Big Easy (Cowboy Craze) Read online

  A short burst of static made him smile before her voice sounded in the room. “Good morning, Easy.”

  From the sleepy sound of her voice, Easy realized she was still in bed. “I’m sorry, I woke you up, didn’t I?”

  She pressed down the PTT button in the middle of a yawn. “Yeth?”

  “I’m sorry.” She sounded so cute, he found himself growing hard at the thought of her stretching and wiggling on the bed, trying to wake up. “I wanted to make sure you were okay.”

  “Uh, yea. I’m fine. Anything else?”

  “Not really. I guess I just wanted to hear your voice before I went to work this morning.”

  “Oh.”

  Easy smiled when he recognized wonder in her voice. “You have a good day. Keep your door locked. When I get off work, I intend to stop at the store to buy a phone for the house and a camera for your front entrance. I’ll install it when I get home.”

  “Oh, Easy, that’s not necessary.” She paused, then pressed the button again. “But thank you. I guess I need it.”

  “No problem. Have a good day, treasure. Over.”

  “Bye, Easy.”

  With a grin on his face, he finished his cereal, then put his dish in the washer. Grabbing his keys, he headed through the living room on the way out of the house. As he passed the table where he’d set up the chessboard, something caught his eye.

  “What the hell?”

  Staring, he blinked, trying to make sense of what he was seeing.

  Another move had been made on the board, mirroring his own. It was as if someone took their turn and was awaiting his next move. Whirling around, he checked the front door. Yes, it was still locked. From the inside. He hurried to the rear of the house and checked the back door. Same thing. At the realization that no one came in to challenge him to a board game duel, he felt the hair rise on the back of his neck. “Cotton! Was that you? You wanna play? Well, all right. That’s fine with me.” He took his next turn, moving a piece across the board in a standard fashion. “It’s your move, buddy! Game on!”

  With that challenge still hanging in the air, Easy left the house and headed to work.

  …Standing at her kitchen sink, Jewel watched Easy leave. Just as she’d suspected, he’d starred in her dreams. In the clear light of day, she expected her common sense to take over and talk her out of the conclusion she’d reached in the heat of the night.

  But it didn’t. She stood by the decision.

  Jewel was through pushing him away.

  If he made another move, another suggestive comment – she planned on taking him up on his offer. After all, how many times in her life would she have a chance to sample a sinful indulgence like Ezekiel Blackhawk? She was serious about one thing though – a spell to keep her emotions from getting involved was definitely on the menu.

  If…it wasn’t too late.

  Ring! Ring!

  She hurried to find the phone, padding through the house on bare feet. Once she located it, Jewel answered without checking the display, “Hello? May I help you?”

  “Yea, treasure, you can.”

  Jewel’s heart turned over in her chest. “Easy, what’s wrong?”

  “Nothing’s wrong. I need a favor. I intended to ask you last evening, but in the confusion, I forgot.”

  “What do you need?”

  When Easy drawled, “Oh, that’s a leading question.” Jewel found her cheeks growing red with pure excitement.

  “Easy, don’t.”

  Stopping at a red light, Easy grinned. Her protest didn’t sound convincing. “Anyway, the cable guy is coming this afternoon to turn on my television and internet. Knowing I’d be at work, I kinda told them you’d let the technician in to do the job.”

  “I guess you’re used to women being available to fulfill your every wish, aren’t you?” When Jewel found herself turning in a happy circle, she forced her feet to be still.

  “Not really. Maybe. Hell, I suppose. Do I need to cancel the appointment? It’s at two.”

  “No. I don’t mind doing this for you.”

  “Good.” He breathed a sigh of relief. “They’re going to call you when they’re on their way.”

  “Fine.” She tried to sound resigned.

  “Oh, I’m going to call and add on a landline. Next time, when we want to have phone sex in bed, we won’t have to use a two-way radio.”

  “We didn’t have phone sex.” She gasped. “While we were talking…did you…?”

  Easy laughed. “No. Our relationship is just starting. We’re on a slow burn, treasure.”

  Jewel shook with a whole-body shiver. “Are we?” She knew he was right – but she wasn’t going to tell him so. Not until they were looking eye to eye. She wanted to read every expression on his face.

  “Oh, for sure. Never doubt it.” Yea, he sounded cocky but he didn’t feel quite so confident. Hopeful, that was it. He felt determined and hopeful.

  On her end, Jewel was winding a strand of hair around and around her finger. “Oh, Easy…”

  “Yea?”

  “Since you’re bringing that camera thingy to install this afternoon, I’ll have supper waiting for you.”

  Hot damn! “Well, that is mighty nice of you, darlin’.” He couldn’t quit grinning.

  “Any preferences?”

  “Preferences?” Hot kisses. His hands and mouth on her tits. Licking her sweet spot until she screamed. Sinking his cock into her snug little pussy. “No. I like everything. Surprise me.”

  “Okay.” She was certainly surprising herself. “Take care, Easy. Have a good day.”

  A warm feeling settled in his chest. “You too, treasure. I’ll see you soon.”

  * * *

  “We’ve processed the crime scene. We’ve taken your statements. At this time, we’ve got no reason to suspect any foul play on your part.” The deputy paused to hold each one of their gazes. “Sheriff Hill would just like to request that none of you leave the area without checking in with the department.”

  Philip stood up from his desk. “You have our word.” He glanced at Jed and Easy. “Right, guys?”

  Both men nodded their assent.

  “Great.” Deputy Truman Lawson tipped his hat. “Well, I’ll be on my way.”

  Philip followed him to the door. “Is there anything you can tell us about the crime? About the woman? Was she killed here? And why here, at Belle Chasse?”

  “It appears she was killed her, yes.” The lawman paused, his hand resting on the door knob. “We don’t really have any suspects yet. There are a few good old boys we always keep on our radar. This could be a crime of passion. The woman was known to keep company with…several men. As far as why she was found here?” He opened the door and gestured out toward the nearby thicket of underbrush. “Since Katrina, this place has been deserted. Desolate.” He sighed and shrugged. “There’s no telling what’s been going on in this swampland.”

  Easy caught Jed’s eye and they exchanged a questioning gaze.

  Philip didn’t appear to like what he was hearing. “I see. I don’t suppose there’s anything you can do about that.”

  Philip continued his discussion with Deputy Lawson as he walked him to his car. While they were gone, Easy turned to Jed. “Looks like we’ll have to add a few guards to the payroll.”

  “Sounds like a good idea to me.” Waiting for their boss to return, Jed leaned his chair back and propped his feet up on the desk. “I didn’t say anything yesterday, but I knew that woman.”

  “Seriously?” Easy was all ears. “How?”

  Jed picked up his coffee cup. “Well, I was born and raised in these parts. So, was she. Her name was Julie Davis. The sheriff was right about her…being friendly.”

  “Did you ever date her?” Easy asked with curiosity.

  “No. My taste runs in a little different direction.” He grinned and took a sip of coffee.

  “Huh.” Easy sat down on the edge of the desk. “I didn’t know you were gay, Vincent.”

  Jed
picked up a wadded piece of paper from the desk and bounced it off Easy’s chest. “I’m not, birdbrain. I prefer good girls. My family is pretty conservative. When I’m not playing cowhand, I do a little preaching.”

  “You’re a man of the cloth?” This surprised Easy. “I would’ve never suspected. So, you’re taking a church girl to that bar on Friday night?”

  Jed laughed. “Well, not exactly. She’s more of a friend, actually.” When Philip joined them, he ended the conversation quickly. “Long story.”

  Easy nodded, acknowledging they would return to the topic another time. That was fine with him. While Jed’s story sounded intriguing, Easy had his own affair of the heart to think about. Truth be told, he was so preoccupied with Jewel and what was going on between them – he’d practically pushed any thoughts of this vile crime from his mind. Driving up and seeing the cop cars parked in front of Philip’s office had taken him a bit by surprise.

  “All right, time to get down to business, men,” Philip said when he returned. “We’ve lost over a day’s work. You two head down to the farm equipment dealer and I’ll handle setting up some interviews from the responses I received from the newspaper ads.” He took a folder from his desk and passed each of them a sheet of paper. “This is what I think we need. You two review the items and if I’ve left something out, let me know.”

  “Will do,” Easy said as he stood, glancing at the list. “We can take my truck.”

  “Sounds good.” Jed scanned the items on the piece of paper in his hand. “Looks complete to me.” He punched Easy lightly on the arm. “Ready to go shopping?”

  “Lead on.” He doffed his hat to their boss. “We’ll be back.”

  “Get something to eat while you’re out,” Philip suggested while he booted up his desktop computer. “We’ll regroup after lunch.”

  Once in the truck, Easy backed out of the drive and set a course for town. “Wow, that was surreal. This is the closest I’ve ever been to any situation involving murder. You read about it, you see it on television, but actually coming across a victim like we did was insane. Makes you wonder what kind of person could do something like that? How much rage would it take to hurt someone in such a way?”

  “I don’t know,” Easy mused. “It’s hard to imagine. I’m sure this is difficult for Philip, considering what he went through a few years ago.”

  “Oh, that’s right. You’re from the same area. Did you know him back then?”

  “No.” Easy shook his head. “I knew of him, of course. The murder and the trial were big news. Seems like anytime someone of wealth or status is connected to a crime, the attention it gets is magnified. Of course, Philip maintained his innocence the whole way through and his family backed him a thousand percent. I wasn’t surprised when someone else was revealed to be the killer, I couldn’t see the professor being involved in anything so sordid.”

  “The professor.” Jed chuckled. “That makes me think of some bespectacled gentleman in a tweed coat, looking nothing like Philip McCoy.”

  “True. His sisters call him Indiana Jones. More of an adventurous professor, I guess.”

  “So, you know the family well?”

  “Nope, not me,” Easy assured him. “Some members of my family know certain members of their family fairly well. Daniel, my older brother, met Philip’s brother, Jaxson, in a support group he was leading for people who’ve experience loss. My brother was dealing with testicular cancer…”

  “Bummer,” Jed inserted with a wince.

  “Yea, but he’s fully recovered. Jaxson lost a leg in an accident. Not the same kind of loss, but people react in a similar fashion, I guess.” He paused a second, assimilating his thoughts. “Sarah, Daniel’s wife, is pretty good friends to Philip’s sisters, Pepper and Ryder. I guess there’s been other interactions between the Blackhawks and the McCoys, not so much with me, though.”

  “Philip acts like he knows you well and thinks the world of you. Why do you make it sound like you just exist on the periphery of your family?”

  Easy didn’t say anything for a moment. Is that what he did? Exist on the fringe?

  Yea, maybe it was.

  Honestly, he supposed that could be why he was here in Louisiana instead of in Texas with his family. “I don’t know, Jed.”

  But he did know, and the reason was – guilt. He just couldn’t shake the corrosive cloud of guilt that hung perpetually over his head.

  “I’m just cut from a different cloth than the rest of my family, I guess.” Easy mentally shook his head, trying to dispel his uncomfortable train of thought. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to stop at a Best Buy or some store that would sell surveillance cameras.”

  “Sure, what’s up with that?” Jed asked as he kept an eye out the window. “Hey! I just saw a gator!”

  “I’d think that was a common enough sight for you,” Easy commented as he slowed down a bit for Jed to get a good look.

  “It is, but I never get tired of seeing those big lizards.” Jed leaned out of the truck window until he could see the gator no more. “You know they’re not nearly as dumb as people think they are. I’ve seen them set a trap for birds.”

  Easy laughed. “Set a trap? I don’t think so.”

  “Yea, sounds crazy, doesn’t it? An alligator using tools like a chimpanzee.” Jed rolled the window up to preserve their cool air flowing from the vents. “But it’s true. While they’re swimming through the swamp, they might come up on some floating sticks. The gator will submerge and come up right under those sticks, balancing them on his snout. Then, he sinks just below the surface, nothing but his nose holes and the sticks above water – and waits. An unsuspecting egret comes along, lights on those sticks and…WHAM!” Jed clapped his hands together like a snout. “He lunges up, the bird tries to take flight, and the gator grabs him before the startled creature can rise high enough to get away.”

  “And you’ve seen this?” Easy asked, amazed.

  “Several times. There’s a swamp right behind our house. I can sit on the back porch at night, shine a flashlight out into the bayou, and see dozens of eyes looking right back at me.”

  “Damn.” Easy thought about his late-night rendezvous to the edge of the water. There was no telling how many alligators observed him as he wandered around in the darkness, thinking he was all alone. “There’s a place like that right behind Jewel’s house.”

  “Jewel?”

  “Yes, the woman I’m renting from, her name is Jewel. She’s the reason I want the camera. She has people who come to her door at all hours. I want her to be able to see who’s there before she allows them into her home.”

  Jed was staring at him with wide eyes. “Jewel Baptiste?”

  “Yea. Do you know her?”

  “I know of her.”

  Noting Jed’s tone, he questioned him, “You do? What do you know?” He suspected he knew the answer.

  “She’s Witch Hazel’s daughter. Same spooky as her mama. All my life, everybody says if you want to know something – go see Witch Hazel. If you need a gris-gris, go see Witch Hazel. If someone is bothering you…” He shrugged. “Well, you get the idea.”

  “Yea, I do.”

  “Jewel’s not bad looking, though. Pity the town turned against her.”

  “Not everybody. She has people coming to see her every day. Most of them are sincerely seeking help, she tells me. Although…yesterday was a different story.”

  The tone in Easy’s voice made Jed’s head jerk up. “What do you mean?”

  “When I got home, I’d no more than stepped out of the truck before I heard her scream.”

  “Hell, what did you do?”

  “I ran over and pulled this son-of-a-bitch off of her. This fella was trying to choke her. We called the cops and Jewel was all shaken up. Blew any thought of what happened here yesterday right out of my mind.”

  “Well, I guess so. What was the man’s problem?”

  “He said he blamed Witch Hazel and Jewel for his mother’s death.�
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  “Yep, the scam.” Jed nodded. “I’ve heard a lot about that mess. The paper and the televised news were full of it for months. In the end, Witch Hazel was cleared of the charges.”

  “Really?” Easy didn’t know that. “Jewel didn’t say.”

  “Yea, the company who sent the letters out in her name was found responsible, but the damage had been done. That’s why she left the area, I guess.”

  “Leaving Jewel to face the residual fallout all by herself. The people affected weren’t as forgiving as the courts, I suppose.”

  “Yea.” Jed grinned. “Jewel’s not by herself anymore, though. Is she?”

  “Well, I can’t be there all the time.”

  “Hence…the camera.” Jed slapped the seat. “You’re doing what you can to keep her safe. I just wonder why she didn’t leave when her mother did.”

  “She didn’t want to be away from her home.”

  “That what she told you?” Jed asked, curious. “Huh. It’s curious how a little piece of swampland could hold onto a person. Must be the quicksand, huh?”

  Easy frowned. “You don’t feel connected to where you grew up?”

  “My dad was a preacher. We moved from parish to parish, church to church, parsonage to parsonage. No time to grow overly fond of any particular piece of ground.” Jed looked at Easy with knowing eyes. “You’re different. Aren’t you?”

  Easy felt an uncomfortable shifting in his chest, like his organs were coming unmoored from their proper position. “My family has a history on the same piece of ground, so…yes, I guess.”

  “Then…why are you here?”

  Easy threw out an excuse. “No big deal. I want to test my wings.” Bullshit, the true answer to the question never changed. Desperate to think of something else, he jumped on the first topic that came to him. “So, you believe in witchcraft?”

  Jed crossed himself.

  Easy laughed. “I thought you were Protestant.”

  “I’m covering my bases.” Jed chuckled at his own actions. “I do believe, yes. I’ve seen some crazy things in my time. Although, Witch Hazel’s name is a misnomer. She’s not a witch.”