Dee Dee Serpas, Ret. Officer
BEHIND THE BADGE IN ATCHAFALAYA SWAMP
Is about 5 children being orphaned by Hurricane Dakota, a category 5 that tore through the parish in 1962. Their police life, about 2 young twins that follow in the family's footsteps into law enforcement. Childhood sweethearts that are partners on the force. They fall in love and are torn apart by one of them being killed in the line of duty.
How one was so brave to battle a fire and save some children. Then lose her own child after the line of duty death of the father. Then Sweetie finds love in another's arms and survives the 2nd worse hurricane in Atchafalaya Swamp's History. Work a horrible murder. You will see how things can make a police officer cry. If you purchase this book you will not be disappointed. You will see the bayou come to life. You be coming back for book 2 of 8 books in this series.
DEE DEE SERPAS, IS A 3RD GENERATION LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER.
DEE DEE worked for the East Jefferson Levee Police, Kenner Police Department and the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office. Following in the footsteps of her father " Constable Carroll J. Serpas" That of her Great Uncle Sheriff Albert Estopinal of Saint Bernard Parish Sheriff's Office in 1923. An lost a Great Uncle in the line of duty Officer Joseph Estopinal End of Watch April 1923. by rum runners. Her Great Gand Father Sheriff Paul Berthelot, of St John Parish.
Dee Dee also has written several short stories they can be seen on (http://police-writers.com/dee_dee_serpas.html) and can be emailed at (bluebayoucop@aol.com). Also the web site for Behind the Badge in Atchafalaya Swamp is (http://www.bayoubluecop.com)
Nestled in the bayous and swamps of Louisiana is a small parish
in southwestern Louisiana. Welcome to the Atchafalaya Swamp Police Department. where Lt. Kevan Noelie “Sweetie-pie” Estopinal, who at the age of twenty-three, this Cajun beauty stood five foot four and 120 pounds in full dress uniform. With her bedroom blue eyes, Noelie gets the attention of many.
Noelie “Sweetie-pie” or “Sweets” as she is called, was raised in the shadows of her twin brother. A Louisiana State Trooper, Kevinn Peter Estopinal, Jr., stands five foot eleven with broad shoulders, a massive chest, and is called “Ace.” Kevinn and Noelie were raised by their stepfather, Paul Estopinal, who has taken care of them since the tender age of 2. . His brother, Fire Chief Kevinn Peter Estopinal, and his wife and newborn child were killed in a Category 4 hurricane that tore through the bayou twenty-two years earlier and ripped several parishes apart.
They now live in the family’s plantation in Atchafalaya which not only survived a hurricane in the 1830s when it was known as Attakapas County Territory of Orleans, but the Civil War and Hurricane Dakota in 1962. Berthelot Plantation is a gracious manor with all of its land, and it’s the biggest in southwestern Louisiana.
Sweetie-pie is the apple of her little brother’s eyes, only to have a stepfather who grieved for his baby girl who was lost that awful day, too. Sweetie-pie paid the price for living. I refer to my stepfather as Paul, because he is cold towards me. Only ice was colder. After a rough childhood, the children followed in the family’s tradition of law enforcement.
I became the first female in the department’s history, at the age of twenty-two. I am the youngest lieutenant. When we were young, they were called the four Atchafalaya bears—Kevinn, Bryan, Hoss and me.
We were all children orphaned by Hurricane Dakota. Since a very young age, Hoss and I were childhood sweethearts. As we both grew older and together, Hoss holds the key to my heart. Joseph Hoss Carroll stands six foot two and weighs 250 pounds. He’s a man of steel. I call him Hoss because when we were little, he loved wild horses. He never seemed so large to me until one day he emerged out of the bayou after a rescue dive in his Neoprene orange dive suit. He looked huge.
In this story, you will see the spirit of these two adults with the passion of the bayou—a passion that was born one hot humid July 4 night. That day’s struggles would test their courage, and when tragedy strikes it will tear them apart again.
My brother’s supervisor, a fellow Louisiana State Trooper, showed me the kindness and compassion that would teach me how to trust and love again. He showed me how to beat the odds and how to stand by my side when tragedy struck me again. He also stood at my side during the loss of a child. He taught me how to find and make sure I saw rainbows on my darkest days. He reminded me that when one door slams shut, another one opens wide. He showed me that it was okay to love again.
So now let’s enter the Atchafalaya Swamp, with its gators, snakes, creatures and ghost.
Names, places, and incidents have been changed to protect the innocent and the guilty.
