CHAPTER 13
Lady settled on Aurelie’s lap and fell asleep for the short ride back to the cottage.
Aurelie tried to look at the bright side of the day so far. They’d determined Lady had belonged to the Pearsons. She was as healthy as a dog could be that had been running wild for the past couple of months, foraging on whatever she could find to survive. And she hadn’t been eaten by an alligator, coyote or larger dogs.
They had medicines to help her regain her health and were taking her back to the only home she’d ever known.
Aurelie found it helped to focus on someone else other than herself. It was pointless fixating on the fact she had a target on her back with experienced hitmen taking aim.
Caring for Lady helped. But how much of an effort would it be if the dog slept all day?
Aurelie needed to keep moving. She needed a task to occupy her mind, or she’d fall down the rabbit hole of what-ifs.
Beau parked his truck behind the house. “Just in case someone comes looking for us, it won’t be as obvious that we’re here,” he said.
He’d carried his handgun in the console of his truck on the drive to and from town. As soon as he parked, he took it out of the console and tucked it into the waistband of his jeans.
“Isn’t that awkward?” Aurelie asked.
He nodded. “Yeah. I’ve got a shoulder holster in my backpack I plan to wear now that we’re here.” He helped her to the ground and walked with her up the porch steps. After he unlocked the door, he stepped inside and waited for her to enter. He closed the door and flipped the lever for the deadbolt.
“You know the drill,” he stated.
She nodded. “Stay just inside the door while you run a security check.”
Beau nodded and winked. “I’ll be right back. Don’t go anywhere.”
Aurelie stood still, following the sound of Beau’s footsteps as he moved from room to room. He came back with a smile.
“Let me guess,” she said with one eyebrow cocked. “All clear?”
“Yes, ma’am,” he said with a grin.
She set Lady on the floor.
The dog raced toward the kitchen where Aurelie had left a bowl of water on the floor earlier.
Aurelie’s gaze followed Lady until she disappeared around a corner.
Beau laughed. “I think she feels safe.”
“Agreed.” She shifted her gaze to meet Beau’s. “I can’t just sit around waiting for something to happen. Your mother said we could earn our rent by sorting through the Pearson’s belongings.”
“She did say that.” Beau walked with her into the living room and stood looking around. “Do you want to tackle it today?”
She laughed. “It’ll take more than a day, but yes. I need to keep busy. Sorting and boxing would give me something productive to do, and staying here at the cottage will make your job of keeping up with me easier.” She gave him a crooked grin. “It’s a win for both of us.”
He clapped his hands together. “I’m in. I think I saw a stack of empty boxes in one of the bedrooms.”
They started by labeling three separate boxes as Donate, Family and Trash and went to work in the spare bedrooms first.
They worked all morning, making it through the two bedrooms by noon, stopping several times to pet Lady or to take her outside for short walks on a leash. She was content to sleep most of the day on the living room sofa.
Beau heated leftover gumbo for lunch. They ate on the back porch, enjoying being outside until the heat and humidity drove them indoors to crank up the window air-conditioning units.
They spent the afternoon going through the kitchen and pantry, taking a little longer while sorting through things they could use while they were there.
By late afternoon, they made it to the laundry room and found an attic entrance in the ceiling with stairs that dropped down.
Beau climbed up to get an idea of how much had been stored up there.
When he let out a long, slow whistle, Aurelie groaned. “A lot?”
“Too much to start on today.” He backed down the ladder and raised the staircase, folding it up into the ceiling. “More gumbo for dinner, or do you want me to make omelets?”
“Omelets,” Aurelie said. “Are we done for the day?”
“I am if you are,” he said.
“I’m done.” Aurelie led the way out of the laundry room and into the living room, now crowded with boxes stacked against one wall. “That’s a lot of stuff. The trash alone will take several trips to the landfill in your truck.”
“Or we can have a roll-on, roll-off container delivered. We still have the attic and a storage shed to clear out.”
She collapsed onto the sofa and put her feet up on a box labeled FAMILY. Lady rose from her corner of the sofa and climbed onto Aurelie’s lap.
“Hey, little Lady,” Aurelie crooned. “Need a little lovin’?”
“I’m going to make those omelets. We can eat out here rather than at the dining table.” He headed for the kitchen.
“A good idea since it’s covered with boxes,” Aurelie called out. “Let me know if you need help.”
“I’ve got this,” he responded.
“Good, because now that I’m down, I don’t think I can get up again.”
“Relax.” He appeared a moment later with a glass of wine. “This might help.”
“Mmm. A man after my own heart. I could get used to being waited on. Just give me wine and chocolate bonbons, and I’m a happy camper.”
“I’ll be sure to load up on chocolate bonbons next time we go grocery shopping.” He winked and headed back to the kitchen.
Aurelie sipped her wine and looked around at all the work they’d done so far. With the pictures removed from the walls and the clutter stored in boxes to be donated or trashed, she could see the potential of the room.
Beau appeared with two plates. He handed one to her and laid the other on a box. “Need a refill on the wine?” he asked.
“I still have enough in this glass,” she said.
He returned to the kitchen and came back with another glass of wine and salt and pepper shakers. As he sank onto the sofa beside her, he reached for his plate on the box in front of him and dug into the omelet.
Aurelie was a few bites ahead of him. “I’m starting to see the potential in this cottage.”
“Potential?” he asked.
Aurelie pointed to the wall he’d just had to walk around from the kitchen. “If that’s not a load-bearing wall, I’d open it up between the kitchen and living room.”
Beau nodded. “I like the idea of an open-concept living space. What else?”
“This house has only one bathroom for three bedrooms.” She shook her head, her brow puckered. “I’d add an ensuite bathroom to the master bedroom. It would be an owner oasis with a walk-in shower, soaker tub and his-and-hers vanities.” She grimaced. “Can you tell I watch a lot of home makeover shows?”
“That’s not a bad thing. They have some great ideas.”
“You watch them, too?” she asked.
“I did when I was in rehab for my leg.” He took a bite of his omelet, chewed thoughtfully and then swallowed. “You’d open up the living room and add a bathroom. Is that all you’d do?”
Aurelie smiled. “It would be a good start to making this place a home.”
“Are you planning major renovations to your place in Bayou Miste?”
Aurelie’s lips pressed together. “I don’t know. I’m not in a hurry to go back. Knowing a hitman slashed my mattress makes me leery of ever sleeping there again.”
“You don’t have to worry about it for a while. You could stay here until they sell the place.”
She looked around the living room. “I do like the high ceilings and big windows. Fresh paint would brighten it.
They finished their omelets and shared the responsibility of cleaning up the dishes and the kitchen.
“You can have the first shower,” Aurelie said, suddenly shy with the man she’d made love with the night before. He hadn’t made a move for a repeat of the intimacy they’d shared. Aurelie was beginning to wonder if he’d found her boring.
“You could join me,” he said and held out his hand.
Her heart took flight, her pulse shooting blood through her veins as she walked toward the bathroom with him.
He paused at his backpack to retrieve protection and then continued into the bathroom, where he turned on the shower to let the water warm.
They took turns stripping items of clothing off each other until they stood naked on the cool tile floor.
Beau’s gaze swept over her, burning in its intensity. “You’re so beautiful.”
“So are you.” She reached out and laid her hand on his broad chest, amazed at how solid he was and how safe she felt with him.
He grinned. “I prefer handsome, but beautiful isn’t bad.” Beau raised her hand from his chest to his lips, pressing a kiss into her palm. Then he stepped into the shower, drawing her in with him.
Warm water rained down on them as they made love beneath the spray, taking the time to explore while washing away the dust of their day’s work.
She took the condom packet off the ledge where Beau had placed it, tore it open and smoothed it over his rock-hard cock, taking her time to reach the base.
As soon as it was in place, Beau lifted her by the backs of her thighs.
Aurelie wrapped her legs around him as he pressed her back against the cool tiles lining the shower wall. The chill of the tile did nothing to douse the inferno burning at her core. This man inspired the heat and fanned the flames spreading throughout her body.
He drove into her until he was fully seated, giving her a few brief moments to adjust to his size. Then he moved in and out, slowly at first, gathering speed with each thrust.
She braced her hands on his shoulders and rode him hard, her thighs clamped around his waist, her breasts rubbing against his chest.
The faster he pumped, the higher she rose until she burst over the edge of her release.
Beau continued to move in and out of her until his body tensed, and he thrust deep, pinning her to the wall as his cock pulsed inside her.
He leaned his forehead against hers until the pulsing of his release subsided, and his breathing returned to normal. Lifting her off his shaft, he lowered her to the shower floor and cupped her cheek. “You make me glad I’m alive,” he whispered against her lips and then kissed her gently as if worshipping her mouth.
Something about his words struck her square in her gut. She looked up into his face. “Was there a time you weren’t glad you were alive?”
Beau didn’t respond. The haunted look in his eyes made Aurelie’s heart wrench. She didn’t want to spoil the afterglow of their lovemaking, but she wanted to know why he hadn’t been glad to be alive. She sensed it was an important part of who he was.
She remembered Benjamin commenting on a crash.
Aurelie met and held Beau’s gaze as she reached up to cup his cheek in her hand. “Did it have to do with the crash?”
The shadows around his eyes deepened. “The water’s getting cold.” He reached around her, turned off the water and stepped out of the shower.
She followed, intent on wrapping her arms around him in an attempt to ease his sadness.
Aurelie was brought up short when his arm shot out, shoving a towel in front of her.
When she took the towel, he stepped out of reach, quickly dried himself and left the bathroom. He headed for his backpack, extracted shorts and a T-shirt, and disappeared down the hallway to the living room.
The heat of their passion was effectively extinguished by Beau’s icy withdrawal.
For a moment, Aurelie stared at the empty hallway. A less stubborn woman would have given the man his space.
They didn’t call Aurelie her father’s daughter for nothing. When an Anderson wanted answers, he or she went after them. Fiercely. Relentlessly.
She dried, grabbed an oversized T-shirt and pulled it over her head. The hem fell to the middle of her thighs, covering enough.
She ran to the living room.
Beau sat on the floor, staring straight ahead with Lady curled up in his lap.
Aurelie lowered herself to sit beside him. She reached for his hand and held it in hers.
For a long time, neither spoke.
Just when she thought Beau might have fallen asleep, he said, “Everyone died.”
She froze, not wanting to move even a fraction of an inch and stop the flow of Beau’s words.
“Everyone but me,” he said so softly she wasn’t sure she’d heard him correctly.
She didn’t comment, and she certainly didn’t judge. She just held his hand while he unburdened his conscience.
“I was last in the chopper and was struggling to secure my harness when a mortar round blew through the fuselage into the cockpit. We weren’t more than twenty feet from the ground when it happened. The round exploded. My next memory was waking up in a field hospital, the lone survivor of the crash.”
Aurelie’s chest was so tight she could barely breathe.
“Everyone died in that helicopter,” he whispered.
“Except me,” she said, lost in the memory of waking up in the hospital, crying out for her mother, only to be told she was dead.
How long they sat on that floor, Aurelie had no idea. She leaned against his shoulder, taking comfort in his strength and knowing she wasn’t alone in her guilt. She truly believed she should have died when her mother had.
Beau stirred beside her. “We’re a pair. We make passionate love and then sit staring at nothing, feeling sorry for ourselves.” Setting the dog on the floor, he pushed to his feet and reached for her hand. “The least we can do is get some rest so we can do this again tomorrow.”
When he held out his hand, she gripped it and let him pull her to her feet. She wrapped her arms around his waist and rested her cheek against his chest. “I’m glad you took the job,” she said.
His arms rose up around her. “Me, too. Come on, let’s get a real night’s sleep in a bed.”
They walked into the bedroom and climbed into the bed.
Beau pulled Aurelie into his arms.
She rested her cheek on his chest, listening to the steady beat of his heart. “If you had died in that helicopter...I would have died in the bayou.” She tipped her head up to meet his gaze. “You had to live to save me.”
“And you had to live so I could save you, thus saving myself.” He laughed. “We must be tired. We’re not making sense.”
“We’re making the most sense right now,” she argued.
A high-pitched yelp sounded from the floor beside the bed.
Aurelie leaned over the side and reached for the little dog.
Lady moved out of reach, heading for the door.
Aurelie sat up. “She needs to go outside.”
“I’ll take her.” Beau rolled out of the bed and followed the dog out of the room.
Aurelie laid back. No sooner had she closed her eyes than her cell phone chirped, indicating an incoming text.
She reached for it on the nightstand and stared at the message.
All thoughts of sleep flew out the window. Aurelie leaped out of bed and dressed quickly. She was tying the laces on her running shoes when Beau returned, carrying Lady.
He frowned when he saw that she was fully dressed. “Going somewhere?”
She looked up. “My informer just sent me a message. JBK Chemicals is dumping a dozen barrels of industrial waste into the bayou tonight at midnight.”
He shook his head. “You’re not going out there, are you?”
Aurelie finished tying her lace and stood. “I have to. Someone has to document what they’re doing;”
“Call the EPA.” Beau gripped her arms. “It’s their job to police the disposal of hazardous waste, not yours.”
“They won’t come unless they have evidence.” She met his gaze and held it. “I promise not to get too close. They won’t see me.”
“How do you know where they’ll be?”
“My informant sent me the GPS coordinates.”
“And how do you propose to get there?”
“Mr. Pearson’s skiff?” She glanced at the clock on the nightstand. “I have to go. I need to make sure the skiff has enough fuel to get me there and back, and I need time to get there early so I can lie in wait for the bastards to arrive.”
“You can’t do this,” Beau said. “It’s too dangerous. Lansky and Slash are out there somewhere, waiting for an opportunity to finish the job.”
She stared up into his eyes. “This is what I do. It’s my purpose, the reason I lived through the crash that killed my mother. I lived to make a difference.” She lifted her chin. “I’m going. With or without you.”
“I can’t protect you if you’re halfway across the bayou. Fuck,” he muttered. “I’m going with you.”
Aurelie nodded. “We have to hurry. It’s almost midnight.”