Chapter 8
At Tante Mimi’s Diner, Mimi herself escorted Bernie and Gerard to a table. “I heard what happened to Howey,” she said. “Sit down. I’ll bring you some water, coffee, orange juice and cook anything you want, on the menu or not. On the house.”
Bernie hugged Mimi. “You don’t have to go to all that trouble. I doubt I could eat a bite.”
Mimi held Bernie at arm’s length. “You have to believe Howey will be all right. Think positive.”
Bernie nodded. “You’re right. He could use all the positivity he can get.”
“Right.” Mimi smoothed her hands over her apron. “What can I get you two to eat?”
Bernie shrugged. “Anything. Surprise me.”
Mimi turned to Gerard. “And you?”
“Make it two,” he said.
“Gotcha. I’ll be right back.” The woman spun, and her long black hair, encased in a hairnet, bobbed as she hurried toward a coffee pot behind the counter.
Gerard had been to the diner on several occasions and had seen Mimi each time, usually through the order window, as she did most of the cooking and left waiting tables to others.
She couldn’t be any older than Gerard and was pretty, even when wearing one of those weird chef’s hats and a hairnet.
He’d heard she’d been a high-powered chef in New Orleans at one point and had given it all up to move to Bayou Mambaloa and take over her aunt’s diner, her aunt being the original Tante Mimi.
Rumor had it that the second iteration of Mimi’s had suffered a big breakup with a restaurant owner and had tucked her tail and run.
As far as Gerard was concerned, it was New Orleans’ loss and Bayou Mambaloa’s gain. Everything Mimi prepared was amazing, even simple scrambled eggs and toast.
The diner door opened. Deputy Taylor and Sheriff Bergeron entered and came straight to their table.
Mimi showed up a moment later, carrying a tray with a pot of coffee and four mugs. She set the mugs in front of each of her guests, poured the coffee and left them to talk.
Sheriff Bergeron leaned forward. “Deputy Taylor said you needed to talk to me. Something about your dog?”
Bernie opened her mouth, but her eyes filled with tears, and she turned to Gerard. “Tell him,”
Gerard filled the sheriff in on all that had transpired through the night and what they’d found that morning. He left out the part about making love to his client. That was strictly on a need-to-know basis. Nobody but him and Bernie needed to know about that.
“I’ll get out there after this meeting and look around,” Deputy Taylor said.
“Have you had any more contact with the resort broker?” the sheriff asked.
Bernie shook her head. “Not over the last week. I’ve had a few real estate agents leave messages, wanting to know if I was willing to sell the property. I don’t respond.”
“Can you send me the numbers for them?” Sheriff Bergeron asked.
“Sorry,” Bernie grimaced. “I deleted them.”
Gerard pushed back from the table. “I’ll be right back. I need to report to my boss. He’ll want to know what’s going on.” He touched Bernie’s arm. “Will you be okay?”
She nodded.
He stepped out the front door of the diner and called Remy.
Remy answered on the first ring. “Gerard, give me a situation report. Shelby said there was another attack at the farm. Something about a dog?”
Gerard told him what had happened. “Whoever is doing this is getting more brazen,” he said.
“We need surveillance,” Remy said.
“I was thinking cameras placed strategically would help us identify the culprit,” Gerard suggested. “Maybe a game camera on the pigpen since there wouldn’t be any electricity to tap into. The sooner, the better.”
“I’ll see what I can do to have cameras installed today.”
“Thanks,” Gerard said. “Also, it would be great if the guys could get out there ASAP to help with the cleanup and see if there’s anything to salvage after the sheriff’s department checks it out.”
“I can make that happen,” Remy assured him. “They were due out there at noon anyway. We’ll move up the timeline.”
“Remy, have you heard anything from Swede about the resort wanting to purchase Bellamy Acres? Or about the company trying to broker the deal?”
“Not much more than we already knew,” Remy said. “When I spoke with Swede last night, he was digging into the men working the deal. He hoped to have more information later today.”
“What about the foot? I don’t see how it relates to the attempts to purchase the property unless they hope to scare Bernie into selling.”
“Maybe poisoning her dog is supposed to drive home their death threat,” Remy suggested.
“Nothing makes sense,” Gerard said. “We need to catch whoever is messing with her. Preferably before they follow through on their threat.”
“I hear ya,” Remy said. “I’ll work on the surveillance cameras and get the guys out there to work on cleanup and harvesting the rest of the melons. I’ll be out there as soon as I can to help.”
“Thanks.” Gerard ended the call and returned to the diner as Mimi laid two full plates on the table.
“Perfect timing,” she said with a smile.
The sheriff and Deputy Taylor stood.
“We’ll leave you two to your breakfast,” the sheriff said.
“I’d like to be there when you come out to see the damage,” Bernie said.
“I have a few things I want to check on at the office, and then we’ll head out there. That should give you time to finish your meal.”
“Thank you,” Bernie said. “I hate to be a bother.”
“You’re not the bother,” Deputy Taylor said. “You aren’t the one causing problems.”
“Yeah, but if I’d just agreed to sell the place, none of this would be happening.” Bernie gave a weak smile. “They wouldn’t have felt the need to kill Gertrude and poison Howey.”
“You can’t blame yourself for the actions of others,” the sheriff said. “We’ll get to the bottom of this and bring the criminals to justice.”
On that note, the sheriff and deputy left the diner.
Bernie’s gaze followed them. “I hope they’re right.”
“One way or another, we will resolve this issue,” he promised.
“Please, make it sooner than later,” she said. “I’m beginning to think I need to move my animals to a safer location until then.”
Gerard couldn’t argue with her suggestion.
Until they got a handle on who was doing the damage, they couldn’t stop it from happening.
They needed that surveillance equipment ASAP.
Either that, or he’d go on stakeout all night long to nab the bastard—if he showed up.
Based on the pig releases, they knew he’d been there two nights in a row. He could show up again.
Gerard cleaned his plate of the delicious breakfast Mimi had provided, the best omelet he’d eaten his entire life.
Bernie, on the other hand, picked at the food on her plate. She nibbled a few bites and drank her entire cup of coffee.
Gerard worried the stress was getting to her. The attack on Howey had gutted her. With the loss of a significant portion of her crop, she now had to worry about how she’d pay her taxes and purchase food for her animals.
He had some money in his savings. Not much since he’d used a big portion of it to pay off his mother’s house in Mississippi. She’d gone to college after her divorce was final, earning her counseling degree.
Without worrying about a mortgage, she could pay her own bills and save for her retirement. She’d joined the singles group at her local church and had made several friends. She seemed happy for the first time in her life, which made Gerard happy for her.
Whatever money he had in his savings, he could give to Bernie to help her make ends meet until she could recoup her losses.
But when would that be? A year from now?
Being a farmer was hard enough without someone destroying her crop.
Gerard insisted on driving the old truck back to the farm with a quick stop at the boarding house so that he could grab more clothes, his night vision goggles and more ammunition for his pistol.
He was surprised Bernie didn’t put up a fight about him driving. She sat quietly in the passenger seat, a permanent crease across her forehead.
He wanted to tell her everything would be all right, but he couldn’t tell her when that might be. The frustration of being unable to put a name to the threats she’d gotten was getting to him.
At the boarding house, he parked close to the door. As old as the truck was, it didn’t have air conditioning. The day was warming quickly, making the interior hot and humid.
“Do you want to come up and wait in my room while I grab my stuff?” he asked. “It’ll be a lot cooler than sitting out here.”
She shook her head, rolling the window all the way down. “I’ll be okay.”
Gerard shut off the engine and rolled down his window as well.
“I won’t be long.” He dropped down from the truck and strode into the building and up the stairs to his room.
He grabbed a gym bag and shoved clothes from the closet and the dresser into the bag, along with the night vision goggles, the bullet-proof vest and the radio headset.
Better to have it and not need it than not have it and need it.
He shoved a pair of combat boots in and a packet of condoms.
Last night, he'd told himself the previous night would be a one-time affair. He’d blown that vow this morning when he’d made love with Bernie all over again. He knew it was just going to make it harder when he did make the break, but...
Better to have protection and not need it than not have it and need it.
Less than five minutes later, he descended the stairs and jogged out to the truck.
Bernie wasn’t where he’d left her in the passenger seat.
His heart skipped several beats before he saw movement out of the corner of his eye.
Bernie stood in the shade of a sycamore tree, her cell phone pressed to her ear. “That’s good to know,” she said, a small smile curling her lips. “Thank you, Dr. Saulnier.” She ended the call and turned to Gerard, a full-on smile spreading across her face.
She absolutely glowed, her joy so beautiful it hit him full in the gut.
He pressed a hand to his belly. “Was that the vet?”
She walked toward him. “Howey’s awake and eating.”