CHAPTER FIVE

Miller and Jean knocked on the door of Sor's cabin. They'd called the woman to see if she would speak to them, and she agreed.

"Nice place," said Jean. "Not your average camp in the middle of the bayou. It reminds me of the bachelor pads we had."

"Yeah, he's done a lot of work on this, and it shows."

The drapes fluttered, and then they heard the locks disengaging. Both men stepped back, not wanting to intimidate the woman. She cracked the door, and they were greeted by puffy, swollen eyes.

"Nelly?" asked Miller, trying to keep his voice low and soft so as not to scare her.

"Yes. Are you the men that Mark said were coming?"

"Mark? Oh, Sor, yes," smiled Jean. "Sorry, we know him as Sor."

"I forget that he uses a nickname," said the woman, opening the door wider for them. "Please come in."

The cabin was definitely a man's cabin. The furniture was mahogany brown with only one lamp in the room. It had a decent kitchen with a full-sized refrigerator and stove. It was clean and well-maintained but not exactly feminine in any way.

"Ma'am, are you comfortable here?" asked Jean. "We could move you somewhere more, uh, bright."

"I'm fine. Thank you, though. I've become used to this. It's actually comforting and warm in a strange way. I owe Mark, Sor, a lot for letting me stay here. I don't know what I would have done. He said you wanted to talk about what happened to me?"

"Yes. We have a few other women that have had a similar experience, and we're investigating this."

"Well, at first, I thought my soon-to-be ex-husband set me up, but there was no way he could have known which boutique I would go into that day and where I would buy that dress. He would have divorced me either way."

"We're sorry to hear that. It's his loss," said Miller.

"Did Sor tell you that my husband and his wife decided to leave us on the same day and get married?"

"We heard something about it," said Miller. "Listen, I'm Pierre, but everyone calls me Miller. This is my brother Jean. We want to stop whoever is doing this to women. Can you tell us about your story?

"I can," she said, waving them toward the sofas. "I had no idea that anything had occurred. My ex-husband, Craig, called me just two days before and said I needed to get things together for a huge party at our, at his house in the Garden District."

"Was that normal? Last minute decisions like that?" asked Jean.

"He wasn't exactly worried about whether I could make the time for his business parties. I'm a graphic artist and work from home, which translates to him believing I have all the time in the world. We dated three years before we got married. Ironically, we were married less than a year. I think that's what I really don't understand. If he and Cara were seeing one another, why marry me anyway?"

"No telling about people's foolishness," said Jean.

"Anyway, he came home from showing some houses that I knew immediately was a lie. He was in his golf clothes, and I guess playing ‘golf,' apparently now comes with hickeys," she frowned. "Everything was exactly as he asked. I was outside, and two of his friends kept staring at me, looking at their phones."

"What were their names?" asked Miller.

"Tommy and Rich. I'm sorry, I don't know their last names. I don't have a lot of interaction with his friends. Anyway, Craig asked me what was wrong, and I told him that Rich and Tommy were staring at me, making me feel uncomfortable."

"What did he do?" asked Jean.

"He went over and spoke to them, then brought his phone over and showed me what they were looking at. It was me – from below," she said, swallowing back the tears. "It was clearly a camera in the floor, looking straight up my legs. Y-you could see almost everything."

"Where was this video?" asked Miller.

"On some website. I even mentioned to Craig that I found it odd that his friends were looking at things on the site. I found the video myself later and contacted the website, but their e-mail came back as undeliverable, and they have no phone number."

"What's the name of the site?" asked Miller.

"UndressForYou.com. There are thousands of photos and videos of unsuspecting women and men changing clothes in dressing rooms, bathrooms, gyms, even hotel rooms. It was sick! Why would someone do that?"

"Because they can, and they can usually get away with it," said Jean. "What boutique did this happen in?"

"Lavelle's. I went to the store and confronted the owner, but she said I was crazy and kicked me out. She said if I came in there again, she'd sue me. I'm at my wits' end. I just don't know what to do. Craig filed for divorce, and honestly, I'm happy to sign the papers and be rid of him so he can go off with Cara."

"Did you sign the papers?" asked Miller. She shook her head. "Would you mind allowing us to take them to our attorneys? My wife is an attorney, and we'd be happy to review this for you and see if everything is done properly."

"That would be so helpful! I have no idea what I'm doing." She handed the papers to Jean, and he pointed out something right away that he didn't like.

"These papers are saying that you did something improper that caused embarrassment to him. They're putting the blame on you. Just at first glance, he's taking everything away from you."

"God," she whispered, holding her stomach. "I don't have anything! I've got some old books that belonged to my parents, a few antique pieces of furniture, my car. That's it!"

"He's obviously trying to send a message to his community that you're the guilty party. I'll take these papers to my wife, Kari Robicheaux, and she'll be calling you soon. I wish you'd change your mind about coming to stay with us. You're all alone out here."

"It's okay. I'm enjoying the peace and quiet right now. Besides, I wouldn't want to put anyone out, and I'm already infringing on Sor's space. Once I can get everything settled, I'll think about what I want to do and where I want to go."

"We'll let you know what we find," said Miller, standing to leave.

"I'm sorry I wasn't more help, and I'm sorry this happened to those other women. I'm so confused by everything right now. My gut tells me that Craig planned it all, but honestly, I don't think he's that smart."

The two men laughed, nodding at her. At the door, they noticed that Sor had installed several exceptionally good locks and an alarm system. They grinned, knowing that they would have done the same. The locks and alarm probably cost more than the cabin.

"You're sure you feel safe out here?" asked Jean.

"I'm sure. Sor left a weapon if I need it. I know how to shoot a gun, and I have Wi-Fi and phone service, so I'm good."

"I'll leave our card here on the counter," said Miller. "We might be out in a few days just to check on you. If you remember anything else, or if you just get scared or want to talk, let us know. I'm sure Kari will be reaching out to you as well."

"Thank you. I hope you catch whoever is doing this. I can't imagine how anyone would find this entertaining." The brothers nodded, frowning at her.

"You don't have to worry about that. We will definitely find out who did this."