Chloe Babineaux Private Investigator

  Chapter Twenty

  I sat in my big recliner and relaxed. It felt strange to be alone after having someone with me almost constantly. I was still creeped out about the shooting, but I was determined to get over it and continue with my search. But not now. Right now all I wanted to do was relax in the solitude of my apartment. Tryston bumped something hard against the wall, and I jumped. This was ridiculous.

  I needed to do something constructive. I needed to call Cheri to tell her the plans for tonight. “Hey, Cheri, I’m home.”

  “How are you feeling?” She sounded distracted.

  “Really good. What are you doing?”

  “I’m getting dressed; Brent and I are eating with his parents tonight.” No wonder she was distracted. His parents are la-ti-da. They made my skin itch.

  “Oooh,” I said sadly, “I’m so, so sorry. I was calling you to invite ya’ll over tonight for pizza or something. The girls are coming over to celebrate my freedom.”

  “That sounds like fun. But it won’t be that bad at Brent’s parent’s house,” she said, laughing. “I’ll call you and tell you about it.” Cheri could easily do la-ti-da.

  “Okay, be good and don’t say anything I would.”

  She laughed, we said goodbye and disconnected.

  It was around five forty-five by the time I took a shower, and I was about to get in when my doorbell rang. I grabbed a towel and checked the peephole.

  Good, it was Nona. I opened the door, and she laughed, “You got all dressed up for me didn’t you?”

  “Yeah, you know I’d do anything for you, Nona,” I tried to say seductively and gave her a big hug. “I was about to take a shower, so I’m glad you’re here to let Felicia and Tammy in.”

  “Go, I’ll let them in.” She said with a big smile.

  It felt so good to take a nice long shower. I was feeling human again after washing the blood from my hair and Jason’s blood from my body. His blood might not have been there physically but emotionally it was, so I scrubbed my body raw removing it.

  I stepped out the shower and realized I had forgotten my clothes on my bed, so I peeked out and made sure the bedroom door was closed. It was; I didn’t remember closing it so Nona must have.

  I heard men talking and thought, ‘Why do I hear men talking in my apartment?’ Men in my apartment are a rare encounter. It must have been the TV.

  I didn’t have time to think about it because the door opened and standing in my kitchen was Rick talking to a blond man I didn’t know. His eyes widened, and his jaw dropped open, his friend started to turn around, but Rick grabbed his shoulder and shook his head and said, “No, don’t turn around.” His eyes never left me, but he did grin when he looked me up and down.

  My eyes also widened, when all of my friends decided to barge into my bedroom. “Couldn’t you have knocked?” I berated when I had my voice back. Oh no. No, no, no. Rick did not just see me naked. Just what I needed to go along with being shot. I was not leaving this room. This could not be happening. Tell me I was still in the hospital and this was a nightmare.

  “Sorry, my bad,” Felicia said, grinning. “We heard the shower turn off, so we came in. We didn’t know you’d be streaking around your room.”

  “Think of it this way, Chloe,” Tammy laughed, “he knows that’s your natural hair color.”

  “Yeah, because that’s something I was really concerned about. Did Rick like the color of my hair?” I said, shooting daggers at all of them while pulling my jeans and long sleeve T-shirt on.

  They laughed, and I asked, “Who are those men? Did ya’ll bring dates?” I didn’t know about men they were dating but what did I know? They could have found them in the hall and hauled them inside my apartment.

  “No. They’re Rick’s friends. They’re Navy SEALs.” Nona grinned, fanning herself. “Can you say, day-am!”

  “They were en route to Florida from California and their plane had mechanical problems, so they’re here for a while waiting for the part,” Tammy continued.

  “How many are here?” I asked,

  “Three,” they all answered, grinning.

  “How convenient. Why did Rick bring them here instead of to his house?” I asked, totally confused. I had brain damage. It took a while for information to get through. Did he tell me he was bringing friends? Better question: Did he say he was coming to my apartment?

  “Rick said he wanted to see how you were before going back to his house, and since you were in the shower, he wanted to wait.” Nona supplied this bit information. At least now I knew he didn’t tell me about his friends. I wish she would quit smiling so big.

  I looked at the three of them grinning broadly. I decided to forgo the hair drying and put it up in a ponytail, but I did put on makeup. My friends took over my makeup too. “Why are ya‘ll grinning? Did something happen while I was in the shower?”

  “Chloe,” Felicia said grabbing my arm, “they are gorgeous. I had never seen men with so many muscles.”

  “They really are unbelievable.” Tammy laughed.

  I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Great. My friends are far from ugly. They were considered very good looking women. Some might even say they were hot. I don’t know what it said for them to be such good friends with me. I liked to think I was average looking but what did I know? I might be the one they like to be around to make them look better.

  I rolled my eyes and asked the group in general, “Okay, let’s do this. Will they be in Alexandria long?”

   “We didn’t ask,” Nona said shrugging. “I guess as long as it takes for the plane part to be put on. Someone is supposed to call them to let them know when to go back to the airport.”

  We spilled through the door, and all four men stopped talking and rose from where they were they sitting.

  Good, God! I didn’t know why my sofa didn’t collapse? Rick was sitting there with a huge blond man. He wasn’t fat, far from it. He was all shoulders and muscle. They were all shoulders and muscles. Now I knew why there were grins in my bedroom. I was going to have to turn the heat down. I was starting to sweat. Rick was very muscular, and he looked right at home with these other guys.

  I walked over to the thermostat and turned down the heat. I was serious about being warm. Those men must radiate heat. Couldn’t be pheromones.

  The man standing by the recliner smiled and said, “This must be your girlfriend.”

  I jerked my head to Rick and said, “I’m not his girlfriend.”

  “No, they’re sleeping together,” Nona laughed, “but they aren’t having sex.”

  The men looked at Rick and said, “What?” I guess they were wondering why they were here if wasn’t for a booty call.

  “Nona,” I said through clenched teeth, “do you have to be such a…never mind.” I rolled my eyes. “It’s not even worth defending myself.”

  I looked at Rick and asked, “Do you think it’s funny?” He was grinning with his hands on his hips.

  “Yeah,” he said, “I do. It’s fun standing here watching the expressions on their faces. It’s classic.” He glanced at his buddies and said, “Guys, Chloe has been through a hellova lot lately, and she says we can’t date because, as I told you, I’m her brother’s partner. But we’ll see.” he laughed.

  “Oh, yeah,” the one by the recliner said, “this is the woman that runs through flying bullets.”

  I rolled my eyes and shook my head, but the men hoo-yad me, applauded and bowed.

  “Okay,” I said and rolled my eyes, “you had your fun.”

  “No,” the blond said, “we bow in your presence. Anyone that can tackle a man while being shot at is extraordinary.”

  “Don’t forget,” the man said who was sitting on a kitchen chair, “the propane tank explosion. Chloe, you are amazing!”

  I turned to my friends, and Nona said, smiling, “I’m getting sunburn from your radiance.”

  I straightened my mouth, cocked my head and said, “Bite me.” I pointed my finger and waved it
at everyone in the room and added, “That goes for every one of you. Bite. Me.”

  I looked hard at Rick and said, “I hate you.”

  Everyone laughed, and Rick said, “Introduce yourselves, guys,”

  I chuckled but was so embarrassed. I didn’t know what I was doing when I was running after Jason; I had finally remembered his name. One thing I knew for sure was that I didn’t feel like a hero.

  The tall blond on the sofa said, “I’m Chas Underwood.” He stuck out a hand to shake.

  The man with dark hair in the recliner wasn’t real tall, but he had a presence. He brought his hand out, “I’m Tony Fernandez; you can remember me, I’m the good looking one.” He grinned, and I laughed.

  The average height, dark haired man sitting on the kitchen chair brought his hand out and said, “I’m Brian Coleman, the better-looking one.”

  I grinned and said, “Nice to meet all of you. I guess ya’ll already met my friends.” I looked at my girlfriends, and they nodded.

  Rick walked over and guided me to the kitchen and asked, “Are you alright? We can leave if you want to rest.”

  “No, I’m fine.” I smiled. “This is probably what I need. You know, get my mind off of everything. I really don’t want to think right now.” Matter of fact the doctor told me not to think. Don’t even watch TV shows that made me think. Concussions can be a whole lot of fun. Not.

  He grinned and opened his mouth to say something but before he could answer Tony said, “Hey, Ricky, they said they hadn't eaten yet. I’d rather eat here with them than at your place.” He looked at me, widened his eyes and added, “If that’s alright with you, Chloe.”

  “Yes, that’s great. Pizza sounds good?”

  Everyone nodded and agreed, and I opened up a drawer piled high with coupons.

  While Rick was talking to me, the women seemed to pair up with the men and were discussing the pizza dilemma. I placed the coupons on the coffee table when my phone rang.

  My mother was checking up on me. “Everyone be quiet, this won’t take long.”

  The room quieted, and I answered, “Hey, Mama.”

  “Hey, baby, did your friends drop by?”

  “Yes, they’re here. We’re about to order pizza.”

  “You aren’t going out.” It wasn’t a question; it was a statement.

  “No,” I answered hard, “we aren’t going out. In fact, we don’t have to go out, we have four guys here. Your call interrupted our orgy.”

  “Okay, smart-mouth,” she said, “I get your point. You aren’t going out.” She hesitated then asked, “Do you really have men there?”

  “Well, Mama,” I said dryly, “my mouth might be the only smart thing about me tonight. I have a concussion; I may have brain damage.” She couldn’t see me, but I rolled my eyes anyway. I looked at the living room crowd, and they were grinning broadly and softly laughing trying not to be heard.

  “Think about it, Mama,” I continued, “If I had men here would I admit it? There are some things you’re better off not knowing.”

  “Chloebeth!” Mama didn’t like my answer.

  “Okay, okay.” I moved the phone from my ear and said, “Hey, ya’ll. Say hello to Mama.” I shook my head and said without voicing, “No men.”

  All the women said, “Hey, Mama.”

  “There, see?” I said innocently. “Female voices only. Although Tammy does have a deep manly voice, if you heard her you might have thought it was a man.” That was far from true. Tammy’s voice is very feminine.

  “I heard that,” Tammy yelled.

  We started laughing and hoping she couldn’t tell there were few manly chuckles.

  My mother took a deep breath, let it out and said, “Okay, Chloe. I’m hanging up now. You’re feeling better; I love you.”

  “I love you too, Mama.”

  I hung up but stayed by the phone. Felicia walked over to me and told me what they had decided to order. So I handed the phone to her so she could order.

  “Did you really tell your mother you were having an orgy?” Rick asked, grinning.

  “She expects it from me,” I answered shrugging. “It keeps her heart pumpin’.”

   “My mom would have asked to join in,” Tony said laughing.

  “I would never have said that,” Brian was stunned.

  “It sounded like she must be used to it,” Rick laughed. “Chloe said I love you too, before hanging up.”

  “She loves me.” I smiled.

  Felicia hung up, and the phone rang again. “Okay, guys,” I said, “quiet this is my brother. I knew he’d call. That’s why I stayed by the phone.”

  “Hey, Codester.”

  “Hey,” he was laughing so hard I couldn’t understand him. I heard Morgan messing with the kids in the background, but I couldn’t understand her either.

  I moved the phone away from my mouth but kept it by my ear so I could hear when he decided to come up for air. I said to the group in the living room, “He’s laughing so hard I can’t understand him, this may take a while.”

  “Hey, Code-man,” I said raising my voice, “I can’t understand you. Breathe.”

  He took several breaths and then asked, “Did you really tell Mama you were having an orgy?”

  “Yeah, well, what can I say? I’m keeping you in her good graces. Daddy still loves me; I’m the son he never had,” I said grinning. He couldn’t see me, but I know he could hear the laughter in my voice.

  “Okay, okay,” he said still trying to stop laughing. “So, how’s your head? Still having headaches?”

  “Some, but not bad and I’m not drinking alcohol,” I said before he could tell me not to drink alcohol.

  “Good. Love you.”

  “I love you too, bro.”

  We hung up, but I stayed leaning against the breakfast bar.

  Tammy waved her hand to me and said, “Come over, join the party.”

  “I would love to,” I said grimacing, “but I’m expecting one more call. It should be any minute now. Cody’s dialing, it’s ringing, he’s talking, talking, talking okay, he hung up. Now, more dialing, wait for it…” I smiled a closed mouth smile when the phone rang, then said, “My mother.”

  They all said, “Damn, she’s good.”

  I took a deep breath before answering, “Hey, Mama.”

  “Hey baby, I just called to say that I was sorry I questioned you. I worry you know.” She sounded apologetic. But was she? Was she really? Nah, just really nosy.

  “No worries, it’s good. I love you too. Now get some rest.”

   “Okay, bye honey,”

  “Bye.” I hung up and said, “Okay, there shouldn’t be any more phone calls.” I rolled my eyes. “Welcome to my world.”

  I almost made it to the living room not knowing where I was going to sit because all available space was taken, when my cell phone rang.

  “Ahh! I can’t believe this!” I yelled.

  “The only person that it can be is Cheri; she’s the only one not here,” Nona said.

  I looked at the caller ID and was surprised to see who it was, “Hello?”

  “Oh, Chloe, are you alright?” Petunia sounded flustered.

  “Yes, Petunia, I’m fine, a concussion but other than that, I’m okay. It’s Jason that’s in worse shape than me.”

  “Yes, that’s why I’m calling…no, no, no he’s getting better.” She heard me gasp. “The reason I called is…” She didn’t finish. Even for Petunia, this was odd.

  “Petunia, talk to me. Why’d you call?” I asked. I was trying to keep her calm and stay calm myself.

  She took a deep breath and asked, “Did anyone tell you who the…the uh…” She was hesitating, and it was driving me crazy.

  “Just spit it out. Tell me what?” I was very curious now and very anxious. She was making me nervous.

  “The dead man in Gardener,” she hesitated and then eventually said. “He’s my mother’s half brother. Her mother’s first husband died, and she remarried.”

&
nbsp; “Oh, no,” I said sadly, “I knew he was related, but I didn’t know he was your uncle.”

  “Yes…and the one from yesterday? That was his son, Jason Tamereaux Jr.”

  I stared at the breakfast bar waiting for it to slap some sense into me. I couldn’t believe it. They were father and son. Why would someone want father and son dead? Did the shooter think they knew something about the painting and he didn’t want them to tell me? This was unreal. I couldn’t breathe. I started to hyperventilate. I bent over at the waist so I wouldn’t pass out. Why didn’t I think of this while I was in the hospital? I heard Petunia talking. “Chloe. Chloe? Are you alright? You have to drop this case. I don’t want you to get hurt again. The painting isn’t worth it. Please, Chloe,” she begged.

  “No, Petunia,” I said, raising my head. I was starting to get a head rush. “I’m not dropping this case. If someone’s willing to kill for it, how many others in your family will be hurt?” I took a couple of deep breaths through my nose and exhaled from my mouth. “And Petunia? Thank you. Now I know who I have to talk to next. I’ll let you know when I have something concrete.”

  “Oh, Chloe…”

  “I’ll call you. Bye.”

  I disconnected, put both hands on the bar to steady my weaving body. I couldn’t believe this. Could someone really be…? I balled my fist and pounded on the bar. “Dammit, dammit, dammit!”

  “What did Petunia say?” Rick asked, getting up from the sofa.

  “No!” I put my hand up to stop him and yelled. “You knew, didn’t you? You knew who the man was in Gardener and didn’t tell me.”

  “What are you talking about?” he asked but didn’t come any closer.

  “The man in Gardener and the man yesterday were father and son! Someone is following me around. And before I talk to someone that may know something, he kills or tries to kill them.”

  “Chloe…”

  “No!” I yelled over him. “Don’t say anything! This is my fault, and I have to stop it. No one else is gonna be killed because of me.”

  “I was going to tell you,” he said.

  I grabbed my purse, took out my holster with my .22 and attached it to my waist. “I need a bigger gun.”

  I ran to my closet and searched behind my hanging clothes. I found it, my shotgun, I should have a…found it, my 30.06. I came back into the kitchen and laid them both on the bar.

  “What are you doing?” Tony asked.

  “I think, she’s upset,” Nona answered for me. “But this is the first time she’s ever taken out the big guns.”

  I opened drawers until I found two boxes of shells. I shook and then opened the 30.06 box of shells. “No good just one left,” I mumbled.

  I opened the shotgun shells box, I looked up and asked, “Do shotgun shells go bad? I’ve had these for a little over ten years. Do they go bad?” I asked raising my voice.

  “No, you’re good,” Rick answered. “But again tell me what…”

  “Get away from me,” I said pushing past him holding the shotgun.

  I turned off all the lights in the apartment, stalked to the window in the living room swung the curtain opened and screamed. I wasn’t screaming alone the pizza girl was screaming with me. I felt arms around me and heard the curtain close. The shotgun left my hand and lights came on.

  I leaned against Rick’s chest for a few seconds feeling his arms wrap around me; his strength run through me, then I jerked my head up and said, “Wait, I need to go out there and check the parking lot.” I looked down at my hand and asked, “Where’s my shotgun?” I then yelled, “Who took my shotgun?”

  Brian held the gun up and asked, “Why don’t you let us do that? Who are we looking for?”

  “No. No,” I said shaking my head and eyes bulging, “I’ll do it. You can’t go out there.”

  “Chloe,” Rick held my face in his hands and said, “we can do this faster and quieter than you. This is what SEALs are trained for.” He smiled and added, “Now, where’s your key.”

  “My key?” I asked.

  “So we can get back in,” he said quietly. “We’ll go out your bedroom window. Come on guys I’ll fill you in.”

  “It’s next to my purse.” I couldn’t believe they were going to climb out my bedroom window and check out the parking lot for me. I mean, I was going to climb out the window, but I really didn’t think they believed me.

  He smiled and walked to the breakfast bar. While he was there, he put the one shell in the 30.06. One shell. That wasn’t enough.

  “I don’t have any more shells. That’s the only one.” My eyes felt dried out; I had forgotten to blink.

  He grinned and said, “That’s all I’ll need. I’ll knock before opening the door, so you’ll know it’s us.”

  I nodded, then he nodded at the other three, and they were gone. They closed the bedroom door to keep the light from entering the bedroom. I wasn’t comfortable leaving the window open, so after a few minutes I opened the door and closed and locked the window.

  Nona, Felicia, Tammy and I sat together on the sofa. Apparently, the pizza girl made it to the door; there was pizza on the coffee table. My friends surrounded me so I would stop shaking. It worked. Sort of. I rarely got this freaked out. Okay, this was the first time.

  They were gone about three minutes when we heard a knock on the door, bump-bump-bah-dah-bah-bump. Seriously? That’s their knock? A shave and a haircut?

  My friends and I looked at each other and smiled while watching the door open.

  Rick shook his head, smiled and said, “All clear.”

  “You were gone, like two minutes, three at the most,” Felicia said.

  “It doesn’t take long,” Chas grinned. “We only had to search the area nearest to Chloe’s apartment.”

  “We also looked near Cheri’s apartment,” Rick said. “All clear.”

  “I’m sorry, guys,” I said to the men. “Y’all shouldn’t’ve gone out there. I just sort of flipped out.” Flipped out. Nice phrasing for scaring the shit out of myself.

  “It’s okay, Chloe,” Rick said softly. “You were shot yesterday. It’s just your reaction to it. Perfectly, normal.”

  Perfectly normal, he says. Like it’s normal to be shot at. What world is he living in?