Page 34 of Knife in the Back (New Orleans #4)

“No, ma’am. I was framed. My sentence was overturned.”

“On a technicality,” the woman said archly.

Naomi winced. “Yes, ma’am. But I am innocent. More importantly, my sixteen-year-old son is innocent. I want to keep him safe.”

She gave Burke a critical appraisal. “You’re a PI? Broussard Investigations. Private investigator and protection personnel.”

“You’re a fast googler,” Burke said.

Eleanor sniffed. “You young people think you’re the only ones who can do a damn search. Well, you might as well come in. You’ve already painted a target on my ass by standing on my front porch.”

Naomi hesitated. “We don’t want to cause you trouble.”

“You aren’t. Not new trouble, anyway. Get yourselves in here.”

“Don’t make her annoyed with us,” Burke whispered loudly and thought he saw the older woman’s lips twitch.

They followed her into an immaculate living room. Framed photos covered every single surface. Eleanor gestured toward a sofa as she lowered herself into a chair.

“What do you want to know?” she asked when they were seated. “I’m eighty-two years old. I don’t have time for any foolishness.”

Naomi smiled, despite looking more nervous than she should have been. She had this. Burke was certain.

“We’ll try not to be foolish,” she said. “Do you know if anyone was in the Delgados’ house when the fire started?”

Eleanor closed her eyes. “Probably both Rosanna and Carmen were in there. Rosanna normally would have left for work but her car was still in the driveway this morning.”

“The police came by last night to tell her that Pablo’s body had been found,” Burke said.

Eleanor sighed. “Then it makes sense that she’d have called in to work. Carmen—she’s Rosanna’s mama—rarely leaves the house. She’s retired. If she and Rosanna were in the house, they’re probably dead.”

Burke pointed to the front window. “Do you mind if I take a look?”

“Have at it.”

Burke pulled the curtains back enough to peek onto the street, but the angle was wrong.

He opened the front door and stood on the front porch so that he could see the still-burning house.

The structure was fully engulfed in flames, the firefighters now just trying to keep it from spreading to the other houses.

The medics were also there, having arrived shortly after Burke and Naomi had knocked on the first door. He’d seen them bring out one person, but now three stretchers were occupied.

All three had sheets pulled over the victims’ faces. Burke watched as the medics loaded the first victim into the ambulance. The Delgado family would be going straight to the morgue.

He returned to the sofa. “It appears there are three bodies in the Delgados’ front yard.”

Eleanor’s thin shoulders sagged. “Dammit. I’d be a liar if I said I was surprised. We all knew Rosanna and Carmen wouldn’t survive the trouble those boys brought to their doorstep. But just…dammit.”

They were quiet for a long moment, allowing the woman to regain her composure. Finally, she gestured to Naomi. “Start at the beginning.”

Naomi exhaled quietly. “Pablo Delgado tried to kidnap my son yesterday. Another man—Ernesto, we believe—tried to take four more children in three separate attempts. None were successful.”

Eleanor lifted her brows. “That doesn’t sound like the Delgados. They don’t usually fail to accomplish what they set out to do.”

“I’d hired a bodyguard for my son,” Naomi told her.

“One of Mr.Broussard’s people,” Eleanor said.

Naomi nodded. “Yes. The bodyguard managed to break Pablo’s arm before the getaway driver pulled a gun. The bodyguard was forced to let them go.”

“It wasn’t his job to catch them,” Eleanor said tartly. “It was his job to keep your son safe.”

Naomi smiled. “Yes, ma’am, and I am so very grateful to him.”

The older woman’s gaze became shrewd. “You’d already been threatened. Or your son was. That’s why you hired a bodyguard.”

“Yes, ma’am. Someone wanted me to distribute drugs for them. When I refused, they threatened my son.”

“Now that sounds like the Delgados. Turned their mama’s house into a distribution center. Ne’er-do-wells traipsin’ about at all hours of the night. Horns blowin’, tires squealin’. Gunshots, too.”

“Did you ever see anyone who might have been in charge?” Burke asked. “Someone who the brothers deferred to?”

“Not a person, just a vehicle. A black SUV would pull into the driveway, usually between midnight and one a.m. One brother—or sometimes both—would come out of the house and get into the SUV. They’d be carrying a paper bag to the SUV.

Left the same way, carrying into the house whatever bag they’d brought outside with them.

The bags were always filled with something.

We all figured that’s when they were doing the money drop and new drug pickup.

But none of us ever saw the driver’s face. He was real careful that way.”

“He?” Burke asked, disappointed that Eleanor couldn’t identify the driver. “Or could it have been a she?”

Because whoever had been driving the SUV with Pablo Delgado yesterday had been a woman.

“I don’t know,” Eleanor admitted. “I guess it coulda been a woman just as well as a man.”

“Did you ever see them bringing teenagers into the house? Male or female?” Naomi paused before adding, “They might have been barefoot, even if it was cold. Maybe forced at gunpoint.”

Burke wondered at the details Naomi provided, then figured they’d come from women she’d known in prison, women who’d also been forced at one time in their lives.

“We think they were into human trafficking,” Burke said quietly when Eleanor shook her head. “Did you see anyone like that?”

“No. I’d have called 911 if I had. Not that they’ve done us a lot of good. To be honest, if you’d been cops, I’d have slammed the door in your faces.”

“Why did you open the door?” Naomi asked.

Burke had wondered the same thing.

“Curiosity, mainly. The cops were out this morning, banging on doors before a decent hour. But now that I know that human trafficking’s involved, I guess I understand the urgency. But my last encounter with the NOPD didn’t end well.”

Naomi leaned forward. “What happened?”

“I called the cops because it was two in the goddamn morning and those brothers were playing loud music and shooting guns into the air. Or so I assumed. I hope they weren’t actually shooting at people.

That night I was so angry,” Eleanor said.

“Our neighborhood was being violated all the damn time. It was after the little boy was shot by a stray bullet and still the cops did nothing. I don’t even think they hauled the brothers’ asses in for an interview.

I got in one of the cops’ faces and let him have it.

Called him a lazy-assed coward. Shook my finger in his face.

He cuffed me.” She thumped her chest. “Me! A law-abiding, churchgoing woman.”

“I’m familiar with that outrage,” Naomi said.

“I guess you are. Anyway, his partner intervened. I was yelling that I was a retired court clerk and I knew my rights. That they had no business putting me in handcuffs.” She shrugged. “I might have even acted like I was having a heart attack.”

“No charges were filed?” Burke asked.

“Not a one. But that left a bad taste in my mouth. I shouldn’t have yelled at the man, but I was so angry that they did nothing.”

“Do you remember the names of the officers who came out?” Naomi asked.

“I have their names and badge numbers.” Eleanor shoved herself out of her chair and wobbled a little before righting herself, shooting them a look that said they’d better not offer to help her.

She retrieved an envelope from her desk and gave it to Naomi.

Two names and badge numbers were scrawled on the back of the envelope in spidery handwriting.

“You can’t keep that, but you can copy it down. ”

Naomi took a photo with her phone. “Thank you, Mrs.Jackson.”

The old woman sank back into her chair. “You’re welcome.”

Naomi bit at her lip, glancing at Burke from the corner of her eye. It was a hopeful look that warned him of what was coming. “I’m worried about you, ma’am. Because of the target we painted on your back.”

“I think I said it was my ass,” Eleanor said dryly. “I’ll be fine.”

“And if the arsonist returns?” Naomi asked. “I don’t want you hurt because you talked to us. These men are not to be underestimated.”

Eleanor just shook her head. “I’ve got nowhere to go. Nowhere that I’d want my trouble dragged to, anyway.”

Burke knew what needed to be done. He might not have thought to offer had it not been for Naomi’s hopeful little glance, but she was right. They’d endangered this woman and it was their job to protect her. “And if I found you somewhere to go? Would you evacuate for a little while?”

Eleanor’s eyes narrowed. “Where?”

“My house. It’s a little full at the moment, but I’ve got one empty bedroom.”

“Are there stairs?” Eleanor asked.

“Yes, but I also had a lift installed, so you don’t have to worry about stairs.”

Naomi smiled at him and he felt like a superman. “You put the lift in for Joy. Because of her wheelchair.”

“I did.” He turned to the woman, who watched them intently. “What do you say, ma’am?”

“I say thank you,” she said.

Naomi stood up. “I’ll help you pack a bag. Burke, why don’t you get the SUV?”

“I will, but I have a question for Mrs.Jackson first.”

Eleanor’s expression became wary. “What?”

“Was the decision to withdraw your legal action against the Delgados unanimous?”

“Far from it. Several of us—me included—wanted to keep going, but after the fire killed Maisie Richardson—she was our organizer—the younger families on the street were afraid for their children. Ultimately, that’s what convinced us seniors to withdraw.

I would have kept going until that scourge was gone from the neighborhood, but I understood the other families’ fear. Why do you ask?”

“I wondered who on the block might be open to talking to us. Someone might have seen something that we can use.” He thought of the two young women who’d escaped the Delgados’ clutches two weeks ago and the teenagers who were probably still being held somewhere in the city.

“If it weren’t important, I wouldn’t risk the safety of others, but I won’t knock on doors and implicate them like we just did to you.

I hate that we put you in danger, but our children are at risk.

And not just ours. Maybe your neighbors will meet us in a neutral location. ”

“That’s possible. I can make the calls, if you like.”

Burke smiled at her. “Thank you.”

“Teenagers being kidnapped,” Eleanor said heavily. “I understand why you’re pushing and so will they. Now, this old woman is going to pack.”

Burke looked at all the framed photos. “Do you want me to put your photos in my vehicle? We can keep them safe for you.”

“Because they might set fire to my house, too.” She pushed herself out of the chair and looked around her home, her eyes incredibly sad. “Yes, please, Mr.Broussard.”

“You’re going to be my houseguest. You should call me Burke.”

Eleanor nodded once. “Thank you, Burke. You may call me Eleanor.”

Naomi offered her arm. “And I’m Naomi. Will you let an ex-con escort you?”

Eleanor took Naomi’s arm, leaning against her, visibly fatigued. “Your sentence was overturned.”

“On a technicality,” Naomi responded lightly.

Eleanor cackled, and Burke’s heart squeezed hard. Affection , he realized. Damn, but he really liked her.

“I like you, Naomi,” Eleanor said, echoing his thoughts.

“I like you, too,” Naomi said.

Burke shot a text to Val, asking her to prepare the remaining bedroom, then began gathering Eleanor Jackson’s photos.