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“Brother, ain’t nothin’ strange about seein’ dead people in South Louisiana.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
“So, we have a name and possible location,” said Gaspar. “Do we need to go up to Picayune?”
“I don’t think that’s necessary,” said Sly. “We did our research. Lou Rawlston has been a sergeant with the PPD for nineteen years. He was put on administrative leave three months ago for suspicion of tampering with evidence.”
“Fuck,” muttered Nine.
“Yep. They decided to take a look at the sergeant’s stellar arrest history and dig really deep. No surprise, they’ve found some pretty disreputable things. He’s either withheld evidence or produced evidence that convicted more than thirty men and women of crimes in the last eleven years.”
“I’m confused,” said Magnus. “If that’s true, and they didn’t know what he was doing, this guy should be ranked higher than sergeant. Why is he still at the lower rank?”
“Good question. He’s still there, mostly because he was always doing something that didn’t make his promotion go through. According to the Police Chief, Toby Beauregard, Lou is a bit of a showboat. Always wants to be the hero. They even suspect that he set a house on fire, only to rescue the children and be seen as the hero.”
“Holy snowballs,” frowned Ghost.
“Snowballs?” said Gaspar with a look of confusion.
“Grace has asked me to try and taper the cursing in front of the grandkids. I’m working on it.”
“I bet a thousand he won’t be able to do it,” laughed Nine.
“I’ll take that bet,” grinned Antoine.
“Assholes. Look, how do we catch this guy in the act? Also, how the fuck is he getting a helicopter.”
“That’s an easy one,” said Sly. “His brother-in-law has a commercial chopper business giving tours for land developers.”
“Okay. Then, I say again. How do we catch him?”
“I have an idea,” said Whiskey. “The Marines do a Toys-for-Tots drive every year. They keep the toys locked up in the backroom of the recruitment center, then take them by truck to a distribution center where they’re sent to the needy families.”
“We’re familiar with it,” smirked Ghost.
“I know, asshole, but they’re willing to help. I spoke to the guy in charge this week, and he said they are definitely all in on this one. He made the suggestion that they contact the television news and talk about what a haul it was this year, people being more generous than ever, records broken, all that shit.
“He’s even going to mention that they’ll be moving everything to the warehouse sooner than expected because they have so much. When they arrive…”
“We’ll be waiting,” smirked Nine.
“No. A room full of pissed-off Marines will be waiting,” smiled Whiskey. “Including me. We can, of course, be there, watching, but they would like first shot at him.”
“I’m loving this idea,” said Gaspar. “Let’s get this rolling. We still have a lot to do for our boys’ home and for the families we’ve found around here.” Whiskey dialed the number to the Marine recruitment center.
“We’re in. Yea, brother. Contact the television crews now.”
“Look at his place,” smiled Erin. “It’s just beautiful. I can’t believe what a little paint and new furnishings did to this.”
“We’re so grateful,” said Cassandra. “The girls are so much happier now that they have their own space, although they rarely close the drapes between them. We’ve all started taking turns cooking with the new appliances. It’s just so much easier.”
“Well, it looks beautiful,” said Lauren. “We’ve placed the gifts for Christmas day in the storage room. Janet, the director, has the key and will open it for you to place the things beneath the tree.”
“I don’t know how we’ll ever thank you.”
“You’ll thank us by finding your way and giving those girls an amazing life,” smiled Faith. “This will be the beginning of happier times for all of you.”
Making their way back toward the cafeteria to help with holiday preparations, they could all see men moving something in the distance, back behind the family plot. It appeared to be Wilson and a few other men, but they couldn’t see what they were doing.
