Between Dusk and Dawn (10 page)

“
I’m surprised he didn’t
just come out and say Chase’s name,” Savannah said with a grimace
of distaste. “He’s a coward.”

“
No, he’s shrewd. Chase is
popular with a lot of the younger residents and people from urban
areas who have moved here. Also Sheriff Triche is behind him, and
he’s even more popular.” LaShaun clenched both hands into fists.
“Chase isn’t too happy about Miss Clo coming to see me. And now
with Orin Young wanting me to help his grandson...”

“
What the hell?” Savannah
started to go on but LaShaun waved her to silence.

“
Shush, let’s hear the
rest.”

“
But take heart. We can and
we will stand strong to make this a decent atmosphere for our
families. Speak to our local officials. Spend your money at
businesses that support Christian values. Trust me; we’re not just
talking about these issues. We’re taking action. Let us pray for
this town, this parish and this great state.”

LaShaun snatched the satellite radio
remote from a corner and hit the button. “I can’t stand hearing his
voice another second. What a load of sanctimonious
hypocrisy.”

She wanted to laugh off his “holier
than thou” diatribe, but couldn’t. If it only involved her, LaShaun
wouldn’t mind. She and her grandmother had faced such animosity
before. But now people she cared about were affected.

“
Amen,” Savannah chimed in.
“Girl, I’m surprised he didn’t mention you and Chase since he was
calling folks out.”

“
He didn’t have to.
Reverend Fletcher knows that everyone got the message.” LaShaun
managed to keep her voice from breaking.

“
Fletcher is on a religious
bigot campaign, that’s the bad news. The good news is we have a
sizeable population of folks who are more sophisticated, and they
want a smart, capable professional like Chase in office” Savannah
replied.

“
I can think of a few who
are quietly rooting for Reverend Fletcher to keep stirring this
particular pot.” LaShaun stood. “They’ll have a rich source of
material to use against anyone who disagrees with them.”

“
I’ve got friends at the
local radio and television stations. I can milk the media myself.
They’ll love having voices raised against this bigot. I’m going to
make some calls.” Savannah crossed her arms. “We’ll show
him.”

“
Maybe that’s not the best
idea. He wants a fight. Why not ignore him?” LaShaun said as she
leaned against the counter.

“
I don’t think Reverend
Fletcher will let up. He may have some more tricks up his sleeve. I
say we need to speak up,” Savannah said.

“
Yeah, now if I can head
off giving him more ammunition it might help,” LaShaun
muttered.

“
So tell me about you and
the Blood River Ripper,” Savannah said as she pulled out a stool
and sat at the breakfast counter.

“
Don’t say it like we’re
best buds or something,” LaShaun retorted and then heaved a sigh.
“His grandfather came to see me. He swears Manny wasn’t responsible
for what he did, that some kind of evil force possessed
him.”

“
Orin Young hopes you can
help him prove the devil made Manny rip people into bite-sized
pieces? Oh please.” Savannah rolled her eyes.

Hey, I’m not saying I believe him, or
that I’m going to get involved.

“
Good. Trust me; the
evidence that Manny killed those poor people was strong.” Savannah
stood and helped herself to a tea cake from LaShaun’s cookie jar.
“Now I better get back to the office. I had lunch with the kids at
school. My butt still hurts from sitting on those tiny chairs in
the cafeteria. Meeting at two. Bye-bye.”

“
Bye, and thanks for the
heads up. I think,” LaShaun said.

“
Can’t believe I almost
forgot more good news,” Savannah swung her purse over one shoulder.
“They found two people beat up, and no it’s not Patsy and her
boyfriend. Fletcher is gonna have a field day with that. I don’t
know anymore because M.J. is keeping a tight lid on this
one.”

“
And no wonder,” LaShaun
replied.

She walked her friend out and locked
the front door. Despite her best efforts, LaShaun couldn’t
concentrate on the past anymore. The present kept jabbing into her
thoughts like an insistent accusatory forefinger pointed at her.
She had almost succeeded in time travel with another section of the
journal written by a great-great aunt when her phone rang. LaShaun
made plans to clean up and go to town before she even
answered.

*****

Thirty minutes later LaShaun sat in
M.J.’s office. The acting Sheriff took phone calls. More accurately
LaShaun watched her avoid calls from the media. At thirty-seven,
Myrtle Jean Arceneaux looked a good ten years younger. Her thick
hair was pulled back into a ponytail. She wore tiny sterling silver
stud earrings, a brown jacket with matching slacks and an animal
print shirt beneath the jacket. LaShaun liked her style,
business-like but with a touch of fashion. No bland white shirt for
M.J. She also excelled at being a law officer. What she didn’t like
was politics and reporters. Today she had to deal with
both.

At least six reporters, two with video
cameras, stood outside on the grounds between city hall and the
sheriff’s station. No doubt the local television newscasts would
contain a combination of fact and speculation. LaShaun tried not to
look, but she ended up glancing through the glass window. M.J.’s
office looked out to the open station where deputies worked. Chase
stood with his arms crossed talking to two of the two detectives he
supervised. He wore an intense listening frown as one man gestured.
When she’d walked in an hour earlier Chase had only given LaShaun a
brief nod. Now she forced her gaze away from him. She felt no
warmth reaching in the space between them. LaShaun turned to focus
on M.J. just as the door to the office opened. The sheriff’s new
administrative assistant came in. Darlene gave LaShaun a tiny wave
then faced her boss.

“
Okay, Sheriff.” Darlene
held a tablet computer. “I made notes on the statements you’ve made
to the two reporters you talked to. What about I type this up and
Deputy Naquin issue this as an official press release?” She handed
the tablet to M.J.

M.J., looking every bit in-charge,
scanned the two paragraphs before handing it back to Darlene. “The
smartest thing I did was to take you out of the clerical pool and
make you my assistant. That’s perfect. Have Bobby deal with that
hungry pack out on our lawn. You can give him the phone calls for
the next three hours or so. I already told him. Bobby Naquin is our
information officer,” she said to LaShaun.

Darlene beamed at the compliment. “On
it.”

When she left on her mission M.J.
looked across her desk at LaShaun. “We got ourselves a real
situation here.”

“
I’d say so, another dead
body and a second victim, still alive?” LaShaun agreed.

“
Only just. Xavier Marchand
and his wife are understandably upset.” M.J. looked down at a
folder lying on her desk. “Prelim notes from the scene say it
looked pretty bizarre.”

“
So you thought of me.
That’s not very flattering,” LaShaun said in dry tone.

M.J. glanced up sharply. “They were
actually found pretty close to your property line. Indications are
they came from the direction of your woods.”

“
I haven’t noticed anything
unusual,” LaShaun said. Monmon Odette would have been proud. Her
grandmother had trained LaShaun to guard how much she shared with
others.

“
I see.” M.J.’s neutral
tone implied she would reserve judgment on the truth of that
statement. “The man is hurt bad, but the doctor doesn’t think his
injuries are life threatening at this point.”

“
Could be a mugging, or a
domestic dispute that got out of hand.” LaShaun shrugged when
M.J.’s eyebrows went up.

The door opened again and the short,
gruff man that came in brought a smile to LaShaun’s face. Recently
retired Sheriff Triche looked much healthier than the last time
she’d seen him. His silvery white hair was neatly cut, and the
plaid flannel shirt tucked into his khaki pants made him look like
a dapper retiree. LaShaun stood and gave him a hug.

“
You look good, cher.”
LaShaun winked at him.

“
I manage to get some rest
in between workin’ on a long honey-do list.” He grinned back at
her, and then the amusement left his expression. “Hey, Myrtle.
Heard you got a real mess on your hands,” Sheriff Triche said and
let out a soft whistle.

“
Good thing I had the best
lawman around to train me.” Myrtle stood and shook hands with him.
All three sat down.

“
You’re top notch, and
didn’t need a lot of hand holding from me.” He smiled like a proud
parent. “The mayor called me. I told him in no uncertain terms that
you’re the boss.”

“
Thanks, but I’m not
surprised. He and Dave put their heads together before he left,
too.” M.J. scowled as she glanced to her left and through the glass
window.

“
Humph. Candidate Dave
looking for something to punch up his campaign against Chase,”
Sheriff Triche grumbled. Then he cast a sideways look at LaShaun
and cleared his throat. “Don’t tell me you up to your neck in this.
I thought you was supposed to stay out of trouble.”

“
She’s not connected,” M.J.
said quickly. “I’m asking her if she noticed anything strange since
the victims were found in the general area the of Rousselle
land.”

“
Uh-huh.” The old sheriff
grunted as he rose to his feet. “Well, I’ve had my share of chaos
and dealing with weird crimes.” He gave LaShaun a pointed look then
gazed at M.J. again. “I just stopped by to let you know I put the
mayor in his place. Let me know if you need me.”

“
Thanks, sir. I appreciate
the support.” M.J. stood as though in respect for her former boss.
“Must be strange being in your old office.”

“
I don’t even think about
this office now. Funny how fast I’m getting used to being out to
pasture. Bye now.” The former Sheriff pointed a finger at LaShaun.
“You don’t give Myrtle no problems.”

“
Of course not, no more
than I gave you,” LaShaun shot and grinned his pained
expression.

“
Lord have mercy,” he
muttered and strolled out. Moments later they heard him exchanging
hearty greetings with his former deputies and civilian
staff.

“
I miss having him grumble
and fuss his way through solving the most complicated cases. And
speaking of complicated, that brings me back to these two victims.”
M.J. sat down at her desk again and studied LaShaun. “We need to
talk. I asked Chase to join us, but he’s delayed.”

“
Okay.” LaShaun hoped her
expression was impassive at the mention of his name. But the way
M.J. studied her made LaShaun fidget with the leather flap on her
cross-body bag.

“
I guess he’ll wrap up with
his detectives, but he doesn’t seem to be in a hurry to get in
here,” M.J. said, probing more.

“
Right.” LaShaun sat
straight and looked her in the eye. “So now you know I didn’t see
or hear anything last night or yesterday evening.”

“
Orin Young visited you.”
M.J. waited for an answer. When silence stretched a few moments she
didn’t seem disturbed at all. She just settled back in her chair
and waited.

“
He came to tell me that
his grandson isn’t really responsible for killing all those people
several years ago. Something about thinking he was possessed.”
LaShaun shrugged again.

“
My grandmother has been
talking to you, too.” M.J. frowned and sighed. “You want to tell me
what’s going on?”

“
I don’t know. Honestly, I
have no idea,” LaShaun said when M.J.’s expression darkened to one
of annoyed disbelief. “Did Miss Clo tell you anything?”

“
Her and Miss Joyelle came
to talk to you about Patsy before she ran off with Al. There’s
nothing supernatural about a cheating wife. Or is there more?”
M.J.’s grimace clearly showed she hoped not.

“
I’m not sure. It could be
a couple of overactive Creole imaginations, seeing something spooky
when it’s just same old story of a restless woman with hot pants.”
LaShaun paused. “But what’s that got to do with this latest
crime?”

“
Not sure yet,” M.J. said
in a clipped tone. She gazed past LaShaun to the door of her office
and nodded.

LaShaun turned around in time to see
Chase through the glass top of the office door. He came in without
knocking. “Hi.”

“
Hi.” Chase gave her a curt
nod then walked across the room and placed a sheet of paper on
M.J.’s desk.

M.J. read the few lines then looked up
at LaShaun. “The woman had a driver’s license in the pocket of her
jeans. Her name is, was, Brenda Singleton, twenty-eight years
old.”

“
Never heard of her,”
LaShaun replied. “What about the guy?”

“
We didn’t find anything on
him. His clothes were pretty torn up. Maybe he dropped his ID or it
came out of his pockets.” Chase rubbed his jaw and looked at M.J.
instead of LaShaun.