Lucky Thirteen (26 page)

Ray pretended to be content with his family and
friends around him, but Raif knew his brother was simmering, ready to explode over Larkin’s absence. Finally alone, Raif asked pointblank, “Why are you so surprised she’s not here? You told her to get out when you woke up briefly the night before you woke up completely.”

“No, I didn’t.”

“She says you asked her what the fuck she was doing there and then told her to get out. She thinks you blame her for almost getting killed.”

“Oh, my God
! I wasn’t talking to her. LaFontaine was standing in the gap of the curtain. I was talking to him.”

Raif inhaled sharply
. “I
knew
something was wrong. You have to tell her.”

“Drive me over there right now.”

“Are you up to it?”

“Not,
just yes, but hell, yes!”

♣♣♣

Ray and Raif pulled up to Larkin’s house which was aglow with
festive Christmas decorations. Icicle lights dangled and twinkled in the gentle breeze. Garland with holly clusters wrapped around the porch columns and rails. Classic carols played softly from speakers mounted at each end of the porch. Ray leaned tediously on Raif’s arm as they climbed the steps. Raif pulled the velvet cord, and the old chimes reverberated through the house. To Ray’s consternation, Robert LaFontaine opened the door.

“Oh, to
hell with it!” Ray muttered through clenched teeth. “Take me home now!”

The two limped down the steps with Raif supporting most of his brother’s weight
. Ray eased into the passenger’s seat with a groan. Raif slowly left the driveway. Ray grumbled, “If you don’t press that gas pedal, I will. Someday! I swear! Someday I’m gonna kill that bastard!”

“Ray!”

“Shut up and drive. And don’t you dare say a damned thing to Larkin.”

The car turned the bend in the road.

Larkin came to the foyer drying her hands on a dish towel. “Who was here?”

“Nobody
.” Robert smiled seductively. “Just a solicitor.”

♣♣♣

Ray’s anger festered
like an infected wound and spread like cancer as he gave new meaning to the phrase, “Bah, humbug.” He made Ebenezer Scrooge look friendly as his gloom stretched to his family and friends.

If his parents had not st
ayed in Eau Bouease, Ray would not have even placed a wreath on his door to celebrate the holiday season. However, having missed Thanksgiving, Mrs. Reynolds would have her way and decked Ray’s apartment to the hilt. A Douglas fir twinkled with lights and tinsel. Garland and holly boughs draped along the fireplace mantel, topped off by cinnamon and pine candles symmetrically placed on the mantel and wrapped with garland. Six stocking hangers adorned the edge of the protrusion, and from every doorway hung mistletoe, which the older couple used to their advantage every time one of them crossed a threshold.

Mrs. Reynolds planned Christmas Day to be a full celebration and the menu was written in stone
. Raif and Chris, who had delayed her return to FBI headquarters again even if she had to pay for her own hotel room, were at the top of the guest list. Larkin, also, was invited; however, she forlornly declined citing a commitment to spend Christmas Day with Robert’s family in Baton Rouge. Her absence did not stop Mrs. Reynolds from hanging a stocking for her on Ray’s mantelpiece along with all the others and filling it with wondrous treasures.

Raif, on the other hand, dragged Chris and the Reynoldses into the woods
on his property to chop his own tree. He decorated inside and out, even stringing lights on the Johnsons’ house to Sheena’s delight. His neighbors became close friends. Chris spent the week before Christmas baking with Mrs. Reynolds, reveling in experiencing a southern Christmas.

Christmas Eve, Mrs. Reynolds thumped Ray on the back of the head, ordering, “Get dressed
. We’re going to church.”

“Mom,” Ray quarreled, “I really have no desire to go to midnight mass
.” He rubbed the back of his head. “That hurt.”

“We’re not going to mass
. Get dressed. You’ve lost enough weight that your jeans won’t be tight. You don’t have the ‘they hurt my incision’ excuse anymore. Move!”

Like a scolded child, Ray obeyed
. He and his parents, with Mr. Reynolds driving the GT, drove to Charity Chapel, the nondenominational church Larkin attended. “Oh, no,” Ray groaned. “Why are you torturing me?”

“Deal with it,” his mother scolded again.

Inside, Raif and Chris had saved them a seat. “Were you behind this?” Ray growled in his brother’s ear.

“Merry Christmas, Ray,”
was his reply.

Even Ray could not quell the Spirit during the service, and he had heart flutters when
Larkin sang, “O, Holy Night,” to dismiss the congregation.

After the benediction, Larkin came to speak to her friends
. Ray refused to make eye contact with her. He asked, “Where’s Robert?”

“He’s not comfortable here
.” Her eyes searched his face as if she was looking for the answer to an unasked question. “Were you?”

“The service was quite nice
. You sang just like an angel.”

“Thank
s.”

“Well, Merry Christmas, Larkin.”

“Merry Christmas, Ray.”

Ray still moved gingerly with his hand pressed against his abdomen as he headed toward the exit
. Larkin called after him, “Ray?”

“Yes?”
He half turned.

“Sometime do you think we could talk about
”—She breathed emotionally—“About Latrice? You’re the only other person I know that…well, you know.”

“It gets easier
. You did the right thing.”

“I know, but it’s still hard
. It hurts.” She placed a fist over her heart.

“The department has a support group for us officers
. Maybe you could come.”

“Yeah, maybe
. I need to heal.”

“Me too
.” Ray rubbed his middle. “Good night, Larkin.” He started out the door again.

To his back, she said,
“Good night, Ray.”

He turned
around once more. “Do you have plans with Robert for New Year’s Eve?”

“Yes, why?”

“Never mind. Larkin, it was him, not you.” He went out the door.

Her face twisted in confusion
, and she whispered to his retreating back, “All you had to do was say, ‘Cancel them. Spend New Year’s Eve with me.’ Why couldn’t you?” She slowly shook her head.

♣♣♣

New Ye
ar’s Eve proved to be eventful in Eau Bouease. The night was unusually cool, but Raif had special plans for Chris. He picked her up and drove to the property he owned. Once there, he wadded the grungy jeans and sweatshirt he had worn through the worst ordeal of his life into a ball. He jammed them under a pile of twigs in the shape of a teepee, doused them with a liberal amount of lighter fluid, struck a match, and tossed it onto the bundle of rags, starting a bonfire. The flame made a loud swoosh. Raif grinned with satisfaction as the fire erupted, causing his dimples to deepen and showing the little scar on his cheek in almost exactly the same place as Ray’s from a childhood accident. Then, he spread a picnic, including champagne.

Chris was overwhelmed
. The expensive perfume he had given her at Christmas had been extravagant and flattering, but the quiet intimate picnic brought her to tears.

“Wait a minute,” said Raif
. “This isn’t part of the plan. You’re supposed to be having a good time.”

“I am,” she sniffled
. “Can’t you tell? This is the sweetest thing anyone has ever done for me.”

He put his arms around her
. “Dare I start the fireworks?”

“You have fireworks, too?”

“Yep.” He lit a fuse, and over the next several minutes, he held her close as they watched their own private spectacle. They snacked and roasted marshmallows and laughed about actually burning the loathsome clothes and the fact that both he and Ray had said they wanted to burn them weeks before.

By unspoken agreement, they waited for midnight
. At precisely twelve o’clock, Raif kissed Chris softly and gently and whispered, “Happy New Year.” Afterward, they lay in each other’s arms and counted the stars.

After a time, Chris could tell Raif had fallen asleep
. She hoped a little piece of the shield over his heart had fallen away. But she also realized he was still guarded, almost as much as Ray, only without the anger. There was no animosity, no bitterness in this man beside her. The New Year would continue to be a healing balm for him. Chris just wondered what part she would play.

♣♣♣

Robert LaFontaine acquiesced to Larkin’s desire to be home by midnight
. He enjoyed the parties and celebration, but he could pursue those pleasures after he had won Larkin.

When the clock struck twelve, he pushed his p
oint. He kissed her hungrily. He tried to slip the sequined straps to her silver satin evening dress off her shoulders.

She pushed back from him
. “Robert, stop it.”

He pulled her to him again
. “I want you. Make love to me.”

She shoved him away more forcefully
. “I said stop. You know this is
not
going to happen. Why can’t you respect my choice?”

“Larkin, you’re not a little girl
. You’re a very desirable woman. It’s time to act like one.”

“Robert, if I were pregnant and chose to have an abortion, would you support my choice?”

“Absolutely. It’s your body.”

“That’s right
. It is. And my choice is to respect my body and share it only with the man I plan to spend my life with. Support
that
choice.”

“And who would that be—Reynolds?”

“It’s time for you to go home.” She pulled the thin silvery shawl that matched her dress over her shoulders.

“Larkin, the New Year just started
.” He regretted mentioning Ray. He realized too late that he had pushed too hard.

“And you will be starting it on that side of my door while I start it on this side of my door
.” She pointed sharply toward his car. “Good night.”

Robert left reluctantly
.
I’ll call that little spitfire tomorrow and feign remorse. For now, I’ll find a party in full swing. New Year’s resolution: Conquer Larkin Sloan. If I have to put a ring on her finger to have her, okay.

♣♣♣

Larkin locked the door, turned off the light, and picked up her phone as she walked upstairs with Cyclops who hissed at Robert every time he came into the house
. As if by reflex, she dialed Ray’s number.

Ray, watching the celebration in Time
s Square on television, checked the caller ID. He allowed the call to go to voice mail and went to bed.

♣♣♣

Raif had never been so happy, but he could not stand seeing his brother so miserable
. He was determined to pull Ray out of his despair. After several weeks of convalescing, Ray was at last going into work half days. Raif showed up bright and early at his brother’s apartment on January 13
th
, with a banana nut muffin sporting a candle. “Happy birthday!” he chirped.

“You, too,”
Ray replied in a manner that would have made Eeyore proud. “Thanks for the birthday cake. I didn’t get you one.”

“That’s all right
. I’ll have something sweet tonight at dinner. Until then, I have a surprise for you—no work. We’re going to meet our mother. Don’t balk. I’ve already called ahead and pretended to be you. We get to see her privately, without barriers, since you’re a cop.” He grinned. “And I sort of hinted there might be new evidence in her case.”

Ray could not help but admire his brother’s ingenuity
. “Why do I think we would’ve traded places to annoy our teachers if we had been raised together?”

“I don’t know
.” Raif chuckled. “It would’ve been fun, wouldn’t it?”

The twins
drove to the Louisiana Correctional Institute for Women in St. Gabriel.

♣♣♣

The prison guard found Audrey van Zandt in the prison library re
-shelving books. “Audrey, you have visitors.”

“Are you kidding?” she asked.

“It was a surprise to me too. In the ten years I’ve been here, you’ve never had a visitor.”

“I never had one bef
ore you came either. Who’s here?”

“A detective named Reynolds and I guess his partner
. I didn’t see them, but was just told to get you. This isn’t regular visiting time.” The guard shrugged. “Guess it must be official business. Maybe they’re here to tell you something about your family.”