Page 76 of Knife in the Back (New Orleans #4)

“Yes,” André said. “This comes from Desi Ortiz, the leader of the gang. We picked him up running from the warehouse. After Kaleb and Cresswell stole the truckload of drugs from the gang—which was incredibly stupid on their part—they negotiated an agreement with the gang, mainly to save their own asses because the STs were pissed off. Cresswell and Gaffney used their contacts in NOPD to make sure the gang’s most profitable dealers and pushers weren’t arrested—up until Cresswell got arrested and PIB increased their scrutiny.

Elaine gave up Desi Ortiz as working with Kaleb on the trafficking as well.

Kaleb killed most of his staff this week, so he’d entered into an agreement with Ortiz to use his people to run the trafficking operation. ”

“I saw some of the rooms in that warehouse when Maya was taking me to Burke,” Naomi said. “They’d decorated them to look like regular bedrooms. That’s why Susan thought they were in a house.”

“There are enough tourists in New Orleans and people coming all year for conventions that the business should have been very profitable, but Ortiz said Kaleb sucked as a businessman. I think he had plans to get rid of Kaleb and take over, but that’s just my opinion at this point.”

“What about Elaine?” Lucien asked. “We’ve been wondering why she helped Harper escape Ernesto Delgado on Monday night.”

“Ah.” André nodded. “Kaleb’s one rule was no children. Teenagers yes, but no kids. So when Ernesto said ‘ para mi ’ when he grabbed Harper, Elaine knew that Kaleb would be pissed. They would have taken Everett and Jace, but they mostly wanted to scare you into hiding.”

“Which we did,” Molly said grimly. “Score one for Kaleb.”

“They did want to kill Burke and Naomi,” André said. “Stanley at the airport garage and Elaine at the hospital garage. The kids were to scare you, but the bullets were to kill you.”

“Who shot up my shop?” Sylvi asked.

“Two of the gang’s people. They weren’t supposed to do that, according to Elaine. Kaleb was displeased. He didn’t want NOPD to be called in.”

“My insurance company is displeased as well,” Sylvi muttered. “But Phin replaced the glass at cost and his contractors cleaned up the mess and replaced the wall with all the bullet holes, so there’s no long-term damage.”

“I’ll pay for it,” Burke said.

Sylvi glared at him. “I don’t want your money, Burke. It’s bad enough that you took my best employee.”

Burke grinned at her. He had a new full-time investigator and she was awesome. “Sorry, not sorry.”

“I know,” Sylvi grumbled. “But the new woman says she’ll stay if Naomi doesn’t come back.”

“And the PIB cops who were taking bribes?” Molly asked. “What about them?”

André sighed. “That list of compromised PIB investigators that magically appeared in my email is being taken seriously.”

Antoine looked pleased.

“And the teenagers?” Naomi asked. “How are they doing? Do they need anything?”

André looked pained. “All were treated and released except for the boy who tried to escape and got hit in the head. They kept him overnight for observation. He’ll be released back into the system today.

We have twenty-three traumatized teenagers to place, including Susan Snyder. It’s not going to be easy.”

Burke looked around the table. Several of his people had speculative expressions, like they were thinking of taking on a foster kid.

“Mom?” Jace said. “We’ve got room. I’ll help.”

Burke’s eyes stung. What a fantastic kid he was.

Val smiled at her son. “We’ll talk about it. Susan and I hit it off.”

Eleanor seemed to be considering it as well.

A glance at Naomi told Burke that she’d already thought about it. “You too?”

“I’ll need to rent a bigger place, but…they broke my heart, Burke.”

He leaned in to kiss her temple. “It’s a big heart. Strong too.”

And he had a big house. There were possibilities.

“Any other questions?” André asked. “Because that’s all I know.”

“Yeah,” Everett said. “Will my mother be cleared? Not just having her conviction overturned on a technicality?”

“My boss is already working on it,” Kaj said.

“Okay,” Everett said. “Thank you.”

“Told ya,” Jace said to Naomi. “He came around.”

Everett looked embarrassed. “I’m sorry,” he said to the table as a whole. “I was a dick.”

“You’re forgiven, Everett,” Burke said. “At least by me.”

“And by me,” Naomi said quietly.

One by one, everyone around the table raised their hands. Eleanor gave Everett an approving nod.

“I have a question,” Naomi said. “What about the other addresses in that PI’s report? Why was Kaleb going to all those places?”

André hesitated, then closed his eyes. “They were either drug distribution centers, like the Delgados’ house, or they were where Elaine Billings brought the kids who needed medical attention. We picked up three more teenagers. They…didn’t make it.”

The table fell silent for a long, sad moment.

“I wish Kaleb and Elaine were burning in hell,” Everett said quietly. “What kind of deal did you give Elaine Billings, Mr.Cardozo?”

“We took the death penalty off the table,” Kaj said. “She’ll still go to prison for a very long time.”

“Good,” Everett murmured. He glanced at Jace. “That could have been us.”

“But it wasn’t,” Jace said, trying to sound positive. “And look at it this way. You picked up some real friends right here.” He pointed to himself and then to Elijah. “Remember us when you can’t stop thinking about what might have been. It works for me.”

“I’ll try.” Everett turned to Naomi, still sober-faced. “Thank you for protecting me even when I was being awful.”

“I will always protect you,” Naomi vowed. “We’re going to be okay, Ev.”

He smiled at his mother and bumped the fist Jace offered.

Burke was so damn proud of Jace. He had to fight the rise of emotion and was grateful when Eleanor waved at him from the other end of the table.

“When do you think I can go home, Burke?”

“Depends.” Burke looked to André. “Can you ensure Desi Ortiz’s people won’t go after her?”

“No, but I’ve got people I trust stationed in Eleanor’s neighborhood so the STs know to stay away. Eleanor, if you want to go home today, I’ll drive you myself.”

“And I’ll go with you when you visit Juliette and the boys,” Naomi murmured to Burke. “If you want me.”

He squeezed her hand. “I do.” He wanted her in so many different ways. In his business, in his life, in his bed. In his heart.

It was the best ending he could hope for, given the circumstances.

And then Burke’s cell phone buzzed in his pocket. The text made his chest tight with new excitement. “We need to go to the hospital.”

Naomi leaned in, concerned. “Why?”

“Cora’s in labor.”

It was the best possible way to end the worst possible day.