A Thousand Lies (23 page)

She’d always wanted to go to France. Maybe she needed to get herself a passport and, when her insurance money came through, plan an extended trip to Paris. She could speak the language, and she’d always heard French men appreciated women with certain sexual skills. If they didn’t mind a one-eyed whore, she might just find a way to make herself at home.

****

New Orleans detectives Early and Royal were at a standstill with the arson investigation. The info from the fire marshal had been useless as to pointing a finger in any one person’s direction. They knew the fire started from something like a Molotov cocktail being tossed into Frenchie’s basement; a basic firebug move. If there had been witnesses, none of them were coming forward.

When Lisette first mentioned Anson Poe as a possible suspect, Royal had panicked. Being in Poe’s pocket was a risky move and having to arrest the man could have gotten tricky. No one was more relieved than Royal after interviewing Grayson March’s men. As Poe had promised, they’d screwed the lid so tight on his alibi that it was never coming off, so unless some witness came forward, this was going to wind up a cold case.

They had just added their latest interviews to the report and saved to file on the computer when the lieutenant walked up and tossed an address down on Early’s desk.

“They just pulled a body out of the river. There’s the address.”

Early frowned. “Why are we checking on a floater?”

“Because there’s a bullet hole in his head.”

Early nodded. “We’re on it. Let’s go, partner. “

Royal clipped a holstered pistol to his belt and followed his partner’s exit. The arson investigation had just moved another notch down on the unsolved list and he was happy to work a case unconnected to his benefactor.

****

Chub Walton was close by. The sour sweat scent of him was in Julie’s nose. She could hear the steady
whap, whap
sound of the leather straps against his leg. The keen of his high-pitched moan wasn’t one of pain, but excitement. Any moment he would bring the leather straps down across her body instead of his.

Don’t. Please don’t.

When she heard the catch in his breath, she knew what was coming, and she threw back her head and screamed.

****

It was finally sundown, the end of one long, miserable ass day. Grayson had been watching his daughter sleep for over an hour. After tiring of Lana’s running commentary about everything but Julie’s situation, he’d sent her to get them some coffee. Lana’s lack of emotion about what had happened was bugging him. Either she was shallower than he had believed, or she was in denial.

A few minutes later, Julie’s sleep became restless. He got up to check on her. Her fingers were twitching and her eyelids were fluttering. He guessed she was dreaming. As she began to whimper, he leaned over the bed and said her name.

“Juliette. It’s Daddy. You’re safe.”

She quieted.

He ran a finger lightly against her hair and sat back down, only to be caught off guard moments later by the scream. He bolted out of his chair, grabbing her by the shoulders just before she tried to leap out of bed.

“Julie! Open your eyes! You’re not there anymore. You’re in a hospital. You’re safe!”

She responded to her father’s command by digging her fingernails into his forearm, as if needing an anchor before she had the guts to look. But he hadn’t lied. She
was
in a hospital. She
was
safe. She went limp.

“Dad?”

“Yes, sweetheart, it’s me,” he said, slowly easing his arm out of her grasp.

She’d drawn blood. He could feel the sting beneath his shirtsleeve as he lowered the bed rail, but he ignored it. He slid onto the mattress beside her and took her in his arms. She leaned against him, weak and exhausted by the emotional upheaval.

“You’re okay, honey. I think you were dreaming.”

Julie’s nurse had heard the scream and came in to check on her patient. “Another dream?” she asked as she moved to the bed.

Grayson nodded.

The nurse eyed her patient’s listless behavior and frowned.

“Okay, Julie, I need you lie back. Mr. March, would you please step out into the hall for a bit?”

“I’ll be just outside the door, Julie.”

As soon as they were alone, Kay pulled back the sheet and raised Julie’s gown; checking the wounds on her upper torso.

“How do they feel? Are they still throbbing?”

“Yes, and I’m so hot. Why do I feel hot?” Julie asked.

“You have fever, dear, but the human body is an amazing creation. It’s hot because it’s fighting infection, and already setting itself into motion for the skin to begin re-growth. It hasn’t quite been twenty-four hours since this happened, so the healing will take time.”

“Are you going to put some more of that stuff on my skin?”

Kay nodded. “Yes. I know it hurts, but it will accelerate healing, which is what we need, right?”

“I’m not complaining, just bracing myself for the inevitable.”

“Good girl. How is your anxiety level? Feeling any panic, or having any waking nightmares?”

“I don’t feel panic once I wake up and see where I am, but until I do, it feels like my heart is going to jump out of my chest.”

Julie watched the nurse making notes and then glanced toward the window. It was dark. Saturday afternoon she had done laundry, made a casserole, made love to Brendan, and later wrapped her grandmother’s birthday present, looking forward to helping her celebrate the event. What a difference a day made.

She touched her fingers to her face, then to her eyelids. She could tell the swelling was going down, but the marks on her body were still the same. When the nurse began to apply the antibiotic onto her skin, she gritted her teeth to get through it.

The nurse was almost finished when the scent of food began to drift into the room.

“Did they already serve dinner?” Julie asked.

She nodded, eyeing Julie’s swollen lips.

“We ordered a liquid diet for you. It’s on hold.”

Julie wrinkled her nose. “Brendan brought me ice cream. It was good. Do you think there will be ice cream?”

“If there’s not, I’ll get you some,” Kay said.

“Thank you,” Julie said, then closed her eyes. She hated this hopeless, helpless feeling. She hated that her life was so out of control.

As the nurse walked out, her father walked in.

“Are you okay?”

She combed shaky fingers through her hair, wishing for a band to make a ponytail.

“It was a dream. It’s over for now.”

“Is there anything I can get for you?”

“See if there’s a ponytail band in my things. I want this hair up.”

Happy to do something constructive, he opened the mini-closet, only to realize she didn’t have any clothes. That’s when he remembered they’d brought her in naked, and took a deep breath before shutting the door. He then searched through the drawer by her bed and found the one they’d taken from her hair in a small plastic tub with a brush and comb.

“Here’s one.”

“Thank you,” she said, as she pulled the hair back and fastened it off. “That feels so much better.”

“Anything else?”

“Where’s Brendan?”

“He went home. Said his brothers had to leave and he needed to get back to his mother and sister.”

Julie sighed. “Poor Bren. All the women in his life are suddenly helpless.”

He frowned. He didn’t like how Julie automatically included herself into Brendan’s family circle.

“We’re here for you,” he said.

“Yes. I know.” She hesitated and then added more forcefully. “I need to talk to Brendan.”

Grayson sighed. “Do you want to use my phone?”

“I’ll just use that one,” she said.

He handed it to her then started to sit down when he realized she would be wanting some privacy.

“If you’ll be okay for a few minutes, I’m going to go down the hall to the waiting room and get a Dr. Pepper. Would you like one, honey? It’s your favorite.”

“Yes, that would be great.”

Julie waited until her father was gone, then got an outside line and dialed Brendan’s number, waiting anxiously for the sound of his voice. She still felt tense inside and anxious—like someone was just out of sight, waiting to jump out of the shadows and grab her.

****

Brendan heated up the rest of the barbeque for the girls’ supper and was nursing a cup of coffee as they ate. Linny was unusually quiet, and both Delle and Brendan noticed. He arched an eyebrow at his mother, who shrugged and took a quick sip of iced tea.

He slid the coffee cup off to the side and then tapped the table with his spoon. As soon as he did, Linny looked up.

“Queen Belinda, I am concerned by your silence. I pray you are not ill.”

She shrugged. “I’m not sick,” she said and swiped a French fry through ketchup.

“Do you have something you want to talk about?” he asked.

She nodded, but didn’t follow through.

“So, you’ll never get an answer until you ask. What’s up, sugar?”

She took a quick breath then blurted it out without looking up from her plate. “What happened to Juliette?”

Delle quickly wiped her hands. “What do you mean, Linny? I told you she got hurt when the fire started.”

Linny’s frown deepened as she looked up. “Did she get burned?”

“No, no, nothing like that,” Bren said. “The bar was empty before it caught fire.”

Linny picked a piece of meat off a rib with her fingers and popped it in her mouth, then dropped a small bombshell as she chewed.

“I heard the news.”

Brendan sighed.
Shit.

Delle’s expression stilled. Linny was too young for such ugliness, yet it was the world into which she’d been born.

“What did you hear?” Delle asked.

“A bad man kidnapped her and hurt her before she got saved.”

Brendan scooted his chair closer to where she was sitting.

“The good news is that she’s safe,” he said and patted her arm.

“The news man said she was hurt bad.”

Delle leaned forward. “Belinda, exactly what did you hear?”

“That she nearly died. Is that true?”

Delle sighed. She didn’t lie to her children, but there were times when telling the whole truth wasn’t necessary.

“No, they said that wrong. The truth is that she
could
have died if the police hadn’t found her when they did. But she was talking to them and everything when they took her to the hospital, right, Bren?”

“That’s true, Linny. I talked to her myself the whole time they were putting medicine on her arms and legs.”

Linny looked up, tears welling in her eyes.

“Did she cry?”

“Yeah, baby, but then, so did I. It made me sad that someone had hurt her.”

The tears in his little sister’s eyes welled and rolled down her cheeks.

Brendan groaned. “Don’t cry. It hurts my heart when you cry. Come here and hug my neck.”

Linny shoved her plate aside and went from her chair to Brendan’s lap.

He wrapped his arms around her as she crawled up on her knees and wrapped her arms around his neck, hugging him hard.

“Now that’s what I call a good hug,” he said softly, patting her bony little back.

Delle got up and left the kitchen. When she came back, she was carrying Rabbit.

“You’ve had a really big day, honey. Why don’t you and Rabbit go brush your teeth and get ready for bed? I’ll come tuck you in later.”

Brendan kissed her cheek and gave her backside a little pat.

“Good night, honey. Sleep tight and don’t let the bed bugs bite.”

Linny tuck Rabbit under her arm and slid off her brother’s lap, giggling as she tried to dodge his hand.

And just like that, the trauma of what she’d overheard had passed. She’d think about it again, for sure, but in her mind, the worst was over because the people she trusted most has made it okay.

Brendan envied the naiveté of her youth and began cleaning up the kitchen as Delle put her to bed. He was washing the last of the dishes when his cell phone rang. When he saw the call was from the hospital, he had a moment of panic as he quickly dried his hands. What if Julie was worse? By the time he answered, his gut was in a knot.

“Hello?”

“Hey, Bren.”

Relief washed through him. “Julie! Sweetheart! It’s so good to hear your voice.”

“I just wanted you to know I’m not feeling so crazy.”

“Thank God. Are your parents there?”

“Dad is, but he’s gone to get us something to drink.”

“Everything okay between you two?”

“It’s good enough. I’m going to be a long time getting past what was said to both of us.”

“Don’t make me a part of that relationship. You do what you have to do. You have to get right with your parents, but I don’t care if they never like me.”

“But I’ll care, Bren. Every thought I have of growing old has you right there with me.”

He was so touched by what she said that he had to make it a joke or start crying. “Growing old, huh? Am I old and fat in those thoughts?” He waited, then heard a slight giggle.

“And bald,” she added.

Brendan laughed. “Now that’s something to look forward to.”

“I’ll still love you, no matter what,” she said softly.

“Now you know what I meant when I told you it didn’t matter what you looked like. Do you get it now?”

She sighed. “I get it. So, what are you doing tomorrow?”

“Finding Count LeGrande. Job hunting. Going to see you. Staying busy so I won’t think about the fact that Mom and Linny have decided to go back to Anson.”

“Oh, honey, I’m sorry.”

“It is what it is. It’s not my place to tell Mom how to live her life, you know?”

“Yes, I know.”

“I’m not sure of the time, but I’ll be there with you tomorrow, okay?”

“It’s always okay. I love you,” Julie said.

“I love you, too. I’m so glad you called.”

She hung up the phone and then lay back and closed her eyes, thinking of Brendan old and fat and bald. She was still smiling when her daddy came back.

“What’s so funny?” he asked.