Elli (A Second Chance Novel Book 1) Read online

  “Come here,” she demanded, grabbing the leashes trailing on the ground. The dogs growled deeper, louder. “What’s wrong? I don’t see a problem here.”

  Elli started to pull the dogs away from the shed when an odd feeling swept over her. She felt as if someone or something was watching her. The hair stood on the back of her neck. She looked at the single, dirty window at the front of the shed, and from the black void inside, she saw two dark eyes staring back at her. She yelped, and with strength that her burst of adrenaline gave her, she picked up Jenny, who was giving her the most trouble, and took off running out of the field. She dragged BJ and Doe behind her.

  She didn’t stop running until she was through the gate at the kennel. There, she dropped to the ground, leaned against the fence, and gasped for air. Ben, who was in the training field behind the gym, spotted her. She didn’t have an ounce of energy left to pretend everything was okay. She saw him put a leash on two black, longhaired puppies and walk over to her in huge strides; the puppies had to run to keep up with him.

  “What’s wrong? You’re as white as a sheet. Are you hurt?” He squatted next to her. The puppies started jumping on her, licking her arms and face. “Heel,” he said, tugging the leash in one smooth motion, forcing the dogs to obey. They whimpered but stretched out on their bellies. Doe and BJ started sniffing them. The puppies thought it was a game and began tugging on the older dogs’ ears. Jenny, however, remained in her arms. She hadn’t realized it, but she still held her in a death grip.

  “Elli?” He brushed a curl, wet from perspiration, clinging to her cheek. “Did someone hurt you?” His eyes slid over her body, looking for injuries.

  She shook her head. “I…okay…uh…” she stammered. “Eyes. Eyes…shed.” Her heart wouldn’t stop pounding. She grabbed his forearm and somehow found strength in the warm, solid, masculine feel of it. “I can’t…catch…my breath. Heart attack.”

  “Let me take her.” He took Jenny from her arms, and Elli noticed him checking her for injuries, too. With Jenny’s weight off her, the pressure in her chest immediately lessened. Ben grabbed her wrist and felt for her pulse. “Take deep breaths, Elli.” She gripped his wrists as if they were anchors as she tried to suck in air. She knew she wasn’t in danger, but the certainty that she had been only minutes before overpowered her.

  “I’m such a wimp,” she said, her chest rising and falling with the effort of speaking. “Never so scared in my life—well, almost never.” She rested her hand on her chest.

  He sat on the ground next to her, and the puppies crawled on and off his lap. “Can you tell me what happened?”

  “I was running when the dogs took off into the cane field,” she began, leaning closer to him to pet the adorable puppies. “They were barking and howling, really determined to charge after…whatever it was they were charging after. They got away from me.” She swallowed and looked up at Ben who was staring into her eyes. “I followed them.”

  “Of course, you did.” He shook his head. “Stupid move, Texian.”

  “Yeah, well, I did it.” Her hand brushed against Ben’s hand, and she looked away, pulling her hands into her lap. Jenny put her paw on Elli’s leg. “Anyway, I found them at this old, weathered cabin, scratching at the door, trying to get in. That’s when I saw someone looking at me from inside. At least, I think it was a human someone.” She shook her head. “Yes. Yes, I’m certain of it.”

  “No one usually works the fields this time of year.” He grabbed her chin and turned her toward him to look in his eyes. She knew he was trying to figure out if she was lying, being a drama queen, or telling the truth. “What cabin? Where is it?”

  She stood on legs still wobbly from the exertion and fear. She pointed to the right. “Over there. Not too far from where the dirt road runs into the bayou.”

  Ben stood and leaned on the fence. “I know that area. I haven’t been there in about a year, but the last time I was in that area, I saw only the skeleton of an old hunting cabin. I’m surprised it’s still standing.”

  “It’s standing,” she said, her voice coming out in short breathy puffs. “And, it looks old, but sturdy. Maybe, we aren’t talking about the same cabin. This one is next to a small bayou.”

  “No bayous around there. Just a big ditch.”

  “Bayou, canal, ditch. I can’t keep them straight.” She shook her head. “Anyway, I was going to take pictures of the cabin—shed yesterday before Tante Izzy kidnapped me.”

  “Kidnapped?” He lifted a brow.

  “Will you just listen to my story instead of getting hung up on my word choices,” she snapped. “Okay? I’m exaggerating a little about being kidnapped, but I’m not about what happened at the cabin.” Ben nodded, and she looked in the direction of the cabin. It had to be a mile away, maybe a half mile as the crow flies. “Look, Ben,” she shouted “There’s smoke.”

  “What the hell? It can’t be the cane fields burning—wrong season for the controlled burns.” He climbed onto the fence to get a better look. “I don’t see flames, but something sure as hell is burning.”

  “Should we call nine-one-one?”

  He picked up the puppies, took the leashes for her three dogs, and took off running to the main kennel office. Elli followed him. He shouted to one of his workers coming out of the gym to take the dogs. The young man did as he was told. A few seconds later, Elli was in Ben’s truck, and they were driving toward the black billowing smoke.

  “Do you think it’s the cabin?” she asked as they turned onto the dirt farm road.

  “Hell if I know.” As they neared the plume of smoke, they saw bright orange flames. Ben took his phone from its holder on his hip and called 9-1-1. “There’s a field on fire at Sugar Mill Plantation,” he told the operator, then gave her directions to the blaze.

  “Ben, I smell gasoline,” Elli said, looking at her clothes and shoes. “I don’t see anything on my clothes. Do you smell it?”

  Ben sniffed and looked around where he was sitting. “Yeah, I smell it.” He looked at Elli and then her clothes.

  “It’s not on me,” she shouted. “I didn’t start the fire, if that’s what you’re thinking. I swear I didn’t.”

  Ben nodded once and she could see he believed her. She wasn’t really sure why he did, but was relieved about it.

  A minute later, Ben parked the truck and ran toward the fire. Elli followed. When they got near the clearing, they could see the shed completely engulfed in flames, the smell of charred wood and grass filling their lungs. The dry grass in the clearing was starting to burn, and the light breeze was pushing the flames into the cane field bordering the ditch.

  “What’s going on?” Doug said from behind them, climbing out of his truck. He was with the man Elli now recognized as one of men she had seen working with the dogs at the kennel the day her dogs had dragged her on their first walk.

  “I was just here at this cabin and it was fine, now it’s on fire,” Elli told him.

  Doug stepped into the clearing, staying safely away from the blaze. “Looks like cypress wood, the way it’s burning,” he said.

  The other man nodded. “If it is, it’s old,” he added. “Built maybe fifty years ago or more.”

  “Haven’t had rain in a while and the humidity’s been low.” Doug said. “It’ll probably have to burn itself out. Wind’s pushing the fire to the ditch. It should be okay.”

  “The wildfires in California don’t usually burn themselves out,” Elli said. “They often leap over water and start up on the other side. I hope the fire department gets here quickly.”

  “It’s a volunteer department, but they get moving pretty fast,” Doug said a moment before they heard the sound of a distant siren. “They’ll have to pump water from the ditch to put the fire out—probably not enough water in the truck reservoir,” Doug said. “The ditch water is low, but it should be enough.”

  “Well, at least it’ll be enough to mitigate the damage,” Elli reasoned. Then she realized that not one of the t
hree men asked how the fire started. She looked at Ben. Why hadn’t any of these men asked? It would be a natural thing to do. Did they assume she had started the fire because she said she was just at the cabin?

  Two dozen firefighters, wearing full protective gear, dragged hoses into the clearing and began putting out the blaze. Living in the dry west had taught her that even small fires could turn into big problems. It must have been the same for south Louisiana. Either way, this fire seemed to be under control. Doug had been wrong about not having enough water in the fire engine reservoir to put out the blaze. Maybe if only one truck had showed up that would have been true. Having five there took care of it.

  After an hour, everyone left the scene except for two firemen who remained to watch for hot spots with one of the engine trucks. Even the fire chief didn’t stick around after he took Ben and Elli’s statements. It seemed like a nonevent except for the way everyone, including Ben, kept looking at her as the firefighters raced around the field. What was it they weren’t saying?

  She and Ben rode back in silence to the kennel. As they parked in front of the main office, she turned to face him. “I didn’t start that fire.”

  “I didn’t say you did.”

  “I think the person in the cabin started it.”

  Ben didn’t answer. She could see he was thinking about what she said.

  “But why?” She sighed. “Why destroy the cabin? Do you think a hunter or a homeless person was there?”

  “Could be.” He shrugged.

  “I’m grateful the firefighters didn’t find a body in the rubble. I was really afraid they might.”

  Ben nodded and opened his door, but hadn’t made it out of his truck when Tante Izzy pulled up next to them. She got out faster than Elli imagined her old bones could move.

  “What’s dis I hear? You started a wildfire?” She opened Elli’s door.

  A big Cadillac El Dorado pulled up on the other side of Ben’s truck. A grizzly-sized man, wearing faded denim overalls, red T-shirt, and LSU baseball cap rolled out of it. He went straight to Ben, who was still sitting in the truck. “I heard Rosa’s niece started one of those California-sized forest fires on the plantation?”

  A petite but squarely built redhead with three-inch-high and hot-rolled hair, got out of the other side of the Cadillac. She waddled to Ben, stumbling on pebbles on the ground beneath very bright orange, patent leather pumps with four-inch heels. She wore a matching rhinestone-studded, knit pantsuit and she clutched a People Magazine in her well costume jeweled fingers. “I think we need to start a Smokey the Bear Prevent Fires campaign before this wildfire thing becomes an epidemic. We could hold a charity dance right here on the plantation, where the fire started. Do you think Joseph Boudreaux’s band would play for the dance?”

  Ben turned to Elli. “This is your fault.”

  An attractive woman in her late fifties drove up in a black Lexus and got out. She was wearing pressed jeans, crisp yellow button-down shirt, and elegant gold jewelry. Hers was not costume. She poked her head into the truck next to Tante Izzy. “So she did start the wildfire? Have they issued a warrant?”

  Ben rolled his eyes.

  “I hadn’t heard that,” the redheaded woman said, sounding disgusted she hadn’t gotten the news earlier. “I don’t see her in handcuffs.” She looked at the man in overalls. “Jed, did you hear if there’s a warrant out on her?”

  “Ruby, you should know that the bayou-grapevine news always gets ahead of itself.” The stunning looking, middle-aged brunette whom everyone seemed to know said, speaking to the redhead. Then, she turned to Elli. Her sophisticated bob swished prettily. “And, sometimes it just isn’t fully accurate.”

  “It’s mostly true,” Tante Izzy interrupted.

  “The news passes over the fence and on scratchy phones,” the brunette continued. “Besides, the news might have been embellished a bit. I heard it was old man Theriot who started spreading the story when he heard what happened while listening to his scanner.” She shook her head and tsked. “We all know he can’t even hear Tante Izzy at full holler when he’s standing next to her and the wind is blowing in his direction.”

  “I got my news from one of the Bayou Cane firemen,” the big burly man said. “He can hear just fine. He said the Texian started the fire and looked real guilty as she stood by, twisting her hands as she watched them put out the fire.”

  “I did not…” Elli stammered, but the brunette lady patted her on the shoulder and gave her a sympathetic look.

  “I came out here because I was bored and thought it might be fun to see the Bienvenues in full force,” she said with a smile. The redheaded woman snorted. “I was right.” She extended her narrow hand to Elli. “By the way, I’m Helen Bienvenu. Ben’s mother. I don’t know if you did this deed…”

  “She did,” the big man in overalls mumbled.

  “Or, if you didn’t,” she continued. “But if you need an attorney, you should call Ben’s cousin, Beau. I think you’ve met him before.”

  “She’s met me,” Beau said, walking up to Elli’s side of the truck. “So, has this lynch mob read you the Miranda rights, yet?” He winked at her.

  Elli opened her mouth to defend herself but nothing came out.

  “Youz look like a trout ready to get hooked on a fishin’ line,” Tante Izzy said. “Close youz mouth, Texian. The rest of youz, step back and let da girl breathe. I don’t think youz gonna do too well in prison with da way you reactin’ to dis small group. I hear dere’s a lot of overcrowdin’ in da state prison in Angola.”

  “She won’t have to go to Angola,” Ruby said. “She’d have to go to St. Gabriel. That’s where Cousin Sylvia went when she stole the lunch money from the safe at the Piccadilly.” She looked at Elli and frowned. “She had a gambling problem.”

  Elli felt as if she was in a scene from It’s A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. “Wait a minute.” She held up her hand and silenced the Grizzly Bear man, who was telling everyone exactly which slot machine Cousin Sylvia preferred and how if she had played Sand Blast Seven, she wouldn’t have gotten into trouble because Sand Blast Seven always paid out.

  “As your attorney, I want to warn you to be careful of what you say, Elli,” Beau said, his tone light and teasing. “If these people are called to testify, no telling what they’ll say they thought you said.”

  “You can’t be her attorney, you’re mine,” Ben snapped. “Never mind. Be hers. You’re fired.”

  “My word, he sounds just like The Donald when he says that,” Ruby pointed out. “It would work better if you jabbed your fingers forward while you said it.” She pointed at Beau. “You’re fired.”

  “As I was saying,” Elli said, talking over the sound of another car driving up. “I didn’t start the fire. It was someone else.”

  Ben’s mother leaned in closer. “That’s what they all say, honey.”

  Elli looked at Ben, pleading with her eyes for help. “Are all these people related to you?”

  “’Fraid so.”

  Doctor Snow White joined the large crowd huddled around Ben’s truck. “Don’t you worry about this little lady, Camille,” Grizzly Bear told her. “He’ll no more take up with a criminal than he would a Texian.” He laughed. “And she’s both.”

  “No, I’m not.” Elli pushed her way out of the truck. “I’m not from Texas and I am not a criminal.” A sheriff’s car pulled up behind Ben’s truck. A hush fell over the crowd.

  “Youz got your handcuffs, Ronald?” Tante Izzy called to the uniformed lawman getting out of his car. “I bet she resists arrest. Youz might want to draw your weapon.”

  Ronald. Ben’s uncle. The sheriff. The man whose name had been flaunted at her as if he was a Golden Globe when she had called 9-1-1. Of course, he was the lawman here to deal with her alleged pyromania. “I think I’m being framed,” she told him. “I’m like Ashley Judd being framed for the murder of her not-so-dead-husband in Double Jeopardy.”

  “Did she just say she was Ashley Judd?�
� Ruby shouted. “She’s too tall to be Ashley Judd. She’s as pretty as she is, though. What do you think, Camille? Could she be Ashley Judd?”

  “Oh for goodness’ sake, you are missing the point, Ruby,” Ben’s mother said. “She didn’t say she was Ashley Judd. She was just making a movie reference about how she thought she was being framed like Ashley Judd was in Double Jeopardy.”

  “Don’t think I saw that movie,” the man in the overalls said. “Is Ashley Judd related to Wynonna? I sure like her voice.”

  “They’re sisters,” Ruby said and rolled her eyes. “And, she don’t look like neither one.” She rolled her eyes again. “But, maybe she knows her.” She smiled a hopeful smile. “Do you know Ashley Judd?”

  Elli’s head was spinning. What were these people talking about? “Excuse me.” She walked away from the mass of Bienvenues and their crazy talk with as much pride and dignity as her hammering heart and watery knees allowed. She walked into the office and slammed the door, but before she did, she heard Tante Izzy ask Ben if he kept any loaded guns inside.

  Elli leaned against the door and dropped her head into her hands. What in the hell had just happened? Lucky, who was resting near Ben’s desk, let out a soft bark. She didn’t bother looking at him since she hadn’t been worth his effort for a full bark.

  “Got trouble, little lady?” She jerked her head up. What now? “Doug.” He was sitting in an office chair with his feet propped up on a paper-strewn metal desk.

  “Yeah, I’ve got troubles.”

  “By the sound of the mob outside, I’d say it was Bienvenu trouble.” He twisted a paperclip in his hand. “Best advice I have is to step back and regroup. Come back later when you’ve got a plan.” He shook his head. “In your case, stay one step ahead of that mob outside. They are an opinionated and clannish group.”