Free Cover Me by Joanna Wayne Rita Herron and Mallory Kane

get.
    He wouldn’t. She deserved more than a man who couldn’t look at her without visualizing another woman in his mind. Knowing he’d best keep his mind on the business at hand, he took out his phone and punched in the private phone number of the local head of the FBI. The sooner the video was in his hands, the more confident Remy would feel about Lee’simpending arrest.
    Nicole returned a few minutes later, a smile on her face and a small key ring dangling from her fingers. “It’s all set. I don’t think we should leave your truck in this parking garage, though. I don’t want to cause any trouble for Dr. Cantrell.”
    “No, I’ll park in a French Quarter lot and hang out for a while, make sure I’m not followed to the exclusive little pied-à-terre.”
    “And I’ll drive straight to their condo and leave my car in their private parking space. I’ll take a taxi home from there. I’ve been to the apartment many times. No one will think it odd to see my car there. But won’t you have to go by your hotel to pick up your things?”
    “Nope. I travel light, especially when I’m working a job. I’ve got a change of clothes, a toothbrush and a razor inthe truck.”
    “Then how about a sandwich and another cup of coffee before you go? There’s a deli next door that delivers. I’ve used them frequently when working late.”
    “I’m not sure that’s a good idea.” Not the way she was affecting him.
    “You have to eat.”
    True, but it was another kind of hunger he was fighting now. Still, he didn’t have the heart or the willpower to tell herno.
    She ordered the sandwiches while he poured the coffee. As soon as they settled in comfortable chairs and she opened a new conversation, he knew he should have left.
    “The woman you were in love with, the one who died in Katrina—what was she like, Remy?”
    There was no real reason not to tell her the truth. He could talk about it now without breaking down. But how would he beginto describe Carlotta? He was pretty sure saying she was a lot like Nicole would be a major mistake.
    He sat back and let his thoughts become words. “Carlotta walked into a room and it was like opening the skies and letting the sunshine free. She made even mundane things exciting. And when she laughed, it was downright hypnotic. There was no way not to laugh with her. She laughed a lot.”
    “How did you meet?”
    “I took a bullet to my...” No way to say it delicately, so he patted his butt. “Carlotta was the nurse who took care of me in the hospital. From the moment I saw her, I was hooked. Amazingly, she fell for me just as fast.”
    “Not so amazing. You have a very seductive way about you.”
    “There are lots of people who wouldn’t agree with you.”
    “Like Lee.”
    “Exactly.”
    “How did Carlotta die?”
    “I don’t know. That’s one of the things that torments me most. The storm was over. She should have been heading to work about the time the levees were breached. Water reached the rooftops in the area surrounding the hospital where she worked. Knowing Carlotta, I’m sure she died trying to save someone.”
    “And you were in jail and couldn’t save her.”
    “In jail on trumped-up charges that would never have held. When the jail started to flood, someone unlocked my cell and I walked out.”
    “Did the police have her fingerprints?”
    He nodded. “All the hospital employees had been fingerprinted. I checked every day for months. No one matching her description or with her fingerprints was ever found.”
    “How terrible for you.”
    He’dsaid enough. He wasn’t looking for pity. There was no point going into the pure hell he’d lived through, searching and refusing to believe Carlotta could be dead.
    “Now you know my story,” he said, cutting her off before she could ask more questions. “Tell me about you.”
    She shrugged. “There’s not a lot to tell. I’m single, live alone and work for Dr. Cantrell.”
    Remy would have pressedfor more