Rachel's Rebellion (Moss Bayou) (25 page)

“Where we
heading?” Roger asked as they all piled into the cruiser.

Gabe quickly
rattled off the name of the motel on Highway 90 in Houma.

As Roger
drove from the Prescott home, he started to radio his dispatch.

“Don’t,”
Wyatt yelled from the back seat. “Tamra Till.”

“Tamra’s been
removed. We were informed that she was taken into protective custody until this
is over.”

“Someone you
know and trust on dispatch?” Gabe asked.

“Sure do,”
Roger replied. “My cousin Errol’s on tonight. We can trust him. Plus, we can
communicate off the record if we need to.”

“Good. Let’s
do that.” Gabe turned in his seat to look at Wyatt. Wyatt nodded.

“We need to
know if the Houma officers are still on detail at the motel.” Gabe looked at
Roger. “Can Cousin Errol help us with that on the QT?”

“Give me a
minute,” Roger said as he reached for the mike.

“You think
she really did it?” Wyatt asked from the backseat.

“I think she
may be pissed enough,” Gabe admitted. “Hate the thought but nothing else is
adding up. Too many questions.”

Roger stopped
speaking and dropped the mike in his lap. Immediately a cell phone sounded. He
grabbed the phone from his shirt pocket, pressed a button and spoke.

“Errol, I
got you on speaker.” Roger began. “I got those two UCs with me. We need to know
if that motel in Houma is still being protected by the HPD.”

“Hang on,”
came Errol’s reply. The connection went silent.

Gabe watched
the streetlights zoom by as Roger drove them toward Houma.

“Hey, Cuz,”
Errol spoke again. “I got a big no on that. They were released.”

“By what
authority?” Gabe cut in.

“Give me a
second,” Errol said and went silent once more.

Rachel.

“Shit.” Gabe
blew out a breath. He was really worried now.

“I got it.”
Errol was back. “Word is they were released about a half an hour ago.
Authorization was from CJ Adams, State Bureau.”

Gabe let out
another choice word as Roger thanked Errol and ended the call.

“Wyatt, when
did CJ go off on me at that meeting?”

“That
would’ve been Monday morning,” Wyatt supplied.

“What y’all
thinking?” Roger asked.

“I’m
thinking somewhere between Monday and now, CJ fed Russ information.” Gabe
finally said. “Not a lot, but just enough. It would explain how the shipment
was suddenly changed. It would explain why we were suddenly targets for a
shooter.”

“It would
explain how Russ is always a step ahead,” added Wyatt.

“The big
question is how far did she go?” Gabe turned to look at Wyatt.

“Another
question we have to ask is why she did it?” Wyatt added.

“None of it
makes sense.” Roger threw in. “Doesn’t seem like rational thought applies.”

Gabe
couldn’t agree more. He looked at Roger. “Can your cousin get us back up?”

“Sure.”
Roger grabbed his cell phone.

Wyatt
mumbled something from the backseat. Gabe turned toward him. “Something else?”

“Yes. Lily.”
Wyatt snapped. “I left her. Alone.”

Gabe felt
the same. He’d been so involved with everything that was happening, he
abandoned Rachel. He should have stayed. Now…

Gabe saw
Rachel’s face, flushed from lovemaking. His heart pounded. He had to get to
her. He knew in his gut, Russ was going to the motel to kill her and Lily.

**********

Rachel lay
on her side. She watched as CJ leaned against the door and listened to a voice
coming from her phone. She had gone outside and then several minutes later had
returned, positioning herself up against the door. CJ never really looked at
her nor Lily. She certainly didn’t speak to them. She was not the same friendly
waitress she portrayed at the café. Lily slept quietly beside her, but Rachel
refused to take her eyes off of CJ Adams.

“I’m
waiting,” CJ spoke into the phone. “When will you get here?”

Rachel
figured she was talking to more police officers. She was on duty after all. Not
exactly the time to be making plans with friends.

“Glad you
made it out of there.” CJ murmured into the phone.

What she
wouldn’t give for her cell phone right now. But Rachel knew the only forms of
communication in the room were CJ’s cell and the room phone. CJ would never
turn her phone over and it wasn’t like she had means to use the room phone.
Yes, she could dial 9-1-1 but what would she say? Find Gabriel Deacon for me. I
need him.

“We really
doing this? What about your wife?”

Okay. CJ was
talking to some guy. A married man.

“Yes, I’m
glad we hooked up that day, too.”

Seriously?

Rachel hated
to do it, but she gently nudged at Lily. It took her a couple of tries before
Lily’s eyes opened. Giving Lily a look, she casually indicated CJ with a slight
nod in the woman’s direction. Thankfully, Lily caught on.

“I’m ready.
I’m at the door now.” CJ ended her call. She turned to the door, unlocked it
and went outside.

Rachel sat
up and leaned forward. If she hadn’t been sitting she would have fallen. Lily
obviously had looked, too. Now her hand squeezed Rachel’s so tight, she was
losing circulation. They watched as CJ went into Russ Patterson’s arms. They
shared a long, drawn out kiss.

“Oh my God,
Rach,” Lily whispered. “I think we’re in trouble.”

“I think so,
too.” Rachel hated to admit it but what else could she say?

She and Lily
held tight to each other and watched Russ and CJ. When they finally broke
apart, they stood close together, talking. Rachel couldn’t hear what they were
saying, so she gathered her brain together to pay attention to other important
things. Like the silver car parked beside Russ. She’d never seen it before. It
wasn’t his wife’s car, either. She drove a red car. She tried to make out the
car’s make and model. The emblem in the center of the grill was familiar but
she couldn’t place it at the moment.

“Wonder what
they’re chatting about,” Lily whispered.

“Looks
cozy,” Rachel replied.

At that
moment, CJ and Russ broke apart and walked into the room.

Rachel and
Lily huddled closer together. What was happening here?

“Girls, good
to see you.” Russ gave them his best smile.

She didn’t
respond. Neither did Lily.

“Come on
girls.” Russ smirked. “Don’t be that way. We’re all friends here.”

“Obviously,
not.” Rachel wanted him to know she wasn’t buying anything.

“Don’t pay
any attention to them,” CJ told Russ. “Let’s just get out of here.”

“Not yet,
Baby.” Russ smirked again. “Rachel and Lily here are a last little problem I
need to take care of.”

“What? You
said we were ready to go.” CJ gave him a look. “Did you get the money?”

“Sure did.
Silas and Aurora won’t miss it.”

Rachel listened
and worried. Fear gripped her tight as she and Lily sat glued to Russ and CJ.
It was a strange sight. CJ was very pretty. She was tall. Sleek and slender.
Russ, while taller than CJ, appeared thick and compact. He was husky and
muscled. His dark hair was always cut military short and his large head sat on
a thick neck.

“Then let’s
go, Russ.”

“Got to take
care of a couple of loose ends first.” Russ looked at Rachel and then at Lily.

“What are
you talking about?” Lily asked. “We’re not a problem for you.”

“There was
that matter yesterday on Bayouside.” Russ shook his head. “You were both there,
right?”

“What
matter?”

“Rachel
Emerson, don’t play dumb. Lily’s the blonde in the room.” Russ stepped away
from CJ a bit. “You were in that truck yesterday. Hell, you were at the old
cabin, too. I know because I clued in Mullet a few days ago about your being a
nurse.”

“So? You
want me to keep my mouth shut?” Rachel looked Russ in the eye. “I can keep my
mouth shut.”

“I know
about you and Johnson or whatever his real name is. I saw you meeting him in
dark corners every chance you got. Made it my business to know what Johnson was
doing. Imagine my surprise when I realized it was you.”

She didn’t
respond.

To Lily he
said, “I guess you with the other one. I bet you liked stepping down from your
high class world. Is that what it was? A little low class nasty appealed to
you?”

Lily didn’t
respond. Instead, she grabbed Rachel’s arm.

As fast as
lightning, Russ pulled out a gun. He pointed it at them. “I really don’t have
time to chat, girls.”

“Russ, you
can’t shoot them,” CJ cried.

“Sure I can,
Baby. Watch this.” He raised his gun and a shot sounded.

Rachel sat
on the bed with her eyes slammed shut, waiting for the pain. When it never
came, her worst fear was Lily had been shot. She opened one eye to see Lily
sitting beside her. Her eyes wide with shock. Willing her head to turn, she
found Russ Patterson slumped on the floor. He looked up at CJ but said nothing.
CJ’s gun was aimed for his head. She kicked Russ’s gun across the room.

Tires
squealing and voices yelling sounded from outside the door. In a flash, guns
drawn, Gabriel, Wyatt, and Roger Boudreaux entered.

Gabriel ran
to her as Wyatt ran to Lily. Suddenly, it was over. That simple. That quick. It
was over.

Thank
you, God.

Roger
secured CJ in cuffs and she cried as he sat her on a chair. Police officers
from Houma Police Department arrived and helped to secure CJ. Someone said they
called an ambulance for Russ who would survive. Good. He had a lot to pay for.

Rachel’s head
rested on Gabriel. He was there, strong and safe. She was with him. That was
all that mattered.

“I have to
go to work soon.” Gabe’s voice was low and soft.

“I know,”
she whispered. “I understand.”

Tears began
to form but she forced them back. She wouldn’t cry. Not now. She would save it
for later when she was alone. And he was gone.

More police
than she’d ever seen in one place invaded the small room. She knew he had to
leave her. She had always known duty came first.

“I have to
go to work,” he said with a groan. “I will miss you, Rachel.”

“I will miss
you, Gabriel. With every cell in my body, I will miss you.”

Then, in a
room full of chaotic action, she was alone.

Lily Quinn’s
red BMW Z4 zoomed over I-49 carrying Rachel to the unknown. What would happen
in just over an hour or so, she didn’t know. She chose not to think about it.
Instead, with the top down, she let the wind of the road carry those thoughts
to some place where the nibbling doubt couldn’t break in and take hold.

“What are
you smiling about?”

She looked
at Lily. Blonde hair blowing in the breeze, big sunglasses covering half of her
pretty face, she looked like a movie star. But then, Lily always looked like a
movie star.

“I’m
enjoying the ride,” Rachel finally answered.

“It’s been a
rough couple of weeks for you.”

“And you.”

Lily’s eyes
left the road momentarily. “I’m fine with things.”

Lily might
be smiling as the words came out of her mouth, but Rachel suspected there was
more to the story. Still, she didn’t press. Not yet.

The
landscape passed by in a blur. The farther north the flashy little car took
them, the more the look of everything changed. It had quickly changed. Just as
everything in Moss Bayou had. Just as she had.

“I’m glad
Phillip talked you into this trip,” Lily commented.

“He’s been a
great friend,” Rachel replied.

“I would
have never guessed Phillip is gay. I can’t believe he kept it a secret.”

“Lil, you
know his family.”

“True but his
friends aren’t like his family. He should’ve known we would’ve all been
supportive.”

No, his
friends weren’t like his family. Phillip had found that out just a few days
after she’d returned home. The truth had to be told, he’d said. Everyone was
surprised but supportive. Well, everyone but the Latinis.

“I hope his
parents come around soon,” Rachel said. “He hasn’t done anything wrong.”

“But they’re
acting like he shot the Pope or something,” Lily threw in.