Page 26 of The Unseen

T HE MOIST WARMTH OF AN EARLY A PRIL DAY SURROUNDED THEM AS they stood in the family cemetery. The sun beating down from a clear blue sky helped Nicole face the gruesome task ahead.

She stood silently next to Rachel as Lucas drove the blade of the shovel into the earth, stepped on it, filled the blade, then tossed the dirt over a muscled shoulder. Working on the other side of the grave, Sean repeated the motion.

The temperature had both men sweating. Lucas peeled his black T-shirt over his head and Nicole’s gaze slid over the hard muscles that bunched and flexed as he moved. Even the gristly task they were completing couldn’t block memories of what that hard body had felt like last night.

She glanced away, afraid one of them would notice the warm color rising in her cheeks.

Following Lucas’s lead, Sean stripped off his white T-shirt and continued working. When Lucas’s shovel made an eerie thump as it struck something solid, Nicole felt a chill. Next to her, Rachel shifted and hugged her arms around her, but her gaze remained fixed on the deep hole in the ground.

A little more digging unearthed the rotting wooden casket that had been Francois Villard’s final resting place.

Or not.

Lucas jumped into the hole and cleared away enough of the remaining dirt to expose the tarnished brass latches on the lid of what had once been a beautiful rosewood coffin. The wood itself was faded to an indistinct gray and was soft enough that Lucas could push his finger through it.

He looked up at Rachel, whose face was as pale as wax. Nicole moved close enough to put an arm around her aunt’s thin shoulders.

“Are you sure you want to be here for this?” Nicole asked gently.

Rachel pressed her lips together and nodded.

“If you’re right, we won’t find anything inside.”

“Please,” Rachel said, “I need to know.”

Standing in the grave, Lucas took a deep breath.

The muscles in his arms and shoulders flexed as he lifted the heavy lid off the casket.

Inside, the ivory satin lining was stained an ugly dark yellow, tattered, and half-eaten by insects.

Nicole’s stomach churned. But there were no human remains in the coffin.

Rachel started crying. Nicole’s hold tightened around her. “We’re finished here. Why don’t we go back to the house?”

Rachel nodded and started to turn, but Lucas’s voice stopped her.

“There’s something inside,” he said.

They turned back to the grave as he pulled a small, oval, tarnished silver picture frame out of the bottom of the coffin. Lucas grabbed his T-shirt off the ground and used it to wipe the glass, studied the old photo inside the frame, then handed the picture to Rachel.

Her fingers trembled as she touched the face beneath the glass. “It’s him. Dear God … it’s Francois.” She turned to Nicole, fighting to hold back more tears. “He’s just as beautiful as you painted him.”

Nicole studied the faded sepia photo, the beautiful face of the man she had painted on the canvas, and worry filtered through her. Feeling her aunt’s pain, Nicole’s throat tightened. “This is all so hard to believe.”

Rachel clutched the picture to her breast. “The proof is right here in the picture.”

“Yes, it is,” Lucas said, having no trouble at all believing it. Since Nicole believed in Lucas, she had to keep an open mind.

“Do we leave the hole like it is or fill it back in?” Sean asked.

“For now, we’ll leave it open,” Lucas said. “It’s looking more and more like the bones found in the wooden box belong to Francois Villard. The family will want them buried where they belong.”

“The sheriff might be pissed we dug up the grave,” Sean said.

“Maybe. He wants to identify the remains. This is part of the solution, not the problem.”

But Sean was right, Nicole thought. There were rules—and digging up someone’s grave was breaking those rules.

Sean tossed his shovel aside and Lucas did the same. “Let’s get back to the house,” Lucas said.

Nicole and Rachel led the way to the main house, going through the back door into the kitchen. Lucas and Sean followed, taking seats at the round oak table. Rachel retrieved a pitcher of lemonade from the refrigerator, while Nicole filled tall glasses with ice.

“I could use a cold drink,” Lucas said as Rachel poured the lemonade into the glasses and set them on the table, then sat down to join them.

“Rachel, you doing okay?” Lucas asked.

She toyed with the frosted side of her glass. “I knew Francois wouldn’t be in there, but still … it was … difficult.”

Sean’s eyebrows drew together. “You can talk to him, right?”

“I can hear his voice in my head.”

Sean grinned. “That is so cool, Aunt Rachel.”

Nicole reached over and covered Rachel’s hand, where it rested on the table. “You were right. You said the grave would be empty. After what the sheriff told us, and the book I read at the library, we can be pretty sure the remains found near Bayou Sara belong to Francois.”

Rachel glanced away.

“We have a problem,” Lucas said. “We can’t tell the sheriff we dug up Francois Villard’s grave to see if it was empty and found out it was.”

“No, and we can’t say Francois spoke to Aunt Rachel and told her he wasn’t in his grave.”

“We need more information,” Lucas said. “Something that will help us figure out what happened all those years ago. The more information we have, the better chance of helping Francois move forward.”

“You don’t think he was attacked and murdered by criminals?” Nicole asked.

“It’s possible, but I don’t think a bunch of thieves working the docks would have gone to the trouble of transporting his body to a different location when they could have weighed it down and tossed it into the river.

And I don’t think Francois would still be hanging around if the question of his death had been resolved. ”

Rachel sat up a little straighter. “Charlotte Villard is still alive and living in St. Francisville. She must be nearly a hundred. She might remember something she heard or read about the family that will help us.”

“Good idea,” Nicole said. “I’ll give her a call, see if she’ll talk to us. And I want to go back to the library. They have copies of old newspapers on microfiche. I want to see what else I can find.”

“I’ll go with you,” Lucas said. “My laptop is in the car. I have plenty to do to keep me busy.”

Sean finished his glass of lemonade. “I’ve got stuff to do in my shop. I’ll see you guys later.” The screen door slammed behind him as he headed back out to his studio.

Rachel finished her lemonade and rose from the table. “I think I’ll go upstairs and lie down for a while.”

As Rachel walked away, Lucas turned to Nicole. “Unless you have plans for tonight, we’re meeting Remy Moreau for dinner at the Joker’s Wild. We need to know who’s behind the car theft ring, and Remy has been putting his connections to work to see what he can find out.”

“Are you sure Rachel and Sean will be all right while we’re gone?”

“As much as I think they’ll be safe, I’m not taking any chances. I’ve got a friend coming over. Former military. Works security for Remy. His name is Josh Randall. He’ll be here any minute.”

Nicole’s eyes widened. “You really think that’s necessary?”

“Josh is a professional. You won’t even know he’s here.”

Nicole said nothing. Her face still hurt from the beating she had taken. I suppose we’re better safe than sorry, she thought as they entered the carriage house to wait for Lucas’s friend.

Josh Randall showed up ten minutes early. When his black Suburban rolled down the drive, Lucas walked outside to greet him. Josh turned the SUV around for an easy exit, probably out of habit, and got out of the vehicle.

He was about six feet, auburn hair a shade darker than Nicole’s, a good-looking man who kept himself in shape, a necessity when you worked security for Remy Moreau.

“Thanks for coming,” Lucas said. The men shook hands.

“After you told Remy what happened to your lady, he was worried,” Josh said. “He told me to stay for as long as you need me.”

Lucas nodded. “I’ll be spending the nights here until this is over, but I’m gone most days and I don’t want to leave Rachel or Nicole alone.

Or Sean, for that matter. Most of the time, the boy will be in school, but he’s here on weekends.

I’ve got things to do at the youth center and some leads I need to follow.

I want you to watch out for them whenever I’m gone. ”

Josh flipped open his dark blue windbreaker to reveal the Glock semiauto holstered at his waist. “I came prepared. Hopefully, I won’t need it, but Remy says these guys are not fooling around.”

“I’m sure Remy will fill me in tonight. Nicole and I are meeting him for supper, eight o’clock at the Joker’s Wild.”

Lucas glanced up to see Nicole walking over to join them.

“Josh, this is Nicole Belmond.” Lucas set a possessive hand at her waist. I might as well make things clear from the start. “Nicole, meet Josh Randall.”

“Pleasure,” Josh said, his mouth edging up as he received Lucas’s message loud and clear.

“We appreciate your help,” Nicole said.

“Why don’t we introduce Josh to your aunt and Sean?” Lucas urged Nicole toward the house. “Then we’ll head for the library.”

Nicole smiled at Josh as the three of them walked toward Belle Reve, and Lucas felt a thread of jealousy he hadn’t experienced since his days with Marie. It told him just how deep his feelings ran for Nicole.

They left Josh prowling the grounds, assessing the area, preparing for possible trouble. Nicole retrieved one of her paintings, sunset reflected on the water through a cluster of cypress, and they headed outside.

“It’s a gift for the library,” she explained as Lucas stashed it behind the seat of the Jeep.

“I’m sure they’ll be grateful.” He helped Nicole into the seat, then rounded the hood and slid in behind the wheel.

Nicole clicked her seat belt into place. “Your friend Josh seems nice.”

Lucas fastened his seat belt and started the engine. “Josh is one of the good guys. He’s worked for Remy for years. He’ll take care of your family.”

“Remy sent him here?”

“I asked for a favor. Whenever I’m not around, Josh will take care of things.”

Nicole made no reply.

Though all of this was foreign to her, she was handling it better than he’d expected. They drove in silence to the library. Lucas parked the Jeep and carried Nicole’s landscape inside.

He left the painting at the front desk. “I’ll be right over there, whenever you’re ready to go.” He pointed to one of the tables off by itself, leaving Nicole with the silver-haired woman behind the counter. The woman smiled broadly and thanked her for the gift of the painting.

As Lucas set up his laptop, he saw the librarian leading Nicole over to the microfiche area. After some brief instruction, she sat down and went to work.

Lucas had plenty of work to do himself. He ran two youth centers, and though he had a school administrator in each place, there were always accounts to check, bills paid that needed to be examined, and emails to answer. He flicked a last glance at Nicole and began pulling up files.