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NEXT. I clutched my pearls as that ominous word reverberated through my mind like a Chinese gong in a quiet temple. I stared at the note for a long moment before I looked up and met Deputy LeBlanc's eyes. The concern I saw there only reinforced my fear. "That's hardly what I'd call a veiled threat."
He nodded solemnly. "The Sidorovs are calling you out, Stephanie. You had to know it was coming."
I nodded. I had known that Vladimir Sidorov's arrest for the murder of his brother Misha was not going to sit well with their father. Had I known that Boris would attempt to exact revenge? Yes. But did I think he'd be so blatant about it? No. I'd assumed that he'd try to slip poison in food meant for me, or that he'd hire someone to try to run me over. I glanced around the cabin, taking in five very somber faces. "What do I do now?" I asked.
Gertie was the first to offer up a plan. "We go out, guns blazing, lighting up the night with gunfire, letting those Sidorov suckers know that they're not getting Stephanie. We'll take them down in firestorm of flying bullets—"
Ida Belle clapped her hands together, effectively cutting off Gertie's vigilante monologue. "Hush up, Gertie. We need someone with some brain power to chime in. Now just listen up." She turned her attention to Carter.
We all followed suit. My Aunt Ida Belle was not usually one to defer, certainly not to law enforcement. So if she was this willing to hear Carter out, that meant she was worried. Which officially freaked me out.
With all eyes upon him, Carter cleared his throat. "Right, so we need a game plan. But it's a bit more complicated than catching a local thug who's only a threat to Sinful residents. That would be a situation totally within my jurisdiction." He cast a glance at the man beside him. "But as we all know, the Sidorovs head up a powerful organized crime syndicate."
"Tell us something we don't know," Ida Belle snapped. "We need a plan."
Fortune reached out and laid a restraining hand on my aunt's arm. Her action appeared to have the effect she desired. Aunt Ida Belle lapsed into a sullen silence.
"Go ahead, Carter," Fortune said. "We're listening."
"We've got a plan, Ida Belle. It's just not one you're going to like."
"Will it end up with Boris either dead or permanently locked up?"
"That's the goal."
Aunt Ida Belle frowned. "Then why wouldn't I like it?"
Instead of answering, Carter looked to the man beside him. "Do you want to take it from here?" After receiving a brief nod in response, Carter addressed the group. "This is Agent Kase Mayeux."
"Agent?" I asked, because everyone else was silent. Maybe they all understood what I didn't. "You mean, like with the Fish and Game Department?"
"F.B.I.," the man said.
My eyebrows rose. I don't know which surprised me more, that Agent Mayeux was a federal agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigations or that his voice was off-the-charts sexy. I glanced at the other women to see if they'd had the same reaction, but if they did, they were keeping it well hidden.
He stood, clearly a man accustomed to taking control of a situation. "The F.B.I. shares Deputy LeBlanc's desire to eliminate the threat posed by Boris Sidorov. We're here to work in conjunction with the Sinful Sheriff's Department to make an arrest. Several arrests, actually."
His words lent credence to his professional background. He spoke as if he were debriefing a room full of law enforcement agents rather than ladies who were camping. Glamping. I found his deep voice so mesmerizing that it wasn't easy to focus on his words. But since he was speaking about something that was likely to help me stay alive, I struggled to pay attention.
"What exactly are we going to do?" Aunt Ida Belle demanded. "And yes, before you ask, I used the word we deliberately. I don't care if you do work for the Foolish Bureau of Idiots, you're not leaving us out of it."
I shot a quick glance at the agent to see what he made of my aunt's assessment of his employer, but if he had a reaction, it wasn't showing. His face was impassive.
"As it would happen, there is a role for each of you to play in our plans," Agent Mayeux told her. "Of course, you have the right to opt out of the arrangement."
"We're in," Gertie piped up, and in true Gertie fashion she had to elucidate. "All in. One hundred percent. We're so in, you'll never get us out. You'll think we're moles, we'll go so deep underground—"
"That's good to hear," Agent Mayeux cut her off. The man was a quick study of human nature if he'd figured out that Gertie was long-winded when it came to speeches. "Because I'm going to need to arrest one of you. Tonight. For murder."
His pronouncement was met with stunned silence. We all exchanged shocked glances.
"But we haven't killed anyone," I finally protested.
"Boris Sidorov doesn't know that," he countered. "We want him to think that we're focusing on one of you for the murder of that poor young girl we found tonight."
Tentatively, I raised my hand. "I'll do it. You can arrest me."
He shook his head. "No. Not you."
I frowned. "But I want to help. All of this is my fault."
"Oh, you can help all right. But we'll get to your role later. First, I need one of your friends to volunteer to be arrested. It'll mean a stint in lock-up, but we'll make it as short as we can. And naturally we'll completely wipe out any evidence you were ever arrested when the mission is complete."
"I'll do it," Gertie said. She got to her feet and held out her wrists. "Take me in, I won't resist."
I watched as the FBI agent shot a questioning glance in Carter's direction. Yes, I wanted to tell him, she's for real. But I remained silent. Carter could handle this one.
"Gertie," Carter said, "I think it's better if you stay on the outside." He held up his hand to forestall her protests. "I know I can trust you to create holy hell once we lock up one of the other ladies. No one will do a better job than you will at causing a huge fuss."
Gertie preened. "You've got that right."
So, if I was to play some as-yet-unmentioned role, and Gertie was to protest the arrest, that left either Fortune or Ida Belle to be arrested. So, naturally it should be Fortune.
"I'll do it," my aunt volunteered. "I'm the natural choice."
I waited a split second for Fortune to protest, but she stayed quiet. I didn't bother to hide my annoyance. "That's not right, Aunt Ida Belle. Let Fortune do it. Unless she doesn't want to be part of the solution?"
There, I'd thrown down the gauntlet. Which, judging by the look on Fortune's face, was the last thing she'd expected me to do. But right was right, and wrong was wrong. And in my book, it was wrong to allow an old woman to go to jail for a crime that none of us had committed.
But it wasn't Fortune who spoke next, it was my aunt.
"I may be old, Stephanie, but I'm not so old I can't make my own decisions." She cast a challenging glance around the room, daring someone to defy her. "I'm the one who's going to jail. So don't anyone even think about arguing with me."
Those last words were directed to me. I bit the inside of my cheek. Hard. Aunt Ida Belle wasn't going to listen to a single objection of mine, so I stayed silent. But Fortune was going to get a piece of my mind later. A serious piece.
"So that's settled," Carter said.
"Not exactly." I cast a look in Fortune's direction but she just looked down, which only served to irritate me further. "What about Fortune? What is she going to do?"
Carter and his colleague exchanged a quick glance.
"It's your call," Agent Mayeux said.
Carter looked none too pleased but he nodded. "We're going to put her under house arrest, ostensibly for interfering in police business. Fortune, we'll fit you with an ankle monitor."
Her frustrated groan mollified me somewhat.
"Look," Carter said, "it's not like anyone's going to question why you were arrested. You've developed a bit of a reputation since you arrived in Sinful."
She didn't argue that point, but she did give voice to another concern. "How can I help protect Stephanie if I can't leave the house? What if you need me for backup?"
Agent Mayeux coughed discreetly. "I think between the F.B.I. and the Sheriff's Department, we've got it covered."
I glanced at Fortune to gauge her reaction to their plan. But, to my surprise, she didn't say anything. Even more odd, Aunt Ida Belle stayed quiet too, even though I could tell she was steaming. I looked over at Gertie. She was staring up at the ceiling, moving her lips, as if she were counting to one hundred. What was going on? I shook my head. I swear, I will never understand these women.
"What about me?" I asked. "What's my role in all this?"
Agent Mayeux's eyes drilled into me with the intensity of two dark brown laser beams. "You, Miss St. James, are the bait we're going to use to reel Boris Sidorov in."'
His suggestion was the same one I'd made earlier. I liked the way this man thought. I nodded. "I'll do it."
***
ONCE THE PLAN WAS AGREED upon, Carter made a quick phone call to Deputy Breaux telling him it was time to set things in motion. Within minutes, several squad cars with sirens blaring pulled up in front of the cabin. Aunt Ida Belle, already handcuffed, made her way down the cabin's front steps. The red and blue police lights were blinding in the otherwise dark night sky.
I stood helplessly by as Deputy Breaux read my aunt her Miranda rights. Despite the fact that Carter had warned us that they were going to make this whole charade look real, tears pricked the back of my eyes. There she was, my aunt Ida Belle, in handcuffs, being helped into the back of a police car. Because of me. This was so wrong. "Carter, no, you're making a mistake," I called after him as I came down the steps. "Please don't do this."
A young deputy held out his arm to stop me from getting any closer. "You'll have to stand back, miss."
Gertie came out of the cabin to stand beside me. Tears were streaming down her face as she slipped an arm around my shoulders. We watched as Fortune came down the stairs next. She also had restraints on her wrists. Her head was bowed and her hair hung over her face so her expression was hidden, but certainly any onlooker would see what we saw before us—a young woman carrying a heavy burden of guilt and shame on her shoulders.
I just couldn't go through with this. I didn't care if everyone else thought it was a good idea. It was asking too much of everyone. "Wait, Aunt Ida Belle, I've changed my mind—"
No sooner were those words out of my mouth than her head whipped around and she glared at me with a ferociousness that left me in no doubt about what she wanted me to do: carry on, see this through, and, for the love of whiskey, don't whine...I saw it all there in that one look.
"Call an attorney, Stephanie," was all she actually said before Carter shut the cruiser's door.
Helpless and hopeless, I watched as the sheriff's vehicles pulled away.
"Let's go, ladies." Agent Mayeux motioned to the cabin with a curt nod of his head. "Get in there, pack up your things, and I'll follow you back into Sinful."
Somewhat annoyed by his authoritative tone, I followed Gertie into the cabin. The lights were bright and my eyes took several minutes to adjust. Once everything was in focus, I turned my attention to Gertie.
"I'm so sorry that was hard for you, Gertie. You should never have had to—" but I broke off when I realized that not only were her tears now dried, her eyes were twinkling.
Gertie slapped her knees with her hands and almost fell over, she was laughing so hard. I stood and stared. Laughing? I glanced over at Agent Mayeux.
"Do you think she's in shock?" I asked him.
He merely shook his head.
"Lord above, don't that beat all," Gertie chortled. She drew herself up to a standing position and wiped away fresh tears of laughter. "Stodgy, bossy, fussy old Ida Belle hauled off by the cops. I love it! Never thought I'd see the day. Definitely a Sinful Ladies first!"
"But it wasn't real," I protested. Her reaction had to be shock. There was nothing else to explain it. "It was a part of our plan."
Gertie waved a dismissive hand. "Doesn't matter, it was still priceless. What I wouldn't give to have caught it on film. Hey, you know, I was watching one of those shopping at home network shows where the pretty young hosts just gab away, and I saw they were selling sunglasses that have a hidden camcorder in them. I'm gonna get me a pair. They'd come in real handy on a night like tonight."
I knew it was rude, but I just stood there and stared at her. Was she coming unhinged before my eyes?
"Ladies," Agent Mayeux's voice made it clear he had about two-tenths of an ounce of patience with us left, "gather up your belongings and lock up. I'll wait outside and I'll follow you back to Sheriff's station. Gertie, you need to be there to start kicking up a fuss. Miss St. James, you and I need to head to the morgue." Without waiting for a response, he headed out the door, shutting it rather loudly behind him. Clearly the F.B.I. didn't include a manners component in its agent training program.
Gertie and I didn't speak as we packed up everything we'd unpacked a few hours ago. As I folded the pink tulle, I felt a wave of regret that our lovely glamping weekend was ruined. I felt one thousand times worse that I'd brought so much trouble with me when I'd left Boston and headed to Sinful.
When we were finished cleaning up, Gertie and I stood and surveyed the cabin. I knew we needed to go, but I had a lingering question that I just had to ask. "Gertie, when Carter was explaining that one of us had to pretend to be arrested, why didn't Fortune volunteer?" It bothered me greatly that she was so willing to let my aunt sit in a jail cell. "I can't understand why she didn't offer."
Gertie laid a gentle hand on my shoulder. "She couldn't, Stephanie. She just couldn't."
"But why?"
Gertie studied me for a long moment, her expression suddenly sober. "Honey, because you're family, I'll tell you. But you have to swear on Elvis' grave that you won't tell a soul. Ever."
I nodded and crossed my heart. Elvis' grave. This had to be serious. "I swear."
"Fortune is an undercover C.I.A. agent who has an arms dealer named Ahmad trying to hunt her down and kill her. There's a price on her head, and she's here in Sinful to hide out."
Indignant, I grabbed my two bags of glamping supplies and, without a word, headed out of the cabin and into the darkness. Fortune a C.I.A. agent? Really?
Just how stupid did Gertie think I was?