Bayou Justice. Robin Caroll

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СКАЧАТЬ just superstition.”

      “Go!”

      Without another word, CoCo turned and strode from the room and then down the stairs. She needed to get on the bayou, to be alone, to find peace. Her steps were quick as she made her way to her airboat. She untied the rope from the live oak stump.

      A vehicle rattled down the gravel driveway.

      CoCo turned, her heart and stomach switching places.

      Luc Trahan skidded to a stop. What was he doing here? Through the windshield, his gaze met hers. Her betraying heart leapt.

      She tossed down the rope and marched toward the truck. Luc got out, smiling as if he hadn’t crushed her heart and dreams. “What are you doing here?”

      “I just wanted to let you know Grandfather’s acting on his own with this eviction thing.”

      He looked good—too good. She stiffened her spine. “Doesn’t matter. I’ve already retained an attorney to fight him.”

      “Look, I think we—”

      CoCo held up her hand. “There is no we anymore. You made sure of that, Luc.” She crossed her arms over her chest to hide her trembling. “I think you’d better leave.”

      “But…”

      “No anything. Just go. I want you to leave. Now.” Please, please just leave. She couldn’t allow him inside her heart again. It’d taken her too long to regain her emotional footing.

      He moved toward her, closing the distance between them comfortably.

      She backed up a step. “I said to go, Luc.” Her heart thundered. “Please.” She hated herself for pleading, but knew the tears would come soon. She refused to give him the satisfaction.

      As if he could hear her thoughts, he nodded, got into his truck and slammed the door.

      Dirt filled the air as he sped off. It took her a moment to regulate her breathing. Her emotions betrayed her. CoCo narrowed her eyes toward the road, even though his truck had long moved out of view.

      You won’t keel me over again with a warm smile, Luc Trahan. Not ever again.

      THREE

      Why, God? What more do You want from me? Haven’t I paid enough? Lost enough? Repented enough?

      How had she failed so badly? Tara, her baby sister, already graduated to cunjas and using voodoo dolls. CoCo shook her head in the darkness.

      With Alyssa gone, the responsibility of looking after her baby sister fell directly on CoCo’s shoulders. The weight often felt crushing. Hadn’t she endured a bad enough day without having to deal with Tara’s involvement in their grandmother’s old ways? Why didn’t they listen?

      CoCo’s stomach roiled. Grandmere wouldn’t even bother teaching Tara if CoCo hadn’t stopped her training. She sighed. Being a Christian sure didn’t make life any easier—if anything, she’d had more heartache and grief.

      And Luc showing up out of nowhere. Calling him had been a mistake, a big one. When the chips were down, why had she gone on auto-pilot and called in her knight in shining armor? She let out a breath with a gust. Some knight he’d turned out to be.

      The only reply to her prayers was the tree frogs croaking, blending with the chirping of the crickets, filling the evening with the bayou’s own unique song.

      CoCo turned off her running lights, killed the engine of her airboat and let it drift. The soft lapping of water against the boat lulled away her frustration. She drew in a deep breath, sucking in the calming scents of the bayou—sweet onion flowers and muskiness. This was her habitat, where she felt most comfortable. It would be over her dead body before she left her home. No matter what deed Beau Trahan possessed.

      A bump against the airboat sent it rocking. CoCo flipped on her spotlight and shone the beam into the water. A young alligator, maybe five feet long at most, nudged with his nose again. CoCo laughed. A little bull testing his dominance. She reached for her tagging tool.

      Loud thrashing sounded to her left. Pinpricks of dread skittered against the back of CoCo’s neck. She recognized the sound—water currents caused by an alligator having something in its death roll.

      She jerked the light in the direction of the sound. Illumination reflected off the water, casting shadows into the weeping willow trees. There, a little farther to the left. CoCo shifted the light to the movement.

      A flash of fabric. A twist of flesh. Another whooshing splash.

      Heartbeat thudding in her ears, CoCo grabbed her noisemaker and pressed the button. The wail, imitating the guttural sound mother alligators made, bounced off the trees. She lowered the device to water level and sounded it again.

      The alligator jerked toward her, leaving the body he’d had in his jaws. The young bull growled and grunted, defining his territory. The other gator dove under the water, slipping below her. CoCo kept the light on the older reptile. He surfaced a few feet from the young bull, who continued to warn off the other alligator with his rumbles. Within seconds, the bull attacked. The two reptiles rolled with one another. Waves rocked the airboat.

      She sounded the noisemaker again. Both alligators faced her. She let loose another blast. The bull dove deep, surfacing 40 feet away. The other followed. CoCo trolled toward the human body floating facedown. Reaching behind her seat, she pulled out a long hooked pole. Her hands trembled as she jabbed the body with the hook and flipped it over.

      The lifeless face of Beau Trahan stared up at her.

      Leaning over the edge of the boat, CoCo retched and gagged. Once her stomach stopped heaving, she yanked the radio off its stand. “Alpha Tango Charlie to Vermilion parish sheriff’s office.”

      The static crackled over the radio, followed by a loud blast. “Sheriff’s office, go ahead.”

      “I need the sheriff out here at marker twelve-one-four, immediately.”

      Again the crackling filled the night air, silencing the frogs and locusts. “Alpha Tango Charlie, what is the emergency?”

      She glanced over at Beau Trahan’s blank expression. “I found a dead body at this location.”

      The dispatcher informed her a unit would be on its way shortly. CoCo replaced the radio and then gazed over the bayou, looking anywhere but at the body. She flipped on her night lights, turned on her distress signal and then sat. Her top teeth captured her bottom lip and rubbed.

      God, what more?

      Long moments passed before a siren whirred off in the distance. She stood and caught sight of the incoming boat. Blue and white lights tangoed like macabre dancers. CoCo engaged the trolling motor, moving the airboat to face the incoming vessel.

      Sheriff Bubba Theriot, his thick glasses mirroring the flashing blue-and-white, nodded as soon as they drifted close enough to her. “CoCo, whatcha got?”

      She jerked her head toward her shoulder. “Dead body. Heard the death roll, then saw him. Got the gators to leave with the noisemaker before I radioed СКАЧАТЬ