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“I heard someone was looking for me.” I pointed my gun at Daigle. “Elle, why don’t you wait for us upstairs?”
She didn’t budge.
“Fortune?” Gomer looked perplexed. “What are you doing here?”
“I’m saving a friend who was willing to give up his life for me. I’m very grateful.” I glared at Daigle. “And very pissed off. Here I am. What do you want?”
Gertie pointed her gun at the back of his head. “I liked your dad, Cable. Brigham. Whatever name you prefer.”
He scoffed. “Everyone liked my dad. Elle, tell Gertie who my dad really was.”
As if she’d been programmed for a time like this, she methodically said, “He’s my grandfather. He’s a kind man. My grandfather would never hurt anyone. He’s a nice person.” She repeated the same over and over again, with her eyes glazing over as she spoke.
Her dad looked completely shocked. Gertie’s SEAL leveled his gaze on Daigle. “We’ve been trying to tell you.”
“Tell me what?” He screamed, slamming his fist against the table. “That he brainwashed my child?”
Gertie motioned for Ida Belle to take her place and Gertie knelt in front of the ten year old girl. “Elle, honey, are you feeling all right?”
She cocked her head. “He was a kind man.”
Carter turned to Francine. “Could you take Elle upstairs and get her something to eat?”
“I’ll go with them,” Walter quickly offered.
Daigle used two fingers to signal the SEAL. He followed behind Elle, Francine, and Walter.
“I’m here.” I chose a chair at the wine tasting table. “You wanted to talk? Let’s talk.”
Carter rolled his eyes. “Or I could haul you in for questioning.”
“Out of jurisdiction, aren’t you Deputy LeBlanc?” Daigle taunted him. “Then again, I imagine that happens a lot here in the sticks.”
“All the more reason why you should go home and never come back.” Ida Belle nudged him with her gun. “Sit. You’ve been looking for Fortune so have at it. Talk. Threaten. But remember, there will be a gun pointed at your head while you do.”
Daigle appeared unchanged. He still looked downright angry. The cards had changed and the power he thought he owned, had been stripped from him, but he didn’t seem to notice.
“I know who you are.” Daigle’s lower voice was a deliberate tactic. He wanted to frighten us and apparently believed he could. “I could make a phone call, just one, and your world would be torn to shreds.”
“Wouldn’t advise that,” Carter said, standing behind me. “Ida Belle and Gertie are Fortune’s friends, but she’s my...”
I cleared my throat to stop him from saying what I knew would be interpreted as a threat. The last thing we needed were charges that wouldn’t stick because of Carter’s relationship with me.
Gertie backed away. “Watch him.” She disappeared into the hidden room.
Ida Belle moved to Daigle’s side. “You were willing to kill Gomer for the information. I think we’ve had this all wrong. Your dad was the better man.”
Daigle laughed. “Jax was a coldblooded killer.”
“Which is why he’s dead and you’re still here?” Ida Belle asked, frowning at Gertie as she returned to the room.
“Jax got himself killed. I didn’t have anything to do with that.”
“Do you expect us to believe you?” Gertie looked disgusted. “Impossible. He was clever. And he wouldn’t have held a man at gunpoint in front of your daughter.”
Daigle sneered. “You saw her. She’s so brainwashed that we’ll need to put her in private schools and hire counselors to work with her. My daughter is traumatized because of Jax.”
“Which we might believe,” Gomer said, standing and pacing. “Except you were going to kill me in front of her!”
“Explain that one.” Carter lifted his head and watched him carefully as he said, “Jax must’ve been trusted by the Feds. They moved him here.”
He couldn’t explain away the horrors that his family inflicted upon other people. I still recalled the horrified look on Doris’ face when she told us about the Daigle family. She was terrified of Jax, but also said that Jax’s son was a mob boss. He’d never stop looking for Elle until he found her.
And when he did, he apparently removed any chances of another disappearance.
“Am I under arrest?” He smirked at Carter and waited. “No? I didn’t think so. You’re out of jurisdiction and everyone at the local precinct has taken early retirement or a vacation.”
“Convenient,” Carter said, reaching for his handcuffs. “But over at my precinct, also know as the sheriff’s office, I can hold you for questioning.”
“Based on what?” Daigle asked, clearly surprised.
I stood. “In Sinful, they can come up with a dozen or more laws at the drop of a hat. And you want to know why you’re being arrested?”
“I want my lawyer,” he bit out.
Carter smiled. “Do you have a lawyer in Sinful or Wasteland?”
“Conners. His office is in Sinful.”
Carter beamed. “He’s a close friend of mine. As luck would have it, he’s on vacation.”