Jailbird (24 page)

“How are you?”

“The baby moved. Well, I’m sure he’s moved
before now, but I felt him move.”

“Really?”

“Last night.”

“I wish I could have been there.”

“I know. I mean, you wouldn’t be able to feel
it yet, but I wish you’d been there.”

“It’s so good to hear your voice,” his voice
felt like a caress to me. We didn’t talk about legal cases or next
moves for once. We just spent the next ten minutes talking for the
sake of hearing the other’s voice.

I wasn’t sure if it helped, or served only to
stoke the fire. I needed this to be over. My impatience did serve
one good purpose; it reminded me I was still alive. It kept me from
slipping back into the trance that had gotten me through my years
at Dixon.

“Wanna go for a ride?” Mary poked her head
into the living room. “Mama home schools my youngest brother. She
thought maybe Gabrielle would like to go on their field trip with
them today, if that’s okay with you.”

Gabrielle looked hesitantly at me. I nodded
encouragingly back. It would be good for her to spend some time
with another kid around her age. Besides, I needed to talk to Mary
alone.

After breakfast, various adults scattered to
work and Louise headed to the Bayou Country Children’s Museum with
Gabrielle and Nick. Mary’s grandparents puttered around the house.
An AM radio station droned on in the background.

“We’ll be back after lunch,” Mary shouted to
no one in particular, then grabbed her keys off a hook by the door
and tugged me along after her.

We folded into the green pinto I’d parked
behind the day before. When I offered to move my car, she waved me
off and just pulled through the grass.

“Sometimes I think I should be mad at you for
scaring the life outta me, but I’m just so happy you’re alive I
can’t seem to be angry,” Mary shook her head.

“I didn’t plan that night,” I felt a little
defensive.

“I know, I know. Still, I was just sick when
they said the gator ate you. It was horrible.”

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. If it makes you
feel any better, I had nightmares that bad things were happening to
you because I wasn’t there. I never stopped worrying about
you.”

“That was real sweet of you to send your
brother to look in on me.”

“Well, it was sweet of him. He did all the
work.”

“And Charlie, how did you ever find him? He’s
an angel.”

“I tell him he’s my angel all the time,” I
agreed. “And I think it was divine providence that sent that man my
way. You should meet his daughter; she’s a cherub, too.”

“I think you know what’s happening in my
world. Why don’t you fill me in on yours?” Mary parked the car
overlooking Bayou Lafourche and turned to face me.

“Wow… where to start…” there was so much
swirling through my mind it was hard to put it into an organized
sequence. I took a deep breath and did my best to relay the events
that had led up to that moment.

When I was done, she looked a little dazed.
That expression was shortly replaced by one of determination.

“You might not have any interns at your
disposal, Kali…”

“Neena,” I interrupted.

“Fine, Neena… you might not have interns like
this Rachel person, but you have a whole slew of O’Donnells ready
to serve.”

From the steel in her eyes, I knew it was
useless to argue. Instead, we began to discuss what was next. There
was a certain justice in it—we could both feel it in the air as we
sat in that rusty old car discussing how we could topple the rich,
important men who’d thought nothing of erasing the lives of two
insignificant women.

Whatever invisible strings had pulled me
here, I was glad for it. For the first time, I didn’t feel like a
convict on the run. I was a woman with a mission and a life to
reclaim.

Chapter Twenty-Four

After we’d sat in the car long enough to make
my rump fall asleep, we went into town to grab a bite at the local
diner. Then I ran into Wal-Mart to refill my stock of prenatal
vitamins and to buy more minutes for my phone. On the way back to
Mary’s house, I put a call in to Rachel to see if she’d found
anything out.

“She’s definitely living there, but I can’t
tell if he’s treating her well or not,” Rachel informed me first
thing. “As for junior’s past, finding victims isn’t hard. Finding
ones willing to talk on camera isn’t even tough. Finding the ones
willing to testify in court, that’s a whole new ballgame.”

“Maybe if enough talk on camera, that would
help shake something loose,” I suggested.

“I’m walking kind of a fine line, there. The
more I flash your face on screen, the more likely you are to be
found before you’re ready.”

“I appreciate the consideration.”

“I’m not quite as heartless as Conrad makes
me out to be.”

“Don’t worry about Conrad. That’s just his
way of pulling your pigtails.”

“Excuse me?”

“Never mind. Have you found anything on
Daniel?”

“Just the usual gossip fodder. People wonder
where his money comes from, what happened to his first wife, what
happens to the string of blondes that go through his house… nothing
concrete yet. Certainly nothing that would shut him up. He has some
seriously powerful friends, too. The guy gives me the creeps,
though. I know we’ll find something. We just have to keep
looking.”

“I appreciate what you’re doing, Rachel.”

“No worries. If I can crack this nut, I might
get a shot at a permanent primetime slot. I’m totally doing it for
myself.”

I didn’t believe her for a second, but I let
it go. She was the best chance I had at a sister-in-law so far; I
certainly wasn’t about to alienate her right off the bat. Besides,
if she and Conrad hit it off, maybe I could borrow her interns
sometimes. It would be kind of like having my own. I could offer
them college credit for exposing the seedy underbelly of the tile
behind my toilet. It sounded reasonable to me.

“Would it do me any good at all to try to get
Elena out of there right now?” I reigned in my wayward
imagination.

“I’m not sure she understands what she’s
gotten herself into just yet.”

“Should we kidnap her?”

“Not unless you want to go back to prison.
Look, we have no hard evidence that she is in danger right now. How
would you like it if someone kidnapped you because their gut
feeling told them Charlie was a whack-job?”

“Well when you put it that way, it just
sounds silly,” I frowned at the phone.

“It is silly. I know you are tired of running
and tired of waiting. Just lay low for a couple more days and I
promise we’ll have a direction for you to head soon.”

“Hey Rachel,” an idea struck me. “What do you
know about Nathan Smith?”

“Not a whole lot. There’s some buzz about him
being the savior of the GOP. To me, it seems pretty early for that
kind of talk. He’s new on the scene. It’s just a matter of time
until the skeletons in his closet start surfacing.”

“If I can point you in the direction of those
skeletons, do you know anyone who’d be interested?”

“You’re a veritable wellspring of leads,
aren’t you?” I could hear the smile in her voice. “Yeah, I might
know someone who’d be willing to chase that down.”

“His wife is Charlie’s ex. She walked out on
them when Cara was a baby. Now she’s trying to regain custody of
Cara and spin it that Charlie’s some kind of beast… I did a little
digging of my own, and their finances don’t quite match what
they’re telling Uncle Sam. I had to leave before I could track it
any further, but Charlie has copies of the paperwork. Actually, I
have all of their files, I just haven’t had time to finish going
through them.”

“Do I want to know how you have copies of all
of the files?”

“Probably not. Do you want me to get them to
you?”

“Sure. Do you think you could meet me in
Baton Rouge tomorrow? I have someone I was hoping to introduce you
to anyway.”

“Tomorrow? Yeah, I could probably do that,”
there was a part of me that tensed at the thought of meeting
Rachel. There was always the possibility that she was setting me
up. But she was also my best chance at sorting this mess out. She
gave me a voice, and that was worth taking a chance.

We set up the meeting and ended the call. I
filled Mary in on the parts of the conversation she hadn’t been
able to pick up. Then she asked a question I wasn’t really prepared
for, even though it made perfect sense.

“Why don’t you leave Gabrielle with us for
the time being?”

“That’s really sweet of you to offer, but
she’s been pretty adamantly glued to my side for the past few
weeks. And with not knowing anyone here, I can’t imagine she’d let
me leave without her.”

“I don’t know. She and Nick seem like two
peas in a pod. She’d have a friend her own age here. Mama would
keep her up with her schooling. You know she’d be safe, and she’d
have a bed to sleep in every night.”

“Her birthday is coming up,” I frowned. I’d
missed a lot of birthdays. I wanted to be there for this one.

“Then make sure you’re back in time for
it.”

“We’ll see what she wants. And I’ll have to
speak to Conrad,” I put off the decision. I trusted Mary. I trusted
her family. Really, it was selfish of me to hesitate. Being in one
place for a while would be good for Gabrielle. And she’d be safely
out of Daniel Winslow’s line of sight.

Mary let the subject drop, changing the topic
to her unsuccessful job hunt. Even though her name had been
cleared, the scandal hung over her head like a dark cloud that
followed her everywhere she went. I suggested she move to Hampton,
and the look I got in return told me the thought of leaving the
tiny house on the bayou had occurred to her. For the rest of the
day, I could see the wheels turning in her mind. I made a mental
note of my own to see if Charlie would mind a temporary house
guest, because I had a feeling we’d have one eventually.

That night, I slipped off to call Conrad. I’d
intended to get his feedback on whether or not to leave Gabrielle
with the O’Donnell family. I really should have expected the
direction the conversation took.

“Why don’t you just stay there with her?”
Conrad seemed completely exasperated by my obstinence.

“Because I have to be in Baton Rouge tomorrow
afternoon,” I answered as if that were the most logical thing in
the world. “And if there’s something I can do next to help out, I
have to try. I can’t just hide here until it all goes away.”

“Why not?”

“Because it’s my life.”

“Oh, well, that makes total sense then.”

“Don’t be sarcastic. It’s not your strong
suit.”

“I think I’m pretty good at it. And don’t
change the subject. What’s in Baton Rouge?”

“A city. You really should know that, having
grown up in Louisiana and all.”

“What’s in the city?”

“People.”

“Neena.”

“Actually, I don’t know what’s in Baton
Rouge. A friend asked me to meet her and I’m choosing to trust
her.”

“So, you meet Rachel once and suddenly you’re
BFFs? Really?”

“BFFs? That sounds so wrong coming from
you.”

“Hey, with a tween girl in the house, I know
all about BFFs.”

“Okay, you have to stop saying that now.
Besides, how do you know it’s Rachel?”

“Because Anjelita just finished harassing me
for not giving her your number, and you’re with Mary. That leaves
one other possibility.”

“That’s so sad. True, but sad.”

“Don’t be so hard on yourself; you haven’t
had many opportunities to mingle the past decade or so.”

“While I appreciate the consolation, I didn’t
exactly have friends beating down my door before that.”

“Sure you did. They were just always boys.
You would rather fish than paint your nails any day of the week,
little sister. You were a total tomboy.”

“Good point. So what about Gabrielle?”

“You really have to meet Rachel
tomorrow?”

“She’s going to help me with the whole Julie
mess. She asked me to meet her there for some reason. If it means I
can take something off of Charlie’s plate, yes, I’m going to meet
her there.”

“When and where? I’ll meet you beforehand and
we’ll go together.”

“Don’t you have to work?”

“Not tomorrow.”

“Liar.”

“I think I feel a cold coming on. Best thing
for it is a nice, long drive. Now where do you want to meet?”

“Meet me at the rest area on 10, just out of
Baton Rouge. About eleven o’clock.”

“I can do that.”

“And Gabrielle?” I reminded him.

“I think she’d be safest and happiest right
where she is. If Daniel Winslow came looking for her, those
O’Donnell boys would keep her safe.”

“I hate to tell you, Conrad, but you have
about three years, maybe four, before you’ll be trying to protect
her from that youngest O’Donnell boy.”

“No, little sister, you and Charlie will be
the ones doing the protecting. Go ahead and savor that
thought.”

“Whatever. I’ll see you tomorrow, you big
galoot.”

“Love you, too. Tell Gabs I said hi.”

I couldn’t help smiling at the phone as I
hung up. I had really missed him all those long years at Dixon.

I took Gabrielle through the McDonald’s drive
through that evening and parked the car overlooking the bayou so we
could eat our hot fudge sundaes and talk.

“Alright, kid, here’s the deal. If you go
with me, there is a very good chance Daniel Winslow will try to
take you away from me for good. If you stay here with Louise
O’Donnell, you can catch up on school, you’ll be safe, and I’ll be
back in no time so we can try to start a normal life back in
Hampton….”

“I’ll stay,” she interrupted me before I even
really got going.

“What? Really? I expected a whole lot more
fight out of you.”