AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Alphé met them at the dock.
“Permission to come aboard,” Gerald said.
“Granted,” Alphé said. “This looks serious.”
The sheriff explained what they were there for. “We’re just following up on an inquiry.”
They saw the color drain from the man’s face. “I just found out about the affair a few weeks ago. The letter I received from my ex-wife’s attorney is somewhere around here.”
He rifled through a pile of papers and found a letter asking Alphé to supply DNA to determine the paternity of Lola’s last two children.
While the sheriff and Gerald read the letter, Alphé explained that he’d provided the DNA and discovered that the children were his brother’s.
“Is someone accusing me of murdering my brother?”
“Truthfully, Alphé, we’re not sure what the accusation is,” the sheriff said. “However, it feels like someone has an ax to grind. Is anyone angry with you right now?”
He immediately thought of Austin Macon. “Yes. There’s a BLM agent who is dating Rodney’s widow. He hates my guts. On Saturday, he told my little kids, ages ten and five, that I’m not their father. It was a wild weekend trying to calm them down. I told them my brother was their birth father, but that I was their real father, and they were satisfied with the explanation.”
“That was wise. You might write it down for someone else going through such a thing,” the sheriff said. “I’m sorry about this, but we’ll probably have to follow up. It’s up to the CGIS if they want to reopen the case.”
“It will just be a formality. If you can email me a copy of that letter, I’d appreciate it,” Gerald said, handing him a business card.
“Am I going to be charged with murdering my brother?” Alphé cried, the seriousness of the visit finally sinking in.
“No, but we have to follow up on an accusation made by someone of the agent’s ranking. Again, I’m so sorry.”
They put their hands out to shake. Pierre stood in the wheelhouse, his mouth hanging open in shock.
“I was there that day,” he told the men. “Alphé risked his life. He could have gotten tangled up in the net, as well. We were all there, watching every time he surfaced, screaming for help. I don’t swim, so I couldn’t go in, but their father jumped in to help. He died of a heart attack not long after losing his son. He was there. He saw the effort, tried to help, too. Just read the statements. They were made public shortly after the accident.”
“Thank you, sir. And you are?”
Alphé introduced Pierre.
“Aren’t you Gerrard Theriot’s son?” the Coast Guard agent asked.
“I am.”
“He and my dad are buddies. Say hello to him for me, please.”
On the walk to the squad car, the sheriff seethed. “Not only a waste of time, but a crime to pick at that old wound.”
Alphé’s entire body shook as they finished up that evening. The fishmongers to whom he sold his catch waited on the dock for the second time that day. They transported his morning catch live in water, but the evening portion would go on ice, raised from the holds of the boat by a powerful overhead crane. They worked for an hour before the holds were empty.
They spent the next half hour cleaning everything. The effort it took allowed him time to cool off. Pierre worked silently beside him. At six thirty, they finished.
“Friend, you go home and rest tonight,” Pierre said. “Everything will be okay.”
“You think so? Because I don’t. I think I might murder someone after all.”
“Aw, don’t do that.Ne tuez personne. At least don’t tell me if you do.”
“I won’t. Go home to your family, Pierre. Thank you for today.”
Gathering his belongings, he nodded at his boss and friend before he got off the boat.
“Tomorrow is a new day,” Pierre said. “We’ll make more money than we did today, God willing.”
