Page 24 of Knife in the Back (New Orleans #4)

“Maybe.” But it still didn’t feel right. “But Gaffney wanted you to stay in prison, and he was willing to harm your mother to keep you there over a year ago. There’s something about you specifically, Naomi.”

She exhaled, a weary sound. “Maybe. But I can’t think of what that could be.”

“We’ll figure it out,” he said with more confidence than he felt. “But back to what brought you out here tonight. We’ll find out how they knew where all our kids were going to be, including Everett.”

She hesitated. “I know this sounds paranoid, but could they have a tracker on his car? They have been watching him. Gaffney knew Everett’s routine. He knew which friends he hangs out with.”

“A tracker is a possibility,” he allowed. “We’ll check for one. But Harrison thought they were already at the girlfriend’s house, waiting for Everett to arrive.”

“They communicate using cell phones—Everett and his friends, I mean. Probably throwaways.”

Burke lifted his brows. “Everett has a throwaway phone?”

“I’ve suspected for a long time. Once I got a text from a different number, but it sounded like it came from Everett. When I asked him, he got squirrelly and said it must have been a spam text from a stranger. He’s not a good liar.”

“You think someone’s bugged his phone?”

“If they want to get to me—for whatever reason—going through Everett worked before.”

“I’ll find out if his phone is bugged.”

She tilted her head. “How?”

“Antoine will know how.”

“He’s a kind man. Seems smart.”

“Smarter than me.” Burke studied her while her questions bounced around in his head. She was so very pretty. She looked like Snow White with her shiny dark hair and pale complexion. “What else have you noticed?”

She looked away. “You don’t have to humor me.”

He tapped her shoulder, waiting until she met his eyes. “You’ll find that I rarely humor people. I’m kind of a crusty bastard.”

She laughed, the sound making him smile. “I don’t think so. Your people care about you and seem to be incredibly loyal. I’d say you’re more like a toasted marshmallow.”

“Because I’m tanned or because I’m crusty?”

“Both,” she said dryly, then sobered. “I want to talk to Cresswell.”

“So do I. I made some calls today to the warden at the prison where he’s being held. Cresswell’s in the isolation unit for his own protection.”

She grimaced. “I know about that. So was I.”

“I know. We checked.”

“Figured you would. What did the warden say about Cresswell?”

“That he hasn’t said a word to anyone in the two and a half years that he’s been incarcerated. Not to his lawyer, or his guards, or reporters, and definitely not to the warden. Whenever he’s brought out of his cell, he sits silently and just waits to be taken back.”

“I’d be surprised if he’s still sane.” She looked genuinely distressed on Cresswell’s behalf. “That’s a long time to be no-contact.”

Burke was surprised she could find it in herself to care about the former NOPD captain. Cresswell had been officially charged and convicted of the murder of a suspect. He’d chosen prison over allowing that suspect to spill everything he knew.

The “everything” the suspect had known likely included crimes like the framing of Naomi.

That she seemed to have compassion for the man who’d ruined her career and damaged her life said a great deal about her.

“I don’t think we’ll get anything out of Cresswell, unfortunately,” Burke told her.

She sighed. “He has children, too.”

That made Burke remember his and Lucien’s conversation with Naomi’s first defense attorney. “You were right about Mason Lord. Gaffney threatened his children to ensure his silence and his cooperation in getting you convicted.”

“I can understand his motivation, even though I don’t forgive him. Poor Lucien. He must be devastated. He was so certain that Mason Lord wouldn’t have thrown me under the bus.”

“You’re remarkably accepting of people’s failings.”

“Loyalty to a friend isn’t really a failing.”

“Teenagers being rude is.”

She studied him for a long moment. “You mean Everett.”

“Yeah. If I’d talked to my mama that way…”

“Don’t be too hard on Everett. His father’s had years to fill his mind with lies.

James is a steadying influence, but Jimmy’s really controlling about how much access James has to any of the grandchildren—Everett or Jimmy’s kids with McKenzie.

I’m not saying that Everett’s not rude, because he is.

And I’m not saying it doesn’t break my heart in two every time he makes snide comments about me, because it does.

But I lost five years with my son. I’m not getting those years back.

I’m hoping to forge a new relationship with him, but so far, that hasn’t worked so well. ”

“What was he like before you went to prison?”

“Happy, mostly. Active. Had a lot of friends and a natural curiosity. We did a lot of science experiments at home because Jimmy worked late. Took a lot of nature walks.” She made a face.

“So did Jimmy, with McKenzie. Everett and I were in the park one night and who should we see canoodling on a park bench but Jimmy and the other woman.”

“Ouch.”

“Yeah. I think that broke something in Everett. He started putting up walls, and when my divorce was final, Everett was angry at me. Said I should have forgiven his father, that I was selfish. Maybe in his mind I was. I’d appreciate patience with him, Mr.Broussard—I mean Burke.

You don’t have to like him. Just, please, keep him alive. ”

It was the first time she’d called him by his name and he couldn’t ignore the rush of pleasure. “Alive I can do.” He rose and held out his hand. “Come on. Let’s find out how the folks in the black SUV knew our children’s movements today.”

After a moment of hesitation, she allowed him to pull her to her feet. He dropped her hand immediately, as was proper, but he hated to do it. He wanted to take care of her.

I take care of everyone. It’s not just her.

But he wasn’t fooling himself. What he’d felt for Naomi Cranston from the moment she’d come into his office with her gaze averted and her shoulders slumped…It wasn’t like anything he’d felt for a very long time.

That should scare him. On some level it did. For now, he’d keep both her and her son alive.

—

The Quarter, New Orleans, Louisiana

Monday, February 24, 10:20 p.m.

“Hacked,” Antoine said grimly.

Everyone was back in Burke’s living room, except this time she and Burke sat on the settee and Antoine stood in the middle of the room, holding a Faraday bag.

Naomi had seen the bags come through the evidence room. They blocked electronics from connecting with the outside world. Antoine’s Faraday bag contained both of Everett’s phones—his personal phone that Jimmy paid for and the simple throwaway flip phone that Everett had purchased himself.

Everett had been loath to admit that he had a throwaway. It had finally taken Antoine telling him that the phone could be listening to their conversation at that very moment, and did he want to feel responsible for putting all these nice people in danger? Did he want to put himself in danger?

Everett had grudgingly given in, handing over the throwaway, muttering under his breath. Now her son was back in his place against the wall by the fireplace, but his stony-faced facade was shaken. “Which one?” he asked.

“Both,” Antoine said. “There are keystroke counters on both phones. Anything you typed was being monitored.”

“How did they hack my phones?” Everett asked, his voice hitching up a panicked octave.

“Probably through your girlfriend’s phone,” Antoine said, “or through one of your friends at school. If they used their phone number when they signed up for any social media app, a hacker can get their number. Typically they’ll hack a friend’s non-burner phone, then use that information to get your cell numbers.

They’ll go through the friend’s call log and start dialing numbers until they recognize your voice or get you to tell them your name.

Have you gotten any calls that were claiming to be wrong numbers? ”

Everett nodded tightly. “Got a bunch of them back in September.”

“That could be when your surveillance began,” Burke said.

“September,” Naomi whispered. “They’ve been watching my son since September.” Naomi had to slow her breathing because she felt light-headed.

Beside her, Burke quickly squeezed her forearm. “He’s safe, Naomi. Antoine, are any of the rest of our phones compromised?”

Antoine shook his head. “I checked. I keep our phones closely monitored for spyware and hacking.” He looked at Jace and Elijah. “All of our phones.”

Jace shrugged. “I just play Candy Crush and watch movies.”

“And I read about politics,” Elijah added.

Antoine winced. “I know.”

Kaj chuckled, mussing Elijah’s blond hair. “We all know.”

Elijah jerked away, fixing his hair. “Dad.”

Naomi was suddenly conscious of the fact that she’d missed the moments of Everett becoming a teenager, worrying about his appearance.

Cresswell and Gaffney had stolen that from her, she thought, more determined than ever to see them punished. Keeping Everett and the other children safe was paramount, but exposing Gaffney for the dirty cop he was would be the icing on the cake.

“So,” James said, “when Ev texted with this girl that he’d be by today, that’s how whoever was trying to kidnap him knew where he was going to be.”

“That’s what I think,” Antoine confirmed. “Nobody else knew where Everett was going—did they?”

Everett shook his head mutely.

“I’ll wipe your phones, Everett, and make them secure.”

“But how did they know where the other kids would be?” Naomi asked. “They would have had to have been watching Harper, Jace, and your godsons for their routines, and that doesn’t make sense. I only showed up on your doorstep this morning.”

The adults in the room went quiet, looking at each other for answers.

“You’re sure that our phones are secure, Antoine?” Val asked.

“Very sure,” Antoine said. “Why?”