Page 69 of Landry

“Shelby’s at the marina. She’ll be here soon. She’ll pick us up at the dock. Get in.” Remy slid behind the wheel.

Landry climbed into the passenger seat, an internal clock ticking away the minutes they had left to find Camille and the boy before they were killed or lost forever.

Remy parked the truck beside Sanders’s SUV. “Sheriff Bergeron is on his way. He’ll have the state crime lab on their way to process the murder.”

Remy and Landry climbed out of the truck.

“I brought hardware in case we need it.” Remy opened the back door of the pickup, folded the seat forward and extracted two bullet-proof vests, handing one to Landry. “Put that on.” He shrugged into one while Landry slipped his arms into the other and buckled the front.

Remy reached again behind the seat and removed an AR-15 rifle and several full magazines. He loaded the magazines into the pockets across the front of his vest. He glanced at the pistol in Landry’s hand. “Nine-millimeter Glock, right?”

Landry nodded.

Remy handed him a full clip of bullets.

“Thanks,” Landry said and slid the magazine into a pocket in his vest.

Not done yet, Remy handed Landry a knife encased in a scabbard. “Might not need that on a date, but they come in handy in close combat.”

Landry clipped the knife onto his belt and counted the seconds until Shelby arrived with the boat. By the time she did arrive, Camille could be anywhere in the bayou.

Remy tapped his arm. “Don’t forget these.” He held out his hand and dropped a headset into Landry’s hand.

Landry slipped it over his head and adjusted the earphones to fit snugly against his ears. They tested the radios’ functionality and turned when headlights flashed behind them. Moments later, another truck pulled in.

Gerard, Lucas and Rafael jumped out, already wearing bulletproof vests. They pulled out rifles and handguns and joined Remy and Landry.

An SUV joined the other vehicles with Sinclair Sevier—Simon to his buddies—and Valentin Vachon. As they gathered their gear and headed for the dock, Landry filled them in on what had happened thus far.

Landry had just stepped foot on the dock when his cell phone chirped.

“That’ll be Swede,” Remy said. “I gave him the heads up. He had some information he wanted to share when we got to you.”

Landry answered and clicked the speaker button.

Swede’s voice came through loud and clear. “Heard your girl was taken.”

“Eight minutes ago, and counting,” Landry answered.

“Got word from the dark web that Tony Rossi sent Dion Pardeau and several of his heavies to pick up Camille’s ex, Richard DeSalle, as he was released from prison. According to what was circulating on the web, DeSalle stole a particular diamond necklace Tony gave his girlfriend. She couldn’t file a police report on it because Tony had picked it up on the black market from another thief who’d taken it from a Russian oligarch’s wife.”

“Thus, the saying, no honor among thieves,” another voice said. “Hank here. Swede’s been digging up some interesting information. Apparently, Richard DeSalle’s cellmate, Carlo Morello, was one of Tony Rossi’s guys who was unfortunate enough to be incarcerated for dealing drugs. Tell them, Swede.”

“That’s right,” Swede said. “As DeSalle neared his parole date, he was bragging to Morello that he had some of his acquired stash waiting for him, and he’d be sitting pretty. He’d hidden it in a place no one would find. When asked where he’d hidden it, all he’d said was ‘home is where the heart is.’”

“That would explain why they gutted the house he’d lived in with Camille,” Landry noted. “But not why they gutted Camille’s place in Bayou Mambaloa. Unless, upon coming up empty-handed at their original address, they were under the assumption she had been hiding it all along.” His pulse quickened. The thought of the Italian mafia torturing Camille to get information she didn’t have made Landry sick to his stomach.

“How does the prison guard fit in?” Remy asked.

“He must have overheard the conversation and gone on a softer search of Camille’s belongings,” Hank suggested.

“So, they’re looking for a missing necklace that Camille has no idea where it is. They have Camille and Billy Ray, and they’re headed into the bayou.” Remy shook his head. “That makes no sense.”

“Camille said she left their home with nothing more than a suitcase and the clothes on their backs,” Landry said. “Home is where the heart is... What does that mean if not the house they lived in?”

“Home isn’t always a house,” Hank said. “It can be wherever you are with the people you love.”

“But that’s a place,” Landry argued. “They’re looking for something DeSalle could’ve hidden the necklace in.”

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