Bayou Paradox (15 page)

They were worlds apart, yet every time she'd seen him since Grandmere had awakened, his gaze did something to her. Something strange. Her heart would do little flips. Butterflies would flutter in her stomach. Her arms would feel tingly. What was she going to do?

The phone rang, pulling Tara from her thoughts. She moved to get the phone in the living room.

“Hello.”

“Tara? It's Jayden.”

Why would her boss be calling her before nine in the morning? “Hey. What's up?”

“I hate to bother you since your grandmother's sick and all, but I've tried and tried, yet can't get the books to balance for the last couple of nights. I really need to make a deposit but can't until we reconcile.” He paused, then cleared his throat. “I hate to ask, but could you please come by and figure out where I'm messing up?”

“Sure. How about I head that way now? It'd be better for me.” And as soon as she was done there, she could head straight to the hospital and see Grandmere.

“That'd be great. Thanks, Tara.” Relief filled his voice.

“Non s'inquiéter.”
If only she had no worries.

She took her coffee and marched up the stairs. She'd grab a quick shower and then be on her way.

Still, her mind raced with all her problems and complications. Her life had become like a hurricane out of season.

W
hen Tara stopped into look at the club's books, she found the problem. A stupid credit card chargeback.

That was what threw the books out of balance. It was a simple issue to fix. Unfortunately one that took three hours to find. Now it was early afternoon and Tara'd have to hurry and get the issue resolved before she could head to the hospital. She'd already missed the noon visitation time.

Tara lifted the offending charge slip in front of her face. Fifty-eight dollars and thirty-three cents. She shook her head and squinted to read the imprinted name.

Winn Pharm.

She didn't know anyone named Winn, unless you counted the member of the Rockefeller family. With a chargeback of less than sixty bucks? Not likely.

Tracking him down would've been much easier had she recognized the name. Now she'd have to search. Tara grabbed the parish phonebook and searched under P. No Pharm listed. Big surprise.

Jayden lumbered into the office and perched on the edge of the desk. “Making any headway?”

She showed him the chargeback. “Know this Winn character?”

“Let me ask Mike if he remembers the clown.” He took the paper and went to talk to the bartender.

She pinched the bridge of her nose. If Mike didn't remember, what next? Maybe someone knew who Winn was. She lifted the phone and dialed the number for Luc's sister and husband.

“Hello.”

“Hi, Spence.
Ça va?
” The image of the younger man with his shaggy hair danced across her mind. She could just picture him sitting there in jeans and a T-shirt, smiling at the sound of her voice.

“Good. How about you?”

“
Comme ci, comme ça.
How's Felicia?”

“Great.” The preacher paused. “We heard about your grandmother and Ms. Shaw. We've been praying.”

“Merci.”
Had she really just thanked him for praying? Sheesh, she was losing her mind. “Listen, I have a question for you.”

“Shoot.”

“Ever heard of a Winn Pharm, spelled P-h-a-r-m?”

“Hmm. Not that I know of. Why?”

“I'm trying to work on the club's books and I need to get in touch with this Winn guy. I thought maybe he attended your church or something.”

“Nope, not one of mine. Have you checked with Luc? He'd know if Winn attended the Lagniappe church.”

“Haven't had a chance to ask him.”

“Want me to ask Felicia? She attended that church until we got married.”

Tara smiled. The couple had only been married a month or so. “Sure.”

“Hang on.”

After a moment, Felicia came on the line. “Hey, Tara. Spence said you were needing to know if someone is a member of the Lagniappe congregation, yes?”

She grinned at Felicia's voice. Always upbeat and chipper, no matter what. Felicia Trahan Bertrand was one of the strongest women Tara had ever met, despite her gentle demeanor. “Yeah. A Winn Pharm, spelled P-h-a-r-m. Ever hear of him?”

“Doesn't ring any bells, and I grew up in that church. Are you sure that's the right name?”

“It's what my paperwork shows. But thanks, anyway.”

“Come see us.”

Tara grinned against the phone. “As soon as I can.” She replaced the receiver and chewed her bottom lip. Who was this Winn guy, and why didn't she know him? Lagniappe wasn't that big of a community, and the LeBlancs knew the family names of most everyone in the area. Unless they were new. Or just passing through.

That'd definitely make things hard if Winn had just been passing through.

Jayden returned and tossed the paper back in front of her. “Mike says the only out-of-towner he recalls being in recently is a blond woman. Very sexy—Mike's description, not mine—and the totals could match, but he's not sure.”

“So, I'm back to square one.”

He glanced at his watch. “It's after noon. Would you like to grab lunch, get a break from this?” Hope flared in his eyes.

Tara chewed her lip again. She'd suspected her boss had a crush on her for a while. While he was handsome and sweet and funny, she didn't see him as anything other than a friend. Not at all the way she saw Bubba, judging by her reaction whenever the sheriff was around. She groaned inwardly.

Jayden stood. “I just thought it'd be nice for you to get away from the paperwork for a bit. Not a date or anything.”

“I appreciate the offer, I really do, but I have to finish this up so I can go visit my grandmother.” Not a lie, but not exactly the truth, whole truth, and nothing but the truth. It'd have to do for now.

“Well, good luck, sweetie.” Jayden winked and bit into the apple he carried. “It's less than a hundred dollars, so if we need to write it off, we can.”

“It irks me to do that. Haven't had to do it since I started working here.”

“And that's why we love you.” Jayden smiled and sauntered out the door.

With a sigh, Tara lifted the receiver. She hated calling the credit-card company, but she had no choice at this point.

She'd figure out who this Winn Pharm was, where to find him, and then she'd collect the fifty-eight dollars and thirty-three cents, plus thirty-five extra bucks for the chargeback.

Nobody slipped one past her. Nobody.

 

“May I speak with you, Sheriff?”

Bubba glanced at the door. “C'mon in, Suzie.” He shoved the bring-a-burger wrapper into the trash. The life of a sheriff meant lousy lunches in the car or office.

The wife of one of his fellow deacons crept in the room and slunk into a chair. Hesitation and worry were etched deeply into her young face. Suzie had to be no more than twenty-five, yet at the moment she had the lines of a woman thirty years her senior.

“What can I do for you?”
Please let this be business.
He couldn't handle dispensing any personal advice. And if it was about Paul, her husband, well, he really wouldn't be able to help. The whole matters-of-the-heart thing was beyond him at the moment.

“I…I didn't know where else to go.”

Didn't sound like business. He lifted his pencil and rolled it between his forefinger and thumb.

“I…I'm pregnant.”

Bubba's heart missed a beat, then thrummed normally. “Paul mentioned it at church Sunday. Congratulations.” He smiled. Paul had been ecstatic.

“
Merci.
But I did something very stupid.”

He really didn't want to hear any more, but what choice did he have? Normally when someone said something like that to an officer of the law, the rest wasn't very good. “What?”

She wrung her hands in her lap. “I'd begun to believe Paul was having an…an…that he was cheating on me.”

The words
Don't be silly
stung the tip of his tongue, but Bubba choked them back. He didn't know. Sure, he'd like to think a fellow deacon, a friend, would do no such thing, but he couldn't be sure. Who could be sure about another person these days? Especially in his line of work, people continued to shock him.

“Don't look so stricken, Sheriff. I'm not about to ask you to find out for me.”

Had he been that transparent?

“He'd just been acting so secretive, not being where he said he was, coming home late without reason, things like that.”

Bubba held his breath.

“Then I found out I was pregnant. I didn't know what to do. We'd wanted a family, were ready to start, but with Paul acting so strangely…”

Big tears welled in her eyes. “I thought he was cheating on me. I was scared. Terrified. What if he'd fallen in love with someone else and now I was pregnant? Would he stay with me out of obligation? Would our baby be born into a divorced family? It's all I could think about.”

He didn't like where this was headed. Her overexplaining. Her demeanor. The guilt on her face. Was he about to hear a confession of a crime?

“You have to understand, I wasn't thinking clearly.”

When was the last time he'd seen Paul? Sunday? Wednesday night?

She sniffled. “I went to see your aunt.”

He hadn't been expecting
that.
Bubba dropped the pencil. “What for?”

“To see if she'd help me miscarry.” Tears fell from her guilt-ridden eyes. “I didn't know what else to do.” Sobs broke her words.

Bubba didn't know what to do, either. What his aunt dabbled in had never hit him so squarely between the eyes. He jerked a tissue out of the box and passed it across the desk to Suzie.

She wiped her face and struggled to bring herself under control. “I don't know what I would've done had she agreed to help me.”

“She didn't?” Hope roared into his chest.

Suzie shook her head. “She told me she wouldn't do such a thing, especially not behind the back of the baby's father.”

His aunt might be deeply involved with voodoo, but she had scruples. Morals. Relief flooded him.

“She referred me to a doctor, if that's what I wanted to do, but suggested I talk with Paul first, figure out where he and I stood.”

Bubba had always known his aunt was one smart cookie.

“I was scared, but I took her advice. I told Paul about the baby and demanded to know if he was seeing someone else.”

Bubba felt uncomfortable, nervous, as if he were reading someone's personal diary.

“He laughed at me.” Suzie smiled and pressed the tissue to the end of her nose. “He actually laughed. Showed me what he'd been keeping from me.”

She dropped her hand to her lap, her smile relaxed and wide. “Plans to build an addition onto our house. He wanted to surprise me.”

Bubba finally found his voice. “That's great, Suzie.”

“It is.” She nodded, but then the happiness slipped from her face and her voice. “He was so excited about becoming a daddy that I didn't tell him about my visit to your aunt.”

“Well, I guess no harm, no foul, yes?”

She swallowed and twisted the tissue in her lap. “Actually, I thought that at first. But now I'm not so sure.”

“What do you mean?”

“Apparently your aunt keeps records of every person who comes to see her…with a need.”

He let that one sit for a moment, trying to grasp the enormity of the situation.

“And now it's possible someone else has seen those records,” she went on. “At least, that's what Tara LeBlanc told me.” More tears pooled in her eyes. “She asked me about what I came to see your aunt for, and told me it all looked suspicious, but I just can't tell her.”

My, my, Tara had sure been the busy little bee. And without saying a word to him.

“She thinks I had something to do with what happened to your aunt. Sheriff, I promise I didn't. I never saw your aunt again after I left her place. I wouldn't.” She dabbed her face with the frazzled tissue. “But what if someone else did see the notes and figured out why I'd gone? What if they told Paul? What would he think of me?” Her body shook as sobs overtook her.

And just when he thought it couldn't get any worse.

She continued. “He'd be so disappointed, or more likely furious that I'd even considered aborting our baby over such a silly misunderstanding.” She hung her head. “I'm so ashamed.”

Bubba cleared his throat. “Look, I don't think anyone's going to tell Paul. Whoever saw those notes saw them some time ago. What would be the point in waiting so long?”

“But what about Tara LeBlanc? She's determined to get answers to this mysterious illness that caused your aunt's and her grandmother's comas. She'll keep coming and asking questions, poking around. Paul's bound to catch wind of it.” Her voice went up in pitch, indicative of panic and oncoming hysteria. Neither of which would benefit an expecting mother.

“Don't worry. I'll talk to Tara, explain that I know you had nothing to do with the comas. I'll get her to back off.”

Suzie smiled through her tears. “I'd really appreciate that, Sheriff.” She struggled to her feet, and he stood, as well. “And I appreciate your discretion.”

Bubba hesitated. “Suzie, you know that keeping a secret of this magnitude from your husband isn't healthy for your marriage.”

“I know. I've been praying on how to tell him. Just not now.”

He nodded. Who was he to give out marital advice? His own heart had betrayed him—falling for a woman who didn't even believe in Jesus.

Suzie flashed him a smile, nodded and then hastened from his office.

He slumped back into his chair and lifted his pencil again.

First the mayor and his wife, now Suzie Richard. Who else was on Tara LeBlanc's hit list? It was high time for a long talk with her to find out exactly what she knew. Clearly she'd been withholding information from him.