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Hands shaking, he took a stack of twenties bound together with a rubber band and stuffed it into the jacket pocket. Then he squeezed through the window, grimacing when his shoulders still scraped the sides. He dropped quietly to the ground and held his breath, listening.
Nothing but the night.
He crept to Dewey’s workshop, exhaling in relief when he saw that Dewey’s keys were still on the workbench. Grabbing them, he made his way to the dock, sure that he’d be discovered at any moment.
But he wasn’t. Keep going. He eased into Dewey’s jon boat and untied the rope holding it to the dock. He’d row for a little while—or until he heard Corey coming after him.
Don’t think. Just go.
Taking the oars in each hand, he gave a push and... he was moving in the direction that he and Corey had come from when they’d returned from Cardozo’s house. He wanted to yell with excitement, but he didn’t make a sound. He didn’t know where exactly he was going, but anywhere was better than here.
Mid-City, New Orleans, Louisiana
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 25, 10:25 P.M.
“Finding anything?” Kaj asked.
Val looked up from her laptop as he put a cup of coffee on the table in front of her. “Thank you and not yet. I’ve gone through Aaron’s finances and employment history, trying to find out where he connects with Dewey Talley and Sixth Day, since they’re so anxious to break Aaron out of jail. If I can find how they know each other, that might give us more details about Dewey’s life. Very little is known about him.”
He hesitated. “Can you take a short break?”
She closed her laptop. “Of course.”
Kaj took the chair beside her, and dammit, he smelled too good. Like sandalwood and orange. The orange was from the dishwashing detergent he’d used to wash the dinner dishes.
MaryBeth, Jess, and Patty had left shortly after she and Kaj had returned from the garage after talking to André. Val had nearly begged them to stay a little longer, because while she’d taken in stride the information André had shared in the call, she wasn’t anywhere ready to deal with Kaj’s almost-kiss.
She still hadn’t figured out how to think about it. She knew she was flattered. She knew she was interested. Hell, she would have kissed him back without a second thought, even though Elijah and her friends hadn’t been even twenty feet away. Luckily André had broken the moment, because she also knew that it wouldn’t have been right.
Kaj seemed like the type to want to talk about it, which was why she’d nearly begged her friends to stay. But Patty had to finish out her evening shift at Le Petit Choux, and MaryBeth and Jess always had an early morning at the bakery. So she’d let them go with a shaky wave.
After they’d left, Elijah had gone to bed, Czar at his heels, and Kaj had busied himself with cleaning the kitchen. Burke had called their IT guy, Antoine, to install cameras around the house and pointing at the street. Both Antoine and Burke were monitoring the cameras with their phones, enabling Val to step away from the window for a while. Burke was still outside, watching the perimeter. They were all antsy after Sixth Day’s direct letter to Kaj.
Burke paced when he was antsy, so he’d taken first shift outside.
Val had resumed her study of the background information that Antoine had sent her earlier in the day, tuning out the sounds of clanking pots and pans so that she’d been able to hear Elijah’s soft breathing through the monitor she’d placed next to her laptop. But the silence between her and Kaj had hung heavy in the air the entire time.
Now it appeared to be time for the talk.
Kaj wrapped his hands around his mug and stared straight ahead. “I’m sorry,” he murmured. “I was out of line earlier. I hope I didn’t offend you.”
She studied his profile, searching for the right words to say. Tell the truth. “I wasn’t offended. I was flattered. And—at that moment—willing. So you didn’t do anything wrong.”
“You’re kind to say so. But I...” He looked at her then, his eyes haunted. “You never said what happened to you... before. With the man who, you know, sought you out.”
Val hated this part. Rehashing past pain. But he didn’t seem to be finished, so she said nothing.
“I don’t know what you went through,” he continued. “I don’t want to... scare you.”
At least she could allay his worry on this. “You didn’t. I’m not afraid of men, Kaj. Not most men, anyway. Big men sometimes trigger bad memories. Like MMA-fighter big. But I’ve had relationships since then.” Her lips curved. “Usually with men built like you.”
He exhaled, his relief plain. Then his eyes changed from haunted to interested. “Yeah?”
“Yeah. But not with men I work for. It’s not in Elijah’s best interest.”
He nodded once. “I understand. But after this is all over with and he’s safe again?”
“Are you asking me out on a future date, ADA Cardozo?”
