 pointed squarely at Ed’s chest. “You here of your own free will, or is that man holding a gun on you?”

Joe chuckled. “I’m the chauffeur. No weapons on me. See?” He held up his arms, then his shirt, displaying a rounded white belly and beltless jeans. Then he patted his pockets and was about to pat his legs.

Ed interrupted, “He’s with me and we’ve got trouble.”

The johnboat putted in behind the airboat.

He hurried down and helped Ben and Mills out, then he jumped in and pulled the boat beneath a cypress tree with a thick overhang of Spanish moss. He stepped ashore, climbed up the hill, and looked back. The boat was completely concealed from the hill and from the water.

Ben nodded. “Good thinking.”

“You and Mills will escort the witness while Marcus, Joe, and I will provide a distraction.”

“Does that mean I get to shoot someone?” Marcus grinned. “About damned time. I was ready to put a bullet through my head as soon as you left last night.”

“That bad?” Ed asked, hurrying toward the shack.

“Worse.” Marcus got to the front door before they did and flung it open. “Get off your ass, we’re movin’ out.”

“Thank gawd.” Phyllis Ragsdale leaned out the door, blinking at the sunlight. “I’ll be glad to see the last of this shit-hole. I hope you’re taking me to a hotel where I can get a shower and a fuckin’ massage.”

Ben’s brows rose. “Is she kidding me?”

Ed shook his head. “You have no idea the trash that comes out of this woman’s mouth.”

“That’s putting it mildly,” Marcus concurred.

Ben grinned. “We might have a cure for that.” He held out his hand. “Ms. Ragsdale, if you’ll come with me, we’ll get you to safety.”

“That’s more like it.” She shot a glare at Ed and Marcus. “At least
he’s
a gentleman.” She picked her way down the bank and stared at the airboat. “And that is more like the transportation I expect.”

“Sorry, Ms. Ragsdale. We’re not going in that.” Ben led her toward the curtain of Spanish moss.

“You’re kidding me, right?” She ducked beneath the moss. “Well, goddamn. You can’t expect me to get in that toy boat those two baboons have been haulin’ me around in. I’m not goin’.”

The whine of engines in the distance alerted Ed to trouble. “Get her quiet and keep low until we’re out and away from here,” he called out as he jumped onto the airboat.

Joe followed. “Hope this damned thing starts,” he muttered as he cranked the engine. It fired up the first time.

Marcus, loaded with every weapon he could sling across his shoulders or clip to his bulletproof vest, leaped aboard as Joe pulled out into the channel and spun around. He handed Joe a similar vest. “Put it on.”

Ed held the helm while Joe shrugged into the vest. “Gonna get crazy out here?” Joe asked worriedly.

“You want me to drive?” Ed asked.

“Oh, hell, no. I’m game, just watch my back while I drive this baby.”

“You got it. And keep as low as you can.” He took one side of the airboat and Marcus hung off the other, a smile on his face as the wind blew the last four days of babysitting Ragsdale out of his hair.

As they turned onto the main channel leading away from Bayou Miste, another airboat skimmed up over a man-made earthen berm and splashed into the water a hundred yards behind them.

“Here we go!” Joe hit the throttle and the airboat sped across the water, the fan blowing air out the back at upwards of two hundred miles an hour, the sound loud enough to blow Ed’s eardrums.

Marcus lifted a set of binoculars to his eyes, leaned out as far as he could, and studied the boat behind them. “They’re loaded for bear!” he shouted above the noise. “Get ready!” He hooked his arm around a metal handrail, slung his high-powered rifle up to ready position, and waited for the first shot to be fired.

He didn’t have to wait long. Soon bullets spit water up beside the boat and pinged against the giant fan blade.

Joe headed straight for a cypress forest, gunning the engine. “Hold on!” he shouted.

At the last moment he turned left, the boat skidding sideways across the water and scooting forward.