Page 74 of Xavier

“It’s dark and only going to get darker as the clouds blanket the sky,” Xavier yelled over the sound of the motor. “We need to head back to the marina and let my team know what happened.”

“We can’t,” Lissette said. “We have to find her.”

“She could be anywhere in the bayou, Lissette. We’ll run out of gas before we find her. What good would we be if others have to rescue us as well?”

She circled a point where tributaries branched out in six different directions. Then she held her arm up to the moonlight that broke through the clouds occasionally. “Tell me which way I need to go, please,” she cried.

She slapped her arm to her side. “What the hell good is a spell if it doesn’t show me the way? I’m useless at casting spells, and the only one who could possibly teach me is gone,” she wailed.

Xavier turned on his seat to face her. “Go back to the marina, Lissette. We need help to find your grandmother.”

Tears welled in her eyes, making it difficult to see. “But the hurricane is coming. We need to get her out tonight. I don’t want her to die. I need to prove to her I can be a good person.” She let go of the throttle, and the skiff glided to a stop. Lissette buried her face in her hands, her heart breaking. “I failed her. This is all my fault.”

Xavier stood, rocking the boat. “Scoot,” he said.

Lissette slid her butt over enough for Xavier to sit beside her and take control of the tiller with one hand and slip the other around her.

“You’ll have to make sure I get back to the marina,” he said against her ear. “I’m not sure I know the way in the dark.”

With her telling him where to turn, he made it back to the marina and tied up to the dock.

Many of the bigger boats that had been there earlier were gone, their owners having moved them as far as they could get to avoid the hurricane. Those remaining would have to weather the storm.

Xavier tied the skiff to the dock, climbed out and helped Lissette out. As they walked slowly across the dock, he placed a call to Remy.

Remy picked up on the first ring.

“You’re on speaker with Lissette and me,” Xavier said.

“What’s happening?” Remy asked.

Xavier stopped walking and gave him the condensed version, ending with Madame Gautier’s abduction. “They took her on my watch.”

He blamed himself, as he had when his decision had cost his friends’ lives.

Lissette linked her arm through his and leaned into him. She, too, was blaming herself. She’d always felt as if her grandmother’s island was a safe haven. She should have been more alert to danger. Hell, they might have followed her there.

“Man,” Remy said. “I have Jean-Luc tonight. I can’t get out with him. Shelby’s out on the bayou, Anton and Jacques are as well. They’ve been spreading the word and helping folks load up and get out. As of a few minutes ago, Anton and Jacques were still out of cell phone range. I’ll call the sheriff’s station. They can radio Shelby. She can keep an eye out for the boat. Unfortunately, the bayou is a vast maze. They could be anywhere. I’m sorry to say I don’t think we can do anything to find her until tomorrow.”

Lissette’s chest tightened.

“Let the sheriff’s office know,” Xavier said. “Is anyone at headquarters?”

“Only Lucas. He’s on comms until the others return and will be back at it tomorrow. I expect everyone to call it a night and head in soon. Can’t see much out there as the clouds have claimed the sky. Tomorrow, the wind is expected to get a lot worse, with the first bands of the system expected to make landfall.”

“What about Odette Prejean?” Lissette asked. “Did you locate an address?”

“Swede did,” Remy said. “He found a personal address, a business address and phone numbers for both. No one answers either. We’re sending someone out tomorrow morning. If Prejean hasn’t already bugged out with the other evacuees, we’ll tap her for any more information.”

“I can go tonight,” Xavier volunteered.

“It’s outside the parish,” Remy said. “You can’t take Lissette.”

Xavier frowned. “I can’t leave her.”

“The hell you can’t,” Lissette said. “Go. Maybe Odette knows where they would have taken her.”

“I doubt it. She’s not part of the New Orleans mafia as far as Swede could surmise,” Remy said. “She’s just selling the empty boxes.”