Chapter 16

As promised,I called Alexander and gave him the all clear for going after the warden, guns blazing. He told me he’d already worked out a plan and would launch it that day. I reminded him that it was a holiday weekend, especially in the Bible Belt, and he laughed and said that just meant God was on our side. I hoped he was right, because we desperately needed something to go our way.

As soon as I disconnected with Alexander, I started filling Ida Belle and Gertie in on what Ryan had told me. Like me, they were confused over the harassment claim.

“I assume the mistake with the client happened after Ryan moved out,” I said, giving them my take. “Which would make sense as Brett said she died before they investigated.”

“I suppose,” Gertie said. “But why didn’t she tell Mandy about the harassment? That seems like the sort of thing you’d tell your girlfriend but not your boyfriend, even though I know that’s not smart.”

“I know,” I agreed. “It’s all reversed. She told her boyfriend about the harassment and her girlfriend about the mistake. I’m going to leave a message for the client and get the timing of that ‘mistake’ confirmed. I should have asked Brett, but I’m not sure I would trust his answer at this point or that of his good buddy Devin.”

Ida Belle nodded. “Since Brett was ultimately responsible for the choices Lindsay made on accounts, I imagine he got quite the dressing down from his folks over losing a big client, especially to his protégé’s father.”

“Assuming they even knew about it,” I said. “It doesn’t sound like they were very present in Brett’s life.”

Gertie sighed. “Does anyone else feel like this is all one big giant stinking mess, swirling around in a pot?”

“Oh yeah,” I said. “I didn’t like the case from the beginning, but the weirdness that is Magnolia Pass, and the creepy Holly, combined with the bizarre coincidence of the victim having worked for the client’s husband, is all too much for me. Something is clearly rotten—likely more than one something.”

Ida Belle nodded. “I just hope we can untangle this mess and save that boy and get Ryan out of prison.”

My cell phone signaled an incoming call, and I saw Detective Casey’s number come up.

“I swear, we’re not in NOLA,” I said when I answered.

Casey chuckled. “I know. My radio hasn’t issued a single request for backup on a bizarre situation.”

“Then you must have it turned off or you’ve left town,” Gertie said.

“Got me,” Casey said. “This is supposed to be my day off, but I’ve been doing some poking around into the Beech murder, and I came up against an interesting and immovable problem.”

“What’s that?”

“The FBI.”

I groaned. “Don’t tell me the Beeches are under investigation.”

“No. But Spalding Financial is. And before I say another word, this goes no further than the four of us. Well, and the captain.”

“Our lips are sealed,” Gertie said. “Well, sort of. I’m having some grapes, but you know what I mean.”

“I couldn’t get much out of them,” Casey said. “FBI… You know how it is getting information out of the Feds.”

“I have some experience.”

“Well, apparently, I set off the alarms when I pulled the old case files and then did a few background checks on the major players. So I got the knock on my front door about an hour ago and two constipated guys in bad suits were standing there, trying to scare me with their reflective sunglass stare.”

“Definitely the FBI,” I agreed.

“They showed me ID, escorted me into my own living room, and directed me to stand down on my investigation before I compromise years of work. I told them I had an innocent man doing life for a murder he didn’t commit, and they said that was unfortunate, but it didn’t change the situation. They’d already spoken to my captain, and I was to cease all inquiries into Lindsay Beech’s murder until they’d made arrests.”

“Did they bother to say how long that would be?” I asked.

“Given that this investigation stretches back over a decade, who the hell knows?”

I sighed. “And I was just about to ask you to run down some information for me.”

“What do you need? I have ways around some things.”

I told her about my conversation with Ryan and the accusation of harassment. “Lindsay didn’t tell her best friend, which Ryan says is probably because of her precarious marital situation and resulting mental state, but I thought since she was being harassed?—”

“You figured it wasn’t the first time Brett’s pulled that crap on a young, attractive, female employee.”

“Exactly. There’s one woman on the company website who was working for the firm back then, but since she’s toughed it out this long, I don’t figure she’s going to tattle on the boss now. I was hoping you could check employment records and find me someone who worked for the firm back then. Someone who fit the profile for harassment and might be willing to talk turkey now. But I don’t want you getting into any trouble. If you start checking employment records for Spalding Financial, that will be a problem.”

“True, but my daughter just happens to be doing an internship right now down at the Workforce Commission. They’ve got her converting old system data over to their new software. She could tell you about every person employed in NOLA for the last thirty years.”

“Finally! A coincidence that works for me.”

Casey snorted. “Yeah, I feel the same. There’s too many moving parts crossing each other here. And they all stink to high heaven.”

“The FBI didn’t give you any indication of what they’re shadowing the firm for? Or who’s involved?”

“No. You know how they are, but the two guys I talked to looked like they spent more time with a calculator than in the gym. Given the firm’s business, it’s definitely financial. My guess, given the wide scope of their holdings, is money laundering.”

“Kelsey told me that Brett’s parents always wanted him to take over so they could travel. But maybe traveling isn’t the only reason. I think they have a handful of clients they still personally handle.”

“Staying out of the country is a good way to avoid arrest, for sure, but it’s a dick move to leave their kid holding the bag. You think his wife has any idea?”

“No way. If Kelsey knew, she’d have left already. She’d never expose her son to that. I doubt she would have ended up married to Brett at all if she hadn’t gotten pregnant. His money has never seemed to motivate her.”

“Good. The less invested she is with him, the better, because at some point, the lid is going to blow on that FBI thing, and the further away from the fallout she is, the better. I’ll get with my daughter and see what she can find out on Monday. If you come up with anything else I can do, let me know.”

“Isn’t your captain going to call you off because of the FBI?”

“Depends on how punchy he’s feeling. He hates people telling him what to do. If his wife’s been nagging him, he might blow them off and tell me to keep digging but be quiet about it.”

“He’s more afraid of his wife than the FBI?”

She snorted. “Have you met his wife?”

“What now?” Ida Belle said when I’d disconnected.

“I think we need to talk to Kelsey first. She’s going to be waiting to hear about our conversation with Ryan, and we should relay that in person. I’ll text her now and see where she wants to meet. But first, head to Sinful so we can load up on weapons again. I feel naked.”

“I hear that!” Gertie said.

We were almost to New Orleans when Carter called.

“We’ve got a problem,” he said when I answered. “Holly Beech is here.”

“Where?”

“At the sheriff’s department in the interview room. Apparently, she came in insisting that she talk to me, claiming she wants to reopen her sister’s murder investigation. I went in and explained to her that I have no jurisdiction, but she’s not listening. And she’s got the whole station uncomfortable. She came in dressed like she’s going to a club, and she keeps leaning over the interview table. I swear she’s trying to get me to look down her shirt. She also brought me gifts—a ridiculously expensive bottle of whiskey and two crystal tumblers.”

“Oh Lord! She must have looked me up after we talked and made her way over to you. She’s got a history of somewhat obsessive behavior with men.”

“Somewhat? That whiskey cost more than my new hunting rifle. How do I get rid of her?”

“I don’t know. The last guy only managed to when he went to prison for a murder he didn’t commit.”

Carter cursed and I didn’t blame him. Holly Beech fixating on him was a problem we definitely did not need.

“Let me call you back,” I said and disconnected. Then I called Jared Beech.

I didn’t expect him to answer but I suspected either curiosity or a need to know what I was looking into next won out, and he issued a short, clipped greeting.

“We have a problem,” I said, “and by that I mean you have a problem that better not become a problem for me and mine.”

“What on earth are you talking about, and how dare you speak to me like you have authority?”

“Holly has apparently done her research on me, and she’s in Sinful right now, chatting up my boyfriend—the sheriff—wearing a dress suited for clubbing, and attempting to ply him with expensive alcohol that I can only assume came from your personal collection. Your family tries hard to hide Holly’s oddness, but other people know and have no trouble talking about it. I want you to get her out of Sinful and make it your full-time job to ensure that she doesn’t fixate on another woman’s man again. Trust me, if your sister comes after me like I suspect she has others, it won’t end well for her.”

There was stunned silence on the other end of the phone, then he simply disconnected.

“Do you think he’ll do it?” Ida Belle asked.

“He better.”

I sent Carter a text.

I’m going to call in an emergency to dispatch. Sorry about this.

As soon as I sent the message, I called Gavin, the young man who worked day dispatch. “This is Whiskey. I done pulled a body out of the bayou and need the sheriff over at the Swamp Bar. No one but the sheriff will do. Do you understand?”

“Fortune?” His voice was low and confused.

“No one but the sheriff. Got it?”

“Oh!” he whispered. “This is a rescue call. Got it!”

He disconnected and we all sat in silence, waiting for my phone to ring. It took less than a minute.

“What the hell?” Carter said when I answered, and I could hear the agitation in his voice.

“Trust me, I’m not any happier about it than you are.”

“Am I understanding you correctly? You think that girl killed her sister because she wanted her boyfriend?”

“I don’t know, but if she did, and she attempts that method of obtaining what she wants again, it won’t end the same. I’ve contacted her brother and suggested exactly that to him.”

“And he said?”

“Not a single word. But what he chooses to do will prove very interesting either way.”

“This is a dangerous game you’re playing.”

“Would you prefer to be fending off the advances of a woman-child-potential-murderess instead?”

“Hard pass on that one. I’m headed out in the boat. At least she won’t be able to track me down.”

“You’re going to have to pay Myrtle some overtime hours. I’m going to call her in to see what happens with Holly if Jared shows up.”

“Whatever. I don’t care. Where are you?”

“On my way to see Kelsey and tell her about my visit with Ryan. I’ll fill you in tonight. But he’s a go for the surgery.”

“That’s good. Okay, I’m pushing off the dock. Tell Myrtle if she needs to look legit, there’s a stack of old files in a box in the interview room that need cataloging.”

As soon as I disconnected with Carter, I called Myrtle and gave her a brief set of instructions with zero explanation. As expected, she simply said, “On it,” and hung up. It was really nice to have people on your team who didn’t need reasons before launching into action.

“I’m exhausted just listening to all of that,” Gertie said when I dropped my phone in my lap. “No wonder you ran complicated missions at the CIA. You thought up all those angles in a matter of minutes and not only came up with a plan but got everyone moving on it with a couple phone calls and texts.”

Ida Belle nodded. “It is rather impressive to watch—like when we had that showdown with Herpes at Nora’s Mardi Gras party. But I wish the situation wasn’t so close to home.”

“Me too,” I said. “The last thing Carter needs right now is something else to worry about.”

“And the last thing you need is another reason to worry about Carter,” Gertie said. “We know you’re trying to hide it, but the strain shows. At least to the two of us.”

I sighed. I thought I’d been doing a better job, but I should have known that Ida Belle and Gertie would see right through my attempts. I might have been a master at undercover work at the CIA, but pretending to feel differently with people who really knew you was a lot harder than faking with strangers.

“It’s fine, guys,” I said.

They both gave me hard looks.

“What do you want me to say?” I asked. “That I’m worried? I am. Carter is better than he was a few weeks ago, but he’s still lost inside his mind a lot of the time. And I don’t think it’s about the case because we all know Alexander will raise heaven and earth to take down Kitts, although it sounds like Kitts has already done a pretty good job of taking down himself.”

“You think Carter’s dwelling on his service?” Ida Belle asked.

I nodded. “I’ve tried to suggest that once a mission is complete, you have to lock it away in a box and never open it again. You do your job, and our jobs were action based on orders, not fact-gathering and decision-making.”

“He hates that he was nothing more than a weapon at one man’s disposal, and now that man’s entire character is under question,” Ida Belle said.

I shrugged. “But that’s what we were. You can tell yourself that you’re an instrument for good and that what you’re doing protects this country and saves the lives of citizens, and all of that is true, but at the end of the day, you’re still the one who pulled the trigger.”

“But you pulled the trigger,” Gertie said. “I’ve never seen you struggle like this.”

“But I was absolutely certain that the people I targeted were bad guys. Everyone knew it. And I was a specialist. It was only me or me and Harrison, and our target was one man. The only collateral damage were guards, and they were aligned with the criminals and had made that choice. Wives, sisters, children, servants—those in their proximity that might not have the right information or choices—weren’t injured or killed during our missions because we were ghosts. Hit the target and disappear. We were never even there. There was no unit to command, no tanks or airplanes announcing our arrival. Assassinations are not war. My and Carter’s jobs had as many differences as they did similarities.”

They were both silent for a while, but I knew they got it. They’d both been military spies during Vietnam, and I was certain had seen their share of bad situations erupting from otherwise good intentions. The amount of chaos that deliberately poor decisions could make was astronomical, especially during war.

“Is there anything we can do?” Gertie finally asked.

I shook my head. “I don’t know what I can do, except be there if he ever wants to talk. I’ve made it clear that I can discuss anything. I’ve also given him contact information for the best therapists at the CIA. Both of them would talk to him for free for as long as he needs as a favor to me. These are people I’ve trusted with my own life, so Carter is assured of their propriety.”

“If he’s not talking to you,” Ida Belle said, “then I don’t know who else he’d confide in. You’re uniquely positioned to understand his situation, and you love him. We can only pray that he eventually comes to terms with all of this and is able to lock it away, like you do, and move on with the rest of his life.”