One Blood

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Chapter Twenty-Eight

 

Baton Rouge, LA

“Yes, that’s right, Bill, I spoke to Karen…just a couple of minutes ago.” Randy sat in his Town Car on the way to the Louisiana Capitol Building.

“So she escaped?”

“Somehow, yes.” Randy’s mind returned to the all too short conversation he’d had with Karen as the motorcade glided through traffic. Her voice had been weak, wobbly, and shrill. She’d tried to tell him something, but with little success. He asked her over and over where she was, but her responses were incoherent and nonsensical. Then the line went as dead as Randy’s heart.

Was this some sort of trap?

  “My men are ready to move in as soon as you give the word,” Bill said.

Randy could barely contain his anxiety. “That’s good. Very good. But…please be careful, Bill. My daughter might still be caught up with them. Bring her back to me safely.”

* * * * *

Baton Rouge, LA

 

From far away, Coral heard someone banging on the door to her suite. It was probably the maid. “Go away!”

“Mrs. Lafitte?” a familiar voice called from the other side of the door.

Coral looked through the peephole. It was Larry, the chief of her husband’s extra security detail. His bald, cone-shaped head looked extra pale in the incandescent light from the hallway. Randy was the first Governor in Louisiana’s history to hire his own security, in addition to the secret service. Larry was the fifth chief of security to serve the Lafitte family since Kristopher died. He rapped on the door again.

“I’m not dressed, Larry.”

“Come on, Mrs. Lafitte. Give me a break here. I’ve been out here banging for like five minutes.”

“Okay, just give me a second please.” Coral put on her silk robe in a fluster. She opened the door and said, “Thanks for your patience.”

The large man loomed over her like a canopy. The bulges of his concealed weapons peeked out from under his oversized sports coat.