Page 51 of Knife in the Back (New Orleans #4)

“You’re doing so well,” Naomi said, brushing the girl’s hand against her cheek. “Can you answer a few more questions?”

Because Susan was looking more tired by the moment.

“Ask.”

“What about the other woman whose face you didn’t see?”

“She was young, too, like Maya. College-aged, maybe. They called her Freddie.”

Winnifred , Naomi thought with a jolt of satisfaction. “Well, you don’t have to worry about her anymore. She was killed last night.”

Susan’s eyes widened. “Are you sure?”

“Very sure. I saw it happen.”

“Good,” Susan hissed out. “I’m glad and I’m not sorry.”

“Which is perfectly understandable.” Naomi put their joined hands back at Susan’s side. “What was her role?”

“She handled the money. Took the cash to the bank. I think it was cash from drugs, too. Pablo took the money from the…customers. And if we got a tip, he took that, too.” She met Naomi’s eyes. “I’m glad he’s dead, too.”

“He was the one who tried to take my son, so I’m going to have to agree with you. What about the other three men? The ones who stayed masked.”

“One was the scheduler. I never heard his name. But he dressed really well. Better than the others. The other man also wore expensive suits, but the scheduler, his were…put together. He accessorized really well.”

“Do you remember any specifics?” Burke asked.

Susan bit her lip as she thought. “He had beautiful shoes. We weren’t supposed to look up when the bosses came in. We were supposed to keep our eyes down. So I noticed his shoes. They were brown and looked like soft leather. The kind you slip on. Loafers?”

“That could be an important detail,” Naomi praised her. “Did you hear him speak?”

“Yes. He sounded like a butler, the ones on TV. But he was a local. Sounded like a New Orleans accent, anyway. They all sounded Southern. The guy with the shoes called one of the other guys ‘sir.’ He was the big boss. At least everyone called him ‘Boss.’ Except for the Freddie lady. Once she called him Romeo. But he didn’t like it. ”

Behind her, Naomi felt Burke twitch and made a mental note to ask him why once they were done. “What did the boss do to Freddie?”

“Grabbed her wrist. Told her to never call him that again. Really mean voice. I think Freddie’s feelings were hurt.

She took that out on us. After the boss and the shoe guy were gone, she told us we weren’t earning enough.

That we needed to be ‘more productive.’ I must have made some kind of face because she slapped me, hard. I’m glad she’s dead.”

“So am I,” Burke said, his voice quiet. “What about the third man?”

“He handled the drugs. Brought them to the mansion so that Pablo could sell them to the customers. Pablo called him Gaffney.”

“Perfect,” André said, his tone gone cold. He was already tapping on his phone, hopefully getting a warrant for Gaffney’s arrest before whoever was protecting Gaffney could sanitize the investigation. “Do you remember how many kids they kept, Susan?”

“Fifteen? Maybe more. There were four other girls sharing my room and there were boys in the room next door. More girls on the other side. They’re the only ones I had contact with. We’d talk through the walls because they were thin.”

“What do you remember about the mansion, Susan?” Burke asked.

“It was huge. Three floors. Maya grumbled about having to go up and down three floors. There were curtains covering the windows. They were nailed to the wall, so we couldn’t look outside.

There was music. Lots of music. Oh my God.

” She sucked in a breath, followed by a rasping cough.

“There was a parade,” she said after a sip of water. “What’s today’s date?”

“Wednesday, February twenty-sixth,” Naomi said.

“Mardi Gras parades,” Susan said, as if she’d just put everything together. “One was close. Maybe a few blocks away. It was before I got taken to the motel, but I don’t remember exactly which day, so you can’t know which parade it was.”

“But we now know that the mansion’s on a parade route,” Burke said. “That is incredibly helpful, Susan.”

“Good.” Susan closed her eyes. “I don’t remember much more.”

“You really have to go now,” Shannon said. “She needs to rest.”

Naomi pressed a kiss to the girl’s forehead. “I’ll come back as soon as I can. We can just sit together.”

“Me too,” Val said. “You’re not alone anymore, Susan.”

Susan swallowed. “Thank you.”

They filed out, André immediately dialing a number on his phone. “Hogan, it’s Holmes.”

The DA, then. André was going straight to the top. He requested a warrant, then said he’d have officers pick Gaffney up as soon as possible.

“That yielded more than I thought,” André said when he’d ended the call.

“She was a lot clearer just now than she was even this morning. You guys go on home. I’ve got some more calls to make before I leave here.

I don’t want to wait until I’m back in the office.

I don’t want Gaffney slithering away. Thanks, y’all. You were a big help.”

Naomi thanked Nurse Shannon, and then together she, Burke, and Val made their way to the parking garage.

None of them spoke, both Burke and Val on alert.

Naomi let them watch for danger. Her mind was spinning with new information, her heart breaking over what Susan had endured. The girl was brave.

Naomi would make sure that they didn’t let Susan and all the other kids down.