Brent gazed down at the desk in front of him. Massey had given him a nice clear shot of Tom Garfield in his last disguise. Garfield had been good at his work. He had infiltrated cartels in South Florida, Texas and California, fingering those who needed to be fingered, then getting away clean. He'd been a good-looking? hardened man in his mid-thirties, and not even the scraggly beard and dirty countenance he'd taken on really hid his inner strength. That would have worked well for him, trying to get close to the big leaguers. He'd had the ability to bluff his way through the toughest situation.
Brent's gaze shifted from the photo before him on the desk back toward the conference room.
"She's looking for people she might have seen the night before her friend's death?"
"She's got a 'hunch,'" Massey said wearily. "She saw some guy when she was with her friend, and says she saw him again last night, out on the street. I tried to tell her that she might see the same tourist types over and over again. Even the same bums. And that it doesn't matter how many times she might have seen the guy—it wouldn't make him guilty of murder. But what the hell, I got nothing else. So she's looking through mug shots."
"For a bum?" Brent said a little sharply.
Massey frowned, looking at him. Not angry, just curious. "Yeah, someone she saw begging at a café."
"Would you mind?" Brent asked Massey, indicating Garfield's photo.
"You're going to show her a dead guy?" Massey said.
"Hey, you got nothing else, right?"
"She couldn't have seen a dead guy on the street last night," Massey said.
Brent shrugged, smiling dryly. "How many of those books have you got? This could go on a long, long time."
"But that's a dead guy."
"Humor me."
"Hey… go ahead. Knock yourself out."
Nikki was tired. Faces swam before her.
New Orleans had quite a photo gallery of suspicious types. She was glad they hadn't asked her to go through all the mug shots on the computer. She would have an even worse headache by now.
They'd even narrowed down the choices for her, looking specifically for a white guy in his late twenties to early forties.
Scary… to see all the possible perps!
"Nothing?" Julian asked a little tensely.
She shook her head. Julian was growing impatient. He'd gotten her an emergency appointment with his shrink, and he was clearly anxious to get going.
"I'm sorry," she murmured.
"No one even close, huh?" That question came from Marc Joulette, Owen Massey's younger partner. "People can change, you know. Minus a beard, dyed hair, that kind of thing," he pointed out helpfully. Whereas Massey was a big solid guy with a ruddy complexion, Joulette was taller, leaner, darker. Of mixed race, he was neither white nor black but a striking golden hue. Though he was too striking ever to blend into a crowd, Nikki assumed he must be one hell of a detective, because he had great people skills. His voice was gentle and melodic. Soothing, comforting. His manner was equally gentle. She had a feeling he could garner a confession before the suspect even knew he'd been talking.
Nikki sat back, rubbing her temples, shaking her head again. "I'm sorry. I really want to find this guy. I know you can't arrest people on feelings, but I can't help but believe he's involved somehow. But I can't find him, and I feel like I'm wasting your time," she apologized.
Julian made a grunting sound. She ignored him.
Detective Joulette smiled. "Hey, this job is pure tedium at times, and you're not wasting my time. It's the little things that sometimes get the job done, huh? We can go to the computer, or… " He paused, turning.
Nikki and Julian both looked toward the door, as well.
She barely swallowed back a gasp.
The man standing in the doorway was the same man who had come striding into the fight the night before.
Like Joulette, he would never blend into any crowd.
He stood about six-two, with a solid, yet lean, agile-looking build. His dead-straight black hair was telltale, though Nikki vaguely remembered someone telling her once that hair couldn't really be black, only a very dark brown.
Could have fooled her. This man's hair was so dark it wasn't just black, but jet.
Then there were his eyes. A deep and startling green against the bronze of his skin.
She met those eyes with surprise. And as her eyes touched his, she felt a strange tremor deep inside. Just as she had when their hands had met the night before.
"You," Julian breathed.
"You all know each other?" Massey, who was behind the unnamed man, demanded in surprise.
"We met at a minor street brawl last night," the man said, smiling. "Well, actually, we didn't meet formally."
The guy had a truly great face, Nikki thought. Full of character. A chin like concrete. High, broad cheekbones. Bone structure to die for…
Die for…
Not a term to use these days.
"Thanks again for the help," Julian said, striding around the desk to shake hands.
"I'll make the formal introduction, then," Massey said. "Nikki DuMonde, Julian Lalac, this is Brent Blackhawk. Brent, Nikki, Julian… "
"Pleased to meet you," Brent said, smiling in acknowledgment.
"Are you a cop?" Nikki asked.
His smile deepened. He shook his head. "Kind of a troubleshooter," he murmured vaguely.
"Here as a guest," Massey said.
Marc Joulette rose, stretching. "This is a good break. Nikki, you want a soda? A coffee? Julian? Anyone… ? I've got to go get another book."
"Nothing for me, thanks," Brent Blackhawk said. "Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt. I kind of came in on a… well, I'm curious. Thought you might have run into this guy."
He strode to the desk, setting down a picture.
Nikki gasped, stared at the picture, then back at Brent Blackhawk. His eyes were strangely knowing. She looked around at the others.
"That's him!" she exclaimed. She looked around at the others, triumphant. "That's him," she repeated.
"Good. We know who it is, then," Julian said, pleased.
But the others didn't say a word. They were staring at her strangely. Massey and Joulette looked stunned. Brent Blackhawk seemed to be seeing something beneath the surface that brought a pensive look to his eyes as he studied her.
"What's the matter? Who is he?" Nikki asked, feeling a headache coming on strong.
"You have to be mistaken," Joulette said softly.
"No, I'm not," Nikki said firmly.
"Nikki, you've been through a lot," Massey said.
"This is the man I saw," Nikki said indignantly. "I know it. So what's the problem?"
"You couldn't have seen him," Massey said. "Not last night."
"And why not?"
"Because he's dead," Joulette explained very softly.
The room spun. Nikki was suddenly afraid she was going to pass out. Fear washed over her in terrible, sweeping waves.
She fought the sensation furiously.
She gritted her teeth hard and rose.
"He has a double, a twin or something, then. Or you've been deceived. I saw this man last night. I saw him. I have excellent eyesight. Twenty-twenty." When no one said anything in response, she went on, "Excuse me, it's obvious you don't intend to believe me."
She started out of the room. Brent Blackhawk was watching her just as intently as the others. And he was in her way.
It suddenly seemed to be all his fault. After all, he'd brought in the picture.
"Excuse me," she said, trying to get past him.
"Miss DuMonde," he said, "I'd really like to talk to you—"
"Not now." Julian was behind her. Both Joulette and Massey were silent.
"Not now," she agreed icily. She had to get out of there. She had to get away from the police station, out onto the street.
For a moment she was afraid he was going to stop her. That he was going to take her bodily by the shoulders and insist on speaking with her.
But he stepped back. Suddenly she was aware only of his eyes, and she had the most bizarre thought.
He didn't have to stop her physically. He knew, knew, that he would find her, that he would speak to her.
"I have to get out of here," she insisted, and she pushed blindly past him.
She fought for control as she pushed her way outside, back to the busy street, the tourists and the vendors, the ever-present music.
Julian was close behind, and when she stopped on the sidewalk, he was right beside her.
Control. She took a deep breath and tried to sound completely casual. "We should have lunch, or something."
"We should head straight to Dr. Boulet's," he said, and taking her firmly by the elbow, he led her along the sidewalk, past a voodoo shop, an antique shop, a toy store… and a strip club.
It was New Orleans, after all.
"They're mistaken," she said. "That guy has to be alive. Or there's someone who looks just like him."
"Yeah, and Andy's alive, too?" he asked softly.
She fell silent and didn't say anything else the rest of the way to the doctor's office, which was above a souvenir shop, next to another strip joint. Yup, this was New Orleans.
"Who exactly is Nikki DuMonde?" Brent asked the detectives.
Massey snorted. "A wacko, that's what it's beginning to look like," he said, shaking his head.
Joulette shrugged with a wry grin. "Damn gorgeous wacko. I think she was serious, though. She really believes she saw this guy. Hey," he said to his partner, "you've spent more time with her than I have, but she's never seemed to be anything less than intelligent."
Owen Massey let out a sigh. "Yeah, yeah. But she's high-strung."
"She's convinced her friend was murdered, what do you want?" Joulette asked.
