Chapter 9
Chapter Nine
Gertie’s eyes widened and she looked over at me, but I shook my head a tiny bit.
I didn’t know if the place had a back door and even if it did, all three of us getting up and running out would look stranger than sitting here, continuing to eat our dinner, and letting whatever was about to happen play out.
With any luck, Zion would hustle them out of the dining area before Carter locked in on us.
Unfortunately for me, I always sat facing the door, so I was visible as soon as they walked in.
Zion jumped up as the door eased open and Carter peered inside.
When he caught sight of Zion headed his way, he stepped in the room, Calahan right on his heels.
I dropped my head down instinctively but since it would look odd if I wasn’t interested in the cops showing up, I forced myself to raise my head back up.
Carter picked that exact moment to swing his gaze over to our table, and I saw his jaw flex as he locked in on me. I have to give him credit for immediately shifting focus away from us, but it was too late. Calahan was already eyeing us, a confused look on his face.
“I need to speak to you about Eleanor Stout,” Carter said.
“We need to speak to you,” Calahan said.
Carter’s jaw clenched. “Last time I checked, you are no part of this investigation. Nor are you qualified to be. Mr. Gates, if we could step into the other room?”
“What is this about?” Sapphire demanded as she stormed up to glare at Zion. “You told me you were going to end things with that woman.”
Calahan gave Sapphire a once-over. “Oh, things have ended all right. The woman’s dead.”
The color drained out of Sapphire’s face, and she stared at Zion for several seconds. Zion either had no pulse or was putting all that meditation to use, because he didn’t so much as flinch. I think that was the first time Sapphire actually got a clear picture of the kind of man she’d married.
“I’m going to my cousin’s,” she said and fled the building.
Carter whipped around to face Calahan. “You will refrain from providing any details of my investigation. If you can’t control your mouth, then I suggest you head back to New Orleans, before I file a complaint and you find yourself in the spotlight.”
Calahan opened his mouth and I was certain he wanted to lay into Carter, but he gave us all a glance before wisely shutting his trap. Too many witnesses to his breaking of protocol.
Carter gestured to the door and followed Zion out, avoiding looking at us altogether.
But Calahan was irritated and wanted a place to expend his energy.
Since he was supposed to be an observer and therefore couldn’t interject himself into questioning Zion, I guess he decided he’d head to our table so he could pretend to be a real detective.
He’d already locked in on the Barbies, and his leering grin as he approached and looked down at them had my trigger finger itching.
“Good evening, ladies,” he said with a smug smile. “I’m Lieutenant Calahan. State police. I just wanted to make sure you’re all okay over here.”
Given the Barbies’ talent for getting a quick read on people, especially men, I had no doubt they’d had Calahan’s number before he’d even opened his mouth. All three of them stared at him, their expressions bored with a tiny hint of aggravated.
“Why wouldn’t we be okay?” Purple asked.
“We’re questioning Mr. Gates about a woman’s death. A woman he was business partners with. You’re staying here and I wanted to make sure you felt safe, especially being the more vulnerable sex.”
Ida Belle reached under my robe and squeezed my leg with one hand and covered her mouth with her other. I wasn’t sure if she was trying to prevent me or herself from shooting him.
“What kind of nonsense are you on about?” Gertie asked. “The only thing that man has threatened us with is bad smoothies. And if those three didn’t have big hooters in tight tops, you wouldn’t have bothered to come over here. I’ll pray for you, but only if you go away.”
Calahan glared at Gertie, then looked completely baffled before shaking his head and stalking off.
The Barbies barely waited until his back was turned before bursting out laughing.
Calahan stopped for a couple seconds and stiffened but must have had another rare moment of clarity, because he kept walking.
“We should take you barhopping with us, Sister,” Blue said. “You could fend off all the guys we aren’t interested in.”
Gertie nodded. “No one messes with nuns. We can call in favors.”
I rose from the table. “If you’ll excuse me for a moment, I had so much water earlier…”
“There’s a bathroom in the lobby,” Pink said. “Oh, but I guess…”
“It’s no problem,” I said. “I’ll just make a quick run back to our cabin. Don’t wait on me to finish. I imagine our fish is already getting cold.”
“There’s no back door,” Purple said. “You’re going to have to walk through the lobby to exit.”
“I’ll hurry past them then,” I said and speed-walked to the door.
Carter stood in the lobby with Zion. Calahan had flopped down on a chair and was playing a game on his phone. Carter glanced over when I walked into the room, but I just kept my head down and hurried past.
“As far as I know, Eleanor didn’t use drugs,” Zion said as I passed. “It goes against everything we were trying to accomplish.”
“You’ve got a bunch of mouthy nuns here,” Calahan said, glaring at me as I slipped by. “Clearly, God didn’t bring them peace. I don’t see how sweating in weird positions is going to do anything.”
I glanced back as I exited to get a good look at Zion, who’d had his back to me when I’d entered the room. His expression was a mixture of worry, confusion, and just a hint of fear.
“What exactly was your relationship with Ms. Stout?” I heard Carter ask as I hurried away.
I would have loved to stick around and find out what Zion’s answer was, but I had to get what I needed to bug Zion’s cabin.
This was the perfect opportunity, assuming Sapphire actually left the premises.
I grabbed the equipment and hurried through the woods toward Sapphire and Zion’s cabin and arrived just in time to see a sleek silver Tesla speed off, spraying gravel as it went.
I figured Ida Belle and Gertie knew exactly what I was up to, so they’d do whatever was needed to create a distraction if it became necessary, but I still needed to move as quickly as possible. Zion would probably come looking for Sapphire as soon as Carter was done questioning him.
The door was no challenge, so I was inside in a flash, then it was a matter of locating the best place for the bug.
Air vents were problematic because of the noise, and the AC would definitely be running.
Plus, there was always the possibility of Carter getting a search warrant if this investigation intensified, and air vents were a classic hiding place for money, drugs, and weapons.
I finally settled on the inside of a lampshade in both the living room and the bedroom.
I quickly cut a slit in the top inside seams, then slipped the bugs inside.
Then I put a spot of glue on each and pressed them shut.
It wasn’t the best job I’d ever done, but Zion wasn’t a terrorist. And even if he found one of them later, he wouldn’t know how long it had been there or who’d placed it.
Based on what I’d seen, it would be far more likely he’d think Sapphire had done it.
I had just stepped into the living room when my phone signaled an incoming text. I dug it out of my pocket and stared. It was from Gertie.
Don’t worry. I’m on it.
Then I heard Zion’s voice at the door. Holy crap!
“I don’t understand why you have a warrant for my cabin,” he said.
Carter must have called in a favor from a judge on this one because I had not anticipated a search warrant this early in the investigation.
The cabin had no back door, so I rushed into the bedroom and lifted the only window in the room, which was so small that I’d just barely squeeze out of it.
There was no way to lock it so I’d just have to hope that Zion would be too distracted to notice or would think Sapphire had left it unlocked.
Surely he had bigger fish to fry than worrying about window latches.
I peered outside and saw rosebushes right below the window.
Good God. There was no way to exit without sliding headfirst or feetfirst and not enough drop to push myself away from the bushes below.
I had no problem with some thorn injuries, but I’d have to toss the habit out first or it would be shredded.
I yanked it off and flung it into the woods behind the cabin.
I heard the front door open as I started to pull myself through the window and knew I only had seconds to get clear before they had traversed the tiny cabin.
And since it was still daylight, I had to get deep enough in the woods to keep them from spotting me if they looked out the window.
Given that the blinds were all the way up and there were no curtains, I would be easy to spot.
Gritting my teeth, I shoved myself through the window, covering my head with my arms as I fell into the thorny bushes.
Fortunately, my training covered ignoring pain in lieu of the mission, so I rolled out of the bushes, popped up, and made a dash for the thick undergrowth behind the cabin, snatching the habit off a bush as I ran.
I just needed to find a spot to duck down until I was certain of their positioning in the cabin, then I could skirt the woods back to the office.
I couldn’t feel any scratches on my face, and the habit would cover everything else but my hands, which were definitely scratched, but I could come up with a good lie for that one.
I had just tucked in behind a thick clump of foliage when a huge boom blasted through the sky and the ground shook.
I peered through the bush and saw the bedroom window fly up, and Carter looked out. “What the hell?”
Calahan ran around the corner and pointed in my direction. “I saw someone run into the woods!”
“That blast wasn’t nearby!”
But the accuracy of Carter’s statement didn’t deter that fool Calahan, who took off straight for me.
I clutched the habit and dashed off toward the lake.
Carter was right—that explosion wasn’t nearby, but I recognized the sound.
I would bet my life only one person at the retreat had dynamite, and I knew exactly where she’d use it.
There was no way Calahan could catch me in a footrace, but the dense forest and lack of path slowed me down.
I was certain it slowed him down as well, but he had the luxury of chasing me rather than attempting to cut a path in a sea of cypress trees and brush.
I could hear him pounding behind me, cursing the entire time, which was just fine with me.
Maybe he’d use up what little cardio fitness he had on swearing and I’d make a clean break.
Because I couldn’t just get away. I had to put enough distance between us to don my habit again and get back with the rest of the group or at least show up when everyone else did.
Because no way I could claim I’d decided to stay in my cabin after that blast, and any normal person would go looking for the source immediately.
If I didn’t make an appearance with the others soon, Calahan might take a much closer look at me and that was something I couldn’t afford.
I saw a break in the tree line just ahead and hoped that I’d calculated correctly and would come out close to the bank where we’d had class earlier.
I slowed a tiny bit and glanced back. I couldn’t see Calahan, but I could still hear him and knew he wasn’t far behind.
I flicked the habit out to unravel it so it was ready to pull on as soon as I cleared the woods, but as I ran past a set of brush, it caught on a branch that ripped it out of my hand.
The branch whipped back and sent the habit flying past the tree line and into the open.
I bolted out of the woods and reached down for the habit just as a huge gust of wind got under it and sent it flying across the clearing.
I sprinted after it, aware that Ida Belle, Gertie, and the three Barbies were all standing at the edge of the bayou staring at me, eyes wide, and the Barbies’ jaws dropped.
Then I saw a flash of movement on the path behind them that led to the main building and realized that Carter and Zion were about to burst into sight. A second gust of wind blew the habit right across the shocked faces of the three Barbies.
It was only twenty yards away, but I was out of time.
I sprinted to the group and dove under Gertie’s habit, trying to flatten myself against her legs.