Chapter Forty

Remy found Julia and her crew patching cracks in the ballroom. Todd worked nearest the large entry doors. “She’s been waiting for you,” he said in a surly voice. Obviously, the apprentice still had a big chip on his shoulder, probably one made out of plaster. Todd frowned as Jules put aside her work and rushed to take Remy’s hands.

“How did it go with the Broussards? You look good on the outside. No internal damage, I hope.”

“No, I’m square with Slick and the rest of the family. No more troubles for us or the Queen.”

“Great! We finished running the new channel iron, but I wanted to wait until you were here to place the replica coffers and see how they fit.”

“A big moment.”

“You bet it is. Just watch.” She moved to the far side of the scaffold positioned under two gaps in the ornate ceiling and climbed to the top with confidence.

“Lifeline,” both Remy and Todd prompted.

She laughed and shook her head, but clipped the line around her waist, and fastened the other end to the guard rail. “Todd, send up the first coffer.”

Her apprentice raised the precious object slowly, carefully, into Julia’s hands. She maneuvered it onto one of the ties. “See that! Fits as tight as a lady’s white kid glove. We’ll point the joints later. Todd, give me the next.”

Julia received the second coffer into her capable hands. She walked to the far end of the platform toward the next gap. Todd mimicked her motion, stalking along the base of the scaffold as if Julia might require his help at any moment. Remy took up a position at the end to get a better view. As Julia reached up to tie the coffer to the framework, the platform shifted under her weight. The lifeline zinged along the railing as she dropped through a gap with the scaffolding beneath her buckling in the middle. She dangled fifteen feet above the ballroom floor still holding the coffer to her chest.

“Don’t move!” Todd shouted—and she laughed.

“Where did you think I’d go?”

The apprentice bumped Remy aside. “Release the lifeline. I’ll catch you!”

“No way. You don’t have the muscle.” Remy pushed Todd. “I’ll do it.”

“No, me!”

Sal and Sam moved between them. “This is Jules’ life you’re arguing about. We’ll all catch her.” The scaffold emitted an ominous screech of metal. “Unless you want us to get a ladder or call the fire department?”

“I just want to get down before the whole thing goes.”

“Drop the coffer first,” Remy suggested.

“Nope, we’re coming together.” She wrapped one arm tightly around the plaster square. “Get ready. On the count of three—one, two, three.” Jules released the lifeline and plummeted into four sets of strong arms woven together to make a basket. They lifted her to her feet. Sal relieved her of the weighty coffer and placed it out of harm’s way.

“Jules!” Remy wanted to hold her, make sure every bone her body was okay, but Julia didn’t spare the time for so much as a quiver. She went to examine the scaffold.

“I don’t get it. This is top-notch equipment. We put it together ourselves. It shouldn’t have failed.”

“Yeah, both Sal and me were up there yesterday finishing the channel framework. No problem, and we weigh lots more than Jules.”

“Maybe the Broussards aren’t done sabotaging this project.” Todd’s light eyes looked nearly as wild as NuNu’s before his death. Red spots burned on his pale cheeks.

“Certainly wasn’t NuNu. I saw him in his coffin. About every Broussard in the parish is at the funeral home. Lots of them sat a wake last night. My family may be many things, but when they say we’re good, we are. They keep their word.” Remy dearly wanted to point a finger at Todd, but he’d given a promise to Jules too.

Julia did the pointing. “I asked Todd to check the bolts early this morning since I knew I’d be up there hanging the coffers. We can’t go ahead with the project until we know what caused the accident. Todd said we were ready to go. Were we?” Remy had never seen her blue eyes go so hard, not even when he’d angered her.

Todd’s head drooped. “I-I wanted to be your hero, save you like Remy did the other day. So, I loosened a few of the bolts. I knew where the scaffolding would fail and planned to be there to catch you. Remy got in my way.”

“First of all, Remy didn’t save me from NuNu. We worked together to defeat that scum. Sal and Sam were ready to pounce if he took Remy down. You did your part by calling the police and the ambulance. Today, all of these arms were held out to save me. This isn’t about being a hero, Todd; it’s about teamwork. That’s what gets a project done. I’m going to let you go. You should still have time to enroll for the fall semester and finish your master’s in historic preservation. I think you will excel at it, and you learned a lot this summer. Take that knowledge with you and leave.”

“But, Julia, I realize what I did was stupid. I wanted you to see me as more than an apprentice. Remington Broussard and his family aren’t good enough for you.”

Remy answered him. “I’m aware of that. But, as Julia said, it’s about forming a team you can trust. You failed at that. Only one more thing I want to know—were you responsible for any of the other sabotage around here?”

Evidently, Todd decided to get it all off his narrow chest. “I walked to the Queen one night when Sal told me to cool off and caught NuNu in the act of tagging the building. He dropped the can of spray paint and ran, but I finished the job by adding Remy after the Fuck You and ditched the evidence. I held up the paperwork with the agreement between you and Hartz and jammed the copier, thinking maybe Julia would reconsider working with you if she had more time to go over the details.”

“Todd, I am so disappointed in you.” Jules shook her head. “Get your things out of the motorhome. Sal or Sam will take you to the bus station. We’ll pay your way home. And one last word of advice, never fall in love with your boss.”