Cajun Magic 02 - Voodoo for Two (20 page)

“The question is, is she?” His gaze drifted to Lucie. Even tired and worried, she was beautiful. He’d give his left nut to be with her as he had the other night. The raw knot of guilt flared in his belly and he glanced back at Eric.

Obviously, Lucie hadn’t shared their secret with him. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be sitting so happily next to the man who’d screwed his potential fiancée. He had mixed feelings about Lucie telling Eric about their stolen night together. If Lucie chose to marry Eric, the confession would only ruin their chance at a happy future. On the other hand, maybe if Eric knew, he wouldn’t marry Lucie. She’d be free to marry him.

Ben sat forward, his heart thudding against his chest, the temptation to tell driving his mouth open.

Eric chose that time to wave at Lucie, a joyful smile on his face.

With a sickening realization, Ben sank back in his seat. He couldn’t ruin Lucie’s opportunity for happiness. She deserved a chance at the good life.

His biggest regret was that she hadn’t chosen him. Marriage to Lucie would never have been peaceful, but he was sure it would have been a helluva ride. She’d have kept him young into his old age.

“You’re getting a terrific woman,” he said.

With a laugh, Eric ran a shaky hand through his hair. “She hasn’t said yes, yet. God, I hope she does.”

On the outside, Ben nodded and agreed with his friend, while on the inside, he prayed she’d say no.

Please, God, let her say no
.

Chapter Twenty

By the time Jean escorted the last customer from the bar, Lucie was as jumpy as a flea on a dog, her stomach tied in one huge, nervous knot. With Alex, Calliope, Ben, Eric, and Lynette all staring at her for the last two hours, she felt like raw steak in a room full of hungry vultures.

Sheesh!

At least Eric had offered to wait out in the car while she switched from her “uniform” to decent clothes. Jean would lock up, so all she had to do was change into the shirt and slacks she’d brought along for her breakfast date with Eric.

The two-hour effort to ignore her friends, ex-fiancé, potential fiancé, and long-lost mother had taken its toll. She was balancing on her last nerve and in no mood to go out. What she wanted was a long hot bath and an even longer night’s sleep.

Would Eric understand if she asked him to take her home?

One look at his handsome, eager face, and she’d known she couldn’t put him off another night. Somehow, in the next hour or so she had to make a decision whether or not to marry Eric.

As she slipped into her slacks, she weighed Eric’s pros for the hundredth time in the past few days. He was handsome, wealthy, a political climber, completely in love with her, and incredibly nice—and don’t forget romantic.

Tugging a ribbed-knit coral t-shirt over her head, she had to give the cons equal consideration.
Okay, so list the cons already!

She stood for a moment, staring at her reflection in the mirror. “Come on, girl, Eric has to have some cons.”

He wasn’t Ben.

The longer she thought, the more frustrated she became. Eric didn’t have any cons? Holy crab cakes—the man was perfect.

So what are you waiting for? Go get him.

An image of Ben lying next to her in her bed popped into her mind. “Because you haven’t told him about Ben—and the teensy little fact that you slept with him the night Eric proposed,” she said to her guilt-ridden face in the mirror.

She’d been looking at it all wrong. She’d been thinking only about what
she’d
get out of marrying Eric. What would
Eric
get out of this marriage?

She stepped into her high-heeled sandals, one at a time.

He’d get
me.

She thought about that for a moment. She wasn’t so sure that was a pro for him. More likely, it was a huge con in the scheme of all that had transpired in the past week. She’d resorted to magic to lure him in. Kinda like a black widow luring her ill-fated mate in for the kill. Her natural aversion to eight-legged beasts had her shivering in the heat. Then, after he’d proposed to her, she’d slept with his friend…and hadn’t had the decency to enlighten him.

And she came with baggage. Loads of it! And her biggest bit of baggage had just moved back to Bayou Miste with
her
baggage, wanting to work her way back into her daughter’s life. Like that was going to happen.
Not!

A knock at the door made her jump.

“Lucie?” Jean’s voice called out. “You coming out or do you want me to lock you in?”

Jean’s comment was too close to the truth. She glanced at her watch. Shit! She’d been in the bathroom for fifteen minutes! Eric would be getting worried.

“No, Jean, I’m coming out.” Her hands shaking, Lucie left the safety of the bathroom and the stale smoke of the bar, and stepped out into the night.

With a deep, cleansing breath of humid swamp air, she marched across the parking lot to meet her fate, still without a clue what it was going to be. If only everyone hadn’t ganged up on her, showing up in force to keep her mind in a jumble.

She needed to focus.
Remember, Eric is perfect and Ben is not an option
.

The perfect man stepped out of his BMW and met her halfway. “Lucie.” One word. Spoken like a parched man holding out his hand for life-giving water. Eric wrapped her in his arms and hugged her close. Then he steered her to the passenger seat and held the door open as she climbed in.

Perfect. The man was absolutely perfect
.

She had no idea why the repetitive thought was making her less happy by the minute.

“I thought you might be too tired to go all the way to Morgan City, so I packed a snack. I have a special place I’d like to take you that’s a little closer and a lot more private, if that’s okay with you?”

She leaned back against the leather seat and closed her eyes, willing herself to relax.
You’re not going before a firing squad.
“That would be…perfect.”

The engine hummed to life with barely a sound. Wrapped in the quiet cocoon of the car’s interior, her numb ears reveled in the stillness. She loved Cajun music, but hearing the blaring noise night after night got old, and her ears would probably pay the price. For the moment, she was content to let the silence lull her to calmness.

Like the calm in the eye of a hurricane.

…

Ben had left the bar a few steps behind the man in the leather jacket. As much as he wanted to follow Eric and Lucie, he needed to learn more about this stranger who’d tossed paint on him and Eric. If he was the one sabotaging Eric’s campaign, he had to catch him.

Leather Man climbed into a navy blue Ford Taurus and pulled out of the parking lot.

With the car in his peripheral vision, Ben sauntered casually to his Audi, which he’d left in the parking lot earlier. After all, it was considerably less conspicuous than the exterminator truck. Once in the car, he jotted down the license number.

When the man’s rental car turned onto the highway, Ben jammed the Audi into drive and spun out after him. He didn’t have far to go. The Taurus had backed into an overgrown side road, just a few yards past the entrance to the bar’s lot. He would have missed it if he hadn’t seen the brake lights flash once before blinking out.

Okay, what are you up to? He drove past and around a curve in the road. Once out of sight, he executed a U-turn, switched his lights off, and sneaked around the corner at a snail’s pace. He found his own hidey-hole in the bushes a tenth of a mile from his quarry. Two could play this game.

Now, they’d wait—Leather Man for Eric—probably—and Ben for Leather Man. And waiting gave him way too much time to think.

His mind drifted to Eric and Lucie and what he knew was going to take place this evening. He wanted to stop it. But only Lucie could do that. She had to decide whether Eric was the man for her, or if he, after a seven-year absence, still had a place in her life and heart.

Then a sickening thought occurred to him.
He hadn’t offered her a different choice
. He hadn’t offered her anything, because he was afraid she’d reject him as she had so long ago. Hell, she was going to make a decision based on only one offer.

Damn! He’d screwed it up again.

Cursing his own stupidity, he pulled out his cell phone and punched one of the autodial numbers. Might as well do some work, since that might be all he had left after tonight.

“Hey, P.J., this is Boyette.”

“Boyette! Long time no see! Wassup in the swamps?”

“Same ole, same ole. Loads of fish, too many bugs to count, and a few alligators to wrestle.”

“Boring, huh? Sure could use you back at the department.”

“How’s the new guy working out?”

“Okay, but he’s not you.”

“He’ll get the hang of it. And I’ll be back before you know it.” Ben stared out at the dark shadow tucked in the bushes ahead of him. “Hey, P.J., need your help.”

“Shoot.”

“Need a license check on a rental.” Ben gave P.J. the license plate number, a description of the vehicle, and his cell phone number so P.J. could call him back.

“Got it. I’ll get back with you when I have something. You take care. When you get back to Baton Rouge, the wife wants you to come by for some jambalaya.”

“Will do. Thanks, P.J.” He clicked the phone off and settled back to wait. Such was the life of a detective. Hurry up and wait. Sometimes he’d wait all night long outside a residence and nothing would happen. Other cases were more interesting. The trick to investigation was to keep a low profile and observe.

A stream of cars and pickup trucks paraded in both directions away from Raccoon Saloon. The bar was closing. Jean and Lucie would be the last to leave, Lucie in Eric’s car. He waited to see what Leather Man’s next move would be.

The moonlight gave him an added advantage. He could see the occasional glint off the shiny metallic finish. Five minutes passed, then ten. His cop instincts kicked into heightened alert. Not long now. Fifteen minutes after the last customer left, lights speared the darkened road as Eric’s BMW pulled onto the highway, heading away from him and Leather Man.

Just as he anticipated, Leather Man pulled onto the highway behind Eric and Lucie.
Lights off.
The navy Taurus was a shadow tailing the unsuspecting congressional candidate. If not for the occasional brake lights, Ben might not have seen the car at all.

As he slid onto the road behind Leather Man, his pulse increased. Not because he was a predator on the prowl, but because he didn’t know if this was the same guy who’d taken a shot at Eric and Lucie a few nights earlier. If he was, they could be in trouble tonight.

He closed the distance to within a hundred yards, afraid to get too far behind in case he lost them. The moonlight helped, but tall trees crowding the roadsides cast inky shadows over the pavement for long stretches.

When Eric turned off the main highway onto another smaller road, Ben knew exactly where he was going. His heart bottomed out. Eric was taking Lucie to one of Ben and Lucie’s old haunts.
Jesus
. The place he and Lucie had made love for the first time. Would she remember?

Even more disturbing, Leather Man was right behind them. This was a particularly lonely stretch of road. Nobody lived out here and only the occasional teenagers came out here to drink or make out. He hoped some of those teenagers were out here tonight. Perhaps that would discourage Eric and Lucie from staying. If the place was deserted, Eric would propose to Lucie—and Leather Man might pull some stupid stunt.

Great! Should he turn his headlights on and let Leather Man know he was back here? Perhaps the Taurus would turn around and leave if he did. But then Lucie would see his car and wonder what the hell he was doing following her. She might even think he was there to ruin her chances with Eric.

Eric parked his BMW at Make-Out Point on the edge of Bayou Black. The lights blinked out.

A few car lengths behind Eric, the Ford Taurus had come to a halt, its brake lights glaring red beneath the canopy of trees overhanging his position.

What was the guy doing?

Ben shoved his Audi into park, turned his interior light switch to the off position, and climbed out. Hell, maybe he’d just ask. But he’d keep it quiet so as not to interrupt Eric’s little talk with Lucie.

As he approached the rear of the Taurus, the red taillights blinked off and the car spun out, spitting gravel into his eyes.

He blinked the dust from his vision in time to see the car heading straight for the BMW.

Good God
.

“Lucie!”

…

Eric had been gracious enough to remain silent throughout the short drive. The reprieve from the storm of mindless inner chatter had lulled Lucie into a state of near calm. Until the car halted and the engine switched off.

She opened her eyes. Before her, moonlight spread over the bayou like a silvery cloak. Although she hadn’t been here in a while, she instantly recognized this place and her stomach turned a flip.

Talk about an unwanted jaunt down memory lane.

He’d brought her to freaking Make-Out Point? The point was a small pullout area where tourists could come to see the swamp during daylight hours. The kids used it at night for necking. She and Ben had made out here on more than one hot, steamy night. One particularly beautiful moonlit evening with Ben, she’d lost her virginity.

Not a good reminder, considering Eric’s intention. How could she say yes to Eric when they were in a place filled with such amazing memories of Ben? Jeez! All her calm flew out the window.

She turned to Eric to ask if they could go somewhere else, but he was staring at her as if she’d hung the moon over the swamp. “I found this place today while I was out driving around, and I knew it was perfect for what I want to say to you.”

There went that word again. Perfect!

Her pulse quickened and her chest tightened to the point she felt as though someone was sitting on it, squeezing the air from her lungs. Well on her way to a full-scale panic attack, she wasn’t ready for Eric’s next words.

Eric’s eyes widened as he stared into his rearview mirror. “What the hell?”

Huh?

“Lucie!” A shout outside the vehicle alerted her they were not alone.

She glanced into the mirror on her door. Headlights flared to life, blinding her.

Wham!

The BMW lurched over the low earthen rise, throwing Lucie forward. Her seat belt tightened, catching her in time to save her head from smacking the dash. Eric wasn’t so lucky. His head whacked the steering wheel with a dull
wonk
.

As if in a B horror movie, Lucie saw bushes and small trees race by the window as the BMW plunged toward the murky waters of the bayou.

Helpless to stop the forward momentum, she willed herself to be calm. They were going in. She prayed to God and her grandmother’s Voodoo magic the water wasn’t deep.

The front of the BMW dived beneath the surface and jammed into the soft silt of the bayou bottom. Water spilled in through the floorboard, rising fast to her knees. She fumbled to release her safety belt.

“Eric!” She felt next to her for Eric. Slumped over the steering wheel, he didn’t respond when she shook him. The water was rising at an alarming rate.

She had to get him out! With her hand on his seat belt, she followed it to the safety catch and pressed the button. The lock didn’t release. She jammed her thumb on it, shaking and tearing at the metal clasp. Water was up to her chest now, if she didn’t hurry, they’d both drown. “Eric, wake up! Please, wake up!”