Bayou Justice (14 page)

“I think that's plain silly. Daddy's death tormented Luc, all of us, but he didn't blame you.”

“Yes, he did. He might not have told you that, but he told me. Looked me right in the eye and said if I hadn't been interacting with the gators in that part of the bayou, his father would still be alive.” The words cut to the bone to this day.

“Oh, CoCo. That was just his grief talking.”

She pushed aside the tears. “No, he meant it, Fel. Trust me, one thing I do know about your brother is he says what he means.”

“Now…so much time has passed. He looks at it logically. He knows you weren't to blame at all.”

“What's done is done.” If only her heart would believe that.

“It's not too late. You can tell him you're a Christian now. It'll make a difference. I'm positive.” Such hope sparkled in Felicia's face.

CoCo hated to let her friend down. The truth, no matter what, was that Luc Trahan and CoCo LeBlanc would never have another chance. She couldn't trust him with her heart again.

“Believe me, I know my brother better than most anyone else. Besides you.”

“I wish that were true, I really do. Telling Luc is a moot point. Too much water under the bridge and all that.”

“I think you're wrong. I think this is exactly the thing Luc needs to hear.”

“No.” The last thing she needed right now was for Felicia to play matchmaker. “Please, I beg of you, don't tell Luc. Please.”

Felicia's gaze darted past her. CoCo shifted in her seat to see what had caused the mortified expression to cross her friend's face.

She froze.

Luc's hot stare pinned her to the seat.

“Don't tell me what?”

T
he uneasy feeling settled across Luc's shoulders again. They'd just begun to build a working relationship, and already CoCo kept secrets from him. He shook his head and glared at her. “CoCo, what don't you want Felicia to tell me?”

Her eyes, those sable brown expressive eyes that haunted him in his dreams, blinked. “It has nothing to do with the investigation. It's private.”

“Private? Yet you told my sister?” He crossed his arms over his chest.

“Luc,” Felicia interrupted, “let it go.”

“I heard you say that whatever it is, it's just what I need to hear.” He narrowed his eyes at CoCo. “So, I'm going to ask you again…what aren't you telling me?”

The mistrust could be cut with a knife.

She huffed to her feet. “It was a mistake to come here, to even think you and I could work together on the same side of an issue.” CoCo bent and gave Felicia a hug. “I'll call you later, Fel.” With a returning stony glare, she pushed past Luc and bounded down the stairs.

He started to call after her, but she jumped into her Jeep, revved the engine and peeled out of the driveway before he gathered his thoughts. He could only stand there staring at the dust clouds chasing her vehicle.

“Way to go, Ace. Run her off right after you finally get her here.” Felicia's harsh voice broke through his thoughts.

Luc wheeled around and faced her. “What're you talking about? You know how I feel about keeping secrets. Especially with CoCo.” He shook his head. “We were supposed to be working together.”

“You're my brother, and I love you dearly, but sometimes, Luc, you're just a man.”

“She's the one keeping secrets, not me.”

His little sister crossed her arms over her chest and nailed him with a piercing stare. “Oh, really? I suppose you've told her that you didn't mean to blame her for Daddy's death? You've done that, right?”

Her words merged with his own conscience and he found his tongue tied in knots.

“I didn't think so.” Felicia let out a sigh and softened her tone. “Luc, when are you going to learn that communication is key?”

He peered into his sister's soft eyes. When did she grow up on him and become so knowledgeable in the matters of relationships? She and Frank must be moving toward the happily-ever-after scene. His heart longed for a woman by his side, a home to share, children to enjoy, but the woman in his dreams was CoCo. Always CoCo.

Luc groaned and lowered himself into a porch chair. “Felicia, I don't know what's wrong with me.”

“You're in love with her—always have been, yes?”

Since he'd just harped on the whole honesty thing… He sucked in a breath and exhaled slowly before dropping his head into his hands. “I am.”

“Then why aren't you going after her,
cooyon?
”

He jerked his head to stare into his sister's eyes. “Even though I love her, it can never work between us. We never had a chance.”

“Why?” The light in her eyes flickered.

“Number one, because we have too much in our history. Dad's death…let's just say I took things out on CoCo that I shouldn't have. It's too late to say I'm sorry.”

“It's never too late to offer a heartfelt apology, Luc.”

Did she have to echo the Holy Spirit nudging against his heart? “You're right. I do owe her one for the accusations I tossed at her.”

“And?”

“And what?”

“You said ‘number one' was how you'd treated her after Daddy's death, yes? What else is keeping you two apart?”

Why did she ask the question? She knew the reason. “Felicia, I know you mean well and all, but her not being saved and being a voodoo…a person who practices voo—”

“Voodoo priestess. It's okay to say it.” A smile crept into her face.

“Whatever.” CoCo's unbelief and lack of salvation still etched deep cuts in his heart. Maybe if he'd not broken up with her, he could have witnessed more. Could have done more to show her the path to God.

“What's your point, Luc?”

He shook himself out of the guilt. “I can't do it again,
Boo.
I just can't let myself love her when I know it's not meant to be.”

“If you love her, and I'm pretty certain she still loves you, how can you know it's not meant to be?”

“Felicia.” He fought to keep his tone void of the anguish ripping his heart in two. “It's not meant to be because it's not ordained by God.”

“My, my, my, I'm impressed. You know the will of God now?”

He clenched his jaw. “You know what I mean. I can't love someone and make a life with her if I won't see her in heaven.”

“And you know for a fact she won't be in heaven?”

Why would his sister do this to him? Couldn't she sense the pain he endured? “I know enough to realize I'm not cut out to be unequally yoked.” That fact alone is what caused loneliness to wake him in the middle of the night.

“What if you weren't unequally yoked?” She pressed on, disregarding his tone to end the discussion.

“We are. She's a voodoo priestess and I love Jesus. Enough said.”

“You sure about that, Luc?” Her tone came out sharp.

He stared at her, reading the mischievousness flashing in her eyes. What did she know? Wait a minute. CoCo had been confiding in her. Could it be? “Felicia, are you trying to tell me something?”

His sister laughed and nodded. “I'm just suggesting you talk with her.”

“Has she ac—”

Felicia waved him off. She pulled open the screen door before glancing over her shoulder. “If you want any more information, you should talk to CoCo. Some things, well, some secrets are meant to be shared.”

The door clanked shut behind her. The motorized wheelchair hummed. Luc ignored all the noises. Had Felicia just told him in a roundabout way that CoCo had accepted Christ?

Reaching into his pocket, he withdrew his keys. His feet barely touched the wooden stairs as he hurried toward the SUV. If what Felicia hinted at was true, they had a chance. A real chance. Hope pushed him into the vehicle and down the road. He'd find CoCo. He'd get answers. And then he'd see where his heart sat.

“
Cooyon!
The man is nothing more than an infuriating
cooyon.
I should have known better,” CoCo muttered under her breath as she marched up her driveway. Why hadn't she just told him she was a Christian?
Because then there'd be nothing keeping him from pursuing me.
If she were honest with herself, she'd admit she was scared. Hopelessly scared that if Luc knew, he still might reject her. It smashed her heart into smithereens.

She started for the stairs, then stopped. No sense letting Grandmere and Tara see her so agitated. That wouldn't speak well of her faith or her mental state.

Turning, she headed toward the Confederate rosebush, its petals perky under the midday hot sun. She touched a flower, the satiny finish warm on her fingers. CoCo pushed aside the bottom leaves, staring at the ground. No metal glittered. No coin was exposed by the recent rains.

She let out a sigh and straightened. Her gaze drifted over the yard. Nothing glimmered under the sun's penetrating rays. A fluke, that's what it was. She wondered who the gentleman who found the other coin recently was, where he lived. Maybe it if was close to her place… Determined to find the answer to at least one of the problems clogging her mind, CoCo strode to the backyard. She couldn't help but smile as she glanced at the kitchen doorframe. The blue paint was fresh, not peeling and chipping like the rest of the house. Grandmere must have called Toby recently. The smile turned to a frown. Blue—to keep the evil spirits away.

Stomping up the stairs helped spend her frustration. And anger. And hurt. That's what was the worst of it all. Luc's lack of trust in her simply hurt. Not that she could blame him, really. After all, she'd turned a deaf ear to him for two years. Two years, he'd tried to lead her to God, tried to show her the path to salvation. What had she done? Laughed in his face and continued to blaspheme with voodoo.

“What's all that ruckus about,
ma chère?
You're making enough noise to raise the dead.” Grandmere met her at the kitchen door. “And why are you coming in the back way?”

“I just felt like it.” She jerked out a chair. It scraped against the floor, sounding like someone dragging fingernails down a chalkboard.

“Child, the heat has you as prickly as a palm this afternoon.” Her grandmother poured tea over a glass of ice and passed it to her. “Cool off a spell.”

Spells.
Cunjas.
Hexes.
Gris-gris.
She wanted to run away from it all. How had she ever been so blind? “I'm sorry, Grandmere. Just having a lousy day.”

Her grandmother lowered herself into a chair opposite CoCo. “What's on your mind,
cher?
”

“You knew Beau Trahan, right?”

“I suppose. Why?”

“Do you think he would have gotten involved with a girl younger than his grandson?”

Grandmere ran an absentminded finger over the old kitchen table. “Beau Trahan always did have a fondness for the younger ladies.”

“That's what I thought.”

“Why're you asking?”

CoCo shrugged. Now wasn't a good time for a replay of the debate she'd had with Luc. “Just something I heard.”

“Now, Justin…” Grandmere chuckled under her breath. “That man would chase anything in a skirt that moved. Old, young, it didn't matter.”

“Grandmere!”

“It's a fact,
cher.
He never dated the same woman more than a couple of times.”

“He never wanted to marry and have a family of his own?”

“That's not for me to say.”

That's right. He had a crush on her grandmother. CoCo shivered.

“Cooling off?”

“Yeah.” She stood and pushed the chair under the table, quieter this time. “I think I'm going to run out to the bayou for a while.”

“Uh-oh.” Grandmere struggled to her feet.

“What's that supposed to mean?”

“Whenever you run to your boat and go playing in the bayou, that means something's stuck in your craw.” She laid a gnarled hand on CoCo's shoulder. “I'm here if you want to talk about it later,
ma chère.
”

“
Merci.
I appreciate it.” She cast a smile at her grandmother before slipping back out the kitchen door.

Murder, confederate coins, strange relationships…and Luc. So many things occupied her thoughts, yet led to nothing but more questions. She chewed her lip and kept walking.

CoCo rounded the house, making a beeline to her airboat. A squeal of brakes brought her up short. She shielded her eyes with her hand, then her stomach and heart collided.

Luc.

Anger temporarily forgotten, she marveled that he'd come after her. To…wait, what
was
he here for? Her temper returned as she made quick strides to face him as soon as he stepped on the ground. “What're you doing here?”

“I came to apologize. I had no right to jump to the wrong conclusion and try to demand something from you.”

His tone and words were so sincere… No, he had to be doing all this to find out what she'd kept secret. “
Merci
for coming all this way to tell me that.” She deliberately set her chin.

“CoCo…”

Now his voice took on the deep baritone which once made her heart flutter. Once? Who was she kidding? His voice still had that effect on her. She lifted her gaze to meet his stare. Mistake. Big mistake. The depth of his feelings flickered in those hazel orbs.

She. Could. Not. Trust. Him.

She took a step backward.

“I need to apologize for so much more.”

“Like?” She hated that her voice cracked on a single word.

He moved closer, invading her personal space. Yet, she didn't step back. The spicy scent of his cologne hit her. So familiar, so comforting, so safe. She almost sighed, but dared not risk it.

“CoCo, I'm sorry I accused you of having anything to do with my father's death. And my grandfather's. It was an accident, and I was way out of line the way I spoke to you, treated you.”

Her hands trembled. How many nights had she awoken with the dream of this exact moment fresh in her mind? Now that the moment was upon her, she couldn't think of one intelligent thing to say. “Luc, you need to understand how important my job is to me. Working to protect the wildlife of the bayou is part of who I am, not just what I do.”