Jana DeLeon - The Reunion

An heiress comes home to terror in New York Times bestselling author Jana DeLeon’s Mystere Parish: Family Inheritance miniseries.

Bodyguard to an heiress is Tyler Duhan’s idea of hell. The steely, sexy ex-marine has heard—and dismissed—the gossip about the haunted old LeBeau mansion and its “cursed” heiresses. Now the middle sibling—headstrong Joelle—has arrived to comply with her mother’s will and reunite with her long-lost sisters.

But no sooner does she move into the house, than Joelle falls prey to terrifying threats and mysterious visions. Tyler, though he’s sworn off femme fatales, can’t deny his feelings for the Creole beauty. Nor can he let passion distract him. Because falling for Joelle could be a fatal mistake—for them both.

She stayed there for a while, relishing the comfort of his strong arms around her, until she mustered the strength to regain control. “I’m sorry,” she said.

“Don’t you dare apologize. Anyone in your position would be upset. I’m a half step away from losing it myself.”

His expression was a mixture of sympathy, worry and frustration, and Joelle’s heart leaped at this man’s honor and compassion.

He looked down at her and lifted one hand to wipe a tear from her cheek. “He will not hurt you or your sisters. I won’t let that happen.”

“I know,” she said, and believed every word.

He stared at her a moment more and his expression shifted from frustration to something else… Something she hadn’t seen before. A shiver of excitement ran through her as she realized he was going to kiss her.

New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author JANA DELEONgrew up among the bayous and small towns of southwest Louisiana. She’s never actually found a dead body or seen a ghost, but she’s still hoping. Jana started writing in 2001—she focuses on murderous plots set deep in the Louisiana bayous. By day she writes very boring technical manuals for a software company in Dallas. Visit Jana on her website, www.janadeleon.com.

The Reunion

New York Times Bestselling Author

Jana DeLeon

www.millsandboon.co.uk

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CAST OF CHARACTERS

Joelle LeBeau—The social worker specialized in helping women escape situations of domestic abuse, but her job was not without risk. One man will do anything to find his wife, whom Joelle helped hide. When she finds out that her stepfather died and the terms of her inheritance require her to spend two weeks at her childhood estate, it seems like perfect timing for her to disappear.

Tyler Duhon—He’s back from the Middle East and attempting to gain his footing in the civilian world. His father, William, has other ideas. William wants Tyler to play bodyguard to the last of the LeBeau heirs. Tyler knows his father wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t important, so he can’t say no. But he hopes the time passes quickly and the heiress doesn’t bring as much trouble down on Calais as her sisters did.

Victor Brant—The abuser wants to find his wife in the worst way possible, and he’s not going to let up on Joelle until he does exactly that. But did he follow her to Calais, or is someone else responsible for all the odd things happening at the LeBeau estate?

Mayor Dupree—The only time the old windbag isn’t gossiping is when he’s sleeping or eating, but does he know even more about Trenton Purcell and the situation with the inheritance than he’s saying?

Bert Thibodeaux—Purcell promised the trucker he’d get a new rig when Purcell died, but the money wasn’t Purcell’s to give away and he knew it. The trucker is beyond angry, but is he angry enough to try to get revenge on the legitimate heirs?

Doctor Picard—The now-deceased physician had treated the heiress’s mother over twenty years ago and had clearly been hiding something all these years. Was his secret worth killing over?

To my husband, Rene.

We’ve come a long way, baby!

Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-One

Epilogue

Chapter One

The woman stared out the second-story window of her mansion, looking across the overgrown driveway and down the lonely dirt road that led into town. Where had her children gone? Two were here before, then there were none. But the third...the third had never returned. Did she not know how much her mother loved her? Did she not know that only the thought of seeing her again kept the woman tied to this place?

A tear slid down the woman’s cheek as the house began to fade away.

“I grow weak. Come to me, soon. Before it’s too late.”

* * *

JOELLE LEBEAU STOOD next to her ancient Honda Accord, certain it was totaled and not even wanting to think of replacing it. The two Jackson, Mississippi, policemen documented the vandalism, one with pen and paper and the other with a camera.

It was only 6:00 p.m., but the fall sunlight was already fading, leaving the parking lot behind the Office of Social Services building dim. Joelle had been working late, as usual, when she heard a noise outside. By the time she’d removed her pistol from her desk drawer and peered out the back door into the parking lot, the vandal was already gone.

But he’d managed to do so much in so little time.

Every tire had been slashed and all the windows were shattered, leaving shards of glass littering the parking lot and the interior of the car. The windshield had a huge crack in the center that splintered out in every direction, and a message in dark red paint sprayed across it.

Destroyer.

That one word left her no doubt who had done the damage, and if she’d had trouble guessing, the note on the dashboard cinched it.

Give me what’s mine.

One of the officers stepped up next to her. “You said you had someone in mind for this?”

She nodded. “Victor Brant.”

The officer made a note. “Is he a client of yours?”

She almost laughed at the thought of the abusive, narcissistic Victor Brant admitting he needed help. “No. His wife is.”

“And I take it Mr. Brant is unhappy with that?”

“He’s unhappy with anyone who doesn’t bow down to his every word or whose thoughts differ from his own. He’s the worst type of abuser—successful, good-looking and adored by his colleagues and in his community.”

“So you’re saying it would have been unlikely that people believed Mrs. Brant when she said her husband was abusive.”

“She wasn’t believed. The police were dispatched twice to their home. Both times, they declined to even take Mr. Brant in for questioning. In fact, the last time all they did was schedule a round of golf with Brant the following week at his country club.”

The officer frowned. “The Jackson Police Department?”