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“You don’t,” André said. “It’s best to keep the bad guys guessing. Farrah drove our extra vehicle out here tonight so that you could borrow it.”
“Oh!” Molly looked like she might cry a little. “That was so nice of you.”
“Think nothing of it.” Farrah motioned for them to follow her as she started walking around to the detached garage. “We hardly ever use it, and it needs to be driven. It belonged to my best friend. She left it behind when she moved to California to live with her fiancé. She’d be happy that you were using it to keep safe.”
“And you don’t need to worry about pampering it,” André added. “If you need to grind some gears to make a getaway, do it. The engine will do you right. We just had it tuned up. And if you have to ditch it somewhere, that’s all right, too. It’s just a car.”
Gabe was overwhelmed with gratitude and slightly ashamed that he’d mistrusted André at the beginning. Which was only like, what? Two and a half days ago? Hell. “Thank you. Truly.”
“We all loved your dad,” André said simply. “It’s our way of honoring him.” He gave Molly the keys. “Be safe and you have my number. Call if you need anything at all.”
Molly hugged him hard. “Thank you. Thank you so much.” She stepped back, looking concerned. “Are we putting you in a bad position?”
“No,” André assured her. “Someone in the department is involved in a murder. Several murders. We need to find him—or them—and dig them out. Keeping you safe is my job and a way to clean up my own house.”
They took leave of the couple, who stood hand in hand, watching as they drove away.
“That was nice,” Molly murmured. “I really love those two. Farrah’s some sort of genius, but you’d never know it. She’s just plain people.”
“You’re no slouch,” Gabe said, feeling an inexplicable need to defend her.
She grinned. “You sweet-talker, you. Hey, I’m sorry you didn’t get a chance to cook at Burke’s place tonight. I know you were hoping to let off some steam.”
He felt his lips curving into an answering smile. “I can think of other ways to let off steam.”
“My bed at home is really soft.”
He studied her profile. It was too dark to see if she was blushing, but she was biting her bottom lip and he’d noticed that the two often happened together. “I don’t care if it’s a slab of rock. If I get to sleep with you, it’ll be perfect.”
“It’s no slab of rock, and thank you. My sister will want to meet you. She’ll likely squeal and ask for chocolate cake or maybe your profiteroles. They’re real favorites in our house.”
“I’ll make either for her, or even both. And your niece? Harper? Will she be okay if I’m there? I mean, do men scare her?”
Molly’s expression softened. “It’s thoughtful of you to ask. For a long time, she was afraid of men, but she’s coming around. I know she likes Lucien, the guy who’s been standing watch over them at night. She knows him from get-togethers with all of us from Burke’s. He does some amateur magic and she’s a fan. She’s always trying to figure out how he does the tricks. She’s very analytical.”
“She gets that from her aunt.”
Another smile was his reward. “And you? I know you’re an only child. Is Patty your only family?”
“Kind of. Patty’s other side of the family is bustin’ with cousins, and they call me one of their own. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that I make them the famous chocolate cake for birthdays and such.”
“That cake is better than gold as currency,” she declared. Then frowned. “Your aunt and uncle—Patty’s folks—are in Florida, right?”
“That’s what Patty said. They went to visit her granny on her mother’s side. Why?”
“How much did Patty tell them?”
“Most of what I told her. She told me that they’d wanted her to come, too, but Val convinced them that Patty would be safe with her around. They must have believed Val, because they took off.”
“Val is very convincing.”
“Val is very intimidating,” Gabe corrected.
Molly’s lips twitched. “She’s Val-Killer-Rie.”
“She’s what?”
“Val-Killer-Rie—a takeoff on Valkyrie. It’s her roller derby name. She’s part of the New Orleans QuarterMasters.”
