The meeting was far from over, Samantha soon realized.
Brad had introduced everyone in the room initially. Now, he reintroduced one of them. “Theodore ‘Sonny’ Sonnier, also from our Baton Rouge field office, is in charge of the Coltrane case. I’ll let Sonny give you a status report.”
Sonny was young, under thirty, long-haired, and built like a bodybuilder in a tight black wicking shirt tucked into belted jeans. He wore wire-rimmed glasses, and a cell phone was clipped to his belt. He was the one who’d been pounding away expertly on a laptop. Rambo meets Steve Jobs.
“This baby sellin’ scheme, she is news ta us,” Sonny said in a deep Cajun accent, “but the minute Luc contacted us, we began investigatin’. Bank records. Births. Adoptions. Background checks. With the evidence you two have given us t’day,” Sonny looked pointedly at Angus and Lily Beth, “it’s still not enough ta put the bastard away. We’ll need your assistance, Ms. Starr.”
What? Me?
Seeing her confusion, Sonny went on, “We’d lak ya ta contact yer ex-husband and set up a meetin’, soon as possible. We’ll wire ya up, and help ya rehearse what ta say. If we kin get Mr. Coltrane on record, admittin’ his crimes, then his arrest is a done deal.”
Samantha was stunned. “But why me? Wouldn’t Angus or Lily Beth be the better persons to get him to incriminate himself.” She took one look at Lily Beth’s horrified face as she clutched her belly, and immediately amended, “I mean, shouldn’t Angus be the one to confront Nick?”
Sonny shook his head. “That’s just what Dr. Coltrane wants. To get his hands on Mister Starr. We cain’t take that chance.”
But they could take a chance with me? “I wouldn’t know what to say.”
“Not ta worry. We’ll prep ya, good and proper.”
“I’m not that good an actress.”
“Do ya wanna see Coltrane behind bars?”
“More than you can imagine.”
“Well, then, chère, yer ship cain’t come in if ya doan send out any boats.”
“And I’m the ship?”
“Mais, oui! Do ya agree ta participate?”
“Yes,” she said.
“Hell, no!” Daniel said at her side. He’d been stunned speechless apparently on first hearing the proposal that she be the bait. Now, he was more angry than stunned. “Samantha’s been a spectator at best in this whole mess. It would be too dangerous to put her in close proximity to her slimeball loser of an ex-husband.”
Even Samantha was surprised at the vehemence of Daniel’s reaction.
“I assure you, we will have her back every step of the way,” Sonny assured Daniel.
Who was not assured. “If she goes, I go with her,” Daniel insisted.
“Out of the question,” Sonny insisted right back. “And, furthermore, if Ms. Starr is unable ta get the needed evidence in her meeting with Mr. Coltrane, we might need Mr. Starr ta set up his own meetin’, pretend ta be comin’ back ta work fer the good doctor.”
Angus groaned, no more an actor than she was an actress.
The calmer voice of Luc intervened. “Let’s set this aside for now. We can discuss Samantha’s involvement later. Or Angus’s. Go on, Sonny.”
“There’s a reason why we have ta act quickly with Dr. Coltrane,” Sonny said, still pursuing the same subject. “Under other circumstances, we could take our time investigatin’ and interviewin’ witnesses. But perps like Dr. Coltrane skip town the minute they get a whiff of the law on their tails. Doctors, no matter their backgrounds, are able ta relocate easily ta other countries that bar extradition. Besides, desperation makes even the sanest criminal do bad things, and Dr. Coltrane is desperate, and worried. We already know that.”
Sonny seemed to have an opinion of doctors similar to Samantha’s. But more important, what did he mean about Nick being desperate? That sounded ominous. What did he know that she didn’t?
“All the more reason not to involve Samantha,” Daniel persisted. “Or Angus, who has the brain of a computer and the common sense of a duck.”
“Hey!” Angus protested.
“I appreciate your concern, but I can speak for myself, Daniel.” Samantha patted Daniel on the arm to ameliorate her words.
He shrugged her arm away and glared at her.
“We haven’t had a chance to inform you yet, Ms. Starr,” the state trooper spoke up for the first time, “but Nawleans police reported a break-in at your house last night.”
Samantha gasped at that news.
“Not a lot of damage, but someone was clearly looking for something other than valuables. Broken window. Drawers pulled out. Pages ripped out of an address book. PC computer hard drive missing. Desk overturned. That kind of thing.” The trooper was reading from a small pocket notebook. Then, he looked up. “No fingerprints. The perp knew enough to wear gloves.”
Samantha frowned. It was probably Nick trying to figure out where she might be and whether she was hiding Angus. That theory proved true when the trooper added, “The only thing that seems to be missing is a picture that must have been hanging in your bedroom. Nothing but an empty hook on the wall.”
Daniel gave her a “See, I was right!” look.
“Definitely Nick,” she said. “The painting that hung there was a rather valuable, antique miniature by a Southern artist. A wedding gift from my mother that Nick wanted, but didn’t get in our divorce settlement.”
“Ya have photographs of the picture, yes?” Sonny asked.
She nodded. “For insurance purposes.”
“Well, if we find it in his possession, or discover evidence of its sale on the open or black market, we kin nail him fer that, too, guaranteed,” Sonny said. “And that’s another issue ya could discuss with him durin’ yer meetin’ . . . the break-in.”
Daniel made a sound under his breath that sounded like a growl.
For more than an hour, they continued to discuss the case, while Tante Lulu handed out cups of sweet tea and beignets she’d made early this morning, probably at the crack of dawn. She was in her element! Feeding the masses.
“These beignets, they are almos’ as good as the ones from Café du Monde, yes,” Sonny complimented her.
“Bite yer tongue, boy. I was making beignets before that restaurant opened.”
Which was highly unlikely . . . in fact, impossible . . . since that famous New Orleans restaurant had opened during the Civil War.
Lily Beth went up to take a nap, still distraught over the prospect of her brothers discovering the trouble she was in. And Angus went off with police officers in a van with blackened windows to check out some mug shots and give more details as he could remember on the Guenot compound. Luc insisted on going along with his client, which made Samantha anxious. Angus must not be safe from the law, yet.
Before he left, Luc took Samantha aside and said, “The Fibbies will try to talk you into meeting with Nick. Don’t agree to anything without me present. I’m not saying you shouldn’t do it. Just don’t feel coerced. They need you more than you need them.”
She nodded, feeling a little shaky without him being there. But then, Angus must be feeling even worse, going to a police station.
John went out to show the police and several agents the property so they could set up a plan for surveillance.
Brad and Sonny stayed behind, presumably to discuss Samantha’s possible meeting with Nick. And Daniel wasn’t moving anywhere while that was still a possibility.
This whole debacle wasn’t as over as she’d thought it would be when the feds rode in on their white chargers.
One of the officers came back shortly to report, “There’s a freakin’ alligator farm next door. If the mob gets in here and breaks down that fence, we’re gonna be overrun with about two hundred of those gators.”
Samantha didn’t bother to tell them that gators wouldn’t travel that far over land, away from the bayou, or their water habitat on the neighboring property. Whatever! Let them squirm a little.
“Two . . . two . . . hundred?” Brad sputtered.
“The owner of the farm, a woman, cussed us out and raised a rifle, warning us not to trespass. Flashed us a license to carry and told us to get the hell away from her property.”
“That would be Delilah Dugas. Ain’t she sumpin’?” Tante Lulu commented to no one in particular. “Sometimes she enters alligator wrestlin’ contests. I wish I could wrestle alligators. Well, I could wrestle mah pet alligator, Useless, but he ain’t vicious or nothin’. At least his breath doan smell lak dead animals. All Useless eats is Cheez Doodles.”
Samantha noticed that the old lady, as she talked, had been adding things to the grocery list Samantha had started this morning. Wait until Daniel saw the size of the thing! It looked like there were two more pages.
Brad’s jaw dropped open at Tante Lulu’s words, but Sonny just chuckled, knowing that anything could happen in the bayou. And he was no more worried than she was that they’d have gators knocking at their door.
Daniel’s cell phone rang then. When he checked the caller ID, he stood and apologized, “Sorry. I’ve got to take this call.” He went over to the other side of the long kitchen. While Brad and Sonny compared notes, and Tante Lulu stood before the open fridge taking inventory, Samantha could overhear one side of the conversation.
“George,” he said. “What’s up?”
“Oh, no!”
“And her father can’t get here in time?”
“I told you I’d pay for his motel.”
“Dammit!”
“What can I do?”
“Yeah, I’ll be there as soon as possible.” He glanced at his wristwatch. “Is an hour too long?”
“I’ll make it in a half hour.”
“Okay. Listen, tell Molly to hold on. Tell her I have a special present for her.”
“You don’t want to know.”
Daniel clicked off and stared grimly off into space before coming over to tell her, “I have to go to the cancer center right away. Come out in the hall a minute so we can talk in private.”
Brad looked up with interest but didn’t stop them from leaving the kitchen. Tante Lulu was sitting at the table with a mug of coffee, entertaining Sonny with a story about the Bayou Black Sonniers, his distant cousins, who used to trap muskrats and squirrels in the nude. “One time Yancy Sonnier almos’ got his wienie caught in a trap. Hoo-boy! Scared the livin’ daylights outta the boy! Took ta wearin’ a pie tin in his jockeys.”
Out in the hallway, which led to the storage rooms and out to the ground floor, front verandah, Daniel took her in his arms and kissed her. Just what she needed after a harrowing morning! And a good reminder of the night they’d just shared.
The kiss was short and sweet, unfortunately.
“What’s happening at the cancer center?” she asked.
“There’s a bit of a crisis with the little girl you saw there.”
“And they need you?”
He shrugged. “Need is too strong a word. I can help. I’m going to take some cell phone pictures of the kittens to show Molly and tell her she gets her pick when she gets better.”
“Will she? Get better?”
“It’s fifty-fifty.”
“What’s that about her father?”
“He lives in Savannah and has no place to stay when he gets here.”
“I thought there were accommodations. Temporary housing solutions for parents of sick kids.”
“Her father is a convicted felon, armed robbery, out on probation. These places are overcrowded anyhow, and when push comes to shove, they’ll take the person with a clean record first.”
“And her mother?”
“Gone. Left with a boyfriend when Molly first got sick. A grandmother helps, but . . .” His words trailed off.
“Go. I’ll make your excuses to Brad and Sonny. And, oh, wait a minute.” She went back into the kitchen and got the grocery list.
When she came back and handed it to Daniel, he asked, “What’s this?”
“I know you have other things on your mind, and you might not be in the mood after you leave the center, but just in case things go okay, would you mind? This is a little list of things you could get on your way back.”
“Holy crap! I should have asked Aaron to leave the truck again.”
“It’s not that bad.”
“Are you kidding? Ten pounds of rice? A half bushel of shrimp?”
“I think Tante Lulu is planning on making shrimp étouffée for dinner.”
“For who? An army?”
“She means well.”
“So did Attila the Hun. And how long is the old bat staying?”
“Now, be nice.”
“I wish we could go back to bed and hide under the covers. I haven’t had nearly enough of you.” He nuzzled her neck.
“Likewise.” She arched her neck to the side so he could nuzzle some more.
“A rain check?”
“For sure. Maybe you could dream up a couple more of your fantasies by then.”
He grinned. “Or you could tell me some of yours.”
They smiled at each other and wished they could be alone for a while.
“Later,” she said.
“I’ll hold you to that.”
He left then, but not before extracting a promise from her. “Promise you won’t go to meet Nick the Prick. Wait till I get back. We’ll talk about it then.”
She didn’t exactly promise, but she leaned up to kiss him one more time, which he might have taken as a promise.
As soon as she was sure he was gone, she went back into the kitchen and addressed Brad and Sonny. “What do you want me to do?” She should probably wait until Luc, her lawyer, was with her, or until Daniel returned, but she just wanted this whole nightmare to be over.
After a half hour of rehearsals, Brad suggested that she call Nick to set up a meeting. They practiced lots of different scenarios. “If he says this, you say that.” Or “If he says that, you say this.” Sonny even wrote some notes for her to read on his computer while she was on the phone.
“When should I suggest that we meet?”
“Today. As soon as possible.”
Panic began to set in. She was not ready for this. “Won’t that seem strange to Nick, that I’m so anxious to meet with him? After all, we’ve been enemies for years now.”
“Time is our enemy. The longer we wait, the more suspicious he will get,” Brad told her.
“And a suspicious perp is a running perp,” Sonny added to emphasize Brad’s point.
Samantha insisted on calling Luc to get his advice before she committed. She put the call on speakerphone. After the agents made their case for an early meeting, Luc agreed to the plan, provided the agents contact him when they had a time and place set up so that he could be there, too. Once the police set up Angus in a viewing room, Luc said he could leave and come back to pick him up later. Or else, John could come and take Luc’s place.
So, she hit Nick’s number on her cell phone’s list of contacts and left it on open speaker.
“Nick?”
“Samantha? Where the hell have you been? I’ve left a dozen messages on your voice mail.”
“I know. I just got back in town. My cell phone was out of range until this morning.”
“Where are you now?”
“At the airport.”
“Well, come to my office right away.”
“Why should I do anything for you?”
“C’mon, Sammie, don’t you think it’s time we call a truce?”
Calling me by a hated nickname doesn’t sound like a truce to me. “A bit late for that, don’t you think?”
“Better late than never.”
“I’m not going to kiss and make up, if that’s what you have in mind.”
He laughed. “Far from it.”
“We don’t have to meet in person to make peace with each other. Do it over the phone.”
“Uh-uh! Believe me, you’ll want to know what I have to tell you, and it’s got to be face to face.”
She exchanged glances with Brad and Sonny. Could it be as easy as this? Did Nick want to confess all to her? Sounded too good to be true.
Tante Lulu murmured under her breath, “Dumb as dirt!”
Brad and Sonny glared her way and Tante Lulu made a zipping motion across her lips.
“I need to go home and shower first,” Samantha told Nick.
“No, come here first.”
He probably didn’t want her to see the mess at her house, the mess he had made. “Is it really that important?”
“Yes.”
“Nick, if this is about more of your frivolous lawsuits, forget about it. I’m not reinstating your alimony.”
“It’s not about that. This is something about . . . um . . . your family.”
“What? Did something happen to my father? Or my mother?”
“No, no, no! Nothing like that. By the way, do you know where Angus is?”
“Angus? How do you know Angus?”
“Never mind. Just come. It’s eleven-thirty now. When can you get here?”
“I don’t know. Two? Three? I need to stop by Starr Foods headquarters first.”
The FBI agents had warned her to allow at least two hours for them to wire her up and prepare her, but not to wait too long or nervousness would set in, and she’d blow the whole meeting. She probably would, anyhow. But they’d assured her that they would be a short distance away. Why was she not assured?
“See you then,” Nick said.
When she clicked off, Sonny told her, “Ya did great, darlin’.”
Brad was already on his cell phone advising the other agents or cops where they would be at “fourteen hundred hours” and to make sure there was plenty of backup.
Luc called her almost immediately when he got wind of the final plan. “Are you sure you’re up for this?” he asked.
“I have no idea.”
“You don’t have to do it. Legally, they have no grounds for forcing you to do anything.”
“No one is forcing me, I swear.”
“Okay. I’ll try to get over to Nick’s office once I’m done here with Angus.”
After she ended the call, Tante Lulu told them all, “I’ll stay here and hold down the fort. If any bad guys show up, I’ll shoot ’em first and ask questions later.”
“Someone needs to lock up that woman,” Brad told Samantha in a loud whisper.
“Better men than you have tried,” John LeDeux remarked, on overhearing. He’d come back to try and convince his aunt to go home. Fat chance of that happening now.
“Cain’t anyone take a joke?” Tante Lulu asked.
“Some joke!” Brad muttered.
“C’mon, auntie. I’ll drive you home and pick up your car later.”
“Not yet,” Tante Lulu said. “I jist started the roux fer the étouffée. Besides, someone needs ta look after the animals.”
“Well, I’ll come back fer ya later then,” John said, “but do not . . . I repeat, do not drive home yerself. The police are threatenin’ to put a boot on your vehicle ta prevent it from movin’.”
“Yer the police, Tee-John.”
He rolled his eyes. “The other police.”
“Whatever ya say, sweetie.”
“Yeah, right,” John said, rolling his eyes at the others in the room.
Brad and Sonny went out to the front driveway to get the wiring equipment from their vehicle, and John went with them. Which left Samantha alone with Tante Lulu.
Tante Lulu set two glasses of iced sweet tea on the table, along with two slices of her Peachy Praline Cobbler Cake that she’d thawed from her freezer. She motioned for Samantha to sit down across from her. You’d think this was her home, the way she took over.
“Now, let’s talk about the thunderbolt,” she said.