Authors: Debby Grahl
Her patience was about at an end. “That would be Charlotte. Not only is she hooked on cocaine, she’s hanging around with a well-known criminal. Not to mention that she already has a buyer for Ma Chérie. So you can just stop with your attorney crap. You damn well know something, and unless you want to help me, you might as well leave.”
“Hold on, Caterine. I didn’t say I wouldn’t help. Accusing someone of attempting to kidnap and hurt you is pretty damn serious. I want to know what evidence you have to make such an accusation.”
“You were sitting there the night Grandmère told the family she’d given me Ma Chérie, and you saw their reaction. I didn’t want to believe someone in that room could hate me this much but, Ray, it has to be one of them. Nothing else makes any sense. And you know that as well as I do, or you wouldn’t have warned me.”
Ray closed his eyes and sighed. “You didn’t tell me how you got away from the attacker.”
“I hit him in the nose with the alarm remote and tried to run. You can still see the scrapes on my hands from him knocking me down.” She held out her palms. “Ray, he grabbed my hair and tried to pull me into a van at gunpoint.”
The color, restored to Ray’s face by the bourbon, drained away again. “Grandmère told everyone you went out of town on business. That wasn’t true, was it? You’ve been hiding out somewhere, haven’t you?”
She hesitated before answering. “No, I didn’t go out of town, and yes, I’ve been hiding out.”
He smiled. “And you’re not going to tell me where you’re staying, are you?”
She shook her head. “Can I still count on your help if I don’t?”
“If you’re asking if I know who’s behind this, I can honestly tell you I don’t.”
“Okay, you say you don’t know who hired the attacker, but you do know something. Ray, there’s someone living under Grandmère’s roof who is evil. Maybe if you tell us what you do know, it will help stop whoever it is before they make another try, and perhaps succeed, at having me killed.”
“For Christ’s sake, Caterine, of course I don’t want you killed. In fact, I’m on your side. For that matter, I’ve always been on your side. I had no problem with Grandmère’s decision to give Ma Chérie to you.”
“Then help me get on with my life by telling us what you know.”
Ray stood and stared out the window onto Magazine Street. Minutes passed in silence before he turned. He looked resigned and a little pissed. He spoke directly to Caterine. “You’ve put me in a position I’m not at all happy about, but I can’t take a chance with your life to save another’s pride. So, Paul, if you’ll refill that glass, I’ll tell you what I know.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Ray took a sip of the bourbon, cleared his throat, and began. “I found out about Charlotte’s addiction and her relationship with Dominic Rivette this past New Year’s when we all went skiing in Tahoe. I thought it was a little strange we were going there instead of Aspen like we normally do, but the skiing is great in Tahoe as well, so I didn’t think any more about it. It wasn’t until Randal, Charlotte, Markus, and I arrived at the condo that I was told it belonged to Rivette and that he’d be joining us. I’d never met him, but I sure as hell knew who he was.
“Needless to say, I wasn’t pleased to find out Charlotte had been dating someone of such dubious reputation. Not to mention, by accepting his hospitality, I’d be putting my own reputation on the line. I actually checked into getting my own accommodations, but everything for miles around was booked. I let Randal and Markus convince me that even though Rivette had been accused of illegal activities, nothing had ever been proven, so what would it hurt to be seen in his company? I wanted to ski and the condo was in a perfect location, so I thought what the hell and ignored my unease.”
Ray placed his empty glass on Paul’s desk and began to pace as he continued. “The second night we were there, I came home unexpectedly and caught Charlotte snorting coke. I can tell you there was quite a scene. I may have my own vices, but I detest drugs of any kind. After Charlotte calmed down, she told me she started playing around with the drug last summer while sailing the Mediterranean on Rivette’s yacht. Now not only was she hooked, she was under his control, being in debt to him for a great deal of money. When she told me how much, I wanted to shake the shit out of her for being so stupid and getting herself in such a mess.”
Ray stopped his pacing and turned to Caterine. “Cat, you’re probably going to want a drink before I continue, because at this point this story really begins to go south.”
Caterine looked from Ray to Paul to Remi, then back to Ray’s grim face. “Okay, I’ll have a glass of wine if you have it.”
“As I said,” Ray continued, “Charlotte had managed to get herself deeply in debt, but I knew Doucette Shipping could cover it. Once Charlotte was out from under Rivette’s control, we’d send her away to some clinic where she could get some help. That’s when I learned that sometime last fall, Randal’s big buddy and partner in the High Roller, Dickie Boone, had disappeared with most of the casino’s cash. So, while a private investigator hired by Randal tried to locate Dickie, the casino expenses began to pile up. Then Randal and Markus came up with the brilliant idea of covering them with money from Doucette Shipping, putting us in a real bind.”
Caterine gasped. “Oh my God, Ray, how bad is it?”
Ray gave her a thin smile. “We won’t starve, little cousin, but Doucette Shipping’s finances aren’t the only problem. It seems Rivette found out about the High Roller’s financial difficulties and talked, or threatened, Randal into letting him lend him money, then gave him a deadline to repay it or he wants the riverboat.”
“Son of a bitch,” Paul swore. “Randal really has his nuts in a vise this time.”
Ray scoffed. “And for once it isn’t totally his fault. Skimming money from Doucette Shipping is, but not being ripped off by Dickie or getting muscled by Rivette.”
“You’re saying the money they took from Doucette Shipping wasn’t enough to cover all of Randal’s debt so he let Rivette bail him out?” Caterine asked.
Ray nodded. “They’d been extracting the money in small amounts so they wouldn’t draw attention to themselves, then one of our accountants found a discrepancy in the books and came to me.”
“When’s Rivette’s cut-off date?” Remi asked.
“Midnight of Mardi Gras,” Ray replied.
Paul shook his head. “That sure as hell doesn’t give him much time.”
“Nope.” Ray shrugged.
“Ray, I don’t understand how Randal thought he’d get his hands on Ma Chérie. Before Grandmère turned the business over to me, Charlotte wouldn’t have inherited until Grandmère died, and she’s pretty healthy for her age.”
“I know, Cat, but Markus was sure he could convince Grandmère to retire and turn ownership over to Charlotte. Then once Charlotte had control, she could sell the business and pay off their debts to Rivette.”
“But Miss Dauphine gave Ma Chérie to Caterine instead, ruining all their plans,” Paul surmised.
Ray nodded, retaking his seat.
“I can’t believe Randal and Uncle Markus actually thought they’d be able to talk Grandmère into retiring. Ray, that seems idiotic.”
“By this time they were desperate, and that was their only hope because when I found out they’d been taking money from Doucette Shipping, I put a stop to it.”
“So there’s no way the shipping company can bail Randal out?” Paul asked.
Ray shook his head. “Not now. Randal is my brother, and God knows I’ve gotten his ass out of a number of tight spots, but this time my hands are tied. He’s going to lose the boat to Rivette, and there’s not a damn thing I can do about it.”
“Who else is aware of this?” Caterine asked.
“No one, as far as I know.”
“Not even Uncle Jules?”
“Not yet, but he’ll be finding out soon.”
Caterine knitted her brows. “Charlotte and Paulette are pretty close. I can’t imagine Paulette isn’t aware of Charlotte’s little problem.”
Ray hesitated. “Charlotte told me no one in the family knew except Randal and Markus. Paulette can’t keep anything to herself, so I can’t see Charlotte taking a chance of telling her. Besides, if crossed, Paulette can be a vindictive little bitch. If she were to get pissed off at Charlotte, she’d tell all just to get back at her.”
“You’re probably right. So, Ray, who do you think was behind my attack, Randal or Charlotte?”
Ray rubbed his temples. “For Christ’s sake, Caterine, you’re accusing my brother or my sister. I can’t believe either of them could be capable of doing something that evil.”
Caterine sighed. “I don’t want to believe it either, but someone sure as hell did.”
Remi turned to Paul. “What about Rivette?”
“That’s a possibility. He would have had to know about Miss Dauphine handing over Ma Chérie to Caterine that very night in order to have tampered with her car and set up a hit two days later. Although, if it had been one of Rivette’s boys doing the hit, I would have thought the job would have been done right.”
“Ray, could Rivette have been told of Grandmère’s decision that night?” Caterine asked.
“I have no idea. I rather doubt Randal would have hurried off to inform him. Why would he? It would be tipping his hand. As far as Charlotte, if she were high enough, God only knows what she’d say.”
“Charlotte and Randal did leave together that night,” Caterine said. “But you’re right, it wouldn’t have been in Randal’s best interest to have told Rivette ahead of time of his plans to use Ma Chérie to pay him off.”
“Charlotte did tell me that Rivette wanted the High Roller and wanted it bad,” Ray said. “So one could assume if he did know, he’d do all in his power to prevent Randal from getting his hands on Ma Chérie.”
“If Rivette did his homework on the Doucettes, he may have thought it would be easier for Randal to get control of Ma Chérie from Miss Dauphine than from Caterine. With Caterine out of the way, ownership would revert back to Miss Dauphine,” Remi said.
Paul rubbed his chin. “That’s true.”
“So, Ray, who were you warning Caterine to look out for?” Remi asked.
“I honestly don’t know. I knew trouble was coming. To whom, from whom, I wasn’t sure. I knew things were bound to get ugly, and Caterine had unknowingly landed right square in the middle of it all.”
Caterine took a sip of wine and frowned. “As I see it, Ray, no matter how difficult it is for you to suspect Randal or Charlotte, it sounds as if they’re both pretty desperate for the money from Ma Chérie. Not that either of them has a chance of getting their hands on it, but I guess they think if I’m out of the way, they’ll be able to wear Grandmère down until she turns the business over to Charlotte.”
Ray scoffed. “Not if she thought one of them was responsible for your death. She’d probably kill both of them herself. What I should do is tell Randal and Charlotte you know everything and that if something were to happen to you, I’d go directly to the cops and tell them everything.”
“No!” Paul and Remi shouted simultaneously.
“Okay, why not? Wouldn’t that be one way to keep Caterine safe?”
“For the time being perhaps,” Paul said. “But someone wanted her out of the picture, and we need to discover who that person is. If they’re forewarned, they’ll step back and we might never know the truth.”
“Ray, we know it has to be Rivette or someone in our family. I can’t go through the rest of my life wondering who it is, or if they’ll strike again.”
“So what are we supposed to do?” Ray asked. “Put you out there like a sitting duck and wait to see who shoots first?”
“You know . . .”
“Don’t even think about it, Caterine,” Remi said sharply before she could continue. “We’re not using you as bait, and that’s final. I mean it. Get any ideas of that sort right out of your head.”
Ray studied Caterine’s stubborn expression and Remi’s determined glower and turned to scowl at Caterine. “When I arrived, I was so surprised to see you I neglected to inquire what Paul’s and Remi’s roles were in all of this, but I’m beginning to somewhat catch on. Paul being an old friend of yours and an ex-cop, it’s understandable you’d go to him for help after the attack. But why does Michaud sound as if he has the right to speak to you in a way that suggests he knows you more intimately than he should?”
“Oh for heaven sakes, Ray, what business is that of yours? I’m an adult, and what I do or don’t do is nobody’s business but my own.”
Ray rose and pointed his finger in her face. “You have to answer to me, Caterine, because somehow you’ve managed to be the only Doucette grandchild living in New Orleans who hasn’t yet brought scandal or disgrace upon our family. So for Grandmère’s sake, as long as she’s alive, I plan on doing everything in my power to keep it that way.”
Caterine batted his hand away from her face and stood. “Are you crazy?” For God’s sake, Ray, when this all comes to light, it’s going to be the biggest scandal to ever come down on our heads, and you’re worried about my reputation.”
Ray’s voice was harsh with emotion. “At this point, Caterine, you’re the victim, not the scandal. My idiot brother losing his business to a known criminal is a scandal. Uncle Markus skimming money from Doucette Shipping is a scandal. Charlotte being hooked on cocaine is a scandal. One member of our family perhaps being implicated in your attack is a scandal, but you are innocent in all of this. So I don’t want any reporters to have any fuel to drag your name through the mud with the rest of us. Since you’ve been in hiding, and I don’t think you’ve been staying with Paul, that leaves me to wonder what’s going on between you and Michaud.”