He shook his head. “I had too much already today. So tell me why Hanson paid you a visit.”

  I relayed a brief account of my talk with the Vietnam vet.

  He looked pensive for a short moment. “You believe him?”

  “Yes, and I feel guilty for suspecting him and his son of murder. But I’m glad to drop the Hansons from my suspect list.”

  Josh reached in his shirt pocket and pulled out a small manila envelope. “I got something for you.”

  My spirits rose. “You found the key?”

  “Not the key, but the initial H.” He displayed the item in the bag. “I’m guessing it came loose when he grabbed it out of your hand and ran off.”

  “This is still good. I can’t tell you how much this validates my account of what happened.”

  He frowned. “Did someone question your version?”

  I laughed. “Yeah, me.”

  “I’ve done that a few times myself.” He placed the envelope on the end table. “I’ll just leave this with you to do whatever.”

  “I plan on turning it over to Danny and let him decide what to do with it.”

  He seemed pleased. “Good, I hoped you didn’t intend to go after your assailant yourself.”

  I couldn’t tell whether he meant his statement sarcastically or what.

  “You might not be so lucky the next time.” His expression remained neutral.

  “I prefer to think I have nine lives like a cat,” I said with a flip of my hand.

  “Word is you’ve already used up a few.” A trace of a smile moved his lips. “I’m surprised the doctor released you so soon. You were unconscious on and off for a while.”

  I shrugged. “Dr. Hadley is a sweet old softy and I managed to talk him out of making me stay another night.”

  “I can imagine that.” He started for the door. “I’ve got to get back to Megan’s office. She has a job for me for a client she’s defending. If you need anything else looked into, give Megan a call.”

  “Thanks, Josh. I appreciate what you’ve done.”

  “You take care.” He appeared amused as if he knew I wouldn’t.

  “I’ll try.” Nice to know he finds me amusing. Yeah, I’m a laugh a minute. Then I remembered something Josh said to me at the hospital. “Wait, you told me last night you had more info on Rick.”

  “I managed to locate a guy who served with Hanson and Foret. It seems Hanson was famous for not following orders. There was a lot of drug use over there, mainly pot. Hanson was into it as much as any of them were. His inability to follow orders put him in the wrong place the day he was wounded. Quite a few times before that incident, Frank Foret covered for him, so this fellow told me.”

  I suspected my statement about not following orders had brought back some not so pleasant memories for Rick.

  As soon as Josh left, I grabbed my cell phone and called Danny. He answered on the third ring. “My PI came through with a nice piece of evidence.”

  “He located the key?”

  “No, just the initial H from the key ring.”

  “Almost as good.” I heard excited voices in the background. “Hold on a minute,” he said.

  I could have sworn I heard the name LaBauve mentioned.

  “Gotta go,” Danny said when he returned to the phone.

  “Did something happen to the LaBauves?”

  “Yeah, Andre and T-Boy were both shot.”

  “Are they alive?”

  He hung up without answering me.

  Thirty-four

  Danny drove to West Lake Memorial with lights flashing and siren blaring. He pulled the Ford Expedition into to the hospital fire lane, secured his vehicle, and rushed inside.

  Two deputies, Mike Theriot and Rafe Williams, stood outside the emergency room doors in intense conversation with a physician. Danny recognized him as David Theriot, the doctor who did the surgery on Jim and older brother of his deputy Mike. The trio turned as he approached them.

  “What’s the situation?” Danny asked.

  Dr. Theriot wore a grave expression. “Andre is in stable condition. One bullet went straight through his arm and another shot grazed his temple.” He grimaced. “T-Boy’s condition…grave. He’s being moved to ICU. Michie was only grazed on his upper left arm. He’s been treated and released.”

  Danny looked at the deputies. “Michie LaBauve? He was with them when this incident happened?” Michie, a nickname for Michel, was another of Andre’s sons.

  “Yes sir,” Williams confirmed.

  “Have you been able to speak to him?”

  “Not at any length,” Theriot said. “All he told us was they rode up the river past Bayou Jean Baptiste in their boat and somebody started shooting. Michie’s still up here, though, checking on his father and brother. I imagine the rest of the LaBauve clan will arrive pretty soon.”

  An image of T-Boy exiting City Hall ran through Danny’s mind. Could he have decided to talk about drug smuggling? Or to admit he and his father witnessed Jim’s murder? Maybe both.

  “Doc, do you expect T-Boy to survive?”

  “His chances are not good.”

  “What about Andre? Is he awake?”

  “I know you’re anxious to speak to him, but I don’t want Andre to be upset. Even though his condition is not life threatening, he’s not exactly a young man.” Dr. Theriot paused a moment, studying Danny’s face. “He doesn’t know the extent of his son’s condition.”

  “Can I see him now?”

  “I’d rather you didn’t. I need to see how he and T-Boy progress overnight.”

  Danny suppressed his frustration and disappointment. If he could get Andre to tell him what happened, he might be able to get two birds with one stone. Drug trafficking and Jim’s murder.

  He turned to his two deputies. “Stick around here for a while. I want to hear a report from the scene. If you run into Michie, see if you can get more details.”

  Theriot and Williams nodded and moved off toward the waiting area.

  Danny returned his gaze to Dr. Theriot. “Can we speak in private?”

  The physician exhaled. “Okay, but I’m not promising anything.”

  “Fair enough,” Danny said. He and the doctor moved to a quiet spot in a hallway.

  “I’m investigating Chief Foret’s death as a homicide and drug trafficking reports out of the area where the LaBauves discovered Jim. I believe Andre and T-Boy may have witnessed the murder.

  Theriot frowned. “I didn’t realize you were still looking into Jim’s death.”

  “I have received new evidence to indicate a homicide. Talking to Andre could mean the difference between finding the killer and putting him away, and letting a guilty man run free.” He exaggerated somewhat, but he needed to plead a good case.

  A frown wrinkled the doctor’s brow. “Are they in danger of someone completing the job?”

  “That’s entirely possible. I’d like to put guards outside their rooms.”

  “Very well, come with me. You can try to speak with Andre for a few minutes. If he starts to get upset, you’ll have to leave.”

  Danny breathed a silent sigh of relief and followed Dr. Theriot toward the elevators. Later he’d decide about who among his deputies he trusted enough to stand guard over the two men. Then he just might get the break he needed to solve Jim’s murder.

  Over the years, Andre LaBauve’s occupation as a commercial fisherman putting in long hours in the sun had turned his skin a deep brown. Maybe it was Danny’s imagination, but the elder LaBauve’s complexion seemed to have paled a few shades. Getting shot tended to do bad things to a person’s body and mind. Seeing gunshot victims had the similar effects. Danny had seen a lot of those lately—more than he cared seeing.

  Andre didn’t appear too happy to see Danny. He turned his head to the opposite side from where Danny stood.

  “What happened?”

  “Ain’t it obvious?” the old man grumbled. “I got shot.”

  “I know. Who shot you?”

  “Hell if I know.”

  “Look at me, Andre,” Danny ordered. “I believe you know who and why.”

  He jerked his head around to look Danny straight in the eyes. “If I told you who and why, my whole family would be killed.”

  “If you and T-Boy would’ve told me the truth in the first place, you wouldn’t be in this situation right now.”

  A fit of coughing sent Andre gasping for breath.

  Dr. Theriot glared at Danny. “You’ll have to leave.” He turned to his patient. “Okay Andre, calm down. You don’t have to talk anymore. Just relax.”

  Danny threw up his hands and left the room, almost colliding with Michie LaBauve.

  “Sheriff, you need to find those dirt bags who shot at us before I get my brothers-in-law, uncles, and cousins together. We’ll get ‘um ourselves.”

  “Your papa knows who shot y’all and why, but he won’t give me any names. Maybe you can convince him to talk.” The last thing he needed was to have the whole LaBauve family forming a posse to get vigilante justice.

  Michie seemed confused. “I don’t know what you mean. He knows who shot at us?”

  Danny found it hard to believe the members of this tight knit family weren’t aware of previous events.

  He pulled Michie aside and lowered his voice. “I believe he and T-Boy were threatened by someone to keep quiet. My suspicions are they witnessed Chief Foret’s murder and there may also be a connection to a drug smuggling operation in and around Bayou Jean Baptiste.”

  Michie fisted his hand at his side. “So Papa won’t tell you who threatened him?”

  “No, he keeps saying he can’t. He’s scared of retaliation.” Danny let his words sink in for a moment. “When they took Susan Foret out to the place where her husband was shot, somebody fired a few shots at them then.”

  “He never said anythin’ about being threatened. I’ve never known him to keep things like that to himself. Whoever threatened him must’ve scared him pretty bad.” Michie frowned. “If he hasn’t been talkin’, why did they shoot at us?”

  “My guess is they’re getting nervous. After Susan told me about the shooting incident, I paid your father a visit. They may believe he’s talking. Also, I suspected T-Boy was ready to talk to me, but he apparently got scared off. I spotted him leaving City Hall earlier today.”

  “Someone saw him and figured he was talking to the law.”

  “Exactly.”

  “I tell you what, Sheriff. I’ll talk to Papa and convince him to give you the information you need to bring the son-of-a-bitch in.”

  “Listen, the doctor said your father doesn’t know the extent of T-Boy’s wounds. You might speak to him first before you get into it with Andre.”

  Michie nodded. “Mais, when he finds out how bad T-Boy is, I’m sure he’ll be more than willing to tell you everything.”

  “If you can get him to agree to talk to me, give me a call and I’ll come back up here.” Danny handed him a card with his cell phone number and shook hands with him. He would have been happier if he knew for certain whether Michie was a great actor or if he truly had no idea about what had gone on previously.

  “Thanks, I’ll see what I can do.” Michie turned and entered his father’s room.

  Danny waited a while before leaving. He kept hoping Andre’s son could perform a miracle and motion him to come on inside. Disappointment set in when Michie came out with a somber look on his face.

  “Doc Theriot just gave him a shot for the pain. Papa’s already drifting in and out. I probably won’t get to talk to him until the morning.”

  “Okay, but if he should happen to wake up later on and wants to speak to me, call me. No matter what time it is.”

  “Will do, Sheriff.”

  “I’m going to assign deputies to stand guard outside your father’s room and in ICU. They’ll be up here shortly.”

  Michie nodded and stepped back inside the room.

  Danny returned to the emergency room to speak to Deputies Theriot and Williams. He spotted them getting soft drinks from a vending machine in the hallway. Before going to meet with them, he studied the two men from a distance and mentally went over their records with the sheriff’s office.

  Physically, they were a study in contrast. Theriot was blond, blue eyed; Williams was African American with dark skin and a shaved head like so many younger law officers wore these days. Both were excellent officers. He decided to take a chance and ask them to work the first shift of guard duty.

  Thirty-five

  I was about to go crazy wondering whether Andre and T-Boy were alive or dead. This can’t be happening. Memories of events during my quest to prove Steven innocent of his wife’s murder reverberated in my head.

  Back then the killer hit me over the head at the same time I’d discovered a valuable piece of evidence. Then a good friend was killed after I spoke to him concerning the night of her murder. I don’t like déjà vu moments and two in a row seemed doubly troubling. Should I expect another one?

  Steven arrived back to his home away from home and interrupted my nightmarish recollections.

  “I was just thinking about you,” I told him.

  “From the look on your face, I’d say your thoughts were not good. What did I do now?”

  “Nothing. Something happened to remind me of events in the past.”

  “Like what?”

  “Andre LaBauve and his son T-Boy were shot today. I don’t know whether they’re alive or dead.”

  “How’d you find out?”

  “I was talking to Danny on the phone when he got the word. He left without saying.”

  “Do you want to go up to the hospital?”

  “I’d probably only get in the way. Unless I run into Danny, no one would give me any information since I’m not a family member.”

  Steven was quiet for a short time before speaking. I couldn’t figure out the expression on his face. He seemed to be anxious or worried, yet at the same time elated.

  “What?”

  “Before you were attacked, I intended to move back to my condo.”

  I wondered when the subject would arise. He seemed to be going into New Orleans more than when he first decided to stay with me and the kids. “And now?”

  “I think I should stay a while longer.”

  “Steven, if you feel you need to go back to your own place, then go. I can’t thank you enough for staying here when I needed someone to lean on, but you can’t babysit me and the kids forever. You do have a life.”

  “Yes, but…”

  “No buts about it. I noticed you’ve been spending more time in New Orleans lately. There’s something or someone drawing you there. Am I correct?”

  He grinned. “Megan and I have been dating. Our relationship has gotten serious faster than either one of us expected.”

  I gave him a quick hug. “How wonderful. Don’t let me stop you from being close to her.”

  “If you’re sure you won’t be upset if I leave you alone, I’ll move back tomorrow.”

  “I won’t be alone. The kids will be here. Danny and Rachel are next door.”

  “Hmm,” he said. “I almost think you’re anxious to get rid of me.”

  I knew he was teasing me, so I answered in kind. “You’re exactly right. I’m tired of you hanging around here.”

  He laughed. “I hope you’re joking.” His expression sobered. “Now don’t go crazy and get in trouble as soon as I leave you to your own devices.”

  “I’ve gotten into trouble even with you here.”

  “You sure have. What I’m afraid of is that you’ll get into a lot more serious trouble.”

  “Don’t argue with me. I’ll be fine.” I centered my gaze on his face. “I know what else has got you worried.

  “You’re afraid your relationship with Megan isn’t going to work out—you’re worried you’re going to do something to mess it up. So you’re stalling about leaving here.”

  “You don’t mince words. You’d never know we were born on the same day. Astrologers have it all wrong.”

  “Yes, but you were born fifteen minutes after me. From what I understand, minutes could make a difference in the placement of the planets.”

  An amused look crossed his face. “Should I expect to hear you singing about the ‘Age of Aquarius’ next?”

  “Very funny.” Lately men seem to find me amusing. “By the way, whatever made you mention astrologers? I didn’t know you were into New Age subjects.”

  “Aw, I just get a kick out of reading my horoscope in the newspaper.” He threw a smirk my way. “Besides, you go to see a psychic.”

  I laughed. “Touché.”

  “Okay Suzie. Tomorrow I’ll pack up my things and move back home.”

  “You can’t leave without saying goodbye to the twins.”

  “Of course not.” He wrinkled his brow. “I hope they don’t get the idea every man in their life leaves them.”

  ~ * ~

  Danny figured he would be there for an extended period of time with his vehicle blocking the hospital entrance. He advised Theriot and Williams where he would be in case anyone came looking for him.

  All the way downstairs, his mind sprinted through different scenarios concerning this latest shooting. Were some of his deputies involved in this incident? Did Jim’s death have any connection to drug smuggling? Were CLPD officers also implicated in one or both cases?

  He slipped in behind the wheel and drove around the side of the building to a lot designated for official vehicles.

  At three in the afternoon, the sun had beat down on the surrounding concrete and turned his unit into an oven. He lowered a window, without bothering to turn on the a/c for such a short distance.

  Along a high wooden fence separating the hospital property from several doctors’ offices, two parking spaces seemed to be the only spots left in the crowded lot.

  A city patrol car coming from the opposite direction from him pulled into one space. Danny drove into the adjacent spot. He recognized the officer as Ken Wallace. Could this be a good sign or a bad omen?