Free Bayou Heat by Georgia Tribell Page A

it’s residual aura or if it’s weak because he’s been hurt.”
    “That gives me something to go on, now take these and
listen.” He handed her the keys to his car. “If anything happens, you get the
hell out of here and drive directly to the police station on Royal.”
    “I can cover your back. Like earlier.”
    “Not this time. This bastard is after you. He either wants
to scare you or, more likely, kill you like he did Orbit. Your job is to find a
killer. My job is to protect you while you do that. I need you to trust that I
know what I’m doing. Do you?”
    Her heart beat fast and hard in her chest. She tried not to
look at the knife sunk deep into her front door or the ace of hearts card, but
she couldn’t stop herself. Rough fingers gently cupped her chin again and
turned her away from the threat to stare into those calm eyes.
    “Do you trust me?”
    “Yes.” Her quick, honest response surprised her.
    His eyes searched her face and she knew he was looking to
see if her answer was true. Apparently satisfied with her response, he gave a
slight nod. “Wait here and remember my instructions if anything happens.”
    She watched Rob move to the door and unlock it. With one
hand on the knob, he looked back over his shoulder and met her gaze. There was
sadness in his eyes she couldn’t begin to understand. Turning away, he pushed
open the door and disappeared inside.
    She pocketed the keys he gave her and waited a heartbeat
before moving to stand beside the door. She should have insisted on going with
him, but the sight of the card stuck to her door rattled her more than she
cared to admit. Up until now, she’d blown off everyone’s concerns over her
safety. She truly believed Orbit’s death was a random act of violence by the
serial killer. Orbit would have known if someone was following her, wouldn’t
she? And if she knew, wouldn’t she have told someone?
    Eris pushed those disturbing thoughts out of her mind and
forced herself to listen for sounds from within the apartment. Nothing but
silence greeted her and that was worse than hearing a racket because she could
picture Rob’s body unmoving on the floor.
    The urge to storm into the room and blow away any threat to
him was strong. She resisted though, reminding herself he was a trained
professional and he wasn’t expecting her to come barging in. If she did, she’d
most likely end up the victim. Not something she cared to become at the moment.
    Minutes ticked by slower than a hot, humid August day,
giving her time to think about things she didn’t want to think about.
    Like how glad she was that was Rob here with her and not
Matt.
    Not that she didn’t like Matt. She did. He was easy to talk
to and appeared to be a great deal of fun. Matt reminded her of her brothers,
and she didn’t need any more of those. Rob, on the other hand, made her feel
safe and secure—that is, when he wasn’t making her feel hot and bothered. Which
was strange in itself because his tall form, piercing, cold blue eyes and his
keep-your-distance attitude should have made her feel quite the opposite.
    Eris caught a glimpse of a shadow as it moved across the
open doorway and swung her gun up. Her breath caught in her throat as she
looked down the barrel of the pistol.
    “Christ, I told you to stay put. I could have blown you
away. What were you thinking?”
    She lowered her gun. “I was worried about you and thought it
would be easier to help you from over here than way over there.”
    Rob holstered his gun while she put hers away. When she
straightened, he was staring at her in a way that made her uncomfortable. “What?”
    He blinked a couple of times. “Nothing. Why don’t you go
inside and walk around. See if anything is missing but don’t touch a thing. I
need to make a couple of phone calls.”
    * * * * *
    Thirty minutes later, Eris stood beside her kitchen table
and watched as an army of police officers went through her apartment. She
watched as they searched