A short time later the same night
“Those folks out there pretty much take care of their own problems.” Spike couldn’t remember the last time one of the bayou settlements had come to him for help.
“Bill Pelieu, it was who phoned,” Rose said. He stood, straight-backed in the doorway to Spike’s office. Rose was still sorting out just how close he wanted to get to his boss.
“Good guy,” Spike said. “Did he say exactly when it happened?”
“He’s not sure. Reckons they don’t use that boat often. It’s old and they keep it for emergencies. But it’s his and he doesn’t like it that someone else decided to clean things up for him. That’s the way he put it.”
A pirogue had gone missing from behind Pelieu’s house. He and his friends had searched for it but had come up empty-handed.
“Damn.” Weary, Spike shoved back his chair and stood up. “This has to be seen to. I won’t have those good people being picked on when someone decides I’m too busy with other things to do anything.”
He was too busy with other things, but he’d deal with the problem just the same. “Do you know how to get out there and take a complaint?”
The horrified expression on Rose’s young face said it all. Rose was new to the area. He came from Texas.
“Of course you don’t,” Spike said, rubbing his eyes. “I’ll go myself. It’s time I showed myself out there again.”
Rose coughed. “If I could be spared to come with you, I’d know how to get there next time.”
“You’ve got it.” Spike grinned and made for the coffee pot. “Call Pelieu back and tell him I’ll be out in the mornin’, first thing.”
“Will do.”
The phone rang as the door closed behind Rose.
“Devol,” Spike said into the receiver.
“Roche here. I’m out at Pappy’s for the fund-raiser. Bleu’s gone.”
“What d’you mean, gone?” He didn’t need the coffee anymore.
“Disappeared. As far as any of us can tell, she’s not on the premises. We haven’t found any sign of her in the parking lots, and we’re going through the surrounding areas. Spike, I think someone’s got her.”
The desperation in Roche’s words matched the way Spike felt. “I’ll put out a call for help, and we’ll be right there.” Dear God, don’t let Bleu turn up dead.
“Someone already tried to get at her, remember?” Roche said. “They think if they can get rid of her, everything will stop with the school. We’ve got to talk about that—once we get Bleu back.”
“Sure. Do you think what I think? It doesn’t ring true that someone’s so obsessed about the school, they’ll kill to stop the project.”
“I can’t talk about killing now. But yeah, that’s what I think.”
Spike tried to measure his response. “They intend to take down as many as they have to.” He’d never been much of a diplomat.