Page 69 of Hiss and Make Up
“Not really.”
Dale checked a few items on his list, then asked, “How’s your friend’s house? Any more snake sightings? Oh! What did you do with the rest of them?”
Sierra flinched. Then, she laughed. Completely inappropriate, but better than releasing her brewing tears. “Burned.”
“What?” Dale put his paper and pen on a box and walked closer to her. “How did the snakes burn?”
She laughed again. Harder this time. When she’d caught her breath, she said, “With the house.”
He searched her face for signs that this was a joke or that he’d misunderstood. “Was anyone hurt?”
She shook her head. “No. Well, Marc, but that was my fault.”
“What happened?”
“I hit him in the head with a saucepan.”
Dale scratched his beard, waiting for an explanation.
“He’s fine now. I was helping him find out who was doing all of this because he had offered a reward in the paper.” She remembered the check in her bag. “But I guess it’s none of my business anymore.”
“Wait, you think someone is doing all of this on purpose? This sounds dangerous, Sierra. Have they contacted the police?”
“For some stolen things. Not the snakes. And the arson investigator is supposed to examine the house today. Or what’s left of it. They need proof, otherwise it just looks like a bunch of weird coincidences.”
“But the snakes. You said they couldn’t get in there on their own.”
“The police won’t care unless they have proof that someone did this. And someone wants them off that property in a hurry. The cops won’t exactly be quick. That’s why I wanted to catch someone in the act.”
“But you caught Marc.” Dale nodded. “I get it now. Do they have any idea who might be doing this?”
“One. Maybe. Adrien Guidry.”
During a commercial break before Marc had fallen asleep, he’d told her all about his phone call with Adrien. He sounded like the kind of guy who’d be pissed enough to threaten Marc for moving in on his sister. Marc was convinced Adrien wouldn’t follow through on any threats. She had to admit that burning the house sounded like a stretch, but she didn’t know the guy. Maybe the dude was unhinged.
“Come to think of it, he might have the perfect opportunity to spy on Marc and the house and know when they were gone. His mom lives down the road.” Sierra remembered the wild look in that woman’s eyes. Maybe that was hereditary. “That woman was overenthusiastic during the fire, and she’s lucky she didn’t leave bruises grabbing my arms like that. I don’t care what kind of attorney she thinks she is.”
“Wait…an attorney named Guidry? Are you talking about Lynette Guidry?”
“I have no idea. Dramatic lady, close to your age, lives down the road from Marc. Pushed her way through the firemen to ask where Marc and his sister were.”
Dale nodded. “Sounds right. Lynette Guidry. I knew her husband. He’d show up here to pick my brain about new species from time to time. Raised reptiles in a spare bedroom.”
That caught her interest. “I guess me and Dad moved out of that neighborhood too soon.”
Dale frowned. “Probably good that you did. Nice enough man when I saw him here, but word on the street was that he was a terrible drunk.”
She remembered Marc telling her about his dad and his dad’s buddy. “Not exactly the best quality for a breeder.”
Dale looked off at the woods. “They never heard from him after he took off. There was some speculation that he drove into a lake or stumbled into the bayou in a drunken stupor one night, but families don’t want to consider such things.”
“Sure, but you’d think they’d want to know the truth.”
He shrugged. “After he left, I heard Lynette went back to finish law school. I imagine it was tough on them, but I’m glad she did well for her and those kids.”
The idea of Mrs. Guidry and Chloe and Adrien abandoned with no money or support out of the blue like that gave Sierra a twinge of sympathy for them. At least Sierra’s dad had a job and money when her mom left. Even then, it was still hard.
But she was more focused on that reptile room. If their dad had been a breeder, Adrien could have the knowledge and the resources to be the person responsible for those snakes at Denise’s house.
