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“Then why send me home?”
He pulled her close and kissed the top of her head. “Because protecting you is not only part of the job as alpha, but it is a primary tenet of being your mate.”
Bodie turned her toward Donato and gave her backside a swat that conveyed both affection and that he expected her to follow his command.
“I’ll get her out of here, alpha. I’ll take her the back way. I don’t think they had anyone else with them that’s still breathing—with the exception of Gutierrez and his bodyguard,” said Donato.
“Keep a sharp eye out for a tail,” instructed Bodie. “Go on, now.”
After putting Quinn in the Jeep, Donato got behind the wheel and sped off in the opposite direction from which the police were coming. There was little doubt in his mind that Gutierrez had beaten a hasty retreat back to the city. Bodie would need to ensure that he and his men found Gutierrez before the cops did.
Watching her go, he felt a sense of calm coming from her down the tether. There was something reassuring in how well she had handled the battle and its outcome. She hadn’t cried or screamed or fallen apart. She had accepted that he and his men would handle it and that she was safe within his care.
As he watched the Jeep turn down the road that would keep the cops from seeing them, several cop cars showed up, and uniformed officers spilled out with their guns drawn.
“Take it easy, boys,” said Dwayne Thibodeaux, stepping out of an unmarked sedan. He stepped toward Bodie with his hand extended. “Bodie, what brings you to a murder scene in my parish?”
“I don’t suppose you’d buy we were out for a drive and stopped in for some sweet tea.” Thibodeaux snorted and Bodie shook his head ruefully. “No, I didn’t think so. The younger man over there in the jeans and the white shirt is Alvaro Fuentes. You might remember his father was murdered a decade or so back. No one was ever arrested.”
“I remember.”
“Fuentes contacted me about having some information on Riccardo Gutierrez. He was interested in finding out if I might help him.” The best lies were always those closest to the truth.
“Why would you?”
“Because Gutierrez’s cartel has developed a new ecstasy-like drug. Only this one is more addictive and has some nasty side effects. I’m trying to shut Gutierrez down and ensure it doesn’t find its way into New Orleans.”
“You think you can do that?”
“I think if nothing else, I can make himpersona non gratain this part of the country and force him to go elsewhere.”
“You aren’t interested in trying to make him pay for what he did to Fuentes’ father?”
“Why would I be? I didn’t know the man. My sole goal is to get Gutierrez out of New Orleans and to ensure he doesn’t harm anyone close to me. What he does in other places is other people’s problem.”
Thibodeaux looked at him and Bodie knew he was trying to ascertain the veracity of Bodie’s words. He’d chosen them carefully in order to send a message to Gutierrez. Thibodeaux was on Gutierrez’s payroll and had been for years.
“It looks like you got the better of him—this time.”
Bodie nodded. Thibodeaux was a rodent-shifter of some kind—guinea pig, chinchilla—he couldn’t remember which. Bodie had only recently learned that the rodent-shifter was a rat. He might not be an actual rat, but the man had been on Gutierrez’s payroll for years. After the first time Bodie had run him out of the city, Gutierrez had retreated to South America to lick his wounds and plot a way to return and use the Crescent City’s busy port and access to the Mississippi to his own advantage. Bodie needed to convince Gutierrez that as long as he walked away now, there would be no reprisals on the part ofEl Tigre, regardless of how true that might be.
“Every man here will swear it was self-defense and that no one else was here.”
“A tragic, random act of violence,” said Thibodeaux.
“Exactly.” Thibodeaux would carry the message and Bodie and his men would never be charged with anything. “If you need anything, you know where to find me.”
Bodie gathered his men, and they left the cops to the grisly work of identifying the bodies and cleaning up the mess. He watched as they zipped the body bag closed over Alvaro Fuentes. There was no way Quinn was going to let this go. No way.
Loading themselves up in the SUVs, Bodie called Navarro. “Has she arrived?”
“Not yet, but Donato called to let us know their ETA and that all of our people will be fine. He said that you gave no restrictions on her movements, except for staying on the estate.”
“Yes. I want one man with her at all times. I also want someone patrolling under the balcony. Do you have any idea how she got out?”
Navarro laughed. “Your mate is a clever woman. She found the blueprints to the main house on a historical site and worked out where the escape tunnel was. Once inside, she got to the garage and took the Jeep, and then she stole the keys to all the vehicles to keep us from stopping her. Do you think there’ll be repercussions?”
“I’m not sure, and I don’t much care either way. Thibodeaux was the cop in charge. I sent Gutierrez a message via Thibodeaux.”
