by Jessie Cooke
“Yes, and in the same place on her body.”
David had seen that tattoo somewhere else as well, Kat had it inked in the center of the lotus flowers and skulls that decorated her right arm in a remembrance of her mother after she found a picture of Victoria with it showing. He got another chill, this one down his spine. Trying to keep emotion out of it he said, “There was something about the tattoo in the interview between Dillon Brown and the police… The detective had asked about her religion and Dillon told him she was Protestant…but the tattoo meant something to the Haitian Creole culture. It made Botts wonder if she was having an affair with a Haitian, but as far as I know, nothing ever came of that idea.”
“Did the prostitutes who were killed by strangulation have any tattoos?”
“Some,” David said. “But I don’t recall seeing this one. I’ll have to double-check…Do you know what the tattoo means?”
“It’s the symbol that honors the Haitian voodoo loa, Baron La Croix.
“What’s a loa?”
“It’s a spirit or intermediary with God or, in their religion, ‘le Bon Dieu.’ They act as a go-between of sorts between the natural life and the afterlife. Each one has a different job, or specialty, something they stand for.”
“What does this La Croix stand for?”
“Death, obscenity, lust, and sexuality.”
“So…you came all the way to Massachusetts to talk to me about matching tattoos?”
“I didn’t come to see you,” the man said as he slid the photo back into his case. “I came to see Dillon Brown. Once I got here, I found out he was in the hospital. Detective Botts directed me to contact you.”
“What do you want with Dillon? What do you think he can tell you that he didn’t tell the other detectives?”
“I don’t know what, or if anything. I just need to talk to him face to face.”
“You might have a long wait for that. Did your department authorize this?” David knew his wouldn’t. Both murders were NOLA’s jurisdiction; the retired Detective Botts took a shine to Kat when she was a little girl and that was the only reason he’d even agreed to talk to David at first.
“No,” the man said. “My department doesn’t even know that I’m here. I’m on a personal leave of absence while I mourn the death of my wife.”
“The death of…she was your wife?”
The man nodded. “She got that tattoo at a shop in the French Quarter right after our son was born. She said it was a symbol of empowerment, something about not losing her sexuality just because she was a wife and a mother. Those didn’t seem like her words to me, but she’d become close friends with a Haitian woman that ran the hotel where she worked and they’d gone together to get the tattoos…”
“Wait, she worked at a hotel?”
“Yes, the other similarity. She worked there for five years before she went missing.”
“Doing what?”
“She was a concierge, just like Mrs. Brown.”
Maybe this wasn’t a waste of time after all. “Have you been to that shop, where she got the tattoo?”
“It’s closed down. I tracked the tattoo artist to another shop in Baton Rouge, but he had left that job a few months before I got there. No one seems to know where he’s gone.”
“What about the woman…her co-worker?”
He shook his head. “Her name was Esther Bordeaux, but she disappeared too, not long after my wife went missing. The police interviewed her a few times after Heather disappeared, since they were so close. She claimed she didn’t know anything and hadn’t spoken to Heather for almost a week prior to her going missing. Then suddenly, she was gone too.” David frowned and the man said, “Mr. Brady, there’s something else. Mrs. Brown worked with a woman named Farah Carre…she was Haitian too.” David nodded. He’d gone over the file a hundred times and he remembered that name as one of the employee interviews. “She hasn’t been heard from in years, and it seems the last anyone heard from her was only weeks after Victoria Brown was killed. The only proof I have of the existence of either of them is interviews with people that worked with them and an employee file on each of them with a photograph.” He reached back into his bag and pulled out a manila file. He opened it and there was a stack of paperwork attached with a paperclip and a small employee photo of a smiling woman with mocha colored-skin, bright pink lips, and a pink head wrap. The name said “Farah Carre.” He moved that file, and the one underneath it was almost exactly the same only it was from a different hotel in the Quarter. The name on that one said “Esther Bordeaux.” David looked at the women in the small photographs. Other than the color of their lipstick and head wraps, they could have been the same photos. It was definitely the same woman…or her identical twin.
33
“I’m fucking bored. At least if you told me the truth…”
David chuckled. “I did tell you the truth.”
“Tell me again. I want to see if your story changes.”
David laughed but he said, “The detective’s wife was murdered in a similar way to your mom. He came here to talk to your dad, but since he couldn’t, he settled for me. There are some similarities. They looked alike, sort of. They both worked in a hotel that was popular with tourists in the French Quarter and they both had young kids. That’s it; I’m not sure I’m convinced that they’re related.”
“You’re leaving something out.”
“Why would I do that?” David was a terrible liar. All those years of being a devout Catholic had worked its magic on him. Kat had a theory that was one of the reasons he chose to work in the crime lab and not on the streets. His brother Kyle could stick a knife in someone’s heart and convince them as he was doing it that he wasn’t trying to kill them. David didn’t have that “gift.” Kat knew that detective had told him something he didn’t want to tell her and she wanted to shake it out of him, especially because she was lying flat on her back, bored out of her mind.
“Because you don’t want to upset me right before I have surgery.”
“Then I would have told you three days ago, right after I talked to him. But I have a question…”
“What’s that?”
“I know it’s not my business, but out of curiosity…how are you paying for all of this?”
Shit. She’d already gone through this with Dax. She’d ultimately told him it wasn’t his business…but obviously, he’d mentioned it to David, which meant he hadn’t let it go. “You’re right, not your business. And tell that brother-in-law of yours I said to let it go.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” She rolled her eyes again.
“Terrible liar. God, this is so freaking boring. Why do I have to spend twelve hours in this bed before they even take me to surgery?”
“They’re prepping you with antibiotics and…”
“I know all of that,” she cut him off.
“You want me to turn on the TV?”
Sighing, she said, “I guess.” David stood up, but Kat reached up with her free arm and grabbed the front of his shirt. She pulled him down until their lips met, and she parted hers and prodded the seam of his with her tongue. David deepened the kiss by opening his own mouth as she wrapped her fingers up in his hair. Kat loved the feel of his lips against hers and the way his tongue explored her mouth like it was searching for something. David was the one that broke the kiss, lifting his head up slightly so that he could see her face as he gasped for air.
“Wow, that was nice.”
“Nice?” she said in a breathless voice.
“Hot…it was hot.”
“Lock the door and let’s make it hotter in here.”
He laughed and straightened up. “You can’t have sex hours before surgery.”
“Who says so? That wasn’t on the long list of ‘don’ts’ they gave me.”
David looked over at the door and back at her. He was considering it. He wasn’t one to take risks, however, unless Kat talked him into it. “I don’t think we should.
”
“Chicken.”
He smiled. “I’m not a chicken…I’m just cautious.”
Kat grabbed the bed rails and pulled herself upright…and then, she slipped off her gown. “You’re insane,” David said.
“Touch me.”
“Kat…”
“Please, David, touch me.” He reached for her and then suddenly turned and went over to lock the door. Kat tried to suppress her victory smile when he came back over to the bed. David put the rail down on his side and sat down next to her. One of his hands covered her breast and began to caress it while he kissed her again. His other hand rubbed up and down her back and across her thigh.
“You feel so good,” he whispered, with his lips still touching her mouth. “So soft. So, sexy.” David took her nipple between his fingers and twisted it softly before running them down through the valley between her breasts. He covered her mouth with his again and she felt those fingers tracing circles on her abdomen, reaching lower with every light touch. David reached the top of her mound and he stroked it as he broke their kiss once again. This time he lowered his mouth down to the hard nipple he’d been teasing and used his tongue to pull the hard peak in between his lips. He sucked on it, gentler than usual, but it still sent vibrations racing through Kat’s body and culminating in the hot, moist point between her legs.
He spent a long time on that one breast while Kat arched her back and made mewling sounds. When he moved over to the other breast, he began to kiss and suck harder, sending brand new bolts of electricity surging through her. Suddenly, the hand that was stroking her lower stomach and the top of her mound dipped lower. Ecstasy pooled in her belly as his fingers played in the moisture that clung to her swollen lips and she actually forgot where she was and cried out when he pressed into her engorged clit with his thumb. “Fuck! David…”
He pulled his head up and smiled at her while two of his fingers made their way up inside of her. “Shh, baby.”
Gasping for breath she said, “Sure, put your fingers inside of me and tell me to be quiet. Fuck, that feels so good.” David smiled again before bending back down and taking one of her nipples between his teeth. Kat let her head fall back and she closed her eyes as she rocked her hips into his hand. His fingers worked in and out of her repeatedly and his lips, teeth, and tongue worked her nipples until she was practically in a frenzy. She needed to scream, but that would bring people running. She bit down on her bottom lip, practically drawing blood. She was on the cusp of an earth-shattering orgasm and she didn’t want him to stop. David let the breast he was sucking fall out of his mouth and moved his face up to hers once again. They kissed while he fingered her, bringing her closer to the edge with each stroke. Kat felt her blood heat to the boiling point. She brought her hips all the way up off the bed. Her body stiffened and her teeth clamped down harder on her lip. Fireworks exploded behind her eyelids when the walls of her smooth pussy clamped down tightly around his fingers. She felt the warmth of the orgasm being released as it coated the insides of her thighs. David kept doing what he was doing, only slower, until her body began to relax. When she opened her eyes, he slowly pulled out his fingers and licked them clean while she watched. Then he said:
“Feel better?”
“Almost,” she whispered. She reached for the outline of the erection she saw in his pants but just as he flexed his hips toward her, there was a knock on the door. “Shit.” David chuckled and bent down to kiss her forehead. He handed her the gown that had landed at the foot of the bed and said:
“Better cover up, baby.”
Kat pouted; she knew she could have convinced him to finish. Damned nurses! She slid the gown back on and readjusted all the wires that were attached to her before lying back down. David opened the door and when she saw it was Tammy and Harley, she cursed her sudden idea that she needed female friends. “Hey!” Harley said. “The door was locked.” Poor David couldn’t even lie silently…he blushed. Tammy, who didn’t seem to miss a thing, smiled and said:
“Shit, did we interrupt something?”
“No,” David said too quickly. “Come on in and visit with her, I was just going out to get some lunch.” Kat’s eyes fell to his midsection. Luckily, his jeans were loose enough that they couldn’t see the massive erection she’d just had in her hand. Kat forced a smile and when he bent over the bed to give her a quick kiss she said:
“Hurry back, we weren’t finished.” David blushed again, said goodbye to the ladies, and took off. Once he was gone, Tammy sat down in the chair next to the bed and said:
“Poor guy. Blue balls?”
Harley laughed. “Tamara!”
Kat was laughing too. “Yeah,” she said, with a wink. “Don’t worry, though, I won’t leave him that way for long.”
David’s face burned all the way to the car. He didn’t have any hang-ups when it came to sex…especially sex with Kat…but he also didn’t like talking about it in front of anyone. He wasn’t even one to talk about it with his brothers…but then again, with the older two always out of town and Kyle being an asshole most of the time, there wasn’t much chance of that anyways.
When he got to the hospital lobby he took out his phone and called Dax. He had printed off the documents Dax asked for him at work the day before, but he was so preoccupied with Kat and her mother’s case that he’d forgotten to give them to him. “Hey, David, what’s up?”
“I have that list for you, the stolen vehicles and their registered owners. I was going to grab some lunch while Harley and Tammy visit with Kat. You want to meet me somewhere?”
“Yeah, I’m actually in town. Hunter is with me, is it okay if he comes too?”
“Sure.” David didn’t know Hunter well. He seemed like a strange guy, but likeable. As long as Dax didn’t care about Hunter’s knowing his business, David didn’t have any feelings about it.
“You want to meet me us at the diner off I-93?” There were a lot of places that would have been closer and more convenient, but David assumed Dax must be close to that restaurant so he agreed. “Good, about twenty minutes,” Dax said, before ending the call.
David had gotten so caught up in his own stuff that his curiosity about why Dax wanted the list had waned. It was peaked again as he drove the fifteen miles from the hospital to the restaurant. Dax had to know that most of the cars on that list were stolen by his own club. David didn’t like knowing things like that, but he preferred it over murder or prostitution…or any of the other things that motorcycle clubs dabbled in. All Dax would have to do, really, was look at the paperwork inside the cars they’d stolen to answer his own question.
David pulled into the parking lot just as Dax and Hunter pulled up on their bikes. Sometimes he wondered if he should learn how to ride a Harley since he was always surrounded by them. Especially now that he was back with Kat…sort of, anyways…he didn’t want to ride around on the back of hers indefinitely. It was slightly emasculating.
“Hey, David, you know Hunter?” Hunter held his hand out and David took it.
“We’ve met,” Hunter said. “How’s it going?”
“Good, thanks.” After the men shook hands, Hunter did something that confirmed to David that he was a strange guy. He broke away as they made their way to the front door of the restaurant and stuck a wooden wedge underneath one of the doors near the back. David gave Dax a questioning look. Dax shrugged, but didn’t look concerned. Hunter followed them inside and Dax deferred to Hunter about where he wanted to sit. Hunter picked a booth right next to the front door. David had a feeling something more than picking up a list was going on. As soon as they sat down, a pretty young waitress was at the edge of their table with menus and asking what they wanted to drink.
“I’d like a whiskey and Coke,” Hunter told her with a wink “But I suppose getting to look at a pretty thing like you will make up for having to drink coffee.” David tried not to roll his eyes. Dax laughed outright. The little blonde waitress blushed a crimson red color and giggled.
&n
bsp; “You like cream, right?”
“You remember,” Hunter said, “I’m touched. Yes, cream is good…as long as it’s as smooth and white as your pretty skin.”
David did roll his eyes at that. The waitress blushed darker but her face beamed with a smile. “For you two?” she said, as if just remembering David and Dax were at the table.
“Coffee,” Dax and David both said. Hunter watched her ass as she walked away and when she was out of earshot David couldn’t resist; he said, “That corny stuff ever work for you?”
Hunter grinned. “All the time…either that or it’s my extraordinary good looks. I’m not hurting for pussy if that’s what you’re asking.” He winked and said, “If you ever want some pointers…”
Dax chuckled and David said, “Thanks, but I’m good.”
Hunter laughed, and Dax turned to David and said, “I appreciate you pulling that list for me.”
“It wasn’t a problem,” David said, taking out the paperwork he’d folded and put into his pocket. “I have to admit that I’m curious…couldn’t you just check the registrations in the cars?” Hunter laughed out loud at that and Dax cocked an eyebrow at his brother-in-law.
“What are you implying, exactly?”
David’s face went hot again. “I wasn’t implying anything…” Dax’s face broke and he laughed too.
“It’s cool, David, I’m just messing with you. Our friends…Street Chaos…have been taking a few cars of their own. Those are the ones I’m interested in.” That made more sense, but David still wondered what Dax was going to do with the information. Before he could think of a way to ask without sounding too nosy, the waitress was back with their coffee. She set the cups down and bent over slightly to fill them. Hunter’s green eyes were on her chest the entire time. When she straightened up, he at least had the decency to look at her face. Smiling at her he said:
