Murder in the Marsh by Ramsey Coutta Page A

their way in the vast bay. They planned to tie the anchors to Trahan, and then drop him alongside a sunken shrimp boat. The only way to locate the submerged vessel was to find a white mast that still protruded out of the water. By dumping Trahan next to the boat, they would avoid a shrimper or oysterman inadvertently snagging on the body.
    After nearly two hours of searching in the darkness, they finally found the sunken boat. They dropped anchor and shut off the motor. As they set about tying the two heavy anchors to Trahan, he began to talk to him through the netting. He shared with them that his physical death was only the beginning of a new spiritual life. He also told them he forgave them for their actions. Holet and the other deputy worked as quickly as possible. Trahan’s words seared Holet’s conscience, but fear kept him from doing what was right. Fear of the consequences, for him and his family, if he didn’t follow through on Lauzon’s orders. As they grabbed Trahan’s body, they could hear him praying to God. Instead of pleading, they heard him giving God thanks for the many blessings he had been granted in life. He was praying for his wife and child when the two deputies dumped him overboard. He floated momentarily until they dropped the two anchors in the water behind him. He immediately sank to the bottom and to his death. Holet looked at the other deputy, took a deep breath, and pulled up the boat’s anchor. In the years that passed, the other deputy died, and now only he carried the awful secret of James Trahan’s death.
    As he pursued the younger Trahan, a mixture of conflicted emotions battled within him. Fear, anger and uncertainty churned inside, but fear remained the most powerful. As much as he wanted to think of himself as a different person now, he was essentially the same. Nearly forty years later, fear still mastered him. It compelled him on to actions that under normal circumstances were unfathomable. He had become a slave to fear, and fear acted as a cruel and demanding master.
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     

Seventeen
     
    Rachel noticed the changing weather after Daniel pulled away from the dock. The breeze had picked up and the clouds increasingly filled the sky. She knew they needed to act quickly to evacuate. She went back in and found Adele caring for her son, holding his head up and giving him a sip of water. Michelle stood at the foot of the bed watching her mother.
                  After Adele finished, Rachel asked to speak with her in the next room. Rachel explained they needed to quickly gather some food and clothing, and then depart for Port Sulphur. The boat was not big, which would limit what they could carry. For the next forty-five minutes, Rachel and Adele set about gathering essential items. They also secured the house as well as they could to weather the approaching hurricane.
                  Once they placed in the boat those supplies they needed, they began to prepare Andre and Michelle. They suited Michelle up with a small life preserver. Then they went to Andre’s room, and Adele bent down to help her son sit up. As Andre attempted to sit upright, he gasped in sudden pain. Adele quickly lowered him back down on the bed.
                  “Andre, what’s de matter?”
                  “My stomach, mama! It hurt bad,” he nearly wept in pain.
                  “Oh, sha! Ahm so sorry. We’ve got to go because de hurricane is coming.”
                  “I know mama. But it hurts.”
                  “Ah know it does, baby. Let’s try again. Dis time we’ll go slow, and Ms. Rachel will help lift you.”
                  Rachel moved to the other side of Andre’s bed, and they put their arms around his back. They gently lifted him, but Andre continued to experience sharp pains. They would not be able to continue, so they gently laid