Connor rushed to the door and peered through the keyhole.
“Looks like a bellhop passing by with a cart of suitcases.”
Josie breathed a sigh of relief. That kiss had left her so rattled and shaken, she felt like a jigsaw puzzle. That kind of notion could get her in serious trouble.
He turned to stare over at her. “Are we okay here, Josie?”
Josie didn’t think she’d be okay for a while to come. “I don’t know,” she said, aiming for sarcasm. “I mean, since we’re been thrown together I’ve gone undercover, gotten way too close to a Mafia boss and the bomb waiting to kill him, lost someone on my FBI team and I’ve been shot at several times.” She paced around the hotel room, wondering what to do next. “Of course, I’ve also had some of the best food in the world at the Crooked Nail and I’ve slept in a boathouse and had a firsthand tour of a swamp.” She shrugged. “Oh, and I’ve been kissed by the elusive Connor Randall. Yeah, sure, I’m A-OK.”
“Very funny.” He marched toward her with a predatory stare, then took her back in his arms. “One more kiss for the road, then I’ll behave until we’re done with all this mess.”
Josie tried to back away, but Connor swooped in and held her in an embrace so he could do a repeat of their first kiss. She tried to move but her legs locked on her. The only thing she could do was sigh and go with it.
Until they heard someone tapping at the door.
Connor pulled away and put a finger to his lips.
She nodded, got her head together and made sure her weapon was secure. “Hold back and see what happens.”
Connor glanced around. “The door to the adjoining room is locked. No escape unless you want to rappel eight floors down.”
“Not on my bucket list,” she replied. His room was across the hall, but that wouldn’t help them now. “Let’s give them the element of surprise.”
Connor quickly unplugged a lamp and moved toward the door. “I’ll surprise ’em all right.”
The intruder stopped knocking but Josie heard a click. A key card? She waited in the bathroom while Connor positioned himself around the corner by a small love seat.
The door slid open in a slow creak. Josie waited just long enough to get her foot against the door. “Hold it right there.”
Connor didn’t wait. He came barreling around the corner and rammed the upended lamp right toward the startled man standing there with his mouth open.
The lamp made contact and the big man went down and moaned. “It’s me. It’s me.”
“Beaux?” Josie still held her gun high, but she took her foot off the door and helped Connor pull the man into the room. “What do you think you’re doing?”
Connor was inches away, but he let go of his grip on the lamp and took a deep breath. “Why are you breaking into this room?”
Beaux held up his beefy hands. “I had to come. Mr. Armond is awake but he’s pretending to not be awake. They’ve moved him, but I got to him in the hospital and he wanted me to find y’all and warn you.”
“What?” Josie shot a glance toward Connor. “Get in here, Beaux. And don’t make me regret letting you live.”
Beaux clomped toward the sofa and plopped down, his beefy hand on his head. He was sweating and nervous. “I didn’t know what else to do. I followed y’all and I bribed a bellman to give me a master key. And I’m trying to be discreet.”
As discreet as a burly giant of a man could be, Josie decided. And he was lying. “Beaux, that dog won’t hunt. What are you talking about?”
Beaux’s big eyes widened. “What do you mean?”
“How did you find us?” Connor asked.
“The FBI has been after all of us,” Beaux explained. “They keep waiting for Mr. A. to wake up. He’s in and out but he’s playing possum on talking. He knows they found something out at the house and he believes he’s been set up. He’s afraid the killer will come back, too.”
“What happened in that room at the other hotel?” Josie asked.
Beaux shrugged. “We had a knock at the door, and I thought it was the guard you told me was coming. When I opened the door, the guard showed me a badge and a gun and told me to take a break. So I went down to the cafeteria, but something didn’t feel right. When I got back, all sorts of people were in the hallway, so I hid near the ice machine.”
“They were there to take Mr. Armond into custody,” Connor explained. “What happened after that?”
“Before I could warn Mr. Armond, another group of men came in and started shooting. I hung back and watched. They shot up the place.” He showed them a cut on the side of his head. “When things quieted down, I hurried back, but everyone was gone and I...I thought Mr. A. was dead. I ain’t proud, but I bolted when I heard someone else coming.”
Sherwood had told Josie that Beaux had gotten away.
“So you’ve been in hiding since?”
“Yes.” He rubbed his head. “I watched and waited and disguised myself, then I finally asked around and found where they were holding Mr. A. in a private room at that big hospital near the Garden District. I only got to see him for a couple of minutes. He warned me to get away.” He rubbed his head. “I saw them taking him out of the hospital, but I don’t know what they did with him. I had to stay out of sight so I could find y’all.”
“Is he afraid to talk?” Josie asked, handing Beaux a glass of water.
“He’s afraid of breathing,” Beaux replied. “We got the FBI trailing us and somebody trying to off all of us.”
“Is Armond’s empire crumbling?” Connor asked.
“Yes, it is,” Beaux said. “I...I listened in when the FBI was talking nearby his room.” He gave Josie a hard stare. “I know you’re FBI but I ain’t gonna tell anyone. I didn’t even tell Mr. Armond. All I know is you tried to help him and then, boom, someone shot him. I saw y’all after all the fireworks in that other hotel. I shoulda stayed there and helped Mr. A., but I panicked.”
Connor let out a groan. “Did you tail us, Beaux?”
“Nah, not since y’all left town. I been holed up at a run-down hotel out on the interstate. That’s the truth. But I knew if I hung around the Quarter long enough, I’d probably see somebody who could help me. The FBI and those other agencies took all of Mr. A.’s files, computers—you name it, they stripped it. They want to pin Lewanna’s shooting on him, and they think they’ve got some other evidence or something. But they don’t have any proof of nothing on the shooting, ’cause they can’t find the weapon. They swept that mansion clean.”
He inhaled a deep breath, then let it out.
“I got to stay close or I’ll be a fugitive. Only I don’t have anywhere to stay, since Mr. Armond is so sick. I ain’t going back to that house. I don’t like that place. His wife won’t even come back to check on him. She’s scared. Gone into hiding.”
“Interesting,” Connor said, shooting Josie a glance. “So why did you come to us?”
Beaux leaned in and lowered his voice. “Mr. Armond whispered something in my ear before he fell back asleep.”
“What did he say?” Josie asked, her patience about to crack.
“He told me to find Randall and...that broad.” He glanced at Josie. “Sorry, his word, not mine.”
Josie did an eye roll. “It’s okay, Beaux. What do you want us to do?”
Beaux swallowed some water. “Mr. Armond might still be mad at you, Connor. He says if he ever leaves that hospital alive, he has to find you.”
“So he sent you here as a courtesy, to warn us?” Connor asked.
Beaux shook his head. “He was confused and forgetful, but he didn’t tell me to kill you. Besides, I like you, Connor. And...I ain’t got no beef with you, FBI lady.”
Josie would never understand the criminal mind. This man was obviously a gentle giant, but he’d gotten himself caught up in a world of crime. He did as he was told as long as he had a safe place to stay and a gun to protect him.
She touched Beaux on the shoulder. “Did you cut a deal with Armond? Or maybe you need to talk to the FBI?”
“Maybe,” Beaux replied, his eyes misty.
“It’s okay,” Connor said. “I sealed my fate by agreeing to work with the FBI. I don’t blame you for doing the same.”
“I haven’t done anything yet,” Beaux said, perspiration pooling in big drops on his brow. “I don’t want to work with them, ’cause if Mr. A, finds out, I’m toast. So I came to warn y’all.” He shrugged. “I’m mostly wanting to find out why Mr. A. told me to go back to the big house and secure the garage.”
“The garage,” Josie and Connor said at the same time.
Beaux bobbed his head. “He kept whispering about a car in the garage. Maybe his Bentley?”
“What is it about that garage?” Josie asked out loud. “Something’s in there. Which means we need to get back out to that house before someone else does.”
Connor rubbed his forehead and started in on Beaux again. “So we’ve got someone on our tail trying to blast us, and now we’ve got a new message from Armond, but you don’t want to go back out to the house, so...again, what do you want from us?”
Beaux got up and shook out his wrinkled suit. “I want you both to run as far from Louisiana as you can get. Don’t go back to that house. It’s the only way to keep you alive.”
“Does the FBI know you’re here?”
Beaux shook his head at Connor’s question. “No, but I’m hoping they’ll cut me some slack if I help y’all get away. Maybe y’all could vouch for me. I got a family to consider.”
Josie wished he’d considered his family before selling his soul to a bunch of criminals.
“Do you know who’s after Armond?” Josie asked.
Beaux stood there, as if weighing his next words very carefully. “I have my suspicions.”
“And?”
“I’m thinking Mrs. A. went to New York to hire someone to do away with Mr. A., starting with that troublemaker Lewanna.”
“His wife?” Josie shot a questioning glance at Connor, then looked back at Beaux. “Do you have any proof?”
“She hates him fiercely,” Beaux said on a low whisper.
“Motive,” Connor pointed out.
“And the means?” Josie asked.
“The son, Lou, was in the military for a little while,” Beaux said. “He got kicked out for disobeying orders. It wasn’t pretty. They tried to hide it. Sent him to Europe. But he’s still causing a stink, always gambling and asking for money.” Beaux lowered his voice. “He likes to blow things up.”
“Surprise, surprise,” Connor quipped. “So you think mother and son have teamed up to off Mr. Armond?”
Beaux nodded. “Mr. A. thinks so, too. But you see, they say he has another son hidden away somewhere.”
Another revelation. Connor got up to pace but he didn’t seem surprised. Had he heard this, too?
His next question indicated he hadn’t. “You mean Lou isn’t Louis Armond’s only son?”
“Nope, or so they say. I heard Mr. and Mrs. A. arguing about it one night long ago. Never forgot that fight, let me tell you. Throwing stuff and slamming doors.”
“Does his wife hate Armond enough to have him killed?” Connor said on a dry note.
“I think so,” Beaux replied. “She mighta found out the will don’t leave very much for Lou.”
“Lou, the firstborn?” Josie couldn’t believe these new revelations.
“That’s the problem. He might not be the firstborn.”
“But if he kills his father and no one knows about the other son, he could stand to inherit a lot of money through dear old mom.”
“Exactly,” Beaux agreed. “And his mama could team up with whoever it is that’s supposed to be a silent partner. Somebody hugely powerful, is all I know. I’ve never seen Mr. A. scared before.”
“Maybe the proof is somewhere on the estate,” Connor said. “That garage has all kinds of storage places and hidden cubbyholes. Maybe even another safe. Or maybe the old garage.”
Beaux turned stubborn. “I ain’t going out there to find anything.”
“Beaux, do you know anything at all about this silent partner?” Josie asked. “Or the other son?”
Beaux’s eyes widened. “No. Not a thing.” Then he lowered his head. “Okay, maybe. But Mr. A. don’t confide in me about those kinds of deals.”
Connor and Josie exchanged glances. Josie figured Beaux knew too much but he was afraid to talk now.
“I need y’all to find whoever is doing this,” Beaux said. “They’ll kill all of us if the FBI doesn’t get to us first.” He wiped his brow. “I need y’all alive. And I plan to stay that way, too.”
“Why are you warning us like this?” Josie asked, her mind trying to comprehend this turn of events.
“Mr. A. told me,” Beaux said. “He didn’t make a whole lot of sense ’cause he’s so mad and scared.” He gave Connor a solemn stare. “But he told me himself—said to protect Connor. Warn Connor Randall. Remind him of the garage. I think you need to find out what he’s talking about.”
“Good point.” Connor looked over at Josie. “What do you want to do?”
“I’m not running,” she said. “I’d like to get to Lou and Vanessa Armond and check out Beaux’s suspicions.”
Connor got up and slapped Beaux on the back. “You heard the lady. We’ll take care of this. But first, we need a favor from you.”
“What’s that?” Beaux asked.
Josie stood, too. “We need you to get us back inside Armond Gardens. Tonight. We think we can find some answers out there.”
“I told you I didn’t want to go back there,” Beaux said, “but you’d better let your boss know about this, ’cause there ain’t much left to search. They had warrants and papers and a whole slew of law-enforcement people out there this morning. Saw that on the news. The whole mess is on the front page of the paper, too. So you need to leave my name out of this. I’m already in enough trouble.”
“I’ll get Sherwood on the phone right now and get clearance,” Josie said, already holding her phone to her ear. “And as for you, Beaux, you need to stick with us. But we’ll protect you, so we never had this conversation.”
* * *
Midnight in Armond Gardens.
Connor could smell the danger. The hot air was tinged with heat lightning and dark clouds. A storm. Just what they needed.
Beaux had smuggled them into a sleek black SUV and moved them through the city while they huddled down in the far backseat. Then they’d taken the back roads north toward the Old River Road and the back gate to the Armond estate.
And with each bump and bang on the rough roads and unpaved trails, he’d been so close to Josie he could feel her heart beating. He remembered kissing her, remembered the fresh new feelings washing over him with that kiss.
She’d returned it, measure for measure. The woman had a thing for him. He could feel it. Could they make a good team?
She shifted now. “Are we there yet?”
“Almost. It takes longer coming the back way.”
“I’m getting mighty tired of these Louisiana back roads.”
“But our lovely vacation is just starting, sweetheart.”
“Funny. Shut up.”
He grabbed her hand. “If I have to be on the run, I’m glad it’s with you.”
“You might change your tune on that,” she whispered. “I’m not in a good mood.”
One more bounce and the SUV rocked to a sudden halt.
“Beaux, what’s wrong?”
“We got trouble,” Beaux said, his words rushed.
“What now?” Josie lifted her head, then let out a groan. “We’re too late, Connor.”
Connor raised his head. “What’s going on?”
“I can’t go any farther,” Beaux replied. “See? Up ahead.”
Connor saw the bright orange blaze. “Is the house on fire?”
“I think so,” Beaux said. “And if it is, we need to be away from this place.”
“No.” Josie stretched and launched herself between the captain seats. “No. We need to investigate.”
Connor knew he wouldn’t be able to stop her, but he tried. “Josie, Beaux’s right. We can’t be caught here.”
“I’m going.” She was already opening a door. “And I’m calling it in. I should have stayed here the other night and I didn’t. Tonight, I’m doing my job.”
Connor groaned and climbed out after her. “Beaux, stay here and don’t make a move. If we’re not back in an hour, come looking for us.”
Beaux nodded. “Be careful.”
Connor saw the irony of a hit man telling them to be careful while they headed toward a raging fire at a Mafia don’s big estate. Yeah, they’d be real careful.
By the time they’d trekked up the back part of the vast property, they could already hear sirens off in the distance.
“The village volunteers,” he said, halting Josie a few yards from the big house.
“Look,” she said. “It’s not the house. It’s the garage.”
Connor squinted into the bright flames. “The six-car garage behind the house. The very place we’re here to search. The place where my car used to be.”
“That’d be the one. At least your car is probably safe back in the city.”
He could see it now. The garage was directly behind the house but about fifty yards away. From where they’d stopped earlier, it had looked like the mansion was on fire.
“Why would someone set fire to the garage?” Josie asked, her tone full of sarcasm.
“They hate black SUVs?”
“Or they knew something was in that garage. Something no one was supposed to see. The same something Armond warned Beaux about.”
He turned from the flames to Josie. “Now what?”
“We can wait ’em out and investigate later but this fire might destroy any evidence we could use.”
“You know the feds will be all over this,” he reminded her. “Wait, you are a fed.”
“Yes, and I need to let Sherwood know that we’re on the scene. He won’t like that we came out here on our own, but that’s a perfect excuse for investigating this fire, too.”
“But, Josie, whoever set this fire might still be around. Maybe they set it to lure us out here.”
Her chin lifted. “Or as a distraction.”
“So they could go into the main house and get whatever it is they don’t want anyone to find,” Connor finished.
“Exactly. Let’s get moving.”
He had to follow her. He didn’t have any other choice.
He wanted to solve this mystery and get out from under this hit so he could enjoy being with Josie in a more relaxed, normal situation.
But could he actually spend his life with an FBI agent?
“I guess this is a good practice run,” he mumbled as he hurried to catch up with her. “If we survive this, we can survive anything.”