by LAURA HARNER
The bastard had planted a bug in her apartment. Had he known more than he’d let on? She pushed that thought aside when Tollefson answered the phone.
“Tolley, it’s Dani. You ready for me?”
“Kiss my ass, Delacroiux. I said I’d have ’em ready, they’re ready. Not my problem you’re late,” he groused.
“Damn, Tolley. You get up on the wrong side of someone’s bed this morning?”
“Ah, shit. Yeah. Look, sorry. I got what you want, and you’re not gonna like it. I don’t want to do this here.”
“Meet me at the pub, then. I’ll buy your breakfast.”
“Buy my breakfast? Why do I feel another favor coming on?”
“Tolley! I’m shocked! Can’t a girl buy her best pal breakfast without needing something?” Dani teased.
Tolley barked a laugh. “Yeah, right. That’ll be the day. That’s good, I guess. I’m due for a break. In about fifteen, okay?”
Dani broke the connection, used her phone to snap a few pictures of the bug, but left it in place. It was time to get this shit started. She called Hawk.
“Charbonnet,” he drawled in his delicious Texas accent.
“Hawk? It’s Detective Delacroiux…um…Dani. You said I could call you if I thought of anything else.”
“Yes, Detective. What can I do for you?”
“I was wondering, could you meet me this morning? I have a couple more questions.”
“Certainly. I have some business in town. I could meet you in your office in…say…an hour. Will that be soon enough, Detective?”
“Oh, well, yes. I mean no.” She rolled her eyes at herself, and made her voice a bit breathier. “Could we maybe meet at the Delacroiux Pub, instead? I’m meeting someone there for breakfast and we could have coffee afterward. If that would be okay with you.”
“Delacroiux Pub. Any relation?” he asked, and Dani said a prayer of thanks for his quick mind.
“My mémé’s place,” she said and gave him directions.
“All right, Detective Delacroiux, I’ll be there in an hour.”
“Oh, um, you can call me Dani. Everyone does,” she said.
He paused a long time, and Dani wondered if he’d hung up. She was just pulling the phone away from her ear when she heard his voice, low, smooth, and oh-so-sexy.
“All the more reason I don’t think I will. You don’t look like a Dani to me. I think I’ll call you Danielle. It can be my special name for you. See you in an hour, Danielle.”
Her heart was skipping nicely and she knew she had a foolish grin on her face. That last line from Hawk hadn’t been acting.
****
It was good to see him, Dani thought. Todd Tollefson, or Tolley, had been her best friend for years. They’d met in the police academy, both of them outcasts, but for very different reasons. Many of the other cops and even the other cadets thought Dani didn’t deserve to be a cop. They assumed that she’d bought her way on to the force through her family connections.
The veteran cops didn’t like Tolley any better than they liked her. Tolley was a forensic scientist, which by itself would have been bad enough. To make matters infinitely worse, Tolley had the appalling nerve to be openly gay. Together, they were voted to be the most likely washouts in their class.
They’d each had their own reasons for attending the academy, and each had reasons to finish at the top. What started as a bitter competition turned into a beautiful friendship as the two of them took inordinate pleasure in beating every other rookie, taking turns, but always finishing one and two. When it came time to sort the points at the end of the twelve weeks, Dani and Tolley were tied.
Some of the training staff hadn’t liked that little Dani Delacroiux, former juvenile troublemaker extraordinaire, had come in and kicked ass. Others hated that a science geek had passed every physical test with flying colors, and thought he needed to keep his sexual orientation under tighter wraps. So of course, as soon as their tie for top spot was announced it was decided to hold a tiebreaker. The betting pool quickly raised a ridiculous amount, and by a random draw of all academy topics, hand-to-hand combat became the chosen arena.
Veterans and rookies alike surrounded the pair on the large blue mat. Dani and Tolley faced off, circling warily. They ignored the catcalls and rude remarks, attention focused only on each other. Dani feinted left, broke right, but Tolley knew her too well. With a swift turn and sweep of his leg, he had Dani on the ground, straddling her hips. Dani had gone down fast and hard. Those with money on her groaned in agony at the apparent quick loss. Tolley had looked up to the training sergeant in some dismay at the unexpectedly quick takedown.
“I don’t think that was really a fair—”
It was all he got out before the wildcat in her exploded. With a sudden buck of her hips, kick of legs, and a vicious head butt, Dani had Tolley on his stomach, hands cuffed behind his back.
“You might win a fair fight, but I don’t fight fair,” she’d laughingly whispered in his ear.
Breaking into her happy thoughts, the waitress set the food on their regular table in the back corner. Dani grabbed her fork and started eating. She was starving.
“So, who’d you fuck?” Tolley asked, a grin on his beautiful face. With sun-kissed brown hair, blue eyes, and bronzed skin, he looked like he’d stepped from the cover of Surfer magazine. Today though, there was an edge to him, a hint of sadness in his eyes.
“What’s wrong? Did you and Barry fight?” Dani asked, ignoring his very perceptive question.
“Barry invited me to move my shit out. I’m staying at the Southern Plantation B and B until I find a place.”
“Oh, Tolley, I’m so sorry.” Dani said and covered his hand with hers. She’d never thought Barry was good enough for her friend and she said so now.
“Aw, Dani, you’re a good friend. I knew it was coming. He wasn’t right for me, but damn he could give good—”
“Stop! I feel a bit of TMI coming on.” Dani giggled.
Tolley grinned back, and then his smile faded a bit. “You want it now or after we eat?”
“Now,” Dani said, shoving a forkful of egg in her mouth. “I don’t have much time, I’ve got another meeting in thirty. However, we need to meet tonight to talk about finding you a place to live. You know I’m looking, too. Stupid landlord wants to double the rent on my place. I think the building is going condo, and he doesn’t really want a tenant. Maybe we should talk about sharing a place.”
“Probably wouldn’t work. I’m not a big fan of clothes and I have a hairy ass,” Tolley deadpanned.
Dani’s laughter rang out. “Okay, I happen to know you have a very nice ass, since we’ve been skinny-dipping together, but if you’re not interested, just say so. What have you got for me?”
Tolley’s face went serious. “Okay, well, here are the pics. The time stamps are clear. This is one of those time-capture cameras, set to take a photo every three minutes. The plan was to have cameras mounted at each intersection and in the public lots throughout the Pier District. They were supposed to take pictures at different intervals, to deter crime and shit. Thought they’d use it to nail the dealers.
“Goddamn budget cuts. All they ever installed was this one camera. The politicians trotted out the press for a big celebration the day it went live. After the ribbon cutting and a lot of speeches, they all went home. No more cameras.” Tolley took a quick sip of coffee, before he continued.
“Anywho, you can see who parks in the lot as long as the car is left for more than three minutes. You got some shots of schmucks who happen to be in the lot when the photo clicked. I didn’t print any of the shots without people, but they’re on the copy of the DVD I’ll give you. I went back forty-eight hours. Not too many faces down there. The thing is…all you’ve got is proximity. Means nothing, Dani, okay?”
Dani was starting to get a bad feeling.
“Whose proximity? Show me, Tolley.”
Tolley handed her a stack of eight-by-ten photos. The pa
rking lot was dark, with most of the security lights broken out. She could see the lot was nearly empty in the dim lighting. The first photo was of Constantine Demetrios getting out of his car. The next was of a tall man, wearing a Stetson, his face shielded from the camera. She knew who that was. Hawk. The time stamps showed they’d both arrived well after the second murder. She kept flipping through photos, time moving backward, until she got to the last photo in the stack, the first shot in terms of the time frame she’d asked for.
It was the photo that obviously worried Tolley. Del Courtland. Her stepbrother was hunched over his car trunk and holding something next to his leg. Something that looked suspiciously like a baseball bat.
Chapter Eight
“I didn’t log this yet, Dani,” Tolley said. “You go talk to Del. Find out what’s going on. I’ll see if I can run some of these other faces and plates down for you.”
“Yeah, okay, but I’ve already gotten the preliminary cause of death from the ME. Blunt force trauma,” she said with a sigh. She dropped the photos inside her bag. She ran over the possibilities in her mind for a minute, before pushing aside her thoughts. Her eyes drifted to the door and she watched Hawk come through. Tall and broad in a charcoal business suit with a sky-blue tie against a dazzlingly white shirt. He quite simply took her breath away. He removed his cowboy hat and brushed his hand through his hair as he scanned the room. Dani fought a smile as she thought of what those hands hand done to her just a few hours earlier.
“Oh, my. So that’s who you’re fucking,” Tolley said with a grin.
“What? Oh, no,” Dani said casually. “He’s a witness. A good-looking man, no doubt, but just a witness.”
“Tell it to someone who doesn’t know you like I do,” Tolley said. Then he stood and waved. “We're over here.”
Dani rolled her eyes. “Sit down, you idiot. I’m having breakfast with you. Hawk can wait.”
“Dani, honey, no man that fine should ever be made to wait,” Tolley said, as Hawk made his over to their table.
“Danielle, good morning,” he said. “I see you’re still eating, I’ll just wait over there until you’re ready for me.”
Before Dani could say anything, Tolley put out his hand, “Todd Tollefson. Call me Tolley. Please join us.”
“Thank you. I’m Hawk Charbonnet. It’s nice to meet you. Are you a detective, as well?” Hawk asked, sitting down and accepting a cup of coffee from the now very attentive waitress.
“I’m a forensics detective. But I’m pretty good with people, too. Known Dani long?”
“We just met yesterday, as a matter of fact.”
“Hmm. She doesn’t usually move that fast. Treat her right; I’ll be watching.”
“Tolley!” Dani said, shocked by Tolley’s possessive tone. He’d never acted like this with anyone she’d dated, let alone with someone she just met.
“It’s all right, Danielle. I think Tolley and I understand each other. There’s nothing between Danielle and I, but if there was, you’d have my word.”
“Interesting. That’s what she said, too.” Suddenly Tolley smiled and the world brightened. “I suppose I better finish eating and get back to work. Have a piece of toast, Hawk.”
Dani shook her head as Hawk took a triangle of Tolley’s toast and spread it with strawberry jam. Before long, the men were swapping stories about the use of technology in advancing forensic science. It seemed one of Hawk’s companies produced the very piece of equipment that Tolley coveted.
“Are you going to eat the rest of those?” Hawk asked, eyeing her eggs and hash browns.
Dani laughed and shoved her plate in his direction. “Help yourself.”
Tolley got up to leave, wrapped Dani in his big strong arms, and lifted her off her chair. “I love you, Dani, so don’t get into trouble with whatever it is you’re plotting.” He set her back down and planted a kiss on her head.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Tolley,” she said. “Oh, by the way, I do have a small favor to ask. Someone left a nasty little bug in my apartment. I took a picture, but left it where it is for now. I’ll email you the photo, see what you can tell me about it.
“Now, get back to work so I can finish mine. Let’s meet for drinks at Mudbugs tonight to figure out this apartment thing. Think about what I said about a roommate.”
Hawk stood to shake Tolley’s hand but was pulled into a hug, as well. “She’s my best girl,” Tolley said. “Treat her right. And don’t worry, you two, your secret’s safe with me, but you both need to lose those goo-goo eyes. By the way, Hawk”—Tolley flashed a deceptively sweet smile that Dani knew was pure trouble—“if you ever decide to play for the other team, I’d love to be your bat boy.” With that parting shot, Dani and Hawk were alone.
“Well,” Hawk said with a smile.
“Yep, that about sums him up,” Dani said fondly.
Hawk’s face grew serious. “Why am I here, Danielle?”
Dani looked at him closely. His jaw was tight, and there was a rigid set to his shoulders. Something was wrong. Very wrong. Dani considered herself a good detective, so she applied her deductive skills to what had happened this morning, trying to see it through Hawk’s eyes.
The chief of detectives and an FBI agent had interrupted a most intimate and romantic moment between them. He’d no doubt overheard their plans to use her against him to bring his father down. She’d told him he needed to leave. Jesus. He thinks I don't want him.
Dani slid a hand over Hawk’s and gave a quick squeeze, but pulled quickly back. She was positive Tony couldn’t have set up a way to monitor their conversation here in the noisy pub this morning. Still, it had been stupid to meet Hawk here. Well, there was nothing to do but follow through with the charade. She could still give him some of what he needed to hear.
She spoke quietly, leaning toward Hawk in order to hide her face from prying eyes. “Hawk, please, look at me. Their plan is for me to get to know you. I wanted to talk to you about it right away, but when I saw that bastard had left a bug in my apartment, all I could think of was to get you out of there. Espinoza’s going to come after you anyway he can. He’s planning to use me to do it.
“Obviously, with their plans for us to get close, being seen in public isn’t going to be a problem, but we have to be careful what we say. We have to figure this out; we need to talk about it somewhere I can be absolutely sure we won’t be overheard. My apartment, your father’s place, your office…those are all out.
“I’m meeting Tolley for drinks after work. Why don’t you join us? Then maybe we could get a room somewhere for the night.” She smiled.
“Danielle. This could cost you your career. Why are you doing this?” Hawk asked.
Dani covered his hand once more. It was so much less than she wanted, but it would have to do for now. “Because I’m not going to let you fall alone,” she said simply.
****
Navigating the twists and turns of poorly placed cubicles that constituted the small but busy offices of Global Mandate Magazine proved to be easier than getting the answers she wanted from the “acting publisher.”
“Nicolette, I need to talk to Del,” Dani said for the third time.
“Dani, I’m not lying. He’s not available. He’s completely out of contact for the next two weeks. I’ll have him call you as soon as I hear from him,” Nicolette said. Then her tone turned brisk and businesslike. “Meanwhile you can answer a couple of questions for me. I’ve been assigned to follow the trail of drugs coming into Généreux. I understand there may have been two drug-related homicides in the Pier District in the last two days. Do you have any comments you’d like to make, for our readers?”
Dani just gave a look and waited. She knew it was a good look, her cop look. What she was looking at was a woman her own age who was everything Dani wasn’t: tall and thin, draped in elegant clothing, perfectly coiffed and made-up. And lookie there…a twitch just under her left eye. A sure sign Nicolette Watkins was lying.
There had been a time she’d considered Nicolette a rival. They’d fought over men more than once, usually ones Dani had dated first. Nic had always tried to insinuate herself into Dani’s world. Then Dani joined the Généreux PD and lost whatever fascination she’d held for Nicolette. Dani guessed the job was too gritty for a pretty girl like Nic. To be fair, given Nicolette’s upbringing, abused by her father, sexually molested, pimped out to make porn videos, who could blame her for turning into a whack job?
That had been years ago, and Dani doubted they would have had anything further to do with each other now, except for the one thing they had in common. Del Courtland.
“Nicolette,” Dani said, drawing on her last shred of patience. “Seriously—don’t bullshit me. There isn’t anyone who knows you better than I do, and I know you’re lying. I also know you love Del and he loves you. Ever since he came back from rehab, you’ve helped keep him on the path to clean and sober. It wasn’t something I ever thought you could do, but you have.
“Since I know you’re lying to me and I can see you’re worried sick about Del, I need you to tell me what’s going on, so I can help.”
“Sorry, Dani,” Nicolette replied, even brisker. “I haven’t got anything else to say to you. If there’s nothing more, I have a staff meeting to run. I’ll have Del call you just as soon as he checks in.” She turned to her desk and started gathering her notes.
Dani blew out a frustrated breath. Nothing to do but return to the station for now and research the hard way. Computer runs and phone calls. If Del left town, there would be a record somewhere.
****
“As soon as she arrived back at the station, Dani pulled her meager notes together to review what she knew, in order to sort out where she needed to go next.
“Need any help?” LeAnn asked, leaning across the desk and swiping a handful of Peanut M&M's from Dani’s candy jar.
