| Subject: Second Generation - Parts #34 - 36 |
Author:
Wanda
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Date Posted: 03:26:45 08/21/03 Thu
PART #34
After Hollingsworth left the room, Lucia looked at her mother and saw she was trembling. “What’s wrong Mother?” she asked. Lenore whispered, “Lucia, he suspects something. I have no doubt he had someone watching us today. Quite possibly it was Alfonso.” Lenore said, “Lucia, we are going to have to watch our whole demeanor. When he suspects someone of something, he leaves no stone unturned.”
The women continued to work on the puzzle, and Lucia whispered to her mother, “Why don’t we use this puzzle as an excuse for staying together tonight? It’s large enough to take many hours to put together.” Lenore chuckled, “You know it might actually be the key. Good thinking Lucia.”
Hollingsworth went downstairs, and placed a call to Alfonso. He said, “I want you to tell me once again about the meeting at Anthony’s today. Do not leave out a single thing. I have a feeling there is something going on, and I mean to get to the bottom of it. Alfonso went over the events of the morning, and then he happened to mention, “There were two other individuals at Anthony’s this morning. They didn’t seem to be connected with your wife or with the La Faye family, but they were at the restaurant.” Hollingsworth asked, “Well, who are we talking about?” Alfonso said, “The Police Chief and the District Attorney were there.”
Approximately an hour passed before Hollingsworth appeared at the door of Lenore’s bedroom. He seemed shocked the two women were still working on the puzzle. He asked, “Are you two going to work on that all night?” Lucia laughed, “Daddy that may actually happen. We have gotten so caught up in trying to get this puzzle put together. Would you like to help?” He said, “Lucia, I never work on puzzles; they bore me.” Lucia said, “Daddy, would you do us a favor, and ask Cook to bring us up some fresh fruit for a snack?”
Hollingsworth looked at Lucia and said, “Lucia, I would like to talk to your mother for a few moments. Why don’t you go downstairs, and ask Cook to get your fruit?” Lucia pretended to pout; and said, “Please Daddy, I don’t want to have to leave now. I am really doing well in finding the pieces for the top side of the puzzle. If I get up, and go downstairs, I will lose my power of concentration. You know how important that is when you are putting puzzles together.”
Somewhat frustrated, Hollingsworth got up and went back downstairs to deliver the message to Cook. Lenore squeezed Lucia’s hand after Hollingsworth left the room, and started down the stairs. Lenore whispered, “You’re getting pretty good at this. Don’t get too proud of your accomplishment though, for he is an old hand at this game. You cannot expect to get away with deceiving him for long.”
Eventually, Cook appeared in the doorway with a bowl of fruit in her hands. Lenore thanked her for bringing the fruit to them, and it was placed on the nightstand. Lucia reached for an apple; and Lenore stopped her. She held her finger to her lips, picked up each piece of the fruit, and examined it carefully. In each apple there was a tiny prick point. Lenore pointed to the tiny prick points, and whispered, “Don’t you eat any of that fruit; it has been tainted.” Lucia asked, “What shall we do with the fruit Mother? We did ask for it to be brought up for a snack.”
Lenore thought for a moment about the question Lucia had asked. “We can say we got so involved with putting the puzzle together, we didn’t eat the fruit after all. We can tell him we will get around to it later.” Lucia said, “I am going to offer him some fruit when he comes to check on us again.” Lenore smiled; and whispered, “You know he won’t eat it.” “Yes, I know, but I want to see how he reacts to the offer,” said Lucia.
At ten-fifteen Hollingsworth stuck his head in the room, and saw the women were still working on the puzzle. He also saw the bowl of fruit, and an apple on each side of the table. He said, “I thought you two wanted some fruit. It doesn’t look to me as if you have touched it yet.” Lenore, without missing a beat, said, “Hollingsworth we got so involved with this puzzle I guess we forgot to eat the fruit. We got it out of the bowl but that is as far as it has gotten. We’ll get to it later. Are you sure you don’t want to help us with this puzzle?” Hollingsworth growled, “No, you know I don’t like to work on puzzles.” Lucia smiled up at her father; and asked, “Daddy would you like a piece of fruit?”
Hollingsworth looked at his daughter; and said, “Lucia, I don’t care for any fruit now. I think I will go on to bed. I’ll see the two of you in the morning.” As he left the room, he was highly irritated. He had injected each piece of fruit with enough knock out drops to put them both under the influence of the drug. He was convinced that somehow Lenore was double crossing him. There had been a change in her demeanor for the last several weeks. He had been suspicious but did not know what was happening. Tonight, things had begun to come together in his mind. He reached for Lenore’s bourbon bottle to pour a stiff drink; and found the bottle contained apple juice only. She had been deceiving him. If she had deceived him about her drinking, there were other things happening.
The more Hollingsworth thought about Boudreau’s parents and Lenore getting together, the more upset he became. Alfonso had told him the Police Chief and the District Attorney had been at Anthony’s Bar and Grill as well. He didn’t have proof, but he had a sinking feeling that these two men had been part of that meeting. Hollingsworth picked up the phone, and again called Alfonso. He said, “Alfonso I want you to go to Anthony’s Bar and Grill. I don’t care how you do it, but I want to know if the District Attorney and Police Chief met with my wife and daughter this morning.”
PART #35
Alfonso was not happy about Hollingsworth ordering him to go to Anthony’s Bar and Grill. He had just taken a shower before Hollingsworth called, and he was ready to go to bed. The man’s timing could not have been any worse. He dressed, strapped on his gun, and walked outside to get in his car.
Alfonso was reaching the point he was not enjoying his job with Hollingsworth Deverall. That man was becoming more paranoiac all the time. He was convinced someone was always after him. Now the fool was convinced his wife and daughter were having meetings with the District Attorney and Police Chief. Did he actually think his wife was trying to have him put away? The last thing he wanted was to have to go to Anthony’s, and play the heavyweight just to get some information. He truly hoped he would be able to buy the information Hollingsworth wanted.
He pulled up at the outside of Anthony’s building, and found most of the patrons had already left. It was nearing Anthony’s closing time. At least there wouldn’t be a lot of people in there at this time of night. He walked in, and saw that Anthony was counting the day’s proceeds, and getting ready to close. He said, “Anthony, could I have five minutes of your time?” Anthony looked at Alfonso; and wearily said, “We’re ready to close; and it has been a long day, couldn’t you come back tomorrow?” Alfonso said, “Man, I wish I could do it your way, but my boss won’t let me do that. I just need one question answered.” Anthony sighed, “All right, what do you want to know?” Alfonso said, “I want to know if Hollingsworth Deverall’s wife and daughter had a meeting this morning with the District Attorney and the Police Chief.”
Anthony said, “I don’t know if they had a meeting with the D.A. and the Police Chief. What makes Hollingsworth think his wife is meeting with the D.A. and the Police Chief? If she had a meeting with them, why should that be a problem for Hollingsworth? Alfonso said, “Look Anthony, I am willing to make it worth your while to give me the information I need. I was ready to go to bed, and had to dress and come out to get this information; please don’t make this difficult for either of us.”
Alfonso was so intent in securing the information he didn’t see the door open; and two policemen walk up behind him. The one policeman put his finger up to his lips and shook his head to signal Anthony not to say anything about them being there. Alfonso said, “Anthony, what is it going to take for you to give me the information I need.” Anthony said, “I am not going to give you any information.” Alfonso pulled his gun; and said, “I asked you to not make this difficult for either of us.”
At that point one of the policemen said, “Alfonso De Nato, we have come to take you with us down to the police station.” Alfonso whirled around; and the other policeman grabbed his gun. Alfonso said, “What is going on here?” The man who had grabbed his gun said, “We are booking you on suspicion of attempted murder.” “What are you talking about?” asked Alfonso. The officer laughed; and said, “We have a man who is sitting in jail at this moment saying he overheard you bragging about stabbing Boudreau La Faye.” Alfonso said, “Who is this man who claims I was bragging about stabbing Boudreau La Faye? Why would I brag about something I never did?”
It seemed to Alfonso these two police officers were enjoying this a little too much. The one chuckled as he put the hand cuffs on Alfonso; and said, “Your buddy Peter Dunkirk is the man who has fingered you as the hit man.” Alfonso didn’t say another word, but if thoughts could kill; Peter Dunkirk would be lying dead in a jail cell.
Hollingsworth waited for an hour to hear back from Alfonso. He was pacing the floor of his bedroom in a state of extreme agitation. This was not like Alfonso. He wondered if he had gone to bed, and failed to carry out his orders. He picked up the phone, and dialed Alfonso’s number. There was no answer. Something was wrong. He didn’t know what was happening, but there was definitely something wrong.
He paced the floor for a while longer, and then decided he was going to drive to Alfonso’s apartment. Something must have happened or he would have called him. He tried to be quiet as he walked down the hall and stairs, and went outside to his car. He didn’t want the women to know he had left. But, Hollingsworth didn’t realize how carefully they were keeping track of what he was doing. They both watched his car back out, and drive away.
Lenore said, “Lucia, grab whatever you need. We are leaving now. We are not taking anymore chances. He is already on to us, and we are not going to stay here another moment. Hurry for we don’t know how long he will be gone.” Lucia said, “Where will we go?” Lenore said, “We are going to go to the Le Bleu plantation. When we get there, we will call the police station; and let them know where we are staying for what’s left of the night.”
PART #36
That evening Bow and Catherine had been discussing how they had been blessed with a good family with lots of love for each other. Their children had grown, and it would appear that Boudreau had found the young woman he would eventually marry. Catherine said, “You know their life is not going to be easy, Bow.” He laughed, “Catherine was our life easy?” She smiled, “You made it easy for me. I never dreamed I would have such a wonderful husband and marriage.” “Ah, you were easy to spoil,” he said. “I loved every minute, and wouldn’t change a thing.”
Catherine said, “I do believe that Katerina will end up marrying Jean Baptiste. They will have a good life together. Jean Baptiste seems almost like one of our own children.” Bow said, “You love doing this, don’t you? Is this all part of the nesting thing for women? You just want every little birdie to have its own nest?” Catherine said, “Bow, where do you come up with all that stuff?” He stood up, stretched, and said, “Honey, I read a lot.” She said, “It looks to me like you think it’s time to go to bed. Well, I am tired too. Why don’t you get the lights, and I will make my way up that long flight of stairs. Bow, one of these days, you’re going to have to build us a bedroom downstairs. Those stairs seem to take more out of me every year.”
Bow said, “Catherine, it looks like someone is coming this way in a car. Catherine turned around; and asked, “Who would be coming out here this time of night?” Bow responded, “I am sure I don’t know.” About that time Boudreau came down the stairs saying, “Dad, someone just drove up outside.” Bow said, “That is just what I told your mother.”
Soon there was a persistent knocking on the door. Bow went to the door, and found Lucia and her mother, Lenore standing on the front step. Lucia asked, “May we come in?” Bow opened the door; and Lenore said, “We need to use your phone to let the police know we have left our home in Lake Charles because Hollingsworth suspects something is going on behind his back. When he left the house, we decided to leave as well. He does not know where we are at this time, but I do think it would be wise to hide our car, in case he sends someone to look for us.”
Bow told Boudreau to take the car out to one of the outer buildings, and put it inside. Boudreau started for the door to put the car where it would not be seen. Lucia said, “Just a minute Boudreau; we need to ask if it will be all right for us to stay until the morning. We have a few things in the trunk to bring in if it is all right with your family.”
Catherine said, “Of course it will be all right for you to stay. Go get your things quickly so Boudreau can put the car away.” Lucia went with him to get the things out of the trunk; brought them into the house, set them on the floor, and went back outside to be with Boudreau. Lenore began telling Catherine of the night’s events. While she was talking to Catherine, Bow picked up the phone; and called the police station. The Police Chief happened to be at the station; and Bow told him what Lenore had said about Hollingsworth tainting the fruit with some drug. He said she had told them that Hollingsworth had left the house approximately forty-five minutes ago.
The Police Chief told Bow that some police officers had arrested Alfonso De Nato at Anthony’s Bar and Grill. He had been trying to get some information from Anthony about a meeting there this morning. He asked Bow if he would ask Lenore if she had any idea where Hollingsworth was going when he left the house. He turned around; and asked Lenore if she knew where Hollingsworth was going. He also told her what the Police Chief had said about Alfonso trying to get information from Anthony about the meeting. Lenore said, “If Alfonso was trying to get information, you can bet that Hollingsworth was the one who ordered him to go, and get that information. I would guess that he is looking for Alfonso. If Alfonso was arrested, than he was unable to get the needed information to Hollingsworth. Tell the Police Chief it is possible he went to Alfonso’s apartment.”
Boudreau and Lucia walked back from putting the car away in the outer building. He stopped on the walk back to the house, and took her in his arms. He kissed her tenderly; and said, “I am so glad you got out of that house tonight. I was worried terribly that something would happen to prevent you from coming in the morning. Now we can go away together. I want you to know that I do love you, and want to marry you when it is possible to do so. I can only hope you feel the same way about me.
Lucia looked up at Boudreau; and tears appeared in her eyes. She could not imagine having found a man who loved her so much. Boudreau knew about her father’s evil background, his mob connections, even about her father trying to have him killed; and he still loved her. She said, “I love you too Boudreau; and I want to marry you. I am sure Mother will be so happy for us.”
The two walked back in the house with big smiles upon their faces. Catherine saw the looks; and knew something had just happened. She touched Lenore’s arm, and motioned toward the couple. Lenore looked at them; and back at Catherine. Both ladies smiled for they recognized the look upon their faces. Boudreau said, “We want to make an announcement.” Bow had hung up the telephone; and turned around to ask, “What is the announcement?” Boudreau said, “I have asked Lucia to marry me when it is possible; and she has agreed to be my wife.”
To be continued...
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