CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Griff and Milo repeated the entire conversation to Bodhi, Cade, Robbie, Remy, and Bogey while Luke was on video call.
“Brother, I think she got into some trouble at the casino,” said Griff.
“Damn. She must have something that those guys want. Stay where you are and wait. They’ll show up again. Open the blinds, that will tell them that someone is home. They just won’t know who.”
The team made themselves comfortable but after only an hour, they were already getting bored.
“Those men that scared the kids were looking for something,” said Griff. “I say we try to find whatever it was.”
“Let’s do it,” nodded Cade.
Splitting up, they each took a room of the house and carefully looked in dressers, closets, between the mattress and box spring. They even looked in the attic and then in the crawl space beneath the house.
In the backyard, it was just as the kids had said. The tools from the shed were strewn across the lawn, the rusted building practically falling over. The building was empty, so they decided to put the tools back inside.
As Cade’s big body stepped inside, the floorboards creaked beneath his huge weight. One of the boards popped up slightly and he frowned, turning to look at his brother.
“Bodhi, I think there’s something beneath this floor.”
Bodhi nodded as Cade stepped back. Carefully, they removed the floorboards, not knowing what they would find at all.
“A suitcase,” said Robbie staring over his shoulder. “There. It’s black so it’s hard to see.”
Bodhi pulled the bag up from beneath the shed, realizing it was much heavier than it should be. He set it down, unzipping it and opening the suitcase.
“Fuck me,” growled Bogey. “Casino chips.”
“Thousands of dollars’ worth of casino chips,” said Remy.
“More like millions,” said a man. “I believe those belong to us.”
Three men stood in the backyard, all three pointing handguns at the men. Bodhi stood to his full height next to his brother, Robbie, Remy, and Bogey doing the same.
“You’re big, mister, I’ll give you that. You and your friends. But you won’t stop a bullet.”
“Neither will you,” said Griff cocking his own weapon with Milo. They were standing at the backdoor, behind the three men. “Lower your weapons and toss them on the ground.”
The men had no choice, tossing their handguns.
“You like scaring kids, asshole?” growled Griff.
“We didn’t mean to scare the kids. We just want their mother.”
“Their mother is dead. Suicide.” The three men stared at one another, nodding.
“Listen, the chips belong to the casino. The woman, Clementine, she stole them.”
“Why? She couldn’t do anything with them unless she used them at the casino,” said Bodhi.
“I don’t think she thought all of that through. She’d come into the casino once or twice a week with forty or fifty bucks. At first she would just play the slots, then she started playing blackjack.
“She had a good bit of luck at first. She won a couple hundred, then a thousand, then she’d lose the next few times.”
“You were watching her?” frowned Cade.
“When a housewife wearing sweater sets with modest jewelry, no makeup and innocence tattooed on her face shows up in our casino, yeah we watch them. We’re not animals and we don’t want them to get into trouble.”
Griff and Milo lowered their weapons, nodding at the men.
“Go on,” said Cade.
“She asked one of our dealers to show her how to play roulette, then it was poker. She was in quite a bit. A few weeks ago, she came in with almost five grand to play with. Bobby over there,” he said nodding at one of the other men, “he even asked her if she was sure. Told her it might be better if she went home.”
“I felt bad for her. She looked scared and excited. That’s never a good combination. She lost that money within an hour. Broke my heart for her.”
“So, the chips. Where does that come in?” asked Bogey.
“One of our cashiers turned for just a few minutes. The chips were on a cart and somehow, all things being perfect, Clementine walked out with an entire tray of chips. High dollar chips. I don’t know what she was thinking. All we wanted to do was get the chips back.”
“Where is the father? Mario?” asked Griff.
“He’s fine. He’s at the casino trying to work out a repayment plan. He said he called a neighbor to check on the kids, left them a message.”
“That must have been the ones on vacation,” said Griff.
“We didn’t mean to scare the kids. It’s why we left,” said the man.
“Why’d you trash the shed? Why throw everything in the yard?” The three men looked at one another, a bright blush filling their cheeks.
“We were just looking for the chips but when we started digging in there, it was full snakes and spiders.”
“We didn’t encounter any snakes,” smirked Milo.
“Then you were lucky. I know what a snake looks like. We don’t want any trouble, we just want the chips back.” Griff nodded at the others, all of them nodding at him.
“They belong to you. Let the father go. His kids are worried,” said Remy.
They zipped the suitcase, handing it to the men. Locking up the house, they headed back out to Belle Fleur to get the kids and bring them home. When Luke called, they were pretty sure what it was about.
“I’m going to assume you’ve figured this out,” said Luke.
“How’d you know?” asked Bodhi.
“Because Clementine told us.”
Luke just stared at the pained image of Clementine Pucci. She stood on the dock, looking out over the bayou. Suddenly, without warning, she gasped, gripping her chest and leaned forward.
“Clementine? Clementine, can you hear me?” asked Luke. Joseph was standing beside him with Nathan.
“Wh-what have I done? What did I do?” she cried in pain and horror.
“Do you remember what you did, Clementine?” asked Nathan. She turned to stare at the three men, nodding.
“I thought I could do something big for my family. I could contribute in some way.”
“You were contributing, Clementine. You were a wife, mother, partner, friend, and so much more. There’s nothing more important than those roles.”
“My poor children. My poor husband,” she cried.
“It’s alright now. My men found the chips,” said Luke. “We’ve returned them to the casino.” She wailed a disturbing sound echoing across the bayou.
“I didn’t mean to hurt them. When I realized what I’d done, I was so ashamed and then I couldn’t find a way to get it back to those men. My family must hate me.”
“They don’t hate you,” said Joseph. “They miss you. Don’t worry, your children will never know why this happened. We won’t tell them.”
“I’m so sorry and so embarrassed,” she sobbed. “I did the one thing I swore I would never do. I turned into my father.”
“You aren’t your father, Clementine. It’s alright now. Your family is safe and the children will be alright, we promise.”
Matthew suddenly appeared beside her, his light and warmth immediately changing her posture and coloring.
“It’s time, Clementine,” he said holding out his hand.
“Will I be going to h-hell?” she asked. Matthew smiled at her, still holding his hand out.
“Take my hand, Clementine. All will be well.”
In a cloud of shimmering dust and glaring golden light, Matthew and Clementine were gone. Luke stared at Nathan and Joseph, all of them smiling, shaking their heads in disbelief. It never got old.
“That’s two down now boys. We’ll start working on these last two souls. I have a feeling they’re going to be much more difficult.”