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NEITHER OF US SPOKE for the remainder of the drive back to Sinful. Half-formed questions swirled through my mind as I struggled to make sense of her words. What could she possibly have found in Bull’s room that would lead her to the conclusion that his intentions towards Gertie were nefarious?
The one thing that wasn’t going through my mind was that Fortune was being either histrionic or delusional. Admittedly, in the past, I’ve had reservations about her grasp on reality. Gertie had sworn me to secrecy a few weeks back and told me that Fortune was a CIA Agent who was hiding out in Sinful because an arms dealer had a price on her head. Naturally, I’d summarily dismissed this as nonsense, a prank that Gertie was playing on the new girl in town, namely me, to test how gullible I was. I’d even gone so far as to ask Ally about the rumor, but she’d laughed the notion off as silly.
But was it? I glanced over at Fortune’s profile. There was so much about her that didn’t make sense to me, but here’s what I did know. She was smart, strong, skilled in hand-to-hand combat, and her story about being in Sinful to settle an estate had as many holes in it as a common kitchen strainer. However, my great-aunt Ida Belle trusted Fortune implicitly, and I’d been in town long enough to know that this wasn’t an honor she bestowed on many people.
And then there was my new beau. I had enormous respect for Kase’s judgement. Aside from being sexy in bad-boy sort of way, he was intelligent, astute, and an FBI Agent himself. My gut instinct told me that he believed Fortune was something other than what she said she was, although he’d never said so directly. It made sense that Kase would be able to identify a federal fellow agent. I snuck a covert peek at her profile. Could it be true? Was she an undercover agent?
“Why do you keep looking at me like that?” Fortune asked, her eyes never leaving the road in front of us.
“You’re not a librarian, are you?”
“Not at the moment, no.”
Nice dodge but I wasn’t giving up that easily. “I’m on to you, Fortune. Both Kase and Gertie have already told me what you really do for a living.” Technically that was a bit of a fudge because Kase hadn’t verbalized any such thing, but I needed what Gertie would call ‘verbal dynamite’ to get this conversation up to full speed. “It’s time to fess up.”
Fortune laughed. “Gee, Stephanie, how could I ever stand up to interrogation like that?”
“So, it’s true?”
She shook her head but kept her eyes on the road in front of her. When it became obvious that she wasn’t going to say anything, I ploughed ahead. “You leave me with little choice. I’m going to have to ask Aunt Ida Belle for the truth. She won’t lie to me.”
I watched as Fortune bit her lip. Ah, ha. I was on to something.
“Maybe she would lie if she were protecting a friend, hypothetically speaking, of course. Your aunt is one of the most loyal people I’ve ever met,” Fortune said. “Why put her in that position?”
“I could ask you the same thing,” I retorted. “Why not just tell me the truth so she doesn’t have to choose between us?”
Instead of answering, Fortune guided the Jeep to the shoulder of the road. She came to a stop, cut the engine, and looked at me for a long moment before she spoke. “If you’ve already figured things out, why would you need it confirmed?”
I sensed this was as close an admission as I was ever going to receive. “I never did buy that you were a beauty queen, Fortune. Not that you’re not beautiful, but you just didn’t sell it.”
She lifted an eyebrow. “I’ll take that as a compliment. Now, what do you plan on doing with the information you think you have on me?”
I touched my pearl necklace. “Why nothing, of course. Your secret is safe with me.”
She closed her eyes and muttered under her breath as she started up the Jeep and headed back onto the road. “My life depends on you keeping your trap shut.”
So eloquently put. But I took her point. “I won’t say another word about this, not to you, or anyone else. I promise.”
She nodded. “Thank you. Now, let’s direct our attention back to where it belongs. Gertie needs our help.”
We both remained lost in our own thoughts for the remainder of the trip back to Sinful. I don’t know what luck Fortune was having making sense of all of this but I was lost in a fog of confusion. My only hope was that Aunt Ida Belle would meet us when we pulled up at her front door with the news that she’d figured out a solution to the trouble that Gertie was courting.
But as Fortune turned onto Aunt Ida Belle’s street, I realized this wasn’t going to happen. An ambulance with flashing lights was parked in front of my great-aunt’s house. Carter’s pick-up truck was just behind it.
Fortune and I exchanged worried glances.
The trouble, it seemed, was just beginning.
***
“IF THEY POKE ME ONE more time, I’m going to raise holy hell.”
From the chair next to her hospital bedside, I reached out and patted my great-aunt’s arm. The one that wasn’t broken. I didn’t blame her for being downright ornery but she wasn’t in a position to raise her head off the pillow, let alone raise a ruckus. “They’re just trying to help you.” I strove to keep my voice as soothing as possible. “You took quite a tumble, and for someone of your age—”
Her growl warned me that I’d taken a verbal misstep. I glanced at Fortune, who stood by the window.
“Buck up, Ida Belle,” she said. “You had a bit of bad luck and now you’re going to have to tough it out.”
This rather rough and tumble approach seemed to soothe my great-aunt. She nodded. “I know. I feel so stupid.”
“Don’t,” Fortune and I said at precisely the same time.
“Well, I do.” Aunt Ida Belle winced as she tried to shift in the bed. “Have you been able to track down Gertie?”
I shook my head. “Not yet, I’m afraid. But I know she’ll come here as soon as she checks her messages.”
Aunt Ida Belle grunted in response. Doubtless, we were all thinking the same thing. Gertie was off somewhere with Bull. Who knew when she’d check in?
“Maybe it’s better we have a chance to talk without her,” Fortune said. She pulled a chair next to the other side of the bed. “There’s something I need to tell you both.”
I nodded, eager to hear a follow-up to her earlier bombshell. “We’re listening.”
“Bull’s room was a pig-sty as far as his clothes and whatnot went,” she said. “But his personal papers were neatly filed in a firebox.” She leaned forward, her brow knit in a worried frown.
“That frown of yours tells me you found something,” Aunt Ida Belle said. “Just spit it out already.”
“Bull’s taken out a life insurance policy on Gertie.”
I gasped. “That’s not good.”
Fortune met my eye. “No, it’s not.”
“The rat bastard.” Aunt Ida Belle struggled to sit up but Fortune and I both held out a restraining arm so that she couldn’t. “I’m going to kill him.”
Fortune nodded approvingly. “Fine by me, but considering your broken arm, you’re going to need some help.”
“We can’t kill him,” I protested. I looked to Fortune for guidance. “Can we?”
“Of course we can, but we probably shouldn’t,” she conceded, sounding more than a little disappointed. “But that doesn’t mean we can’t find a way to nail his nasty little ass to the wall.”
“Preferably a prison wall,” Aunt Ida Belle chimed in.
Before I could respond, a nurse bustled into the room. “Am I interrupting something?” she asked, her voice cheerful.
“We’re in the middle of plotting a murder.” Aunt Ida Belle motioned toward the door with her good arm. “Get out.”
The nurse’s shocked expression propelled me to my feet. I laid a hand on her shoulder. “Don’t worry, she’s exaggerating. We’re not planning an actual murder. Just a takedown, of sorts.” I gently propelled her in the direction of the door. “We’re not quite through. Would it be possible for you to return in half an hour, let’s say?”
With one last uncertain glance at each of us, she nodded and left.
“You’ve got to help spring me,” Aunt Ida Belle implored, looking between us. “I can’t stay here.”
“I doubt Medicaid would let you even if you wanted to,” Fortune said. “But you can’t go home either.”
“Why not?” I asked. I hardly considered that Fortune’s call to make. “I’m perfectly able and willing to take care of her.”
“I don’t need a damn nursemaid.” Aunt Ida Belle’s frown could easily be classified as a category five storm. She attempted to reach the call button but couldn’t manage. “Stephanie, get a nurse in here. I want my discharge papers, pronto.”
Fortune shook her head. “Not so fast. No one’s going anywhere until we hatch a plan.”
I bit back the annoyed retort that sprang to my lips. I was going to make every effort to get along with Fortune, even if it killed me. I stayed where I was, ignoring Aunt Ida Belle’s request that I chase after the nurse she’d just exiled a moment before.
“Oh, I’ve got a plan, don’t you fret. I’m going to get out of this bed, track down that piece of slime, tar and feather him, and then set Gertie straight. Stephanie, get me my clothes.”
I sat back and folded my hands neatly in my lap. “I’ll do no such thing while you’re spouting nonsense, Aunt Ida Belle.”
She shot me a nasty look and then turned her attention to Fortune. “You’ve got to help me.”
Fortune shook her head. “You’ve got that backwards, Ida Belle. You’re the one who’s going to help us.”
My great-aunt and I exchanged confused looks.
“She is?”
“I am?”
“You are,” Fortune confirmed. “By going undercover.”
I closed my eyes rather than roll them. Honestly, these women seemed to think life was one long Starsky and Hutch episode.
“Wake up, kid,” Aunt Ida Belle said. “It sounds like things are just about to get interesting. You don’t want to miss this.”
Au contraire. I very much did want to miss out on whatever was coming next. But I opened my eyes and looked at Fortune. “What do you have planned?”
“I think it’s best if Ida Belle checks into a nursing home for a few weeks to recuperate from her broken arm.”
“Like hell I will,” Aunt Ida Belle shot back. “I’m going home.”
“Why would she go into a nursing home if I’m able to care for her at home?” I asked.
“Because when I was going through Bull’s papers, I happened to notice that he is the co-owner of a nursing home in Sinful.”
“Which one?” Aunt Ida Belle demanded. “There aren’t that many around these parts.”
“Bayou Gardens, out by the casino.”
“That swamp hole? Nonsense.” Aunt Ida Belle waved her good hand dismissively. “The Lisieux family has owned that dump since before the Korean War broke out.”
Fortune shrugged. “Well, it appears they’ve recently taken on a new partner.”
I cocked my head to the side and thought. Bull the business owner? That didn’t match up with what I’d heard earlier at Spanky’s. I said so.
“More proof he’s shady,” Fortune said. “Look, maybe this whole silent partner thing is legitimate and he just doesn’t want to blow his cover as a professional lazy-ass. But there’s no reason that he needs to have an insurance policy on Gertie’s life.”
“Not unless he plans on taking it,” Aunt Ida Belle said.
“So, you’re willing to let Stephanie check you into the Lisieux’s place? Just long enough for us to get some dirt on Bull?” Fortune asked.
Aunt Ida Belle didn’t hesitate. “Of course, I will. But don’t let me be catching sight of that runt out there or I won’t be responsible for my actions.” She flexed her good hand. “I only need one arm to take him out.”
Fortune and I exchanged knowing glances. Bull Dozer could easily go from being the hunter to the hunted if Aunt Ida Belle had her way.
“Knock, knock.” Gertie’s chipper voice broke through the strained silence. She pushed open the door and stuck her head in. “You started the party without me?”
How exactly to respond to her levity in the face of what we feared, I didn’t know, so I remained silent.
Aunt Ida Belle didn’t share my hesitation. “Where the hell have you been?”
Gertie slipped in the room and stood at the end of the bed, her expression sheepish. “On a picnic. I forgot my cell phone in Bull’s truck, but Carter tracked us down.” Her eyes traveled over the cast that ran from my great-aunt’s wrist, straight up her arm past her elbow. “Bull was such a sweetheart, you should have seen how concerned he was. He drove me straight over here.”
I shivered, which had nothing to do with the fact that air conditioner was cranked up. None of this made any sense, but the ache in the pit of my stomach confirmed that I agreed with Fortune’s assessment of the situation.
Bull Dozer wanted Gertie dead.
And it was up to us to stop him.