Read Louisiana Longshot (A Miss Fortune Mystery, Book 1) Online
Authors: Jana DeLeon
Louisiana Longshot (A Miss Fortune Mystery, Book 1) (29 page)
Gertie nodded. “Throughout this entire mess of murder, kidnappings, and gunfire, you have remained nonplussed.”
“The bottom line,” Ida Belle said, “is that we recognize one of ours when we see them. You may not be in the military, but you’ve had military training, and plenty of it.”
I stared at them, shocked for probably the first time in my life. I expected suspicion from Deputy LeBlanc, but I doubt even he would have come up with the detailed analysis the two innocent-looking old ladies sitting at my kitchen table had.
One of ours.
My mind locked on that statement, and I looked back and forth between the two of them. “Are you saying you two were in the military?”
“Of course,” Ida Belle said. “The five founding members of the Sinful Ladies Society were all military. Me, Gertie and Marge were the last until recently, when Marge passed. Now, it’s just me and Gertie.”
And suddenly it dawned on me. “You all served in Vietnam together.”
Gertie nodded. “It was a horrible war, but all of us felt our place was there serving our country, not back in Sinful serving some clueless man his supper.”
“So, what did you do? I mean, what were your jobs?”
“Can’t you guess?” Ida Bell asked.
They grinned at each other and looked at me in anticipation.
“I’m afraid to.”
Ida Belle laughed. “Well, on paper, Gertie was a secretary. I was a nurse’s aide. Marge was an inventory clerk.”
“But that wasn’t what you really did…”
Ida Belle shook her head. “You have to understand, it was a different time then—women, in particular, were viewed as a weaker sex and incapable of the same things as men. Our commander took advantage of that, used it to make strategic moves.”
Suddenly, clips from the past five days flashed through my mind like a YouTube video: Ida Belle shooting the alligator, Gertie and her Bruce Lee kick to Melvin’s head, Marge’s weapon collection.
I felt my jaw drop open and I stared.
Finally, I managed to speak. “You were counterintelligence.”
“We prefer ‘spies,’” Ida Belle said.
Gertie nodded. “It sounds cooler.”
I leaned back in my chair and blew out a breath. “Spies. I can’t believe it.”
I narrowed my eyes at Gertie. “You’re not woolly-headed or clumsy, are you?”
Gertie laughed. “Of course not.”
“Well…,” Ida Belle interjected.
“Am not!”
“You’re not as sharp as you used to be, and that’s all I’m saying.”
Gertie glared at Ida Belle, then looked back at me. As soon as she turned, Ida Belle looked at me and shook her head.
“The thing I learned,” Gertie said, “is that if people believe I’m clueless, they’ll say and do all manner of things in front of me, thinking it doesn’t matter.”
I looked at Ida Belle. “And I guess that story about your dad teaching you to shoot was a lie?”
Ida Belle shook her head. “Daddy was real and as big a son of a bitch as we described him to be. I was already a good shot when I enlisted, but the military honed the skill to a level of precision that only another marksman would understand.” She gave me a shrewd look.
“You’re right,” I said, trying to decide how much information to give and how much to hold back. Not because I didn’t trust them, but because I didn’t want to put them in danger.
“You know,” Gertie said gently, “we’re not going to appear any more threatening to the enemy if we know the truth than if we don’t.”
She was right and I knew it, but I’d spent my entire life trusting no one. Making a leap of faith was a huge step for me.
“I’m not military, but they did train me. I work for the CIA.”
Gertie clapped her hands. “A spook! Right here in Sinful. Imagine that.”
I smiled. “No more unlikely than a ladies society run by Vietnam counterintelligence.”
“She has a point,” Ida Belle said, then looked at me, her expression serious. “I’m not going to ask your job description, because I think we already have a good idea, and speaking about it isn’t necessary. And I’m going to assume that you didn’t kill Sandy-Sue to take her place here, but I would like to know that she’s safe and what exactly you’re hiding from.”
“Sandy-Sue is definitely safe. She’s on extended vacation paid for by her uncle, who is also my boss. She knows nothing about any of this.”
“Good,” Ida Belle said, completely satisfied with my explanation.
“I’m hiding here because some very bad guys have a price on my head, and my boss is afraid a leak at the CIA blew my cover. I wasn’t supposed to return from my last mission.”
Gertie frowned. “So you’re completely off-grid?”
“Yes. My boss and one other agent are the only people who know where I am. Well, and now you guys.”
Gertie whistled. “And if Deputy LeBlanc looks too closely into Sandy-Sue’s background, he may find out she’s not here, and it would leave you exposed. We figured it was something along those lines. That’s why we sent you outside after you rescued us and made up that story.”
I nodded. “If I get called to testify, I’m perjuring myself just by stating Sandy-Sue’s name.”
“And these bad guys that are after you—what are we on the lookout for?” Ida Belle asked.
“Arms dealers. Trust me, they’d stick out in Sinful like a spotlight.”
“Middle Eastern?” Gertie asked. “You’re very tan.…”
I nodded.
“That makes it easier,” Ida Belle said.
“From now on,” Gertie said, “we’ll do our best to keep you out of things that put you on Deputy LeBlanc’s radar.”
I felt a tiny sliver of fear run through me. “Is there that much questionable activity going on in Sinful?”
“No, of course not,” Ida Belle said, then winked at Gertie.
I put my hands over my ears and rose from the table. “I don’t want to know,” I said as I headed upstairs for a well-deserved hot shower. I could still hear them laughing when I stepped onto the second-floor landing.
I paused for a moment, smiling as their laughter traveled up the stairwell. They were good people, strong women, and loyal friends. They’d restored some of my faith in mankind, and it had cost me only a chunk of fake hair and a little embarrassment.
Not a bad accomplishment for less than a week.
The End
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The Author:
Jana DeLeon grew up among the bayous and ‘gators of southwest Louisiana. She’s never stumbled across a mystery like one of her heroines but is still hopeful. She lives in Dallas, Texas with a menagerie of animals and not a single ghost.
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Books by Jana DeLeon:
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