The Dollmaker

Twenty-Four

Claire laid her head against the back of the seat as she turned to stare out at the passing scenery. They crossed another bridge over a bayou, and she could see the reflection of the cypress trees in the water. The air blowing in through Dave’s open window was scented with honeysuckle and magnolias. Claire closed her eyes, his words echoing in her head. After Ruby disappeared, nothing made sense anymore. Not even you and me.

“Where we’re going tonight has something to do with those phone calls seven years ago,” she said. “That’s why you were talking about Ruby earlier, isn’t it?”

“I shouldn’t have let you come with me,” he said. “What you see and hear in that cabin probably won’t sit too well on your conscience.”

She turned her head to look at him. “Meaning?”

“I’m going to do whatever is necessary to find out who made those calls.”

“Good.”

He shot her a surprised glance. “You may not think that later.”

She was silent for a moment. “What’s going to happen once we get to the cabin?”

“I told you, we’re meeting some people.”

“Who?”

“Titus for one.”

“Titus Birdsong? I didn’t even know the two of you were still friends.”

“He’s risking a lot by helping me out. I’m never going to be able to pay him back for this.”

“For what?” Claire asked worriedly. “You’re starting to scare me a little. What is it that you’re planning to do?”

“Only what I have to. Try to remember that.”

She shivered at his ominous tone. “Who else is there?”

“Clive Nettle.”

She stared at him in shock. “Clive Nettle is at the cabin?”

“Don’t worry,” Dave said. “In his present condition, he won’t pose much of a threat.”

“I’m not worried about that. It’s just that…now I think I understand what you meant when you said you were willing to do whatever was necessary to get at the truth.”

“And that scares you.”

“A little,” she admitted.

“Do you want to go back?”

She shook her head. “No.”

As they left the rice fields behind, the area became more wooded, and Claire saw the glimmer of another bayou through the trees. The longer they were on the road, the more apprehensive she became. Her stomach was in knots, her nerve endings vibrating like a plucked guitar string. And when she lifted her hand to her cheek, the skin on her face felt cold and clammy.

Dave made another turn, onto a dirt road, and she saw a light just ahead.

“That’s it,” he said, and a moment later, he pulled up next to a light-colored sedan and parked.

They both got out of the truck, and as they walked up to the cabin, Claire glanced around. They were in the middle of nowhere. The place was isolated and, except for the presence of the other car and the flicker of light in the broken window, appeared completely deserted.

Dave knocked once, then said in a low voice, “It’s me.”

The door was drawn open and a large silhouette filled the opening. Claire hadn’t seen Titus Birdsong in years, and it took her a moment to recognize him.

Light spilled out from the doorway and she could see him staring down at her. Quickly, he dropped his gun to his side. “Claire?”

“Hello, Titus.”

“Claire? What are you doing here?” His gaze shot to Dave.

“It’s okay. She knows about the phone calls and she knows we’ve got Nettle inside.”

Titus shook his head. “Don’t matter to me what she knows, she ain’t got no business being out here. This ain’t no place for a woman.”

“I appreciate the sentiment, Titus, but you don’t need to protect me. I have a right to know who made those phone calls to Dave. Ruby was my daughter, too.”

For a moment Claire thought Titus was going to refuse to let her come in, but then he stepped back with a loud sigh. “I hope you know what you’re doing,” he muttered to Dave.

Claire followed them inside, and for a moment, Dave blocked her view of the room. She had a brief impression of rough-hewn walls and bare floorboards, a rusted tin roof, and she could smell kerosene from the lamp that provided the light. Then Dave moved out of the way and she saw Clive Nettle.

He was almost as large as Titus, with close-cropped dark hair, black stubble and a scar that ran down the side of his face. He sat bound and gagged in a ladder-back chair, one eye nearly swollen shut and blood drying at his temple. His head lolled forward, chin on chest, and Claire thought at first that he was unconscious. Then he lifted his head and looked directly into her eyes.

A shudder ripped through Claire and she took a step back. She thought she’d been prepared, but the sight of that battered face turned her stomach. Nausea rose in her throat, and she pressed her hand to her mouth.

“You okay?” Dave asked. “Maybe you should wait outside.”

She shook her head, but it took her a moment to speak. “What did you do to him?”

“What I had to.”

“He’s…okay?”

“He’ll live. At least until he gets to Angola.”

Claire nodded, drawing a breath.

Dave walked over to Nettle and yanked the gag out of his mouth. “You weren’t very cooperative when I was here earlier. Let’s see if you’ve changed your tune now that you’ve had a little time to ponder your situation.”

“I already told you, I got nothing to say to you. And don’t think this won’t come back on both you assholes.” He nodded toward Titus. “Your career is over, you dumb shit. You chose the wrong side. And as for you…” He turned his head slowly to Dave. “You’re as good as dead.”

“Is that so? Because I feel pretty good at the moment. As a matter of fact, I’m liking my odds more and more these days. You, on the other hand…can’t say I’d want to be in your shoes when all this goes down.”

“Do I look worried?”

“You should be. You’re a pathetic excuse for a man, Nettle, much less a cop.”

“Up yours, pal. Last time I checked, I still have a badge and you don’t.”

“Tell me what happened that night with Renee. She tried to fight you off, didn’t she? Probably made her sick to her stomach just to look at you, let alone have you put your filthy hands on her.”

Nettle’s smile became a sneer as he glanced at Claire. “You know better than anyone what a man will risk for a little poon tang on the side, don’t you, Dave?”

Dave’s fist caught the cop squarely on the jaw, knocking the chair backward. It crashed into the wall, collapsed, and Nettle hit the floor with a loud thud. Dave bent over him and grabbed a fistful of his shirt. “You murdering bastard. I ought to finish you off right here and now.”

The chair was broken in several pieces around Nettle, but his hands and ankles were still bound. He tried to scoot away, but Dave dragged him back and clamped a hand around his throat, squeezed until the man’s face turned red and his eyes fluttered and rolled back in his head.

“Dave, for God’s sake!” Claire cried.

“Ease up, partner,” Titus said softly.

Dave released Nettle and straightened. “Maybe now you’re ready to talk.”

“Fuck you,” Nettle wheezed, and spat blood on the floor at Dave’s feet.

Dave leaned against the wall and folded his arms. He suddenly looked as comfortable and relaxed as a man chatting with a neighbor at a backyard barbecue. “Let me tell you how I see this all playing out, Nettle. JoJo Barone is going to finger you and every other cop who was there at that party the night you killed Renee. He’s a dying man, so he doesn’t have a lot to lose, and I seriously doubt he’ll want to spend the rest of his days worrying about how to pick up the soap in the shower without bending over. The D.A. leans on him hard enough, he’ll roll. We both know he will.”

“That’s it? That’s all you got? The word of a two-bit greaser like JoJo Barone?” Nettle laughed, a low, nasty sound that made Claire’s skin crawl.

“That’s all we need,” Dave said. “Because when JoJo starts naming names, you’re going to find out real fast who your friends are. Bobby Ray already sold you out. That’s why you’re here. My guess is, your old buddies in the department won’t be much different. When they get wind of what the D.A. has in mind, they’ll hightail it to the nearest attorney and try to cop a plea that’ll keep their asses out of prison. You don’t have that option. You’re going to do hard time, no question about that. But if you want to stay off death row, you better make your deal while you still have something to offer. And the only way to get to the D.A. is through me.”

Nettle laughed again. “Do I look that stupid to you? Lee Elliot wouldn’t give a guy like you the time of day, let alone buy into this drunkard’s fantasy you’re trying to peddle. Here’s a news flash, chief. Your cred’s kinda shaky these days.”

Dave shrugged. “I guess you’ll have to ask Elliot yourself when he gets here.”

“Oh, he’s on his way here, is he? You really are delusional. Kind of pathetic, really. I heard you were a pretty good cop before you turned into a lush. Now you sound just plain crazy. If you had anything on me, I’d be in lockup right now instead of cooling my heels out here with you two fucks.”

“Maybe Elliot wanted to make sure you’d stay alive long enough to give him a statement.”

Claire saw something flash in Nettle’s eyes.

“Think about it,” Dave said. “It’s an election year and this kind of case is a wet dream for an ambitious prosecutor like Lee Elliot. Murder. Conspiracy. Police corruption. He plays it just right, he could ride this horse all the way to the governor’s mansion. If you don’t cooperate, he’ll just move on down the line to the next guy on JoJo Barone’s list.”

“I still say this is nothing but one big bluff.”

“It’s not,” Claire said, and she felt Dave’s gaze on her as she took a step toward Nettle. “My sister is an assistant D.A. Her name is Charlotte LeBlanc. She was handpicked by Lee Elliot to be on his team. They’re very close. I can get her on the phone right now to verify everything Dave just told you.”

Dave straightened as he glanced at his watch. “Clock’s ticking, Nettle, so here’s the deal. You want to talk to Elliot, you’ll have to agree to my terms. Otherwise, when he gets here, he’ll find nothing but an empty cabin. A day or two from now, when he’s already made a deal with someone else, Titus here will march you into headquarters in handcuffs and leg irons. That won’t look so good on TV. That’s the kind of image that sticks in a prospective juror’s head.”

“No shit,” Titus said with a grin. “And no offense, but you ain’t exactly got what I’d call a sympathetic mug to begin with. You don’t want your veins pickled up there at the farm, you best hear the man out.”

“All you have to do is give me a name,” Dave said. “You tell me who placed those calls to my cell phone after my little girl disappeared, and you and me are done. You make your deal with Lee Elliot. I’ll stay out of it.”

Nettle turned his head and looked at Claire. “You sure you want her in here for this?”

“I’m not leaving,” she said, but her hands were sweaty and her heart had suddenly started to race.

He nodded toward Dave. “Why don’t you ask him why he brought you out here? I’m beginning to think this little dog-and-pony show he put together was just for your benefit.” He glanced up. “Ain’t that right, chief?”

“You’re a piece of shit, Nettle.”

The man laughed, his grinning face grotesque in the flickering lamplight. He cut his gaze back to Claire and lowered his voice. “You really want to know who made those phone calls?”

Claire nodded, her mouth suddenly so dry she couldn’t speak.

Nettle gave her a look that was half amused, half pitying. “It was your old man. Yeah, that’s right,” he said with a grin when Claire reacted. “Alex Girard made those calls. He thought it all up on his own. Said the kid was already dead, might as well use the kidnapping to our advantage.”

Claire felt as if she’d just been punched in the chest. She leaned against the wall, her breath suspended painfully in her lungs. And then her gaze went to Dave, and she could tell from the look on his face that Nettle was right. He’d already known about Alex. He just hadn’t had the guts to tell her himself.

Lee Elliot knew how to work a crowd, even the small group of cops that had gathered outside the cabin door to watch Clive Nettle’s perp walk to the nearest squad car. In his light-colored suit and silk tie, the Orleans Parish D.A. looked as if he’d just come from a Garden District soiree rather than a lengthy meeting with a cold-blooded killer. He had the charm and charisma of a natural-born politician, the breeding and manners of an old-fashioned Southern gentlemen, the lazy drawl of a pickup-truck redneck. In short, he was everything to everybody.

After Nettle was loaded into the back of the squad car, Elliot came over and clapped Titus on the back. Angelette was with him, but she didn’t say a word. She’d been keeping a low profile ever since she arrived. However, as she stood next to Elliot, Dave could feel her gaze, burning with its usual intensity.

“I appreciate that you boys wanted me out here to make sure everything went down by the book, but you would have made my job a lot easier if you hadn’t been quite so zealous in your pursuit of justice. Looks like you used Nettle for a punching bag. That won’t sit well with his defense attorney.”

“He resisted arrest,” Titus said.

“And you won’t have a problem swearing to that under oath, I don’t suppose.”

“No problem at all. You got a Bible on you, I’ll swear to it right now.”

“I don’t think we need to go that far.” Elliot’s gaze shifted to Dave. “And let me guess. You just happened to be in the neighborhood and offered your assistance.”

“Something like that.”

Elliot’s blue eyes twinkled in the flashing light from the nearest squad car. “You know, you’re a pretty impressive guy, Dave. I like how you operate. We could use a good investigator like you in the D.A.’s office. Have you ever thought about coming back to the force? The commissioner is a second cousin of mine. I could put in a good word for you.”

“Thanks, but I’ve burned too many bridges in New Orleans. I like it just fine where I am.”

“You ever change your mind, give me a call.”

He moved on then, and Dave looked around to find that Titus had also disappeared. He was left standing alone with Angelette. She wore a short black skirt and turquoise blouse that clung to her curves, and her black hair was pinned up, highlighting her long, smooth neck. When she caught his eyes, she gave him a slow smile.

Dave wanted to look around and see where Claire was, but he thought that might be a little too obvious.

“What’s the matter, Dave? You look a little nervous.”

“It’s been a helluva night.”

“Hasn’t it, though? And I guess congratulations are in order. Took you seven years, but you finally nailed Renee Savaria’s killer.”

“Not without your help. If you hadn’t been able to persuade Elliot to come out here tonight, I might have had to take matters into my own hands.”

“Nah, you wouldn’t do that. You might have roughed him up a little more, but you wouldn’t have inflicted any serious damage.”

“What makes you think that?”

Her smile gently mocked him. “You may be fucked up in the head, but you’re still basically a good guy.”

“And just when did you come to that conclusion?”

“Oh, I always knew it. You just used to piss me off so bad I never wanted to admit it.” She twirled a strand of dark hair around her fingertip. No one but Angelette could make such a simple gesture seem so suggestive.

Dave cleared his throat. “Let me ask you something, and I want you to tell me the truth. Whose idea was it to get me involved in all this? Yours or Elliot’s?”

Angelette leaned back against one of the cars and folded her arms. “What difference does it make? You got what you wanted. We all did. Why not just enjoy the moment?”

“I don’t like being played, that’s all.”

“Poor baby. Lee’s right, you know. Now that the herd at NOPD is about to be thinned, you could get your old job back if you wanted it. Be like old times.”

“I meant what I said, Angie. I burned my bridges in New Orleans. I’m not coming back.”

She looked on the verge of saying something, then changed her mind. “In that case, I guess all you’ve got left to do is figure out what to do about her.”

Dave turned his head in the direction of Angelette’s nod. He saw Claire then. She was standing in front of one of the squad cars, talking to Lee Elliot. In the harsh glare of the headlights, she looked pale and shocked, like the victim of a bad car crash. Dave’s chest tightened as he watched her, and for a moment, he had the strangest sensation of having just awakened from a dream.

“You’re never going to get over her, are you?” Angelette said softly.

“It doesn’t matter,” Dave said. “What we had is in the past.”

“I guess we are, too.” She reached up and brushed the back of her hand against his cheek. “So long, Dave.”

He waited until she was gone, and then he turned, his gaze meeting Claire’s. She quickly glanced away.

Another moment went by and then he went over to her. Even when he came up beside her, she didn’t turn, wouldn’t meet his eyes.

“I was just offering Claire a ride back to town,” Elliot said. “In fact, I insist. Charlotte would never let me hear the end of it if I didn’t see her sister safely home.”

Dave stared down at Claire. “Is that what you want?”

“It’s fine. There’s no sense in you having to make a special trip back to New Orleans.”

“I don’t mind the drive.”

“There’s really no point.”

“Okay, if that’s what you want. I’ll call you tomorrow about Savannah Sweete.” He turned and started walking toward his truck.

A moment later, Claire caught up with him.

“Dave?”

He turned.

She put a hand to her mouth, as if she wasn’t quite certain what had possessed her to follow him. “I just have to know one thing.”

He braced himself. “What is it?”

The wind lifted her hair, and for a moment it was all Dave could do not to reach out and smooth the soft strands with his hand.

“Did you really know who Nettle was going to name when you brought me out here?”

“I suspected. I didn’t know.”

Her eyes searched his face. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Would you have believed me?”

“I don’t know.” She looked off toward the cabin, as if still having a difficult time accepting what had happened. “Is it possible he made it all up? Maybe he just said what he knew you wanted to hear.”

“I don’t think so, Claire. Titus followed Nettle to a bar on Airline Drive yesterday. A little while later, Alex showed up, and they were together for a long time. It seemed as if they had a lot to discuss.”

She shuddered, and then without warning, she reached up, lightly touched the cut on his forehead. Her fingers were cool and soft, but the feel of them against his skin was like an electric jolt. Dave didn’t move, could barely even breathe. After a brief moment, she took her hand away.

“Did Nettle do that to you?”

“He had a little help from a creep named Bobby Ray Taubin.”

“What about Alex? Did he have anything to do with it?”

“I don’t know. A third man was there that night, but I never got a look at his face.”

Claire bit her lip. “Is that why you set all this up?”

“I set this up because I wanted justice served,” Dave said. “It’s not revenge, if that’s what you’re asking.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to imply that it was. It’s just…I hardly know what to think anymore. All those years that Alex and I were married…all the times we were together…I had no idea what he’d done. I thought he was a good man, someone I could love and respect.”

Dave looked down at his hand. His knuckles were swollen and one had split open against Nettle’s jaw. But the pain was nothing compared to the ache inside his chest. “None of this is on you, Claire. He was your husband. You wanted to believe the best about him. No one can fault you for that.”

She drew a long breath and released it. “Do you ever wonder why things happen the way they do?”

“All the time,” he said. “But it doesn’t do any good.”

“It’s like someone opened a door to our past and now all this pain just keeps rushing out.”

“I don’t think there’s any grand design here, Claire. If I hadn’t been drinking for all those years, this mess would have been settled a long time ago. The clues were there, I just wasn’t in any shape to know what they meant.”

She brushed a shaky hand across her face. “What’s going to happen to Alex now?”

“If all this sticks, he’s facing some pretty serious charges. Accessory to murder, conspiracy. I guess it all depends on how good his lawyer is. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry. If he used Ruby’s kidnapping to cover up that girl’s murder, then I don’t care what happens to him.”

Dave could see her lips trembling, and when she bowed her head, moonlight glinted in her hair, turning the gold highlights to silver.

As he watched her struggle with her emotions, he felt something tear loose inside him. He had only just started learning to live with the past, and now it was the future that scared him. Because the road ahead had no glimmers of light to guide him, no fleeting images of happiness such as he saw when he looked behind him.

No matter what happened from this night forward, Claire would fade back into his past, a moment, a memory, an elusive ghost that would always be there to haunt him.