twisting her fingers deeper into the back of Remy’s shirt. She made a soft sound of pure distress in her throat. Remy wanted to fold her into his arms, hold her next to his heart to shelter her from everything else. He reached behind him to run his fingers down her arm in a small, reassuring caress. It was the best he could do under the circumstances.
“They were expandin’ their business and wanted money from anyone guidin’ in the swamp. Pete laughed at them and refused to pay,” Robert howled. “It wasn’t my idea. I told them no one livin’ and workin’ around the bayous or swamps would pay, but they wouldn’t listen. They said all they needed was a couple of good examples and everyone would get in line.”
“So you knew all this and still you kept quiet. Saria guides tourists,” Remy pointed out. “My sister. The wife of your leader, and your friend.”
“They didn’t threaten Saria,” Robert denied. “They didn’t.”
“You’re going to write this all down and then you’re going to lead us into the swamp where they conduct these rituals,” Remy said. “Don’ shake your head, Robert. You’ve broken just about every single law we have. I’m takin’ these two down, and you’re goin’ to help me do it. I want them for the break-ins and the beatin’s. Even if I can’t prove they killed Pete Morgan and Ryan Cooper, I’ll have them behind bars, and that should give me more time to find evidence they’ve been committin’ these murders if they have.”
“We’ll go as soon as it’s dark,” Drake said. “The three of us will go in to uncover the evidence and see what’s there. I’ll want your brothers, Remy, to be on guard here. We’ll have to bring Dion back and put him in protective custody—ours. I trust our leopards to guard him. He won’t like it, but that’s too bad.”
“You know I have to bring Robert in,” Remy said.
“No!” Robert nearly jumped out of his chair. “You can’t lock up a leopard. You know that. And Juste and Jean will find a way to kill me,” he added.
“You don’ get a pass on this one,” Remy said. “You joined a gang that beat up the elderly and robbed them. The DA will make a deal with you, but you have to face this. I’ll do my best to keep you out of jail, and if you do have to be there, you’ll be in your own cell.”
“You can’t let him take me in,” Robert appealed to Drake. “You know the Rousseau brothers will get to me if they know I turned them in.”
“You said they would get to you no matter what,” Drake reminded. “That they aren’t entirely human. You can’t have it both ways. Robert, you did this. You had options all along and you chose the easy way out. Get on your feet. We’re going to take care of this and do as much damage control as possible.”
“Gage,” Remy said. “Have some of your men keep an eye on Brent Underwood and Tom Berlander. Make certain they do it from a distance. We don’ want them tipped off, or worse, the Rousseau brothers to get suspicious.”
“No problem,” Gage agreed. “Consider it done.”
“We’ll stay away from the brothers for now,” Remy decided. “They probably are crowin’ about fooling me in interrogation. Once again, they figure they outsmarted the cops. I want them feelin’ all happy, warm and fuzzy. We don’ want them runnin’.”
“And if they head out to the swamp while you’re out there?” Gage asked.
“They’ll run into leopards and it won’t be pretty,” Remy said, his tone unforgiving.
Bijou dropped her arms to her sides and stepped away from him. He turned to face her. She looked stricken and maybe a little sick. “These men sound dangerous, Remy,” she whispered.
He reached for her hand and tugged her to him, sliding her under his shoulder and walking her out of the room—away from Robert and the stench of madness. She didn’t need to see the corrupt side of leopards, not when she was first learning about her heritage. Like anything, there was both good and bad.
He didn’t want to talk to her in front of Robert, or anyone else for that matter. She was intensely private and she wouldn’t want him comforting her in front of the others. He took her through to the kitchen and as soon as the door closed behind them, he swung her around and tipped her chin up so