could do to a man. But she had never experienced real violence, not like leopards were capable of. Remy couldn’t take his eyes off Drake. His leopard was at the ready. If for any reason, Drake needed him, he had to respond within seconds, and that meant he couldn’t be the one to reassure Bijou, no matter how much he wanted to do so.
“I lied. I lied,” Robert admitted, holding the side of his face. Blood seeped through his fingers and trickled down his arms. “I did know she was leopard. It was obvious at one point. I didn’t want Jean or Juste to think I’d turned on them.”
There it was—exactly where Drake had been leading Robert all along. Had Robert not claimed his loyalty was to the lair, Drake would have challenged him in a battle between leopards and Robert surely would have died. As it was, he had to answer any questions Remy or Drake posed, whether he liked it or not. Drake had been careful to keep every subject in the context of lair business. That was what Remy admired most about Drake. His leopard might be enraged, but he always kept his cool and thought clearly through every crisis. That trait was what made him such a great leader.
“I see,” Drake said. Deliberately he allowed the silence to stretch out, until Robert squirmed in his chair. “I’m going to give you one chance to come clean. We know about the break-ins, Robert. I want you to give Remy every detail. Every piece of evidence you can provide, anything at all that will help him put those men behind bars.”
The color drained out of Robert’s face. He opened his mouth but Drake held up his hand to stop him from speaking.
“One chance, Robert. I’ll know if you lie. Remy will know if you lie. You have a death sentence hanging over your head, so whatever the Rousseau brothers have on you, it will never be as bad as what I’ll do to you. Start talking.”
Robert licked his suddenly dry lips. Immediately Saria left the room to get him a drink of water. He swallowed several times. “They’ll kill me. They like to kill. They both call themselves bokor, a kind of priest for voodoo black magic. I don’ know if they really know what they’re doin’, but they hold regular rituals out in the swamp and sacrifice animals. They love to cut the heads off of chickens and spray the blood around. They call on demons. They even have a human skull they use for their rituals.”
He confessed in a rush and gratefully took the glass of water Saria handed to him, drinking it down almost in one gulp. He almost sounded relieved to be telling someone, anyone. “They’re crazy, you know. But smart. Real smart. They have eyes and ears everywhere.” He shivered. “Maybe they really have demons looking out for them. I swear, they’re the devil on earth.”
“They masterminded the gang robbing and beatings of the elderly,” Remy stated.
Robert nodded. “We all had to participate. I joined not knowin’ what I was getting into. It seemed like a party at first, the initiation and all. They promised huge amounts of money and great kicks. Ryan Cooper and Brent Underwood both told me I’d make tons of money. So I went with them.”
“Went where?” Remy prompted.
“They have this place in the swamp where they conduct their rituals.” His entire body shuddered, and he lifted the glass to his mouth, not realizing it was empty. “They took me out there blindfolded the first time. We were all drinkin’ and then Jean and Juste began to undress and got naked except for loincloths. Both drew intricate symbols in the dirt. I laughed, thinkin’ it was all part of the party until I noticed no one else was laughin’ and the others looked scared.”
Robert shook his head and drew his hand over his face as if wiping the memory away. “They cut the throat of a pig and watched it bleed out, dancin’ around and invokin’ some demon, and then they painted us with the blood of the pig.” He looked at Remy with stricken eyes. “Once in, you can’t ever get out.”
“Did Ryan Cooper want out?” Remy asked.
“Coop was always talkin’ like he was goin’ to get out if Jean and Juste didn’t give him a bigger cut, but it was all talk. He didn’t want to chance crossin’ them any more than the rest of us. He