Rachel's Rebellion (Moss Bayou) (17 page)

Rachel stood
silent and shocked as Luke slammed the door behind him. Yes, Luke Devlin could be
temperamental but he’d never acted quite so harshly toward any of them before.
The one thing about Luke that always took front and center was his loyalty to
his family and friends. He would fight to the death for family and friends.
Now, it seemed he was fighting with them instead of for them.

“I just came
here to stop Luke from going off the deep end,” Brody finally told her. “If you
know something about Ty, Rachel…just tell us.”

She shook
her head. “I have no idea where Ty is.” It wasn’t a lie.

“Rachel, are
you really seeing that guy?” Hope looked at her. “He’s dangerous. He could put
you in danger.”

Again, she
shook her head. She wasn’t responding to that.

Nik came to
stand beside her. “I think Rachel is upset right now. We’ll blame that on
Luke’s behavior.”

“I’m with
you on that,” Lily replied.

“I thought
you were with Phillip.” It was Hope’s turn to shake her head. “You wouldn’t do
that to him, would you?”

“I’m not
hurting Phillip.”

“Rachel,
were you with Deke Johnson after the wedding?”

“Hope, let
it go,” she pleaded.

“I don’t
understand this,” Brody spoke. “You’re not the Rachel Emerson I know. How can
you think this doesn’t hurt Phillip?”

“I don’t
want to talk about this,” she finally mumbled. “Mavis and Velma have caused
enough harm.”

“Those old
hags have no right,” Lily snapped.

Hope gave
her a long look and then turned to her husband. “Brody, let’s give her a
chance.”

“Guess we’ll
have to,” he muttered.

“We’re
going,” Hope grabbed Brody’s arm and pulled. “We only came because Brody knew
Luke was ready to explode or something.”

“Let’s pick
up Levi from Mom’s,” Brody mumbled as Hope kept pulling him to the door.

Brody and
Hope made it to the door. “If you need to talk, Rachel,” Hope called out. “I’m
here.”

The door
shut quietly and Rachel turned to look at her remaining visitors. Lily looked
at her feet. Nik stood beside Tanner but said nothing, and Tanner looked her
square in the eye.

“I smell
coffee.” Nik finally broke the silence.

“Come into
the kitchen,” she said. “All of you want coffee?”

“I have a
cup,” Lily answered.

“Sure,” said
Tanner as he reached for Nik. “Come on, Sugar.”

Nik grabbed
Tanner’s outstretched hand. “Dying for a cup.”

Rachel led
the way into the kitchen and reached for more mugs. One by one, she filled mugs
and handed them off. Her hands weren’t shaking but they weren’t steady, either.
She reached for her own now cold cup, emptied it and refilled it with hot
coffee. As she reached for the creamer, Tanner came to stand beside her.

“Rachel,
what’s that?” He pointed to another coffee mug sitting beside the sink.

“Tanner, I…”

“He comes
here, doesn’t he?”

Rachel
couldn’t answer. She wasn’t the greatest liar, so she chose to remain silent.
She would not betray Gabriel.

“Tanner,
tell her.” Nik poked Tanner’s arm.

“I know Deke
Johnson a little better than you would think.”

Rachel
focused on Tanner’s words. Had Gabriel told him?

“What do you
mean by that?” She had to know before she messed things up by saying the wrong
things.

“Deke
Johnson came to me,” Tanner said. “About three weeks ago. Said he was willing
to trade information about Denny Dennis and his dealings.”

“He seemed
sincere,” Nik added.

“I think he
was,” Tanner agreed. “He didn’t have a lot of information to share but he did
have enough to push my investigation forward and in new directions.”

“He said he
had his reasons for doing it,” Nik said. “I figure he felt more comfortable
talking to a reporter than a cop is why he chose to talk to Tanner.”

“Why are you
telling me this?”

“Rachel, if
you’re seeing Deke Johnson, we want you to know it is okay to tell us.” Tanner
looked like he expected an answer.

Rachel
looked at Nik who said nothing. Once more she shook her head. “I don’t want to
talk about this.”

Nik gave a
slight nod. “Tanner, let her be. Let’s give her some space.”

“Yes, I
guess we should,” Tanner said after a moment. “We’ll be at my parents’ house if
you need us.”

“We’re
trying to finalize some of Laurel’s arrangements. They still haven’t released
her body, yet.” Nik pulled Tanner closer.

“Autopsy
says she was pregnant,” Tanner added. “That was like a knife to my mother’s
heart.”

Rachel
didn’t know what to say. How did you ease such a horrible pain? She could only
say “I’m so sorry, Tanner.”

He nodded.
With a sigh, he turned to Nik. “Let’s go, Sugar.”

Quick goodbyes
were exchanged and Tanner and Nik left her alone with Lily.

“I’m sorry,
Rachel.” Lily gave her a hug.

“Me too.”

**********

Gabe drove
to the task force meeting with Rachel’s kiss still burning on his lips. He
would have preferred taking her to bed but having already risked the operation
and his career, he’d had no choice but to leave her. Like he always did. A
sadness claimed him as he realized he was going to leave her one day. It would
be a last goodbye.

He knew his
life would take him away. He was a cop who spent most of his work undercover.
How could she accept that kind of life? She deserved a man who would be with
her when nights were dark and cold. Besides, she deserved better than a Deacon.
That was a legacy he couldn’t change no matter what he was now. He was still
the son of a thief. Still the grandson of a drunk. Still the unwanted child of
a woman he had no memory of. Rachel would want marriage and family. He wouldn’t
be a part time father. He wouldn’t want his child to always be waiting –
searching – for his return. In his world, there could be a day when there was
no return. He accepted that danger. He accepted his life. No matter how much
his life lacked, he couldn’t burden her with that world. Rachel needed what he
couldn’t give her.

“You’re
perfect, Beauty. You deserve a perfect life.”

Pulling into
the parking lot, he shoved the sad thoughts aside. Only a few cars dotted the
lot. Taking a deep breath, he made his way inside the gray metal building where
his life was not his own.

CJ Adams was
the first person he saw when he entered the crowded room. She shot a few
daggers his way and then her green eyes returned to studying a sheet of paper
she held.

Okay,
she’s still mad.

He was about
to try and smooth things over with CJ when SAC Jenkins arrived in a huff,
rushed behind the desk at the head of the room, and called their meeting to
order.

“As we know,
the drug shipment is scheduled for the wee hours of Sunday morning. Today and
tomorrow to get it right,” Jenkins began as he dropped a stack of files onto
the desk. “The shipment is due to arrive around midnight at Wheeler’s Seafood.
Doug Wheeler, who owns the seafood company, has been informed and is helping us
out. He will make sure the docks are empty of any boat traffic. He has told us
that occasionally, boats will remain docked overnight as the crew takes a rest.
Fortunately, shrimping season is still weeks off so traffic at the seafood dock
will be light.”

Jenkins
shuffled paper on the desk he stood behind. “As you know, in addition to what
Tyler Devlin was able to help us with, the rest of the intel, not to mention
some damn rock solid proof, comes from Tamra Till’s confession. What she has
been able to tell us put with Tyler Devlin’s help has bolstered this operation
into overdrive in the last forty-eight hours. Deacon and Hawke have been able
to supplement the information and now the special prosecutor is ready to move.
Without Tamra Till, we would not be able to nail Silas and Aurora Prescott
tomorrow night.”

DEA Agent
Mike Furst added, “From Deacon’s and Hawke’s positions on the inside, we expect
two boats tomorrow night. The first boat is most likely going to be the one
carrying the heroin and the second will protect the shipment.”

“Correct.”
Jenkins looked over the crowd. “Dex, you and your force are to play along as if
nothing is suspicious. Russ Patterson will probably try to steer you away from
the seafood market with some other supposed crime.”

“I’m
concerned about the other businesses in town,” Dex stated. “Too many were
burglarized or vandalized just for show. Now that we know it was all part of a
bigger plan, can we hope to protect other businesses from being hit while this
is going down?”

“We’ll have
enough force behind us,” Furst replied. “Why not let your men keep tabs on the
businesses?”

Dex nodded.

“Everyone,
except Deacon and Hawke, will convene around nine tomorrow night.” Jenkins
looked at CJ. “That means you as well, Adams.” CJ nodded, her eyes glued
forward.

CJ stood at
attention. You could see her anger coiling around her. Gabe gave an inward
shrug. He didn’t know what else he could say to her.

“How many
people are you expecting in on this, Deacon?”

Dex Greer’s
question jerked his attention back to the conversation. “Five not counting
Hawke or myself.” He gave Wyatt a nod.

“In addition
to Denny Dennis and Mullet Guillot,” Wyatt added. “Two others from The Hogg Pin
have been recruited. As the report says, Gill Bloom, African-American male,
approximately thirty years old, lean build, stands about five-nine, wears a
full beard. The other is a white male who goes only by ‘Whiskers.’ No real name
yet. He’s stands approximately five-nine also. He wears his head completely
shaved and has no facial hair. Which makes me ask why is he called Whiskers?”

The room
broke into a group chuckle.

“Denny feels
with T-Bob Chaisson hiding from the police, recruiting more help will take up
the slack,” Gabe added.

“Whiskers is
really a petty thief whose real name is Roscoe Chaisson. He’s T-Bob’s cousin,”
Dex informed them all. “He’s called Whiskers because he has about thirty cats.”

Another
round of laughter broke out and then quickly ended when Mike Furst spoke up.

“With five
on the ground, there’s still an unknown number in the boats.”

Gabe agreed
with Mike Furst on that point. No matter how they tried, he and Wyatt had not
been made privy to where the boats were coming from or how many passengers to
expect. Which also meant they had no idea of what kind of fire power to expect.
That could be a problem.

“Dex will
Tamra Till be working?” Jenkins leaned forward as he asked.

Dex replied.
“I have her scheduled for tomorrow night as you requested.”

“Good. Your
dispatch will be intercepted by one of us and rerouted only minutes before
delivery is expected. It would be wise to not communicate anything that she can
intercept. Even though she’s operating under a plea deal.”

“Roger
Boudreaux and I have it set up.”

“Remember,
we want the heroin to make it to its destination. We have to place it in
CajunLand’s possession.”

“Would be
better to place it in Silas Prescott’s hands,” Dex snapped. “It pains me to
know the bastard ordered Anthony Till’s murder.”

“It’s
because of her brother’s murder that Tamra has been cooperating,” Furst said. “Without
her cooperation we would be seriously lacking evidence against Silas and now
Aurora Prescott. Those secret tapes she made of conversations will add several
loops to the hanging rope.”

Yes, Tamra
Till had turned on everyone. Revenge, sorrow, guilt, whatever her biggest
motivation had been, she had been able to provide hard evidence that filled the
holes in this investigation thanks to audio recordings she’d made. She’d called
the tapes her insurance. Conversations with Denny Dennis, Russ Patterson, and
even Aurora Prescott had been recorded over a period of several months. In
their own words, Denny, Russ, and Aurora had hung themselves as well as Silas
Prescott.

“We play it
by the books tomorrow night,” said Jenkins. “I want arrest sheets on each and
every player. No one walks. No slip ups. I do not want the special prosecutor
coming back to me because some
t
was left uncrossed.”

Jenkins
shuffled a few papers, and then said, “Deacon, Hawke, I expect this will be the
last time we speak until after the delivery. If something goes wrong, follow
protocol until someone can get to you.”

Gabe nodded
as did Hawke.

“Jackets and
vests tomorrow night, people.”

As Mike
Furst said the words, Gabe looked at Wyatt. Neither would be able to wear a bullet
proof vest. They had to go in blind. Nothing to link them to law enforcement in
case something went wrong and the operation had to continue. No badges, no
personal cell phones. Their only safety would be the hidden weapons they would
carry in addition to Deke and Wylie’s pea shooters.