Rue Toulouse (42 page)

Caterine smiled for the first time that day as she sat behind the wheel of the two-seater Mercedes parked outside Remi’s apartment. The rain had stopped and the sky had cleared, so with delight she had put the top down. “Oh, Antoine, I love it. Thank you for bringing it to me. I’ll write you a check as soon as we go in.”

“Wait a minute. You don’t have to do that. I just brought it for you to use.”

Caterine’s face fell. “Isn’t it still for sale?”

“Yes, but I don’t want you to feel you have to buy it.”

“Antoine, I
want
this car.”

He smiled. “It’s yours.”

“Don’t you even have to ask how much?” Suzette asked.

Caterine hesitated as she felt her cheeks turn pink. “I probably should, but you know how it is when you really want something.”

“I hear you, but I usually can’t afford to do that.”

Caterine was surprised not to hear sarcasm in Suzette’s voice, only admiration.

“Shit, here comes Remi,” Antoine said, as the T-bird pulled in behind the Mercedes.

Caterine rolled her eyes. “Antoine, I can’t believe you’re afraid of Remi.”

“You haven’t seen that boy when he’s really pissed. Trust me, it isn’t pretty.”

“You’re looking awfully proud of yourself sitting there, Princess,” Remi said, coming up next to the car.

“Isn’t it great? I just bought it.”

Remi and Antoine exchanged glances before Remi asked, “How you going to do that,
cher
?”

“I’m going to write Antoine a check. Give them the keys to the apartment and get in. I want to go for a ride.”

“Wait a minute. What the hell happened to you?” Remi bent lower, examining her scraped face and dirt-streaked shirt.

“There was a slight accident at the hospital. Get in and I’ll explain.”

Remi turned to Antoine. “What’s going on?”

Antoine shrugged. “I’ll let Caterine tell you.”

“I’m not going to like this, am I?”

“Nope.”

“Shit.” He handed Antoine the apartment keys and slid into the passenger seat.

“Hang on. I want to see what this car will do.” Caterine accelerated up the ramp onto I-10.

“Christ, slow down.” Remi grabbed onto the dashboard. “Don’t think I can get you out of a speeding ticket.”

“I’m alive,” she said with a grin as the wind blew through her hair. “And I’m going to enjoy it.”

“You won’t be alive for long, and neither will I, if you don’t slow this car down.”

“Killjoy.” She eased her foot from the accelerator and took an off-ramp, turned around, and headed back toward home. Once they were cruising at a normal speed, she explained. To her relief most of what Remi hollered was in Cajun.

“It had to be someone in your family,” he yelled. “I can’t believe they’d actually try and run you down where anyone could have seen them. Someone is very desperate or just crazy.” He ran his fingers through his hair. “I’m telling you, this latest attempt has me even more convinced that exposing you at that ball is a really stupid idea. This person has proven they’ll do anything to get to you.”

Chapter Thirty-Eight

“For the last time, Remi, we’re going through with it,” Caterine said back in his apartment after Antoine and Suzette had gone.

“I’m telling you this is idiotic. All we’re going to accomplish is getting you killed.”

Caterine prayed for patience. “You told me you’re going to have two NOPD officers, along with members of your family, stationed around the house. You and Paul have all the surveillance equipment in place, and I’m going to be wearing a wire, which means you’ll be listening to everything that goes on around me. I can’t be much safer than that.”

Remi paced back and forth across the living room. “That doesn’t guarantee that somehow, some way they won’t manage to get to you. My gut keeps telling me this is all wrong, and trust me, my gut instincts have saved my ass more than once.”

Caterine sighed with frustration. “Remi, please, I promise I’ll do exactly as you tell me. I don’t want to get myself hurt either. I want this over with and to get on with my life. After what happened today, I’m more determined than ever. Now, I need to get cleaned up to go see Grandmère. Why don’t you call John and see if he and Miss Annabelle have left yet? If so, perhaps when she gets here, she’d like to go with us to the hospital.” She took two steps then stopped. “Damn.”

“What?”

“I just remembered. I didn’t go by the house to pick up my princess gown. I have to take it with me to work tomorrow so there’s time to have it repaired.” Her mouth thinned into a stubborn line. “I’m going to drive my new car over to the carriage house and get what I need. And if any of my family gets in my way, they’ll regret it.”

“Hold on, Princess. You can’t drive your new car until you get the title and registration put in your name.”

“Damn.” She stomped her foot. “I’ve about had enough of all these restrictions, Remi.”

Remi’s brows rose. “Well, for now, that’s the way it is.”

Caterine narrowed her eyes. With each word her volume increased. “That’s easy for you to say. You can come and go as you please. You can wear your own clothes. You can go to work without having to have a bodyguard. And you can drive your own car.”

“Calm down and stop hollering at me. Remember, I’m the one who’s trying to help you. Now go get ready and I’ll take you to get your things. Then we’ll see if Pet has arrived before we go to the hospital.”

Caterine wrapped her arms around his waist, leaned her cheek against his chest, and sighed. “I’m sorry. All that’s happened today has taken its toll and my patience has worn thin.”

He kissed the top of her head. “It’s okay,
cher
. God knows you deserve to let loose once in a while. We’ll wait and go after dark. Chances are I won’t be seen then.”

When Caterine stepped into the carriage house, tears welled up in her eyes at the peaceful normality she’d once known. It was hard to believe it had only been a few days since her life had been turned into turmoil. Grateful for the automatic timers she had plugged a few lights into, she moved through the dimly lit rooms. She pulled a suitcase from a closet and quickly packed. Reaching for the gown, she hesitated, replaying in her mind the night the glittering princess had met her dark, handsome pirate. She smiled at the memory before folding the gown over her arm. On impulse, she dashed into her bathroom to collect Fleur-de-Lis bath oil, body cream, and perfume. She took one last look around, then closed and locked her front door.

Remi popped the trunk for her to put her things inside. As she slid onto the passenger seat he smiled, turning the car and heading out of the driveway. “I’m impressed. You did that in less than ten minutes.”

Caterine snorted. “I would have been quicker, but I got all sentimental when I picked up my gown.”

Remi reached over and squeezed her knee. “Were you remembering the first time I made you scream? We did have us a good time in that arbor, didn’t we?”

Caterine chuckled. “We certainly did. I can still hear Elaine’s shocked voice when I told her what I’d done.”

“You know, I’ve never asked you why you ran from me that night.”

Caterine stared out the side window then turned back to him. “Because, for the first time in her life, Caterine Doucette had done something reckless and potentially scandalous. So, not knowing what else to do, I ran.”

“Answer me this . . . if all that has occurred since that night hadn’t happened, would I ever have seen you again?”

She hesitated. “I don’t know.”

“That’s what I thought,” he scoffed. “The princess had her fun, but she’s not taking the pirate home.”

“That’s not fair, Remi. I wanted to see you again. In fact, I had a very risqué dream about you that night.”

“I didn’t say you wouldn’t come looking for sex. I said you wouldn’t have taken me home to the big house.”

“Damn it, Remi, neither of us knows what we would have done. I can’t believe you can sit there and say something like that to me. After all we’ve been through, you don’t know me any better than that? Do you honestly think where you come from and who you are would have made a difference to me?”

Remi knew his words had stung, but deep inside he still wondered, if forced to choose, whether she would leave her privileged life to be with him.

“Besides,” Caterine said, breaking into his thoughts, “what we
would
have done really doesn’t matter, does it? I once asked you if you believed in fate, and you said yes. Well, so do I. I believe we were meant to be together, and here we are. I only wish the circumstances that brought us together had been different.”

“So do I, Princess.”

As they waited at a light, Remi’s cell phone rang. “Michaud.”

“Hey, Remi, we’re here at the hotel,” John said. “And Pet is anxious to go see Miss Dauphine.”

“We’re on our way. Tell her we’ll be there in about five minutes. Are you staying in New Orleans tonight?”

“Yeah, as soon as you pick up Pet, I’m meeting up with a buddy of mine.”

“Okay, stay out of trouble. I don’t want to have to haul your ass out of jail.”

John laughed. “It’s Carnival time in New Orleans. What kind of trouble can I get into?”

“I hate to imagine,
cher
.”

“Hello, Grandmère.” Caterine kissed Miss Dauphine’s cheek. “You’re looking well.”

“I do not look well, Caterine. I have a lump on my head, and my foot is throbbing. Where have you been? I’ve been anxious to discuss my accident with you and Mr. Michaud.”

“I’m sorry, Grandmère, we were unavoidably delayed. We have a surprise for you.” Caterine stepped back so her grandmother could see Miss Annabelle standing in the doorway.

Caterine smiled at the utter joy that filled the older women’s faces. “Would you like us to give you two a few minutes alone so you can do some catching up?” Caterine asked.

“No, we’ll have plenty of time for that later.” Annabelle brushed tears from her cheeks. “I believe Dauphine is anxious to tell us about her fall.”

Miss Dauphine nodded. “Annabelle is right. You need to hear what I intend to do. I’m convinced that newspaper was purposely placed under the doormat so I’d trip over it. The absolute gall of someone thinking they could get away with that amazes me. Since I can’t be sure which of them is the perpetrator, I’m considering throwing them all out on their ears.”

“Now, wait a minute,” Remi said. “I understand you’re upset and you have a right to be, but let’s step back and look at the situation before you do something rash. We need to see if there’s a way to talk with the kid who delivered your paper. Then we’d know for sure. And we can’t do that until tomorrow morning.”

Again Miss Dauphine nodded. “That’s a reasonable point. Can you take care of that for me?”

“I’ll see what I can do.”

“Then what should I do if we find that the paperboy did not place the newspaper under the mat?”

“For now, nothing. Please let me finish,” Remi said, as anger filled Miss Dauphine’s eyes. “If we’re hoping to flush this person out, they need to be in the house and at the ball Tuesday night.”

Miss Dauphine sighed. “Again you’re right.”

“I don’t believe either Jules or Markus is behind this, Dauphine,” Annabelle said. “Both your boys love you too much. They couldn’t intentionally want you hurt. On the other hand, those daughters-in-law of yours are a different story.”