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Bobby yelped. “She bit me!” He slapped one of the lengths of tape over her mouth, but the woman transformed into a wildcat, her elbows jabbing Bobby hard enough to make him snarl. “Fucking hell. That hurts.” He backhanded her, stunning her into immobility for long enough to restrain her hands. Her feet were next, and then he shoved her into the footwell.
Leaving her on the passenger side, he marched around to slide behind the wheel. He yelped again when he could barely move, yanking at the seat release. The seat slid back, and Bobby exhaled.
“That was harder than it needed to be.” He put the van in gear and gave the finger to Ed, who was laughing his ass off.
“Let’s go, Bobby,” Corey urged. “We’ve been sitting here too long.”
Ed moved the stolen car and Bobby eased the van into traffic. Hopefully they were all tourists and wouldn’t realize that the men in the bakery van were wanted by the NOPD.
Traffic moved quickly once they got out of the Quarter and headed for Mid-City, where Cardozo lived. Finally, Bobby pulled over while Ed parked the car a block away from NOPD’s checkpoint.
Ed hopped in and gave Corey a nod. “Do we free the woman before we send her toward the house or shoot her and let them find her?”
“We free her feet,” Corey answered, “but not her hands or mouth, or she’ll scream and warn them. Remember the plan. Bobby, you take care of the bodyguards. According to Ed’s friend, there are two—Broussard and Sorensen. Kill Broussard. Grab the blonde. I’m after Cardozo. Ed, you grab the kid. And whoever encounters that monster dog first, shoot it.”
“Dammit,” Bobby whined. “I don’t want to shoot a dog.”
“You’ll do it,” Corey snapped. “Now focus. We have one shot at this. Just one.”
He held his breath when they approached the police who’d been watching Cardozo’s neighborhood, but the man simply waved them through. Didn’t even look into the window.
“How did you do that?” Corey demanded.
Bobby smirked at him in the rearview mirror. “My buddy’s got juice.”
“When this is over, you have to tell me who he is.”
Bobby shrugged. “When this is over, I don’t plan to let him live long enough to introduce you two. We’re here.” He backed the van into Cardozo’s driveway, then leaned forward to yank the baker onto the seat. He slit the tape binding her feet, then shoved her hard so that she stumbled out of the van and a few steps up the walkway. She started to turn to run the other way and Bobby fired a single shot to her leg. With the silencer, all they heard was a pop.
Down she went.
Showtime.
Mid-City, New Orleans, Louisiana
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 28, 10:25 A.M.
Val stared across the dining room table at Burke. “Corey’s second camp belonged to Van?”
“That’s what Aaron told Kaj.”
“But Van never told me about any property he owned in the bayou.”
“Van didn’t tell you a lot of things, Val,” Burke said gently.
“True.” She sighed wearily. “My brother was a total stranger.”
Jace fidgeted. “I don’t know where it is. I didn’t know that Corey had the first camp.”
“Oh, honey.” Val squeezed his arm. “Nobody’s expecting you to know.”
Jace dropped his gaze to the table. “I want to be useful. To earn my keep.”
“Jace.” She waited until he was looking at her. “No one expects you to earn your keep.”
His brows crunched. “Mr.Cardozo said I didn’t have to be cuffed anymore. Why?”
She smiled at him. “I think he wanted to ditch the cuffs a few days ago, but he had to think about Elijah. So he waited until he was sure. I guess he’s sure now. Don’t worry, honey.”
