Between Dusk and Dawn (14 page)

Chapter 8

“
Relax, I didn’t mean she’s
lurking,” LaShaun replied wearily.

“
Good.” Miss Clo still
glanced around as though looking for signs.

“
At least not right this
minute,” LaShaun said. When Miss Clo jumped, she patted her should.
“I’m teasing you, cher. Calm down.”

After a few moments LaShaun unlocked
the front door, went inside and came back with two glasses. She put
the tray on the small round table between their chairs and sat
down. Both sipped tea and gazed into the distance deep in thought.
The blue skies had gradually been blocked out by a cover a clouds,
giving the day a gloomy feel. For at least fifteen minutes neither
woman spoke.

“
I went to the hospital to
see the man they found in the woods,” LaShaun said
finally.

“
Those two were runnin’
around like wild animals. The talk is all over town. Sounds like
the folks Joyelle has been treatin’.” Miss Clo looked at
LaShaun.

“
Exactly like it. Is that
why you came?” LaShaun looked back at her.

“
Nope. Patsy showed up at
Joyelle’s house last night. Patsy begged her to stay, and Joyelle
gave in. She always did have a soft heart. When Joyelle called me I
gave her a good talkin’ to about obstructin’ a police
investigation.” Miss Clo gave a sharp nod.

“
Like you’ve been
completely forthcoming with your granddaughter, the acting
sheriff?” LaShaun burst out laughing. When Miss Clo glared at her
she got control of herself.

“
I’ll talk to Myrtle Jean
soon enough.” Miss Clo stopped rocking her chair and leaned
forward. “The woman is dead, and they say he’s not far from it.
They say he’s got some strange infection. What’s he
like?”

“
Never mind him for now.
Tell me about Patsy.” LaShaun drank more tea.

“
Humph. Patsy showed up in
perfect health, but she wouldn’t tell Joyelle much of anything. She
just kept saying she was glad to be home, and talked about how she
was so tired. Joyelle says she’s skinny as a matchstick with dark
circles under her eyes. Joyelle’s husband wasn’t happy, but they
let her stay in the mother-in-law suite they have built on their
house.” Miss Clo shook her head. “Something’s wrong, and she’s part
of it.”

“
So tell me what else
happened.” LaShaun drained the last of her sweet tea.

“
Joyelle didn’t get much
sleep. She called me around five o’clock this morning. I told her
to call M.J., and not to give me any argument.” Miss Clo shook her
head. “I don’t like none of this one bit.”

LaShaun thought about her last point.
“So M.J. went to interview Patsy?”

Miss Clo nodded with a grim
expression. “She took two deputies with her. One was that new lady
deputy she hired. Seems like a nice enough person. The other was
Chief Detective Broussard.” Miss Clo glanced at LaShaun with one
raised eyebrow.

“
Go on.” LaShaun did not
react at his name.

“
Patsy got an attitude with
M.J.,” Miss Clo said with a frown. “Ungrateful little snip. She
wouldn’t say if she knew where her lover boy is hidin’. His wife’s
daddy and three brothers are looking for him, so he best stay
undercover for a good long time.”

“
Tommy Daigle is still
missing, and Patsy shows up.” LaShaun rocked her chair back and
forth a few times.

“
Yeah, he’s probably tryin’
to think of some good story before he shows up to face the
music.”

“
So what happened? I mean
with M.J. and Chase,” LaShaun said.

“
Nothin’ really. Patsy
hasn’t broken any laws so it’s not like they could haul her down to
the station. She said she knew her rights, and they had no reason
to hold her. Patsy sashayed out to her little Pontiac Grand Am and
drove off.” Miss Clo shook her head again. “M.J. wasn’t too please
with Joyelle, but she hadn’t broken any law either. So I came to
tell you that’s that. Maybe this thing with Patsy is
over.”

“
I wonder why she went to
Joyelle instead of her family?” LaShaun looked at Miss
Clo.

“
I get a headache tryin’ to
figure out why Patsy does anything.” Miss Clo sighed. “That girl
won’t be satisfied until she gets somebody killed.”

LaShaun was about to express her
opinion on Patsy’s morals, or lack thereof when the sound of a car
stopped her. Two Vermillion Parish sheriff’s cars pulled into her
driveway. M.J. parked and got out of the first one. Despite the
clouds M.J. wore sunglasses. She removed them and walked up to the
edge of the porch. Chase cut his engine and got out of the second
cruiser. M.J. stared hard at her grandmother.

“
We’re going to have us
nice long talk later on, Monmon. Then you can explain why you keep
playing detective.”

“
I’m not interferin’ in
your work, baby. I promise.” Miss Clo put on her sweetest smile.
“We’re just havin’ a little visit is all.”

“
You told LaShaun about
Patsy being at Miss Joyelle’s house I’ll bet. Never mind,” M.J.
said cutting off her grandmother’s reply. She stuck her sunglasses
into a case hanging from her belt and looked at LaShaun. “We’re
going to have a talk with
you
right now, LaShaun.”

“
Yes, ma’am,” LaShaun said
promptly.

“
Don’t get smart with me.
I’m not in the mood,” M.J. shot back. Her dark eyebrows pulled
together until she looked less like a pretty woman, and more like
an annoyed officer of the law.

“
I’m not being
smart-alecky, honest. I want to cooperate fully,” LaShaun said with
the most sincerity she could muster.

“
You could start by not
interviewing our suspects,” M.J. snapped back. She stabbed a finger
in the air between them. “And don’t think I won’t arrest your butt
for interfering with a criminal investigation, and that includes
this mess with Patsy.”

“
I wasn’t trying to get in
the way or anything. I just wondered if I might recognize him
cleaned up.” LaShaun blinked at the wrath she felt from M.J. “Okay,
I should have told y’all and not gone over there alone.”

“
Funny you didn’t think of
it
before
you
went,” M.J. said before LaShaun or Miss Clo could speak. “Both of
you are going to tell me what the hell is going on, and you’re not
gonna leave out even one tiny detail. Otherwise, I’ll charge you
both with obstruction of justice and anything else I can think
of!”

“
Myrtle Jean Arceneaux you
wouldn’t dare. Your mama and daddy would have your backside if you
did.” Miss Clo frowned at her.

“
Mama would be the first to
agree with me. Now start talking. Or we go down to the station and
make this a formal interrogation. What’s your choice? I’m fine
either way.” M.J.’s voice cut at them like a steel
blade.

“
Of course we’ll cooperate.
You don’t have to get all testy.” Miss Clo lost some of her steam
under M.J. withering gaze.

“
Something has happened,
hasn’t it?” LaShaun looked at Chase.

M.J. raised a hand before Chase could
reply. “Yeah, you could say a few things have happened. I’ve got a
preacher whipping up folks for witch trials like this is the middle
ages, strange people wandering around the swamps, a crazy man
tearing up the hospital, and three murders. Yeah, you damn sure
could say something has happened.”

“
Three?” LaShaun honed in
on that number.

Chase glanced at the three women then
stepped forward. “The state police called us an hour ago. They
found Tommy Daigle’s body in Cameron Parish near Grand
Lake.”

“
You brought in Patsy to
find out what she knows about Tommy,” LaShaun said. It wasn’t a
question.

“
We would if we knew where
she was,” M.J. replied. She looked at her grandmother.

Miss Clo shook her head hard. “Don’t
give me that evil-eyed stare. I have no idea where she could
be.”

When Chase and M.J. looked at LaShaun
she started. “Don’t be silly. I’ve never even met the woman. Why in
the world would you think--”

“
I need help.”

All four of them jumped at the voice
that spoke. Patsy stepped from behind the wide gardenia bush on the
south end of LaShaun’s long front porch. When Chase spun to face
LaShaun his jaw worked for several seconds. He seemed too enraged
to form words.

“
Damn,” was all LaShaun
could manage to get out. “I’m going to jail. Again.”
<Darker Shade of Midnight, LaShaun was a murder
suspect>>

*****

Six hours later LaShaun made it back
home. Drained of every ounce of energy, she made sure the house was
locked up. Then she sank into a tub of suds in her master bathroom.
The scent of the honeysuckle and vanilla filled the air. The bath
oil created huge bubbles that shimmered with rainbow colors. Steam
clouded the wide mirror over the sink. The pale green and ocean
blue colors should have combined with the heavenly fragrance should
have soothed her. Instead LaShaun reclined against her bath pillow
feeling lonesome. No amount of soap could wash that away. She tried
closing her eyes, but that didn’t work. Even the soft jazz
streaming through the speakers of the small flat screen television
made no difference. What she needed most wasn’t anywhere near her
house.

Chase. She didn’t expect him to come
over. He had his hands full with three murder investigations. Not
to mention he was furious with her. As the jets made their best
effort to ease her tense muscles, LaShaun tried to think of why he
shouldn’t lose trust in her.

“
Guess you better get used
to being celibate and single, girlfriend,” LaShaun muttered. Giving
up her attempt at a Zen moment, she grabbed the TV remote and
switched channels.

“
This is a KATC news break.
Missing Beau Chene resident Patsy Boutin has been located, and the
man she reportedly ran off with is dead. Find out how a local
psychic is being used by the Sheriff’s Department to unravel the
mystery. Details at eleven. “ The pretty young woman the color of
caramel candy beamed as if she could see LaShaun and was saying
“Gotcha!”

“
Good Lord.”

LaShaun hit the remote until she found
the jazz music channel again. The bubble bath seemed like a good
idea, but she was too keyed up to let work its magic. She stood and
let the big fluffy suds slide down her body. The bathroom door
swung slowly inward, and she stood still. She looked for any object
to use as a weapon and wondered why the alarm hadn’t gone off.
Calmly she steadied her breathing for a fight. Chase stood gazing
at her with a frown.

“
I was about to jump on
you,” LaShaun blurted out, relieved and very annoyed. “How’d you
get in here, and why didn’t you call first?”

“
You gave me a key, and you
can jump on me later.”

Chase stood with both hands on his
hips. He still wore his duty belt with the gun, handcuffs, and
other tools he needed to keep law and order. Even angry he looked
deliciously sexy, maybe more so. LaShaun brushed suds from her
breasts and down her stomach.

“
You’re right to be a
little upset with me.” LaShaun looked down at the floor and then at
him again.

“
A little upset doesn’t
quite cover it.” His gaze traveled down her neck but he seemed to
check himself, and he looked into her eyes again. “You’ve got more
explaining to do.”

“
Well at least let me dry
off and get dressed before you shine a light on me and make me
confess.” She didn’t ask him to leave, and he didn’t
move.

As he watched she picked up the
flexible handheld shower want attached to the wall, used her foot
to turn on the water and rinsed off slowly with warm water while
the tub drained. LaShaun also rinsed more bubbles from the sides of
the wide tub. She attached the shower wand to the wall again. Chase
strode forward and put his arm out for her to grab on and held up
the bath towel with his free hand. LaShaun steadied herself by
holding onto him.

“
Be careful. I don’t want
to get you all wet.”

Chase breathed heavily as he looked
down at her. “That’s what folks keep telling me about you, to be
careful.”

“
Are you listening to
them?” LaShaun took the oversized blush pink towel, but he
continued to hold the other end.

“
Not really,” he said
huskily.

He carefully took off his clothes,
folded them and placed everything, including his duty belt, on the
cushioned bench along one wall. He turned back to LaShaun and
sighed at the sight of her. LaShaun walked to him.

“
I’m not trying to cause
trouble for you, cher,” she said between planting kisses on his
chest.

Chase let out a shuddering breath.
“We’ll talk, but not right now.”

He picked her up, and carried her to
the granite surface of the built long vanity. LaShaun squirmed
against him, her legs around his waist. With a soft moan Chase put
down on the counter and entered her. Soon the steam came from them
instead of hot water from the tub. With each caress Chase let go of
his anger and tension. He rested his head on her shoulder. They
made love hard and fast, crying out in pleasure. They came together
and held each other tightly for a few moments before Chase
disentangled himself. He walked on unsteady legs to the glass
enclosed shower. LaShaun joined him, and they stood under the warm
stream for several seconds. She exited; leaving him to finish alone
and lather his muscular body.