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As soon as they left Trish’s Street, Felina dialed a number on her cell phone.“Hey, Shelby.Can you meet me and Trish at the Crawdad Hole for girls’ night out?”She listened for a moment.“I know we had one this week already, but, trust me, we need another.You do?Good.We’ll see you there.Oh, and leave the uniform and service vehicle at home.”Felina ended the call and glanced over her shoulder at Trish.“Shelby’s on her way.”
Lucas glanced in the rearview mirror.Trish had washed the tears from her face and applied a little makeup, but her eyes were still red-rimmed, and her face appeared strained.
“What’s going on?”he asked.
“We found blue girl,” Felina said softly.
“Oh, yeah?”Lucas shot a glance toward Felina.“Who is she?”
Felina tipped her head toward Trish.
Lucas’s gaze shot to the rearview mirror and the reflection of a young, very distraught woman.He shifted his gaze to Felina.“Shouldn’t we be going somewhere besides a bar?”
Felina glanced out the window, checked the side mirror and turned in her seat to look out the back window of the truck before turning her attention to Lucas.“We’re doing what we can.We’re gonna need one of your guys to go to Marty’s place with some pizza or burgers and hang out until further notice.”
Trish leaned through the seat, her face animated for the first time since climbing into the truck.“Please.He could use a friend about now.”
“A friend with skills,” Felina added.
Lucas’s foot left the accelerator.“Do you mind telling me what’s going on?”
She glanced in the side mirror and out the back window again.“The short version is Trish is being blackmailed, first by Gaither and then by another man who sounds a lot like the one I saw push Gaither into the SUV.They have photos, most likely those we found on the disk, of her with Thomas Crabtree, which would imply she was having an affair with the man.”
“I wasn’t.I never slept with him.”Trish laid a hand on Felina’s shoulder.“I was just a companion to him for a couple of months.We went to museums and historical plantation houses.Nothing else.The Mardi Gras parade was going to be my last paid outing with him.”She sat back in her seat.“It was his last outing with me and anyone else.”
Felina patted her friend’s hand.“If Trish doesn’t come up with ten thousand dollars by tomorrow, they’ve threatened to hurt Marty and anyone she cares about.”
“They said that if I go to the police, they’ll kill Marty and send the photos to the police.Because I was with Thomas the day he was killed, I’ll be charged with his murder.”
Lucas’s foot returned to the accelerator, the reason for the call to Shelby and the girls’ night out becoming clear.“So, if you can’t go to the sheriff...”
“She’ll come to us.”Felina leaned back in her seat and stared at the road ahead.“Trish was the blue girl.She didn’t kill Thomas Crabtree.”
“I was there at the parade, but I left before...”Trish bit her lip.“I left when I should’ve stayed.Then none of this would have happened.”
“It’s not your fault,” Felina assured her.And to Lucas, she said, “Shelby has some information for us as well.She didn’t say what but will tell us when we’re together.”
Lucas pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and called Remy.
“Hey, Lucas,” Remy answered.“Everything all right?”
Lucas turned onto Main Street and headed for the Crawdad Hole just past the marina.“We have blue girl.”
“What do you mean?”Remy asked.“From the video?”
“That’s the one.Meet me at the Crawdad Hole as soon as possible.Bring one of the guys with you.And send one of our guys with pizza and beer to Marty’s place.Felina will give you the address.Make sure he’s armed and prepared to stay for a while.Same for whoever you bring with you.I have a mission for him.I’ll fill you in when we meet at the bar.”
“On it,” Remy said.“I’ll be there in ten minutes.”
Lucas handed his cell phone to Felina.“Give him Marty’s address.”
While Felina gave Remy the address, Lucas pulled into the parking lot of the Crawdad Hole and shifted into park.He’d been watching in the rearview mirror, looking for any indication that they were being followed, but had yet to detect any vehicles tailing them.
He climbed down from the truck and helped Trish and Felina to the ground.Then, with an arm around each woman, he escorted them to the door with a smile pasted on his face.“You two enjoy.I’ll be your designated driver when you’re ready to leave.”
Felina leaned up and brushed her lips across his.“Thanks, babe.”Then she hooked her arm through Trish’s, pinned a smile on her face and said, “Let’s party!Woot!”
Trish gave a weak smile and added an equally weak, “Woot!”
