Neither Constantine nor Nicolette had been available, so she’d start over with them in the morning. She really needed to talk with Del, and she was sure at least one of them had to know where he was. Meanwhile, she would review the case file once more when she got home. A lot of little details had come in today, and she couldn’t afford to lose track.
Her mind went quiet for a moment and the subject that she’d relegated to the back part of her mind all day pushed forward with a vengeance. She couldn’t do it, she realized. She couldn’t move into the penthouse, not even with Tolley there as a buffer. Not even for a case. It felt too much like losing a piece of herself. Even knowing she could get out of the lease with thirty days’ notice, Hawk would have a hold on her she’d never given to any man. Her heart twisted a little. She knew deep down that he alone had the power to make her forget herself, to lose herself in the love. Something she’d vowed never to do after watching her mom and dad split up all those years ago.
You just couldn’t ever know, couldn’t ever be sure. Her parents had each been married more than once, had kids with more than one person. It made Christmastime a nightmare, as far as she was concerned. Steps, halves, and wholes. How did you keep track of it all? Why should you? If love couldn’t be once, couldn’t come with a guarantee, then she didn’t want it. Life as a single woman suited her just fine. She’d had a taste of Hawk, but it was too potent a mixture to taste again. Maybe she had more in common with Del than she’d thought; she could easily become addicted to Hawk Charbonnet. It was time to quit now.
She turned into her parking slot and saw a tall, slim figure waiting for her. Nicolette. Just what she needed. Not.
Dani opened her car door and climbed heavily out.
“Dani, thank God! You’ve got to help me. I think Constantine is going to kill me.”
Nicolette was prone to drama, always making sweeping statements that turned her into the star of every story. Ready to blow the conversation off until morning, Dani took a good look at Nicolette and saw a woman with dark circles under her eyes and lines that bracketed her mouth. She saw serious signs of stress.
Nicolette scanned the parking area, and Dani looked, too. There was nothing unusual. Still, Nicolette
was
scared. Maybe she’d spill about Del’s location in exchange for some help.
“Come inside, Nicolette,” Dani said and led the way to her apartment with Nicolette close on her heels.
Dani put her key in the lock and had already turned the knob when she belatedly realized it hadn’t actually been locked. In one smooth motion, she pushed Nicolette behind her and drew her weapon as the door swung slowly open.
“Holy shit, Dani!” Nicolette’s words echoed back to them.
Her apartment was completely empty, stripped of all her belongings. The only thing in the entire place was an envelope propped on the counter addressed in an elegant cursive: Danielle Delacroiux.
Tolley sipped a fine single malt whisky and leaned into the buttery softness of the new black leather couch in Hawk’s living room. He didn’t miss the dark circles under Hawk’s eyes. Or the marks on his neck, just under the open collar. Damn that Dani could be rough. Ah, well. Not like Hawk was for him, so he’d better dispense some advice instead, because otherwise Hawk was either going to die or going to have his heart broken.
“Hawk, you better have a plan, because Dani is going to be pissed.”
“I got the impression that Danielle rather appreciated a take-charge sort of man. I merely took charge.”
Tolley laughed, but it wasn’t a happy sound. “There’s a difference between taking charge and running over the woman. Take-charge is when you pick the restaurant and order her food. You moved her belongings and bought new furniture for her apartment without telling her. I know Dani, and she’s not going to take this well.”
“Tell me something, Tolley. Do you know her well enough to realize that left to her own devices she likely would have changed her mind about moving in here?”
Tolley looked away. He’d already thought of that and planned a full-on assault to make sure she didn’t back out. Still, Hawk was a perceptive bastard.
“Dani wouldn’t leave me hanging. She knows I need a place to stay; she needs a place, too. I could have kept her focused.”
“Is that why she failed to show up to sign the lease? No, I think this is by far the best way to get what we both want, Tolley. I appreciate your agreeing to stay one more night at the B and B, however, so I can handle this situation. I owe you.”
“How are your hand-to-hand combat skills?” Tolley asked, no longer smiling. “Dani is likely to kick your ass. She’s kicked mine before.” Briefly, he recounted their final match at the academy, and had Hawk laughing richly at the picture he’d painted of Danielle straddling him with his hands cuffed behind his back.
“Surely you let her win, I mean look at you,” Hawk’s gaze scanned him from bottom to top. “You must outweigh Danielle by a good eighty pounds. There’s no way a woman her size could topple you without your cooperation,” Hawk scoffed.
Tolley reined in his rampant thoughts at Hawk’s appraising look and focused on what he was saying. “I outweigh her by a
hundred
pounds and I promise you that’s a true story. Look, Hawk, I believe you had good intentions and your actions will make things a lot easier for me. But now we’re both going to have to work extra hard to convince her to stay.
“Sometimes, Dani gets her back up, especially if she feels she’s being railroaded. You need to understand. Your daddy’s done a number on the Delacroiux family for years, and it’s really hard for her to trust any Charbonnet. I never would have believed she’d have been with you under any circumstances, to be honest. Not because there’s anything wrong with you, Hawk. It’s all about the family history. But there’s a connection between you, a strong connection that was easy for me to see.
“What I’m trying to say is, your moving Dani’s things…might have been too much, too soon. I know you promised her privacy and space, but she will likely see this as a violation of that promise.
“She’ll react in one of two ways. She’ll either kick your ass, like I said, or she’ll shut you out. Getting her to fight with you would be preferable, because if she runs, you may never get her back.”
Hawk sat forward, his elbows resting on his knees, hands cradling his whisky. He waited so long to say anything that Tolley wondered where his thoughts had gone. When he did speak, it wasn’t what Tolley had been expecting.
“Does she know you’re in love with her?” Hawk asked.
Tolley started to argue, but one look at Hawk had him changing direction. He shook his head. “My feelings aren’t relevant but it’s not
in
love—it’s love. I told you I love her; she knows it, too. I don’t want her hurt, and this action has potential for hurt. For both of you.”
Hawk shook his head, impatience all over his face. “She knows you love her as a friend. I was talking about the fact that you are
in
love with her. It seems to me we both need to know that before the two of you move in together.”
“Dani sees me as her gay friend, and I’ve never felt the need to tell her I’m bi,” Tolley said. “It would never occur to her that I might have any other feelings, and honestly, I like being Dani’s friend a hell of a lot. As other feelings were passing fantasies. I’d appreciate it if we could keep my feelings private. I’ve managed to do that for years and that should be good enough for you. I always have Dani’s best interests in mind.”
****
Dani sat in the all-night diner and watched as Nicolette picked at her apple pie. No wonder she was so skinny. The woman didn’t show the proper respect to a dessert. Dani had already finished her brownie
à la mode
, or she’d have offered to help, although apple pie wouldn’t have done it for her. There were moments in life that only chocolate would do, and tonight showed every sign of being one of those times.
“Let me make sure I understand,” Dani said. “Del went to Brazil to write a story about the effect of the drug trade on rain forests and Constantine is threatening to either kick you out of the house or kill you if he doesn’t get to talk to Del by tomorrow. And”—she held up a hand to prevent Nic from interrupting—“according to you, there is no possible way to reach Del. Is that everything?”
Nicolette stared at her, big brown eyes swimming in tears. “Yes, that’s all of it.”
“Okay.” Dani shrugged and started to rise.
“Wait! Where are you going? Dani, I’m serious.” Nicolette’s voice was tinged with panic.
“Sorry, Nic, I can’t help you unless you tell me everything, including where Del really is, and it better be the truth this time, because I have another ass to kick when I’m done with you.”
A single tear spilled over and rolled down Nicolette’s cheek, and Dani had to marvel at the woman’s theatrical control. She waited. Finally, Nicolette, nodded.
“Okay. I’m scared Del may have killed that drug dealer.”
Dani kept her face impassive. “What makes you say that?”
With a shuddering sigh, Nicolette started. “I found Del in our bedroom when I got home from work the other day. He hadn’t been at the office all afternoon. He hasn’t been there a lot lately, so I’ve been worried for a while. But he keeps promising it’s nothing, that everything’s okay.”
Dani just listened. She knew Nic would take longer to tell her story, but if she interrupted, the tears might start again.
“When I walked in, Del was sitting in the dark, in the corner of the room and he was holding something in his hands. He looked up and his eyes were wrong. You know what I mean? He was messed up, stoned on something. When I got closer, I saw he was holding a bat, one of those bats he uses for softball. Only this one had blood on it, Dani. Shit, he was crying, he said he was sorry. It really scared me.”
A ball of ice formed low in Dani’s belly. “Where’s the bat, Nicolette? I need the bat and I need Del.”
“I cleaned him up and took him to Serenity, the place for recovering addicts near Baton Rouge. I knew Del wouldn’t want anyone to know about him using again. Constantine would send him back to that hospital in Switzerland. The old bastard would find a way to blame me. I’d never get to see Del. Please promise me you won’t tell Constantine that Del’s using.”
“Nicolette, listen to me. You did good getting Del to the hospital. Really good, but now I need your help. Del needs your help. Did he say anything about where he found the bat or how it got bloody?”
“No,” Nicolette answered. “But I saw the news yesterday. His old dealer is dead. Shit, shit, shit! Dani, I won’t believe he killed him, no matter how messed up he was. I thought it was something about me, I thought that’s why he kept disappearing in the afternoons. Dani, I don’t know what to think. Other than the missing time, Del’s been fantastic, we both have. He’s been clean, stayed clean. I didn’t think he was even tempted. He wasn’t clean that night. He was definitely wasted.
“I took his bloody clothes and the bat and I put them in a trash bag, and dropped them in a bin. I didn’t want anyone to know.”
Dani stood up. “Okay, Nicolette, come on. We’re going to find that bag.” Dani tossed some bills on the table and led Nicolette to her car.
****
Dani pulled into her apartment’s parking slot for the second time that night, more tired and considerably smellier. She’d spent the last hour combing through black trash bags in the dumpster outside the high school until she’d located the trash bag with Del’s clothes and the bloody bat.
Now they were safely locked away in her trunk and tomorrow she’d personally deliver them to Tolley. She’d wait for his analysis before she went to confront Del. He wasn’t going anywhere for the next ten days. She’d confirmed that with the on-duty doctor at Serenity, but that was the only information she’d get without a warrant.
First thing in the morning, she’d call her stepfather, James Courtland, and tell him to hire Del a lawyer. Only then would she see about getting a warrant so she could interview her stepbrother. If he
had
killed the bastard who was selling drugs on the waterfront…well, Dani figured most people wouldn’t blame him. Still you couldn’t have someone get away with acting the vigilante.
Dani opened her car door, feeling as if her arm weighed a hundred pounds. She only made it two steps away from her car.
Shit, the apartment is empty
, Dani remembered.
Well, damn. She only had one option if she wanted to be wearing her own clothes in the morning.
Hawk Charbonnet
, she thought grimly,
you better be ready, because I’m going to kick your ass
. Tomorrow, she amended, stifling another yawn. Putting her car in gear, Dani rolled out of her former parking space.
****
Hawk stood in front of the security monitor and followed Dani’s progress from her car through the lobby to the elevator. Her shoulders were slumped, and he caught her swallowed yawns. He glanced at his watch for perhaps the hundredth time since Tolley had left. This wasn’t at all how he’d imagined things.
He expected her to be angry, to fight, to threaten. He expected to love her out of her bad temper. He hadn’t expected she would be so goddamn late and to look like the walking dead. Christ, he was such an ass. How had he not thought of this in terms of what it might mean to her as far as her work went? He’d only been thinking about how much he wanted her.
Needed her
.
When the elevator slid to a stop, he pushed the button that gave him access and both sets of doors slid open. The first thing that hit him was a wave of protectiveness, of wanting to scoop Danielle up in his arms and take care of her. The second thing that hit was the smell.
“What the hell, Danielle! You smell worse than a cattle ranch at high noon in August. What is that?” he asked, wrinkling his nose.
“Go away, Hawk. I’m too tired to talk with you about this, tonight. I don’t want to see you again. You’re going to fix this tomorrow.” Then she turned and walked away from him without a backward glance.