Page 85 of Xavier

Xavier pulled out his cell phone. “I set up her phone so that I could find her should we be separated. I should’ve remembered.” He tapped the locator app. “There she is.” He expanded the map and frowned. “She’s out in the bayou, and her cell phone battery is almost dead.” Xavier started for the door. “We don’t need to search the entire bayou, but we need to get out there before we lose her signal.”

“Come on, everyone. Benoit might have an army of mafia out there.” Remy handed Jean-Luc off to Shelby and hurried to catch up with Xavier. “We might not need to locate her cell phone.”

Xavier paused briefly at the door. “What do you mean?”

“Swede tapped into her ankle monitor. He thinks Benoit was tracking her through it. We can have Swede tap in and guide us if her cell phone battery dies.”

“Great. We still need to get out there before all hell breaks loose with the hurricane.”

“I have a satellite phone in my truck,” Remy said. “We can maintain communication with Swede even out in the bayou.”

“Remy!” Shelby called out.

Remy glanced over his shoulder. “Yes?”

“Go the back way. The water’s too deep over the road we usually take. I’m heading for the boat factory bunker to ride out the storm with Jean-Luc.”

“Good.” Remy ran back and kissed her and Jean-Luc. “Hopefully, we’ll be back to weather the storm with you.”

“Be careful,” Shelby said.

Xavier prayed he had a chance to kiss the women he loved again before the hurricane unleashed its fury.

He loved her.

He loved Lissette, the most hated woman in Bayou Mambaloa.

Mr. Romig and Grady Martin stopped on their way out.

“We’re on our way to Baton Rouge,” Mr. Martin said. “We hope you find the Gautier ladies and bring them back to Bayou Mambaloa.”

Mr. Romig, leaning heavily on his walker, nodded. “We haven’t given them enough credit for all they do for us. Good luck out there.”

The two older gentlemen stepped out into the rain.

Maybe Lissette wasn’t the most hated woman in Bayou Mambaloa, after all.

Either way, he didn’t care. He knew the real Lissette, the one most people didn’t look deep enough to see, and he loved her.

Half a dozen trucks sped out of the parking lot, taking the back road into Bayou Mambaloa and racing toward the marina.

They loaded the available boats with fuel, weapons, comms and men, and then set off into the storm.

Anton, being the most experienced at navigating the bayou, drove the boat Xavier and Remy rode in.

Xavier kept his focus on the blue dot marking Lissette’s location until it blinked out.

Swede was ready. He pushed the ankle monitor readings to Xavier’s cell phone, picking up where his finder app had left off.

The wind and rain made it difficult to navigate the channels. Several times, they had to turn around and take a different tributary.

“She’s stopped,” Xavier shouted over the engine noise, rain and wind.

“Let us know when we’re close,” Anton said.

They’d have to slow their speed and find a way to sneak up on Étienne’s camp.

Xavier wanted to charge in, kick ass and get them out in one glorious sweep. However, he’d been impatient when he’d sent his team in that fateful day. He wouldn’t make that mistake again. Now, like then, people’s lives were at stake. People he loved. He couldn’t let this situation end like the last.