A Thousand Lies (18 page)

She was still giggling when Brendan walked into the room, scratching the whiskers on his jaw.

“I thought I heard an awful lot of fun going on in here without me,” he said, pointing at Linny.

She stuffed her head underneath the throw pillow in the chair to smother the sound, but it was too late.

Delle frowned. “I’m sorry, son.”

Sam laughed. “Don’t be sorry. The lazy ass needs to be up. It’s almost noon.”

“He didn’t get to bed until 5:00 this morning,” Delle said.

Chance frowned. “Because of the fire?”

Linny came out from under the pillow. All she’d known was they had to be quiet to let Brendan sleep, but not why.

“What fire? What burned up?” she asked.

“A big part of the French Quarter,” Delle said.

Linny gasped. “Did the place where you work burn up?”

“Yeah it did, among other things,” he said briefly and gave his brothers a warning look not to push the issue in front of her.

They got the message.

“Hey, Mama, did you make extra coffee this morning?” Brendan asked.

“In the pot, honey. There’s enough for all of you if you want.”

“I’m in,” Chance said and headed for the kitchen.

Brendan and Sam followed. Brendan heard their mother send Linny to the bedroom to play, which gave them time to talk.

Chance handed Brendan a cup of coffee, then leaned against the cabinet with his hands in his pockets, waiting for the caffeine to go down.

“What aren’t you saying?” Chance finally asked.

Brendan took another drink then set it aside. “I take it you haven’t watched any local news today.”

“No, not really,” Sam said.

“Neither did I,” Chance added. “What did we miss?”

“While the Quarter was burning, someone kidnapped Juliette right out of the bar,” Brendan said.

They both jerked like they’d been slapped.

Sam put a hand on his brother’s shoulder. “Jesus, Bren. Have they gotten a call for ransom yet?”

“We already got her back,” Brendan said and reached for the cookie jar.

“Who did it, one of her daddy’s enemies?” Chance asked.

Brendan shook his head and returned the lid without a cookie, knowing his stomach wouldn’t hold it.

“She had a stalker at the bar. We knew he was weird, but we didn’t know he was crazy. While we were evacuating everyone out through the front of the bar, he took her out the back. Caught it all on the security camera.”

“Don’t make us ask you for every fucking detail,” Sam snapped. “Talk to us, brother, because you look like you’ve been through hell.”

Brendan shoved shaky hands through his hair, willing himself to maintain his dignity.

“The bastard had about a twenty-minute lead on us by the time we knew she was missing. We called the cops. It took a while for them to get there, so I went after her.”

Chance looked at his brother with new respect. “After her?”

Brendan nodded. “I headed to the streets. We knew he’d taken her out the back, so I started asking questions, thinking someone had to have seen something. I ran all over the place, chasing down possible witnesses, and I finally found someone who saw someone, who saw someone else, and got a good lead. Cops found her.”

Sam slapped the table with the flat of his hand in delight. “That’s damn amazing. I’ll bet her Daddy’s patting you on the back. You’ll be getting yourself a raise once they build the bar back.”

“March blamed Daddy, then me when it happened. I quit.”

Chance frowned. “What the fuck? Daddy, I can understand… but you? Why you?”

Brendan shrugged. “Blood tells, brother. You know the score. We’ve heard it all our lives.”

“The son of a bitch,” Sam said. “Well, at least your girl is safe.”

A muscle jerked at corner of Brendan’s mouth.

“No. She’s alive, but I don’t know if she’ll ever feel safe again. The guy beat her near to death with a cat-o’-nine-tails before they found her. We don’t know if she’ll be able to see again. I need to call the hospital and check on her condition. Keep Linny occupied for me for a few minutes, okay?”

“Jesus wept,” Chance whispered.

Brendan shrugged. “Probably. I know I did.”

He downed the rest of the coffee and left them on their own.

Sam looked at Chance and then wiped a hand over his face as if trying to wipe away the shock of what they’d heard.

Chapter Ten

A nurse was settling Julie back into bed after a trip to the bathroom when the phone in her room began to ring.

“Want me to get that for you, hon?”

“Please, ask who it is first,” Julie said as she tried to settle into a comfortable position. Every inch of skin on the front of her body felt like it was on fire.

“Hello, who’s calling?” the nurse asked.

“Brendan Poe.”

“One moment please,” the nurse said and covered the phone. “Brendan Poe?”

Julie reached blindly for the receiver.

The nurse put it in her hand and left the room.

“Bren?”

He heard uncertainty and wondered what was going on. “Hello, sweetheart. How’s it going?”

“I feel like I’ve been beat half to death.”

He was surprised that she’d made a joke, however morbid. “That’s because you were, but every day will be a day closer to being well, okay?”

It was the confidence in his voice that stayed her anxiety. “Okay.”

“So what have they told you? Has that specialist been by to look at your eyes?”

“Yes, but I don’t remember much. I know I could see light this morning, which he said was good, considering how swollen they still are.”

“Oh, honey, that’s wonderful. Best news today,” he said softly. “So I want to come, but not while your parents are there.”

“Come any time you want. They aren’t allowed visitations.”

He frowned. “Why not? What happened?”

“I’ll tell you when you get here.” Her voice was shaking again, and he wondered what else could’ve possibly gone wrong. She was alive. Surely that would have been enough for her parents.

“I will be there as soon as I shave and dress. Do you want me to bring you anything?”

“It hurts to eat. I tried breakfast and just made a mess.”

“Can you drink through a straw?”

“Yes.”

“I’ll bring you a vanilla shake.”

The gentleness in his voice when she’d been so certain she’d never see him again was all it took to start her crying again.

Brendan heard. Her despair broke his heart. “Don’t cry, baby.”

“Oh God, Bren! I can’t seem to stop. Just when I think I have my act together and how blessed I am to still be alive, it falls in on me again.”

“You’ll get counseling and figure out how to deal, and we’ll get through this together.”

She choked. “I love you so much.”

“I love you, too, sweetheart. See you soon.”

He tossed his cell phone on the bed and changed his gym shorts for a pair of jeans. He was getting ready to shave when he heard someone knocking at the door and headed for the living room. He could hear his mother and Linny talking in her bedroom and knew they, too, were waiting for him to make good on a promise. He had too many responsibilities and not enough time. He walked into the living room just as Sam opened the door.

Detective Carson was on the threshold flashing his badge.

“I’m Detective Carson. Are you Brendan Poe?”

“No. I’m his brother, Sam.”

Brendan walked up behind his brother. “I’m Brendan.”

“May I come in?” Carson asked. “I won’t keep you long.”

“Yes, of course. Sorry I’m not dressed. Didn’t get much sleep last night. These are my brothers, Chance and Sam Poe.”

Carson nodded cordially.

“No apologies necessary. I have yet to go to bed, but it’s on my agenda for today. I came to thank you personally for what you did last night. You acted quickly when the city was in a crisis situation, and it made the difference in Juliette March’s survival.”

“I’m the one who should be thanking you,” Brendan said. “You found her alive. That’s all that mattered to me.”

“We were just doing our job,” Carson said. “I also wanted to give you an update on your stalker. After several interesting revelations, it’s beginning to look like the man we arrested is an active serial killer who’d never been identified. His real name is Conrad Walton, aka Chub Walton, and I’m guessing he’s never lived in Louisiana before, or he would’ve known not to bury his bodies in the back yard. He had no idea that, since we’re below sea level, bodies don’t stay buried here. We were still processing the crime scene at sunrise when one of the officers came upon three fingers and the toe of a shoe poking up out of the ground behind the house, kinda like those fairy circles of toadstools that pop up after a rain.

“After last night’s thunderstorm, it pretty much floated to the surface. We got to looking and found another right beside it. When we began questioning him about it, the bastard not only admitted to the murders, but bragged about them. He knows the death penalty is legal in our state and pitched a deal to the District Attorney, offering to give up the locations of his other victims if they’d trade the death penalty for a life sentence. So, we began checking the national data base for unsolved murders with similar M.O.s and a rather large number popped up.”

“How large are you talking about?” Chance asked.

“Seventeen so far over a span of eleven years. Interesting side-note, the first one began in his hometown of San Francisco, two weeks after his mother’s death. We’re still checking details. We may not be able to connect him to all of them, but he’ll most likely wind up doing life here in Louisiana for the crimes.”

Brendan was stunned. He kept thinking of all those nights they’d watched him coming into the bar, completely unaware he was sizing up his next victim.

Carson kept eyeing Brendan closely. “How old are you?”

“Twenty-six. Why?”

Carson shrugged. “Your quick reaction to a dangerous situation was impressive. If you ever get an urge to change occupations, check out the police academy. I think you’d make a good cop.”

Brendan was shocked. Not once in his entire life had anyone even hinted he had a future in anything.

“You know who my father is, right?”

Carson frowned. “One thing has nothing to do with the other. If you decide to follow through, give me a call and I’ll write a letter of recommendation for you.”

“Thank you,” Brendan said, too stunned to elaborate.

Carson shook his hand. “You’re welcome and I’m outta here.”

“One more thing,” Brendan said. “I cannot take all of the credit for the information I gave you. A lot of people helped me, but the turning point was Count LeGrande. He’d already identified the man who came and went as trouble before this ever happened and actually memorized his tag number. He’s the real hero.”

Carson frowned. “Are you talking about the old white guy in the frock coat and top hat who hangs around the Quarter?”

“Yes.”

“Next time I’m down that way, I’ll make a point of thanking him, too. Ya’ll take care.”

Chance eyed Brendan curiously as he closed the door behind the cop.

“So, what do you think about that police academy suggestion?” he asked.

Brendan shrugged. “I don’t know what to think except that I
am
out of a job, and the women in my life need to get well.”

“Speaking of the women,” Sam said, as Delle and Linny came into the room.

“Linny’s getting hungry,” Delle said.

Chance grinned. “What a coincidence! So am I!”

“That’s exactly why we’re here,” Sam said. “We came to take Mom and Linny out to dinner.”

Linny sidled up to Brendan and leaned against him.

“Bren was taking us to eat at the Crab Shack and have beignets for dessert,” she said.

Sam pretended to be surprised. “That’s exactly what we were gonna do. How about that?”

Linny beamed.

Delle was happiest when she had all of her children together, but she kept watching Brendan’s face. Yes, he’d promised to take them out, but she knew where his heart was today and needed to give him an easy out.

“Brendan, I just told Linny that Juliette got hurt last night and is in the hospital, so if you want to go see her instead of eat with us, we’re fine with that. We’ve had the pleasure of your company every day since we’ve been here, and I think you need a break.”

Sam quickly agreed. “She’s right, Bren. We’ve got this. You stay with Julie as long as you want, and we’ll stay here until you get back. Dad knows we aren’t going to Wisteria Hill today. In fact, he has a little surprise he’s working on for Mama and Linny back at the house.”

“What kind of surprise?” Delle asked.

“He’s remodeling Wisteria Hill. You won’t recognize the place when you go home, Mama. It looks amazing.”

Delle frowned. “You’re kidding.”

“No fooling, Mama,” Chance added. “There’s new tile in the kitchen, air conditioners all over the place. He’s even painting inside and out, and I heard him on the phone the other day asking if the new curtains and drapes were ready.”

Delle put a hand to her heart in disbelief. “Oh my!”

Linny frowned. “Did he do something in my room, too?”

“Painted the walls pink,” Sam said. “New curtains for sure. Not sure about anything else.”

“I love pink,” Linny said, then gave her mama a quick glance to make sure she hadn’t sounded too excited. When it came to things regarding her daddy, she was never sure how to react.

Brendan’s heart sank. The scheming bastard did the one thing that would turn the tide in his favor, and he’d not only known what it was, but followed through.

“I’ll be anxious to see it,” Delle said.

She wouldn’t look at Brendan. This was exactly what he didn’t want, but she knew her place, and it wasn’t mooching off her son’s good graces.

Brendan wouldn’t worry about this now. They weren’t going home yet, and he had to make his peace with his little sister about breaking his promise.

He put a hand on his heart and then bowed from the waist as if he was in the presence of royalty.

“Good Queen Belinda, I pray you will excuse my presence at the dinner table today.”

Linny giggled, then pointed at Brendan as if she was holding a jeweled scepter. “Of course, Sir Brendan. Please give your Juliette our regards.”