CHAPTER SIX
“Morning, everyone,” said Ian. There were groans and moans as everyone settled in for their morning meeting. “Try to be a little more excited.”
“We’re working on it,” smirked Miller.
“Well, be nice today. Our client today is someone that many of us know. She went to school with some of our grandkids,” said Gaspar. He opened the door, and Deanna walked in, smiling at everyone with a little wave.
“Hi, everyone,” she smiled.
“Well, if it isn’t little Deanna Trehorn,” smiled Baptiste. He remembered her as being around the same age as CJ, Maverick, and a few other kids.
“Hi, Mr. Baptiste,” she waved.
“Ouch! Mister?” he said, holding his hand over his heart.
“Shut up, asshole. You’re old enough to be her grandfather,” said Gaspar. “Ignore him, Deanna.”
“No, it’s fine,” she laughed. “Believe me, none of you look old enough to be my grandfather. Every man here is exceptionally handsome and charming. Woe is me that you’re all married.” She lay the back of her hand on her forehead in a very Southern gesture.
“Okay, okay,” laughed Nine. “What can we do for you, honey? Does this have something to do with your folks?”
“I wish,” she said with a pained expression. “No. I’ve been told the police and sheriff are handling that, and I should let the professionals get the job done. Although I have my doubts. Anyway, no. I’m chairman of the Mardi Gras committee, overseeing all the floats, the pageant, the court, everything.”
“Brave girl,” said Alec, raising his brow.
“I know, right?” she laughed. “Anyway, I came in this morning to check on the progress of the floats at the warehouse and the floats have been vandalized. We’ve got the teams in there now trying to salvage what they can, but it’s a mess.”
“We can send some folks to help with the floats and add some security,” said Ghost.
“That would be wonderful, but I think I know who did it.”
“This should be interesting,” said Wilson.
“I think it’s a young woman who was trying to become queen of the parade. She interviewed with us the other day. In fact, your mother was there, and she was incredibly rude to her.”
“Rude to Mama?” frowned Alec. “Not many young girls would dare to do that and survive it.”
“Believe me, I know,” said Deanna. “Even her mother scolded her, but this young woman is about the most difficult teenager I’ve ever been around. She’s rude, entitled, self-absorbed, all of it. She was selected to be on the court, but she will not be queen, and she made sure I knew she was angry.”
“How did she do that?” asked Whiskey.
“She showed up two days ago, screaming and yelling at everyone who was working. I sat her down and spoke to her, trying to explain what the issues were and what caused her to not be selected. It seemed to go in one ear and out the other. When she left, she said we would all regret our decision.”
“How old is this demon?” asked Rafe.
“Seventeen. She’ll be eighteen in March and headed to LSU, which was one of the many reasons she demanded to be selected. She wanted it to look good on her college resume. Unfortunately, she didn’t realize that the sorority she’ll be rushing is the same one that I was president of and still serving on the admission committee.”
“Not smart on her part,” smirked Nine. “Was anyone hurt?”
“No. We didn’t have security specific to our building. There’s a small night security team that polices the warehouses in our section, but they said they didn’t see anything.”
“I’m surprised they didn’t hear something,” said Tailor. “Do you have pictures of the damage?”
She nodded, handing them her phone. As they passed it around, swiping through the photos, they noticed the sheer anger that shone through the photos.
“We can’t afford another setback on this. We wouldn’t have time to get the floats ready. Besides, I’m operating on a minimal budget this year. I’ve already donated from my own pocket to buy supplies and help alleviate some of the costs. We’ve had a few donations but not as many as we usually get for this.”
“Why dip in your own pocket? Don’t do that,” said Gaspar. “We have a fund to help with these kinds of things. Come on. Let’s go grab some food and talk more about this. We’ll need the name of the girl and her address.”
“Thank you,” she smiled. “Thank you all for your help with this. I haven’t had a chance to ask, but how are the boys? Maverick, Pax, Brax, CJ, and Patrick are who I was closest to. They were always the most well-mannered kids at school.”
“Well, that’s good to know,” smirked Ivan. “Benji and Annie are great parents and raised the boys right.”
“That’s because you and Miss Sophia are great parents,” smiled the young woman. “I just wish everyone had y’all’s magic touch. I’m telling you, some of these girls are just unbelievable.”
“What about the girl who won?” asked Baptiste.
“Louisa Pollock. I think you went to school with her grandmother, Josie Babineaux.” Baptiste and a few others nodded, recognizing the name. “She’s a sweet, lovely girl. Straight-A student, captain of her lacrosse team, captain of the debate team, and her essay was amazing. She volunteers three days a week at a soup kitchen, and on Sundays, she babysits at her church nursery. She actually apologized because her dress wasn’t custom-made. But talked so fondly of the trip she and her mother made to Baton Rouge to buy it at Dillard’s. She got teary talking about how they had lunch together, just the two of them.”
“Was the dress unattractive?” asked Rafe.
“Not at all. It was lovely. Completely event and age-appropriate. Pretty flowers on it, falling just at the knee, and she had respectable heels on. Her makeup was minimal, her nails neatly trimmed with light colored polish. She is everything that the sorority would want. Not this other child.”
“What was the girl’s name?”
“Lottie. Lottie Carver,” said Deanna, rolling her eyes.
“Is her daddy Penn Carver?” asked Miller.
“He is. The one and only,” said Deanna, rolling her eyes. “He doesn’t seem involved in this madness at all, which is strange, but his wife definitely is.”
“Penn’s father was a classmate of mine,” said Miller. “When we were in high school, he was involved in all sorts of scandals. Cheating on tests, cheating at sports, he was even accused of raping a girl in school. All charges were dropped thanks to his grandfather, Marcus Carver.”
“My parents knew all of them,” said Deanna. “Marcus Sr. and Jr. died years ago. Penn’s company used my father’s CPA firm for their taxes and to take overflow cases sometimes. I never had to deal with him, thank goodness, but Dad always said he was a piece of work.”
“Do you know what that meant?” asked Gaspar.
“Not a clue. When Mom and Dad were killed, I sold his firm. I just didn’t want to keep the business. I couldn’t sit at Dad’s desk and see the same people that had been coming to him for decades. I appreciate everyone being so kind but answering questions day after day about how I’m doing and have they caught the men responsible was starting to become too much. I’m working with Peck, Barnham, and Dodd as just a regular nine to five CPA.”
“They have a good reputation,” said Jean. “I handle a lot of the financial things here.”
“That’s right,” she smiled. “I did some work for you a few years back.” Jean nodded as they entered the cafeteria. Before they could say a word, the women were swarming poor Deanna, and she was whisked away.
“What do you think?” frowned Ghost.
Gaspar shook his head, letting out a long, slow breath. He honestly wasn’t sure what to think. There was still the matter of her parents’ unsolved murders, which could be part of all this. And then this girl, Penn Carver’s daughter, if she was anything like her father, she was going to be difficult.
“I don’t know, but that looked like a lot of damage for a teenage girl.”