Broken (14 page)

"I do," Neely vowed with her eyes alight.

Neely exchanged vows from the depths of her soul. Her heart raced with each word she said.

"Do you have rings?"

Raif and Neely obtained matching wedding rings of platinum from their attendants.

Reverend Paxton instructed, "Raif, place the ring on Neely's finger and repeat after me. 'With this ring I become your husband and pledge to be faithful to you from this day forward.'"

Raif slipped the ring on Neely and repeated the words.

Reverend Paxton smiled at Neely and instructed her just as he had Raif.

As she put the ring on Raif's finger, Neely momentarily rubbed the white circle around his finger where he had worn his wedding ring from Chris until the day he proposed to Neely. She looked into his eyes with tears in hers. He mouthed the words, "I love you."

With a happy heart she slipped the ring onto his finger and said, "With this ring I become your wife and pledge to be faithful to you from this day forward."

Looking from one to the other, the beloved gray-haired old minister said, "Raiford Gautier, Neely Rivers, as you have pledged yourselves to each other, I am proud to pronounce you husband and wife. Raif, kiss your bride."

Raif kissed Neely softly, but sensuously.

As they turned to face the congregation, Reverend Paxton said, "Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you Mr. and Mrs. Raiford Gautier. You are invited to their home to celebrate this union. Please, stand and do whatever you feel like doing."

Raif and Neely walked down the aisle arm in arm as the wedding guests applauded.

Amile's cuisine for the reception of a woman he loved like a daughter was exquisite. The guests danced and ate and drank champagne.

Raif and Neely exchanged wedding gifts. "You first," said Raif. Neely unveiled the painting she had entitled, "Raif in Flight."

"For your home office," she said.

"It's marvelous. Yes, I feel as if I'm flying when I'm with you. Now, for yours—no jewelry or anything of monetary value. There are two parts. First, I'm designing Amile's new restaurant here in Eau Boueuse. He'll be moving here. Second"—Raif pulled the key to the guest cottage from his pocket—"the guest house will have a permanent occupant from now on. Colleen, take your key."

"Raif!" said Neely in shock.

"I thought you might want your family close by."

"And you knew," she said accusingly to Colleen and Amile as they nodded.

Turning to Raif, she said, "You're the sweetest, most perfect man I've ever known, just like a knight rescuing a damsel in distress. I love you."

"And I do so love you," Raif said before he kissed his wife again and whisked her away for a week in Hawaii.

15

A Mistake

P
arke
r
barely got back to Eau Boueuse in time for his uncle's wedding. He had spent a month in the Czech Republic working with local authorities and Interpol. He had left the day after Thanksgiving and returned Christmas Eve. The trip had turned up only one useful piece of information—Latrice Descartes had birthed a son—if he could believe the words of Latrice's old mother who suffered dementia.

No matter what Edyta Sirits Descartes had been as a young woman, Parker found a frail, senile, old lady suffering from Alzheimer's. Day after day, he visited the old woman. Some days she did not respond at all to his presence. Other days, she talked and prattled aimlessly about her daughter. Each visit literally chilled Parker to the bone. The old woman's room was twenty degrees colder than the hallway. Not only was it cold, it was drab with no sense of love or caring at all. The faded gray walls were made darker by the white, but dingy, bedding and the one frayed mauve cloth-covered chair that sat near a dirty window, allowing in little sunlight. Even the washed-out robe the old lady wore offered no cheeriness. He had to wonder if evil spirits were at work, but kept that thought to himself.

It was always the same rhetoric. "Latrice ees such a good girl. She ees so obedient and very smart. She vill advance rapidly eef her fahzer vill leave her alone. He ees such an ogre. He broke my wrist, you know. I am so scared he vill hurt Latrice."

Remembering what Ray had told him about the conversation many years before with Latrice's father, a career American military officer, Parker would try to reassure the old woman he was on her side. "Ms. Edyta, I'm a policeman. I can help Latrice if you can tell me where Lloyd is."

Day in and day out, the conversation was the same. Finally, Parker gave up. He bent down and kissed the withered old lady on the cheek. He said kindly, "Good-bye, Ms. Edyta. I won't be coming back."

Edyta looked at the young man as if she were a million miles away and asked, "Lloyd, ees zat you? Have you come to visit Grandmomma?"

"Yes, Grandmomma," replied Parker.

"No, no," the old woman said shaking her head, a few loose hairs falling to Parker's shoulder as he got closer to Edyta to hear her better. "Zey took Lloyd and sent me avay. I let Latrice down. She vill never forgive me. Zey killed Latrice, Lloyd. Don't ever forget zat." Then, the old woman was gone to another state of reality once more.

Parker stopped in the hallway and arched a brow as he looked back at the door.
Is she faking?
Was that a clue?

As had been arranged before Dantzler's death, he worked with Interpol for the next two weeks. Old boxed files, not even computerized littered a room almost as somber as Edyta's room. Two agents assisted him in his quest.  By the time Parker finished searching hundreds of files, he had grown a full beard.

"Damn it!" he exclaimed slamming the last file shut.

"Merde!" Inspector Manau echoed Parker's irritation. "No evidence that this Latrice Descartes ever had a child. I read her case. My humble apologies, Detective Reynolds." His heavy French accent added to his sincerity.

"Not your fault. But I'm heading home. Maybe something new will turn up there." Parker extended his hand. "Merci, Inspecteur, pour toute votre aide. Il a été un plaisir de travailler avec vous même si nous ne avons rien trouvé. Si vous avez besoin de mon aide aux États-Unis, ne hésitez pas à appeler."

The inspector laughed and shook Parker's hand. "All this time, zhou have understood all my grumbling and never said a word. Zhour French is impeccable with only a slight accent."

"That would be Cajun." Parker smiled, his blue eyes dancing.

"Oui, it has been a pleasure to work with zhou, aussi. I will gladly call upon zhou should I ever need the favor returned." Manau tapped his chin. "Will zhour wife like the new look?"

"No. I'll shave after I watch the disgust spread across her face. I could use a good laugh."

"Moi aussi. Bonne chance. I hope zhou find this murderer before he strikes again."

Parker returned to Eau Boueuse frustrated. He was certain Lloyd was Latrice Descartes's son and that he was responsible for the deaths of four law enforcement officers. Parker was determined to find Lloyd, whoever he was, but for the moment, he would celebrate Raif's newfound happiness.

After Raif and Neely flew to Hawaii, Parker sat down with his father and Brian Baker to discuss what he had found.

"I think you're right on target, Parker," Ray said, "but we have to find him. How could he just vanish?"

"Maybe he got lost in the system like I did," Parker surmised. "If I hadn't had the gumption to come looking for you, God only knows what would have happened to me."

"You have a point, but Latrice lived in so many different places. On top of that, her black ops connection could make this lad untraceable." Ray rubbed his head as if a migraine might be in the works.

Parker pointed. "Meds before you get sick."

Ray opened his drawer and took the medication he had been prescribed.

"I sure hope we don't have to catch him in the act," Baker said. "Ray, you and I are the only two left who were involved in Latrice Descartes's case."

"I really hope he doesn't go after Raif and Larkin." Ray knitted his brow in a worried frown.

"Lord!" Parker exclaimed. "I hadn't even thought of that. They were as instrumental in her demise as any of you; Momma, more. She actually shot and killed her."

"Ray," said Baker. "It's time to get protection. I don't wanna leave my family."

Ray nodded. "You could be right. I'll talk with the feds and see what we can arrange first thing in the morning. I want to change the subject to something lighter and more pleasant. What do y'all think of Neely?"

"She's great," Parker said. "It's really nice to hear Uncle Raif laugh again, to see his smile. He has been through enough. I love watching the light in his eyes."

"I agree," Brian said. "Raif is a really good guy. His capacity for love astounds me. He even brought that old voodoo queen here because she loves Neely."

"Colleen's a hoot!" Ray slapped the top of his desk. "She has her little shop set up right out of the kitchen there. Brews all sorts of potions." He laughed hard and long. "She has customers too!" His sapphire-blue eyes crinkled in merriment. "She threatened to put a curse on Raif if he broke Neely's heart, but she absolutely adores him now. Maybe we should get her to work a little magic to find Lloyd." He flexed his fingers out straight as if casting a spell.

"Yes, I agree. Neely is just what Raif needs." Baker nodded vigorously.

"Let's go have a few beers on my
brother's
account to celebrate his good fortune," Ray suggested.

"Poppy!" scolded Parker with a mock glare.

"Poppycock!" Baker chortled.

Ray held up his hands in surrender. "Okay, okay. I'll pay."

"That's better. I'll take you up on that offer." Parker grinned.

"Me, too," agreed Baker. "But only a couple because Olivia will have dinner waiting."

As the three officers had a beer, a frosty drizzle began to fall.

Coming out of the bar where the local police congregated, Brian walked to his car. He laughed out loud. "Ray! Can you believe this? I got a parking ticket." He looked around. "Why do I have a ticket? I'm not breaking any laws. I can park here. I have my law enforcement sticker on my bumper." He shrugged. "Maybe he didn't see in all the rain. I can't even make out the officer's signature. It's nice to have friends in high places. Or should I just turn the wipers on high when I get in and hope this thing gets lost somewhere?"

A chill ran down Parker's spine. "Stop!" he shouted holding his hands out in front of him.

When Baker lifted the windshield wiper to get the ticket, his car exploded. The hood popped up as smoke billowed from beneath the vehicle and shrapnel blew geyser-like through the roof. He flew across the street, and the impact of the explosion sent Ray and Parker through the plate glass window of the bar.

Bar patrons took cover beneath tables and reverberating screams from the few folks coming in echoed in the faster falling rain.

Parker recovered with a groan. He felt small cuts on his hands and neck, but his leather jacket had protected most of his body. He crawled to Brian Baker. Baker moaned. "Be quiet!" said Parker with authority. "You're dead. Trust me—You. Are. Dead." Baker seemed to understand that Parker was driving at making the killer believe he had succeeded and tried to remain still.

Ray staggered to join the other two, his hand pressed hard against a gash in his hairline and above his eye.

"He's dead," said Parker. "Are you okay, Daddy?"

Ray nodded his understanding. "My, God! Another one. I want his family taken into protective custody immediately." He pushed harder on his freely bleeding cut. "I'm gonna need some stiches. You?"

"I'll need to be checked out, but I don't think I have serious injuries."

When the ambulance arrived, Ray commanded in the first responder's ear, "Put the sheet over his face."

"What? Why?" asked the EMT.

"Just do it. We want the maniac to think he succeeded."

"Yes, Chief. I understand." The emergency medical technician complied as he covered Baker. "Why has he changed tactics?" asked the young man. "I'm tired of taking people I've known forever to the morgue instead of the hospital, and I would even hate taking y'all there."

Parker whispered in explanation, "Because I found the expelled cartridge at the library when he killed Dantzler. He thinks I can trace the gun. He's made two mistakes now. He's starting to fall apart."