“That bear has not gone far,” Carter said. “Not with cubs. Do you really want to roll the dice on that one?”
“Have you seen the cost of Fortune’s boat?” Ida Belle said. “You really want to leave it at an empty house?”
He sighed. “Fine. I’ll drive you back to Molly’s and get as close to the dock as possible. If there’s no sign of the bear, then you three haul it to the boat, go home, and never return to her property before there’s more loss than just a van. You can buy a new trailer hitch. Got it?”
We all nodded. It was safer than talking.
We piled into the back of the van and took a seat, none of us wanting to ride shotgun with a very irritated Carter, and after he made a couple phone calls, we headed back to Molly’s, stopping only to pick up the discarded door. Carter just shook his head before shoving it into the back of the van with us.
There was no sign of the bear at Molly’s house, or the nutria, which ranked only slightly below the bear in my book. I had Carter stop in the driveway so I could retrieve my cell phone, which incredibly didn’t have a scratch on it, then he drove the van across the backyard as far as possible with the sketchy terrain and got us about thirty yards from the dock. The boat was still there—thank God—so we climbed out of the van and all checked our weapons while Carter frowned.
“Be sure to tell that idiot boyfriend of Molly’s about the bear,” Ida Belle said. “Unless he’s the one who killed her. Then maybe don’t tell him anything at all.”
“That would be a really good outcome,” Gertie said.
“Just go home,” Carter said. “This town has had more than its share of death. We don’t need any more. Not even the stupid bear.”
“Maybe the nutria,” I said.
“They are a nuisance,” Gertie agreed as we started walking off.
We were all on alert as we went but the walk to the dock was uneventful. We loaded up and I released the lines from the dock, and we were off. I glanced back to see Carter looking at us and frowning. I wasn’t sure whether the frown was all on our account or a combination of a lot of things. Either way, I’d probably get an earful tonight over dinner. Or maybe after dinner. Carter said being angry interfered with his polite enjoyment of food, and he was grilling steaks tonight.
The wind from the boat ride felt good on my hot skin and I wondered if some of it was singed from being on top of the van. When Ida Belle slowed in a particularly narrow part of the bayou, Gertie leaned over the side and flung water back on us and herself. It helped take some of the heat off.
As we exited the bayou into the lake, I saw the two boats that had been dragging the night before. They looked like they were pulling the nets in.
“Looks like they’re quitting,” Gertie said.
Ida Belle nodded, her expression one of disappointment and resignation.
We’d lost operatives overseas. Men and women who’d simply vanished. I knew what it was like to come home with an empty seat on the transport and always felt a pain in my heart for the family that was going to get the awful news and the agent who had to deliver it. I’d been on the receiving end of that conversation once before. Twice now, I suppose.
I wondered who Carter had to deliver the news to and for just a moment, I was back on that transport plane with an empty seat.
Chapter Nine
When we pulled up to my backyard, I was surprised to find we had a visitor. Nickel was sitting in a chair pushed far up under the tree and drinking a beer. Ida Belle drove the boat onto the bank and we got out, pulled it up a little more, and I tied it off to its post.
“Please tell me you did not break into the house of the deputy’s girlfriend to acquire some beer,” Ida Belle said. “Especially since you own a bar.”
“Heck no,” Nickel said. “I told you I was done with all the illegal stuff. My brother’s been pulling the weight for long enough. Probably time I stopped being a screwup and gave him a hand. I snagged this from the bar before I left. Thought if I had to wait, I’d get thirsty.”
I supposed taking the beer from your own bar was far better than stealing it from me, but I still wondered if Nickel was capable of getting it together. He seemed to have a lapse in logic when it came to right and wrong.
“And why are you hanging out in my backyard, drinking stolen beer from the Swamp Bar?” I asked.
He grinned. “Can’t steal from yourself, can you?”
“The IRS thinks so,” I said.
He gave me a confused look so I waved a hand in dismissal. “Doesn’t matter. Look, we’re more than exhausted. We’ve been out looking for Molly—with no success—and have been chased by a million nutria and an angry mama bear. Carter caught us stealing a van, and we sort of caused him to wreck his truck.”
“The bear did that, actually,” Gertie said.
“I don’t think he sees it that way,” I said.
Nickel’s eyes widened. “You stole a van? That’s hard-core. Carter must really like you if he let you go.”
“We didn’t steal it really,” I said. “Just borrowed it to get away from the bear. Anyway, that’s not the point. The point is it’s been a long day. We’re tired and chastised and in desperate need of a shower, and probably rethinking some of our decisions. So if you could just get on with your business or better yet, come back another time, that would be awesome.”
“No can do on the reschedule,” he said. “This is urgent. Why do you think I was ready to sit here until you got back?”
“Whiskey has my phone number,” I said. “You could have called.”
Nickel stared down at the ground. “I don’t want him to know about this.”
“Uh-oh,” Gertie said.
“No,” Nickel protested. “It’s nothing like that. I would never ask you to do something wrong. I’m respectable now.”
We all gave him the I-don’t-buy-it-for-a-second look.
“Respectable for Sinful?” he suggested.
Still silence.
“Respectable for the Swamp Bar?” he tried.
It was an acceptable compromise so we all nodded.
“I want to hire you,” he said. “You know, to do that investigating thing.”
I blinked and stared. I hadn’t even been able to imagine a reason that Nickel would need to speak to me and now that he’d delivered his kill shot, I was more than a little surprised. If I’d had the energy to speculate, that one wouldn’t have even made the list.
“What do you want me to investigate?” I asked.
He glanced around, looking a little nervous. “Can we go inside? It’s hot as heck out here and if anyone sees me talking to you, they’ll start spreading the word.”
“You’ve been sitting in my backyard drinking beer,” I said. “It only takes one person to see you and talk. Ronald has probably already got a picture of you taped to his wall as a potential threat. But we can agree on the need for air-conditioning.”
“And aloe vera,” Gertie said. “Or we’re going to be spotted up our arms for this wedding.”
We shuffled into the kitchen and I grabbed some cold waters for all of us. Gertie headed for the medical supplies and came back with the aloe vera. I took a huge gulp of the water, giving myself a tiny bit of brain freeze, then looked at Nickel.