Chapter 14

Sister Memories

"What time have you all been cuttin' outta here?" Raylan asked Anna, standing over her, looking at his watch. It was after 5:00 p.m. "I'm about ready to call it a day."

"Funny," Anna said, looking up from her laptop screen. "The bitch hasn't let us go before 8:00 p.m. and wants us back here at 8:00 a.m. the next morning. Seven days a week."

Raylan smirked at her candor. "I don't know about you, but I say we catch these sons of bitches. The sooner the better for all of us."

"That sounds good to me, but how do you propose we do that?" she asked, leaning back in her chair and crossing her arms. "All we do is wait for them to make a move."

"My boss in Lexington, Chief Deputy Mullen, is workin' an angle in Kentucky. I keep thinkin' there might be a way to kick the hornet's nest and flush the assholes out from under their protected rocks."

Anna cracked a smile. "Yeah, I heard you're really good at that . . . kicking the hornet's nest."

"You been researchin' me?" Raylan asked, taking a seat on the corner of the table.

"I thought it was fair, knowing you had researched me," she countered.

"Touché," he nodded.

Bantering with Anna was a lot like bantering with Winona. She was a smart, witty lady who wasn't going to take any shit off of him. What was different was that with Anna, he didn't have to deal with all the sexual tension and compromise for the sake of feelings that he had to deal with in an intimate relationship. He kind of liked it.

Speaking of sexual tension, he looked over his shoulder to see where Karen was.

"Look, seein' how we might be related, can you keep a confidence?" he asked Anna, his voice hushed.

"What's that?" she asked.

"Would ya' play wing man for me? I had an uncomfortable scene with Karen last night at dinner that I don't want repeated. Could we make like we have plans for tonight so I have an easy out?"

"Raylan," Anna smiled. "I already assured Winona before she left that I'd keep an eye on that bitch. I just didn't know which bitch she was."

"Ya' did?" Raylan was surprised.

"Sure. With all that Winona's got going on, the last thing she needs to be worrying about is her man while she's gone. I'm just relieved to hear that I'll have your back, as well as hers."

"Thanks?" he said, as it sounded like a backhanded compliment.

"No problem," she said. "Although I'm afraid it's back to eating out again. Our chef is in Kentucky," she lamented. "I'm a creature of habit and eat at this Mediterranean place called Pappas. The place is clean, the food is good, and they're open late. Price is right, too."

"I'm sure I could find somethin' there," Raylan nodded and then, changed the subject. "Are ya' writin' up reports?"

"Yeah," she shrugged. "We all are," she pointed out the others who were banging on their keyboards. "Don't you have to turn in a daily report?"

Karen hadn't mentioned anything about that, and Raylan coolly shook his head. "I'm not turnin' in a daily report. If Karen wants my advice on how to reel in these assholes, she's welcome to it. But other than that?" He crossed his hands in front of him indicating 'no dice.' Restless and tired from waking up so early, Raylan finally said, "Let me see if I can get us sprung at a reasonable hour."

With his Stetson on signaling he was ready to go, he sauntered to the back of the conference room and up to Karen. "Could I have a word?"

There were agents nearby, so the two made their way out into the hallway for privacy.

"Art's bringin' my powder guy in for questionin'," he informed her. "He recognizes the delicacy of the situation, so he'll do the questionin' himself."

"That's good," Karen nodded. "What say you and me go and grab a bit to eat?" She hit him playfully on the leg with a portfolio she had in her hand.

Raylan had known Karen for a long time as a pragmatic sensible woman, especially where her personal life was concerned, and her bold attempt at seduction the night before had genuinely surprised him. After sleeping on it, he decided a direct approach was best.

"Karen? What's goin' on with you?" he leaned against the wall. "I've known ya' for a long time, and I don't know who that was last night."

The Assistant Director looked chagrined and let out a weak smile. "I don't want to talk about it here."

"To answer your question? I been up since 4 a.m.," he said. "We gotta little one at home who's not always so good at sleepin' through the night. The only place I'm goin' tonight is back to Anna's to get some sleep."

She looked in his eyes. They were older than she remembered and tired. He was telling her the truth.

"What you have?" she began, looking away from those eyes. "That baby who keeps you up at night? That's what I want."

He raised an eyebrow.

"Time's running out for me," she said. "If it hasn't already. I thought I could just put it off and do it later. And now? It's all becoming so final."

"Like I told ya' last night," he said. "You could have any guy ya' want. So, what was that hard come on all about?"

"Honestly?" Karen looked down. "I thought maybe, if I got you drunk enough last night, we could do what we used to do, only I wouldn't use any protection."

He looked at her in astonishment.

"Circumstances brought you here to me. I saw you. I knew I was ovulating yesterday. And the day before," she tried to explain what she had done. "I'm sorry, Raylan. You're a good man. And we've always gotten along. I just thought . . . if I wanted a baby . . ."

"What? That I owed you one?" he asked. It sounded even more incredulous when he said it. "You thought it would be okay to just make me a father against my will?" He shook his head.

"So, this baby with Winona was planned?"

Uncomfortable, Raylan shifted on his feet. "Not exactly, but Winona and I were together. It wasn't just a one night fling." He sighed, seeing that Karen really was regretting this entire thing. At least she was being honest with him.

"Look, I'm flattered and all, but that is not gonna happen. There was a time when I might have considered it with you, but those days are long gone. I told you, I'm in love with Winona, and we have a child. I've been a fool not to marry her again . . . if she'd have me." He let out another tired sigh. "That said, you know I'm always pullin' for ya'." Shifting his weight again, onto his other foot, he offered, "Karen, I hear about your career and the advancements you've made in this 'Good Ol' Boys Club.' I know it's not been easy, and I'm proud to know ya'. I wish ya' nothin' but the best."

Karen looked up at him, sheepishly. "I'm sorry, Raylan. And I'm embarrassed. And you're right. I haven't been myself. I've been a crazy, hormonal woman whose biological clock is ticking past my expiration date."

A long pause of heavy, awkward silence passed between them.

"Do ya' think you'd consider lettin' me outta this task force?" he asked, breaking the silence. "I need to be in Kentucky with Winona and the baby. Her father is in bad shape, and I should be there."

Karen shook her head. "You're not going anywhere. Not yet. You're my 'hillbilly whisperer," she said, sounding like the Assistant Director. "But I tell you what. Why don't you and your 'maybe sister' go home and see if you can come up with a way to get these suspects off the dime. You do that for me? I'll send you back to Kentucky so fast, it will make your head spin."

Raylan smiled. "You got yourself a deal."

-o-o-o-O-o-o-o-

"What're you doing?" Winona wrapped the robe tighter around her and sat on the couch next to Gayle, bumping her with her hip. "Scoot. Are those family pictures?"

Gayle lay the book open across both their laps. "Remember the summer we spent at the lake? That guy who owned the dealership lent us his house."

Winona nodded, turning a page. "That house was gorgeous . . . all that wood and glass."

"All Mama could talk about was how long it would take to clean all those windows," Gayle said. The sisters laughed.

Looking at a photograph of a huge tree leaning out over the water, Winona said. "I loved that tire swing."

"Yeah," Gayle laughed. "After Daddy convinced you to get on it. Then, you wouldn't stop swinging out over the water and jumping in."

"All you did was sit on the porch and read."

"Judy Blume, Forever," Gayle said, remembering. "I read that book, like, nine times."

"And you had a crush on that tall skinny boy who helped at the boat dock. What was his name?"

"Robby? No. Randy."

"That's it," Winona said. "My God, look at those awful shorts Dad's wearing!"

"Didn't we get him those for Father's Day?"

"Oh, I think you're right." Winona turned a page, the pictures blurring. She swiped at her eyes with a hand. "What are you going to do?" she asked, her voice soft.

"I talked to Mom earlier," Gayle said.

Winona sucked in a breath and waited.

"I'm not going to step in. This is what Daddy wants. He seems to be lucid, more than he has been for quite a while. I'm going to talk to his regular doctor in the morning, and if she agrees..." she held up her hands. "What would you think about calling hospice?"

"I've heard they're wonderful."

Gayle looked around the small sitting room. "I'm thinking about bringing him back here. It would be easier on me, really, and the boys adore him. If you can stay..."

"I can stay."

"Alright, then." Gayle pushed to her feet. "We can make all the arrangements in the morning." She yawned. "Maybe now we can both get some sleep."

Willa's wail from the spare bedroom cut through the silence, and Winona gave her sister a tired smile. "Well, one of us, anyway."

-o-o-o-O-o-o-o-

At Anna's place over a take-out meal from Pappas, Raylan told her the story of Boyd Crowder. "So, that's who my Chief is gonna question," he said, in between bites of his shish kebob and basmati rice.

Anna was grazing through her mazza platter. "Do you have something you could hold over Boyd's head? To get him to cooperate?"

"His fiancée is in jail," Raylan answered. "In the spirit of full disclosure, I dated her at one time. She's in jail for murderin' a man. This is the second man she's killed . . . that I know of."

"Nice bunch of people you have there, in Harlan," Anna raised an eyebrow, ripping a piece of pitta bread into pieces to dip into the hummus. She took a bite and chewed thoughtfully. "I guess I'm really not in a position to judge."

She laughed, and something in the way her eyes crinkled at the corners reminded Raylan of his Mama. He swallowed. "Oh yeah," he said, lightly. "Why not?"

Seated on the floor, Anna settled back against the couch and brought her wine glass to her lips. "My romantic past isn't all roses either. My first husband, Emile Rulé, was something like your friend Boyd."

Raylan raised an eyebrow. "Do tell." He poured more bourbon into his glass and took a sip.

"They called Emile 'the Ragin' Cajun'," she said. "He had played football for LSU. Had the potential to go pro until he blew out his knee in the Cotton Bowl. He played on his name-recognition in New Orleans and bought into a bar. It wasn't on Bourbon Street, but it was still in the French Quarter – well located for the tourists. He tended bar there, signed autographs for the die-hards."

"You got a thing for bartenders?" Raylan chuckled.

Anna smiled and shook her head. "I didn't meet him at the bar. I met him at a Police Athletic League event. Mom had some school function that night, so I went with Dad. Just like in the movies. . ." she blushed and took another gulp of wine. "We saw each other across a crowded room and that was it. We were married three months later."

"So far, it sounds like a fairytale," Raylan said.

"No happily ever after, I'm afraid." Anna splashed more wine into her glass. "Emile turned out to be a high stakes gambler on a roll. When things went south, about a year after we were married, he ended up over his head with some very nasty people. They started using his bar as a front for their operation, all with the knowledge . . . and for all purposes permission . . . of the New Orleans Police Department."

Things began to come together in Raylan's mind. "So, when they busted the gambling organization, the crooked cops came down with it?"

"After Katrina the whole place was under a state and federal microscope," Anna said.

"And your father?"

"In it up to his eyeballs." She reached for Raylan's empty plate, and he followed her to the kitchen.

"So, that explains it."

She stooped to put the dishes in the dishwasher, remembering what her mother had told her. "I know Daddy told you I was dead. I'm sorry about that." She shrugged a shoulder. "What can I say? The man holds a grudge."

Leaning against the counter, Raylan crossed his arms over his chest. "Was he a good father?"

Anna looked at him quizzically. "He was a crooked cop."

Raylan raised an eyebrow. "He beat you?"

"No!" Anna said. "Never."

"Cheat on your mother?"

She shook her head.

"Sounds to me like he may have been a lousy cop, but he was a pretty good father," he concluded.

Anna raised her eyebrow. "How do you figure that?"

"I 'spose it's all relative." Raylan leaned further on his forearms. "Take my old man, for instance. He was a lousy provider and a lousy father. He beat me and my mother. And he cheated on her, more than once."

Anna looked away. "If I am your half-sister, wouldn't your . . . our . . . mother have cheated on your father, too?"

Raylan let out a long sigh. "I can see why you might think that. If my . . . our . . . mother cheated on Arlo? It was a one-time thing, and I can see why she did it. Arlo spent a lot of time in and out of prison for penny ante shit. He left mom alone to raise me and pay the mortgage and the bills. Without Mama's sister, my Aunt Helen, we woulda starved. And I can tell ya' that nothin' my mother and I ever did warranted a beatin' at his hand."

Anna nodded in agreement. "You sound like there was no love lost between you and your father."

"Nope. He died in prison within this past year," Raylan said. "That's how I came into possession of the family bible which led me to you."

Anna gave a week smile. "And here we are, waiting for the results of DNA testing and working on the same task force."

Raylan returned the smile and repeated, "Here we are."

Anna walked toward the middle of the island and slapped a legal pad on the counter. "I suppose we should get working on our case and get you to Kentucky."

"Yeah, and Adam back home to you."

The two worked until late in the night, coming up with an idea they would run by Karen Goodall in the morning and then, by Art.

-o-o-o-O-o-o-o-

"Sorry for callin' so late," Raylan said. He was sitting on the bed in Anna's guest room, long legs stretched out in front of him. "How's your father?" He stifled a yawn waiting for Winona to answer.

"He's stable." She filled him in on Gayle's decision to call in hospice.

"Sounds like that's what he wants." Still, he knew that this was painful. "You okay?"

"You know," she said. "I am. I was so worried that she was going to invoke the medical power of attorney and force Daddy to have the surgery. I just want him to be able to go out his way." Willa whined, and Winona soothed her with a whisper.

"She fussy?"

"I think she misses her Daddy," Winona said. "So do I."

He heard the unspoken question. "Hopefully, I can be there soon. Anna and I are gonna run somethin' by the task force tomorrow. But if ya' need anything, Art says to give him a call."

"Thanks."

"Adam stayin' there, too?"

"He insisted on getting a hotel room. I told him he could head back, but he's going to do the Bourbon Trail tomorrow and stick around another day or two in case we need anything. Gayle's mother-in-law is coming to the house to watch the kids."

"She'll have her hands full with those boys and Willa."

"I said as much to Gayle and she just rolled her eyes. Roberta, that's Wade's mother, was a kindergarten teacher."

"Oh," Raylan chuckled. "I suppose that more than qualifies her."

"Besides, you know I won't be able to leave her for very long." Winona bit her lip and twisted a strand of hair around a finger. "So, you really think you'll be here soon?"

"That's the plan." Another yawn slipped out before he could stop it.

"I'd better let you go," she said. "Get some sleep, Cowboy."

"You, too."

"Love you."

"Back atcha. G'night. Kiss Miss Willa for me."

Winona pressed her lips to the baby's head. "Done."

(To be continued . . .)