Jailbird (22 page)

“If your story is true…,” Rachel began only
to be interrupted by me.

“If? You think I have the wherewithal to make
that up?”

“Okay, well let’s suppose it is true… I would
imagine Daniel Winslow knew his son had these tendencies. He
probably paid the public defender to sabotage the case.”

“That’s what Charlie thinks. He says the guy
really screwed up on Mary’s case, too. She also inconvenienced an
important family.”

“And if Daniel Winslow was willing to
orchestrate a cover-up, then I have to wonder how many girls Todd
did this to before you.”

“Charlie wondered that as well. I hope I was
his first.”

“I highly doubt that.”

“Where would we even start to find out?”

“By retracing his steps. College was probably
prime hunting ground for him. LSU Campus Police could tell me their
crime statistics from that period, too…,” it was Rachel’s turn to
tune me out. The wheels in her head were turning quickly now. The
Winslows were the kind of family people loved to hate. Conrad was a
genius for bringing her here. If she could get to the bottom of
this story, it would make her career.

Of course, if she found nothing, she now knew
enough to help the authorities find me. Opening up to her meant
great risk.

But I couldn’t keep fighting all of these
fronts on my own. And I owed it to Gabrielle and to the baby I now
carried to settle this once and for all. I couldn’t help chuckling
when I thought of what Charlie’s reaction would be if I called and
asked him to cooperate with Rachel Cooper after all of the ducking
her we’d done.

“What’s so funny?”

“Charlie’s gonna love this.”

“What?”

“When I call him and ask him to talk to you.
Poor guy.”

“You’ll do that?”

“Please don’t make me wish I hadn’t,” my hand
protectively rested on my stomach as I held her eyes with mine.

“I won’t betray you,” she promised. “I’m not
the monster your brother thinks I am.”

“He doesn’t think you’re a monster. Knowing
him, he likes you and is racked with guilt over it.”

“Excuse me?”

“If liking you got me or Gabrielle into
trouble, he’d never forgive himself.”

“Good to know,” she seemed to be chewing on
that little tidbit. “Do you have a way I can get a hold of you if I
need to?”

“Charlie and Conrad both know how to find me.
You’ll forgive me for not wanting to give away too much more
information just yet.”

“I get it. The fewer that know the better. My
team will work on chasing down some of these leads. I’ll let you
know if I find anything interesting.”

“Team?” it made me nervous to think she’d be
sharing information with anyone else.

“I have a couple of interns that help me out
in return for college credit. Don’t worry, they won’t ask why
they’re being sent. They just want a shot at the network when it’s
all said and done. They’ll be relentless in chasing down the
answers.”

I nodded, still a little unsure but running
out of options. A tentative knock at the door broke our
conversation again. After a quick check out the peephole, I let
Conrad and Gabrielle back in. She was still carrying a bag of
popcorn and a soda, so it was a safe bet he’d taken her to the
movies. The smell of the popcorn reminded me I’d talked through
dinner and my stomach started growling.

“You guys must have really been chatty for
Mom to miss dinner,” Gabrielle informed Rachel. I grumbled
something about respect and helped myself to a cold piece of pizza
since they’d forgotten my doggie bag.

While Gabrielle filled Rachel in on the
movie, Conrad slid me a brown paper lunch bag. I assumed it
contained a couple of driver’s licenses for me to use so we could
check into motels more frequently again. That was a relief. What I
didn’t expect was the rattle of keys in the bag. I peeked inside
and looked back at him with confusion.

“I’m taking the horses back with me in the
morning. Kevin should be here by six with a trailer. There’s a
really ugly El Camino parked out front. It’s yours for as long as
you need it.”

“It is ugly,” Rachel agreed quickly.

“It was the best I could do.”

“It’ll be perfect,” I hugged his neck. “Thank
you.”

“Awesome. A car!” Gabrielle cheered.

“I think you should go back with Conrad,” I
silenced the room with my gentle pronouncement.

“You just can’t wait to get rid of me, can
you?” she accused.

“You know that’s not true. I just worry about
you missing so much school. This is a miserable life, sweetie.”

“I want to stay with you,” she insisted.

“You actually might want to keep her close
until you see how Daniel reacts. I’m not the biggest danger out
there,” Rachel interjected.

“You’re right,” I relented. There were times
it felt this was never going to end. All I really wanted at this
exact moment in time was to be back in Charlie’s arms again.

Harsh as it was, there was simplicity to
prison life. Eat, sleep, work hard, and try to be invisible. Things
were convoluted out here, and getting more so every day. Sometimes
it felt like my brain would explode if my life developed one more
layer of complexity.

The phone rang and I wanted to weep when I
recognized the number.

“Hey babe,” Charlie greeted me with concern
thick in his voice.

“What’s wrong?” red flags went up in my
mind.

“Sheriff Taylor just left.”

“Is everyone okay?”

“Cara and I are fine,” he promised quickly.
“It’s Elena. He’s worried about her. Apparently she’s moved in with
Daniel Winslow.”

Chapter Twenty-Two

“What?” I might have shrieked a little. My
mind raced, trying to figure out what that could mean for us.

“He thinks she went to stir up trouble for
you and got sucked in by the promise of marrying into that kind of
money. Being the mayor’s wife is more prestigious than the
Sheriff’s daughter.”

“What did Jim say?” I ignored the questioning
looks I was getting from all around me.

“He believes me, about what happened that
night between you and… Todd,” Charlie spit out the name as if it
left a bad taste in his mouth. “He was the friend I had looking
into the Winslows. He doesn’t trust Daniel. He’s worried sick about
Elena. She won’t even return his calls, though.”

“I’ll go get her,” I stated, surprising even
myself.

“What?” this time it was Charlie’s turn to
shriek. “Absolutely not.”

“Well I’m not going to sleep at night
wondering if he’s hurting her. Someone’s got to get her.”

“Then I’ll do it,” Charlie argued.

“No, you have to fight Julie. You have what
you need to win. I’m already a ghost. I can slip in and get her
without anyone realizing I’m there.”

“I forbid it.”

“Really?” I didn’t know if I wanted to laugh
or scream. “Let’s not be like this. Please, Charlie.”

“No, you listen to me, Neena. I’m begging you
to stay away from that man. Elena got herself into this. Don’t risk
everything to save her.”

“Do you really feel that way?” I asked
softly, wondering what had happened to the gentle and loving man I
married just a few short months ago.

“No,” he sighed after a long pause. “Not
really. But I don’t think it has to be you.”

“Why don’t we see if she’s even in danger
before we start drawing straws?” I suggested.

“You’re right.”

“Of course I am,” I teased. “Hey
Charlie…”

“I don’t like that tone.”

“I need you to do me a favor and answer any
question Rachel Cooper asks you.”

“Have I stepped through the looking
glass?”

“Conrad kidnapped her and turns out she could
be quite helpful…”

“Conrad what?”

“Kidnapped her, but it’s not as bad as it
sounds.”

“Could you two please stop breaking laws
faster than I can defend you?”

“I’ll pass along the message.”

“So you want me to cooperate with Rachel
Cooper?”

“I think it’ll help.”

“At this point, I’m willing to try just about
anything. Although, I’m one step away from packing you and Cara up
and skipping the country with you; I hope you realize that.”

“I’ve always wanted to see Italy.”

“That depends on what their extradition laws
are. I’ll look into it.”

“Hey Charlie…”

“Yes?” he sounded old. Old and tired.

“I love you.”

“I love you, too, baby doll.”

There were three very expectant gazes locked
on me when I hung up the phone. I quickly filled them in as much as
I really could with Gabrielle one of the gazes. Judging from the
look on Conrad’s face, he agreed with Charlie over my offer to go
get Elena. His head looked like a cartoon character getting ready
to explode.

In light of his mood, I did my best to
suppress a giggle at that mental image. Lucky for me, Rachel had
distracted him by saying she’d have one of her interns check out
the situation from a distance before anyone did anything rash. That
made the most sense to me. I wished I had interns to dispatch.

Conversation eventually died down and we all
found a spot to crash for the night. Rachel and Gabrielle shared
the bed. I kicked back in a recliner and Conrad played the
gentleman’s role and took the floor. I don’t think any of us got
much sleep and I’m pretty sure we were all still awake when
Conrad’s phone rang.

It was Kevin, calling to find out where to
meet us. I told him to wait for us at the rest stop out of town and
quickly dressed to go fetch the horses from the woods where we’d
left them tied. Gabrielle went along with me; there was an odd
nostalgia about it being our last ride.

I didn’t remember Kevin from my childhood. He
was one of Conrad’s friends from the casino. He didn’t look all
that Coushatta to me, but he must have been at least a little to
have been granted his card. It really didn’t matter much as long as
Conrad trusted him.

As I watched the two friends talk, I realized
just how little I knew about Conrad’s life. I’d drug him into mine,
but didn’t know much about his. Guilt washed over me anew. I was
getting really tired of feeling guilty.

I took some measure of comfort in the fact
that I’d learned all about Gabrielle’s life. We’d spent so many
hours together that were filled with her stories, I felt like I had
a pretty good picture of what her world looked like. Of course,
maybe that meant I had a pretty good picture of Conrad’s, too. I
doubted he spent much of his non-work time away from Gabrielle.

Which made me wonder what he was doing now
that she was with me.

“Are you even still awake over there?” Conrad
waved in my direction.

“Barely,” I smiled back. “You all loaded and
ready to go?”

“Just about. Don’t do anything too crazy
without calling first,” he instructed as he wrapped me in a big
hug.

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” I assured him.

“And I mean mine and Charlie’s definition of
too crazy, not yours.”

“Spoil sport,” I accused. “Are you taking the
horses back to Charlie?”

“Not yet. I’m going to stash them at the
Coushatta Ranch for the time being.”

“I don’t want to get anyone in trouble.”

“No one will even notice them.”

“When this is all over, I want to hear about
your life for a change.”

“Okay, sure,” he seemed taken aback by my
statement.

There were goodbyes all around. I thanked
Kevin profusely. Gabrielle and I waved at the truck until it was
well out of sight.

“We’re going to go stop my grandfather from
hurting that girl, aren’t we?” Gabrielle asked the second they were
out of sight. I looked at her. Everything in me screamed to load
her into the car and high tail it to the far reaches of the globe.
Somewhere far out of the reach of men like Daniel Winslow. He was
bigger than me, he was richer than me, he was scarier than me.

I longed for the peaceful days of afternoon
picnics and games of tag and the rush I felt when Charlie’s hand
brushed mine. I wanted to be there when Cara celebrated her
birthday. I wanted to celebrate Gabrielle’s. I wanted to paint a
nursery with Charlie and spend our evenings piled up on the couch
trying to figure out baby names.

I thought of my parents, on vacation with no
idea someone hated the thought of them enough to do the worst. I
thought of me as I had been, young and stupid and fresh out of
college. Sometimes evil finds us no matter how idyllic our lives
seem up until the moment it strikes.

Whatever her intentions had been, Elena had
no idea what kind of spider’s web she was stumbling into with
Daniel Winslow. But I did. I looked at my daughter. I could teach
her to run for cover. No one would fault me for it—self
preservation was a natural thing.

Or I could do something really crazy and
teach her to stand up for what’s right. Even if that meant
protecting a brassy blonde who’d made your life miserable.

“Mom?” she prompted when my mental debate
carried on too long.

“Yeah, we’re going to go save the goofy bimbo
from herself,” I sighed heavily. Charlie was going to be really mad
at me for this one. “Get in the car.”

“Yes,” she smiled and jumped in. Our meager
belongings were already stowed behind our seats.

It was astounding how quickly the time flew
by with bench seats and an FM radio. None of that compared to the
glory of the heater, though. As happy as I was to be done with
being on the trail, I’m sure the horses were even happier to be
eating grain for lunch today.

I don’t know what possessed me to do it, but
I rolled right on passed the Alexandria exits and followed Highway
49 on south. We stopped to eat around Lafayette then picked up
Highway 90. Gabrielle might not have known where her father’s
family lived, but as we rolled into Thibodaux she began to question
my sense of direction. I didn’t have an address, only a description
I’d heard many times over the years. Unfortunately, decade-old
memories without street names attached to them weren’t getting me
much of anywhere.