Sitting in the car in front of Maya’s house, Nik finally broke the silence. “Maya, you haven’t said two words all the way home. I’m really sorry I couldn’t get more out of Sadie. She knew Julian Freed, said he’d danced there a few times, not as an entertainer in the way he’d led us to believe, but as a customer. He’d befriended the bar girls and paid for a lot of free drinks. Since I’d described him as gay, she wasn’t even sure it was the same person. She only knew him as a regular guy who called himself Julian, not Juli.”
“It’s not that. I’m under no illusions that you got all that you could from her. I guess I’m still trying to digest what Gail had to say about
you
.”
“Why am I not surprised? I saw you follow her to the ladies’ room. Wondered if you’d question her? You do have a way.”
“It’s my job. Except, she was more forthcoming than most of the perps I have to interrogate. Darn woman wouldn’t stop talking about you. She told me about you as a teenager, how you’d hooked up with them, sneaking into the bars as an adult and supported yourself through college before disappearing.”
“Yeah, so?”
“She said you were pretty wild.”
“I was.”
“Mentioned that your father had been a mean bastard and came to drag you out of the joints they played in sometimes. That you never stopped him.”
“That happened when I was still fifteen. He was a big man. Not much I could do.” Nik’s voice had hardened and he looked away from her, the smile long gone.
“Then you left, never said a word. Just disappeared.”
“Uh, huh.”
“Didn’t you ever retaliate? Get your own back?”
“Not till I was sixteen. Scared the shit out of me so badly that I left. As a kid, I was always terrified that I might have inherited his mean streak. That if I ever started with him, I might not be able to stop. Hell, the only way I could make sure it never surfaced again was to learn control. The Navy taught me that and a hell of a lot more.”
“Nellie told me why didn’t you grow up with her and Max. About how they left you behind when they moved to New Orleans. It must have devastated you to learn about a family you never knew existed
“It did, until I accepted that the total blame belonged to my ol’ man, the cagey prick who wanted someone around to fetch and carry for him. I can’t understand any other reason he’d keep me.”
“Maybe as a way to pay back your mom for leaving.”
“Could be. Wouldn’t put it past him. You know, as a youngster, I’d have weird feelings of being abandoned, but they never made sense. I put them down to missing a dead mother and stopped letting them get to me years ago.”
“Dead? Your father told you Nellie had died?”
“Yeah! They left when I was a two-year-old child and I believed everything he said…had no reason not to. All I cared about in those days was getting as far away from the Bastard as I could.”
“Is he still alive?”
“No. Why?”
“Cause I wanted to find him and shoot the son-of-a-bitch.”
Nik’s laughter surprised them both. He slid his hand along her shoulder and squeezed gently “Look, don’t feel sorry for me. I did odd jobs; some singing here and there, got to college and finally joined the armed forces. I found a family there.”
“That’s sad, Nik.”
“It is what it is. I don’t like thinking about this other stuff. I’m gonna scram. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Nik knew he was being harsh, but he hated talking about his past. Every time he thought about the pigpen he’d called home, the drunken abuse, and the torment of living alone with a deranged scumbag, the bile in his stomach swirled.
A headache loomed, promising retribution. Clenching his muscles to stop from reaching for her, using her body to assuage the pain in his soul, he fought off the anger, but the rotten mood wouldn’t leave.
Enough!
Time for him to head home, take his medication and hope that tonight he’d be able to sleep.
After seeing her to the door, delivering a peck on the cheek as thanks for putting up with his grumpiness, he pulled away from her driveway and headed in the direction of Max’s apartment.
He noticed a flashy black car catch up to him too darn fast as he traveled along Rampart Street, crowding him, the headlights appearing closer than any idiot’s should be. Shit, if he stepped on the brakes, the other vehicle would crawl right up his ass.
Fuck!
The car drove into his back end, making him swerve and have to fight for control. Not a stunt driver like Maya, nevertheless, he could handle any four-wheeled vehicle easily. He floored the gas. So did the tailgater. Only it wasn’t happy to stay behind him, it tried to pull up alongside.
Not gonna happen, asshole!
Nik veered into its lane and then s-turned, taking up both. The move was one he hadn’t tried since the days when he was a randy youth high on pot and life. Silently thanking Max for loving big engines, he figured his controlled U-turn would make any movie director clap his hands like a two-year-old.
Fighting to control the car, he floored it again and checked the side mirror. With the street almost empty, they had also managed to turn and were following again, just not so close.
A memory of a day wandering the city intruded. He remembered a side street he’d found nearby where the back lane wasn’t noticeable unless one knew about it. Hoping his followers would pass on by, he spun around the corner, zigzagging through the streets until he came close to the turnoff. Flipping off his lights, he pulled into the lane by intuition and God’s mercy. Once they flew past, he left his lights off and backed out, turning in the direction he’d come.
Continually glancing in his rear-view mirror, he realized he’d lost them for now. But, they were on to him, or at least Max’s car. Probably wasn’t a good idea to hang out at his brother’s apartment tonight either. Instead, he drove in the direction of his hotel where he could leave the car behind an empty house a few blocks away and walk to his destination.
An hour later, he was still pacing his room. Since there wasn’t much to report, calling Max on the burner phone they’d set up took no time at all. He didn’t mention the car chase. Why rile up his twin who was paranoid enough about this undercover role? Nor did he have much to share in the way of their case, or news about the Mosleys. He did notice budding excitement on Max’s part when he described the Smith & Sons operation. Max insisted, in fact made Nik promise
,
that he’d report everything the old man said if he appeared at the office the next day for questioning.
“Keep your eyes open, bro. Those guys play for keeps.”
“Gotcha! Got to sleep now. I’ll call you again tomorrow. Oh, yeah, tell Linda thanks for not blowing it today when Maya and I appeared at the restaurant. Turns out, Maya loves the po’ boys in there.”
“I know. Who do you think introduced her to them? Night dude. Be careful.”
Nik grabbed water from the mini-fridge and took another cold, three-minute shower. Every time he thought about his sexy partner in that green dress, he called himself all kinds of names.
How could you walk away from those needy arms, man? She wanted you. You’re one dumb shit!
Lying naked on top of the white comforter, he thought about the evening. It was the first time he’d ever dedicated a particular song to anyone. At first, it felt kind of cheesy. But once he’d listened to the words that Johnny Reid had made famous, he knew they suited his growing attraction for Maya.
It had felt like heaven when she’d wrapped her arms around him
.
Shit!
He slammed his hand down on the night table and reached for his phone. Trepidation rode him hard, almost made him give up after the second ring until he heard her husky, welcoming voice and his whole body reacted.
Smiles changed his face from grim to pleased. Lightness filled his soul—and the opposite engorged his body.
Maya reached for the phone, her hand shaking when she saw Max’s number. “Nik! You called.” Could he hear her excitement, her pleasure? She hadn’t tried to hide it.
“You told me to. Said we could keep each other company when we couldn’t sleep. Did I wake you?”
“Kind of.”
“Kind of?”
Maya giggled, amused by the instant worry in his tone. “Okay, not really! My body isn’t settling down like it should. Seems to think it missed out on something exceptional tonight.”
“Mine too. Damn shame.”
“You can say that again. I hope you know it was you who blew it.”
“I do know. And I can’t tell you how much I’m mourning my stupidity. We
were
going to make out tonight, weren’t we?”
Maya knew her chuckle sounded regretful, but she was damned if she could help herself. The guy tickled her into acting silly. “I like a man who comes straight to the point.”
“Quit hedging. You didn’t answer my question. We were, weren’t we?”
“Sure looked that way, cowboy.”
“You liked my song?”
“Which one?”
“‘A Woman Like You.’ The second one.”
“Bet you sang that to a lot of girls before.” Maya held her breath for his answer. Dammit…it mattered too much!
“Nope! Didn’t even know it existed in the days I played the honky-tonks. But the moment I heard it, I knew I had to sing it to… to someone special one day.”
Was that hesitation she’d heard? Okay, those words, spoken in the rough tones of a sincere man, were starting to unravel the thick rope she’d tied her heart up with years ago.
Merde
, this surprisingly sensitive guy was getting to her. The silence dragged on while she thought of how to answer without giving away too much trust. Yet at the same time, being careful she didn’t make him feel like he’d overstepped.
Fuck! I’m no good at this romance stuff.
“Maya?” Damn straight there was uncertainty. She sensed him backing away and knew she’d have to share fast if she wanted to save the moment. “Yeah, Nik. I really liked the song. Made me want to stand up so that everyone in the place knew you were singing it for me.”
Did I go too far? Shit, shit… shit. I stink at this lovey-dovey talk.
He groaned, and she knew it was a good sound. He liked what she’d said. That came through the line clearly. She breathed a sigh of relief.
“I want you! Dammit, woman, I should be there with you now… ”
He broke off his word with a faint exclamation and she heard a rustling movement. “What, Nik? What’s going on?”
His whisper could barely be heard. “Someone’s paying a visit. I’m fine. Don’t worry.” When he ended the call, the click sounded like a loud bang.
Instant fear shot straight to her adrenal glands, charging them like a detonator on a bomb. The sickening rush that followed effectively shook her to the core, making it impossible to think straight. Something she prided herself on—not getting rattled—wasn’t working for her now. She ignored the churning in her stomach and tried to think. Her fists pressed hard against her mouth, stopping the building sobs from escaping.
Get dressed!
Rushing around, gathering discarded work clothes from the chair where she’d left them, she dressed and flew out the door in less time than it took to call for backup.
They’d get to Max’s place first. She was further away but then she drove faster. Not one to pray—she didn’t believe prayers made a difference. They hadn’t when she’d lost Charlie.
Therefore shock hit hard when she heard herself repeating “Please, God!” over and over… But she didn’t stop.
Nik was glad he’d turned the lights out before calling Maya. The darkness now gave him an advantage. When he heard the lock ping and saw the handle slowly turning, he was already crouched in place behind the door.
Waiting for the culprit to show himself, he slowed his heartbeat and assumed the cold persona of a black ops pro. Whoever decided to break into his place tonight would be sorry. He sure as hell wasn’t in the mood to play games.
No mercy!
First he heard murmurs, and then the door began to swing in. It stopped. Clothes rustling came next. Heavy breathing followed as if someone had laid something down.
Damn good thing Julian hit the lights before he’d stepped fully inside or his recovery would have been in a hospital bed.
Furious, Nik growled like a wolf whose prey had escaped. Then he let go of the smaller man with a shove to emphasize his temper. “What the hell are you doing breaking into the room at this time of the night?” He stalked over to the desk to replace his gun and picked up his pants.
Acting weird, Julian motioned to someone before stepping further into the room and closing the door. “No need to dress on my account.”
“Stop pissing me off any more than you already have. I could have killed you. Don’t you know it’s dangerous sneaking around—”
“Hey! I wasn’t sneaking around. I just came to drop off some clothes and get something out of the safe. You did tell me I could use the place, remember?”
Feeling rather sheepish at his uncalled-for anger, Nik nodded. “Yeah. Sorry.” Pissed that he’d been so jumpy and had broken off his phone call for nothing, it took him awhile to cool down.
Julian stepped past him. “What are you doing here anyway? I thought you were playing your twin’s special agent role? Staying at his place.”
“How did you know that? I didn’t tell anyone.” Nik stomped over to Julian with the full intention of making him talk. But he stopped when the little guy didn’t even flinch. His expression of calm cheerfulness never wavered. “Christ, you piss me off.”
“Why? Because I know what you’re up to? I told you, I’m your shadow. You might not see me, but it doesn’t mean I’m not around.”
Nik couldn’t fathom that this dude was as skillful as his words led one to believe. Shaking his head, he went to grab the water bottle and drank it dry. “Who’s that with you?”
“No one.” Julian’s expression finally changed, went serious and then crafty. “You’re hearing things, sugar.”
“Stop working me. And I don’t hear
things
. I’m trained to listen and I know what went on. There was someone with you. You can deny it all you want, but I know what I heard.”
Julian headed to the closet and knelt down by the safe. His muffled words were low but clear to Nik. “Man! A guy can’t even have a rendezvous without getting grilled like a punk teenager. I’m outta here.” Slipping a wad of money into his pocket, he closed the safe and reset the combination. “Go back to sleep, Nik, and see if next time you can’t wake up on the right side of the bed.”
“Hey, I want to ask you some questions. You have some explaining to do.”
Still indignant, Julian waved at Nik as if to say later, and walked on past as if he wasn’t even there. Before Nik could react to what was going down, the door closed behind the pest. Lunging forward, Nik swung it open in time to see a smaller person’s shadow step out from behind the bougainvillea, join Julian, and they both faded into the darkness.