Chapter 24
Grace
Iwas exhausted.
Three days after the board meeting, the initial ME”s report had come in on Lucien Doucet”s autopsy and this case was getting wound up in so many ways that I didn”t know what was up and down. It was technically an organized crime operation now and yet being run by the DA”s office because the OC squad was still cleaning house.
I didn”t know how to tell the Doucets that their beloved grandfather, who had definitely been dying and soon would have, had still passed earlier than he should have. The ME had now ruled his death suspicious, though he told me when he put his final report together, he”d call it a homicide.
Added to the whole work situation, Zephyr was still pissed with me and hadn”t called or texted, but then neither had I. I was contemplating if I should head to Zephyr”s place in nothing but a long overcoat like women did in the movies when Blaze called me.
”Camille is at Jazz Sessions. You should come over.”
I looked at my watch, it was past one in the morning and Jazz Sessions was all but closed around this time except for a few stragglers. It was, after all, a weekday.
”Nick, Ash?”
”On their way,” Blaze confirmed.
”Zephyr should not be there. She needs to buy into the whole Zephyr is a gambler and pariah storyline.”
”Yeah. I know.”
”Anyone else there?”
”No.” I could almost hear his teeth grinding together.
”Good, keep it that way.”
”Grace, I have to call Henri. I may hate my mother”s guts, but she needs counsel.”
”Then you take that on.” No way did I want Henri Allard to know about this situation.
”Grace.”
”Blaze, please.”
”Okay, but I need an explanation,” he warned. ”I get it that you have to do your job, and I”m on a need-to-know basis, but whatever the fuck is going on with you stonewalling the people I trust is something I need to have explained. Are we clear?”
”Crystal.”
Since I was in bed when the call came, I changed into a loose linen jumpsuit and paired it with a white dress shirt. The temperature was rising in New Orleans, and soon, the evenings would be warm and muggy, making breathing outside feel like walking through soup. I loved it. I”d missed that in California, where the evenings invariably became cool, and in San Francisco, where the wind from the bay chilled you to the bone throughout the year.
Mark Twain wasn”t kidding when he said, ”The coldest winter he ever spent was a summer in San Francisco.”
I parked on the street at this time of night, where there were plenty of open spots.
I walked into Jazz Sessions, my eyes seeking Zephyr. Thankfully, he wasn”t there as I”d demanded, and yet, I was disappointed.
Camille and Blaze were on bar stools. Rome sat at a nearby table, his phone in his hand. Gaia had probably gone to bed. The pregnancy tired her quickly. Nick and Ash had not yet arrived.
Blaze rose when he saw me.
”Grace, you”ve met Camille.”
”I have. How are you, Mrs. Doucet?” I held out my hand, and she shook it.
She was a beautiful woman—something out of the movies, typecasted for playing a rich and sophisticated older woman. She may have been in hiding, but she wore a Christian Dior pantsuit, a Chanel pearl, a diamond choker, and enough bling on her ears and fingers to light up the Quarter.
”I hear that you dug up Lucien,” Camille commented.
”Well, you did tell your son that Lucien may have been murdered.”
I didn”t sit down, and neither did Blaze.
”Camille, we have a lot to talk about,” I stated. ”I”d like to continue this conversation at NOPD HQ.”
”No.” This came from Blaze. ”We talk here, and then we can take it elsewhere.”
”I”m not going to the police station,” Camille announced.
There was a knock on the bar”s door, and Blaze let Nick and Ash in. Camille stiffened. They came up to me.
”Are we taking her in?” Ash drawled.
”I hear congratulations are in order,” Camille sneered.
Nick, to give her credit, held up her ring finger with its big rock. ”Gorgeous, isn”t it?”
”All my children seem to have an affinity for trash.” Camille looked away from Nick.
”Maybe it”s having you as a mother.” I had no idea why those words came out of my mouth, but they did. I was furious with her for insinuating that Nick and Rome were trash. Like I was trash.
”Excuse me?” Camille demanded.
Blaze burst out laughing. ”Fuckin” hell, Grace. That I didn”t expect. Come on, Camille, stop being so flustered. You kinda asked for it. Alright, let”s take this to the big table, and we can have a conversation.”
Blaze sat at the head of the table, already the indomitable patriarch of the Doucet family. He was a born leader. He had charisma and charm, and his I-don”t-give-a-shit-about-what-you-think attitude made him even more appealing and sincere.
”Start talking, Camille.”
”I need a lawyer.” Camille didn”t seem to be intimidated by her son. The woman may be a complete bitch, but she had balls of steel.
”I”m your lawyer for this little chat,” Blaze informed her gruffly.
Something swam in her eyes. Gratitude? I couldn”t believe it. The arrogant Camille Doucet was grateful for the attention her son was giving her.
”I need immunity.” Camille looked at me in warning. ”Otherwise, I”m not talking.”
”Okay.” I got up. ”Blaze, we”ll expect you and Mrs. Doucet at my office tomorrow at—”
”Sit down, Grace,” Blaze growled. ”Let”s make this conversation…a ”Queen for the Day” situation.”
”No,” I replied. ”Not happening. Your mother is involved in money laundering and probably hiring someone to kill Rome, Gaia, and even you. I”m not negotiating with a Goddamn wannabe serial killer. She doesn”t want to talk. Fine. I”m sure your Russian friends, Camille, will appreciate your loyalty to them.”
Something flickered in Camille”s eyes, but it was gone too quickly. But one thing was clear: she was afraid of the Russians.
”Off the record,” Blaze snapped, ”and then we make decisions.”
”No. On the record. She tells us everything, and then we deal. I don”t have to do her any favors.”
”Fine,” Camille bit out. ”I didn”t hire anyone to kill Blaze.”
”But you did hire someone to kill Gaia and me?” Rome demanded.
”No,” she said easily, and we could all see it was a lie.
”Honest to God, Camille, if you did do that, I will kill you with my bare fucking hands,” Blaze warned.
I watched his fiancée, who was sitting next to him, put a hand on his thigh. And just like that, the big bad Blaze Doucet seemed to calm. He placed his hand on hers like he was gaining strength from her touch.
This was love.
This is how I felt with Zephyr. I was able to stand straight and hold my head high, get beyond the victim I knew I had been to claim the survivor I had become.
”You”re the one who had access to Pierre Doucet”s bank account, and he has attested to that,” I chimed in, ”and that was the account used to hire the second hitman and probably the first—the man who Gaia killed.”
Camille shook her head. ”Why on earth would I have access to Pierre”s bank accounts.”
”Because Lucien set them up.” Suddenly, I could see it clearly. Henri Allard probably set those accounts for Lucien, and he had access to them; he may have given them to Camille or…. ”Which means Henri knew all the details,” now I relied on my gut to continue, ”and since you”re banging the Doucet lawyer, I imagine your pillow talk included that information.”
Blaze growled at me. ”Grace, be careful. I will not have Henri slandered.”
”Camille?” I ignored Blaze. I knew it. I”d felt it. A glance at Nick and Ash told me they felt it in their bones as well. We were not Doucets; we didn”t have history or baggage. We had distance and clarity.
”You”re crazy. Henri is a friend…he”s been a friend of the family for years.”
She didn”t deny an affair.
”Even if Camille would want to fuck him, Henri wouldn”t go there,” Blaze assured me. ”Henri has integrity.”
Camille scoffed. ”God, why is it that all of you think Henri is such a hero? He”s a lawyer. He”s made money off of us.”
”That”s his profession, Camille.” This time it was Rome who came to Henri”s defense. ”Did he know about V.K. Corporation?”
Camille swallowed. ”Yes…well, he drew the partnership papers.”
”But he didn”t know they were the Russian mob and that BBH would be laundering money for them,” Rome calmly stated.
”You”ll have to ask him what he did or didn”t know,” Camille replied haughtily. ”There is no evidence of my involvement in the money laundering. That was Rufus and Will.”
”Rufus is dead, and Will didn”t give up money laundering details, Camille; he went to prison for embezzlement,” I reminded her.
”Here is what I need from the DA”s office to tell you everything. I need immunity.”
”And I can”t give that to you until you tell me what you know,” I countered.
”I trust Grace, Camille,” Blaze said softly.
”I don”t,” Camille quipped. ”I need protection. The people who killed Rufus and who will probably kill Will are after me. I have no doubt about that.”
”Why would they want to kill you?” I asked.
”Because I could talk,” she exclaimed. ”Why else? Are you dumb?”
”What would you talk about?” I leaned on the table.
”Now, that would be telling, wouldn”t it?” Camille smirked.
I got up then. ”Detectives, may I request you to arrest Mrs. Camille Doucet on suspicion of money laundering and attempted first-degree murder.”
”What?” Camille cried out.
”Grace, you”ve got no evidence to support—” Blaze started but he didn”t finish because Ash did as he was told and started to read the Miranda rights to a very angry Camille Doucet while cuffing her hands.
”And think about it, Camille, in prison, you”ll be safe from those who are trying to kill you as long as you stay in solitary confinement,” I mocked.