Page 25 of Knife in the Back (New Orleans #4)

“Because I called Jace this afternoon to tell him I’d be working late and to ask him to stop by Nelly’s Corner Store for groceries.”

Burke’s brow creased in thought. “Was this before or after the shooting at the flower shop, Val?”

“After. I called him from my car on my way here.” Val briefly closed her eyes. “My car, which was parked outside Sylvi’s all day. I’ll go check it.”

Antoine shook his head. “I’ll go check. Don’t discuss any sensitive information while I’m gone.”

Molly raised her hand, then pointed to herself and Chelsea while miming talking on the phone.

“I’ll check your car, too, Mol.” Antoine held out his hand for Val’s keys, then turned to Molly for hers. Burke tossed his and Antoine caught them. “You didn’t drive your car today, did you, Lucien?”

Lucien shook his head.

“Okay. Be right back.” Antoine left and silence descended for two excruciating minutes.

Until Elijah cleared his throat. “Is this a bad time for me to practice my comedy routine? I’m doing it for the school talent show.”

Jace moaned. “Don’t make me hear it again.”

Elijah smirked. “It’s not that bad.”

“It’s not that good, either,” Jace countered.

Elijah laughed. “I’m only doing it so that the teacher will be appalled and not make me do an act in the future.”

“Sneaky,” Jace said. “I like it. Do you do talent shows at your school, Everett?”

Naomi wanted to hug Jace. Everett had been watching the two boys laughing, loneliness clear on his face. Jace must have noticed, trying to draw her son into the conversation.

Everett startled, then cleared his throat. “No. I don’t think we’ve ever had a talent show. After hearing you talk, I’m glad we don’t.”

“Be very glad,” Jace said glumly. “I’m doing a dance with some of the kids in my class. It’s going to be so embarrassing.”

“I’m going to record it on my phone,” Elijah said, giggling when Jace gave him a playful shove.

Harper slid off her mother’s lap to join in the fun, snuggling into Jace’s chest when he wrapped an arm around her. The teenager dropped a kiss on Harper’s head.

“You okay, little bit?” he asked.

“No,” she said honestly. “You?”

“No,” he replied. “But we will be.”

Naomi had to look away, her eyes stinging. It was so sweet. She wanted Everett to have that kind of acceptance. He might, with his friends from school. She just didn’t know.

The front door opened and Antoine came in, looking even grimmer than he had before. He held up two fingers, then pointed to Val and Molly in turn. “Give me a few minutes.”

He started passing a small metal wand over lamps and tables, under chairs, and along the fireplace.

He then set up a device similar to the one Naomi had seen Val using that morning. “Okay, jammer’s in place, just in case. I think the house is clean, Burke, but we can’t take chances.”

“Our vehicles were bugged?” Molly asked. “How did they break into our cars?”

“Only yours and Val’s. Burke’s is clean. They probably used a range extender. One person uses the device to boost the signal from your key fob to his partner’s device, which unlocks the doors because it thinks it’s your fob. But they’d need to get close to your keys.”

“My keys were in my pocket,” Val said.

“Mine too,” Molly said.

“You were both in the flower shop this afternoon. I’ll check the cameras again to see if anyone got close enough to redirect your signal. At least we know how they knew where Jace, Harper, and Everett would be and when.”

“But not your godsons,” Naomi said to Burke.

He frowned. “True. We need to find out who knew where they’d be. I’ll call Juliette when we’re done here.” He sat back, arms crossed over his powerful chest. “Okay. Now what?”

“I still want to know why they picked Naomi,” Molly said. “That was on our next steps this morning.”

Naomi nodded. “Please and thank you.”

Burke pinched the bridge of his nose. “We didn’t do most of the things we planned this morning. We still need to interview Winnifred Timms, the woman Naomi stopped to help five years ago.”

“We went to her apartment near the university campus after we saw Naomi at the shop,” Lucien said, “but they said she didn’t live there. We were going to search for her actual address, but things got crazy.”

Burke frowned. “We got distracted with the kids being grabbed.”

“Which may have been the point,” Molly said. “If they’d actually managed to take even one of our kids, we’d be tearing the city apart to find them. And not working on this case.”

“That’s so evil,” Ruthanne whispered. “It was bad enough to frame my daughter, but this? Taking children?”

“Beyond comprehension,” James said.

“It is,” Burke agreed. “Antoine, did you get a sketch on the guy whose arm Harrison broke?”

Antoine nodded. “I did. I sent it to André and I’m running it through facial recognition on my own.” He pointed to his laptop. “So far I haven’t gotten a match against the DMV database or the mug shots. I’m hoping someone in NOPD recognizes him.”

“Whoever this is,” Val said, “they’re playing the long game. If those wrong numbers Everett got back in September were part of this, they’ve been planning this for a long time. What is Gaffney up to?”

Burke scowled. “Gaffney’s always been dirty. He tried to get me to skim drugs from what we’d confiscated in busts.”

Naomi stared at him. “Really?”

He nodded. “Yeah. That’s when I quit.”

From his spot next to the fireplace, Everett straightened to his full height. “He did?”

“Yeah,” Burke repeated. “I left the NOPD over it.”

“Why didn’t you report him?” Everett demanded, eyes snapping with anger. “You could have kept Naomi out of jail.”

“I did. His boss was in on it, too. But I had no proof.”

“And then he got stranded on a bust,” Antoine added. “Nobody in NOPD backed him up. He was lucky he got out with his life.”

“Oh,” Everett said, going back to leaning on the fireplace. But his expression was now thoughtful instead of surly.

It would have been nice if he’d believed me on his own , Naomi thought. But I’ll take what I can get. “Once you ID the brother with the broken arm, that should lead you to whoever was busy grabbing kids tonight. If they’re real brothers and not just fellow gang members or friends.”

Molly nodded, taking notes. “We also need to track down the couple who helped Harper. What were their names again, Chelsea?”

“Donna and Bill Burrell,” Chelsea said.

“From Galveston.” Antoine sat on the floor and pulled one of his laptops close. “I checked during dinner and I couldn’t find a couple by that name in Galveston. Are you sure that’s where they were from?”

“Yes,” Chelsea said.

“Let’s put together a composite,” Antoine said, “like I did with Harrison and the broken-arm guy. They may have said Galveston when it’s really a much smaller town nearby. People do that when no one’s heard of their town.”

Chelsea bobbed her head. “Okay. Sure. Whatever you need.”

It seemed as though their conversation was winding down, but nothing felt resolved. Nothing felt finished.

They still had no idea what Gaffney and his people were planning or why they’d dragged Naomi back into their web.

Why me? Why now?

Drugs were definitely part of Gaffney’s plan. Naomi had no doubt that the envelope that had failed to make its way into Sylvi’s delivery van had contained drugs that would have been her downfall when inevitably discovered through an “anonymous tip” to the NOPD.

The why now was also not a huge mystery. Mardi Gras was coming up and the city would be inundated with more tourists than at any other time of the year. Hundreds of thousands of people would flood the city, looking to party.

Every cop knew that drug sales went through the roof during Mardi Gras. Even “glorified UberEats driver” cops relegated to the evidence division.

Naomi closed her eyes and considered everything they’d heard that evening and then she remembered Harper’s whispered words. Para mi. For me.

The man had wanted Harper for himself, and there was really only one reason he’d want a ten-year-old child. It was a sickening reason and one she didn’t want to discuss in front of the kids, who’d already been traumatized that day.

But… for me as opposed to whom?

It was possible Gaffney and his thugs had only wanted to scare them—at least with Jace and Harper—but what if they’d been serious?

What if they’d been successful? What would the kidnappers have done with their kids once they’d stolen them?

A chill spread across her skin, freezing her heart for a beat.

Drug sales weren’t the only illegal vice that skyrocketed during Mardi Gras.

“Burke,” she murmured. “Can the adults talk? Maybe send the kids upstairs to play video games?”

Burke nodded. “Sure, but why? What are you thinking about?”

She leaned in to whisper, “What were they planning to do with our kids if they’d been successful in abducting them? Would they have killed them? Or something else?” She looked meaningfully at Harper. “Would they have sold them?” she whispered into Burke’s ear. “It’s Mardi Gras, after all.”

“Oh my God.” He looked stricken. “I hope you’re wrong.”

“I do, too.”

“What’s going on?” Elijah asked suspiciously. “Are you guys flirting?”

A glance at Everett from the corner of Naomi’s eye told her exactly what her son thought of that. The word “flirting” had set off butterflies in her own stomach, but her son looked at her with revulsion. And maybe a little hatred.

Burke laughed self-consciously. “Um, no. But I do need you four to go upstairs. The spare bedroom on the second floor has a TV and a video game console.”

“I don’t want to play a stupid game,” Everett said.

“You don’t have to play,” Naomi told him, not wanting him to experience any more ugliness than he already had that day. “But…you don’t want to be down here. Please, Everett.”

Everett stared at her, and then something flickered in his eyes. Acceptance? Understanding? He shrugged, like he didn’t care at all. “Fine. Whatever.” He headed up the stairs, followed by Harrison.

Burke took Jace aside. “Make sure the volume’s turned up on whatever movie you watch or whatever game you play.”

Jace was instantly sober and in control. “Yes, sir.” He shepherded the two younger children up the stairs, tickling Harper and making her smile.

“Jace is a good kid,” Naomi said, hoping some of that steady goodness would rub off on Everett.

Val smiled proudly. “He is.” Then she sobered, waiting until they heard the television blaring upstairs. “What’s going on?”