Page 51 of Louisiana Protector

Gramps jumped up out of his chair, but the masked man pointed his gun at him. “Sit down, old man,” he growled. “Sit down before you get hurt.”

Gramps slowly lowered himself back into his chair. “What do you want?” Gramps’s voice was filled with the fear that flooded through Mimi.

“You know what I want. Danny, go over to Gramps and sit on his lap,” the man instructed him.

Terror shot through Mimi’s veins. Still, she tried to identify his voice. She knew it had to be one of the three men who’d been her friends, but damned if she could figure out which one it was. He was obviously disguising his real voice.

She wanted to hold tight to Danny and keep him from the terror that was unfolding, but she also wanted him to follow the man’s instructions to hopefully keep him safe from any harm. She had no idea what the masked man might be capable of.

“Go on, son,” she finally said. “Go sit on Gramps’s lap.”

Danny slid off the sofa, and the alphabet book fell to the floor. He moved slowly across the floor and finally reached Gramps and crawled up in his lap.

Gramps wrapped his arms tightly around the little boy.

“Get up,” the masked man said to her.

Reluctantly Mimi stood. Her heart thundered so hard in her chest, she felt slightly nauseous. This couldn’t be happening, but it was. She’d believed she was safe in the shanty, but that belief was shattered now.

“Who are you?” she asked.

“That doesn’t matter. Get over here,” the man said, gesturing her to his side.

“Please, just leave. I know you’re one of the men I considered my friend. Just go now, and we don’t even need to call the police,” she pleaded.

“Shut up,” he snapped. He pulled a hypodermic needle from his pocket. Before she knew his intent, he crossed the room and stabbed it into her arm. He held her tight against him.

Oh God, what had he given to her? Already she was more than half-dizzy. “Gramps and Danny, I love you both,” she said, shocked as she heard that her words were slurred.

Darkness began to fall, and she fought against it. However, the darkness was deep and profound.

“Mommy, I love you.” Danny’s tearful little voice was the last thing she heard before the darkness completely claimed her, and she knew no more.

Chapter Ten

It was about two in the afternoon when Johnny got the call from Chief Breaux that he could come to the police garage and get his trailer. Chief Breaux would meet him there.

As Johnny got into his pickup to drive the short distance from the jobsite to the police station, it was thoughts of Mimi that filled his head.

Last night he had left her shanty very unsettled. She still didn’t trust him enough to tell him that Danny was his son, and she didn’t trust him enough to build a life with him. He didn’t know how to fix it. Unfortunately, the cards weren’t in his hands. But he was beginning to think that maybe they weren’t meant to be together, that perhaps her lack of trust in him would forever keep them apart.

That thought caused an enormous pain to shoot through his heart, along with a pang of deep grief for what might have been. Maybe he wasn’t meant to have a real family who lived and loved together. Maybe he just wasn’t good enough for her and Danny. After all, his own mother had walked away from him without a backward glance.

How long was he willing to go to her shanty in the evenings and play with Danny without any real commitment from her, without any promise of them being together forever?

God, he hated that he had left her five years ago. He hated that all he’d thought of at the time was how much he wanted to please the man who had raised him, never mind that the man was dead.

His father’s last words to him written into the will had gutted him like never before. Johnny had proved his father wrong by growing the family business successfully, but at what cost? Yes, he hated that he’d left her, but he couldn’t go back in time and make it right.

He shoved these disturbing thoughts out of his head as the police station came into view. The garage behind it was large, with bays that could hold not only cars and trucks but also big watercraft vehicles.

He parked in front as Beau came walking out of the office door. “Good afternoon, Johnny,” he said, greeting him with a smile.

“Back at you,” Johnny replied.

“Come on in.” Beau opened the door, and Johnny followed him in through the office and into the garage proper. There were a total of four bays, and at the moment Johnny’s trailer was the only vehicle there.

Beau walked with him to the back of the trailer. “Unfortunately, I have some bad news as far as the investigation goes. We dusted the entire thing and found no prints to help identify the thief. He must have worn gloves.”