Lake Pontchartrain

By L. L. Latta

Book Description

Charitys father passes away and she moves from Shreveport, LA to a small town called Laplace. She begins a new life and career with a Private Investigator named Jim Jones. She is given a partner, Gus Timms-Copeland and seeks to solve the mystery of Lake Pontchartrain. Will Charity finally find true love? Read the adjoining pages of this book to find out.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: May 10, 2013
• ISBN: 9781483638096

L. L. Latta

Author Bio L.L. Latta was born in Las Vegas, NV and lived in Germany for four years of her childhood her father was stationed there in the United States Air Force. She now lives in Phoenix, AZ with her husband and three of her six children. Her mother and brother live just a few miles away which makes it nice since she enjoys spending time with family and friends. L.L. Latta likes crafts of all types, but enjoys cooking, decorating cakes, knitting, and crocheting the most. She has thought of going to Culinary School. This is her first published story and she hopes to continue to bring more of her tales to your home and library.

Book preview

Lake

Pontchartrain

L. L. Latta

Copyright © 2013 by L. L. Latta.

Library of Congress Control Number: 2013908446

ISBN: Hardcover 978-1-4836-3808-9

Softcover 978-1-4836-3807-2

Ebook 978-1-4836-3809-6

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Rev. date: 05/08/2013

To order additional copies of this book, contact:

Xlibris Corporation

1-888-795-4274

www.Xlibris.com

132451

Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

To my family

Thank you for your love and support.

Thank you,

Tammy Jennerjohn (Author of Whispering Promises)

for encouraging me to write.

All my Family and friends that showed excitement and

encouragement when I said I was writing a book.

Chapter 1

Charity stands on her back porch and wonders why she has to live a plain life. Why can’t her life be more like one of the books she use to read? She is not into those mushy romance novels. She likes the supernatural, fantasy type. Her favorites have always had vampires in them. There has never been any real excitement or adventure in her life. She is a very attractive girl, with long dark hair, steel gray eyes, and full lips. She has always underestimated and downplayed her looks, never seeing in herself what others see.

Charity is self-employed; she is the go-to girl when you want your house to be sparkling clean. She has recently started working for the local private investigator. Charity likes to joke saying she cleaned her way into the private eye job. She has been cleaning Jim and Sarah Jones’s house and office for several years now. One day, while she was at Jim’s office, he had asked her if she could work on a case for him. Jim was already swamped with other cases, and his normal go-to guy and partner, Gus, is out of town. All she had to do was her normal cleaning job really.

One of her clients, Mrs. Simms, had called Jim to find out if her husband was messing around. He had been acting strange lately. Since Mr. Simms knew Charity’s reputation for not talking about what she sees or hears when she is at a client’s home, which she has seen and heard some crazy stuff! Mr. Simms wouldn’t think twice about her being there. Mrs. Simms told her husband that she was going to go visit her mother in Florida for a week. This left Mr. Simms free to do as he pleased. Mrs. Simms was not really going to Florida to see her mother. She is going to be right there in town. Mrs. Simms found a little apartment across town that rents weekly and will be staying there for the week that she is supposed to be at her mother’s in Florida. Charity agreed to do the job since she really wasn’t doing anything to keep her way from her cleaning job.

There are several reasons that everyone goes to Charity. She knows how to make your house sparkle, she doesn’t talk about what she sees or hears, and she doesn’t charge outlandish prices. She doesn’t live lavishly like the majority of her clients, but she doesn’t live poorly either. Charity owns a ranch-style home on a small parcel of land.

* * *

Charity heads inside to make sure she has all her supplies for her job the following morning at the Simms’s place. She hopes she doesn’t make any mistakes and blow it by letting Mr. Simms know what is going on. This is the first time she is going in as more than just the house cleaner. She is going in as a spy as well. Mrs. Simms is one of her favorite clients. She makes things fairly easy for Charity. For the most part, everything is neat and tidy. Charity pretty much just has to dust, clean the floors, change the sheets, do the laundry, and clean the bathrooms.

Charity wakes up early and gets ready for her day at the Simms. She fidgets in the mirror longer than she normally would. Wearing her normal hair in a ponytail, with minimal makeup, jeans, and a T-shirt, she feels a little like she should be wearing all black or something, like she is a cat burglar sneaking around the Simms’s home. She is nervous that something is going to go wrong! She looks in the mirror, her cheeks a little flushed from excitement, and she tells herself everything will be fine. She is going in and doing her job like any other day at the Simms, and everything will be fine. She is just getting herself worked up for nothing. Jim wouldn’t have asked you to do this if he didn’t have faith in you, she scolds herself silently.

At the Simms, Charity is going about her business, trying to keep herself busy so she doesn’t get any more nervous than she already is. Charity hears the front door shut as she is upstairs finishing the things she needs to do. She gathers her supplies and heads downstairs. Mr. Simms had gone into his study. Charity could hear him talking to someone but wasn’t sure if he was on the phone or if someone was there with him. She walks into the study as she pretended to not know he was home. She walks in, and Mr. Simms is sitting at his desk with a very attractive, well-dressed woman standing next to him. Mr. Simms is an attractive man who stands at least six feet tall, in his mid- to late fifties with a strong jaw and a full head of medium brown hair.

Oh! Excuse me, Mr. Simms… I did not hear you come in. She mustered up the best surprised voice she could.

Mr. Simms was very calm and acts as if he is not concerned that Charity has caught him with this woman. He greets Charity and introduces her to the woman. It turns out the woman’s name is Cindy Tran, a jeweler that specializes in unique handmade jewelry. Mr. Simms has hired her to craft some jewelry for his wife. Their twentieth anniversary is coming up, and he wanted to have something special made up for her.

I know you are not one to talk out of school, so I would be very grateful if you could keep this under your hat, Charity, Mr. Simms exclaimed.

Charity assures him that his secret is safe with her. She finishes up and leaves the Simms’s place. As she drives home, she calls Jim and lets him know what is going on. He assures her that he will not let the cat out of the bag and that he will think of something to tell Mrs. Simms. Charity is happy that things ended up on such wonderful terms for she is fond of the couple, and it is nice to see that, even after so many years together, they still care so deeply for each other.

* * *

A week later, Charity is at home, getting ready for the week ahead. The next month or so are really slow for her since this is the time of year when a lot of her clients go on vacation and they don’t really need her. The phone rings, and it is Jim. He would like her to work another case for him. He is not sure how long this one will take, so he asks what her schedule is and if she thinks she may fit it into her schedule. She lets Jim know this is her slow time of the year; therefore, she is pretty open and would be happy to help. Jim gives her the rundown of the case and lets her know that this time she will be working with Gus. For the most part, she will just be doing a lot of research, but Jim assures her there will be a little more excitement on this case than the last one. After a few more details, she tells him she will see him in the morning and hangs up the phone.

Charity finds she is excited that Jim has asked her to do another case. Buzzing through the rest of her day, she starts thinking of the upcoming case. She has seen Gus a few times at the office when she was there to clean but has never really talked to him. She hopes she can learn a thing or two from him and about him. She finds him very good looking after all.

Bright and early Monday morning, Charity shows up at Jim’s office. She brought in some Starbucks coffee and a dozen Krispy Kreme doughnuts. She is very anxious to get things started and to officially meet Gus. She has seen him a few times when she was cleaning the office and on occasions at Jim and Sarah’s. Charity thinks Gus is an attractive man. Gus is six foot three with a muscular build, but not overly muscular. Long black hair and ocean blue eyes. His smile could light a room even when his smile doesn’t touch his eyes. Jim had a new desk set up for Charity to work at. Today she would start with background checks for the client Mr. Hartman, who is a real estate genius. He is working on a huge merger and wants to know everything he can about the company he is working with, the employees, and all competition the company may have. It seems that this is a popular company that a lot of people want to have connected to their own company. So today Charity will be sitting at the new computer Jim set up at her desk. The dark cherrywood desk is not a large desk, but there is more than enough room for her computer and a few personal items. She will be racking through the lives of all the employees of the company and all of the bigwigs at the companies that are jockeying for the merger to go in their favor. Pretty much anyone and everyone that has ever had dealings with the company will be looked into. Charity is busy researching the names when Jim comes out of his office and lets Charity know he is going to be out for the better part of the day.

You know how to reach me if you have any questions or if you find anything of interest, Jim says. She assures him that he will be the first one she calls if anything comes up. Jim goes back to his office to grab a few things and is out the door. Charity goes back to her work.

Sometime later, Gus comes into the office with his arms full of folders and papers. He drops his load down on the table next to Charity’s desk with a loud thud. She looks up at Gus. What is all of that? Is that for me?

He raises an eyebrow at her and shacks his head and says, These are all the case files I have piling up at my house. The clutter is getting bad. Figured now that since we have you, I would bring them in so I would not have to file it all myself. They need to be organized as well. So you gonna help a fella out? He says a little dryly.

You are joking, right? I have only started digging into all these background checks, and there are so many more left to do, she says with a bit of bite to her tone.

OH Girl! You take things to serious, he says in a joking manner.

Giving Gus a harsh look, Charity spits out, Well, I thought this was a job, not playtime.

Gus just smiles and says, I will get to these files. I just needed to get them out of my house. Charity, you have been sitting at that computer there for hours. You need a break, girl.

Charity looks a little defeated. I just feel like I have done nothing all this time that I have been sitting here.

Gus stands next to her desk with a ghost of a smile. Hun, no one expects you to get this all done today. These things take time, my dear.

Charity looks at him and shrugs. I am just used to getting my work done in a timely manner and moving on to another task.

Well! Gus replies. You want to work in this business, then you better get used to things taking time. Have patience, for some things just take longer than others in this biz. You will get the hang of things in no time at all, I am sure of that. Before you know it you will be an ole pro.

Charity lets out a little sarcastic laugh. Thanks for the vote of confidence, Gus. That means a lot coming from you.

He pats her hand, I think you are going to be a natural at this. You have drive and ambition. You are thorough and a very hard worker. I have heard what people say about you around town. You are the cream of the crop in the cleaning world. I am sure you will go far in this biz if that is what you really want to do.

Charity turns and looks up at Gus, You know what? I really do think I want this. Not that I would give up my other job, but I have enjoyed helping Jim. When he called and asked me to come help him again, I found myself getting excited before I even knew what the case was. I think I might even want to get my license.

Gus puts his hand on her shoulder. This gives her a little bit of a shiver up her spine.

Charity, you have a passion for your work, and as long as it keeps burning you will do just fine, and if you want to get your license, I will be more than happy to help you.

Charity smiles once again. Gus, thank you! Oh and Gus… I am so terribly sorry for snapping earlier.

He gives her a big smile that touches his eyes and says, Do not worry about all that, hun, I have forgotten it already!

Gus looks at his watch. It is time for me to get to work. Don’t stress yourself, girl! It will all get done.

As Charity also looks at her watch, her stomach starts to rumble. She has not eaten since early this morning (and it was only a doughnut and some coffee). She realizes she had been sitting there longer than she had thought. Not to mention the back and forth with Gus had taken sometime as well. As Gus started out the door, he turned and says to her, Take care of yourself and your rumbling stomach. I mean it, kid. Take care of yourself, or you will be no good to anyone. You will be useless to Jim and your other job.

Charity smiled at Gus and nodded. I will get something to eat soon, I swear. I need to get up from this chair and stretch these legs anyway.

She looks down and while she does, Gus gives her legs a once-over, and a faint smile crosses his face. And fine legs they are, he mumbles under his breath. Then out loud he says, All right, then, I will take you for your word. See you later!

Charity researches a few more people and then decides she better get up to leave before she gets involved again. Charity thinks to herself, Gus is right after all. I would be useless if I don’t take care of myself.

Luckily, Charity has a key to the office, so when she leaves, she can lock up. She walks down to the little deli on the corner. It is a rather small shop. There are a couple tables inside and outside, with red and white checkered tablecloths. She gets herself a Coke, soup, and half a turkey sandwich. She decides to just take it back to the office so she can get in a few more searches before she calls it a day.

As she walks down the street back to Jim’s office, she picks at the sandwich, and she starts thinking to herself, If I can get at least twenty names researched a day, I should be done in no time. More would be better, but some take longer than others.

She gets back to the office, and the door is cracked open.

Didn’t I lock this? She says out loud as she is walking in.

You sure did! Gus says as he was walking toward the door, and Charity jumps back. Sorry if I startled you! I forgot some things, and I can’t do my job without them.

No worries, Gus! I just thought I had forgotten to lock it, but at the same time, I was sure I had. My mind is still thinking about all the names I have yet to go through.

Gus gives Charity a sideways look. Don’t stress, hun. As I said before, it will all work out. You can trust that. Now I am out of here, for good this time. See you tomorrow.

Charity waves as Gus walks out the door. Charity sits down at her desk and eats her lunch. She turns the computer back on and starts to make a list of the names she wants to get done by the end of the day.

Three hours later, Jim calls the office to see how things are going. Charity fills him in on the few things that she found, which turned out to be nothing at all. Jim thanks her for all her hard work and tells her to go home, for she had done more than enough for one day. Charity starts to protest, and Jim lets her know he will not be coming back to the office, and she has put in a full day. Charity wants to get more of the names crossed off, but Jim is right! It is almost 5:00 p.m., and