Page 42 of Knife in the Back (New Orleans #4)

The Quarter, New Orleans, Louisiana

Burke sank into his BarcaLounger and let out a long, slow breath. The house was finally quiet. All the children were in bed. Probably not asleep, but in bed. Molly and Lucien were back on guard duty, Val and Harrison now sleeping.

Door locks had been checked, windows secured. Val’s dog Czar slept in the bedroom with Jace and Elijah. Elijah’s dog was up there, too, but Burke wouldn’t depend on Delilah to protect the boys from harm. Czar would protect everyone.

His house was sealed tight.

He could breathe now. He’d finally gotten a chance to change his clothes, to scrub Winnifred Timms’s blood from his skin, out of his hair.

Naomi had also been splattered with the blood and gore, but she hadn’t complained, not even once. She had, however, spent a very long time in the shower when they’d finally arrived home after being released by the NOPD.

It was dark in his living room and he welcomed it.

His head ached. But he had messages to check, so he braved the light from his phone as he ran through his texts.

There were several from Molly, Lucien, and Val asking where they were and if they were all right.

That they’d heard about the shooting on the news and were so worried.

He’d called them as soon as he’d gotten his cell phone back from the NOPD, so he ignored those messages. There was a new one from Jace, accompanied by a photo. That one made him smile because it was a photo of Burke himself at about seven years old.

Jace’s message read: Found in yore mamas cook book. U were cute.

The kid was getting better at texting. Diagnosed with dyslexia at fifteen, Jace had a lot of catching up to do, but Val, Kaj, and Elijah were constant supports.

Burke loved his people so very much.

He texted back: Thank you. I didn’t know the photo was in that cookbook. And I was pretty cute. He sent it, unsurprised to get a reply right away, a laughing emoji.

He kept scrolling through messages, deleting the ones from the media. His name had been mentioned in the initial reports of the shooting, as it often was when he was in the thick of a case that went south.

There was a whole slew of messages from Joy Thomas, his office admin. They started out worried and quickly became scolding. He’d already called her as well, giving her a heads-up because the office would be inundated with calls tomorrow.

But there was no message from the person he’d most hoped for. Nothing from Kaleb. Not even an Are you okay?

It hurt. A lot. His work group was family, but not in the same way as Kaleb and Juliette. This situation could not continue.

His heart couldn’t take it. He glanced at the clock. It was late, but Kaleb was a night owl. He’d be awake. He hesitated for a full minute, staring at Kaleb’s name in his favorites list. Then he tapped the name and held his breath.

The phone rang five times. Which meant Kaleb was either asleep or was purposely letting it go to voicemail. Burke was about to hit end when Kaleb answered.

“Burke.”

“Kaleb. I’m sorry to call so late. I needed to talk to you.”

Kaleb sighed. “I’ve been meaning to answer your text. I’m just not sure what to say.”

“That you forgive me?”

“I forgive you. I said a lot of things in the heat of the moment that I wish I could take back. But…”

Burke had released the breath he’d been holding, but his lungs froze up again at that tiny little word that held so much power. “But?”

“I still don’t want you around the boys. You’re a magnet for trouble and I…I’m sorry, Burke. I just can’t risk their safety.”

Kaleb did sound sorry, but that didn’t keep Burke’s heart from breaking at the thought of not seeing his godsons again. “I guess that’s your right as their father.”

“It is.”

“Are they okay?”

“They are. Still shaken up. Juliette’s found them a therapist.”

“That’s good. That’s real good.” There was a long moment of awkward silence that Burke had to break because it didn’t seem like Kaleb was going to say any more.

“Can we meet later this week? There are still some things we need to work through. All that stuff about me leaving the running of the company to you.”

“I was angry, Burke. I shouldn’t have said those things.”

“But you did, so you must have been thinking them. In fact, it sounded like you’d been thinking about them for a long time. You’re…Dammit, Kaleb, you’re the only family I have left. I can’t breathe if you’re this angry with me.”

“I’m not angry anymore.” Kaleb just sounded tired.

“Can we meet? Just for lunch. Anywhere you choose.”

Kaleb made an exasperated sound. “You were just shot at, Burke. Someone shot at you.” He sighed.

“Look, I’ll be blunt. I don’t want to meet with you.

I don’t want to be seen with you. I don’t want to draw the attention of whoever shot at you tonight.

Because the next shot might be aimed at anyone they think they can use to hurt you. ”

Burke swallowed hard. “Okay.” Because, again, what else could he say?

“We can do a Zoom call to talk about the business. Just until I find someone to take over as liaison to the owner of the company.”

Hurt swelled. He was no longer Burke, or Kaleb’s brother, or Kaleb’s oldest friend. He was now the owner of the company .

“Is…Is Juliette in agreement?”

“No. She’s on your side. So now you’ve not only put my sons in danger, you’re affecting my marriage.”

There was the bitterness Burke had heard the night before.

“I’m sorry. I don’t want to come between you.”

“Then stop texting her. Stop asking about the boys. You’re only making things worse.” Another heavy sigh. “Give me time, Burke. It’s only been a day and I’m still dealing with the fright of nearly having my children abducted.”

I’ve been selfish, making this about me. “Good night, Kaleb.”

He ended the call and shuddered out a breath. Kaleb was right, even though the truth had been devastatingly hard to hear.

A noise from the kitchen doorway had him jerking his gaze in that direction.

Naomi stood in the shadow left by the night-light over the stove. She held a mug of tea in one hand and, in the other, her bag covered in butterflies.

“I didn’t mean to listen,” she said quietly. “By the time I realized you were on the phone, it seemed too late to come out.”

“It’s okay,” he said. “I’m not angry with you.”

Never with her.

She approached cautiously. “Thank you. I just didn’t know what to do. I tried not to overhear. I, um, made you a cup of tea.” She set it on the table beside him.

He took it gratefully. “Can’t you sleep?”

She shook her head. “Mom can’t sleep with a light on and I can’t sleep in the dark or with the door closed.

PTSD from being in solitary all those months.

Plus, I thrash at night sometimes, when I have nightmares.

I don’t want to hurt my mom.” She held up her butterfly bag. “So I came downstairs to work.”

“Take my room. I can sleep in the chair.”

“That’s very generous, but I’m not going to take your bed, Burke.” Then she surprised him by brushing a wayward lock of hair from his forehead. “If you don’t mind, I can go sit in your study. I might snooze on the sofa up there.”

He didn’t want her to go. “Or you could sit on the sofa here. And snooze if you want.”

He didn’t want her to be alone.

He didn’t want to be alone, either.

“If you’re sure.”

“I am. Sit down, Naomi. Turn on that light.” He sipped at the tea. “Thank you for this.”

She sat on the settee and switched on the light, which was so dim that it didn’t bother his headache. He wouldn’t have cared if it had. He was realizing that he’d do a lot to make Naomi Cranston happy.

“You’re welcome,” she said. “And if you want to talk, I’ll be happy to listen.”

He studied her over the mug for a long moment. “Thank you. But there’s really nothing to say. Kaleb doesn’t want to be seen with me. He’s afraid bad guys will shoot him. And he isn’t wrong.”

“He isn’t right, either. Burke, cops walk this path every day. They deal almost exclusively with bad guys, but it’s rare that anyone shoots at their children. You know this. Kaleb might not, but you do.”

“He said he needs time.”

“Then give him time. Maybe he’ll come around. Or his wife will.”

“I don’t want to be a wedge between them. He says I’m affecting his marriage.”

“Well.” She pulled her knitting from the bag. “You can take this with a grain of salt, but I have been married before.”

“To a jerk.”

“True enough. But if they’re fighting about you, there’s a fair-to-middlin’ chance they’ve been fighting about other things that have nothing to do with you. You might be a final straw, but I doubt that you are the only straw.”

He shook his head. “They’re rock-solid.”

“Maybe. Maybe not. People thought Jimmy and I were rock-solid, too. I’m not saying your Kaleb is like Jimmy. That would be too mean. But I am saying that you don’t bear the weight of all the problems in their relationship. Give them time and a little space. They might work things out on their own.”

“Thank you. That helps.” And it did. Not that Burke wanted Kaleb and Juliette to have marriage problems, but what Naomi said made some sense.

“Good.” She knitted in silence for a few minutes while he sipped his tea. Then she sighed. “Sylvi had to hire someone to take my place. Temporarily.”

“Are you okay with that?” He didn’t think so, since she’d brought it up out of the blue.

“I think so. She promised me it was just to get her through Mardi Gras, which I understand.”

“Who did she hire?”

“A woman whose florist business failed. The woman is an artist with flowers, just not good with the business parts.”

“You sound worried,” he said gently.

“Insecurities, I guess. The new woman isn’t an ex-con who’ll get Sylvi’s shop shot up. If Sylvi kept her, I couldn’t blame her.”

“We seem to be in the same boat, our troubles affecting those around us.”

She met his eyes in the dim light. “We are indeed.”

Which was why she’d brought it up, he realized. Not so out of the blue. “You’re very kind.”