It suddenly occurred to me that she was right. Granted, the Heberts had seen me somewhat in action and knew I was more capable than the average person, but they didn’t know the extent of my ability and they didn’t know anything at all about Ida Belle’s military past.
But it bothered me. Could I just let them walk away? Yeah, they’d gone to prison for ten years, probably for something they didn’t do, but they were drug dealers and generally all-around useless people. That wasn’t likely to change. I pulled my pistol out. I couldn’t do it. Ida Belle shook her head and smiled, and I felt my heart tug. She was the best friend a girl could ask for.
I was just about to burst through the gate when I heard a voice I hadn’t expected to hear. One that had me frozen in my tracks.
“I’m afraid I’m going to have to take that bag,” Lucinda said.
I looked over at Ida Belle, who was doing her own statue impression, her eyes wide.
“Mom?” John said.
Mom!?
I looked at Ida Belle. What the hell was going on here? Just when we thought we had most of it straightened out, the entire world turned upside down. I couldn’t risk looking through the gate again. I was completely exposed that way, so instead, I reached into the bushes and tried to push some of the branches aside so that I could see where Lucinda was standing, but no matter how many ways I moved the thick green leaves, I couldn’t see through the dense foliage.
“I tried so hard with you boys,” Lucinda said, “but you’ve been more trouble than you were ever worth. All those years I did so well in the business, but you two didn’t inherit one ounce of my ability. I’m not going to let you take me down. I’ve waited too long for certain things and just when they were falling in line, you two showed up, looking for that damned key again.”
“You set us up?” John asked.
“How could you?” Bart asked.
“To save myself, of course,” Lucinda said. “You shouldn’t have drawn attention to yourselves with the drugs. You don’t have the skill set for what you were attempting. If you’d kept boosting cars, things might have been different. Now drop your guns and kick them to the side. Careful now. You know I’m quick with the trigger.”
I heard the guns hit the ground, and Ida Belle whispered, “Can you get a shot?”
I shook my head. “Can’t see through the bushes. I’ll have to chance it over the gate.”
No way was Lucinda getting away with this. She was the one who’d stolen the vehicles from Hot Rod’s place, and I’d bet anything Ralph had been her accomplice. The brothers had probably told their uncle and mother about the evidence Gary left for them, thinking they would help find the key. They had no idea they were feeding information to the enemy.
When I had some time to reflect, I would be properly sickened and outraged over the entire thing, but now, I had to take Lucinda down before she killed the brothers and left them on the hook for even more crimes she’d committed. I clenched my pistol and nodded at Ida Belle, then eased to the very edge of the bushes and started the countdown.
One. Two.
I never got to three.
Two shots rang out and I whirled around the gate, gun leveled and ready to fire at Lucinda, but she was on the ground, blood seeping from her chest and a hole in the middle of her forehead. The Seal brothers were staring in shock, hands empty, so I scanned the parking lot, figuring one of the Hebert clan had flanked them.
But it was Patrick Marion who appeared over the hood of a parked vehicle, leveling a pistol at the brothers. I spun back around, hoping that Marion had been concentrating on the brothers and hadn’t seen me, but I didn’t hold out much hope. The last thing I needed was a deputy putting me in his report. Especially this report. A scandal was going to be big news, and I was willing to bet that there was so much more to this one that we didn’t know.
“You know who I am?” Marion asked.
“You’re that cop,” John said. “The one whose kid died. We told you we was set up.”
“And I believed you, but I had no proof,” Marion said. “Ms. Morrow and company, I know you’re there behind the bushes. I followed you here. I’m not interested in anyone else getting hurt or quite frankly, in arresting anyone. All I want is the evidence.”
“It’s supposed to be in the bag,” John said.
“What do you think?” Ida Belle whispered.
“I think we’re screwed regardless,” I said. “He’s a cop. He can show up to arrest us at any time.”
I shoved my pistol in my waistband and stepped out from behind the bushes and into clear view. “They don’t have the evidence,” I said. “I removed a USB from the bag before I gave it to them. I was going to turn it over to law enforcement so the people looking for it stopped targeting my friend.”
Marion nodded. “I figured as much, especially with you bundled up with Deputy LeBlanc. Did you know my boy never did drugs before that night? Hair tests proved it. They found GHB in his system.”
I shook my head. “Someone drugged him, then shot him up with bad heroin to make it look like an OD.”
“Yes,” Marion said. “To the cops it looked like any other drunk college student tragedy, but I knew better. I’d received the threats, but I didn’t listen, and my son paid for it. I couldn’t risk the rest of my family. Not with nothing else to go on.”
“So you stopped your investigation,” I said.
“And left the New Orleans PD. Moved to a small town and ran herd over drunks, wondering for ten years if that evidence really existed. If these two were telling the truth about being set up.”
“Now you know,” I said. “I’m going to remove the USB from my pocket.”
He nodded, and I pulled it out and placed it on top of the gatepost.
“Get out of here,” he said. “You don’t want to be caught up in this mess. It would take over your lives for a long time.”
“What are you going to do with them?” I asked.
He stared at them for several uncomfortable seconds.
“Nothing,” he said finally. “They served more time than they were due for their actual crimes.” He looked at the brothers. “Take the bag and get in your car and leave. I don’t ever want to see you anywhere in Louisiana again.”
The brothers’ eyes widened in surprise. “You don’t have to worry about that,” John said. “Once we get out, we ain’t ever setting foot here again.”
John moved forward hesitantly and grabbed the bag of money. He hurried back to the car and they climbed inside, their expressions clearly showing their disbelief at this unexpected good fortune. He started the car and burned rubber leaving the parking lot.
When they were out of sight, Marion looked at me again. “I meant what I said. Get out of here. I don’t want to file a report including civilians, and I’m going to guess you don’t want to be in a report that includes information about you consorting with the Heberts. Nor do I want people to know that I just let the Seal brothers go.”
“What do I tell people if they ask?” I asked.
“Whatever you want to tell them,” he said. “But as far as I’m concerned, we never met.”
I nodded and whirled around, pulling Ida Belle’s arm. “Let’s get out of here before the cavalry shows up.”