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“It is,” Kaj said. “What did you see, son?”
“A booklet. A brochure,” he corrected himself. “One with a lot of writing, but lots of pictures, too. All of Elvis and there was a mansion on the front of it.”
“Graceland,” Val murmured. “Where did you see this brochure?”
“In Corey’s truck. It had fallen under the seat. I was cleaning it for him. That was one of my jobs. When I asked him about it, he grabbed it out of my hand and...” Jace absently rubbed his jaw.
“He hit you?” Kaj asked sadly.
“Yessir. Wasn’t as hard as sometimes, though. Didn’t hurt much. But he was mad that I’d seen it. He crumpled it in his hand and cursed at Bobby under his breath.”
“Do you remember any other brochures, Jace?” Val asked.
“No, ma’am. I’m sorry.”
She smiled at him. “No, Jace, don’t be sorry. You’ve basically confirmed I’m on the right track. That’s huge. I’m going to let Antoine know. He can help me look. Finish your breakfast, okay? Elijah’s going to be awake soon and he’s going to want that omelet.”
Jace’s smile was so sad that it broke her heart. “I’ll try. But...” He dropped his gaze to his plate. “I hate Corey so much. It was bad enough when he was just beatin’ on me and Rick. But all of this killing... I hate him. Please catch him.”
“We will,” Kaj assured him. “Don’t you worry about that.”
Val quickly cleaned her plate and got back to work. She only had another two hours until she and Kaj would be calling her brother’s old friend for information about Sandra. She wanted to identify as many of Corey’s victims as possible before then.
Lake Cataouatche, Louisiana
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 27, 7:30 A.M.
“Cardozo has hired Broussard for protection,” Ed confirmed over a breakfast of dry protein bars and truly horrible coffee. “There seem to be a few main people that are always at his house. Broussard is one of them. The other is this woman, Val Sorensen.” He turned his laptop to show a photo of a woman with white-blond hair and blue eyes that were disturbingly familiar.
“That was the woman who was standing in Cardozo’s doorway,” Corey said. “The one with the giant dog.”
Ed nodded. “Not surprising. It’s not easy to get a list of Broussard’s people, but occasionally they’re in the news. Sorensen was involved in a double homicide back in August. Two guys came after a woman she was guarding. Sorensen took them both out.”
“She’s not to be discounted, then,” Corey muttered. “I have the feeling I’ve met her before. Is she from New Orleans?”
“I haven’t checked yet, but I will. We need to get the satellite connected to the generator. I’m using my cell as a hot spot internet connection, and the speeds are super slow. It took me over an hour just to get this much information.”
“Bobby and I will install it after he wakes up.” Corey drained his coffee cup with a grimace. “What did you do with Dianne?”
Ed hesitated. “She’s asleep. On her own.” Then he added quietly, “I look at her and I see Liam.”
Corey wasn’t really surprised. Ed had talked a big talk yesterday about how he’d overdose Dianne on sleeping pills. That he hadn’t... Well, Corey couldn’t blame him too much. “We have to take care of her. We’ll figure something out.”
“Is that coffee?” Dianne asked from behind them. “And breakfast?”
Both Corey and Ed spun in their seats to stare at her. Fuck.
“I needed to use the bathroom,” Dianne said, then gestured at the table. “I’m really hungry. May I?”
Corey nodded warily. “Sure. It’s just protein bars. They taste like cardboard.”
“I don’t care. I could eat actual cardboard, I’m so hungry.” She took one of the bars, but her shoulders slumped. “I’m going to need a job, now that Aaron’s in jail.”
“What do you want to do?” Ed asked, like he was truly interested.
Knowing Ed, he was probably trying to find a scenario in which they didn’t have to get rid of Dianne.
She eyed them cautiously. “I could work for you.”
