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WHEN PEPPER AND JAXSON stepped out of Walter’s store, they were captivated by the sight of a massive white Cadillac slowly gliding to a stop in front of them.
“Wow,” was all Pepper could say.
“Yep,” Jaxson replied. “It’s a 1959 Sedan DeVille convertible. That car has been in the family since before my mother was born. It was my MeeMaw’s pride and joy, and she gave it to my parents on their wedding day. My mother has never driven any other vehicle.”
“Wait, what? Nothing else?”
“Never.”
Pepper turned her head back toward the car. Goodness gracious, that thing was even bigger and older than Gertie’s Cadillac. What was it with these women and their huge old cars? After looking her fill at the mass of metal, so different from her mostly fiberglass and plastic Camaro, she fixed her attention on the driver. Even though the day was quickly becoming hot and humid, Olivia looked fresh and cool in her white dress. Pepper was sure she felt a chill in the air.
Pepper covered her mouth and whispered to Jaxson, “Does she ever wear anything other than white?”
Jaxson thought for a minute. “Well, I imagine she wore some variation of orange for the past 20 years. But normally, no, only white.”
Olivia obviously had them in her sights. Pepper watched her midnight-blue eyes narrow when she saw them whispering to each other, and she felt like a naughty schoolgirl caught passing notes or texting during class. Although Pepper knew Olivia was at least 55, she could easily pass for much younger with her unlined face and long, wavy black hair. She looked like she had been in a time capsule instead of prison for the past 20 years.
“Pepper, darling, we meet at last. Come ride with me. You know a lady never walks when she can ride.” Olivia’s voice was melodic, almost hypnotic with its strong Cajun inflection.
That really didn’t seem like a good idea. “Oh, I wouldn’t want to impose. You look like you have somewhere you need to be.” Pepper could feel beads of sweat working their way down her back. She hadn’t expected to meet Jaxson’s mother this way, and she wasn’t anywhere near ready for the experience.
Olivia’s smile could freeze water faster than a northern blizzard. “I insist. Jaxson, dear, be a good boy and open the door for my friend.”
To Pepper she said, “I’m in town to see my son’s house, where you have apparently taken up residence.”
“Mama...” Jaxson said in a warning voice. He placed Pepper’s purchases in the backseat and opened the passenger door for her, making official introductions as he did so. Pepper gave up and got into the car.
Jaxson was about to walk away when Olivia said, “Jaxson, aren’t you going to show your mama the house you’re working on? Get in, you can ride with us since I’m driving there anyway with your... tenant.”
Why doesn’t she just come right out and call me a harlot?
Pepper was terrible at mind games. She could recognize them, but she’d never been good at playing them. It was obvious Olivia was a master.
While Jaxson got into the car, Pepper reached over and placed her hand on Olivia’s arm. She spoke truthfully when she said, “Mrs. LeBlanc, I’m so sorry for your loss.”
Olivia raised an eyebrow, not acknowledging the kindness. “Oh, now, call me Olivia. After all, I’m not much older than you.”
Pepper just smiled. “Olivia it is.” Bitch... Yep, today demanded cursing.
Jaxson asked from the backseat, “Mama, do you even have a driver’s license?”
Olivia dismissed his question with a wave. “I’ve been driving forever, and I don’t need a piece of paper to say I know how to do it. Your cousin Carter knows that, and he knows I can still give him a butt-whoopin’ if he tries to tell me what I can or cannot do.”
Yikes. The woman had no fear. I guess 20 years in prison sort of gives you an attitude.
Jaxson told Olivia where the house was, and she got the massive hunk of steel moving. Pepper felt like she was in a parade. Everyone who was outside stopped to stare at them as they crawled past. Olivia didn’t break 20 mph on their journey, and she frequently stopped to look at buildings or simply stare back at people. Whenever she did that, they quickly turned away and went back about their business. Pepper saw Olivia smile every time it happened. Another power move, Pepper thought.
Finally they reached their destination. Pepper was so tense, she felt like she would crack. As she limped from the car to the house, Olivia noticed and asked what happened.
“I missed the bottom step when I came downstairs this morning.”
Olivia made a tsk, tsk sound and said, “Oh, darling, you really should be more careful. We simply must take everything a little more slowly as we get older.” She smiled and continued toward the house, looking like she was floating in her gauzy white dress.
Pepper stood for a minute, wondering how in the world she was going to handle this woman. She wasn’t ancient. She wasn’t even two years older than Jaxson. And she absolutely refused to get into a pissing match with his mother.
Figure her out, she told herself, then come up with a survival plan. Don’t let her see you sweat. Awesome, now I’m thinking in commercials.
As they walked through the house, Olivia asked Pepper about herself. When Pepper described being a teacher in Michigan before coming to Sinful, Olivia commented, “Oh, it’s wonderful that you have a job like that you can go back to when you leave.”
There was silence for a minute. Finally, Jaxson said, “Mama, Pepper’s not going anywhere. She lives in Sinful now.”
Olivia’s throaty laugh was beautiful but ominous. “Oh, now, I’m sure a summer here will be enough to send her running back home to the frozen north.”
Pepper mumbled, “Seems pretty cold in Sinful right now.” Olivia’s look after that made her shiver down to her bones.
Trying to change the subject, Jaxson asked Olivia what she was going to do with herself now that she was back in town. Like she’d been on vacation or something.
“Oh, continue my studies of course. And spend time with your daddy.” The tone of Olivia’s voice was so hot, Pepper almost felt the flames licking her face. Pepper certainly didn’t trust a woman who could blow so cold and so hot at the same time.
When they got upstairs, Jaxson walked past the closed door of the master suite. Olivia pouted until Pepper gave in and welcomed her to look around.
Jaxson opened the door and they entered the bedroom, where all three stopped and wordlessly stared at the flat air mattress.
“Well,” Olivia finally managed, “it appears I was right to be concerned about the improprieties of this situation.”
The living in sin implication was clear. Pepper decided to go with it and throw some fuel on the fire. Faking an embarrassed gasp, she said, “Jaxson, you promised to take care of that before you left this morning. Now your mama knows what we’ve been doing!”
The look of shock on Jaxson’s face was priceless, especially since he was standing there holding a brand new replacement air mattress. All he could do was stutter, “But... no... mama... let me explain...”
“Jaxson LeBlanc, I certainly do not need that sort of explanation!” Olivia lifted the back of her hand to her brow as if she just could not bear what was happening.
Obviously trying to contain a smile, Jaxson said, “Why don’t you check out the bedroom suite next door? I’ll be along in a minute.”
Olivia moved as if she couldn’t get out of there fast enough. After sharing a quiet laugh with Pepper, Jaxson said, “You could have warned me that was coming.”
“What can I say? I was inspired and had to seize the moment. By the way, your mother is...”
“Exhausting?”
“Yes, something like that.”
“She does it on purpose, but it’s just a game to her. She’s not really scary if you just ignore 90% of what she says.” Jaxson pressed a kiss to Pepper’s forehead. “Do you want me to set this new air mattress up for you?”
“No, I’m perfectly capable. I’m going to stay up here and do that while you finish looking around with Olivia. Please give her my regrets that I couldn’t make it back down the stairs.”
Jaxson grinned. “I’ll do that. And for the record, I can think of plenty of improprieties we could make happen in this room.” He walked out, leaving Pepper with her jaw hanging open and heat rushing through her body.
Pepper reached to close the door behind him, catching him warning Olivia to be nice to her, and then saying he was a grown man with full control over his personal life. She couldn’t help peeking through the crack in the door as Olivia flounced—yes, flounced —down the stairs and out the back door. Pepper laughed out loud, thinking today wasn’t turning out so badly after all.
While Pepper was stripping the flat air mattress of sheets and blankets, her phone rang. It was Gertie, who started the call by asking, “Is Olivia LeBlanc’s hair really still raven-black?”
Ida Belle’s voice sounded in the background, “That’s your big question?”
Pepper replied to Gertie, “Um, yeah. It looked like a really good dye job. She must have gone to see a stylist first thing this morning.”
“Never,” Ida Belle said. “Olivia doesn’t believe in using anything but natural shampoo.”
“Wow, then she’s aged very well.”
“It doesn’t seem a little... unnatural... to you?” Gertie asked.
“I guess I didn’t really think about it. All I know is the woman hates me. She pretty much told me to go back where I came from and don’t let the door hit me in the ass on the way out of town. She also implied I’m a kept woman who earns her keep by destroying air mattresses, and then she walked off like she was the queen of England.”
Ida Belle laughed. “You do like to mix your expressions, don’t you?”
“Yes. Yes I do. And I know it. I do have a teaching degree, you know.”
Gertie said, “Dear, we know that. We wouldn’t let you hang out with us if you were stupid.”
Pepper wondered if this was like getting to sit at the cool kids’ table in school. They decided you belonged, and you were left doubting everything in your life.
Shaking off the feeling, Pepper asked if there were any updates in the investigation.
Both women replied at once.
“Murder,” Ida Belle said.
“Undetermined,” from Gertie.
“Are you telling me Persie may have died of natural causes and somehow ended up out there in the bayou?”
“No,” Ida Belle said. “Most natural causes have been ruled out, but the actual cause is undetermined. However, the placement of the body and the markings mean they’re treating it as a murder case.”
“Could the markings have been tattoos?”
“No, they look like they were drawn with a permanent marker.”
“Is that a voodoo thing?”
“We’re checking into the symbols themselves, but it’s a pretty good bet that most voodoo rituals don’t include permanent markers.”
“So whoever actually killed Persie wants it to look like some sort of voodoo sacrifice, but they probably messed up?”
“Looks that way.”
“Meaning Olivia is likely innocent.”
Ida Belle huffed her annoyance. “We keep telling you that.”
“But how do you know for sure?”
“Pepper, if you want to keep thinking Olivia did this, fine. Prove it.”
“I just want to make sure we don’t exclude any viable suspects.”
“Message received and understood. Now Gertie and I have work to do and people to talk to. Goodbye.”
The phone went silent. Pepper had been dismissed. She still had a nagging feeling about Olivia, but she put it aside to finish inflating and making her new bed. When she lifted the old flat mattress, she found a drywall screw underneath it. Well, that explained why the mattress went flat! She must have kicked it under the mattress one day, and it gradually worked a hole in the bottom. She would have to be more careful.
Finally the new bed was ready, and Pepper needed to get off her ankle. She sat in the comfortable chair, grabbed her laptop, and put her feet up on the bed. Today she hoped to finish her latest book, and she already had the story for the next one outlined in her head. If this drive to write kept up, she would have to quit Francine’s pretty soon. But for now, she let the words flow, fingers flying across the keyboard.