American Heroes Series - 03 - Purgatory (38 page)

Nash smiled. “I thank my lucky
stars every day. We’re truly, truly happy. In fact,” he eyed the governor, “I
was going to ask Monty to officiate our wedding but I’d be honored if you’d do
it instead.”

“Me?” Jimmy’s dark eyes widened
with pleasure. “I’d be thrilled to do it, Nash. We’ll do it at the governor’s
mansion. When were y’all planning on getting married?”

“This weekend,” Nash replied.
“We’ve been planning it for awhile. We were just going to keep it low-key.”

“Forget about that,” Jimmy said.
“You’re going to have it at the mansion and I’m going to host it.  We can do it
in October when the weather is better.”

Nash scratched at his neck. “We
really want to do it sooner,” he said.  “We were really thinking this weekend.
We don’t need a big celebration.”

“Nash,” Jimmy put his hand on
Nash’s big arm in order to emphasize his position. “You’re my next police
commissioner. You’re marrying a best-selling author.  Let the rest of us share
in the celebration, boy.”

Nash grinned.   “I
am
letting you share in it, which is why I’d like you to officiate.”

“Then we’ll do it in October.
We’ll have a big ball and….”

“Jimmy, listen,” Nash cut him
off, lowering his voice. “If Ellie knew I was telling you this, she’d murder
me, but we
can’t
wait until October, if you get my drift.”

The governor had no idea what he
was talking about until realization dawned.  His eyes bugged. “She’s in a
family way?”

“I couldn’t keep my hands off
her.”

“No!”

“Yes.”

Jimmy started to laugh but he
slapped hand over his mouth to keep from booming out loud.  “Congratulations,”
he ended up shaking Nash’s hand furiously. “That’s great news.”

“Yes, it is, but we’d really like
to get married as soon as possible for obvious reasons.”

Jimmy understood. “Say no more,”
he said. “We’ll do it Saturday at the mansion. I’ll have my social secretary
give you a call and arrange it.”

Nash smiled. “Thanks,” he said.
“Now, not a word to anyone, okay? Especially not to Monty. I’ll never hear the
end of it.”

Jimmy started to reply but they
were cut off by the birthday boy himself.  Monty strolled up on them, well into
his fourth Seven and Seven. His suit was already stained and his tie was
already half-undone. He slapped Nash on the back.

“Well, well,” he slurred. “You
finally showed up with my date. I’ve been waiting to see her all day. Nash, I
consider her my birthday present from you.”

Nash’s humor fled. “You’d better
look elsewhere for that,” he told him. “She’s my present and I don’t share.”

Monty looked disappointed. “Can
she at least sit next to me during dinner?”

“No.”

Monty went from disappointed to
clearly unhappy. “You keep her all to yourself up at that… that house y’all are
living in and you never let her out,” he was swinging his arm around. “You need
to let the woman be friendly, Nash. Y’all keep her bottled up and it’s not
fair.”

“Sorry. You’ll just have to learn
to deal with it.”

Monty made a face of distaste and
turned towards the bar, leaning awkwardly on it. Then it was if he suddenly
noticed Jimmy standing next to Nash. He eyed the governor.

“Y’all are gettin’ a good man,
Jimbo,” he said. “Nash will do something for y’all up at the capital. He’s got
goals and integrity. We’ll miss him around here.”

Jimmy watched Monty make an ass
of himself. “I know we’re getting a good man,” he said. “That’s why I appointed
him. Oh, speaking of that, Nash, I wanted to let you know that Commissioner
McCready is having some health issues and he’s opting out early.  I know we
discussed a September 1st turnover, but I need to make it sooner.”

Nash looked at him seriously.
“How much sooner.”

“Next week?”

Nash lifted his eyebrows. “Hmmm,”
he leaned on the bar thoughtfully. “I’ve been winding up everything to pass
over to my captains until the new sheriff takes office, but I thought I had at
least two more weeks. I don’t expect I’d be able to take the new position next
week but probably the week after.”

Jimmy nodded. “We’ll talk more
about it this weekend when you… uh, I’ll call you.”

Nash and Jimmy exchanged knowing
expressions, Nash fighting off a grin as he sipped his bourbon and Jimmy downed
his.  Monty was still standing next to Nash, drunk and fairly oblivious to what
they were talking about.

“Nash,” Monty demanded his
attention. “What are y’all going to do about the Loreau charges? What’s going
on with all that?”

Nash drew in a long breath.
“Well,” he said thoughtfully. “The boys are out on bond, as is Ms. Biffy.  They
are scheduled to appear on all charges the first week of September. As far as
the assault charges against me go, that’s pending. It’s their word against mine
and the Sorrento Police, and we have dashboard cameras that recorded the entire
arrest and show the Loreaus resisting. The case should easily be dismissed.”

At least it didn’t catch me
clocking Will Loreau in the jaw
,
he thought to himself as Monty mulled over the information.

“But what about the assault on
Penny and the wrongful death case against Alec?” the mayor wanted to know.
“Those poor kids have been through enough.”

Nash nodded, sipping at his
drink. “Yes, they have, but they’re doing fine,” he replied evenly. “The Loreau
boys pleaded out on Penny’s assault case and they’ve got three-years on
probation.  The rape kit came back negative, so we agreed to the terms of
probation. As for Alec, we’ve hired him a good lawyer and she’ll take care of
him. I’m guessing the case gets thrown out before it ever makes it to a
courtroom.”

“Who did you hire?”

“Elpheda Benson.”

Monty looked as surprised as his
drunken state would allow. “She’s good,” he agreed. “Very, very good. Nash,
you’ve got your whole life all planned out, don’t you? Nothing can touch you.”

Nash glanced at Jimmy, who rolled
his eyes and ordered another bourbon and water. “I’m just lucky, I guess,” Nash
said.

Monty shook his head and nearly
fell over. “It’s more than luck,” he insisted. “You’re a good man. You’ve done
a lot for the parish, Nash. We’ll never forget it. We’ll….”

He was cut off when Elliot
suddenly appeared next to Nash.  Mrs. Singh was with her. As Elliot smiled at
Nash and he gladly put his arm around her, Monty was undressing her with his
eyes.

“Ms. Jentry,” he greeted, his
gaze dragging up and down her body. “You look absolutely stunning. Yessir, you
do. You look like a Hollywood actress.”

Wrapped up in Nash’s big arm, Elliot
turned to the drunken mayor. “Thank you,” she said. “Happy Birthday.”

The mayor smiled lasciviously.
“Care to share a birthday dance with me?”

“There’s no music.”

“We don’t need any music.”

Elliot smiled coolly. “No, thank
you.”

“But it’s my birthday,” Monty
insisted. “I’m the birthday boy which means you have to do what I want.”

By this time, Nash was focused in
on him. “
No
, Monty,” he told him firmly, quietly. “I think they’re about
to serve dinner.  Why don’t you go find Margie?”

Monty was quickly verging on a
tantrum. “Nash, you can’t spoil my fun, not today.”

He reached out and grabbed Elliot
by the wrist, jerking her away from Nash’s embrace.  The action caught Elliot
off guard and, in her enormous high heels, she stumbled and would have fallen had
Nash not grabbed her. With Elliot righted, Nash was in Monty’s face.

“If you weren’t an old friend,
I’d make sure they had to carry you out of this place on a stretcher,” he
rumbled threateningly. “Keep your hands to yourself and your mind off Elliot or
you’re not going to like my reaction. Have I made myself clear?”

Monty gazed up at Nash, who was
taller than him by at least a foot. Suddenly, he didn’t look quite so drunk
anymore.

“I’m sorry,” he insisted. “I
didn’t mean to make her fall. I’m sorry if I hurt her.”

Nash was so angry that his cheeks
were red.  He could feel Elliot’s soft hand on his arm, pulling him away. He
started to go with her, but not before he had final words with Monty.

“Next time, I’ll break every bone
in the hand that touches her. Got it?”

Monty blanched, nodding his head
to acknowledge that he understood the seriousness of Nash’s threat. Fact was
that he believed him.  He was glad when his wife came to his rescue, pulling
him over towards the dining area.

“Come on,” Elliot had Nash by the
arm, pulling him away from Monty and away from the bar. “It’s okay, sweetie.
I’m fine.”

Nash looked at her and she caught
a flash of the deadly intensity the man was capable of. She’d never seen it
before. His features were tight and his jaw was ticking.  She wrapped both
hands around his elbow.

“Hey,” she said softly, smiling
when their eyes met. “Don’t be so upset. No harm done.”

Nash wasn’t willing to be so
easily cooled.  He forced a smile at her but she could tell that he was still
upset.

“Let’s get out of here,” he told
her.  “Let’s get dinner somewhere else.”

Elliot looked surprised but she
went along with him. “Sure,” she said. “Whatever you want to do, sweetie.”

Nash said his good-bye to Jimmy
and Jenny, and to a few other people, as he and Elliot headed for the exit. He
was frankly too angry to stick around.  If Monty made another move towards
Elliot he was afraid of what he would do, so it was best just to get out of
there.

The moon was full and they could
see the river in the distance, the ghostly glow from the moon lighting up the
waterway. Elliot kept silent as they wound their way through a residential
neighborhood out of the golf club, unsure what to say and knowing that Nash
needed to cool down. When he finally reached over and took her hand, kissing
her fingers, she smiled at him.

“So where are you taking me?” she
asked. “Someplace secluded where you can take advantage of me? Oops, forget I
said that. You already did that and now we’re in trouble.”

He laughed softly. Somehow, she always
knew the right thing to say to him to loosen him up and make him smile. His
anger drained away as thoughts of killing Monty shifted to thoughts of Elliot.

“You say trouble and I say
heaven,” he said, sighing as his normal demeanor gradually returned. “At least
something good came out of this evening.”

“What?”

He squeezed her hand. “I get to
have you all to myself for dinner,” he said, winking at her when she grinned.
“But something else good came out of it, too.”

“What else?”

“Jimmy is going to marry us on
Saturday at the Governor’s Mansion in Baton Rouge,” he told her.

“Really?” she was excited.
“That’s great!”

He loved her enthusiasm. “I’m
glad you think so,” he said. “I need to let Beck and Shane know as soon as
possible so they’ll have something decent to wear.  Beck has suits but I doubt
Shane even knows what one is. I may have to take him shopping tomorrow.”

“Maybe we should just go home and
share the news with the kids right now.”

Nash kissed her hand again. “We
will,” he said. “Give me a couple of hours to share it with you first before we
spread it around the family. That reminds me that I have to call my parents,
too. And Beau. They’ll want to come.”

Elliot thought of her family back
in California. “I’ll call my dad,” she said. “I don’t even know where my mom
is.  Remember I told you that my parents divorced when I was little?”

“I do.”

“What I didn’t tell you is that
my mom is kind of a free spirit,” she said. “She’s spent the past several years
riding around on her motorcycle, painting landscapes and writing poetry. Did I
tell you that she named me after T.S. Eliot, the poet? He’s her favorite.”

He grinned. “I was wondering
where you got your name.”

Elliot laughed softly. “’The
Hollow Men’ is one of her favorite pieces of literature. Do you know much about
him?”

He cocked his head. “Isn’t that
the poem that ends with ‘this is the way the world ends, not with a bang but a
whimper’?”

She was impressed. “Very good,
Sheriff. You’re a man of some refinement.”

“Or a man who was forced to read
it in an English Literature class.”

Elliot laughed softly, gazing out
of the window and watching the landscape pass. “Anyway, my mom sells enough of
her art so that she can support herself. She just never was the settling-down
type. She’s always got to be on the move.”

Nash smiled, seeing their
destination up ahead, illuminated by the full moon. “What about your dad?”

“All he ever wanted was a
family,” she replied. “What he got was me.  He never remarried.”