Rachel's Rebellion (Moss Bayou) (13 page)

“Right now,
the whole town is gathered together for the dead girl’s grief party.” Denny
scratched his jaw. “I don’t want any busybodies making too much of the fact
that y’all are together. Just get the little son of a bitch, teach him good,
and get out.”

And that was
that. Direct. To the point. Three vehicles left Bank Shots. Without being able
to travel together, Gabe had no idea how he and Wyatt were going to play this one.
Just as he began to run ideas through his mind, Wy’s truck quickly swung into
the parking lot at the Bayou Mart. As he slowed to follow, Gabe saw the glowing
tail lights of Mullet’s truck traveling on. What was Wy up to now?

“Get in,” Wy
called through his window as he parked the Mustang.

Quickly he
changed vehicles and barely had his seatbelt latched when Wy backed out of the
parking space.

“What?”

“Denny can
kiss my ass,” Wy grumbled. “We’re not going in blind. Tell Mullet you ran out of
gas or something should he ask.”

He nodded as
the truck sped down the highway.

“So what’s
your plan?”

Wy shook his
head. “Nothing yet. Just know we need to work something out. Quick.”

“He’s headed
into town.”

“I think
he’s headed to the café.” Wy looked in his rearview mirror then back at the
road. “Seems to be where the whole town gathers.”

Gabe thought
for a second. It was true. No matter what happened in Moss Bayou, the whole
town flocked to the café. That’s the big reason Tellie Anderson was brought into
the operation.

“We have to
get Ty Devlin away from any crowd,” Gabe finally remarked.

“We also
have to keep a leash on Mullet.”

“Is he
packing?”

“Yes,” Wyatt
nodded.

“Fucking
great,” he groaned.

“Under the
passenger seat,” Wyatt indicated with a point of his finger. “Shoe box of all
things, holds two pieces. Not related to law enforcement.”

Gabe reached
under the seat, found the box and pulled out the guns. “Definitely not law
enforcement.” He laughed as he looked at the snub-nosed revolvers. “These pea
shooters are a joke.”

“Definitely
not a
Glock
.”

“Well, it
will have to do.” His gun was stashed in the Mustang. “Your gun stashed?”

“Yes. Hand
me the pea shooter.”

He handed Wy
the gun and like himself, Wy sat it between his legs until they could stash them
at the small of their backs when they exited the truck.

Gabe
shouldn’t have been surprised when he saw them turning into the parking lot of
Tellie’s café. The parking lot was full of cars. Wyatt pointed to Mullet’s
truck on the far edge of the parking lot. He saw it, too. Without conscious
thought, he quickly scanned the other vehicles searching and hoping she wasn’t
there. Then he saw her little car. He couldn’t stop the heavy expel of breath
that escaped.

“I see it,”
Wyatt mumbled. “Parked right next to Fancy’s snappy little BMW.”

“We need to
think of something ASAP,” Gabe grumbled. “Mullet’s a loose cannon.”

His gut
clenched at the thought of something happening to Rachel. It clenched even more
when he realized she would see Deke tonight.

“Mullet’s ready.”
Wyatt grabbed the door handle. “Let’s go,
Deke
.”

Together
they walked to Mullet’s truck. The man sat inside, the window down, smoking a
cigarette. The smell hit Gabe and he did what Deke would do. He pulled the
cigarettes from his shirt pocket and took one out.

“I can’t go
in there,” Mullet was saying.

“Why not?”
Gabe lit the cigarette with the lighter Mullet offered. He inhaled deeply. It
had been more than forty-eight hours since his last one.

“Cops.”
Mullet pointed to a squad car in the parking lot. “Can’t risk it. That’s why.
I’m still wanted for questioning. Fire, burglary. Hell, they probably want to
say I shot the Till kid, too.”

“Probably
right,” Wy answered. “You don’t want to be out of the loop like T-Bob.”

“You should wait
out here,” he said casually.

Wyatt, being
Wylie, suggested, “Why don’t you just hang back or go back to Bank Shots. Me
and Deke can grab the little shit and head to the barn.”

“Good idea.”
Gabe liked where this was heading. “We’ll give you a call when we’re heading
out. Then we’ll have a party.”

“You’re too
important to be out of the loop like poor T-Bob.” Deke nodded for extra
emphasis.

Mullet’s
self-preservation was as big as his ego. “I like that. You go ahead, secure
him,
maybe
even make him shit himself a time or two.”
Mullet laughed. “I can get in there right after y’all and we can kick his ass.”

“Right,
Boss.” Wyatt gave a Wylie grin. “Knew you’d want in on this, but we don’t need
you having to play hide and seek with the cops.”

“Wy’s right.
You have to stay in the loop.”

Mullet’s
greasy, stringy hair barely moved as he nodded his head vigorously and laughed.
“Knew you were my kind of people.” He started his truck and headed out.

At that
moment, a police officer walked out of the café carrying a couple of bags. He
walked to the patrol car, got in, and drove away.

“What’s your
plan?” Gabe turned to Wyatt once the patrol car was gone. “Thinking the same
thing I’m thinking?”

“Sure am.” Wyatt
lifted his ball cap and scratched his head. “Let’s get the kid and then we
stash him for safe keeping. We can make the call after we have him.”

“Yep. That’s
my thinking.” As they headed for the café door, he turned to Wyatt and said.
“Signal CJ, will you. I think she’s a little pissed at me.”

“Of course
she’s pissed,” Wyatt grunted. “Didn’t you know? CJ seems to have the hots for
you.”

No, he
didn’t know. Obviously. He was sorry she was angry but there was little he
could do about that. He saw CJ Adams as a partner. A friend. Nothing more. Now
wasn’t the time to think about CJ’s anger, they had a job to do. They had to
save Tyler Devlin from serious pain and injury without blowing their cover.
They, quite possibly, were saving his life.

As they
reached the door of the café, Gabe could see Rachel sitting with a large group
at a center table. He missed her. He would much rather be tucked inside her
apartment making sweet love to her. He sighed as Wyatt reached to open the
door. Instead of making sweet love to Rachel he was probably going to scare the
shit out of her. She was about to see Deke Johnson in action and there wasn’t
anything he could do about it.

“She’s not
going to interfere,” Wyatt assured him.

Walking
across the threshold, Gabe sucked in a breath. No, she wouldn’t interfere, but
she would see a side of him that could change how she sees him. Fear was not
what he wanted Rachel to feel when she looked at him.

Tellie’s
café was growing crowded, she thought. It really didn’t surprise her. Moss
Bayou had experienced another deep sadness. The death of Laurel Cross was a
shock to the collective system. The Cross family was reeling and the people of
Moss Bayou shed every tear with them. When she left the Cross home, she wondered
how she would manage the short drive to the café. But in spite of the sadness,
she’d told her parents good-bye and drove herself to Tellie’s just as the
others were planning to do. The tears had kept on falling. There was nothing
she could do, so she cried silently throughout the drive. While she, or anyone
else for that matter, wasn’t particularly close to Laurel Cross, Rachel did
consider her a friend. Whether Laurel had wanted a friend or not. It made her
even sadder to think Laurel preferred to shut herself off from those around
her. No one really knew Laurel, but everyone knew and loved Owen and Violet
Cross. Everyone knew and loved Tanner. The only thing she was sure of was it
was going to be a rough few days.

“Hi.”

Rachel
looked up to see Leslie Anderson taking a seat across from her. The table was
empty at the moment. She was the first to arrive. “Hi.”

“Mom’s
expecting a second dinner rush. I’m lending a hand tonight,” Leslie told her.
“I just wanted to say hi.”

“It’s already
pretty busy,” Rachel commented, looking over the café. “Everyone else is on the
way, so it will be even busier.”

“Most people
are picking up to-go orders or stopping in for a late bite to eat.” Leslie
pushed a strand of dark hair behind an ear.

Rachel
nodded, thinking of her own visit to the Cross home. “There was food there, but
I just wasn’t very hungry. I couldn’t bring myself to take a bite. Mrs. Violet
was inconsolable and Mr. Owen was in such a daze. It was so heartbreaking.”

“Charlie and
I went in for a few minutes earlier this evening,” Leslie replied. “It broke my
heart. We didn’t stay very long. Charlie had to get to the club. With Jesse and
Paige away on their honeymoon, Charlie and Barney have to keep things running
smoothly.”

Rachel nodded.
“We must have missed each other. I never saw you.”

“I saw Nik
and Tanner of course, but that was about it. We were there kind of early, I
guess. No real crowd at that point.” Leslie paused. “I wanted to pay my
respects, but I must admit, I was worried it would bring back that raw pain
that claimed us after Daisy died. It did.”

Rachel
nodded again. It seemed hard to talk about. She too had been reminded of
Daisy’s murder. Only six months had passed since Daisy had been killed. Now,
Moss Bayou seemed to be filled with grief-stricken robots once more. What made
this death even sadder was Laurel herself. The world had known and adored Daisy
Anderson. Only a chosen few had really known Laurel Cross.

“Hello,
ladies.”

Rachel’s
eyes focused as Brody Jensen pulled out a chair for his wife. “Where is Levi?”
she asked. Brody and Hope were rarely seen without their two month old son.

“Your sister
is babysitting,” Hope answered. “Abby has been wonderful with this. I hated
calling her so last minute.”

“Abby is
good with kids,” Rachel supplied. “She adores Levi. Besides, she would want to
help. You know that.”

“In the past
few hours, she’s been an angel from heaven,” Brody stated. “Where’s Phillip?”

“He’s
working at the bakery,” she replied. “You know the Latinis. It’s there way of
helping out.”

Lily walked
up to the table, sat beside her, huffed out a breath and ran a hand through her
long blonde hair. It wasn’t Lily’s usual perfect head of hair tonight. Rachel
let out a breath of her own. She felt the same way. It was only Monday night
but both she and Lily had been living this nightmare for more than twenty-four
hours now. Heather Jensen sliced through the thought. It had been her nightmare
even longer. Heather had been helping with Laurel for who knew how long. Promising
Ty to keep things to herself, Heather had been true to her word. No one would
have guessed what all of the secret conversations had really been about. Rachel
sipped the iced tea the waitress set down before her. Until yesterday, she
would have bet money that Tyler Devlin had a thing for Heather and was about to
cause problems with his own brother. Now, she had no idea what was real.

Rachel heard
conversation starting around her. Leslie excused herself to seat a few
customers. Heather arrived looking like the weight of the world was on her
shoulders. Rachel heard her mention Luke would be there in about an hour. She
didn’t feel like talking really. So she listened half-heartedly and nodded
occasionally. What she really wanted was to be with Gabriel, locked inside her
apartment. Away from the world with only him. She wanted him to hold her. She
wanted to feel loved and safe. Alive. Gabriel did that for her. A smile played
with the corner of her mouth and she hid it. Now was not the time to be happy.

Looking around
the café, she saw many friends and neighbors had arrived. At a corner booth, Ty
sat with Darryl and Thomas, two friends she knew only in passing. He looked
frozen in his seat. There was no cockiness or big grin as one expected from Ty
Devlin. He must be in so much pain. He loved her, he’d said. The ultimate
sadness was the loss of the baby. She didn’t know what to say to him. She
couldn’t imagine that kind of loss. Without thinking, she touched her hand to
her flat belly. She knew she was being silly, but still laid her hand on the
imaginary child that would be Gabriel’s. It was silly, she had no reason to
think anything of the sort. Feeling foolish, she dropped her hand to her lap.
Yet, she couldn’t help but wonder if she’d ever get the chance.

The bell
over the door sounded. Through the opened door walked Wyatt Hawke looking cocky
with his baseball cap placed backwards over the dark blonde hair curling at his
collar. Following him was Gabriel. Her eyes drank in the sight of him. She let
her eyes appreciate the black T-shirt fitting snug over his broad chest. She
couldn’t stop herself from taking a moment to admire the seriously faded jeans
that molded him like a glove. A deliciously, butter soft glove. She wanted to
run into his strong arms. She wanted to feel his loving hands on her body.
Knowing that wasn’t possible, she fought the strong desire and forced herself
to remain seated. She worked hard to keep her face blank as she sat there. It
was obvious from the way they went to Cally Brown and spoke, they were working.
It was Deke and Wylie now.