Bayou Justice

She’d managed to keep the wall she’d erected around her heart intact for two years. Two years! And with one measly phone conversation, it had begun to crumble. CoCo stared into the blazing sun. She wouldn’t allow Luc to worm his way back into her heart. Not after he’d left her dangling in the wind the way he had—right after he’d proposed. He’d broken her heart once…she wouldn’t let him close enough to crush it for good.

“It’s about nine. What’re we waiting for?”

CoCo snapped out of her reprieve and glanced over at the door to the law office. The blinds were now opening. “Guess we can go.” She killed the engine and slipped out of the car, rushing around to the passenger side to assist her grandmother.

“I’m not old and decrepit,” Grandmere snapped as she shrugged off CoCo’s hand. “Despite what Beau Trahan thinks.”

Ignoring the challenge in her grandmother’s tone, she led the way to the lawyer’s office. She’d grown tired of arguing with Grandmere over the past two years—to the point she’d avoid any further confrontation if at all possible. Opening the door, she smiled as the blast of frigid air hit her face. Just the walk across the parking lot had made her hot and sticky. She knew her face had to be beet-red, despite her tan.

“Good morning. Ms. LeBlanc?” the perky receptionist sitting behind the front desk asked.

CoCo nodded. “Yes. I have an appointment with Mr. Williams.”

“Yes, ma’am. He’s ready for you now.” She stood and walked around the desk. “If you’ll follow me, I’ll show you to the conference room.”

Their footfalls thumped softly on the deeply padded carpet as they followed the receptionist down the hall. Light paneling shone beneath the overhead track lighting. She swung open a door, revealing a long mahogany table and large windows overlooking the grassy area behind the building.

“Can I get you a cup of coffee or a glass of water?” She waved them into the room while she hovered at the doorway.

“We’re fine, merci.” CoCo pulled out a plush chair on rollers for her grandmother.

“Mr. Williams will be with you shortly.” The receptionist pulled the door behind her when she left.

Grandmere sat and glanced around the room. “This lawyer looks pricey, ma chère. It’d be easier if you’d just let me take care of Beau in my way.”

The door swung open, saving CoCo from having to think of a response. A tall man in a business suit strode inside. His hair, black as the bayou bottom, contrasted against the chocolate color of his skin. “You must be CoCo LeBlanc. I’m Dwayne Williams.”

He gave her a solid handshake. Her spirits soared—Grandpere had always said you could trust a man with a firm grip. “This is my grandmother, Marie LeBlanc.”

Grandmere stood quickly and extended her hand. “Mr. Williams.”

“Pleasure to meet you, Mrs. LeBlanc.” He straightened and waved them both to the chairs. “Please, sit.” He moved to the chair across the table from them and sat.

“Now, tell me what Mr. Trahan served you,” Mr. Williams said, steepling his fingers over the legal pad and pen sitting on the glossy table.

Digging the paper out of her purse, CoCo’s hands trembled slightly. She set her jaw and slid the eviction notice across the table to him. “This is what he hand-delivered to us yesterday.” Why were her palms sweating? As casually as possible, she wiped her hands on her jeans.

He scanned the paper and then lifted his pen over his legal pad. “Mrs. LeBlanc, is it possible that what Mr. Trahan states is true?” He tapped the pen against the paper. “Could your husband have signed over the deed to your property?”

“Beau Trahan is a lying, two-bit scum. Marcel never signed over any property deed—not willingly. Beau did something underhanded—I just know it. Probably told my Marcel he was signing something totally different.” Grandmere’s eyes hardened around the edges.

CoCo patted her grandmother’s hand. “Mr. Williams, I—”

“Please, call me Dwayne.”

She smiled. “Dwayne, I’ve lived with my grandparents for thirteen years, and this business about signing over the deed has never been mentioned before.”

“It’s easy enough to check out. If this did happen, there’ll be a claim on file down at the courthouse. A matter of public record.”

“So, what do we do?” CoCo held her breath and waited for his reply.

Dwayne sat straight in his chair. “I’ll be honest with you. The main reason I took this case was because it involved Beau Trahan. I’m investigating him in an unrelated issue.” He pressed his lips together for a moment, pausing before dropping the pen. “I’m inclined to believe Mrs. LeBlanc.”

“That Mr. Beau had my grandfather sign something he didn’t understand?”

“Yes.” He held up a hand. “I’m not accusing Mr. Trahan of anything—not yet—but I can see something like that happening.”

“Isn’t that illegal?”

“Yes, it is. However, I’ll have to research it more fully. I’ll start by going to the courthouse and filing a motion against this eviction notice. At the very least, that should buy us an additional sixty to ninety days.”

“And then what?” How could they prove Beau Trahan pulled such an underhanded scam on her grandfather?

“What we discover will determine how we’ll proceed.”

“Mr. Williams,” Grandmere interrupted, “your words are all good, but what’s this gonna cost us?”

He smiled, his white teeth flashing in contrast to his smooth, black skin. “If you’re interested in me representing you in this matter, how about a one-hundred-dollar retainer and a balance of nine-hundred dollars?”

CoCo grabbed her purse. “That sounds fine. Should I pay that retainer now?” A thousand dollars to make this whole thing go away sounded a lot cheaper than the fee she’d imagined on the drive over. Thank You for Your provision, Lord.

“You can pay my secretary on your way out.” Dwayne smiled again. “I’ll need to get some more information from you before I can proceed.”

Luc ran a caressing touch over his saxophone as he placed it back in its case. Playing the horn always brought him inner peace. Not as much as his daily prayer, but for midafternoon it held its own. Now that he’d finished the big consulting job he’d been working on for the past month, he had two weeks free. Felicia’s wheelchair bumped against the sitting-room doorframe. He swiveled to stare at her.

“He didn’t mean it.” She maneuvered her chair across the gleaming wood floor.

“I think he did.” He straightened, lifting his sax case.

“He’ll calm down. You’ll see.”

How he wished he could believe her. “I need to find him, talk to him. Try to make him understand how I feel.”

“Luc, when has he ever cared about what any of us feel?” Big tears welled in her crystal blue eyes, and she ducked her head.

“Hey.” He set the case on the floor and crossed the room to squat before her. “What’d he say to you?” He patted her bare knees.

“Nothing.” She sniffed and wiped away her tears.

“Then why are you crying? Come on, Boo, when have you ever not been able to tell me everything?” He crossed his eyes and stuck out his tongue, a trick he’d used to cheer her up since they were children.

She let out a small giggle. “I talked to Frank this morning.”

“And?” He waggled his eyebrows.

“It seems Grandfather paid him a little visit yesterday.” She hiccupped. “He told Frank to s-s-stay away from me if he didn’t want to end up in f-f-financial ruin.” Fresh tears pooled in her eyes.

Luc let out a low whistle. “He sure was a busy man yesterday.” He held his sister’s hands. “What’d Frank say?”

The smile she flashed sparkled and brightened the entire room, even more so than the floor-to-ceiling windows along one wall. “Frank said he told Grandfather that he could drop dead.”

“Good for him.” Frank Thibodeaux seemed to be good for his sister. He’d never seen her look happier.

“Luc, you know how Grandfather is. He’ll set out to ruin Frank if I keep seeing him.”

“He can’t hold us under his thumb forever.” Luc straightened, staring out the large windows overlooking the bayou. The afternoon sun reflected off the water, casting prisms of light and color across the marshland.

He turned back to stare at his sister. The large room appeared to swallow her small form. The white paint on every wall in the house screamed purity, always reminding him of Felicia. “You just keep seeing Frank if he makes you happy. I’ll figure something out.”

“Frank’s so mad, it scares me.”

Luc glanced at his sister, laying a hand on her shoulder. “Scares you how?”

“He’s so angry over the way Grandfather treats me. He says Grandfather isn’t allowing me to get new and inventive treatments that could maybe help me. He says there’s a surgery that could let me walk.”

His sister shook her head. “I don’t know what to think. All my doctors are ‘Grandfather selected.’ I’ve never questioned it before because he’s paid all the medical bills. If what Frank suggests is true…”

Luc ground his teeth. “We can look into it.”

“How? Grandfather controls everything we do, who’s in our lives, how we live.”

“And it’s going to stop now.”

She stared up at him with such hope and trust in her eyes it almost physically hurt him. “How? What can we do?” She lowered her head. “Maybe Mom’s right. We should be grateful for all he does for us.” Her voice cracked on a sob.

“Stop that. It isn’t true and you know it.”

“I think Grandfather’s threats have pushed Frank into making a decision.”

“What kind of decision?”

Felicia stared back up at him. This time, her smile twinkled in her eyes. “I think he’s going to propose soon.”

“That’s great, Boo.” Happiness filled Luc’s chest, but a bitter sting of remorse fell like lead to his gut. At one time, he, too, had been thinking of marriage, had even presented a ring. A life with CoCo. The knife in his heart twisted at the thought of what he’d had…and what he’d thrown away. If only he’d been able to forgive….

“I’m scared if he asks me and I accept, Grandfather will retaliate.”

“That settles it. I’m going to find him and talk reason to him right now.” Luc lifted his case.

Felicia’s hand stopped him. “What are you going to do if he won’t listen to you?”

“Then I’ll think of something else. If I have to, I can move away and get a more permanent job, buy a house for you and Mom. With this last job, my reputation is solid enough now that any accounting agency would be thrilled to hire me on full time.”

“Don’t be silly. I know you prefer consulting. If Frank proposes, then you don’t have to worry about me. I don’t want to be a burden anymore.”

“You’re not a burden. You’re my sister, and I love you.”

“I love you, too.” Her hand moved to squeeze his. “You shouldn’t have to fight my battles as well as your own.”

“It’s high time someone stood up to him.”

“And you think that person is you?”

He squeezed her hand back. “Who better?” With God’s guidance.

The purple hue of the setting sun nearly stole CoCo’s breath. She jerked her gaze from the window and laced her boots with haste. Only a few minutes of daylight remained, and she still needed to track two of the gators on her list. If she could prove they were multiplying at a less-than-normal rate, she could get more grant money for research from the Wetlands Preservation Center. And if her theory was correct, it could reduce the limits during hunting season. If only the cooyon from the State Wildlife and Fisheries would listen to her explanation.

Hunters…just the thought of them made her spine turn to grits. They weren’t supposed to hunt any of the yellow-tagged gators, yet four were still unaccounted for since a month ago. Tracking these reptiles was her life’s work—why she’d gone to college and graduated with a degree in environmental protection. She’d loved the bayous and swamps she called home and felt compelled to do her part to save them. She still did.

CoCo shut her bedroom door and whisked down the hall. Her fingers itched to fire up her airboat and get on the water. She made the turn at the top of the stairs, gripped the banister and then took the first step.

Whispers halted her movement. Coming from her baby sister’s room.

She backtracked up the step she’d just taken and moved to Tara’s door. Pressing her ear against the wood, CoCo held her breath and listened.

She recognized the mumbled words. An incantation of a gris-gris. Icy fingers tickled down her spine.

Jerking the door open, CoCo glared at her sister.

Tara sat cross-legged in the middle of her bed, a voodoo doll held in one hand, red paint dripping from a brush in the other. The doll already had two streaks across its body.

“What’re you doing?” CoCo placed her hands on her hips.

Her sister didn’t even bother to try to hide her actions. Instead, she lifted her chin and met CoCo’s stare. “What you’re too scared to do.”

CoCo inhaled through her nose, biting back the acidic retort stinging her tongue. “Tara, I’ve told you not to do this.” “I’ve told you—I’m twenty-four years old and you can’t tell me what to do anymore.” She tossed her long hair over her shoulder. Being outside in the summer had lightened it with streaks from the sun. “Besides, you’re just mad because Grandmere pays attention to me now.”

Guilt at Tara’s even being exposed to voodoo nearly strangled her. “That’s not it at all. You know better. She’s only teaching you because I refused to learn anymore.”

“You’re just jealous.” Tara’s words might have sounded angry, but CoCo detected the hurt behind them.

“Oh, Tara.” She sat on the foot of the bed, her fingers absentmindedly tugging at loose threads in the pink coverlet. “I stopped learning because I know it’s wrong.”

“Because the god you found told you it’s a sin.” Tara leapt off her bed and set the doll and brush on the oak desk. “Goody for you, but you aren’t going to take this away from me. I won’t let you.”

CoCo fought to get her legs to support her. “I’m not trying to take anything away from you. I’m trying to save you.”

Tara let out a harsh laugh. “Save me? That’s rich.” She narrowed her eyes and waved her hands. “Just go. Get out of my room and let me take care of things.”

“I’ve got it under control.” CoCo gestured toward the doll. “You don’t need to do this.”

“Yeah, hiring an attorney gets it all under control. Who’re you trying to fool? Old man Trahan has all the lawyers in these parts in his hand.”

Her words stung CoCo, just as if she’d been slapped across the face.

Maybe she should have called Alyssa. At the very least they could provide a unified front. Their stance against voodoo was about the only thing CoCo and Alyssa agreed on.

Dear God, show me how to reach Tara. Call her to You as You called me.

“Go, CoCo. Go play with your alligators.”

“It doesn’t have to be like this.” If she could just help Tara see…

Tara shook her head and held up her hand. “I said get out of my room.”

When had Tara grown to be so rebellious and bitter? Had she failed her sister when their parents died?

“I said, go!” Tara slapped the blue doorframe hard. A framed photo of their parents dropped to the floor. Tara’s eyes widened. “The picture fell off the wall. That means someone will die, CoCo.”

“That’s just superstition.”

“Go!”

Without another word, CoCo turned and strode from the room and then down the stairs. She needed to get on the bayou, to be alone, to find peace. Her steps were quick as she made her way to her airboat. She untied the rope from the live oak stump.

A vehicle rattled down the gravel driveway.

CoCo turned, her heart and stomach switching places.

Luc Trahan skidded to a stop. What was he doing here? Through the windshield, his gaze met hers. Her betraying heart leapt.

She tossed down the rope and marched toward the truck. Luc got out, smiling as if he hadn’t crushed her heart and dreams. “What are you doing here?”

“I just wanted to let you know Grandfather’s acting on his own with this eviction thing.”

He looked good—too good. She stiffened her spine. “Doesn’t matter. I’ve already retained an attorney to fight him.”

“Look, I think we—”

CoCo held up her hand. “There is no we anymore. You made sure of that, Luc.” She crossed her arms over her chest to hide her trembling. “I think you’d better leave.”

“But…”

“No anything. Just go. I want you to leave. Now.” Please, please just leave. She couldn’t allow him inside her heart again. It’d taken her too long to regain her emotional footing.

He moved toward her, closing the distance between them comfortably.

She backed up a step. “I said to go, Luc.” Her heart thundered. “Please.” She hated herself for pleading, but knew the tears would come soon. She refused to give him the satisfaction.

As if he could hear her thoughts, he nodded, got into his truck and slammed the door.

Dirt filled the air as he sped off. It took her a moment to regulate her breathing. Her emotions betrayed her. CoCo narrowed her eyes toward the road, even though his truck had long moved out of view.

You won’t keel me over again with a warm smile, Luc Trahan. Not ever again.

THREE

Why, God? What more do You want from me? Haven’t I paid enough? Lost enough? Repented enough?

How had she failed so badly? Tara, her baby sister, already graduated to cunjas and using voodoo dolls. CoCo shook her head in the darkness.

With Alyssa gone, the responsibility of looking after her baby sister fell directly on CoCo’s shoulders. The weight often felt crushing. Hadn’t she endured a bad enough day without having to deal with Tara’s involvement in their grandmother’s old ways? Why didn’t they listen?

CoCo’s stomach roiled. Grandmere wouldn’t even bother teaching Tara if CoCo hadn’t stopped her training. She sighed. Being a Christian sure didn’t make life any easier—if anything, she’d had more heartache and grief.

And Luc showing up out of nowhere. Calling him had been a mistake, a big one. When the chips were down, why had she gone on auto-pilot and called in her knight in shining armor? She let out a breath with a gust. Some knight he’d turned out to be.

The only reply to her prayers was the tree frogs croaking, blending with the chirping of the crickets, filling the evening with the bayou’s own unique song.

CoCo turned off her running lights, killed the engine of her airboat and let it drift. The soft lapping of water against the boat lulled away her frustration. She drew in a deep breath, sucking in the calming scents of the bayou—sweet onion flowers and muskiness. This was her habitat, where she felt most comfortable. It would be over her dead body before she left her home. No matter what deed Beau Trahan possessed.

A bump against the airboat sent it rocking. CoCo flipped on her spotlight and shone the beam into the water. A young alligator, maybe five feet long at most, nudged with his nose again. CoCo laughed. A little bull testing his dominance. She reached for her tagging tool.

Loud thrashing sounded to her left. Pinpricks of dread skittered against the back of CoCo’s neck. She recognized the sound—water currents caused by an alligator having something in its death roll.

She jerked the light in the direction of the sound. Illumination reflected off the water, casting shadows into the weeping willow trees. There, a little farther to the left. CoCo shifted the light to the movement.

A flash of fabric. A twist of flesh. Another whooshing splash.

Heartbeat thudding in her ears, CoCo grabbed her noisemaker and pressed the button. The wail, imitating the guttural sound mother alligators made, bounced off the trees. She lowered the device to water level and sounded it again.

The alligator jerked toward her, leaving the body he’d had in his jaws. The young bull growled and grunted, defining his territory. The other gator dove under the water, slipping below her. CoCo kept the light on the older reptile. He surfaced a few feet from the young bull, who continued to warn off the other alligator with his rumbles. Within seconds, the bull attacked. The two reptiles rolled with one another. Waves rocked the airboat.

She sounded the noisemaker again. Both alligators faced her. She let loose another blast. The bull dove deep, surfacing 40 feet away. The other followed. CoCo trolled toward the human body floating facedown. Reaching behind her seat, she pulled out a long hooked pole. Her hands trembled as she jabbed the body with the hook and flipped it over.

The lifeless face of Beau Trahan stared up at her.

Leaning over the edge of the boat, CoCo retched and gagged. Once her stomach stopped heaving, she yanked the radio off its stand. “Alpha Tango Charlie to Vermilion parish sheriff’s office.”

The static crackled over the radio, followed by a loud blast. “Sheriff’s office, go ahead.”

“I need the sheriff out here at marker twelve-one-four, immediately.”

Again the crackling filled the night air, silencing the frogs and locusts. “Alpha Tango Charlie, what is the emergency?”

She glanced over at Beau Trahan’s blank expression. “I found a dead body at this location.”

The dispatcher informed her a unit would be on its way shortly. CoCo replaced the radio and then gazed over the bayou, looking anywhere but at the body. She flipped on her night lights, turned on her distress signal and then sat. Her top teeth captured her bottom lip and rubbed.

God, what more?

Long moments passed before a siren whirred off in the distance. She stood and caught sight of the incoming boat. Blue and white lights tangoed like macabre dancers. CoCo engaged the trolling motor, moving the airboat to face the incoming vessel.

Sheriff Bubba Theriot, his thick glasses mirroring the flashing blue-and-white, nodded as soon as they drifted close enough to her. “CoCo, whatcha got?”

She jerked her head toward her shoulder. “Dead body. Heard the death roll, then saw him. Got the gators to leave with the noisemaker before I radioed in.”

A deputy killed the engines and directed the boat to where she’d indicated. Bubba glanced over the side, his red hair looking brassy under the boat’s lights. “Oh, man. It’s Beau Trahan.” He glanced over at CoCo, his face paling by the minute.

“I know.”

He turned to his deputy. “We need to drag him out and carry him back to shore.” His gaze flitted to the body for a second before shooting over to her. “We’ll need you to make a statement.”

The deputy slipped the retrieval rod into the water, hooking Beau’s waist in the curve. CoCo stared back at the sheriff. If she had to watch them haul Beau in, she’d hurl again. “Okay. Can I just meet you back on land?”

Bubba gave a curt nod. “We’re closest to your house. We’ll put in there. I’ll radio the coroner to meet us.”

Great. She didn’t want to see any more. Her property wasn’t where she’d had in mind to meet, but at least she could go now. “Fine.”

She fired up the engine and whisked away as camera flashes went off. Shudders wracked her body. Everything about the situation gave her the creeps, but nothing more than the burning question—what had Beau Trahan been doing out in the bayou this time of night?

CoCo banked the airboat, tied it off, then rushed into the house. The screen door slammed behind her.

Grandmere sat up. “Ma chère, what’s your hurry? You look like a band of demons are after you.”

“I found a body in the bayou.”

“Oh, no!” Her grandmother’s voice bounced off the sunny walls.

Tara bounded down the stairs, the wood creaking and popping. “Grandmere, what’s wr—” She stopped when her gaze lit on CoCo. Her eyes narrowed. “Oh, you’re riling her up again, aren’t you? Come to lecture her about me?” She crossed her arms tightly over her chest.

“Stop it, Tara. Contrary to what you may believe, everything is not all about you. I found Beau Trahan’s body in the bayou.” Anger shoved out the fear and revulsion she’d felt just moments before. A hum echoed off the bayou, but she ignored it and glared at Tara.