Big Easy Temptation (6 page)

She was pleased when he went a more brilliant shade of red.

Her uncle leaned against the doorjamb. “You two seem to be completely on the same
page. I’m utterly sure this is going to work out for the best.”

Dax exhaled, looking as if he tried to relax. “You never told me your uncle ran the
civilian investigation.”

“I didn’t think it mattered. I told you I would look into it. And I made plans to
keep you up to date. You never intended to let me investigate, did you? You thought
you’d be with me every step of the way.”

Her uncle let out a long sigh. “Y’all obviously have more to work out than you thought.
I don’t think this is the place to do it. You might not mind some gossip, Captain
Spencer, but I don’t like men flapping their gums about my niece, not even the ones
I work with.”

Sure enough when she looked around, all eyes were on them. Every cop in the precinct
was watching. She wasn’t afraid they would go to the press, but she knew damn well
they would talk amongst themselves. That would be uncomfortable for her uncle. “I’m
sorry. We’ll leave. I need to make a few things clear to the captain.”

Dax nodded. “Yes, I think we need to talk.”

Uncle Beau waved his arm as though shooing away a couple of unwanted cats. “Go on,
then. Holland, honey, why don’t you take him on over to Antoine’s? It’s quiet there
this time of day and the staff is discreet.”

And her uncle had a standing dinner reservation there. He didn’t often use it, but
Antoine’s had been serving NOLA’s power players for as long as it had been open. She
could get a drink and maybe cool the situation down. “What do you say, Captain Awesome?”

He rolled his eyes, but it was obvious she’d managed to deflate his anger. “All right.
I could use a drink. Commander, I apologize. I didn’t mean to cause a scene.”

“See that you don’t get my niece in trouble, now. You hear?”

Yes, she was right back to feeling like a teenager and her uncle was
vetting her boyfriends. It was obvious he didn’t like this one. She sighed and led
Dax out into the late afternoon sunlight.

*   *   *

H
e followed Holland and the hostess into the cool back room of Antoine’s. They’d walked
past the sunny environs of the front dining room. That was for tourists and families
celebrating special occasions. The real politics of New Orleans happened in the back
of the establishment, the room where the sunlight didn’t reach.

Once they’d arrived at a corner table, Dax sat across from her and pondered what to
say.

He’d fucked up. He’d known she expected to shake a few trees and report back to him.
But he’d been itching to do some fact finding of his own and talk to her uncle so
he’d have something to bring to the table at their meeting tomorrow. Maybe then she’d
see that they could work together. And a part of him hoped that if she could partner
with him in the investigation, she’d see that they could partner in other ways.

“I’m sorry about the scene at the police station.” He needed to calm her and talk
that horrible cop frown off her face. She wore it like a mask, and Dax wanted to talk
to the woman.

“Why were you there?” And she was using her cop voice on him, too. It was bland and
impersonal. He was sure she used that voice when she was questioning a suspect.

“You know why I was there.” He wasn’t going to lie. Honesty was his only way out of
the mess he’d plopped himself in. “I found out your uncle led the initial civilian
investigation and I wanted to ask him a few questions.”

“You didn’t think I could manage that all on my own?” Her frown turned right side
up, into a friendly grin, as the waiter approached. “Thanks, I don’t need a menu.
I’ll have a Sazerac and for dinner the
Poulet sauce Rochambeau
with
asperges au Beurre
.”

Show-off. Her accent was perfect and she had the menu memorized like a good NOLA daughter
would. Well, he was a son and he could play that game, too. “I’ll have a Sazerac as
well and let’s start with the
Huitres Bienville
for the table. For my entrée I’ll have the
Crabes mous frits
and
pommes de terre
.
Merci
.”

The waiter nodded and went off to put their orders in.

Holland finally smiled just enough to let him know she was amused. “Really? Oysters?”

Sure they were an aphrodisiac, but they were also quite good. “If you don’t want any,
chère
, I’ll eat them all myself.”

She pulled the white napkin out, settling it over her lap. “I’ll have a few. I don’t
know that you should eat a dozen oysters. God only knows what it will do for your
libido.”

He was glad she was finally relaxing after their tense trek to the restaurant. “Your
French is excellent.”

“I spent most of my teen years here. My aunt and uncle spoke a lot of French in their
home. It was a survival skill. It’s also one of the reasons I got the job here. There
are still a lot of people around here who speak Creole or some form of it. Even I
can get confused out on the bayou.”

Because some communities out there cut themselves off from the world. They spoke the
old languages and didn’t like authorities nosing into their business. “You shouldn’t
have to go out there often.”

“More than you’d think. Navy boys can be very adventurous. Now, what exactly did you
think you could accomplish with my uncle that I couldn’t?” She was right back to formal,
though she accepted her drink from the passing waiter with a gracious smile.

Maybe a Sazerac or two could break through her chilly reserve. And maybe so could
honesty. “I wanted to walk into tomorrow’s meeting with something solid to show you.”

“That’s supposed to be my job, Captain.” She took a healthy sip of the whiskey and
absinthe cocktail. “I’m the investigator. You asked me to look into it.”

He had to tread carefully here. “Not exactly. I asked you to help me look into it.”

“Then we have a problem, because I’m not taking you everywhere with me. Your presence
will do more harm than good. Can’t you see that?”

“All I see is that my family was destroyed and I don’t think I can sit on my hands
while someone else finds out why.”

“They don’t seem destroyed, Dax.” She softened and leaned forward. “Your mother is
finally getting out again. She’s seeing her friends.”

“The ones who didn’t turn their backs on her.”

“Yes, her real friends. She’s playing bridge again and she’s planning a cruise with
some of her old sorority sisters.”

“She told you about that, huh?”

“I have dinner with her from time to time. As for Gus, she’s smiling again. She’s
back to being Gus. And I heard she’s about to start a big new job for the White House.
They’re not destroyed, Dax. They’re starting to live again, and this could bring it
all back.”

Did she think he hadn’t considered that? “That’s why I’m trying to keep quiet. But
I can’t let it go when I know someone did something terrible to my father. I can’t
allow it to pass simply because my mother and sister are getting over it.”

“The bigger issue is, you’re not getting over it.”

“Don’t turn this into something selfish, Holland.”

“I’m sorry if it sounded like that. That wasn’t my intention. You need closure to
move forward. And you deserve that. What you’re saying is that you won’t find that
closure unless you’re active in this investigation, right?”

He shook his head. “I can’t sit on the sidelines this time.”

“You didn’t sit on the sidelines last time. You marched out onto the field and told
the other players how awful they were.”

Put like that, he had been an ass. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking logically at the
time.”

“No one can under those circumstances.” She swirled her drink around. “Tell me something.
Are you going to be able to handle it if this investigation doesn’t go your way?”

It wasn’t going to end up like that. He was one hundred percent certain, so he could
easily answer her. “Yes. Though I don’t think I’ll be able to believe it if I don’t
see it with my own two eyes.”

“That’s what I was afraid of.” She sat back. “All right. I’ll let you know what’s
going on, and where it’s appropriate, you can come with me. The first time you cause
trouble, I stop investigating.”

That was all he could hope for. “I won’t cause trouble. I know I did last time. But
I’m ready to find the truth now. What did you learn from your uncle? Scary guy, by
the way.”

Beauregard Kirk was built like a linebacker and looked twice as mean.

“You should have seen the way he liked to scare off my prospective dates in high school.
He would greet them with a shotgun. I didn’t really date much until I went off to
college. But on to the topic at hand,” she said as a segue. “I learned a little something
new. Have you ever been to the Raven Motel?”

The name made his stomach turn. He took another drink. “I hadn’t been there before
the incident. I know its reputation, though. It’s a place where hookers take their
johns. Did anyone uncover the name of the woman who called in the tip?”

“I’ve got a copy of the call. It was never released to the press for obvious reasons.”

He knew exactly the reason. “If the woman was a prostitute, it would have made the
police’s narrative seem a little less substantial.”

“Yes. Besides, the woman was trying to do a good deed. If she didn’t want to be identified,
that’s her business. We want to keep anonymous tips anonymous or no one will call
in.”

He understood the reasoning behind it, but damn he wanted to talk to that woman. “I’d
like to listen to it. Her accent alone might tell us something.”

Holland nodded. “Agreed, but I don’t know that finding out who made the call will
change anything. We’ve still got the issue of the security tape.”

He remembered that footage well. That fifteen seconds of tape had been played over
and over on the news. Something about that seemed fishy as well. “It never shows my
father’s face, only the girl’s.”

“Yes, but your father was in uniform. He’s identified by the insignia and there’s
the moment when the girl looks up at him. We had our best lip-readers figure out what
she was saying.”

Where are you taking me, Admiral Hal?

She’d asked the question as they walked down the hall toward the rooms. There hadn’t
been any audio.

“How stupid do you think my father would have to be to take the risk that someone
would notice an officer in full uniform?”

“I wouldn’t say stupid. I would say reckless, and that does fit your father’s profile.
He was a smart man, but he liked adrenaline. After he left his command and began working
behind a desk, what did he like to do in his off time?”

His father had jumped out of planes, raced cars, and engaged in anything dangerous.
“I understand your point, but I can’t see him being this reckless.”

“He was identified by four different people.”

“Three of whom are missing, Holland.”

“Okay, I admit that gives me pause as well. I’ve got a call in to his old aide-de-camp.
He’s overseas on assignment, so it could take a while for him to get back to me. We’ll
see what he has to say.”

Waiting really was the hardest part. “What does your uncle think about the girl?”

“She had a history of running away from home. A few juvenile arrests for petty theft.
She served a few months in juvie and went home to an alcoholic mother and absentee
father. It’s not surprising that she left after the scandal.”

“What I find surprising is that no one has seen her since.”

She shook her head sadly. “Dax, no one cares anymore. The press has moved on to the
next scandal. The girl likely ran and didn’t look back.”

As much as he hated to admit it, Holland was right. No one outside of his family and
friends cared anymore. His father was dead and buried and there were new salacious
stories for the press to devour. Hell, half of them were about Mad and Gabe. “Still,
someone somewhere has to have seen her.”

“I’ve got a list of everyone involved in the case. I’m making a timeline. Then I intend
to track every single witness down. The victim’s mother is no longer at her old residence,
so I’ll head over there in the morning to ask some questions, see if I can find out
where she’s moved. I don’t know if she’ll be helpful, but she’s the best lead I’ve
got.”

Then that was where they would start. The waiter brought out the oysters, placing
them on the fine linen in between them.

Dax switched seats. He wanted to be closer to her. He’d scored a major victory. She
was discussing the case with him. If he was a smart man, he would accept that as enough.
He’d never been particularly smart when it came to Holland Kirk.

Her eyes widened.

“I can hear you better here,” he claimed as innocently as he could. “And you know
a nice bottle of wine would really complement the meals we have coming up. I think
I saw a proper sauvignon blanc on the menu. It pairs with your chicken and my crab.”

Hopefully. He wasn’t exactly a sommelier, but white went with chicken and seafood,
and it definitely loosened Holland up. She was finally smiling, and he wasn’t about
to let that stop.

“Fine, since neither one of us is driving,” she allowed and asked the waiter to bring
a bottle with dinner.

She ate one of the oysters with the relish and gusto of a woman who’d been eating
them all her life. When she set the shell back down, she leaned in. “So which one
of your walking penis friends is in town?”

“How did you . . . Courtney. Of course. She’s a nice girl.” She was exactly the kind
of woman he used to go after. Sweet, a little funny, open sexually. She’d pretty much
offered herself up on a silver platter the day they’d met, but she’d been less aggressive
since she discovered he had a connection to her best friend. Slightly less. “Gabe
is here. I know he’d love to see you.”

“And? Oh, god. If Gabe’s here that means Mad is, too,” she said with a laugh. “I’ll
call the local hospital and tell them they’re going to need a rush shipment of penicillin.
Wait, didn’t Gus come in last night? Gus can handle Mad. Though the prostitutes of
New Orleans will weep.” She blushed. “I’m so sorry. I wasn’t saying something mean
about your sister. I adore her.”