BornontheBayou by Lynne Connolly Read Free Book Online Page A

hadn’t died when he
had, she’d still be paying his hospital bills.
    Jace had learned he couldn’t have everything he wanted
without consequences a few years back when his best friend had nearly died from
drug addiction. That had sobered him up.
    But Matt had come back, better than he’d started, and
discovered his dream. Leaving the past behind. Jace still didn’t know if he’d
achieved what he wanted to do. The notion made him restless, always looking for
something else to do, something else to make him happy and fulfilled. That was
the main reason he’d gone back to his childhood home instead of relegating it
to his past life and just letting Bell’s take over. He’d had a weird feeling
that something waited for him there.
    Sitting at the back of the café with a coffee and a beignet,
Jace made a few phone calls. The regulars here wouldn’t betray him to the
media. Most of the people sitting here had been dropping in at this place all
their lives. The well-worn appearance tended to put off tourists, but the
regulars knew the quality of the food here. It made up for the old tablecloths
and the dusty windows.
    Right now he needed the peace of this place while he tried
to put his inadvertent but terrible mistake right. He consulted the list of
contacts on his phone and hit a number. His call was answered promptly with a
curt, “Bell’s Hotels, may I help you?”
    “Put me through to James Bell, please.”
    “Who’s calling, please?”
    “Jace Austin Beauchene.” He dropped his accent and switched
to the crisp French-accented English that was as natural to him as the Southern
drawl.
    The tone changed and the man at the other end became less
mechanical, more human. “Just putting you through, Mr. Beauchene.”
    In a moment he heard the voice he knew, raspy with too many
cigars, irritated. “What can I do for you, Beauchene?”
    He was tempted to switch to French. Bell knew it, but not as
a second language. Jace would have the advantage. But it was a double bluff,
because Bell was savvy enough to work out what he was doing. No, stick to
English, but keep the accent. “I made a mistake this morning, James. I insisted
on Ms. Christmas showing me around Great Oaks when I arrived and in doing so,
she missed the appointment with the chef she’d hired. The guy didn’t have the
decency to wait and he walked.”
    Bell’s sigh made it sound as if he had the weight of the
world on his shoulders. “Yes, I heard. Ms. Christmas’ PA called me, and then
Monsieur Chaballet called from the hotel. He said he refused to stay in a place
that treated him with such discourtesy. As far as I’m concerned, that closes
the matter.”
    “You fired her?”
    “Her job was ending anyhow. Not fired. Merely confirmed the
termination of her contract. She did a good job renovating the hotel, but she’s
not ready for full hotel management yet.”
    Should he pull out his big guns? Instinct told him to wait.
Bell knew as well as he did what he could do, and he’d bet it stuck in the
man’s craw. Two months ago, Jace was doing okay. Now, along with the other
members of Murder City Ravens, he was doing better. Much, much better.
    “What if I found you someone else to fill the chef’s
position? Someone better?”
    “Listen, Beauchene.” Jace wished the man would stop using
his name so much. Either that or use his first name. “Chaballet is the best
available. The very best. We did a lot of research, and he is the only
three-star Michelin chef available.”
    “This one walked after half an hour. Doesn’t look great for
a kitchen. Besides, who comes half way across the world and then walks?” He’d
had a sense of something not quite right ever since he’d heard that the chef
had left after twenty minutes. What person in their right mind did that? Either
Chaballet had changed his mind or something else had changed it for him.
    A heavy sigh gusted down the other end of the line. “You
could be right. So who do you have in