Page 66 of Xavier

Jean-Luc happily went to his mother and immediately fussed. “Hungry.”

Shelby laughed. “You’d eat twenty-four-seven if I let you. Say thank you to Ms. Lissette.”

Jean-Luc turned to Lissette. “Thank you.” Then he leaned over and planted a kiss on her cheek.

“You’re welcome, my little man.” Lissette touched a hand to her cheek. “Come by and play with me again.”

Shelby loaded the boy into his car seat and called out to Xavier. “Let me know when you get the footage of the break-in. I’ll swing by the boat factory.”

“Is it okay to clean up?” Lissette asked.

“It is,” Shelby said. “I have what I could get from here. I just need whatever we can see in the video. Hopefully, we find the person or people who did this.” She met Lissette’s gaze. “Does Gisele know?”

Lissette shook her head. “I was hoping we’d find Johnny first.” She looked around again. “I don’t think she’ll be as upset about the shop as she will about losing Johnny.”

Shelby nodded. “I’ll put an APB out on the bird.” Her lips twitched. “Only in a small town, right?”

“Is it possible to get copies of the photos for insurance purposes?” Lissette asked.

“Of course.” Shelby nodded. “I’ll send them to you.”

Jean-Luc called out, “Mama. Hungry.”

Shelby’s lips twisted. “That’s my cue.” She tipped her chin toward Xavier. “I’ll expect a call from the Brotherhood.”

“You’ll get it,” he said.

The deputy drove away, leaving Lissette staring after her, her heart full...and hopeful. “She let me hold Jean-Luc.”

“She did.” Xavier slipped an arm around her waist. “Remy and Shelby are pretty particular about who they let touch him.”

Lissette nodded, her eyes welling. She blinked back the tears and got to work, cleaning.

It took the rest of the day to set the store straight and salvage everything that could be saved, placing the items back where they belonged.

Xavier worked on the broken shelves, piecing together those he could and hauling those he couldn’t out to the trash bin.

Lissette inventoried the items that would need to be replaced in both shops and called the insurance company to file the claims. At the end of the day, she called Gisele with a full account of what had happened, what was lost and what she’d already done.

“Ah, Lissette, I feel awful that all this is falling on you,” Gisele said. “And poor Johnny.”

“The entire town is keeping an eye out for him,” Lissette said. “Somebody is bound to see him.”

“He might come back on his own when he gets hungry,” Gisele said. “I feel like we should come home early.”

“I wouldn’t,” Lissette said. “You might get caught up in the weather headed this way.”

“Rafael and I saw the weather report. I can’t believe the hurricane is up to a Category four. What about Grand-mère? Last hurricane that came through, she refused to leave her island. It was only a Category 3.”

“I’m heading out there this afternoon. I’ll see what I can do to convince her to evacuate.”

“I don’t know,” Gisele said. “We should be there to help.”

“Even if you left now, you wouldn’t arrive in time. We’re supposed to get heavy rain and high winds ahead of landfall. Stay. Come home when you’re supposed to. I’m sure there will be plenty of cleanup to do after the storm.”

“Lissette?” Gisele paused.

“Yes?”