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“You’re welcome. Please be discreet with this information. Don’t jeopardize them, please.”
“Why did they contact you?”
“I can’t tell you that. Please be safe. Goodbye.”
The call ended and Kaj exhaled slowly. “Well, hell.”
“Yeah,” André agreed.
“Who owned the Hyundai hidden at the boat launch?” Kaj asked. “And if you don’t know, we can do a search. There can’t be too many paramedics who’ve gone missing in the past twenty-four hours.”
André sighed. “I already know. I was going to tell you tonight, but then Burke was telling you about the new threat to Elijah and I figured it could wait till morning. His name was Zach Monteith, thirty years old. Army vet, honorable discharge. He left the house yesterday evening, but when he hadn’t come home by morning, his fiancée reported him as a missing person. Nobody had followed up, as he’d only been missing for a few hours by that point.”
“Until you pulled up his remains from the bayou,” Kaj finished. “So that’s what Corey Gates is up to. Holy shit.”
“Holy shit, indeed. What are you going to do with this?”
“Send you a copy of the audio file,” Kaj replied, deliberately misunderstanding André’s question. The cop wanted to know if he planned to tell Val and Burke. Which he, of course, did plan to do. He’d do anything at this point to keep his son safe. “Miss Butler was hoping you would let the intended crime unfold so that you could catch the perpetrators.”
“I didn’t take you for a cowboy, Cardozo. Why are you telling Val and Burke?”
“I’m not a cowboy. But I hired them to investigate this case, to find out who was out to hurt my child. Corey threatened Elijah specifically with that note he taped to Rick’s chest. If he plans to kill Bella Butler, too, that’s a data point they can use to dig deeper. Corey has threatened my son, André. He has to be stopped and at this point I don’t care who does the stopping.”
André was quiet for a long, long moment. Then he sighed again. “I can’t agree with you, Kaj, but I do understand where you’re coming from. If it were anyone but Burke Broussard’s crew, I’d do what I could to stop you.”
“I’d still do it, André.”
“I know. And I guess we’ll have to deal with that later, when we’re not in crisis mode.”
“I haven’t kept anything from you,” Kaj said, hearing the defiance in his own voice. He didn’t care. “I’ve told you everything.” Except for the information Rick had shared with Lucien, but that fell under attorney/client privilege and Kaj didn’t know the exact dates himself.
It was a fine line, but he’d cross it in a heartbeat to keep Elijah safe.
“I know you have,” André said, sounding exhausted. “But I’m wondering if Jace has. I’m wondering what he knows about this murder scheme.”
Kaj rose, returning Bella’s burner phone to his pocket. “Let’s ask him. How quickly can you get here?”
“Let me say bye to my mom. Give me fifteen minutes.”
Mid-City, New Orleans, Louisiana
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 26, 10:10 P.M.
Jace watched warily as Mr.Cardozo let Captain Holmes into the house and locked the door behind him. It was only a matter of time before they decided he was too much trouble, even though Elijah’s father had promised that Jace could stay with them for one more night.
Two cops had been hurt pretending to protect him. At least they’d be okay. But now Elijah was facing a new threat because of Rick.
I am too much trouble. Jace swallowed hard because both Cardozo and Holmes were giving him an odd look.
“Where’s Elijah?” Cardozo asked.
“In bed,” Val told him.
Burke came in from the backyard. “What’s going on?”
“Jace, can you come with me, please?” Holmes asked.
Jace’s heart pounded harder. “Am I going to jail?”
