The Vanishing (18 page)

“Ms. Guidry, this is Nurse Agnes in the ICU.”

Colette jumped up from her chair and gripped the phone, praying that something hadn’t happened to Anna. “Yes, Nurse Agnes. Is something wrong?”

Max whirled around as she took a breath to steady herself for the worst.

“No, ma’am. It’s good news,” the nurse said. “Anna’s awake and she’s asking for you.”

Chapter Fourteen

Holt pushed open the door to the gas station in Pirate’s Cove and let Alex enter in front of him. As he approached the counter, a tall, thin man who fit the description of Danny smiled at them.

“You’re out early,” Danny said. “How can I help you folks?”

Holt took out his business card and handed it to Danny.

Danny’s eyes widened as he read the card. “Private investigator? What in the world do you want with me?”

“My brother is Max Duhon.”

Danny nodded. “The guy that’s been looking for Cache with the nurse lady. He used my dock yesterday.”

“Yeah. Someone also left them stranded in the swamp, tried to kidnap the lady and took some shots at them both. My wife and I found them late last night and brought them out.”

Holt studied Danny’s face as he delivered those words, but his shocked expression appeared genuine. “Oh, man! Are they all right?”

“They’re fine, but a little concerned.”

“Yeah, I’m sure. Your brother’s Jeep was still here when I closed for the day, but I just thought maybe they found what they were looking for and got delayed.”

“What time did you close?”

“About four-thirty. Business is slow this time of year so I’m repainting the inside of my house. I try to get a little done every evening.”

“And you didn’t notice anyone else on the bayou yesterday?”

“Yeah, there were people on the bayou. Most of the people in this town make a living off of that bayou.”

Which was exactly what Holt figured he’d say. “But you only saw locals?”

Danny frowned and was silent for several seconds. “I guess. I mean, I didn’t really look at them, but I don’t recall seeing someone I didn’t know.”

“You told Max that an antiques dealer came looking for Anna?”

“That’s what he said he was. He didn’t leave me no card or nothing.”

“Can you describe him?”

“Yeah, he was maybe fifty, about as tall as me, but a bit more sturdy. He had black hair that was starting to turn silver and he was wearing a suit.” Danny shrugged. “Sorry, but that’s about all I remember. I don’t spend too much time thinking about how guys look, ya know?” He grinned at Alex, who just raised her eyebrows and sighed.

“I can appreciate that sentiment,” Holt said and winked at Alex, who rolled her eyes. “Do you think that antiques dealer asked about Anna over at the café?”

“Maybe. Tom’s usually there most days. He would know.”

“Thanks. If you think of anything else, give me a call.”

Danny opened the cash register and stuck Holt’s card inside. “You bet, man.”

Holt and Alex exited the gas station and started across the street to the café.

“I didn’t see a bullet wound,” Holt said.

“He was wearing long sleeves and jeans, and if it was only a nick, he might not show any signs of injury.”

“Or could disguise them well enough when needed.”

“That, too,” she agreed. “I notice you pulled the P.I. card.”

“Yeah. I figured it wouldn’t hurt to put them on alert that someone else with a license to carry concealed is involved.”

“Might not help if they’re desperate, but you’re right, it doesn’t hurt. How come you didn’t mention finding the village?”

“I figured we’d keep that quiet for the moment. That way, the only ones who know are us, Max, Colette and whoever shot at them.”

She paused in front of the door to the café. “How are you playing this one?”

“The same. They’ll be talking to each other before we even reach the highway, so it’s in our best interests to stay consistent.”

Alex nodded and pulled open the door to enter the café.

Four older men occupied a table in the corner. From their dark skin and rugged look, Holt guessed they were fishermen. They stared as he and Alex entered the café and took a seat at the counter, but they didn’t say a word. As soon as they sat down, he heard the low rumblings of whispering from behind.

A man wearing a white apron stepped out of the back of the café and gave them a nod. Holt assumed this was Tom, the owner.

“You want coffee?” the man asked.

“Yes, two please,” Holt said.

He filled two cups of coffee and placed them on the counter in front of them. “You folks visiting?”

“Not exactly,” Holt said. He pulled his card from his wallet and handed it to the man. “Are you Tom, the owner of the café?”

The man read the card and frowned. “Yeah, that’s me. What’s this about?”

“My brother was in here a couple of days ago with a lady, looking for information on Cache.”

Tom nodded. “I remember. He and the nurse lady were looking for a girl that claimed she was from Cache. But I thought they lifted her out of here by helicopter that same day?”

“They did. She’s alive but still unconscious.”

“That’s too bad, but I don’t see what I can do for you. I didn’t know her then and still don’t. Don’t know anything about Cache.”

“Danny said that a man came in here a couple of weeks before my brother. He thinks the man was also looking for Anna. Claimed to be an antiques dealer.”

“Yeah, there was a guy that came in a while back. I’m not sure how long. Had a black-and-white photo of a girl. I suppose it could have been the same one. The quality wasn’t too good.”

“Do you remember the guy’s name?”

Tom shook his head. “Don’t know that he gave it.”

“What about a description? Danny was only able to remember the basics.”

Tom narrowed his eyes at them. “You think that man’s the one who hurt the girl?”

“That’s what we’re looking into.”

He stared at Holt for a couple of seconds longer then nodded. “I can do you one better.”

He pulled a pad of paper and pencil out from under the counter and began to draw. Holt and Alex leaned forward to watch his quick strokes across the paper.

“You’re really good,” Alex said. “Did you take lessons?”

“No,” Tom said and handed them the paper. “My grandfather taught me.”

“He doesn’t look familiar,” Holt said as he studied the drawing, “but this is a much bigger help than Danny’s general description. I appreciate it.”

“Oh,” Alex said and pointed to Tom’s sleeve. “It looks like you’re bleeding.”

Tom glanced down at his sleeve and frowned at the dark spot that was slowly growing. “Cut it yesterday working on my boat. If you folks are done, I best get this bandage changed before it bothers the customers.”

“Sure,” Holt said. “Thanks for your help.”

He placed some money on the counter and they left the café. He knew Alex was just itching to talk, but as soon as they stepped outside, he said, “Wait until we’re in the car.”

Alex jumped in the car and slammed the door then gave him an exasperated look for taking longer than her.

“He had an injured arm,” she said as soon as Holt closed the car door. “Recent, too, if it’s still bleeding.”

“Yeah.”

“So?”

“So what?” he asked, teasing his wife.

“So what do you think? Is he telling the truth about the antiques dealer?”

“I think so.” He frowned.

“What? I know that look.”

“Nothing I can put my finger on. I just get the feeling that he’s lying about something.”

“So do I. Damn.” She sighed. “I don’t think I’m ever going to get used to fieldwork. When I was a therapist, people told me everything—lots of times, things I didn’t even want to hear. Now it’s like pulling teeth.”

He grinned. “Welcome to my world.”

“Your world stinks. So now what?”

He handed Alex the drawing of the man who’d allegedly come to Pirate’s Cove looking for Anna. “We head back to New Orleans and see if we can locate this antiques dealer before we have to leave for Lafayette.”

* * *

C
OLETTE RUSHED INTO
A
NNA’S
room and drew up short. Anna was sitting up in bed, drinking apple juice and picking at the food on a hospital breakfast tray. She smiled at Colette, who hurried over to the bed to give her a hug.

“I’ve been so worried,” Colette said as she released Anna and sat on the edge of her bed. Max hovered in the doorway, and she waved him over. “This is Max Duhon. He’s the detective who found you.”

As he stepped up to the bed, Anna gave him a shy smile. “Thank you,” she said then looked at Colette. “I didn’t know you were keeping company with a detective.”

“Oh, I’m not… We’re not… That is, Max is Alex’s brother-in-law.”

“The psychiatrist lady?”

“Yes. Well, she used to be. She resigned a couple of months ago to open a detective agency with her husband. Max was a police officer in Baton Rouge and now he’s working with the agency, too. You were his first case.”

Anna looked at Max. “So you’ve got a one hundred percent success rate at the moment?”

Max shook his head. “Not until all the questions are answered.”

“Can you tell us what happened?” Colette asked.

“The last thing I remember was studying for the anatomy exam, and then I woke up here.”

“You studied for that exam on a Thursday. That was over a week ago.”

Anna stared at them, clearly horrified. “That’s not possible.”

“I’m afraid it is,” Colette said.

“Maybe you better tell me what you know,” Anna said. “Maybe then I’ll remember.”

Colette looked over at Max, who nodded, then she began with Anna not showing up for work the previous Friday. When she described how she and Max found Anna in the swamps around Pirate’s Cove, Anna gasped.

“Cache,” she whispered. “I was going home.”

She gripped Colette’s hand, staring past her at the wall. Her breathing was shallow and her brow was scrunched in concentration. Suddenly, she bolted completely upright in bed.

“My mother! He’ll kill my mother!”

Colette could barely control her excitement. “You remember?”

Anna nodded. “As soon as I got my cell phone after leaving Cache, I went back to the swamp near Pirate’s Cove and left the number under a rock where my mother would know to find it. I knew she’d never use it unless it was bad because I’d broken the rules by leaving. The others wouldn’t have liked her to contact me out here.”

“But she did?” Max asked.

“Yes.” Anna dropped her gaze down and twisted the edge of the blanket over and over in her hands. “I took something that I shouldn’t have, and it put them all in danger.”

“Coins?” Colette asked.

Anna jerked her head up and stared at Colette. “How did you know?”

“After we brought you to the hospital, someone attacked you. After the attack, you were lucid for a couple of seconds. You mentioned your mother being in danger and coins. Were the coins in Cache?”

“Yes. My family has been protecting them for over a hundred years. The legends say the Frenchman brought them into the swamp to hide. He sent people to look for his son, but when he found out the child had died, he blamed the coins, saying they were cursed. He said that anyone who used the coins for personal gain would bring down death and despair on the entire village.”

Colette pulled the drawing from her purse. “Is this the Frenchman?”

Anna nodded and Colette’s pulse spiked. Her theory may have been right.

“So Cache has been protecting the coins ever since?” Colette asked.

“Yes.”

“Until you took some.”

“I shouldn’t have. I knew it was wrong, but I wanted to leave there so desperately and we had no money. I got by at first without using them—mostly living off the wrong kind of men.” She looked at Colette. “You know how things were before.”

Colette nodded. “But you changed all that.”

“I needed money for a decent apartment and for the registration fees for school. I’d been gone for over a year and nothing bad had happened…”

“So you sold them?”

“To a pawnshop dealer who traded in antiques.” A single tear fell from her eye and slid down her cheek. “I thought everything was fine, that the legend was all a bunch of nonsense, and then my mother called.”

Anna’s hands began to shake. “She said the bokor came and told them to turn over all the coins or he’d bring a plague of death over them and then resurrect them and leave them to wander the swamp forever.”

“What’s a bokor?” Colette asked.

“A sorcerer,” Max said. “Capable of white or dark magic, according to legend.”

“The bokor is real,” Anna said. “That night the goats came down with sickness and collapsed. They died the next day. Then the children of the village started to take ill. My mother is guardian of the coins. She counted them and realized what I’d done.”

Anna started to cry and Colette handed her a tissue. “I took out all the money I could from my bank account. I thought if I returned the money to the village, it would make everything all right with the bokor.”

“But, Anna,” Max said gently, “the bokor didn’t ask for the coins to be returned. He told the villagers to give him the coins. Don’t you see? He’s not real. He’s just a thief who figured out the coins were hidden in Cache. He’s trying to scare the villagers into turning them over to him.”

Anna looked at Max, a glimmer of hope in her expression. “Do you really believe that?”

“Yes, and let me tell you why.” Max told Anna about the antiques dealer who’d looked for her in Pirate’s Cove just weeks before her mother’s call, and then told her about the attacks on Colette and the break-ins at both their homes. “He’s looking for the coins. That’s all he wants.”

“But the sickness…”

“Could have been anything. One of the adults who visited Pirate’s Cove could have brought something back and the children caught it.”

“And the goats?”

“He probably poisoned them to scare the villagers. All of this is very serious, but I promise you, it’s all the doings of a very real, very alive man. One I’m going to catch.”

“But my mother and the others—”

“Are safe,” Colette assured her. “We found the village and it’s empty.”