Bayou Heat (24 page)

“I’m tired of waiting for the police to handle this. It’s
past time for this to be over with.” Rob’s voice was as void of feeling as his
eyes.

There was a distance between them that hadn’t been there
before he went to deal with Victor. “So now you’re going to take matters into
your own hands.”

Rob’s name was called from across the room and he glanced in
that direction then back at her. “I’m doing what needs to be done.”

“No matter how badly I want this person caught, I’m not
willing to stoop to their level and possibly screw up a conviction. I want to
make sure they are punished for their crimes.”

“Don’t worry, they
will
pay.” Rob ended the
conversation by crossing the room to talk with the forensics team lead.

Eris took a deep breath and felt the tightening in her
chest. It was painfully obvious to her Rob was reconstructing the barrier he
kept around himself. The only reason she could think of was that he’d killed
Castillo and didn’t want her involved in that mess in any way. Killing the man
hadn’t been part of the plan when the men left the condo, but it didn’t mean it
hadn’t become a part of the plan once they were out the door. Or maybe Rob had
simply intended to kill Victor all along but hadn’t wanted to say it in front
of her. Her stomach rolled and her chest grew even tighter at the thought.

Looking across the room, she wondered if she really knew the
man who’d captured her heart. There wasn’t a doubt in her mind that Rob was
capable of killing Victor and the yin-yang card killer to protect her. The
problem was, she wasn’t sure how it made her feel. The reality of the situation
was nothing like the stories she read in her romance novels. She needed fresh
air to clear her mind and hopefully calm her nerves. She turned toward the
front door only to have her passage blocked by a very large man whose name she
didn’t know. With a sigh, she went to the sofa in the waiting area and sat
down.

She was lost in not-so-good thoughts when her phone buzzed
in her pocket. She checked the caller ID before answering. “Hey, Mom.”

She listened while her mother expressed concern about her
safety. “I’m safe. Really, Mom, Rob has at least a dozen men watching me day
and night. Honestly, I can’t breathe without someone knowing it. There is no
way a stranger is going to get to me.”

“Not all threats come from strangers, Eris DuBose. I taught
you better than that.”

Eris ran a hand through her short hair. “I know and I
promise to be extra careful. Bye, and I love you.”

She closed the phone and it rang immediately. She opened it
without checking the caller ID. “Hello?”

“Hey, where are you? I stopped by Rob’s place and you
weren’t there,” Tarrington snapped.

Eris cut her eyes toward the man watching her and whispered,
“We’re following up on some stuff about the store.”

“How much longer?”

She answered, “We should be done here soon. Then we’re
headed back to his place. You going to wait on us?”

“Don’t have time. Sorry.”

“Okay, talk to you later.” Eris ended the call as Rob walked
toward her with his phone to his ear. She listened as he closed the distance
between them.

“She’s right here in front of me, Mrs. DuBose. I assure you
she’s safe. Call again if you have any questions.” Rob ended the call and
studied her for a minute.

“I’m sorry, she’s worried about me.”

Rob rubbed his eyes. “She’s not the only one. Why don’t we
head back to my place, they can wrap up here without me. I’m starting to need
some sleep.”

“Can we go back to my place?” she asked as she stood.

Rob motioned for the men by the front door to check outside
before they went out. “Sorry, my place is easier to secure, so until this is
resolved that’s where we’re staying.”

“I need some more things from there.” Rob held the door open
for her and she was surprised to see the sun was starting to go down.

“Make a list. I’ll have someone pick the items up for you.”
Rob walked beside her and opened the car door for her.

She waited for him to get in the car before continuing the
conversation. “Is this how it’s going to be, you give the orders and I simply
agree?”

Rob gave her a quick sideways look. “Actually, I’m not
worried if you agree with me or not. You’ll do what I say, when I say it,
princess, or I’ll put you under lock and key so fast you won’t know what hit
you.”

* * * * *

It was after midnight and she was still staring blindly at
the television across the living area. Rob had showered and fell into bed
immediately after returning. That left her with nothing but time to think and
that was leading her down a dark and lonely path.

Ninety-nine-point-seven percent of her mind believed he did
not kill Victor Castillo, but the uncertain point-three percent wouldn’t shut
up. Every time she convinced herself there was no way Rob would kill in cold
blood, the evil part of her brain would remind her that she didn’t really know
the man, and there was so much of his past he wasn’t willing to talk about. It
shouldn’t bother her. Even if Rob did kill him, Victor was nothing but bad and
the information they’d found in his office today proved that without a doubt.
She needed to push those thoughts to the back of her mind and remember that,
despite his badass attitude, deep down Rob Jackson was a man of character and
good deeds.

Eris rubbed her eyes as she stood and then crossed the living
room toward the bedroom. She stepped into the room and closed the door quietly
behind her. Rob was spread across the bed, sleeping like an angel. She was
certain his halo was tarnished and there were many times he didn’t wear it at
all, but his heart was made of gold. Tears slipped from her eyes and she wiped
them away. He wasn’t perfect, but he was perfect for her.

Slipping out of her clothes, she slid under the covers and
snuggled next to him. He groaned as she ran her hand over his cheek and placed
a kiss to his whisker-rough jaw. His strong arms snaked around her and pulled
her flush with his already-hard body. Oh yeah, she thought as he rolled her
over and pinned her with his weight. He was more than ideal for her.

* * * * *

Eris woke to sunshine and voices coming from the living
area. Dragging herself out of bed, she made her way to the shower. It took her
longer than planned to get ready for the day, but when she was finished, she
looked good.

Opening the door to the living area, she was surprised to
see how many people were actually at the condo. Several heads turned in her
direction as the room fell silent and she knew something was up. Rob finally
turned to look at her from the other side of the room, but she couldn’t tell
what he was thinking. It wasn’t until LD spoke that she realized he stood
beside her.

“They might have found the yin-yang-card murderer.”

She turned and looked at LD. It took several seconds for his
words to sink in. “Might?”

LD continued, “Early this morning, dispatch received a call
about reported gunfire. When they arrived, they found one deceased male along
with a suicide note saying he was responsible for several of the local deaths.”

“No, this isn’t right.” Eris watched Rob approach out of the
corner of her eye. He stopped beside her but didn’t touch her in any way. “The
killer is a woman. It was a woman who called me and put a contract out on me.”

LD’s eyes connected with hers before he spoke. “He took
responsibility for Orbit’s death. There were things in the note that only the
killer would know.”

She turned to look at Rob. “Do you believe this?”

He gave her a half-smile. “I would love for this to end so
neatly, but I’m not buying it.”

“So, what are we going to do now?”

“We’re going to play the waiting game,” LD answered.

“And how does one play this game?” She wasn’t sure she
wanted to know.

LD continued the explanation. “We wait for our killer to
make a mistake or a lead to pop, but at this point it’s only a matter of time
until something happens.”

“How can you be sure?”

Rob answered with a hint of pleasure. “Because we’ve made
someone nervous enough to pull a stunt like this, which means we’re close—very
close.”

* * * * *

Rob stared at his computer screen and wondered if he was
about to be the one to snap. It’d been three days since the supposed suicide
and still nothing. He looked over to where Eris sat on the couch reading and
smiled. If nothing else, the last couple of days had been peaceful and
enjoyable. He hadn’t lived with another person since his mother and honestly
hadn’t thought he ever would. Now though, he understood how pleasant it could
be. Even though he didn’t want his time with her to end, he knew this momentary
peace wouldn’t last forever.

Whoever they were after had either found a hole to crawl
into or had left town, and he hoped it wasn’t the latter. His phone rang and as
he checked caller ID, a small spark of hope flamed to life when he saw it was
Titan’s forensics lead. “Whatcha got for me, Norm?”

“I’ve been running the hundreds of prints from Victor’s
office for the last three days and came up mostly with the expected group of
thugs.”

“Then give me the unexpected.”

“Understand this match is off a partial.” Norm paused.

“I’m waiting.”

“The print came back belonging to Tarrington.”

Cold fear washed over Rob. “Shit.”

“It gets better. I called in a few favors and learned there
was no official reason for him to have been in Victor’s office. He’s not
working any case involving Victor nor was he prior to this one.”

Rob’s stomach nose-dived as he thought about the
implications this evidence brought forward. “Do you have Tarrington’s address?”

Rob jotted down the address and was surprised to learn
Tarrington lived on the outskirts of the Quarter. He disconnected as he looked
over at Eris to find her studying him. She appeared as relaxed as he was, but
he knew leaving her here was going to be near impossible. “How would you like
to go do a little surveillance work?”

Her eyes lit up. “Really?”

“There’s one catch though.”

“What’s that?”

“You have to do what I say.”

Eris laughed. “Don’t I always?”

“No, but I’m starting to get used to it. Now, listen up,
here’s what we’re going to do.”

* * * * *

Darkness had settled over the town by the time they circled
the block and parked down the street from Tarrington’s apartment. Eris fidgeted
in the seat next to him. “What’s wrong?”

“I don’t like this place.” Her voice was tense.

“Could you be a little more specific?”

“No. I wish I could, but I’ve never felt anything like this
before. It scares me.”

He started to ask for more details when his phone vibrated.
“Hello?”

“Is my sister okay? She’s not answering her phone.” Zane’s
voice was filled with worry.

“She’s right here beside me and she’s fine.” Rob looked over
at Eris. “What’s wrong?”

“I was getting ready for work when suddenly I felt her fear.
Where are you?”

“We’re in the car watching Tarrington’s house.” Rob didn’t
see any reason not to tell Zane, especially if it helped calm the man.

“Let me talk to her.”

Rob held out his phone. “Zane wants to talk to you.”

He sat there and watched Tarrington’s place as he listened
to Eris soothe her brother’s nerves and apologize for leaving her phone back at
Rob’s place.

Finally she ended the call and handed the phone back. “Zane
wants us to leave.”

“If you truly want, we’ll leave.” He would because nothing
was worth having her scared.

“We stay, I want this over.” He heard the determination in
her voice.

“Then we stay and watch.” Rob turned his attention back to
the job.

The neighborhood was nice. It was one of the areas making a
comeback. The house Tarrington lived in appeared to be divided into apartments.
If the number scheme followed normal standards, Tarrington lived on the second
floor. Currently lights only appeared from windows on the left side of the
second floor. He didn’t think apartment 2B would be to the left, but he wasn’t
sure so he decided they would wait a while and see what was happening.

He pulled his cell phone from his pocket and turned to Eris.
“I’m going to call an old friend, Vicky Wilson. She’s a riot and has the mouth
of a sailor if you make her mad, but she’s a genius at information gathering.
I’ll put the call on speaker so you can hear.”

He punched in a number he hadn’t used in a long time and
waited.

“Obviously I’ve been at work too many hours again because I
swear the name Rob Jackson appeared on my phone.” Vicky’s voice was sultry and
filled with warmth, as it always was.

Rob laughed. “Point taken, I should have called much sooner
but I’ve been busy.”

“And I hear she’s very cute.”

Rob looked at Eris. “You’ve been talking to LD again. I’ll
have to have a word with him.”

“I’ll never reveal my sources and you damn well know it.”

Rob laughed. “Well, the cutie’s name is Eris and she’s here
with me listening to us.”

“She is? How interesting. I’d love to spend some time
talking to her and picking her brain about you, Jackson, but I doubt you called
this late for a chit-chat session. What’s up?”

“I need information on a Charles Tarrington.” He passed on
Tarrington’s address.

“What kind of information?”

He could hear the tapping of a keyboard and knew Vicky was
already at work. “Everything you can find, but focus on employment history and
also run a report of unsolved murders in the areas where he’s lived.” The typing
sound stopped and for a few seconds he heard nothing.

“Oh hell, he’s a cop.”

“I know.”

“It would have been nice for you to have shared that tidbit
of information up front. Look, we have two options here. I can get the
information fast but warning bells will sound and the shit will fly. Or give me
an hour to backdoor the information and we should be safe.”