Bayou Heat (3 page)

“You want me to find her?”

“We want you to do your magic and let us know what you
find,” Olson replied as he stood.

Eris frowned at Olson but, to Rob’s surprise, picked up the
file and walked out of the conference room without saying a word. Rob watched
her go then stood and turned to Olson. “Does she always do this?”

The detective laughed. “All the time. The two of you should
have loads of fun working together.”

Rob moved quickly to catch up with the irritating woman but
figured with the wild hair he wouldn’t easily lose sight of her. The elevator
doors were closing as he entered the corridor, so he hit the stairs and
descended the three flights in record time. He entered the lobby expecting to
have to chase the woman down. Instead she stood by the windows, gazing out.

She turned as he approached. “Sorry I left so abruptly, but
I had to get out of there. Detective Olson has a tendency to get on my nerves.”

“Really? I hadn’t noticed.”

She gave a small laugh as she pulled his jacket off and
handed it back to him. “Thank you for the use of the coat—and you don’t lie
well at all, Mr. Jackson.”

He took the coat. “You’re welcome, and please call me Rob.”

“Only if you call me Eris.”

“That’ll work.”

She smiled. “Good, now let’s get to work.”

He slipped the jacket back on as Eris walked toward the
entrance. The woman irritated and enticed him at the same time. He checked his
watch. It was eleven thirty, exactly seven and a half hours to go until his
shift was over.

He could do this.

The scent of warm vanilla and cinnamon drifted from his
jacket…her scent. Between trying to figure out the mess LD had gotten them into
and following this strange yet fascinating woman around, he was about to face
the longest seven and a half hours of his life.

* * * * *

Eris stood in Debra Thorn’s apartment and looked around the
room. It was shabby and small and carried an air of desperation. Debra
obviously lived hand-to-mouth and at some point, that small thread would break
and she’d no longer be living here but would become another street person.

“I need something that belongs to Debra,” Eris told Sky,
Debra’s gum-snapping roommate, who currently stood eyeing Rob.

“Whatever. I don’t see what the big deal is. She’s only been
gone a few days. Her parents are way overly protective. Debra is eighteen.
There’s nothing they can do about her living here.” The girl picked up a shirt
and tossed it to her.

Eris caught and held it for a few seconds then placed it on
the dining-room table. “Someone else has worn this. I need something that only
Debra would have handled.”

“Look, lady, I don’t got time for this shit. Every minute
I’m with you, I’m losing money.” The girl turned to leave.

Eris watched as Rob shifted his tall, broad-shouldered frame
and blocked the doorway. “You either give the lady what she asked for or I’ll
make a phone call to a friend, and then it’ll be a long time before you earn
anything but extended time in the exercise yard. Get my drift?”

The girl stepped back and Eris didn’t blame her. She would
have moved too if Rob was glaring down at her with his ice-blue eyes, which
looked cold enough to cut steel at the moment.

“Okay, man. Don’t get so worked up. I’ll be right back.”

The girl disappeared into an alcove that was divided from
the rest of the room by a large yellow curtain. Eris turned to Rob. “I
appreciate the help because I’m really not in the mood to have to body slam a
person to get what I want.”

He shrugged. “I didn’t do it for you. I want out of here as
quickly as possible and getting you what you want is the fastest way to achieve
my goal.”

“This place bothers you?”

“It reminds me too much of where I grew up.”

That tidbit of information caught Eris’ interest, but before
she could ask questions, Sky returned. “This should work. She only wore it on
special occasions, said it belonged to her grandmother.”

Eris took the delicate sterling silver heart pendant and
closed her hand around it. The piece grew warm then gradually the heat spread
up her arm and expanded until she could see its colors—Debra’s aura. Now she
had something to work with.

“I’ll need to keep this until Debra is found, so please let
the police know if she shows up.”

“Fine. Can I go now?” Sky asked in an impatient tone as she
popped her gum.

“Yes, I’m done.” Eris started for the door.

“No, I’ve got a few questions,” Rob stated.

Their words were said in unison and the girl looked at them
and rolled her eyes. Rob didn’t move from his position in front of the door.

“I’m finished here,” Eris stated between gritted teeth.

“Well, I’m not.” Rob’s words left no room for argument as he
turned toward Sky.

“I don’t give nothing away for free, mister.” The girl moved
close enough to Rob that she could run a hand down his arm. “If you’re willing
to pay for it, I’ll give you anything you want.”

Rob flashed a smile of pure devilment at Sky, making the
girl blush as he reached into his pocket. Eris rolled her eyes.

“It’s really hard to turn down such an offer, but I’m
working at the moment.” He pulled a twenty-dollar bill out of his wallet and
handed it to the girl. “Does Debra have a pimp?”

“She freelances like me. We don’t see no reason to give no
guy half our earnings.”

“What about an unsatisfied customer?”

“Debra always left her clients happy. The best advertisement
is a satisfied customer.”

“Did she owe money to her dealer?”

“She don’t do that kind of stuff.”

“When was the last time you saw Debra?”

“A week ago.”

“And what was she doing?”

“Leaving for work.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, ’cause that was the night I brought Tom-Tom up here.”

“Tom-Tom?” Eris couldn’t help but ask, even though she was
sure she didn’t want any additional information.

“He’s a client that lives out of town. He makes it in a
couple of times a month and pays well to stay here. I figure I might as well
take his money instead of some hotel. That’s how I know when it was. Tom-Tom
always brings some new toy that he leaves. That night he brought this whip and
he wanted me to—”

“Enough. I’m sure you’ve got the night right,” Eris said as
she turned and caught Rob grinning at her from ear to ear. Apparently he enjoyed
her discomfort. Well, she’d be sure that he didn’t see it again. “Can we go
now?”

“After you, princess.” Rob moved and opened the door.

She kept one eye on him as she walked past, not sure what
his next move would be and more than a little unnerved by the name he’d called
her. Out on the street, Eris stopped and opened herself to the auras around
her. Slowly she sifted through them, eliminating the obvious ones that didn’t
correspond with Debra’s and then weeding out the near matches until she found
the one she was looking for. Debra’s presence was strong here. She passed
through these doors almost every day, so there was a large amount of collected
energy.

After another couple of minutes, Eris found the strongest of
the residual lines. She now knew which path to follow.

“The file states Debra works at the Red Light Cabaret,” Rob
said from behind her. “Not surprising. Debra’s only eighteen and that place is
notorious for hiring them extremely young.”

She looked over her shoulder to see him closing the folder.
“Okay, we need to go this way.” She started walking in the direction the aura
told her to travel.

“Weren’t you going to question Sky?” Rob asked as he caught
up with her.

“No. I didn’t need to.” Eris concentrated on keeping a bead
on Debra’s aura as it wound in and out with others that were similar.

“Thought you were helping the police?”

“I am.” She really wished he would be quiet. She needed to
concentrate.

“How? By gathering old jewelry and wandering the streets
like a drunk?”

His hand wrapped around her arm, stopping her from stepping
off the sidewalk and into the path of an oncoming vehicle. The sound of a
blaring horn snapped Eris back to reality. “Damn.”

“What the hell’s wrong with you?” His words were hard but
his fingers lightly caressed the skin of her upper arm as he pulled away.

Eris ran a shaky hand through her hair. “I’m sorry.
Sometimes I have to concentrate so hard I don’t realize what’s going on around
me or where I am.”

“Concentrate on what—walking?”

Eris kept her facial expressions as neutral as possible.
“No, on following a person’s aura.”

There, she’d said it. She’d put it off as long as she could,
but now the words were out in the open. Now she would wait to see what kind of
snide, crass remarks he made. Then she would promptly tell him she didn’t care
what he thought.

She watched a couple of emotions flicker over his face then
he shook his shoulder-length blond hair and smiled.

“Guess I shouldn’t be surprised. Not considering where we
live and the fact that you were working with Orbit. She was a local legend. I’m
sorry for your loss.”

Eris was shocked into silence for several seconds at the
honest sympathy she heard. “Thank you, Orbit was a family friend for years.”

Her patience was stretched as she waited for the sarcastic,
hurtful words that normally followed. “Well, don’t you have anything else to
say?”

“I’m sorry I broke your concentration. I’ll be quiet and
watch for cars while you do your thing.”

“Okay.” Eris turned and tried to pick up Debra’s aura. She
slowed her heart rate and pushed the confused thoughts Rob created to the back
of her mind. She couldn’t think about how he made her feel at the moment if she
wanted to find their path.

The woman was a certifiable fruitcake, Rob thought as he
gently guided Eris to the left to keep her from bumping into a streetlight. Up
ahead, he could see the rundown front of the Red Light Cabaret.

There were upscale clubs in this town, and then there were
the dives. This one wasn’t at the bottom of the list but it was close. Large
red letters painted on the window identified the establishment. The remainder
of the window was painted black so pedestrians on the street couldn’t see in.
At night, large floodlights illuminated the windows from behind, making the
words glow.

They stopped outside the club, as if that were a big
surprise, Rob thought. After all, the police report specifically stated the
last place Debra was seen was at work and the roommate confirmed that fact. Why
they couldn’t have taken his car instead of trekking through the heat was beyond
him, but then again, so was this woman.

“I guess you want to go in?” Sweat ran down his back,
causing his shirt to glue itself to him and reminding him they could have
traveled here in air-conditioned comfort.

“Please.”

He held the door and, when they entered, a blast of cool air
greeted him. If he’d known he was going to be walking the French Quarter at
high noon, at the end of July, he would not have worn a business suit to the
meeting this morning. He put a hand on Eris’ back and guided her to the bar as
he looked around and dared any of the patrons to approach her.

“It’s a two-drink minimum. Man or woman,” the bartender
stated as they took their seats.

“Bring me two bottles of water,” Rob answered and
immediately the man placed two bottles of warm water in front of him. He hated
warm water, but he unscrewed the top to the first bottle and took a drink.

“And what will the pretty lady be having?”

Eris flashed the man a breathtaking smile. “Water.”

The one word was deep and sexy and Rob paused with the water
bottle halfway to his mouth.

She placed her hands on the bar and leaned forward. “Is
there any way I could get cold water?”

“For you—no problem.” The bartender stuck his hand down into
a tub containing iced-down beers and pulled out a bottle of water.

Eris took the water and held the bottle to her neck then
rolled it across the exposed skin above her breasts. “Thank you so much.”

The bartender laughed. “Anything for you, sugar. Let me know
when you want the other bottle.”

“I’ll be sure to ask for you when I’m ready, big boy.”

The man roared with laughter as he headed down the bar to
serve another client.

“That was typical.”

“What was?” Eris turned to face him.

“Another woman, flaunting herself to get what she wants, and
here I thought you were different.”

Eris met his hard gaze with one as equally determined.
“You’re one to talk. You did the exact same thing earlier.”

“I did not.” His words were short as he held on to his
temper.

“Yes, you did. Back at Debra’s apartment. You smiled and
talked all nice to that girl and then pulled out a twenty.”

“I paid for the information. I didn’t do what you just did.”

Eris waved a hand at him as she took another drink of water.
“Suit yourself. If it makes you feel better to say you didn’t, fine by me.
Denial is a very long and lonely river, you know.”

“I’m not in denial.”

She looked over at him and gave a short snort of laughter.
“Sure.” She turned away so she could lean across the counter to get the
bartender’s attention. “Hey, big boy, can I have that other water?”

The man pulled another bottle from the ice and placed it on
the bar. “Anything else, love?”

“Nope, that’s all.” Eris flashed another drop-dead gorgeous
smile at the man.

“I have a couple of questions,” Rob said before the man
could walk away.

“Questions will cost you another two rounds.”

Rob pulled out his wallet and paid for all the drinks as the
bartender retrieved another two warm bottles of water for him.

“Whatcha needin’ to know?”

“What can you tell us about Debra Thorn?” Rob pulled out a
small notepad and flipped to a blank page.