Page 34 of Louisiana Protector

That evening when he got to Mimi’s, he asked her for a date a week from Saturday. After a long hesitation, she agreed.

The weekend passed as it always did. He ran errands and prepared for the next week of work. He arranged for a lumber dropoff Monday morning, and each evening he went to Mimi’s.

He was eager for the week to pass so he could have his date with her. He would get some precious alone time with her again, and he intended to make it a night to remember, a special night hopefully for both of them.

When Monday morning rolled around, he was feeling particularly positive about everything. The work on the gazebo was going well, and this Saturday night he would have a date with Mimi.

As he got in his pickup to drive to the jobsite, the sun was bright overhead, but the temperature was supposed to remain in the mid-eighties…not too hot for working hard. However, the temperatures were supposed to climb back up to normal starting tomorrow, and normal was hot and humid.

He hoped to get the rest of the posts set today and maybe start building the floor with the lumber that would be delivered.

He pulled up and parked, and his heart dropped into the pit of his stomach. What the hell? The trailer that held all the tools was gone.

He stared at the place where the trailer should be for several long moments, then he pulled his phone out and called the police.

As the men arrived for the day, it was obvious no work was going to be done. Without their tools, they wouldn’t be able to continue with the project. One by one, Johnny sent them home with the instruction to write down a list of the tools they had locked up in the trailer.

When the last worker had left, Chief Breaux pulled up, followed by another police car. Two officers got out of the second vehicle, and together they walked with the chief to where Johnny stood.

“My trailer got stolen,” Johnny said. “It was parked right over there, and when I got here this morning, it was gone. It contained not only my tools, but also the tools of the men working for me.” A slow burn of anger ignited in Johnny’s chest.

Beau frowned. “You have any idea who might have done this?”

“I don’t have a clue,” Johnny replied. “I don’t know if it was done by somebody trying to sabotage me and my work or if it was just some creep looking for a quick payday by pawning all the tools.”

“The first thing we’ll do is let the pawn shop know to contact me immediately if somebody brings in tools,” Beau said. “Now show me exactly where it was parked.”

Johnny walked him over to where the trailer had been, describing it for the chief of police. Beau and the other two officers walked around, looking for any kind of evidence they could use. Unfortunately, there was nothing. The ground was too hard to leave tire tracks and nothing had been dropped that might give them a clue.

“I made it easy for whoever took it by leaving the hitch on it, but I had the door locked with a padlock,” Johnny explained with frustration.

“We’ll start a search,” Beau finally said. “I’ll make sure all my men on duty are actively looking for the trailer. In the meantime, I suggest you get in touch with your insurance company and let them know what’s happened.”

“I’ll do that,” Johnny replied, his frustration rising higher at the very thought. This was going to put him behind schedule. It would take at least a couple of days to buy new tools and take care of the insurance issue.

“Johnny, we’re going to do everything in our power to find your trailer. Hopefully when we do, all the tools and equipment will still be inside.”

“That would definitely be nice,” Johnny replied. “But I’m certainly not expecting that to be the outcome of this.”

Minutes later Beau and his men left, and Johnny headed back to his pickup. Behind the wheel, he pulled out his phone and canceled the lumber delivery that was supposed to happen sometime that morning.

He tossed his phone in the passenger seat and released a sigh of frustration. He stared around the area. Within thirty minutes or so, Mimi would be arriving at the grocery store for her shift.

He continued to gaze around, and that was when Johnny saw him. River Dubois. The fisherman stood just outside the nearby bait shop. Was it just a coincidence that he was there at this particular time? Or was he there on purpose to see Johnny’s reaction to his missing trailer?

Chapter Seven

Johnny was the last man to arrive at Mimi’s house on Monday night. One look at him, and Mimi knew something was wrong. There was a definite tension riding his broad shoulders and a darkness in the very depths of his eyes. It didn’t take long for him to share that his work trailer had been stolen overnight. As he explained it, his gaze shot to River and then back to her.

“Do you have any idea who might be responsible?” Mimi asked.

“Not a clue. I don’t know if it was just a common thief who saw an opportunity or if it was stolen by somebody trying to sabotage the job.”

“That’s a terrible thought,” Mimi replied, anger and sympathy mingling together as she gazed at him. “What do you do next? How far will this put you behind?”

“I spent the day dealing with my insurance company. I need to get my receipts together for all the tools that were in the trailer, and that’s going to take some time. But this isn’t going to slow us down at all. We lost a day today, but I also spent a lot of time late this afternoon at the hardware store buying some tools just to get by so we can carry on tomorrow.” He swept a hand through his hair, looking frustrated and tired.

“I was at the bait shop and saw all the commotion this morning,” River said. “I wondered what was going on.”