Rix led me out of the bar, his hand on my lower back. Johnny was parked on a side street two blocks away in the Escalade. When Rix opened the door and then followed me inside, the SUV rolled forward. Around and around we drove until apparently Johnny was sure there was no one following us. This time, he pulled alongside the curb in front of my house.

I looked to Rix, and the expression on his face told me he wasn’t coming inside.

“I got some work to finish up and I’ll be back.”

“What kind of work?” The question was out before I could stop it. I knew I wasn’t getting an answer. Heck, I wasn’t even sure if I wanted an answer.

Rix’s expression was guarded. “Just work. I’ll be back when I can.”

“I interrupted you.” Guilt lanced through me, but I wouldn’t give back this last hour for anything.

“You’re never an interruption.” His words were clearly a lie.

“Why did you come if you were busy? You didn’t need to.”

Rix lifted a hand to my face. “If my woman says she’s drinking alone, I’m not the kind of man to leave her to it.”

“Still—”

“Don’t worry about it. I’ll be back soon.” He leaned in and pressed a kiss to my lips before reaching past me and opening the door. “Don’t wait up.”

“Be safe,” I whispered, pressing my lips to his cheek. I had no idea what he was going out to do, but I was sure of one thing. “I don’t want to lose you.”

“You won’t.”

I could only hope he was right.

DRUGS. MONEY. GUNS. THEY’D BEEN my world for years, but I was ready to get out. Valentina wasn’t the kind of woman I could keep while doing what I did, and I wasn’t willing to let her go. What I could let go of was drugs, money, and guns. But when you were as bound up in the game as I was, nothing was ever simple.

Johnny and I rolled on the warehouse where I had a meet set up. Hennessy was still sniffing around, looking for evidence that his brother wasn’t dirty. I’d offered up a reward for the wire tape, and wouldn’t you know it, money talked.

I was getting my hands on it today, from another employee of the NOPD, ironically enough. In this world, no one and nothing were ever what or who they seemed to be. The good guys weren’t all good and the bad guys weren’t all bad. Just one more lesson about life.

And why the fuck was I getting philosophical? I was here to get something Hennessy wanted, and then I was going to warn him off Valentina once and for all.

The warehouse was dark and quiet when I walked in. Abandoned twenty years ago after a main Mardi Gras parade route change, the old brick building still held random pieces of broken floats that had never been moved. It was very NOLA.

Gregory Herman waited inside, arms crossed, wearing thick-rimmed glasses that magnified his eyes. From the way he was jumping at every sound, he had to be hopped up on something, because there was no way he could be that nervous. Could he? A tech nerd at the precinct for less than a year, according to my sources, he didn’t do much fieldwork, but he was a savant when it came to computers and surveillance and all that shit.

Johnny was at my back as I approached Herman. “You alone?” I asked. I hadn’t taken the time to search the building, but that was the other thing that could have him so jumpy. “Because if you ain’t, you and whoever you brought are going to have a rather unpleasant evening.”

He shook his head violently, almost dislodging his glasses. Resettling them on his nose, he stuttered, “N-n-no, sir. Just me. I didn’t want anyone to know what I was doing.”

“Because you’re breaking the law and could end up in jail for doing this yourself.”

I wanted to make sure the consequences were clear to him before I handed over the money. I didn’t get the set-up vibe from him either.

“I guess. I mean, it’s just a file. It’s no big deal.”

His lack of remorse would be troubling to his superiors, but it was fine by me.

“Exactly. And you’re getting a decent bonus for your assistance. No harm, no foul.”

Herman nodded. “Right. Exactly.”

“So let’s hear it.”

“Hear it?” he asked.

“The recording.” At his confused expression, I added, “Did you think I’d pay for shit before I heard it? You could be scammin’ me, Herman, although I think you’re too nice a guy to be trying that.”

“I swear I’m not. It’s all here. I thought you’d want to listen to it in private. I mean, this could be big stuff. I don’t recognize the voices, so I’m not much help.”

“We’re listening to it now, and then we’ll both be on with our day.”

“Oh, okay. I guess that’s fine.” He pulled a USB drive out of his pocket. “Do you have a computer?”

Taking it from Herman, I turned to Johnny. He already had the laptop out and open in his hands. I slid the USB drive into place, found the file, and hit PLAY.

Static was all I heard at first, and then a conversation started.

“I told you I’m done.”

“And I told you I’m not. We’ve got at least three or four more runs before I’m going to be ready to call it quits.”

“You’re taking a lot of fucking chances, Hennessy.”

Well, fuck. We listened to the end of the recording, even though I didn’t need to hear any more to have my answers.

I held out a hand and Johnny placed an envelope in it.

“For your good work,” I said.

Herman grabbed the envelope and folded it in half before shoving it in his pants pocket. “Guess I’ll be on my way.”

“You do that.”

He left the warehouse, and I waited several long moments before my curse echoed through the room.

Fuck. As much as Hennessy was pissing me the fuck off right now with his dogged determination to get my woman, I didn’t want this for him. This wasn’t the kind of news I wanted to deliver to any person. It also wasn’t something I was going to keep from him.

“Let’s roll,” I said to Johnny before we turned to leave the warehouse. A shuffling sound caught my attention before we got too far. We both drew our guns in the direction of the noise before taking another step.

“Come out or you’re dead.” My tone was casual, but my words weren’t.