Where The Devil Won't Go: A Lucas Peyroux Novel (28 page)

A man’s voice vibrated through the
hallway, but I couldn’t make out his words. I peeked through a crack in the
door, making out Heather and my daughter, who were tied back-to-back on two
chairs in the dining room. They appeared scared, but not hurt. Ray paced, waving
a gun. He wanted to kill them in front of me.

And I thought Cozy had a one-track mind
for vengeance.

I retrieved my spare Baretta from the
closet, opening the metal lock and pulling out a gun I hadn’t fired in five
years. However, it had been cleaned and loaded and ready to go. Back at the
door with limited vantage, I could still make out Alicia facing me at an angle
and Ray behind her in full pace. He returned into my vision every so often,
reminding me of that serial killer swaying back and forth with Cozy in his
arms.

My chest leaned against the doorjamb with
my right arm extending into the hall, pointing my Baretta at the spot where Ray
returned into a target frame of about six inches left to right and two feet
above Alicia’s head. Heather and my daughter sat motionless, faces wet with
gags in their mouths. I needed to get down the hall and into that room without
Ray noticing, which seemed impossible at this point.

Ray came back into my line of sight, seeming
to know instinctually not to step in front of them where I had a clean shot. I
focused with my body propped solid. Cozy’s face formed in my mind except blood
wasn’t flowing from her throat. I imagined her smiling, saying ‘
don’t be a baby.’

Alicia erupted with a renewed struggle,
crying out against the gag and managing to push it from her mouth with her
tongue. Her scream rang out like a power surge. Ray whipped around to her side
and slapped her face before stuffing the gag back in.

He put his face in hers. “I don’t need
you alive for this, my dear.”

Ray stood straight then rounded to her
backside, gently petting her hair. He faced me, putting his gun against the
back of my daughter’s head. He chuckled and pulled the gun up as if tormenting
was foreplay. My muscles locked as the scene played out like a dream sequence.

It seemed Ray sensed my presence as he
stopped to glare down the hall. His expression of surprise woke me as his gun
rose from Alicia’s head and fired a shot that embedded in the wall just inches
from me. A rush of blood pumped from my heart and I squeezed, hitting Ray in
the shoulder, exactly where I aimed. As he fell backwards, I sprinted to his
side, kicking the gun from his hand. After another swift kick to the bullet
hole, I put a slug into both of his legs, ensuring he wouldn’t go anywhere.

I untied my wife and daughter who
hysterically embraced me. Eventually they let go and expected me to call the
police, but they were already on their way.

“Why don’t you two go wait in the
bedroom?” I pointed.

“Why?” Heather asked. “You need to get
the police here.”

“Actually, a squad’s on their way now.” I
looked at Ray who was holding his wounds in agony, but still conscious. Malice
filled my being for the man who just threatened to kill my wife and daughter. I
felt myself standing in Cozy’s shoes. I calmly said, “He has information about
who’s behind the whole operation. I want to see if I can get it out of him
before the cops come and he shuts up for good. Go on, I don’t want you to see
this.”

With a lingering kiss, she complied with
concern in her eyes, taking a dazed Alicia with her. When the bedroom door
closed, I turned to Ray, who eyed me like a man who knew his fate.

“Oh, Ray, there is no one on this blessed
Earth that would want to be you right now.”

“Fuck you and that bitch Cozy.”

“There’s one difference between her and
me. She left you alive.”

Ray’s accent instantly switched from New
Orleans
Y’at
to Russian. “I’m
prepared to die, Peyroux. I expected it every day in Russia, working for the
mob.”

I kneeled by his head, hiding my
surprise. “Russian mob? I didn’t even ask you anything about that.”

He winced. “Just wanted you to know what
you can expect in your future.”

“Me?”

“You want to know who is behind this?
A brutal, ruthless Russian family.
My boss will replace me.
He will replace everyone you arrested and you’ll never know who it is until
it’s too late. And he won’t stop until your entire family is dead.” He yelled
towards the hall. “Dead, Peyroux!”

“Or maybe you’re full of shit.”

“Why lie to you now? You might even
arrest the man that will kill your wife and daughter, leaving you alive so you
can witness the death of anyone else you are close to – or will become
close to.
Because that is what we do.
My boss is not
even in this country. How’s that for a start to this little interrogation?”

My mouth went dry. “Actually, it’s a good
start.”

Chapter 42

Cold handcuffs hung loose on the hospital
bed railing as Cozy slid them back and forth. Haley, still loopy from being
drugged, slept in the next bed. No matter what happened, jail or no jail, she
would be happy forever, knowing her sister was safe.

A black man with a bright smile and
pin-striped
suit bypassed the cop at the door and took
command of the room, carrying a satchel at his side. His fade was well trimmed
and his glasses made him look more attractive than he might’ve been. He took a
quick glance around, and then zeroed in on the handcuffs.

“Ms. Cozy Robicheaux?”

“That’s me.”

“I’m District Attorney Lionel Theriot.”
He stepped up to the bed, holding the satchel with both hands. “Mind if I ask
you a few questions?”

“Do I need a lawyer?”

“That’s up to you, but before you decide
that, maybe you should hear me out.”

“I don’t have to answer any of your
questions.”

“From what I hear, you’re a very smart
lady. I think you can figure out what questions you might want to answer.”

“Doesn’t matter.”

“Actually, Ms. Robicheaux, this could go
very quickly and to your benefit if you give me the right answers.”

“I’ll do my best.” She focused on sliding
her handcuffs.

“Your fingerprints have been found at
Raymond Corondelet’s residence. Seems like a lot of stuff went on there… Kidnapping,
possible torture.”

“Who knows what kind of weird sex that
guy liked?”

He smiled. “Seems his safe had been
opened and some items retrieved from it.”

“Like money?”

“One item in particular being a hand
written log of names and dates. Something that wouldn’t mean much at first
glance.”

“How would you know of this mysterious
hand-written journal if it’s missing?”

He took a second. “We have a source.”

“I’ll bet. Tell Senator Folsom hi for
me.”

“Yes.” His eyes fell to the satchel,
which he had yet to open. “Full immunity for the list.”

“What does that mean exactly?”

“The dead drug dealer, Titus Jones? Unsolved.
Salvador Santiago shot Vincent Dean - a break-in. Senator Folsom said he fell
onto his hand – won’t explain further.” Mr. Theriot approached and sat on
the bed, putting the pouch to the side. “It means that no matter what you did,
no matter what you say, no matter who accuses you of anything, you will not be
charged.”

“Even the Feds?”

“Especially the Feds. They have even more
reason to be embarrassed, but I won’t go into that. Rest assured, everyone is
on board.”

“I guess the only reason you’re here is
because no one found it yet.”

Theriot’s dark cheeks flushed. “No, they
haven’t been able to locate it. Cozy, you don’t want to play games here. You
know the high profile names on that list and they have everything to lose. But,
for you to get the deal, you have to prove to me you have it.”

“The
list of names are
really of animals.”

They exchanged a knowing stare. “And the
legend?”

“Cut through the shit, Mr. D.A. I would
imagine a lot of people would be interested in that… a lot of people. And if I
give you the list, those same people will allow this to happen again.”

His face grew solemn. “So, you know who’s
on the list?”

“Yeah, Mr. Panther, I do.” She paused to
let him gather himself. “They think disguising Senator Folsom with Rhino or
Judge Jenner with Skunk is smart, but only if the legend is destroyed.”

“And the legend is where?”

“It’s with the list.”

“And where is the list?”

Cozy stared at him, momentarily spending
time on his mouth, nose, chin and finally his eyes. She then turned her
attention towards Haley covered up to her chest with a sheet. “I did it all for
her, you know.”

“Once the story gets out, you two will
stand to make a lot of money from interviews and book deals. We will have to
impose a gag order pertaining to certain facts, but that doesn’t matter. The
more mystery to the story, the more people will eat it up.”

“Of course.” Cozy slid the handcuffs back
and forth a few more times.

“What about retaliation after I give you
the list?”

“Trust.”

Cozy laughed. “I’ll trust that no one
will kill me, if you trust that I don’t have a copy waiting to be released upon
my death.”

“Touché. You are one smart bayou girl.”

“I want confirmation on that immunity
deal. And before I agree to give you the list, I want Detective Lucas Peyroux
to be the one who retrieves it and delivers it.”

Epilogue

Three
weeks later
.

Tara, Cozy, Haley and myself sat on a
Bourbon Street restaurant balcony. Tara folded up the newspaper and threw it
under the table. “Dobson still won’t fight for her job.”

“Even if she was to get reinstated,” I
said, “she said she doesn’t want to come back and she won’t say what they have
on her.”

“I don’t know,” Tara huffed, “she was a
great cop.”

“What’s she going to do?” Cozy asked.

“She’s moving out of New Orleans, that
much I know,” Tara said. “She can probably start over in a small town somewhere.
She’
s gained back thirty pounds.”

“I can’t believe everyone thought Jeannie
from the club was me in the river,” Haley said, inhaling her French Fries.

I said, “You had the same body type with
no tattoos and she had no family.”

“I snuck my phone past the guards and
handed it to Jeannie after they rounded us up. When they discovered it on her,
they – they – you know what they did. Then they killed her.”

“I’m confused about why they did it in
the first place.” Cozy looked at everyone. “Why plant the hairbrush? Why did
they have to?” Cozy asked.

Haley looked down. “When Ash started
showing up, they realized people would ask questions if I went missing. All
those girls have no one looking for them. I had no one to look for me until Ash
showed.”

I swallowed quickly to add, “We found
traces of blood that matches Jeanie’s blood type in Vincent Dean’s car. And his
cell’s GPS places him at English Turn at the estimated time of death. Vince
also had a
five-thousand
dollar deposit in his bank
account. We think Ray put him up to it.”

Haley said, “Vince was kind of like a son
to him. I think he may have been looking to get him into the business.”

“So much trouble just so they could sell you
into slavery?”

Tara was already half-finished her
sandwich, leaving crumbs all over the red and white checkerboard tablecloth.
“You two were worth it to them. They have a rating system. You have the bottom
of the barrel, like prostitutes and drug addicts, the girl-next-door average
type, and you two…
The crème de la crème.
Big price
tags on your heads.”

Cozy shook her head. “And Tabby was in on
it the whole time. That’s why Ray was ready for me with the gun at his house.
Tabby called him.”

“How’d you get out of that?” I asked.

Cozy snickered. “I accidently squeezed
the trigger and shot the gun out of his hand like we were in the old west. You
should have seen his face.” She made the sound effects and pretended a gun flew
from her hand.

The table burst into laughter.

I said, “It’s a shame you had to hand
over Ray’s list of clients, but at least it got you immunity.” I looked at
Tara. “And Ray will never hurt anyone again.”

Cozy stared forward. “You still didn’t get
the head guy. Pretty soon, their operation will be up and runnin’ again. Look,
I was messed up in the head –
am
messed up in the head. I’m getting better, though. When the D.A. demanded
mandatory counseling, deep down inside, I was glad. I want the help.”

Haley put her arm around her sister.
“You’re not fucked up, dawlin’… just a little askew. We’ll work it out together
here in NOLA. The whole city’s crazy.”

“By the way.” Cozy stood and pulled the
alligator pendant from her pocket. “I’ve been saving this for you.”

Haley gasped and pulled her hair from the
back of her neck, allowing Cozy to clasp the necklace. When Haley let her hair
drop, she stood and the two sisters embraced. “Never thought I’d see this
again.”

“I still think Mark Alexander had a hand in
all this,” I said.

“Too late, now.” Tara shrugged.

“He came in the club one night. I went
into the private room with him.” Cozy shuddered. “What if I run into him and
accidently kill him?”

“You won’t.” Tara smiled.

“How’d he get off, anyway?” Haley asked.

“By not leaving a single shred of
evidence.”

“Alexander’s dirty.” Tara added. “Damn
Russian mobsters.”

“Add the best lawyers and friends on the
client list and you have exoneration.”

“Go ahead.” Tara nudged me. “Tell them.”

I conjured a smile. “I quit the force.”

“What? Why?” Cozy nearly choked.

“When Ray nearly killed my family, I knew
it was time. My work came home and threatened my family. I will never let that
happen again. Before I killed Ray…”

“… In self-defense,” Tara added.

“… He warned me about the Russian mafia
coming after Heather, Alicia and you Robicheaux girls. There’s too many of them
and not enough of me. I couldn’t chance it.”

“What will you do?”

“Security work and consulting with the
NOPD. I can still make a living.”

“You’re going to be bored.” Tara said.

“Heather says I need someone to save. This
time, I like to think, I think I’ll be saving myself.”

Tara raised her drink and everyone
followed suit. “To saving ourselves,” she said.

“To saving ourselves,” we all said as our
glasses tapped together.