Relentless Pursuit (23 page)

Third message. 
Bingo!
  Carlo's voice.

“Jinx, picnic.  You've gotta remember.  Picnic.”

The beep ended.  No more messages.

A jolt of adrenaline raced through Jinx's blood at her brother's words.  To anybody else those few words wouldn't mean a hill of beans.  She knew better though.  When they were younger she and Carlo searched for a hidey-hole for their treasures.  Things had a habit of disappearing whenever the family decided to pick up and move on to their next big score.  Or else it ended up gracing the front window of the local pawn show.

It took a couple of months of searching, trial and error but they found the perfect place.  A park where their grandfather took them on picnics during the summer—just her and Carlo.  They loved spending time with the old man, whereas their brothers and sisters couldn't stand playing outside.  They'd rather stay glued to the idiot box.

Close to the water, the park became their special place.  Calm, serene, families brought their kids to play on the swings and slides.  Sculpted alligators, fish and other aquatic beings carved from huge chunks of rock graced the perimeter of the green space.  A wooden fort constructed of wood beams and rock pillars, half fallen in on itself sat to the side.  It had long ago been torn down and hauled off by the city or the county, somebody in authority, but last time she checked the park was still there.  It had been a magical wonderland full of possibilities for two kids used to being dragged from pillar to post, dreaming of stability and a better future.

With that one word, Carlo's message became crystal clear.  He'd told Jinx in their own private code he'd hidden something in their special hiding spot.  Could it be what Dubshenko was pursuing her for?

She hadn't thought about that place in years, but with one word Carlo had brought back happy memories and a potential clue.  Somehow he'd put something there, and she knew exactly what she had to do.

There was only one problem.  She had to convince Remy to return to New Orleans.

Dubshenko believed Carlo gave her something so important he'd sent his squad of goons to chase her halfway across the state to retrieve something she did not have in her possession.  For all she knew, their hiding place wasn't even there any more, had been bulldozed and covered with a parking lot.  But at least it was more info than she had up until now, a clue pointing her in a different direction.  She'd been running, hunted by a madman.  At least with Carlo's call, she now had an end goal in sight.

Her eyes frantically search the crowd, both for Remy and the guy from whom she'd
borrowed
the phone.   A group of men clustered around a makeshift stage, their Zydeco music filling the air.  The noise from the swelling crowd of men, women and children combined into a cacophony of sounds. Voices raised in laughter and good-natured shouts, all having fun times at the festival.   She sighed.  Fun—other than the night she and Remy made love, well, there hadn't been a whole lot of fun the last couple of days.

Jinx spotted Remy about twenty feet away, watched as he slid the Smartcard from the cellphone he held.  He tossed the phone into the nearby trash can.  The Smartcard flew end-over-end into the murky water, sinking beneath its muddy surface.  This deep in the bayou, nobody was ever going to find that card.

She jogged toward him, waving to get his attention.  The smile he sent her way shot a pang of longing through her. She wished they really were a couple in love, out spending time among the citizenry of the countryside instead of a cop protecting her from the epitome of evil, on the run for her life.  If only…

“Hey, babe.  I talked to Max.”  He reached forward and tucked a wayward curl behind her ear.  She fought back the urge to lean into his touch, turn and place a kiss against his palm.  “Carlo hasn't been spotted yet.  I'm sorry.”

She was practically jumping up and down with restrained excitement.  Finally, she had something to contribute.  “Remy, I know you said no phone calls, but…”

His eyes narrowed and his smile disappeared.  “You didn't!”

“It's okay, I borrowed a phone and called my house.  I thought maybe Carlo went back there to hide out from Dubshenko, since it would be the last place he'd look for him.  Only the call went straight to voice mail.”

“Wait, you borrowed a phone?”

“Um, sorta.  I'm gonna give it back.”  No reason to tell him how she obtained the phone, was there?  “There was a message from Carlo on my voicemail.”

“What?”  Remy grabbed her upper arms, firm enough to hold her in place, but not hard enough to hurt.  “What did he say?  Did he tell you where he's at?”

“No.  He sounded stronger—but that's not important.  It's what he said that's important.”

Remy sighed, the little crease between his eyes deepened with his frown.  “Okay, what did he say?”

“Picnic.”  She couldn't help laughing at the confused look scrawled across Remy's face.  The word held a world of meaning for her—for him it didn't mean a thing.

“Great, I'll bite.  What's picnic?”  His barely contained growl sent a ripple across her, and tingles marched up her spine.  Dang, she loved his voice, that sexier-than-sin Cajun accent got to her.

“Not what.  Where.  It's a place Carlo and I used as kids to hide things, important stuff we didn't want disappearing, which happened a lot in our family.”  She was practically bouncing on her toes, anxious to get back on the road, head for New Orleans and home.  Things were coming to a head, she could feel it deep in her bones.  The answer to everything, Dubshenko, the bombing, nearly dying.  Whatever Carlo had stashed in their secret hiding place was the key.

“Where is it?”

“New Orleans.  We've gotta go back, Remy.”

Remy cursed, spun on his heels and stalked several steps away.  Jinx watched him muttering to himself.  She knew he was arguing against going back, putting him smack dab in the middle of Dubshenko's territory.  Might as well paint a giant bulls eye in the middle of her chest.  But she also knew there wasn't any other answer.  Carlo's message pointed them toward a way to stop Dubshenko and nothing was going to stop her from taking the bastard down.  He'd tried to murder her brother, and he'd made her life a literal living hell for the last few days.

Well, except for meeting Remy.  That part wasn't so bad.  In fact, once the son of a bitch had been arrested, she'd make a point of personally thanking him for the unorthodox introduction.  Her feelings for the cop had started out shaky to say the least, but with every hour she spent with him, getting to know him, the more she liked what she discovered.

It wouldn't take much for her to fall in love with Remy.  Her eyes widened at the unexpected thought.  Who was she kidding?  She was already head over heels in love with the big galoot.

Remy stomped toward her, and she held her ground.  If she gave an inch, he'd find a way to stash her and head back to New Orleans himself.  He kept threatening to call his friends in East Texas—she wouldn't put it past him to make the call and have them escort her out of Louisiana and onto their ranch before she could say boo.

“Don’t even think it, Remy.  You'd never find the exact spot.  I'm going with you.”  Jinx crossed her arms beneath her breasts, and she noted his eyes zeroed in immediately on their display. 
Hmm, might not be a bad idea to keep him a bit off balance, at least until we hit the road.

“Hon, Dubshenko's got eyes all up and down the state looking for us.  Looking for a man and a woman together.  His men will spot us before we can get within fifty miles of New Orleans.  It's better if I go alone.”

“Hell, no.  Other than Carlo, I'm the only one who knows where we need to go—and Carlo isn't here, is he?  You need me.  Besides, I owe it to Dubshenko to make sure he pays for what he did to my brother.  You weren't there.  You didn't see him with a gun pointed at your brother's head.  I thought he'd killed him.”

She reached up and cupped Remy's cheeks in her palms, staring deep into his eyes.  “I have to do this, Remy. 
Me
.  I've run away from everything my entire life.  I ran from the life I had with my family and their less-than-honorable pursuits.  I've made myself run from living, burying myself in a job that I hate, simply because it was the polar opposite of the way I was raised.  Now I'm running from somebody else's machinations, wanting to destroy everything I thought was important.  Only none of it matters unless I stop running and face the reality that I'm a coward. “

“Jinx…”

“No, you won't change my mind, Remy.  You can't stop me, either.  I have to finally stop running and stand.  You can go with me, be my strength, or step aside and let me go.  Either way, I'm going to New Orleans, finding whatever it is that Carlo hid and to make Vladimir Dubshenko rue the day he messed with the Marucci's.”

Remy stood stock still when she'd finished speaking, the vein in his temple pulsing, but that was the only indication he'd heard every word she'd spoken.

Did I ruin everything?  Have I lost him before I even had a chance at happiness?

“You still got that phone?”  He held out his hand, and she placed her purloined cell phone in his palm.  With efficient movements, he dialed and put the phone to his ear.

“Max, change of plans.”

After outlining the new direction the case had spun, and setting up a rendezvous back in New Orleans, Remy dug into his jeans pocket and pulled out a scrap of paper.

“One more call, sweetheart, and we return the phone to its rightful owner, and hightail it back home.”

With a crooked grin, Remy dialed, putting the phone on speaker with a wink.  Jinx wondered who he'd called.  Not the three cowboys from Texas, no way they'd get here in time.

She started laughing when she heard the voice on the other end of the call.

“Princess Grace, it's Remy.  We need a favor.”

Chapter Twenty-Five

I
t had taken Ness a couple hours to meet up with them, by which time it was almost midday.  The bayou noodling festival was in full swing, and the competition kept everybody in stitches.  Remy'd never seen anything like it. If they'd had another couple of hours to spare, and didn't have hired killers stalking them, he'd love to give it a shot.  He'd done enough old school fishing in his lifetime to know catfish could be ornery critters when using a fishing rod and bait on a hook—catching one of those suckers with his bare hands—that sounded like some kind of fun.  Oh, well, next time.

Thankfully, Ness hadn't asked any questions except for their location, and drove straight through to meet them.  He and Jinx backtracked to the diner where they'd breakfasted earlier.  Remy was fairly certain her big rig would have been too recognizable to the local citizens if Dubshenko's mob squad came back with more questions.  Better to meet up away from the crowd.

Once they'd hit the road headed for New Orleans, Remy silently watched Jinx.  She chewed on her bottom lip, a habit he'd picked up on watching her.  She did it whenever she was deep in thought, like now.  The sunlight glinted off her red hair, and though it was pretty, he wished it was back to the long blonde strands she'd had when they first met.  As a disguise it was adequate, but pretty damn soon it wouldn't be enough.  She had a memorable face, those beautiful blue eyes surrounded by long dark lashes were a dead giveaway.  Besides, not much could disguise him—a ball cap and sunglasses only went so far.  A couple days of scruff from not shaving gave him a bit of an edgier vibe, but he was recognizable without a lot of difficulty.

“Dubshenko's probably going to have everybody on his payroll scouring the streets for us by now.  How are we going to sneak back into the city?”  Jinx's question was valid.  He wished he had an answer.

“I'm working on it, hon.  It's almost four o'clock now, so it'll still be fairly light out by the time we hit the city.”

“Um, can I make a suggestion?”  Ness broke into their conversation, keeping her eyes on the asphalt before her.  “I got a buddy who could put you up for the night, no questions asked.”

“Really?”  Jinx's voice held hope tinged with a bit of skepticism.  Remy echoed her sentiments.  He'd learned the hard way, nobody did anything for free.

“That's a nice offer, Ness, but what's the catch?”  Remy shifted in the seat facing toward the driver's side so he could watch Ness's face.  Trust didn't come easy, especially when you were running for your life.  His latest call to Max, right before contacting Ness for a lift, he'd found out the bounty on his head was now at fifty grand.  A hundred grand for Jinx.  Damned if he'd tell her that, though.

“It's not a catch exactly.  Thing is, he's a reporter.”

“Nope, sorry, but…”

“Hear me out, Remy.”  Ness interrupted him, glancing toward him with a frown before turning her focus back to the road.  “I've known Hank for a long time.  He's one of the good ones, I swear.  Do you remember the misappropriation of funds scandal in the mayor's office a few years back?”

“I do.”  Jinx replied faintly from the back.

“Hank's the one who broke the story.  You can trust him—he'll probably ask for an exclusive on whatever you find, but he won't report anything on the air until he's got your okay.”

Remy stiffened when an awful thought occurred.  He had to ask, though he hoped he was wrong.  “Ness, did you tell him about us?”

Ness's body jerked nearly imperceptibly in her seat, and she took a deep breath before answering him.  Staring him straight in the eyes, she replied, “Hell, no.  I promised y'all I wouldn't tell a single soul about you and I haven't.  Maybe the crowds you run with can't keep their mouths shut, but when I give my word, I keep it.”  She huffed and then slapped the steering wheel with her balled-up fist.  “I really want to help you.  Don't know either of you well, but you were honest when I caught you lying in the beginning.  I think you're telling me the truth when you say this Russian dude is chasing you.  Besides, I ran into a couple of goons a couple hours before you called.  Tall, dark suits, close cropped military-style haircuts.  Definitely mercenaries working for Dubshenko.    Showed me pictures of you.”  She paused and glanced at Jinx's dyed hair, her lips turned upward in a smirk.