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“Who the hell are you to ask me something like that?” she demanded.
“I’m a father. I’d tell my daughter to be careful around strange men who mean her harm. I’d also tell her not to put herself in harm’s way. Again.”
Val’s mouth fell open. Again? Like it was her fault the first time? What the fuck? In her mind she snarled the words, but her mouth wasn’t cooperating.
Swallowing hard, Val straightened to her full height, making the detective look up. It was a small thing and perhaps petty, but it felt good. “With all due respect, Detective, fuck you.”
“I’m really trying to help you,” Drysdale said quietly. “I’m sorry if the truth hurts.”
“We’ll be going now,” Molly said brusquely, finally regaining her power of speech. “Call us if you need help with your case, Detective. But we charge for investigative services. A lot. Consider this a freebie for the NOPD out of the goodness of our hearts.”
Molly turned on her heel and all but marched to her car, but Val stood there a moment more, staring at the detective, who continued to stare back at her.
“How did you know about that?” she asked.
He shrugged. “You killed a couple of men last summer when you were on the job. You walked away because it was self-defense. It was the first time you popped up on our radar, Miss Sorensen, so we did a background check. All kinds of things came up, including the fact that you’ve been involved in other homicides while working for Broussard. Interestingly, your military... history did not come up. Not under your current name, anyway.”
Val felt her eye twitch and she forcibly calmed it. “I see. And if I were to do a background check on you, Detective, what would I find?”
His expression grew dark. “I was trying to help you,” he said in a soft snarl.
She smiled coldly. “Well, you know what they say. You can’t help someone who doesn’t want to be helped. Have a good evening.”
She kept her steps slow as she ambled to Molly’s car and got in, closing the door carefully. “Drive,” she said from behind clenched teeth.
Molly pulled away from the crime scene. “Take your phone out of your pocket. We need Burke in on this.”
Val obeyed, on autopilot now. Her hands were shaking as she connected her phone to Molly’s stereo. “Did you hear that?” she asked, grateful that her voice didn’t break.
“I did,” Burke said, his fury fully evident. “What the actual fuck?”
“Are you all right?” Kaj asked, his fury mixed with concern.
“I’m sorry, Val,” Burke said. “I should have asked that.”
“I’m okay. Not happy that NOPD knows my personal history, but it is what it is now. I mean, we run background checks as a matter of course. I suppose I get why someone might have been concerned when I killed people, but I still hate knowing my private life is no longer private.”
“Just come home,” Kaj said. “We can figure out what, if anything, you want to do about him.”
For a few minutes, it was silent in the car, Molly driving and Val nursing her wounds. Val didn’t end the call because she found that the connection with Kaj comforted her in a way she hadn’t expected, even if neither of them said anything at all.
“He seemed like he really wanted to be helpful, as ugly as he was about it,” she finally said.
“Or,” Molly countered, “he was trying to make us angry about NOPD doing background checks on us so that we’d stop thinking about the fact that Noni Feldman was just kidnapped by Corey and Bobby.”
“Or that,” Burke said wryly. “Thank you, Molly.”
Val didn’t speak again until Molly had pulled into Kaj’s driveway and Kaj rushed outside to open her car door. “Come on,” he urged. “You’re home now. Are you coming in, Molly?”
“Not now. I may come over later to spell Burke, but tonight was Gabe’s night off, so I have a delicious dinner waiting at home.” She squeezed Val’s arm. “Don’t give that bastard Drysdale another thought. He was trying to distract us.”
Kaj pulled Val out of the passenger seat and into his arms. “She’s right. Don’t give him another thought. Just come into the house and let me take care of you.”
Mid-City, New Orleans, Louisiana
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 27, 9:30 P.M.
Kaj pulled her into him as he walked them up the front porch steps, where Burke stood waiting, his weapon drawn. “What are you thinking, Kaj?” he hissed. “Are you insane? You were just shot at a few hours ago!”
