Page 51 of Scammed

“Are you kidding me? I get to stay in here with a beautiful woman and stay warm and dry. No can do, gorgeous. I’m staying where big brother told me to stay.” He gave a wink and a smile, and Evie laughed.

All of the men were sweet, but there was something about Baptiste that always made Evie smile. He looked like his brothers. Acted like his brothers. Even spoke like his brothers. But there was a mischief about him that she identified with.

“We’ll keep you appraised through comms,” said Nine. “If I tell you to go, Evie. You get the fuck out of here. You hear me?”

“I hear you, but it doesn’t mean I’ll listen.” Nine growled at her. “You can growl all you want, you big handsome devil, but I’m not leaving an entire team on an island with a madman. Do your thing, and I’ll do mine. Don’t tell me what to do with my bird.”

“Woman, you’re going to make me crazy.”

“Probably. But I’ll bring you home alive,” she smiled.

“Did they leave? Did they leave yet?” cried Amy, running into the conference room.

“Yeah, honey,” said Code. “They left early this morning. They’re already on the island. What’s wrong?”

“I know what happened. I know what happened with Couvillion and how he ended up like he is. We need another chopper.”

“Nope,” said Code, shaking his head. “You are not leaving here.”

“Not her, baby. Me.”

“GPS has the sailboat finally docking on the southeast side,” said Whiskey. “This guy is seriously inept with a ship. He was fighting the weather, the winds, the water, everything the wrong way. I’m a fucking Marine, and I know that.”

“Good. He’ll be tired, and so will the crew when they arrive. The unknown is still what kind of powers Couvillion has, if any.” Nine frowned at the others, realizing they had only a few minutes to ensure that they had the upper hand. The Robicheaux brothers would wait for the crew, taking them from behind one by one.

The rain was providing excellent coverage for them, ensuring that visibility was almost nothing. With the dummy stone in place in the middle of the grouping of trees, they waited for Couvillion to take the bait.

“Ready?” whispered Gaspar to his relative.

“I’ve been ready for two hundred years, Gaspar. I should think I’d be ready today. If anything should happen,” he started.

“It won’t. Nothing will happen,” said Gaspar.

“If it should, take care of Amy and the boys. Don’t let her remarry anyone terrible,” he frowned. Gaspar gave a low chuckle, shaking his head.

“Nothing will happen, Marcel. But if it did, I would make sure Amy was taken care of. I’d treat her as my daughter.”

“Set up in the trees, there and there,” said Nine. “Marcel, you’re going to need to stay out of sight for now.”

They could hear Couvillion yelling at the men to pick up the pace, cursing at them to keep moving forward.

“How much farther?” asked one of the men in the distance.

“It doesn’t matter! Move,” he yelled. When he heard nothing else, he was relieved, thinking that the men were finally following his orders. Stepping into the grove of trees, he spotted the large rock formation and practically cheered aloud.

“It’s here! It’s here!” he finally yelled. But when no one responded, he turned in all directions, seeing that no one was behind him. “Cowards! You’re all cowards!”

Stumbling through the thick foliage and mud, he reached the rock, rubbing the hard surface. He couldn’t find an opening on it, nor could he see any markings as the letter had indicated.

“It’s here. I know it’s here,” he muttered.

“Looking for something, Jacques?”

He turned so rapidly he lost his footing, his pistol falling into the mud. He crawled on hands and knees trying to find it, then finally just gave up, standing to face his nemesis.

“How are you here?” he asked.

“I should ask you the same question,” said Marcel. “Except I know the answer in your case. You hired a witch to create a spell that would allow you to reincarnate until your work was done.”

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