Inspiration 4

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There are a host of minor characters that complete Lucky Thirteen, but today and tomorrow, I will give you the last two major characters: the fly in the ointment and the real antagonist.

Our fly: Have you ever felt betrayed by your best friend, stabbed in the back? Well, that's where I found my inspiration for Robert (pronounced Row-Bear) LaFontaine, the prosecutor in this story. He is sexy, charming, and deceitful. Oh, yeah, he's an excellent barrister, but what he did to Ray Reynolds ALMOST cost Ray true love. 

28

Things that Go Bump in the Dark

Upon leaving the courthouse, the unlikely quintet comprised of Detective Raiford Reynolds, Agent Christine Milovich, Prosecutor Robert LaFontaine, Raiford Gautier, and Larkin Sloan went to dinner to celebrate the resolution to a very trying time. The other agents and Brian Baker, along with Olivia, his wife, joined them for a short time before the agents prepared to head back to FBI headquarters. Chris had made arrangements to stay longer to ensure Latrice was properly incarcerated.

Dinner consisted of never-ending pasta at the nearest Olive Garden, along with numerous glasses of champagne, prompting Raif to declare, "I guess we all know why we brought my car. I'm the DD."

Nobody differed with Raif's statement. The agents ate, toasted victory, and left. Baker and his wife departed shortly afterward. However, after a couple of hours, Ray finally snarled at LaFontaine, "For God's sake! Get your hands off the woman!" when Robert took Larkin's hand in his.

"Ray! Mind your own business," Larkin hissed.

"I am," Ray argued.

"No, you're not. You're minding mine. I think we've celebrated long enough." She calmly placed her napkin on the table.

With the check paid, the group left the restaurant. Raif whispered to Chris, "Sit in the back with Robert and Larkin please. I'd like to avoid bloodshed in my car."

Chris nodded and whispered, "Just don't put me between Ray and Robert."

Raif delivered everyone safely home beginning with Larkin. He dropped Robert at his apartment and Chris at her hotel. He scowled at Ray, whom he intended to take home with him. He passed Ray's turnoff.

"What are you doing?" Ray groused.

"Being your big brother. What the hell is wrong with you? If you want Larkin, go for her, but stop making a fool of yourself."

"Hasn't she made it clear that she doesn't want me?"

"No, but she has made it quite plain she doesn't want to be with a jerk."

"Ha!" Ray laughed sardonically. "Then why is she letting LaFontaine fondle her?"

"Jeez! Ray, what is it with you and Robert?"

"Nothing. I don't like him." He grunted. "That's all."

"No, it's not." Twin intuition kicked in. "It's Mia, isn't it? Your former fiancée went to Robert when you and she broke up. He's Rob, that so-called best friend you mentioned." He glanced at his brother. "Am I right?"

"Yeah! You're right!" shouted Ray. "Then he went to a hundred more women, and Mia was too self-absorbed to realize she threw away someone who loved her. Larkin is doing the same thing, and he'll break her heart."

Raif pulled onto the shoulder of the road and stopped the car. "Talk to me, Ray. What really happened? You know everything about me. You know all about Abigail. Why can't you share this with me?"

Ray laughed bitterly. "Raif, you don't even know all about you and your ex, and I don't want to lose my brother now that I've found him."

"What are you babbling about?" Passing headlights illuminated Raif's confused frown.

"What happened to you in New Orleans is at least partly my fault."

"How do you figure that? What the hell are you talking about?" Irritation began to edge the brother's tone though his volume remained low.

"Robert…Your mugging…If I hadn't stayed with him to get a tattoo, I could've stopped it. I know who did it. I was there at Mardi Gras. They were my fraternity brothers. Maybe being associated with me is the problem. Maybe I'm the monster that goes bump in the dark."

"Fooyay! Fooyay! Fooyay! You are so full of bullshit." Raif hit the steering wheel in frustration. "Or maybe it's just booze tonight. Are you trying to drive me away? Is that what you want so you can wallow in self-pity? Ray, absolutely nothing that has happened to me is your fault. Nothing, Ray. Absolutely nothing that happened to Larkin before you met her is your fault. What happens to her from here on out might be your fault if you don't get over what happened with Mia and Robert. One of the best things you can do is talk about it. Stop keeping everything bottled up inside."

Ray drew back his fist all the way to his shoulder for maximum force and started to punch the windshield.

"Whoa!" Raif barked. "If you break my windshield, you will pay for it, brother or not. Now, stop acting like such a damned idiot and talk to me."

Ray grunted, slouched back into the seat, and folded his arms over his chest, looking like a petulant child.

Raif unsnapped his seatbelt and pivoted in the driver's seat to look squarely at his brother. "We are not budging from this spot until you talk to me."

Ray released a deep, heavy, almost tearful sigh. "Four years ago, I was still a patrolman. It wasn't long before I became a detective. Brian Baker was my partner. We responded to a domestic disturbance call. The woman's drugged-out husband was holding a gun to the head of her child, a boy about thirteen or fourteen. The man had his arm around the boy's throat, dragging him backwards. Boy and Mom were screaming. The guy turned his gun on us." Ray dropped his arms and stiffened his back.

"Then what?" Raif prompted.

"The kid was gutsy. He jostled the jerk's arm, and we were able to disarm the low-life." He paused.

Raif encouraged, "Go on."

"Yeah, yeah. But not before the gun discharged and struck me in the shoulder. It's ironic," Ray continued. "The kid was Dupree Parks. I recognized him in lockup, but he didn't recognize me out of uniform. He came between his mother and her slug of a husband and almost got killed for it. Dwight Funchess, that was the slug's name. He had used her for a punching bag for a long time. The poor woman was covered in scars. Her eye was almost swollen shut and her lip was encrusted with blood." Ray clenched and unclenched his fists. "I got shot, not life threatening, but Mia completely freaked out." Recounting the event had taken him back to the place and time. He hit his shoulder where his scar was located.

"Freaked out how?"

"We had only been engaged a month. I wasn't even out of the hospital when she walked into my room and announced she couldn't handle being a cop's wife." Ray snorted. "She handed me her engagement ring right in front of a damned nurse. When I was discharged, I went to talk to her." He held up two fingers. "Two days. That's all it took. Robert was there, shirt unbuttoned, hair tousled; and she was wearing lingerie. I'm not a fool. I put two and two together. It was going on before I got shot." Ray ran his fingers through his hair.

Raif listened with little interruption. With a low whistle, he said, "Finish, Ray."

After a great sigh, Ray continued. "Two months later, Mia caught Robert cheating on her. She wanted to get back together. All I could do was to ask her how it felt. I just couldn't do it. Not only had she betrayed me, but with my best friend. Robert and I were fraternity brothers and roommates at LSU. We had been friends since we were six. I think his actions hurt more than hers. I'm sorry, Raif, I just can't get past it.

"And, now, he's after Larkin." Ray shook his head as if trying to shake the thought from his mind. "Raif, she's a virgin. He'll hurt her in more ways than one. God! When I think about him and her, I get nauseous. I could kill him."

"Ray, Larkin is not a fool," Raif consoled. "She will not sleep with him. Give her some credit."

 "He's as charismatic and persuasive as Latrice." Ray continued to sulk. "That's why he's such a damned good lawyer. I'll give him his credit where it's due."

Raif stared at his mirror image. "Tell the woman you love her for Pete's sake."

"You're a fine one to talk! Now, take me home. I wanna wake up with a hangover in my own toilet. And don't you say a damned thing to Larkin."

Raif didn't argue but drove his brother home. Back at his place, he called Chris. "I just wanted to tell you good night," he said when she answered.

"Is everything all right?"

"It is now."

"Well, good night then," Chris said, confusion weighting her words.

"Good night."

"Sweet dreams."

"Yeah, finally."

Cover by Christopher Chambers.

How I picture Robert: