“I understand. Tomorrow will be fine.” He looked around. “I’ll get one of the deputies to take y’all home.”

  The sound of a vehicle driving up the road drew everyone’s attention in that direction. A pick-up that looked like Danny’s pulled up behind the last police unit. Both the driver’s side and passenger doors opened. Josh emerged from the truck. He and Danny strode down the road toward me. I ran to meet the two men.

  “Hey, you,” Josh greeted me.

  I fell into his arms. He held me tight for a few minutes. I didn’t want to leave his embrace.

  Finally he pulled back slightly and shook his head. “What am I going to do with you? I leave you for a few hours and you go and get yourself in trouble.”

  “In the nine years I’ve known her, I still haven’t figured out what to do with this woman,” Danny said.

  At first I thought he was angry, but I noticed a twinkle in his blue eyes. I playfully slapped him on the arm. “I’m not that bad, am I?”

  He opened his mouth to answer, but three vehicles turned onto the road. “Hell, now the fun starts.”

  Press vehicles, their station call letters and channel numbers emblazoned on the side, pulled up behind the police units.

  “I don’t want to speak to reporters,” I said. “Maybe later I’ll agree to talk to Remi. Right now I don’t know what information I can or can’t talk about until Agent Gorman interviews me tomorrow.”

  “Good idea,” Josh said. “I say we need to leave.”

  “Let’s see if we can maneuver our way out of here,” Danny agreed.

  His excellent driving skills managed to get us past the reporters and the live truck.

  I spotted Remi getting out of her car with a photographer. She tried to flag Danny down, but he waved to her and kept driving. She didn’t look happy.

  “I’ll have to pay for that later,” Danny said jokingly.

  “I doubt she’ll stay mad at her grandfather for very long,” I said.

  The drive back home seemed long. I was anxious to see the kids…and the cat. I’d been away from them too long.

  Rachel, Matthew, and Caroline came out to meet us upon arrival. I held the twins, giving them a lot of kisses. Even Matthew didn’t object to being kissed. Renee walked over to check out the situation.

  “I can’t tell you how relieved I am to see you unhurt,” she said. “When I saw that man grab you, my heart stopped.”

  I put my hand on her arm. “Everything is okay now. I can’t thank you enough for taking care of the twins.”

  She smiled. “They were not a problem. Whenever you’ve recovered from your ordeal, we’ll get together for coffee. Now I’ll let you go get some rest.”

  “Thanks again.” I watched her walk back to her house. Then I looked around at the others…my kids, my wonderful friends, Danny and Rachel…and of course, Josh. I felt grateful for all of them. Physically I was exhausted. Rest was what I needed. Tomorrow might be an equally tiring day being interviewed by Agent Gorman.

  Fifty-five

  Monday, August 10

  Cries of “don’t go, Mom” came from the twins, their voices and faces full of anxiety.

  “I promise you, I’m coming back.” I had agreed to allow them to stay home from school today so we could spend some time together. But here I was leaving again. “I have to meet with Agent Gorman of the Immigration office to give him a report on what happened to me yesterday.”

  “When will you be back?” Caroline asked.

  “I’m not sure, but this meeting shouldn’t take longer than an hour.” Hopefully it’ll be less than an hour, but I knew better than to count on a short meeting. “Mr. Josh is coming to pick me up in a little while, so promise me you’ll both be good for Ms. Rachel.”

  “We will,” Caroline said, nodding at Matthew. “Won’t we?”

  “Okay,” he said. “Mom, is Mr. Josh your boyfriend now?”

  I should have expected that question coming eventually. “Right now, he’s a very, very good friend. In fact he saved my life Saturday night when that man broke into our house.”

  He appeared satisfied with my answer, maybe even impressed.

  The brief dream of Jim I had last night came to mind. He spoke one sentence, “You’re going to be fine.” Then he smiled and disappeared. I’d ponder the meaning later.

  Fifteen minutes later, Josh and I were on our way to City Hall. Happily the interview went smoothly and I was out of the agent’s office in forty-five minutes.

  I admit to being nervous about this meeting, which was crazy after such a chaotic weekend. However, my life seems to be full of chaos, so I can never be certain how anything will turn out.

  Josh drove into the Marchands’ driveway, but left the engine running.

  “While you were in Gorman’s office, Megan called. She’s got a job for me checking out info regarding Alex’s case. I’ll have to go into New Orleans to do this. If it’s okay with you, I’ll come back by here later this evening.”

  “Of course, it’s okay,” I said.

  “Good. I’ll give you a call when I get back.” He leaned over and planted a kiss on my cheek.

  I got out of the truck and watched him drive away.

  I spent the better part of the day at Rachel’s house talking to the twins or simply being in the same room with them. Rachel joined us for a game of Monopoly at her kitchen table.

  About three that afternoon I heard the school bus rumble to a stop near the house. The chatter of children’s voices as they got off the bus sounded cheerful. Shortly after the bus departed, Rachel’s front doorbell rang.

  She exchanged a curious glance with me. I shrugged. She left to answer the door. I heard a woman’s voice and a few words from several children.

  “Sure, come on in,” Rachel said. “Y’all can sit in here. I’ll get her.”

  She returned to the kitchen with a strange look on her face. “Susan, I hope you won’t be upset, but...”

  “Who was at the door?”

  “Mary Hernandez and her kids,” she said. “She wants to speak to you and the twins to apologize for something.”

  “I think I know what this is about.”

  Mary Hernandez rose when I entered the living room. The children followed their mother’s example.

  Mary looked quite thin, much leaner than the last time I saw her a year ago. Gray strands salted her dark curly hair. With a long prison term hanging over her husband Joe’s head, she’d probably been having a hard time.

  “Mary, please sit down.”

  She shook her head and remained standing. “This won’t take long, but I want your twins to hear this. I understand my kids have been giving them a hard time.”

  All three children looked down at the floor.

  “Okay, I’ll get them.” I went into the hall and called to Matthew and Caroline.

  Both looked wide-eyed at the sight of the Hernandez family.

  “What’s going on, Mom?” Matthew asked.

  “Mrs. Hernandez has something she wants to tell you.” I was a little wary of what she would say.

  “Caroline, Matthew, I discovered accidently that my children have been saying things that are untrue about your father’s death. Is that right?”

  “Yes ma’am,” the twins answered in unison.

  “It’s mostly my fault because I hadn’t explained to them clearly about why their father was arrested. They understand the situation a lot better now after I told them the whole story. They have something they want to say to you both.” She turned to the children.

  Mark, the oldest boy, looked at the twins. “I understand why my dad was arrested now,” he said in a low voice. “I’m sorry I came down on you so hard, Matthew.”

  “Thanks.” Matthew’s expression was surprisingly neutral.

  The two younger kids both expressed sorrow at their behavior. Caroline echoed her brother’s short acceptance of their apology.

  I wondered if it was really necessary to put all the kids through this. What I had in mind at the time Matthew got into the confrontation with Mark was to speak to Mary and have her talk to her children and to hope the kids would all work it out among themselves. Back then I didn’t think speaking to her would be advisable legally since I have to testify against her husband.

  I thanked her for coming and the kids for their apologies. I sat on the sofa for a while by myself after they left. At least seven children’s lives had been messed up by the senseless murder of my husband. The Hernandez’ three, my twins, and Bill Kaufman’s two kids might be damaged forever. Not to mention me and Mary and Tracy, Bill’s wife.

  Every time I think about Bill Kaufman, I get angry all over again. He had been a childhood friend of Jim and the mayor of Cypress Lake and one of the main reasons Jim accepted the job as chief of police. Bill’s drug problem led him to do the unthinkable.

  My cell phone rang. Josh’s name showed on the display. I shook off my ill feelings about those people from the past and answered the call.

  ~ * ~

  I received two bits of news from Megan while I waited for Josh to arrive. For me the first item was great news. All the defendants involved with Jim’s murder had agreed to plead guilty in order to avoid lengthy trials. I wouldn’t have to testify against them in court. Her second news was possibly good for Alex and his relatives. Nothing was definite yet, but Agent Gorman had told her everything looked positive for them to be allowed to remain in this country because their testimony had aided law enforcement in the arrests of the Gallaghers, Kenny Verrett, and Keith Parker.

  Josh came over later as he had promised. After I got the kids settled in bed at Rachel’s for the evening, he and I walked over to my house and sat together on a wooden bench on the patio.

  “How was your trip to NOLA?”

  “I was able to finish up with Megan’s job pretty quickly, so I took care of some personal business while I was in town.”

  “Oh? May I ask what kind of personal business?” I winced. “Sorry, that’s probably none of my business.”

  “It wasn’t anything secret,” he said. “I had leased an office in New Orleans several years ago for my PI business, but for quite a while I’ve been working exclusively for Megan as her investigator. I got out of my lease on that office and signed a lease on another one in Cypress Lake. By the way, I have it on good authority that Megan and Steven are considering buying a house here in town.”

  “Really? Nobody told me,” I said with mock indignation. “Of course I’ve been too busy getting into trouble by sticking my nose into dangerous places.”

  Josh laughed. “That’s true.”

  “Steven didn’t even tell me he planned to leave town for an IT convention in New York until a few hours before he left for the airport Saturday.” In reality nothing would make me happier than to have my brother and sister-in-law close by. My parents would never dream of moving out of New Orleans, especially Mother.

  “Steven worries about you.” His voice softened. “A few times in the last few days I did too.”

  I didn’t know what to say, so I steered the conversation away from the subject of people worrying about my actions.

  “Back to your change of office location, will you still be working exclusively for Megan?”

  “She’ll be my main client, but I’ve been able to pick up a number of possible future clients in Allemande Parish while working here.”

  “That sounds promising.” I hesitated to bring up Saturday night, but I was curious about a few things. I really didn’t know much about Josh. “Can I ask you something personal?”

  “Sure,” he said. “Ask away.”

  “When Keith made his way to the door of my bedroom, he called you ‘Cowboy.’ Did he pull that name out of thin air or is there a story behind it?”

  “Since I wear western boots a lot and my folks raised cattle on a big place just north of Jennings, my Army buddies dubbed me ‘Cowboy’.”

  “Jennings is between Lafayette and Lake Charles, right?”

  “That’s right.”

  “I won’t ask how you ended up in New Orleans,” I teased.

  “That’s a story for another time.” He tilted his head to one side. “I know how you love getting involved in an investigation, but after experiencing the weekend from hell you might want to slow down for a while. I admit it scared me when you were kidnapped.”

  “It’ll definitely be a good while before I go the investigation route again. At least I hope so. However, I always seem to get pulled into these cases, especially if I’m the one who discovers the body of a murder victim. Then my curiosity draws me right in.”

  “Remember when we met up in your office at the food pantry? I told you how much I admired your tenacity in solving Jim’s murder. I feel the same about your involvement in this case. I’ve gotten to know you a lot better.”

  He seemed to have turned the conversation in a new direction. I couldn’t tell where this was headed. “What are you getting at?”

  He didn’t answer for a long moment. “I don’t want you to think I’m trying to push you into anything…”

  “If I think you’re being pushy, I’ll tell you so in no uncertain terms.” I meant those words, but I kept my tone light.”

  “What I’m trying to say is this: I’d be happy if you would consider working with me in my new office.”

  That wasn’t exactly what I expected to hear. “With you? Why would you want an amateur like me working with you?”

  “You have a talent for the work. Your investigation skills need a little restraint, but you have good instincts about elements in the case.”

  “By needing restraint, you mean my ‘leap before I look’ technique?”

  He chuckled. “Something like that. Besides, I enjoy being with you. Think about it.”

  “Okay, I’ll agree to consider your offer later…much later.”

  “There’s no hurry.” He pulled me close and kissed me on the lips instead of on the cheek. “In the meantime, I’d love to see you again under more pleasant circumstances than the most recent ones…maybe dinner and a movie.”

  My heart did a little flip. “I’d like that very much.”

  Meet A. C. Mason

  A.C. Mason is a Louisiana native and resident. A very spoiled cat named Wiley shares her home. Her two daughters and their families live in nearby communities. The love of a great mystery led her to write her own. She’s a member of Sisters-in-Crime and Sisters-in-Crime New Orleans.

  Works From The Pen Of A. C. Mason

  April Fools - Susan Foret, an aspiring mystery writer, takes on a real life mystery when she tries to prove her brother didn’t murder his wife.

  Mardi Gras Gris Gris - Susan Foret is again thrust into a murder scene when one of the town’s wealthiest citizens dies near her as the local Krewe’s parade is ending.

  Deadly Bayou - Police chief Jim Foret’s death is ruled a suicide. Susan Foret believes her husband has been murdered and sets out to prove his death is a homicide.

  The Mistletoe Murders - Oak Point, Louisiana homicide detective Caleb Bourque is tasked with solving the case of a serial killer who leaves an unusual calling card with each victim—a sprig of mistletoe. After Joanna Chatelaine, a co-founder of a women’s outreach center, is killed, her sister Jamie starts receiving threats to her life if she doesn’t close Magdalen House.

  Can Caleb unravel this complicated case before the killer makes good on his threat to kill Jamie?

  Visit Our Website

  For The Full Inventory

  Of Quality Books:

  Wings ePress, Inc

  Quality trade paperbacks and downloads

  in multiple formats,

  in genres ranging from light romantic comedy

  to general fiction and horror.

  Wings has something for every reader’s taste.

  Visit the website, then bookmark it.

  We add new titles each month!

  Wings ePress Inc.

  3000 N. Rock Road

  Newton, KS 67114

 

 

  A C Mason, A Grievous Sin

 

 

  Thank you for reading books on GrayCity.Net
Share this book with friends