Heartless (3 page)

"Has something happened to the Senator, sir?" asked the
guard with genuine concern.
"I must see Mrs. LaFontaine," Ray insisted.
"Yes, sir. I understand. Your reluctance to answer says
enough." The guard opened the gate. "I'll buzz the house for
you, sir. Someone should be up when you get there. Do you
know which house it is?"
"Yes, I've been here before. Thank you."
As the first large raindrops fell in the approaching storm,
Deanna LaFontaine waited wrapped in a rose-colored satin
bathrobe on her front porch when Ray got out of his car.
Deanna had always been attractive, but she looked worn. Her
shoulder-length, light-brown hair hung limp in the humid night
air and her hazel eyes looked tired. Her thin, five-foot-eight
frame stooped. "What's happened to Robert, Ray?" she
demanded as Ray reached the porch.
"May we go inside and sit down?" Ray asked
sympathetically.
"Just tell me. Is he dead?"
"Yes, Deanna. He was murdered."
Deanna nodded her understanding. She indicated the porch
chairs at the right side of the door on the white stone porch.
"Let's talk out here. I don't want the kids to wake up and
hear this tonight. I'll tell them tomorrow. You do understand,
don't you, Ray?"
"Of course, I do." Ray and Deanna sat down in the wicker
chairs.
Deanna jumped back to her feet. "Would you like some
coffee, Ray? I can make some quickly. I need some, so, please,
join me."
"That would be nice. Thanks."
Deanna disappeared into the house for about ten minutes
while Ray waited. The white five-thousand-square-foot stone
house that loomed behind him was a Raiford Gautier original
design. Ray remembered when Raif had come to his office in
complete shock at being asked by Robert to design his house.
Ray was lost in thought when Deanna returned with two
large mugs. "Just sugar if I remember correctly," she said. "It's
been a while."
Ray took the mug and sipped the hot coffee. "Perfect.
Thank you."
Deanna sat down. "I knew it had to be bad if you drove all
this way to deliver the news yourself. Was he alone?"
Ray hesitated.
"Oh, come on, Ray. How young was this one? Did she kill
him? I know all about Robert's little indiscretions." Her hand
shook as she sipped her coffee. "I think he actually tried the
first five years of our marriage. We had Kyle and Kim. Since
then, I've lost count. They got younger and younger. However,
he swore he never actually had
sex
with any of them. A former
president made the other stuff acceptable for an entire
generation." She shook her head. "What neither of them
understood is that what's good for the goose is good for the
gander." Deanna finished with a huff.
Ray raised an eyebrow.
"Get a grip, Ray." Like an angry filly, she tossed her head
to the side. "Don't look so shocked. Nobody, not even the
tabloids, has a clue that I've had my own comfort. I've been
very discreet, unlike my husband. I've covered his tracks for
him for years. I
wanted
to be First Lady. On the other hand, I
don't want my kids to know about any of it." She gusted out a
large irritated puff of air. "Honestly, if Robert had been
faithful, I would've been. So, I suppose, the gentleman I've
been seeing started out as revenge. I knew when Robert said he
needed
to run to Eau Boueuse today he would be meeting up
with somebody. So, just tell me the whole ugly story. You can't
shock me."
"I wouldn't count on that, Deanna." He took a deep breath.
"It's really ugly and apparently personal. No, the young
woman, twenty-two, didn't kill him. She's dead, too. They were
parked in the bayou. It looked as if she must have been…" Ray
fumbled for the words to use.
"Going down on him, Ray? Would that describe the scene?
Perhaps you would prefer to be more professional. Would
performing fellatio be more appropriate for you?" Unable to
contain her bitterness, Deanna barked, "I don't recall you being
so shy."
Ray frowned and said, "I respect you." He sighed. "Yes,
that would sum it up. Someone shot her in the back of the head
while she was in the act. Then, he or she shot Robert in the
temple. After they were dead, someone removed their hearts. I
wanted to be the one to tell you." He rubbed his head. "I'm a
little confused. I thought you would be crying your eyes out. I
thought you loved the man."
Deanna laughed bitterly. "I did once. I guess part of me still
does. I'm just so
angry
that he would do this to his family. Why
couldn't I have been enough for him? I would give anything to
have what you and Larkin have. You truly love her. I don't
think Robert was capable of love."
"I'm so sorry, Deanna. I wish there was more to say."
"Thank you, Ray. You were thoughtful to come yourself."
"Is there anything I can do before I leave?"
"No, I'll handle everything from here. I'll call Robert's
parents when I go inside, and I'll tell the kids in the morning.
Then, I'll deal with the press's feeding frenzy."
"Well, I have to get back and hold a press conference
myself. Needless to say, I'm not gonna reveal the details to the
press. We'll let them speculate."
"Thank you again, Ray. Would you like a travel mug for
your trip home?"
"Do you have one?"
"Oh, yes, with our wonderful slogan on it."
"I would greatly appreciate it. I'll be in touch."
Ray left with fresh coffee to keep him awake on the
hundred-fifty-mile drive back home. Glancing in his rear view
mirror as the rain gathered intensity, he saw that Deanna
LeCoeur LaFontaine was, indeed, crying her eyes out in the
wicker chair, and her body shook with sobs. His heart broke for
her because he understood that she would mourn alone.
He looked at the lettering of the mug as it reflected in the
dash lights: In uncommon times—a common man for common
people. Ray took a deep breath.
Oh, Rob, you were far from
common in both good and bad ways.

Ray tried to enter the house quietly. Larkin was curled up
on the couch while Raif was kicked back in Ray's recliner. As
the door creaked ever so slightly, Larkin sat up. She went
straight to her husband and slipped into his arms.

Ray whispered, "Why, Larkin? Why does it hurt this much
to lose him?"
"It's all right to mourn him, Ray. He was once your best
friend. Now, to bed. You need a few hours sleep before you
deal with the press. Scoot!" Larkin commanded gently as Ray
looked at his brother. "Raif will be just fine right where he is.
I'll get the kids up in a little bit for school. You rest."
Ray dragged himself up the stairs and fell into bed.

The next morning, Deanna LaFontaine broke the news of
Robert's murder as gently as possible to her ten-year-old twins,
Kyle and Kimberly. Kimberly dissolved in tears, but Kyle
nodded without emotion.

Deanna decided not to send the kids to school until after
Robert's funeral. She did take Kyle to the side because he
seemed almost relieved. She asked with a mother's heart,
"Kyle, honey, are you all right? Would you like to talk about
it?"

Kyle responded, "I'm fine. Don't worry about me, Mom.
I'm sure he probably deserved it. Mom, he was a heartless
bastard, and you know it."

"Kyle! He's your father."
"No! He was my sperm donor." Kyle snorted and laughed
sarcastically. "That's surprising, too. Mom, the bad news is that
I've never had a father. Maybe you should marry Mr.
Blackwell. He might make a decent father."
"What do you mean, Kyle?" She placed a hand over her
heart.
Oh, my God! He knows. How?
"I mean you deserve to be loved, too. I'm not really ten,
Mom. I know way too much. But don't worry about me. I'll be
fine. How are you?"
Deanna hugged Kyle. "We'll be fine. I love you, Kyle. Stay
my little boy for a while longer, please."
Deanna could feel Kyle's silent tears on her chest. It
crushed her that her son refused to admit his heart was
breaking at the news he had received. Rather, after a moment
of release, he wiped his eyes and took his mother's hand.
"Come on, Mom. The press is waiting. We'll get past this and
move on. We have to."
Deanna LaFontaine stepped outside with both her children
and the long-time family attorney, Saul Blackwell, dark curlyhaired, dark-eyed, tall and lanky. She made a brief statement to
the press in which she informed the reporters that they would
need to get further information from the Eau Boueuse Police
Department and any statement the LaFontaine family might
make in the future would be handled by Mr. Saul Blackwell.
She turned her back to the shouted questions and marched Kyle
and Kimberly inside.

Though sluggish after only three hours' sleep, at seven
o'clock before the children left for school, Ray joined his whole
family for an interment near their gazebo for their beloved pet.
Then, Larkin took their kids to school, while Raif took his, and
Chris went to the police station.

At nine o'clock, while Deanna LaFontaine confronted the
media in Baton Rouge, Chief Reynolds held a short press
conference in Eau Boueuse. He stepped behind the podium and
multiple microphones.

"I have a brief statement for you, but I will not be taking
questions at this time. Late last night, Senator Robert
LaFontaine and his clerk Dinah Horn were found shot to death.
At this time we have no leads as to the perpetrator. Detectives
Brian Baker and Christine Gautier are heading the
investigation, and an FBI team will be here this afternoon. The
entire Eau Boueuse Police Department wishes to extend our
sympathy and support to the Senator's family. Rest assured we
will do everything in our power to find and bring to justice this
heartless, cold-blooded killer. Thank you."

A young reporter dogged Ray as he left. "Chief Reynolds,
what of your past relationship with the Senator?"
Ray wheeled on the woman. "Did you not understand me? I
said, 'No questions.'"
He turned to leave again, and the woman stayed on his
heels.
Ray turned and pointed a finger at the young woman.
Noting her name tag, he commanded, "Miss Cockerill, don't
follow me. News flash—the last reporter who followed me
ended up dead." Slowly and with deliberate, clear articulation,
Ray said, "Don't. Tempt. Fate."
Ray returned to his office, and the reporter stayed put
where she stood.

When Ray stepped into his office, he found his twin waiting
for him with a bottle of tequila. Raif shrugged. "I thought you
might need something a little stronger than water after meeting
with the piranhas." Producing two shot glasses, lemon slices,
and a salt shaker, he poured two shots.

Ray laughed as he sank into his chair across from Raif and
remembered taking a shot the first time he had ever seen his
brother face to face, but without the salt and lemon. He picked
up the salt, sprinkled his thumb, licked the salt, tossed the shot
back, and sucked a lemon slice. His mirror image followed
suit. After the second shot, Raif said, "Need a sympathetic
ear?"

"I never thought I would feel this awful over Robert
LaFontaine." Ray leaned back. "After all the garbage with him,
why do I give a damn?"

"Because you once loved him like a brother. Have you ever
considered the possibility that Robert came after what you had
because he was jealous of you?"

"For God's sake, why? Why would he be jealous of me?"
"Maybe because you actually have the capacity to truly
love. In order to shield himself from feeling real love, even for
a brother, he had to drive you away."
"Are you changing professions, big brother?"
"No. Robert wasn't hard to read." Raif shook his head. "If
he never got too close, then he couldn't get hurt, probably
because he had been really hurt. I'm surprised he ever actually
got married. Of course, that was a political move. There has
only been one bachelor in the White House, and I don't think
he was a philanderer. No, America likes a family man, even in
these modern times. Still, I don't think he ever loved anyone,
least of all, himself. Honestly, Ray, I think his relationship with
you was the closest he ever came to love of any kind."
Was Robert gay?
Ray looked at his brother with a very
strange expression on his face, brows furrowed and nose
wrinkled.
Raif waved his hand. "Don't even go there. I've never
thought you were gay, Ray. However, Robert might've been,
and to keep from admitting it even to himself, he had to have
all the women he could get, especially those that belonged to
the one person he might've had any real feelings for. So long as
you were unattached, you were his in his mind."
Ray's mouth dropped open. "Jesus Christ, Raif! If I had
ever considered those thoughts were in his head, I would've
killed him."
"I know. When you married Larkin, he realized he had to
go forward and create the illusion of being the kind of man
America would vote for. And, you know, he probably would've
made it to the White House if he had been himself—not that I
would've voted for him. But he was a politician. He knew how
to manipulate people."
"The more you talk, the more I see exactly what you're
saying. Was I just totally blind all these years?"
"Yes, because you could never have accepted these truths if
he were alive. Now, would you like to talk about the Robert
LaFontaine that you knew and loved like a brother?"
"Not until I've had another shot to help me deal with
everything you've said."
Raif poured two more shots, and after Ray killed his, he
said, "Where would you like me to start?"
"At the beginning. We've talked over a lot of things in the
last fourteen years, but you have said as little as possible about
Robert."
With a shrug, Ray grunted. "You know how Mia turned to
him after I got shot. And then Larkin." He sighed. "She was the
most captivating captive who captured my heart from the getgo."
"We're not discussing your wife, although Robert wanted
her as a trophy, someone he thought could win him the White
House."
"Well, in my opinion, Deanna is pretty much a prize as
well. I'll never forget the way he just showed up at my door
with a wedding invitation in his hand and Deanna standing
beside him. 'I'm not mailing this one,' he said. He grinned and
handed it to me. I know I gaped at him. Larkin elbowed me in
the ribs and invited them in.
"As I read the invitation, Rob said, 'Ray, I know we can
never be as close as we once were, but can we try to be friends
again?' Deanna looked at me with pleading in her eyes. Rob
put his arm around her and introduced her."
Raif nodded. "Yeah, he had just come from my house
where he delivered our invitation and asked me to design their
home in Baton Rouge. I would have turned him down if it
hadn't been for Deanna."
"Larkin spoke for both of us and assured them we could get
over all the past hurts. I agreed reluctantly. Rob seemed so
pleased. He said, 'I won't ask you to be my best man. Even I
realize that would be pushing. Representative Comeau has that
honor, but I do want you there.'"
"The four of us went together. I suppose we knew our
wives would keep us straight." Raif chuckled. "Larkin might
have walloped you if you had gotten out of line. Chris would
just have glared at me and made me feel like a dog."
Ray laughed. "True. Then the four of us made the
pilgrimage to the LaFontaines' first Christmas party in the
home you designed."
"A magnificent piece of work." Raif grinned.
"But then, Rob was back a year later with a pink
bubblegum cigar and a blue bubblegum cigar. 'We're having
twins,' he bragged. He was genuinely happy. Then, he floored
me again when he said, 'I have a huge favor to ask of you.
You're a twin. You know how significant that relationship is. I
want, no, I need, you to be my kids' godfather.' How could I
refuse?"
"You couldn't."
Ray leaned back in his chair. "We met in first grade. Robert
was a runt, and a lot of the kids picked on him. His blond hair
was long and curly, and he had big pale-blue eyes, sort of like a
hazy day." He closed his eyes and could see the new kid in
school, walking into the classroom for the first time. He sighed.
"Kyle looks just like him. I stood up for Robert when bigger
boys bullied him. We sort of became inseparable.
"In high school, we both made the baseball team, and we
often went on double dates together. One time we went to the
very spot he was killed to make out with our dates. Rob related
some urban legend trying to get the girls to snuggle closer to
us. Before that, when my sister, Veronica, was killed, Robert
was there for me. He let me cry; he let me scream." He stopped
speaking as he recalled how Robert had actually hugged him.
The signs were there and I never picked up on it.
"When I told
him I wanted to be a cop, he told me, 'Okay, you arrest 'em,
and I'll put 'em away.' It seemed to be a team plan."
Ray ran the shot glass through his fingers as if it were a
coin or poker chip. "Before Robert was fifteen, his mother had
been married and divorced six times to Evan LaFontaine.
Seven must have been the charm. They're still married."
Ray set the glass on his desk. "During our senior year, Evan
got transferred to Baton Rouge. Robert's mom, Alexis, stayed
here until graduation. Then, she moved to Baton Rouge and
took Robert with her. The two months before we went to LSU
as roommates were the longest two months I had ever endured
to that point. Even though Robert could've lived at home, he
said he had to get away from his father and moved into the
dorm with me."
Surely his father didn't molest him. How could
Alexis stay with a man that abused his child? Could that be the
reason for all the splits?
"We went to college and joined Delta Tau Delta. College
was great! Yeah, we played a
lot
. I dated, but Robert went out
with a different girl every weekend. I thought he was just a
ladies' man. Now, I see that he was afraid of getting too close.
And I know he sabotaged a few of my relationships, but at the
time it didn't matter because I wasn't in love with any of them.
Like the time Juliana found a thong stuffed under my pillow."
"Juliana?"
Ray nodded. "A girl I dated. She went ballistic!" He
laughed out loud. Raif leaned forward, entranced by his
brother's reminiscing.
"I told her it was Robert's. He grinned and agreed. She
threw the thong in his face and told him it might belong to one
of his bimbos, but she still wanted to know what it was doing
in my bed. He guffawed and told her my bed offered more
support." Ray had started laughing so hard he had tears in his
eyes.
God I miss those times. I regret it all changing in some
ways.
"As she was throwing her tantrum, Meaghan burst through
the door asking me if she had left her red thong there."
"Meaghan? How many women did you have, bro?"
"Robert went out with Meaghan, not me. She was a little
sister for our fraternity. Anyway, Robert had fallen on his bunk
laughing. Juliana took the red thong and ripped it apart before
she stormed out the door.
"Robert stood and hugged Meaghan. He said, 'For that
performance, you get dinner at Antoine's this weekend.' Then,
he turned to me and said, 'What? No thanks for getting that
wench out of your life? Ray, that girl was set on marriage. I
don't think that's what you want.'
"Shit!" He wiped his eyes with his thumbs. "He was so
right at that moment in time. Juliana was, indeed, married to
someone else in less than a year.
"Oh, we had so much fun. Like when we went to Mardi
Gras the same year that…" Ray stopped as he remembered the
tragedy his real brother had endured, being mugged and
suffering brain trauma and ultimately an aneurysm that caused
him to have schizophrenic-like symptoms, which made him the
target of Latrice Descartes.
"Don't stop. I'm fine. Everything worked out just perfectly
for me," Raif prompted.
Ray nodded. "We didn't go with the other guys, the guys
that beat you up. We stopped to get a tattoo. His was hideous.
It was this ugly red-and-black two-headed serpent.
"After we graduated, Robert went to law school, and I went
to the police academy. I started dating Mia after I came on the
force. Robert finished law school and came to work in the
prosecutor's office. You pretty much know the rest."
"Yeah, I do. I have an idea. It's time for a road trip for
brothers."
"What are you up to? The last time we took a road trip, we
met our birth mother."
"Yep, and look how well that turned out. I'm your big
brother. Do you trust me?" Raif slapped his thighs with open
palms and smirked.
"Yes, I trust you."
"Your car or mine?"
"Yours is more environmentally friendly. Besides, I don't
know where we're going, and you only had two shots. I had
three. You drive."
Raif pointed at the shot he had never taken. "You take it. I
wouldn't drive if I did." Ray downed the drink.
Both men called their spouses who asked no explanations,
and Raif headed toward New Orleans.