Jana DeLeon - The Accused

They walked in silence across the street to Calais Café and slid into a booth in the far corner. Only a couple of tables were occupied, but they were far enough away that they could speak freely without fear of being overheard.

Seconds later, the waitress walked up. “Good evening, gentlemen,” she said with a big smile.

“I don’t know about the ‘gentlemen’ part,” Carter joked.

“Speak for yourself, young man,” William said.

The waitress, a young, pretty girl named Connie, who’d turned up in Calais several months before, laughed at their exchange.

“Trust me,” she said, “after working at a dive in New Orleans, I can assure you that the citizens of Calais are above reproach.”

Carter smiled at the woman. “Then good evening to you, too.”

William nodded. “As well from me.”

“Are you having supper,” Connie asked, “or are you planning to cheat on supper with a Danish?”

“Given that my supper is most likely microwavable,” Carter said, “ cheating is a strong word.”

Connie shook her head. “The quality of the object is not the issue. Once you’ve committed to something, it’s still cheating. But I guess I’ll have pity on you. What about you, Mr. Duhon?”

“I’ll be cheating as well,” William said, “but don’t tell Matilda.”

Connie laughed as she walked away. William’s dedication to his late wife’s ancient white Persian was a commonly known fact in Calais.

William glanced at Connie as she walked away, then looked back at Carter. “She’s a pretty girl. Seems nice, as well.”

Something in William’s voice set Carter on high alert and he looked over at the attorney, taking in the slightly hopeful expression on his face. “Oh, no!” Carter said. “Don’t you even go there.”

“Why, I didn’t say a word.”

“Uh-huh. You and my mother are always ‘never saying a word.’ And all those words you’re never saying come back to the same thing—when am I going to settle down and give her grandkids.”

Connie returned with a tray and placed the coffee and two enormous Danish on the table. “Enjoy,” she said and hurried away to greet customers entering the café.

William took a bite of the Danish dripping with cream, and smiled. “Your mother is my oldest and dearest friend. I’d hardly be doing my job if I didn’t try to get her the things she wants most in life.”

Carter stuffed a huge bite of Danish in his mouth and held up one finger until he managed to wash the pastry down with coffee. “Get her a puppy and tell her to make do. The whole ‘kids and white picket fence’ thing isn’t in my long-term plans.”

The attorney sighed. “You’re still young. Perhaps you’ll change your mind and your mother can die a fulfilled woman.”

“Ha! You’re not going to guilt me into shackling myself to some woman either. Look, I know you and my mother both had great marriages and both of you lost spouses way too early, but it’s not for everyone. Some people have such a narrow slot for entry that they never find someone who fits it.”

“Some people board up that slot so that it is too narrow for others to enter.”

“Perhaps, but that’s my choice. And besides, even if I had the Grand Canyon of slots, the last thing I’d want is a young, innocent, nice girl. Living with me would be hell on earth to someone like that.”

Instantly, his thoughts flashed to Alaina. Now, there was a woman who wouldn’t let a man get the better of her. Likely, she’d get the best of any man she tangled with. He shook his head, wondering why he found that remotely attractive. Clearly he had issues. Danger attracted him. Nice, pretty girls with a good sense of humor bored him.

“So who is she?” William asked, breaking him out of his thoughts.

“What? No one.”

William wagged a finger at him. “I saw the look on your face. You went someplace where you were thinking about a woman—maybe one thin enough to fit in that slot.”

“The woman I was thinking about would blow up the slot with dynamite and stroll through. She’s also the reason I need to talk to you.”

“You’re speaking of Alaina? I haven’t seen her since she was a child, of course, but her mother was quite beautiful.”

“She’s beautiful … and prickly and not much on giving information.”

William smiled. “Got under your skin, did she?” He rubbed his jaw a moment. “I suppose with her being an attorney, she’d be naturally cautious, especially with anything she considered personal or outside of the scope of your business with the estate. Is there anything in particular that concerns you?”

“Yeah.” He told William about what he’d seen in the house and his failure to find any good explanation.

“And you don’t accept that it could have been tricks of light and shadows, as Alaina suggested?”

Carter blew out a breath. “I should. I mean, it’s far more logical than someone walking around the house but not leaving a trace in all that dust….”

“But?”

“But I know what I saw and it wasn’t a shadow.” He paused for a moment, trying to think of how to sum up his assessment in a way that didn’t make him sound crazy. “Look, something’s not right. I can’t put my finger on it, but I’m as certain about it as I was that the Danish would be superb.”

William nodded. “I believe you. You are your mother’s son after all. I’ve always figured it was only a matter of time before you tapped into the same perception she has. So what can I do to help?”

“I want information.”

“About?”

“We can start with Ophelia LeBeau and Trenton Purcell.”

“Okay. What would you like to know?”

“I don’t know exactly. Just start talking and maybe it will come to me.”

William nodded. “Ophelia was one of the most beautiful women I’ve ever seen—Alaina looks a lot like her from the pictures I’ve seen—but it wasn’t just the outside. She was beautiful inside, as well. I think perhaps her big heart proved to be her undoing.”

“How so?”

“She loved Marcus LeBeau, the girls’ father, as deeply and long as the Mississippi River. You could see it all over her face every time she looked at him. And the feeling was mutual. Marcus adored Ophelia and doted on his daughters. When he was killed in a boating accident, I think her heart broke in two.”

“Enter Trenton Purcell?”

William nodded. “It’s my opinion that Ophelia would never have taken up with him if she hadn’t been grieving Marcus’s loss. And I also think she wanted the girls to have a father. It was the worst mistake she ever made.”

“So I take it you didn’t like him either?”

William flushed a bit, his expression slightly angry. “Trenton Purcell was the biggest bastard I’ve ever come across in all my years on earth. And I trust you won’t repeat what I’ve said to your mother … at least not with those exact words.”

“Don’t worry. I think you two are in absolute agreement on this one.”

“Yes, well, I tried to talk Ophelia out of marrying him—I suggested she live with him rather than making it legally binding. Probably not my kindest moment, but with her own father deceased and my firm managing her estate, I felt responsible.” He sighed. “Unfortunately, I wasn’t successful—not in convincing her to forgo legally binding herself to him or in trying to get her to address the issues of the estate to protect her daughters.”

“I don’t get that part. If she loved her children so much, why wouldn’t she want them protected?”

William shook his head. “Because she wanted so badly to believe in Purcell and did? Because she was only twenty-eight and couldn’t force herself to think about her own death? I can’t really say. What I can tell you is that failing to take the legal steps to protect her girls was the second-biggest mistake Ophelia ever made.”