40. Reaper

"How many people do you know?"I asked, my heart breaking for this woman. If Mam were here, I would strangle her myself. She really messed with Sarra's mind. I wondered if Sarra had been so scared that she was afraid to be around people.

I needed to talk to her cousins and find out why she was so terrified of leaving the swamp.

"I know more people since I stayed with my cousins for a while. That's where that crazy man was. He was at a book signing my cousin talked me into having. It was my first and my last signing."

"What is your pen name?" I asked, not expecting to recognize it.

"Jackson Martin," she said, and I almost fell out of my seat.

"You're Jackson Martin? Damn, wait until I tell Spartan—he's my brother. He loves your books. We all do, but he's a little obsessed with anyone borrowing his books. Once he told me he bet you were an ugly son of a bitch. Because, let's face it, you would never think a girl could write those stories."

"So, I take it that you also read my books?"

I smiled. "Yeah, we all have every book you wrote."

"Why don't you just share them?" she asked, smiling.

"Because we don't like sharing our books. I put mine on my bookcase, as do Spartan and the rest of our team. How old were you when you started writing?" I asked. I overlooked her age in the file I had.

"I was seventeen when I wrote my first book." I saw her face turn red and knew she thought the same thing I was.

"Seventeen? How could you even imagine all that scary stuff in those books, plus the other stuff? I mean, in that first series, Captain Bill had more sex than even I've had," Sarra chuckled.

"I read a lot of books," she said, chuckling.

I laughed out loud. "When is your next book coming out?"

"I'm writing it right now. This is a difficult book because Mac's brother dies, and I have to figure out how to kill him," she explained.

"Why is he dying?" I asked.

"Because he's been screwing up, and quite frankly, I'm tired of his antics. He keeps getting into more trouble. I can't keep up with him. I'll be headed one way, and then Merv takes me on another path."

"What? But you're the writer," I said, confused.

"Yeah, you would think so. If I'm lucky, the words will flow when I'm writing, and my characters take over. Merv has been trying to take over the entire story, so he has to go."

"Maybe I can help you devise a way to kill him."

"That would be great. Have you read this last series?"

"Yes, and I like Merv because he is outspoken and funny. Maybe you can give him his own book?"

"I don't know yet," she shook her head. "No, Merv has to die. If people are pissed that he dies, then I've achieved what I wanted to. I write thrillers, so I have to think of something terrifying."

"That's why you are a writer, and I'm not. This gumbo is really good; I've never tasted gumbo this good before."

"Thank you," Sarra said.

"Have you met all of your family?"

"My cousins are my entire family. Beau is the second oldest and a former Navy SEAL who just retired. He is always talking about his SEAL buddies. I believe he will join them. They have a business together."

"Maybe I know them."

"Their name is the Golden Team."

I know everyone from the Golden team. I saw River Channing last month in Iran."

"I love my cousins; they are kind to me, and I know they have my best interest at heart. I hated hurting their feelings, but I was tired of living in New Orleans. Don't be surprised if they show up at any time. At first, I was surprised that people show up out of the blue, but they assured me everyone does it."

"I'm surprised you didn't like living in New Orleans. There is so much you can put in your books there. You were probably there during the busy season," I said. Something was bothering me, and it made me wonder what really happened the night Sarra's parents were murdered.

"Maybe I was," she said.

"Who told you about the night your parents died?"

"It was in the papers that Mam left for me. I was more surprised than I can ever explain. I always thought Mam was my mother. I once asked her about my father, and she said he was long gone and wasn't worth talking about."

"It sounded like she either knew him better than she should have or was making it up," I said, frowning.

"Can you please promise me you won't start digging around for something that should be long buried? I loved Mam, and she loved me. I don't want to find anything that could hurt her or me. Believe me, I've thought of every scenario you could imagine."

"I promise I won't investigate what happened back then. I'm here to guard you, which is what I will do." I didn't say I wouldn't contact Rebel and ask him to investigate. I was sure he wouldn't mind doing some investigating for me. "Why do you think this guy wants to harm you?"

"When I signed his book, he was super strange, which made me notice him. He laughed and said this was going to be easier than he thought. At the time, I had no idea what he meant. Now, I think he meant it would be easier for him to kill me because I'm not a man. Can you believe he asked me out?"

"I agree; he said that because you are a woman. That was crazy that he asked you out after scaring you."

"He didn't scare me at that time. I became worried when I found out he planned to kill me. But I'm not scared of him. My cousins got scared but they don't know I can take care of myself."

"Is that why they hired me? They were afraid the guy would kill you."

"Yes, I went along with it because they were freaking out when the police told us about the message on the dead woman. I finally told them about the stalker. They didn't like me keeping that a secret from them."

"I can understand that. It would bother me, too. But he didn't have your real name. Did he? You used your pen name."

"That's another thing. He asked me my real name, and I told him before I thought about it. After I said it, I saw how excited he became and wanted to kick myself. But it was already done."

"Do you think he knows you live here in the swamp?"

"Why does everyone make it sound like we live in an actual stinky swamp? The swamp is the water. I live on the land. I have a yard with beautiful flowers everywhere. It's like any other home."

I smiled, and then she smiled. "I'm a little protective of my home, and Shane hates me living here. He's my oldest cousin. He is a big worrier," Sarra ran her fingers through her hair, which she put up in a ponytail.

"He was fifteen when my family was murdered, and he remembered me as a funny two-year-old. He said it was on the television for weeks that I was missing. He told me none of them remember a nanny. Shane thinks Mam stole me and murdered everyone."

"Why does he think that?"

"I don't know. After he told me that, I refused to talk to him and left his home the same day. He's been here about ten times, apologizing for upsetting me but not for what he said. Shane claims there is no proof that Mam ever worked for my parents."

"What does Shane do for a living?" I asked.

"He's an FBI agent. All of my cousins, besides Beau, work for the federal government," she said, wrinkling her nose.

I was surprised they hired me when they were able to guard Sarra. "Why did they hire me when they have all the experience needed to guard you themselves," I asked, confused.

Because I wouldn't talk to them about growing up here and what was in those papers. There are still a lot of tablets I haven't gone through of Mam's.

Why haven't you gone through ?"

"I don't know. I was scared I would read something I didn't want to know. So I locked them in a safe. Beau wanted to read them, and I almost let him, but then I wondered what else she could have to say. She's already told me more than I wanted to know."

"Would you like me to read them? If it's the same kind of stuff you already know, then I won't tell you anything, but if there is something you should know about them, I'll tell you," I waited for her to say something.

"If there is something bad, then you can't tell my cousins."

"I'll let you decide what to do about that, as long as it has nothing to do with the murder of your parents."

"Okay, I think that's what I want to do. When do you want to read them?" she asked, looking nervous.

"We'll do the dishes, and then I'll read them." She nodded, and we finished dinner and cleaned the kitchen. She went into her bedroom and came out with a large stack of tablets. "Are those all of them?"

"No, these are the ones I haven't read; they are all dated. I stopped reading after I turned sixteen." That's when I started dreaming about Knox. "They are stacked in order to the date. She was very precise about everything. So here you go. I feel bad for letting you read them."

"Don't feel bad. I won't get caught up in anything. I'll read it and forget it." I knew I was lying and wondered if Sarra knew I was lying. I took the tablets and said goodnight.