Page 74 of Home Again

“Sure thing.”

“Make sure you don’t get my face in the picture. Only hers. You got that?”

Darnell nodded.

Fontenot looked down at Gianna. “You’re going to say, give Armand the money, otherwise they’ll kill me. That’s all you have to say. Got that? Nod if you understand me.”

Gianna nodded.

Fontenot turned back to Darnell. “When I tell you to start filming, you start. When I tell you to stop filming, you stop.”

Darnell nodded again.

“Okay, start.”

Fontenot pointed at Gianna.

“Please give Armand the money, otherwise they’ll kill me.”

She saw Fontenot’s hand fly back, but she didn’t move in time. It crashed across her face.

“Ahhhhhhhh,” she screamed as she fell off the couch.

The last thing she heard was, “Stop filming.”

* * *

Meeting anyplace in Krotz Springs was risky; the town was just too damn small and too full of Fontenots. So Gideon suggested they go one town over to the Shooting Range. Neil and his boys, as well as the O’Malley brothers, had been busy.

“Bradley’s dad is definitely mixed up in this,” Neil said. The redheaded man next to him, named Red, nodded in agreement. “Leroy—that’s his name—said he’s going to buy out the Cajun Gator Tour Company next month. He’s busy saying his boy is going to front him the money.”

“The one cousin of his, Darnell isn’t saying anything,” Red said. “But he has that other convict, Linus, saying he and his cousin Bradley are doing big business together. He’s always been the really stupid one in the family, according to everyone.”

“Sounds like Bradley’s dad is pretty damn dumb, if you ask me,” Fergus O’Malley said with a laugh.

Sebastian looked down the firing line and made sure that nobody from the office was looking at their small huddle. They weren’t.

“So, are we any closer to finding out where they may be keeping Gianna?” Gideon asked.

“I had a long talk with Selma after church this morning,” Fergus said. “She does the books for most of the Fontenot family.”

“She told you that?” Sebastian asked.

“Sure did. I told her how Callum and I were looking for an experienced bookkeeper, but we wanted one who understood the meaning of family. I made it sound like I was looking for somebody who was willing to cook the books, and she was all over that. The problem with her is that she won’t have any real records of anything that isn’t leased or owned. So all of the property that they’re trespassing on won’t be recorded, so we’re shit out of luck.”

“So we’re back to scaring the shit out of Bradley, Linus, Darnell, or Bradley’s father to find out where they’ve stashed Gianna,” Callum said grimly.

“I’m down with that.” Fergus slammed his fist into his other hand.

I really like these men.

“Let’s go back to town and round up these assholes,” Sebastian said as he looked over each man who surrounded him. Every one of the men nodded in agreement.

* * *

Gideon and Sebastian had already gone to Darnell and Linus’ parents’ house, as well as both of their trailers. When they’d knocked on Linus’ trailer door, one of his neighbors had suggested that they try looking for him at Rory’s Tavern. On the way there, they’d gotten calls from the O’Malley brothers who told them that they hadn’t found any sign of Bradley anywhere in town. Meanwhile, Neil, Red, and the boys had been looking for Brad’s father and had come up empty so far, but they were checking out a lead that he might be at the local auto body shop.

By the time Sebastian and Gideon had gotten to Rory’s, they were told that Linus had just taken off to go fishing.