Little Black Girl Lost 4 (17 page)

Chapter 48

T
he previous day's excitement and sadness had kept both Lauren and Cadence up all night. When she finally had the chance to lie down and sleep, all of what had happened to her and the people around her dominated her thoughts. She came to realize that Captain Rutgers was right when he said, “You're about to enter a world where your life has little to no value.” Before she was captured and taken aboard the
Windward,
she had never seen anybody die. She had never been to a funeral, although she had heard of them and what they were for. But in the place called America, murder was a way of life. She realized that in order to survive, she may have to kill or cause the death of someone else, much like Cadence had done.

She wondered how her life would turn out if she behaved like the Dutch and the Americans. She wasn't sure how much more death she could take without killing someone herself. It seemed to be the acceptable way to gain power, and to live, for that matter.

After seeing what Cadence did to Aubrey and the rest of the housemen, she knew the time was coming when she too would kill, as it was becoming a part of her. She could watch men be killed and not be moved by their deaths. She soon began to wonder if she would be consumed by the powerful jaws of death before she had a chance to experience what Aubrey called the unsearchable pleasures of the flesh.

She was alone and she felt isolated, even though New Orleans and Bouvier Hill were populated with people who looked like her. She felt no kinship with them. The loneliness she felt was starting to consume her. The only thing that made her smile was Amir, and that was the Amir that she had met in Dahomey, not the one she left on the Isle of Santo Domingo. That Amir was a shadow of the one she fell in love with and risked all for.

The insurgent Maroons were mounting an impressive offensive when she was whisked away from the Isle of Santo Domingo. They had set a great fire when she saw it last. She didn't know if Amir was dead or alive. His promise to come for her was starting to ring hollow. For a while, she clung to his word as if it were her life's blood, but now, months after they left him there on the burning isle, she was starting to accept that not only was she never going to see her family again, she was never going to see the man she thought was the air she breathed.

For reasons unknown to her, Joshua came to mind. She told herself it was because he reminded her of Amir. That way she could justify her feelings. She could see him pounding the horseshoe, forcing it to become what he wanted it to be. She could see his rippling muscles and wondered if they were as hard as they looked. She remembered the way he looked at her, like he wanted her, like he would do anything in the world to make her his own. Could he protect her from the evil the world was offering? He sure talked like it, she thought, when she remembered the way he pushed Aubrey around.

Then she remembered something Joshua said, a single word he used; one she had never heard before:
nigga.
What did it mean? And was it the same word that she had heard Lieutenant Avery and the Dutchmen on the
Windward
use when they said “Nigger”? Was it the same word and they pronounced it differently? She didn't know; however, she did know that she couldn't sleep.

She hadn't done any reading since she and Captain Rutgers came ashore. She decided to risk going down to the library to read one of the many books that lined its walls.

Fearing for her life, Lauren had stayed away from Cadence the entire day. With all the housemen dead, the house was incredibly quiet. It was easy to hear movement. When she'd heard Cadence walking, she made sure she went in the opposite direction. She walked up to the closed door of her room and listened for any movement. Hearing none, she carefully turned the knob and opened it.

She listened for Cadence, but heard nothing. On her toes, she crept toward the staircase farthest from Cadence's room and descended the stairs. When she reached the landing to turn the corner, she craned her neck to see in the darkness. Even though Cadence's room was at the other end of the hall, Lauren could see light cutting through the darkness. Her door was half opened.

For a fleeting second, Lauren was about to turn around and go back to her room, but there was absolutely nothing to do, and she was wide awake. She decided to chance it.

Her heart was pounding hard as she descended step after step. She held her breath, deathly afraid that even that could be heard in the stillness of an empty house. She reached the second floor landing and quickly made her way down the rest. She fast-walked to the library and entered. She lit a couple of lamps and looked over the book titles.

It took her more than an hour to narrow her choices down to two books: Daniel Dafoe's
Moll Flanders
and John Cleland's
Fanny Hill
or
Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure.
Both novels were about the choices of young women who found themselves in difficult circumstances and what challenges faced them.

She picked up both books, hoping to find some direction for her life. She finally decided on
Fanny Hill
, and had been reading it for about an hour when she heard the front door open and close.

She looked up from her book, unsure if she heard what she thought she heard. She listened closely. She heard something again. Cadence was either walking around, or someone was in the house. She wondered if the real killer had come back to kill her and Cadence. Her heart rate shot up again.

She crawled under the table she was sitting at, just in case the intruder saw the light and came into the library. She heard footsteps going up the stairs and assumed it was Tristan Bouvier. She let out a sigh of relief. Her heart rate slowed to normal. First, she looked through the glass panes, but couldn't see much.

Quietly, she opened the door and looked out. She saw a figure climbing the stairs, but couldn't tell who it was. She stepped out of the library to confirm that it was Tristan; otherwise, she wouldn't be able to relax knowing someone was creeping around the house. But the figure was already gone. She went to the stairs and looked. Again he was gone.

“Joshua, is that you?” she heard Cadence say.

Lauren's eyes nearly bulged out of her head when she heard that. She gasped and covered her mouth. Her heart thudded feverishly.

“Yeah, it's me,” Joshua said. “Where's Lauren?”

Chapter 49

L
auren couldn't believe what she was hearing. This new development was so unexpected. She would have bet her life that Tristan was the killer. Now she knew differently. It was Joshua all along, just as Aubrey had suspected. Her heart was pounding again. She shook her head, thinking,
They were in on it together
. Together they had killed eight men in two days. If it were possible, her heart pounded even harder when she realized that if they didn't hesitate to kill eight men, one of them her husband, they wouldn't hesitate to kill her and come up with a crazy story that she had tried to kill Cadence.

Suddenly, she was glad that she hadn't told Joshua what her plans were; otherwise, she would be dead now too. She kept her hand over her mouth, scared to death they might hear her. If they discovered her, she would have to dig her own grave.

She wanted to run to her room just in case they decided to check on her, but she was compelled to listen to them to see what was really going on.

“She's sleeping,” Cadence answered.

Gingerly, she climbed a few stairs, stood on her toes, and peeked up into the room. She could see everything. Joshua and Cadence were kissing passionately.

When they came up for air, Cadence said, “I can't believe we did it.”

“Did you break it off with Tristan like I told you?” Joshua demanded.

“Yes, yes, you know I did,” Cadence said. “I love you so.”

After that, the talk ended and the action began. Cadence, who was already naked, tore open Joshua's shirt. While he finished removing his shirt, she yanked down his pants. He didn't have on any underwear. Now they were both completely nude, groping one another as they lost all control. With ease, he picked up the petite blonde and eased her onto his plow. A guttural groan found its way out of her mouth.

Without looking, Joshua reached back and closed the door. The light went out, and both the bed and the people in it howled like wolves for more than an hour.

While they were making love like animals in heat, Lauren thought it best that she go back to the library and put everything back the way she found it. Then she went back up the stairs and listened to them grunt and groan.

Hearing people have sex was exciting. It was incredibly funny at times, listening to two people who were totally uninhibited, saying raunchy things in the heat of passion. But that wasn't why she was there. She had heard her mom and dad have sex for years, and when they finished, they always talked. That's why she was there—to hear their pillow talk.

Lauren knew the talking would begin soon, because the grunting and groaning was slowing. The bedsprings were far less noisy, so she listened intensely.

“So, when do you find out what's in the will?” Joshua asked.

“Tomorrow,” Cadence said. “I'll stop by on the way to my shop. I'm taking Lauren with me. I like her. Do you?”

“Beautiful girl,” Joshua said.

Lauren was unmoved by his compliment. She already knew she was beautiful, and had known it long before she came to America. His acknowledgment of the obvious was not a revelation.

Cadence noticed that he had avoided the question, and that was a potential problem. “You better not bed her.”

“It never even crossed my mind,” he said.

“Stop lying. She's beautiful, so I know you've been thinking about it.”

“Well, maybe a little,” he joked. “But I love you, Cadence. We're in this thing together, okay? All the way, right?”

“Right, but we have to be careful,” she said. “We don't want people getting suspicious. We don't want them asking questions. We want it all to go away, and we can start all over like nothing ever happened.

“I'm going to make you my new driver. That way we can see each other all the time without attracting attention. You can move in and everything; live just like Aubrey and the rest of Beaumont's men.”

“I don't mind driving you around, but I can't move into the house. Besides, what about Lauren? She might see or hear something if I'm here. Plus, I don't want the field workers to think I've changed.”

“What if I put Lauren in the slave quarters? Then you could move in.”

“No. It would look like you got rid of her so we could be together.”

“I could take her into my confidence. That way, if she knows, she can help cover for us.”

“Can the girl be trusted?”

“Who's she gonna tell, Joshua? Who does she know?”

“I don't know about letting the girl in on this thing, Cadence. I don't. That's something we have to really be careful on.”

“Well, we'll figure it out later. As I said, tomorrow I'm taking her with me to town, and I'll feel her out and see if she can be trusted.”

“So, I'm driving you to town tomorrow?”

“Yes.”

“You think he left you everything in the will?”

“Most of it. I'm sure he left Marie-Elise and Tristan something.”

“What are you going to do if he didn't?”

“You mean if he left it to Tristan or Marie-Elise?”

“Yeah. I can handle Tristan, but Marie-Elise is going to be a problem. Her and Walker would love to take over Bouvier Hill.”

“If Tristan or Marie-Elise get the property and somehow they die, who would get the property then?”

“I really don't know. I suppose it would fall to me then.”

“How far are you willing to go?”

“You mean, am I willing to kill again?”

“Yes.”

“Yes. Are you?”

“I'm in this thing all the way.”

“Me too,” she cooed.

“Okay, well, I better get outta here.”

“Let's do it again.”

When Lauren heard that, she knew it was time to go to her room. Tomorrow she would act like she knew absolutely nothing.

She got in the bed and thought about all that she'd heard, and wondered what Walker Tresvant and Marie-Elise would think if they knew what was going on. She wanted to tell them, but she couldn't trust them either. She never felt more alone than she felt at that moment. She was in a world where everyone had ulterior motives. She realized that if she were to survive, she had to be cunning, just like they were. She decided she would keep her eyes and ears open, but her mouth shut.

Chapter 50

J
ulian Bailey's law office was located on the upper end of Royal Street. The carriage stopped in front of the office at precisely nine o'clock. Joshua jumped down from his lofty perch and opened the carriage door for Mrs. Bouvier. That's who she was to him in public anyway.

Cadence was wearing a black dress and bonnet. She told Lauren to wait in the carriage for her, and then she went into the office. Joshua could see her through the picture window. She was sitting in the outer office. A few seconds later, Tristan Bouvier and his wife arrived. Not long after that, Walker Tresvant and Marie-Elise made their grand entrance.

“So, how you like livin' in the big house, Lauren?” Joshua asked.

Lauren got out of the carriage to stretch her legs. “It's okay, I suppose.”

“Okay? Bouvier Manor is one of the best houses in New Orleans. And you say it's
okay?”

“Maybe I chose the wrong words,” Lauren said. “I have not been here very long, so I'm still uncomfortable. I don't know anyone. I don't have any friends. I'm all alone here. So, even though Bouvier Manor is a really nice place, I don't feel at home. You know what I mean?”

He looked her up and down and said, “Yeah, girl, I know what you mean. If you feelin' lonely, maybe you could come down to my cabin sometime and we could talk.”

Lauren remembered what she'd heard him say about her the night before. She also remembered what Cadence had said too. Here he was violating what she had told him already.

“I'm spoken for, Joshua,” she said.

“Spoken for? You just said you was alone and lonely,” he said. “I'm extending a hand of friendship out to you, if you want it.”

“Excuse me,” a man wearing a gray suit said. “Are you Lauren Renee Bouvier?”

She turned around and looked at the man. “I am now, sir.”

“Uh, could you come in here?” the man said. “This concerns you too.”

“What concerns me, sir?” she asked.

“I'm sorry, Lauren. My name is Julian Bailey. I'm Beaumont Bouvier's attorney and the executor of his last will and testament.”

“You're the what again, sir?” she said sincerely. “I'm new here. I speak the language, but I don't understand everything I hear.”

“I am the executor. Basically, it's my job to make sure that Beaumont Bouvier's last wishes are carried out to the letter.”

“Okay, but I still don't understand why I need to be in there. I'm not a member of the family. As a matter of fact, I just got here a few days ago.”

Julian smiled and said, “I know, but he put you in his will anyway. Remember the day he stopped here on this street, in front of this office?”

“Not really, sir.”

“Well, you do remember stopping somewhere and having to wait for a while, right?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Well, that's what he was doing. Come on in. I think you're going to be pleased.”

“Uh, what about me, Monsieur Bailey?” Joshua asked.

“You're Joshua, right?” Bailey asked.

“Right, sir.” Joshua smiled.

“You're not in the will. Sorry,” Bailey said.