Bayou Heat

by Georgia Tribell

  As much as it pains me, get dressed before coming out.

  She laughed as she returned to the bed and slipped on the t-shirt and lounge pants. Both were large on her, but she didn’t care. She entered the living area of the condo, expecting to find at least Rob, but it was empty. Muted voices carried to her from the kitchen and breakfast area.

  She walked to the entrance and stopped short when she saw how many people were crammed into the dining area. She’d assumed Rob and LD were the only ones here, but she’d been way off. There were several men but only two she didn’t know. Those two stood as soon as she entered the room. Rob turned his head to the side, pinning her with his stare. He did quick introductions, and then the two men returned to their conversations.

  Rob never broke eye contact as he unfolded his body from the chair and moved toward her. He moved like a sleek, powerful panther in his body-forming black t-shirt and snug-fitting jeans. The intensity of his gaze and aura told her he was totally focused on her. This was the same feeling she felt when they made love. It was a side of him she was sure he kept buried deep inside, never intending to let it see the light of day.

  Her toes curled, her palms grew damp and her heart sped up as he moved closer to her. Even as he made her feel like the center of the universe, the overpowering need to run for the hills exploded inside her. She managed to survive heartbreak once before but she wasn’t sure she would ever recover from Rob’s rejection. Before she could back away, he cupped her face with both hands and lowered his mouth to hers. The fear and insecurity she felt dissolved as she wrapped her arms around his waist and melted into him.

  When he finally pulled back she felt warm all over and a little bit lightheaded. Rob guided her to the table and the vacant chair next to his. As she looked around the group, she couldn’t help but notice the shocked looks on most of their faces. LD shook his head and gave an all-knowing smile while Nate glared daggers at Rob. Eris rolled her eyes at Nate then glanced next to her to see Rob studying the computer screen before him. She leaned into him to see what he was working on and when she couldn’t make it out, she scooted even closer, placing a hand on his thigh.

  Chair legs scraped against the floor. “I’m leaving before the lap dance starts.”

  Eris snapped her head around at the sound of Nate’s voice and watched as he stood. She felt the tension explode to life in Rob and squeezed his leg, hoping he’d take the hint and let her handle this. “Excuse me?”

  “You heard me. I’ve got my marching orders and I’m out of here.”

  Eris followed Nate to the front door, stepping in front of him before he could open it. “What the hell is wrong with you? That last comment was totally uncalled for.”

  Nate looked at her as if he were going to physically move her out of the way. She watched as he glanced up at the ceiling and took a deep breath.

  He looked back at her. “I like Rob. Underneath that badass attitude of his, he’s not a bad guy.”

  “You’re one to talk.”

  “Believe me, I know my faults better than anyone. Rob’s a good guy, he’ll make you happy…but staying here, knowing my chance with you is gone… Well, let’s just say it isn’t working for me.”

  “Nate.” She reached out to lay a hand on his arm.

  He pulled away. “Please don’t.”

  Eris dropped her hand. “I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t be. You’re not the one who lied about how you felt. I didn’t tell you because I thought I’d lose your friendship if I did. Now I’ve blown both. So if you don’t mind, I’m going to go lick my wounds and get roaring drunk.”

  Eris stepped aside, unable to think of any response to Nate’s statement. She turned back toward the kitchen and spotted Rob and Zane standing in the doorway. Zane said something to Rob before walking toward the entrance.

  She put her hand on his arm as he started by. “You knew. Why didn’t you say anything?”

  Zane put his hand over hers as he looked into her eyes. “He’s my best friend, but you’re my sister. I kept his secret as a friend should and protected you from feeling obligated like a brother should.”

  “But…”

  “I did what was right, Eris. Now I’m going to go make sure he doesn’t do anything too stupid.” Zane dropped a quick kiss to her cheek before heading out the door.

  She stood there for several seconds in dumbfounded silence, totally stunned by Nate’s revelation. Zane was right. If she’d known, she would have settled for a marriage to a good friend even if her heart wasn’t in it. Finally she mustered enough nerve to look at Rob. He stood backlit in the doorway, arms across his chest, totally unreadable. She took a deep breath and forced her feet to move toward him. When she reached him, she opened her mouth to try to explain but no words came out.

  She closed her mouth and for several minutes they stood there studying each other with nothing to say. LD’s voice drifted to them from the kitchen, reminding her how out of control her life had become.

  Rob finally broke the silence. “You honestly didn’t know, did you?”

  “No. Did you?”

  He shifted as if he was uncomfortable answering the question. “I knew it the first time I saw you two together. It was written all over him like ink on a newspaper. The only person who didn’t see it was you.”

  Eris frowned at Rob. “But you sent us back to my place together. Why?”

  “I knew you were oblivious to his feelings and even if you weren’t, I trusted you. I also knew he’d die trying to protect you like I would.”

  She looked into Rob’s eyes and knew every word he uttered was true and she wasn’t sure how she felt about any of this. “I’m going to go take a shower.”

  She turned away, gathered her suitcase from the corner and walked into the bedroom. She closed and locked the door behind her.

  * * * * *

  It was completely dark by the time a light knock sounded on the bedroom door. She ignored the knock even though she was sure her stomach was eating its way through to her backbone. Another knock sounded, slightly louder.

  “Eris, we’ve been asked to go down to the morgue.”

  Ice water seemed to fill her veins. “I’ll be right there.”

  “Okay.”

  She stood and wiped the tears away as she slipped on her flip-flops before looking in the mirror above the dresser. Jeez, she looked bad. She finger-combed her short hair before wiping her eyes one more time. Tears formed again and she pressed the palms of her hands to them in an effort to stop the flow. She wasn’t sure why she was crying. It was either the hopeless look on Nate’s face or Rob’s words, but it didn’t matter. She needed to get a grip.

  Rob was waiting for her when she opened the door. He looked at her. “If you don’t want to go, I’ll call people to come stay with you.”

  She took a deep, shaky breath. “I’ll go. Why are we needed at the morgue?”

  “Tarrington called and he wants us to come down and view a body. He wouldn’t say anything else.”

  Her stomach turned at the thought. “Fine. I need my gun.”

  “Lost in the fire along with your purse. We’ll replace both tomorrow.”

  “Okay, but I really don’t like going out without one.”

  Rob opened the front door and two men she’d been introduced to this morning stood there waiting for them. He spoke to the pair and then one took the lead and the other followed them to the waiting cars. They didn’t speak as they drove through the dark streets to the city morgue. She kept trying to think of something to talk about that would break the tension that filled the car but failed. They were headed to the morgue and she couldn’t think of anything good about that.

  Tarrington was waiting for them when they entered through the front doors. “Sorry about calling the two of you down here, but there’s something you need to see.”

  “What can you tell us about the victim?” Rob’s voice was steady and calm as they followed Tarrington through the building to the viewing room.
>
  Tarrington opened a door and Olson stood on the other side, waiting on them. “We’d rather not influence your impression, so we’ll talk after you’ve seen the deceased.”

  Eris swallowed. She was about to be sick and she hadn’t even seen the corpse. At least she didn’t have anything in her stomach. She felt the cold sweat break out across her body. Olson motioned for them to stand in front of a closed, dirty window blind. Rob moved closer but she couldn’t.

  “We’re waiting.” Olson’s voice was as hard and demeaning as ever.

  She forced herself to go stand next to Rob. “Okay.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  Eris backed a couple of steps until she hit the wall behind her. Turning, she threw the door open and headed down the hall, back toward the front of the building.

  “Eris.”

  “I quit, now leave me alone.”

  “What do you mean?”

  She turned and unleashed all the anger and fear that had been building inside her for days. “The psycho bitch wins! I’m getting my passport, cleaning out my bank account and leaving town. The sicko has done what none of you could do—get me to back off. I’ve been threatened, run off the road and almost turned into a crispy critter, but that—”

  “Isn’t me.” Rob took a step toward her.

  Eris backed away from him and shouted, “I know it’s not you, but I’m not freaking dumb, I know what it means!”

  “It’s a cheap-assed attempt to get us to run away!” Rob shouted right back.

  She held her hands up. “Well, it worked. I’m out of here. I’ll send a postcard.” She turned and started back down the hall.

  “Just like that you’re going to walk away and give up on finding Orbit’s killer.”

  She turned back to him. “You didn’t have to identify your best friend’s body, now did you?”

  “No, only my mother’s.”

  She took a shaky breath. “I’m sorry, but I can’t stay around and one day have to walk down these halls to identify your body. That man in there could be your twin.”

  “Princess, you’re stronger than this.” He closed the space between them.

  She shook her head. “No I’m not, and please don’t ask me to stay.”

  “This is nothing more than a mind game. You know that. What’s unnerved you so badly? Talk to me.”

  Her breath caught and a sob escaped as she started to turn away. He gripped her upper arm and pulled her back around. She looked up at him. “You don’t get it, do you?”

  “Get what?”

  “It would kill me to identify you.”

  “You survived Orbit’s death,” he responded.

  “This is different.”

  “How? You’re not making sense.”

  Tears blurred her vision as she placed a hand over his heart. She could feel it beating beneath her palm and the warmth of his body seeped into her. “I’m in love you with you. That’s the difference.”

  Rob pulled her into his arms and held her tight against his chest as emotions he’d never felt flared to life inside him. He needed time to examine his feelings and figure out what the hell he was going to do about the woman in his arms. He tilted her head up and lowered his mouth to hers. He tasted her tears as he slowly kissed her fears away.

  There were a thousand things he needed to think about but they would have to wait until later. Right now, there was work they needed to do because no matter what, there was a killer out there who needed catching. He pulled back. “We need to talk with Olson and Tarrington to find out how the man died.”

  He felt her take a deep, shaky breath as she stepped out of his arms. “Can we talk with them elsewhere? I don’t like this place.”

  The feeling of loss that hit him was hard and unexpected, making his chest tighten and his hands clench. He forced himself not to reach for her. “Let me talk to Olson and see what we can do.”

  Thirty minutes later the four of them were seated in a small conference room in the police station on Royal Street. He could see the tension in Eris’ face, the paleness of her skin, and knew she didn’t want to be here. He turned his attention to Olson and what he was saying.

  “The man’s body was found by the maid at a local hotel two days ago. No one thought anything about it until the lab tech got hold of some evidence.”

  “Which was?”

  “Long, red synthetic hairs.”

  “The same as the ones found in the truck?” Eris asked in a tight, controlled voice.

  “Yes,” Olson answered even though it seemed to pain him.

  “I’ve been telling all of you we’re dealing with a woman.” Eris waved her arms as she spoke.

  Olson gave a pained sigh. “I seriously doubt that, most women aren’t into messy kills, they prefer poisons or pills. I’m starting to think our killer has a female partner.”

  The partner theory didn’t sound right to Rob, but he kept his mouth closed, hoping that by not arguing with this pair he might actually get more information out of them. “In this town, streetwalkers, dancers, cross-dressers and the clerk at the city courthouse all wear wigs. It’s so common that, unless we got some DNA off it, I’m not sure it’s much help. How was he killed?”

  “It looks like he was drugged then his throat cut,” Tarrington replied as he flipped through the file in front of him.

  “Any sign of a struggle or sex?”

  “No, the coroner said he was unconscious when his throat was cut. We found no prints to help us or anything that would give us a DNA profile. The only thing out of place was the man’s wallet and identification was missing,” Olson answered.

  “So you haven’t ID’ed the man?” Rob continued the questioning.

  “We got lucky on fingerprints. He’s Leslie Adams from a small town outside of Houston. He was here on business, no ties to the area. We also found this beside him.” Olson pulled a plastic bag from his pocket and placed a yin-yang playing card on the small table.

  There was a pause after Olson’s last answer and Rob wondered if he was thinking the same as him. “Any new information on who started the fire or how?”

  Olson flipped through his notes. “The fire marshall is still working on his official report, but he said an accelerant was poured through the front windows and tossed onto the outside of the building. He said the wood in those old buildings is dry and can burn extremely fast without any help. Add something to speed up the process and you have an inferno in a matter of minutes like you two found out.”

  “What about the people who shot up the place?”

  Tarrington looked up. “The only people who would talk with us were a tourist couple. The description they gave leads us to think a local street gang is responsible, but they weren’t close enough to give us any detailed descriptions. You know how elusive these people are, we might not ever know who did this. Wish there was more to tell you.”

  Rob caught the look Eris gave him but didn’t acknowledge it. He stood. “When you have more information, let us know.”

  He opened the door and followed Eris out into the hall. She opened her mouth but he gave a slight shake of his head. She didn’t say anything as they walked through the station. Rob checked the street and watched as the two men with them drifted out of the shadows and moved toward their cars. He guided her across the street and opened the door to the new vehicle, which had been delivered to him earlier in the day.

  After they were moving, he made a call to their front man before speaking to Eris. “What did you think?”

  “I understand there could be a second person but that scenario doesn’t feel right to me.”

  “The dreams you’ve had have two people in it.”

  “No, my dream has one person with two different faces, not two individual people. What’s your gut feeling?”

  “That there’s only one person.” The car in front of them took a left and he followed.

  “Where are we going? Thought we were headed back home.”

  “We’re going to go
visit a friend, maybe do some dancing and grab a bite to eat,” Rob answered as he took the freeway entrance ramp.

  “There’s more to this than you’re telling me, and why are you taking the bridge to Algiers?”

  “Because Club Raga is located there and so is the person I need to talk with.” Rob forced his hands to relax.

  “You do realize we aren’t dressed for that place?”

  “I’m aware of that.” He glanced over at Eris as she tugged at her clothes and smiled.

  “And by this time of the evening, the place is full. We’ll never get in.”

  “Don’t worry. I’ve got a standing invitation.”

  Eris walked next to Rob as they made their way toward the entrance to Club Raga. The crowd magically parted for them as they moved through it. She wasn’t sure if it was because of the three very large men she was with or the waves of anger and rage that were currently pouring off Rob.

  She felt the change in him at the station while they were talking with Olson and Tarrington. He’d managed to keep his feelings in check for the most part until they got in the car. Now he was a man on a mission and she pitied the person who got in his way. They reached the front door and a small man stepped in their path, blocking the entrance.

  “Tell Mr. Langtry that Rob Jackson is here to see him.”

  “I’m sorry, Mr. Jackson, but Mr. Langtry isn’t seeing people tonight.”

  Rob leaned forward and lowered his voice so others couldn’t hear. Whatever he said obtained the desired result because the doors to the exclusive club opened and all four of them entered.

  Rob took her hand as they entered. “Stay close to one of us. Don’t talk to anyone and for God’s sake, don’t make eye contact with people.”

  “I’m not inexperienced, you know. I did grow up here.”

  “True, but this place is nothing but a high-class cat house and I’d hate to have to hurt some poor bastard who thought he was going to get lucky with you.”

  Eris laughed. “Don’t worry, this isn’t my type of place and I’m not dressed for that kind of work. What’s behind those curtains?”