Leopard's Prey (Leopard People 5)

"Lookin' for you as usual," Remy replied.

Both women caught the scent of blood at the same time. Saria came to her feet instantly, a slight frown on her face. "Dash? What happened?"

"There's an intruder in the house," Remy replied, never taking his eyes off of Bijou. "You don' seem to understand the word danger."

She made a face at him. "I understand perfectly. The Rousseau brothers can't hurt us. And what intruder? Dash, did you get hurt?"

Dash looked more mortified than ever as his sister fussed over the back of his head and Bijou jumped up to look at the cut as well.

"He snuck up on me. I was so into my game I wasn't payin' attention to my leopard."

"He who?" Saria asked.

"Jason Durang," Remy said, his tone grim. "I'm really showin' restraint, Bijou. I'd like to shake you until you show good sense, if that's even possible."

"Jason Durang is in this house?" Saria asked. "We were in the safe room, and unless the intercom is on, you can't hear anything. The room is sealed. Bijou guessed Bodrie kept her mother's things in here." She frowned again. "Who is Jason Durang, and what's he doin' in the house bashin' Dash over the head?"

"Shouldn't you be arrestin' him for trespassin'?" Bijou asked Remy, a mixture of challenge and defiance in her voice.

Remy caught her arm and pulled her to him, needing to touch her more than he wanted to admit. The relief at finding her safe overshadowed his anger at her for not being more careful--by just a little bit--he told himself.

"I wouldn't mind arrestin' you," he hissed at her. "You're goin' to give me gray hair if you keep this up. You knew Durang was still out there."

"Actually, I didn't think about it," Bijou said. "I'm sorry, Remy, I shouldn't have put Saria in danger, but I just got excited about findin' out about my mother."

"It was my suggestion," Saria admitted. "I thought the threat was over and it seemed a good time to find her mother's things. Who is Jason Durang and what does he want with Bijou?"

Remy detested that Bijou's soft little apology struck at his heart and that when she looked at him with her blue eyes his anger melted away. "Jason Durang does her manager's dirty work. In this instance, I believe they planned on killin' Bijou for the insurance money. They planned on makin' it look like the bone harvester killed her."

Saria gasped. "Are you certain?"

"We found Bob Carson's camera, and he caught Butterfield and Durang transferrin' plastic sheets and surgical tools into Durang's vehicle. There's an all-points out for them both, and what a shocker, Durang is right here, followin' Bijou." He knew he was being a bastard, trying to scare both women, but he never wanted to relive the last few minutes again.

"Wait a minute." Bijou went very still. "What do you mean, you found Bob's camera? Remy, Bob is never apart from his camera."

Now he did feel like a real bastard. All the while he was listening for Durang to begin his descent down the stairs. The man was doing a room by room search, probably thinking the two women were hiding from him.

In spite of being angry with her, Remy put his arm around Bijou. "Bob Carson was last night's victim. He was murdered by the bone harvester in the swamp."

Bijou stared up at his face, shock in her eyes. "Carson is dead?"

Remy nodded. He ran a finger down the side of her face in a little caress, even though there was still a part of him that wanted to shake her for not playing it safe.

"And you think Jason Durang killed him? For Rob? Why would Rob want Carson dead? Half the time I think Rob informed Bob Carson where I'd be lately just so he could keep me in the tabloids."

"I think Durang meant to copy the harvester's murders in order to cover your murder. I intend to make Durang think I believe he did the other killings, but I'd be shocked if he did them," Remy admitted, telling her the truth.

Both women reacted with shocked gasps. They looked at each other and then at him.

"Remy, do you really believe my manager wanted to kill me?" Bijou asked in a low voice.

For the first time he wished he could lie to her and make it all better. She looked . . . broken. He couldn't blame her. She was in Bodrie's house, and it seemed that everyone she had ever known associated with the man was corrupt.

"I'm sorry, Blue. Yes. I do. I think he gambles and loses and he didn't want the money train to stop. When it did, he became desperate. The bone harvester comin' back to New Orleans at the same time you did provided him with an opportunity." He glanced at his watch. "Backup should be here. I told them to come in without sirens. This time when I say stay put, please do it, Bijou. Dash, you stay with them and don' think about anything else but protectin' them. If you forget what you're doing a second time, I'm goin' to beat the bloody hell out of you and you have my word on that."

"I won't, Remy," Dash assured.

"Get back inside that room and don't come out until I tell you we're all clear," Remy ordered. He didn't let go of Bijou even as he gave the orders. She looked stricken, pressing her lips together. He glanced down at her hands. She was holding a photograph up against her heart. He held out his hand. "Show me, Blue. Is that your mother?"

She nodded and turned the picture over. The woman looked just like her. She had to have been close to the same age as Bijou was now. He ran his finger gently over the photograph. "She's beautiful, Bijou, and you look just like her. I'll be back in a few minutes and I'll help you take all this back to the Inn." Because h

e couldn't help himself, he leaned into her and brushed a kiss across her mouth. "It's almost over, chere. Hang in there with me."

"I'm not going anywhere," she assured. When he turned away, she caught his arm. "Maybe you should take Dash with you."

He loved Dash, his younger, very sensitive brother. Dash was hell on wheels in a fight, but he was made for finer things. Remy wasn't about to risk him, not when he was injured.

Durang had a lot to lose and he knew he had the plastic sheets and surgical instruments in his car. Remy would use that against him, convince Durang he was going to be charged as the harvester in order to make him confess to the lesser crime of planning to murder Bijou. Remy wanted Rob Butterfield as well and he would do everything in his power to make certain Durang gave Bijou's manager up. Remy wasn't going to let the man get away with conspiracy to commit murder.

"I've got backup. This shouldn't take long." He winked at her and strode away.

He could hear Durang now, hurrying down the hall, back toward the staircase. Remy chose his spot. Durang would have to go past him to get off the last stair. Bodrie's penchant for naked statues came in handy for concealment. He wasn't about to allow Durang to spot him until it was too late. There wasn't going to be a shootout. Remy couldn't risk losing Butterfield and Durang had to flip on Butterfield.

Jason Durang came down the stairs stealthily. He was certain Bijou was somewhere in the house. He just had to find her and he could take care of anyone getting in his way. Remy let him walk one step past him and he stepped out and shoved the muzzle of his gun hard behind Durang's ear.

"You're under arrest. Toss the gun aside and listen very carefully to your rights."

19

"I'M sorry, Remy," LeBrun said. "I have nothin' new for you. I can't see any discernible difference in Pete Morgan's bone and Bob Carson's. I can tell you there were traces of ketamine in Bob Carson's system. I found a small needle mark in his neck where he'd been injected."

Remy frowned. "We found ketamine in the Rousseau brother's stash of drugs for sale, and Carson had ketamine in his hotel room. This case just keeps getting murkier and murkier."