Murder Of A Snake In The Grass (25 page)

Skye turned back to Loretta, who hadn’t moved. “Coming?”

“He wants to talk to you alone. I’ll sit right here and concentrate on making my head stop pounding.”

Luc was sitting with his back to the door when Skye entered. She caught her breath. He looked awful. His usually immaculately styled hair stuck straight up in the front and was woven like a basket in the back. The red lines in the whites of his eyes were as large as the stripes on the flag. And his trousers and shirt were creased and soiled.

He looked at her, shuddered, and buried his head in his arms. “I’m so sorry.”

“Did you do it?”

He looked confused for a moment, then said, “No, I didn’t kill Snake Iazetto. But I did know him.”

Skye sat, keeping the table between them and fighting the urge to comfort him. “Tell me what happened. How did you come to know a common gangster?”

“My life fell apart on me.”

“Maybe you’d better start at the beginning and be a little more specific.” Skye could feel her sympathy ebbing away. Luc still wasn’t taking responsibility for his actions.

“Okay. I’ll try. It started soon after you left town. My parents were thrilled that I had chosen my place in society over you. Almost immediately, they started to take control of little bits and pieces of my life.”

“And you let them?”

“I had moved back home after leaving our apartment. At
that point, I didn’t care anymore. It was easier to let them make the choices.”

“That’s pretty pathetic, but it doesn’t explain how you got involved with the mob.”

“That happened later, but as a result of my father trying to run my life.”

“I see, not your fault.”

“Yes and no.” Luc closed his eyes. “Do you remember the charity ball my mother was planning before you left?”

“Vaguely. What’s that got to do with it?”

“My mother insisted that I not only attend but also escort the daughter of an old friend of hers.”

“So?”

“I ended up marrying her six months later.”

“You’re married!” Skye stood up so fast that the chair she had been sitting in toppled over with a crash.

Thea immediately poked her head into the room. “Everything okay in here? Wally’s in his office. Should I call him?”

“We’re fine,” Skye reassured the dispatcher. “No need for Wally.” She shot Luc a dirty look. “Yet.”

After Thea closed the door behind her, Luc spoke. “No, I’m not married anymore, but I learned a hard lesson. Love is grand, but divorce is five hundred grand, each and every year.”

Skye whistled. “Boy, I could have been a rich divorcée instead of a poor ex-fiancée. Any children?”

“No, we were only married eleven months.”

“I still don’t understand. Five hundred thousand a year is a lot of money for most people, but for your family that’s a bar bill. What’s the problem?”

“You’re exaggerating, but nonetheless the real issue was that about the time the divorce became final, I quit my job at my father’s law firm and opened up my own practice.”

“I remember your mentioning that. You said you lost both your salary and your trust fund.”

Luc nodded, then leaned back in his chair and stared at
the ceiling. “At first it wasn’t so bad. You remember I’ve always been good at the stock market?”

“Yes.”

“But that went sour, too. So suddenly my ex-wife is hounding me for money, my creditors have just found out my dad has cut me off so they want to be paid off, and none of my old buddies are returning my phone calls.”

Realization hit Skye like the steering wheel in a car accident. “You borrowed money from Iazetto.”

“That’s right. The friendly neighborhood loan shark just happened to be swimming past my office one night.”

“Shit. Does Wally know?”

“I don’t think so.” Luc sank deeper in his chair.

“Are you going to tell him?”

“I’ll see what my lawyer has to say.”

“So, where did you get all the money you were throwing around here the past week?” Skye asked.

“I sold my Mercedes just before I left New Orleans.”

“Oh.” Skye paused to process what she had heard, then continued. She still had lots of questions. “I understand how you know Iazetto, but what was he doing in Scumble River?”

“I didn’t know he was here.”

Skye raised an eyebrow. “Really?”

“Well, I did tell him I needed to see you before I could pay him his money. He must have followed me to keep an eye on things. He wasn’t a trustful sort.”

“I see. So the idea that he might come after you did cross your mind.” Skye folded her arms. “And since I’m not a rich heiress and marrying me wouldn’t solve your money problems, I take it your reason for coming here, the ‘I want to make up with you’ routine, was phony?”

Luc had the grace to look ashamed. “I must admit at first my motive for coming to see you wasn’t what I claimed. But after we talked and spent time together, I realized how much I still loved you.”

“But before you recognized this love, why did you need to see me so badly?”

The lines in Luc’s face noticeably deepened, and he grew paler. “This is the worst part. Promise you won’t hate me.”

She sighed. “Just tell me. What more can you have done to me than you already did two and a half years ago?”

“Do you remember a piece of property I bought while we were engaged?”

“You bought and sold lots of property during that time.”

“Well, this is the one I put in your name.”

“I don’t remember that.” She frowned. “Wait a minute, something about doing it for tax reasons?”

“Right. I was planning on reselling it fairly quickly and since you earned so little money, you could afford the capital gains and I couldn’t.”

“Right. Society pays the people who care for and educate their children less than they pay garbage collectors.”

He ignored her criticism. “But the sale fell through, and I let the property sit. I hadn’t paid much for it, and it wasn’t worth much to anyone at the time.”

“But …”

“But after Iazetto started to demand I repay the money he loaned me or he’d kill me, I got desperate. I cleaned out my safety deposit box, looking for anything valuable to hold him off with, and I found the deed for that property. I put it on the market, and what do you know? Someone offered me nearly a million dollars for it.”

Skye gasped. “Why?”

“New Orleans is growing, and what was once too far away to commute to is now just fine.” Luc paused. “I thought my troubles were over. Then I realized the property was in your name.”

“You needed my signature to sell it.”

“Exactly.”

“So you came to Scumble River to charm me out of a million dollars. There is no foundation for abused children.
You stuck the deed in among all those phony foundation papers and hoped I’d sign it without ever realizing what I had done. That’s why you kept trying to make me sign those papers without reading them first. You are truly despicable.”

Luc’s face darkened. “The property is rightfully mine. I paid for it.”

“True, and that’s why I would have signed it over to you, had you asked.” Skye shook her head. “You don’t know me at all, do you? I would never keep what I haven’t earned and don’t deserve.”

He gave her a startled look. “No one would just give back a million dollars.”

“Maybe not in your world, but plenty of people in mine would.” Skye thought about that statement. There really was a lot to be said for living in a place like Scumble River. “Give me the deed. I’ll sign it right now.”

“The police have it. They found it and the purchase offer when they searched me.”

“The papers that briefly disappeared from Simon’s house were never really taken, were they? You were just stalling, weren’t you?”

“Yes, I wanted to spend more time with you.”

“Right.” Skye narrowed her eyes. “This explains your odd reaction the night you arrived at my cottage, too.”

“I was a little on edge, and you flinging open your door before finding out who was there and then dragging me to the police station didn’t help matters.”

“I didn’t know you had a loan shark nipping at your heels.” Skye paused. An unwelcome thought suddenly intruded. “Does this mean that the New Orleans mob will send someone else to collect its money?”

Luc shrugged. “No. Maybe. Hell, I don’t know.”

“You’d better get the word to them that I’m ready to sign the deed as soon as you get it back from the police.”

“I can’t do that until I get out of jail. So you’d better be careful in the meantime.”

“One more thing. Where were you between the time you arrived in Scumble River and the time you got to my place?”

“I just rode around, trying to get up my courage to see you again.”

“Oh.” Skye wasn’t entirely convinced he was telling the truth but found she didn’t really care. “At least that solves the mystery as to why anyone would want to impersonate Gabriel Scumble. Once Iazetto realized the mayor and Fayanne had mistaken him for the honored guest, all he had to do was play along, and he had the perfect cover for hanging around Scumble River.”

“I’m surprised he figured that out so fast. I never thought he was very smart.”

“It’s time for you to talk to Loretta and let her get working on your defense. There seems to be a lot of evidence against you.” Skye heard herself talking calmly and wondered why she wasn’t angrier. Luc had tried to use her, and now because of him, the mob could be after her. He had betrayed her once again. She should be furious or hurt or both. Could she be growing up, or at least growing immune to Luc’s charm?

Suddenly, Luc got up and walked around the table. He dropped to one knee and grabbed her hand. “I know this isn’t the time or place. And you probably hate me because of the deed thing. But I love you. Even more than I did when we first met. Will you marry me?”

For a moment Skye stared into his eyes, then she jerked her hand from his grasp and ran out of the room. She was ready to deal with the New Orleans mob but not a proposal from Luc St. Amant.

Loretta popped up from the waiting room sofa and followed Skye as she ran out the police station door. Skye finally stopped when she got to her car. She opened the door and sat sideways in the driver’s seat with her feet still outside the vehicle.

“What happened?” Loretta asked. “Are you all right?”

“Yes. No. I don’t know.” Skye took a deep breath and told her friend everything Luc had said, concluding with “Then he asked me to marry him.”

“Say what? That boy must be going for an insanity plea to think you’d marry him after everything he’s done to you.” Skye didn’t answer, and Loretta narrowed her eyes. “You aren’t thinking about it, are you?”

“Of course not. I’d have to be a idiot to even consider it.”

“Right.” Loretta squeezed Skye’s hand. “I’d better go talk to my client. That cute chief of yours is getting impatient.”

“Are you going to advise Luc to tell the police the whole story?”

“Probably not. Confession is good for the soul but usually bad for your case.”

I
t was nearly one o’clock when Skye left the police station. She did not go back to school. She did not visit Miss Letitia, the town historian, as she had planned. Instead she stopped at the drug store, bought a new hair dryer, and went home.

Bingo greeted her, as did more messages from May. Skye kicked off her shoes and threw herself on the sofa. She knew she had better talk to May before her mother showed up on her doorstep, but she didn’t feel confident she could have that conversation without her mother detecting how upset she was.

Skye forced herself over to the phone and punched in her parents’ number.

It was answered in half a ring. “Skye, are you all right?”

“I’m fine. How did you know it was me?” For a second she thought her mom had gotten caller ID.

“I just hung up from Thea, and she said you left the station about ten minutes ago.”

“Oh.”

“I hear Loretta showed up, but he wanted to talk to you first. What did he say?”

Skye chewed her lip. How much to tell? It was a delicate balance. She needed to tell May enough to satisfy her but
nothing she didn’t want the whole town to hear. “He didn’t kill anyone, if that’s what you mean.”

“So, why is he still in jail?”

“Why did Vince spend time in jail?”

“Oh.” May was silent for a moment. “So, what’s the story, then?”

“Well, you know about the murder victim not being Gabriel Scumble, but instead being a guy named Snake Iazetto from New Orleans. And since Luc is the only other person in town from there, Wally wanted to question him. And you know Luc asked for an attorney. You heard me call Loretta and her say she couldn’t come down until this morning, right?”

“Right. Plus Wally insisted Luc stay in custody until he answered questions,” May added. “But why is he still in jail now that Loretta’s here?”

“As we speak, he is probably answering Wally’s questions, so I’m guessing he’ll be out of jail soon.” Skye held her breath, hoping her mom wouldn’t pursue the matter.

May pounced. “But why did he want to talk to you?”

“There were a few things he wanted me to know before he told the police and they became public knowledge.”