CHAPTER TWENTY
“Where are you headed so early?” asked Luke.
“We’re gonna go check in on Claire and Mark to see how they’re doing,” said Milo. “Those kids broke my heart and I think their father is struggling so much he doesn’t even see it. I can’t blame him but just want to be sure the kids are doing alright.”
“Care if I come along?” asked Luke.
“It’s your party, brother,” smirked Griff. “Let’s go.”
The drive into town was nicer than the last few days. The weather had cleared somewhat and the temperatures were tolerable. The rain finally subsided and it was beginning to feel as though maybe they’d seen the last of winter in Louisiana.
As they parked on the street, the house seemed quiet, the blinds were closed and the men wondered if perhaps they’d left for a few days. Milo knocked on the door and waited. He heard rustling on the other side and worried that something was wrong. Knocking, he waited, then spoke.
“Claire? Mark?” he called.
“Go away! We don’t know who you are,” said Mark.
“Mark, it’s Milo from the other day. I’m with Luke and Griff.” The other two men frowned as the young man opened the door.
“I’m so glad it’s you,” he said falling against Milo’s chest.
“Hey, hey son, it’s okay,” said Luke. “Claire? Claire, honey are you here? Are you okay?” She stepped from behind the wall, fresh tears on her face.
“Whoa, whoa,” said Griff. “What’s going on here? Where’s your father?”
“We’re not sure. He left last night to get some things from the grocery store and didn’t return. We thought he just needed some time alone but now we’re scared. Really scared,” said Mark.
“A man came earlier and said he needed to talk to our mom. We told him she was dead but he said he didn’t believe us and he’d be back.”
“He did, did he?” frowned Griff.
“Don’t worry buddy, we’re going to figure this out,” said Luke. “Do you have any aunts, uncles, or grandparents that you can stay with?”
“Not here. They live far away,” said Claire.
“Well, not a problem. We’re going to take you home with us for now,” said Luke. “Griff and Milo are going to stay here and wait for your father and to see if that man returns.”
“He was scary,” sniffed Claire. “We could see him on the porch and he was big.”
“I’m sorry we weren’t here sooner, honey,” said Luke. “You two go pack a bag. Whatever you think you might need.”
When the kids were gone from the room, Luke looked at Griff and Milo, frowning. Something was definitely wrong here. From what they’d seen, their father would have never left those kids unless forced to.
“AJ? You hear me, brother?” asked Luke.
“Loud and clear as always. What’s up?”
“We need extra forces to watch this house. Send four. No five men,” said Luke.
“Who do you want?”
“Bodhi, Cade, Robbie, Remy, and Bogey. Tell them to load up,” growled Luke. “Oh, and AJ? Tell Aunt Claudette and Ajei I have two kids coming back with me. We need to find a safe place for them to stay. They can stay with me and Ajei if that’s convenient.”
“Will do,” said AJ.
“We’re ready, Mister Luke,” said Mark.
“Are you sure you have everything you need for now? We can always get you anything you might want but if it’s something special you want to bring with you, that’s fine.”
“We’re good, sir,” said Mark.
“Alright, let’s go then.”
“Mister Milo? Mister Griff? Those men tore the storage building apart.” The men frowned at Mark, looking at one another. “They said they would find what they needed.”
“What were they looking for?” asked Griff.
“We don’t know,” said Claire. “We were too scared to go outside but they were throwing things in the yard. We just left it.”
“Don’t worry, we’ll take care of it.” Luke gave a knowing nod to Milo and Griff, telling them with just one look what he wanted. Find out what the hell they were searching for.
Luke made sure that no one on the street was watching the house, then loaded the kids into the SUV and headed toward Belle Fleur. Griff and Milo waited for the other men to arrive, sitting on the front porch to ensure that anyone who came by would see them.
“Hi. Are you waiting for Mario?” asked a man.
“We are. Do you know where he is?” asked Milo.
“He was here the other day with the kids. My wife and I have been checking in on them every day. It was just awful what happened with Clementine. We were all shocked.”
“It was terrible. Did you see a couple of men take Mario away?” asked Griff.
“I wouldn’t say they took him away. He waved at me saying he was headed to the store and said everything was fine and he’d be back soon. Are the kids okay?”
“Sorry, what’s your name?” asked Griff.
“Tobey. Tobey Sanderson. We’ve lived next door for five years now. My wife and Clementine were friends.”
“Is your wife home? Could we speak with her?” asked Milo.
“Sure. Let me go get her.”
Neither man said anything just waiting patiently for the woman to come over with her husband. She was heavily pregnant, rubbing her belly. It made both Griff and Milo smile.
“This is my wife, Jemma.”
“Jemma, it’s nice to meet you. I’m Griff and this is Milo. We’re trying to help Mario and the kids understand what happened here.”
“It would sure be great to understand what came over Clementine,” said the woman.
“Was she behaving differently?” asked Milo.
“Very. I hadn’t had time to speak directly to Mario but we, all the girls in the book club, were worried about her.”
“Why?” asked Milo.
“She wasn’t showing up. She’d call and say she was coming but then didn’t show. When we tried to call her, it would just go straight to voicemail. We’d see her in the neighborhood or on the porch and she would ask us to not say anything to Mario.”
“Did you ask where she was during that time?” asked Griff.
“We did. We’re nosey that way,” she smirked. “Clementine just said she was working on something for Mario and the kids. We left it alone after that.”
“That’s helpful,” said Griff. “Were there other things she didn’t show up for?”
“Definitely. The kid’s school bake sale, the PTA meetings, almost everything that she would normally come for.”
“This is all helpful,” said Griff. “Something drove her to do what she did and we’d sure like to know what that was.”
“Well, we’ll let you guys do your thing,” said Tobey. He grabbed his wife’s hand and started to walk back over the yard to his own home. Then his wife stopped and turned to the men.
“Oh. I just remembered something. About four or five weeks ago, Margery, a neighbor down the street said she was downtown and saw Clementine walking into the River Rouge Casino.”
“Was that unusual?” asked Griff.
“Very. Neither she nor Mario ever gambled. Never. They didn’t participate in the football pools, you know the ones where you buy squares for a few bucks. They refused to buy lottery tickets. They wouldn’t even play cards where there whether there was betting or no betting.”
“Why?” asked Griff.
“Her father nearly ruined her family with his gambling. She was adamantly opposed.” The couple turned and left them. Griff stared at Milo, shaking his head.
“I don’t think Clementine was opposed, brother. I think she’d fallen big time.”