Page 73 of Knife in the Back (New Orleans #4)

Thankful for his height, Burke searched for Kaleb over the heads of the crowd. “There. He just pushed that family out of his way.”

Kaleb was only visible because he was shoving through the crowd. If he’d stayed put, he would have blended in and Burke wouldn’t have seen him.

Burke muscled his way through the people, muttering apologies. Naomi was right behind him.

She had his back.

She’d come for him.

She saved my life.

Burke was five feet from Kaleb when the man abruptly went down on one knee, reaching for his ankle.

Fuck. Kaleb had a backup weapon.

“Gun!” Burke yelled and launched himself into the air, coming down on Kaleb with a hard impact that knocked the breath out of them both. Kaleb squirmed and thrashed beneath him, but Burke had several inches and at least thirty pounds on the man he’d called brother.

Don’t think of him like that.

Burke grabbed Kaleb’s wrists and stretched their arms out like they were readying to fly, but Kaleb still had the gun. Burke’s hand slipped on Kaleb’s wrist. It was wet with blood.

He put pressure on the wrist and Kaleb screamed in pain.

Burke’s heart hated the sound even though he knew what Kaleb had done.

His brain knew. His heart hadn’t caught up.

Don’t listen. Don’t think. Don’t feel.

Crouching, Naomi pried the pistol from Kaleb’s hand.

She pointed an unfamiliar Glock at Kaleb’s head, then turned to one of the people who were staring at them in shock.

Just beyond them, the parade kept moving, most of the revelers completely unaware of what was happening around them. Only the people within a radius of ten feet were paying them any attention at all.

“You,” she snapped at the closest bystander. “Call 911. Now. This guy traffics teenagers for sex. Move. ”

The man obeyed, dialing 911, but he seemed to have lost the ability to speak. He handed the phone to Naomi.

“We’ve detained Kaleb Marchand,” she said to the operator. “There’s a BOLO out on him.” She gave them their location, then handed the phone back to its owner. “Stay with the operator, please.”

Keeping her gun pointed at Kaleb’s head, she took her own phone from her pocket and tapped her screen one-handed. “André, it’s Naomi. I have Burke and we have Kaleb. Did the kids find you?”

Burke let her words wash over him. She was all grace and intelligence and…competence.

And I’m so tired.

Kaleb had stopped struggling, but Burke didn’t dare move. Didn’t dare give Kaleb an inch of breathing space.

If Kaleb took off again, Burke didn’t think he had the energy—physically or emotionally—to hunt him down. So he stayed where he was, his body keeping Kaleb contained.

“Good,” Naomi said. “There were twenty-two of them. You got them all? You’re sure?

” A moment passed as she listened. “Okay. We’ll hold him here.

There’s a dead woman outside the warehouse.

It’s Maya. Gaffney’s dead. His body was in the room with Burke.

And there was another guy, big guy with a gun.

I have no idea what happened to him.” Another pause. “Thank you, André.”

She ended the call, put her phone away, then exhaled. “You okay, Burke?”

No. He was not okay. He might never be totally okay again. But he lifted his head to meet her eyes. “You came.”

“I did.” She brushed a lock of hair from his forehead, then cupped his cheek. “I got your back.”

He nuzzled into her hand for a heartbeat, then two, before dropping his head to rest on the pavement next to Kaleb’s. He didn’t want to touch Kaleb at all, but he was so tired, his head aching. He couldn’t relax his body for fear that Kaleb would buck him off, but he could rest his head.

“Why?” he asked quietly.

Kaleb said nothing.

“Was it the money?” Burke pressed.

Kaleb let out a derisive laugh that ended on a groan. “Of course it was the money.”

“Why didn’t you ask me? I would have helped you.”

“Didn’t want your fucking money. Didn’t want your fucking charity. Don’t want anything from you except to see you dead.”

The words hit hard and Burke wanted to crawl away and lick his wounds, but Kaleb made one last effort to wrench free. Burke bounced, knocking the breath from Kaleb once more.

After that, neither of them said anything.

Neither did Naomi. She just stroked Burke’s hair, somehow knowing what he needed.

Minutes ticked by and Burke became aware that they were being filmed. More and more people realized that something momentous was happening on the ground, and dozens of phones were pointed at them.

Burke didn’t care. His body hurt. His heart hurt. His adrenaline was already crashing and the pain of betrayal was like a knife in his back.

He’d hurt for Naomi when she’d found that her ex-husband had been paid to lie at her trial, but she’d already accepted that Jimmy Haywood was a bad man.

This was different.

He’d had no idea.

He’d loved Kaleb.

He’d trusted Kaleb.

Juliette would be devastated. The boys would be crushed.

But there was solace also. Naomi had come for him.

I’ll be okay. Eventually.

Finally, André was there, directing his officers to take Kaleb in.

Burke sat back on his heels and let the officers pull Kaleb to his feet. He watched them slap cuffs on Kaleb’s uninjured wrist. Listened as they read his oldest friend his rights.

Naomi remained at Burke’s side until Kaleb was dragged away. André held out his hand and both Burke and Naomi surrendered their guns.

“Where did you get that?” Burke asked. “It’s not one of mine.”

“Eleanor,” Naomi said, and Burke wasn’t surprised.

“I shot his wrist,” she added to André. “Burke confiscated one of Kaleb’s guns and I confiscated the other, but neither of us fired them.

Kaleb killed the woman outside the warehouse with that one.

” She pointed to the larger of Kaleb’s handguns.

“I shot her arm to get her to drop her gun.”

André put all the weapons in an evidence bag.

“Okay,” he said simply. “Molly and Antoine got to the warehouse a minute before I did. Harrison called them. They’d seen a bunch of kids without shoes huddled together walking up the street.

Flex-cuffed in pairs. Twenty-two of them.

They’re waiting with them until we can get the kids transported to the hospital. ”

“I guess they were all barefoot,” Naomi murmured. “I didn’t even think about that. I only wanted to get them as far away from the warehouse as I could.”

André smiled. “You did a fine job, Naomi. I think you’ll find you have a position with the NOPD if you want one.”

“I don’t,” Naomi said. “I’m gonna work for Burke.”

Burke tried to smile, but his mouth wouldn’t curve. “Good.” It was all he could manage.

André leaned down and helped Burke to his feet, then wrapped his arm around Burke’s shoulders to keep him upright. “I’m gonna call the medics for you.”

“I just want to go home.”

“Then that’s where we’ll go,” Naomi said, giving André a stern look that brooked no argument.

“Okay,” André said. “I’ll take your statements, then I’ll drive you myself.”