Touch&Geaux (7 page)

placed his cigarette in his mouth and stepped closer to Zane.

Zane had to duck his head to place the tips of both cigarettes

together, and Liam’s hand came up to cup them, brushing

Zane’s face. Zane put a hand on Liam’s shoulder, holding him

still. He had to close his eyes, because being that close to the

man made his stomach flutter, and no one had done that to

him since the last time he’d kissed Ty.

He sucked on the cigarette, stoking it enough to heat

Liam’s and start it burning. Liam stepped away, nodding

his thanks as Zane’s hand dragged across his shoulder. He

blew smoke away from Zane’s face and winked. “Best chance

encounter I’ve had tonight.”

Zane laughed uncomfortably and licked his lips, putting

the cigarette in his mouth again so he wouldn’t have to say

anything.

They stood together, enjoying their cigarettes and the

warm night, watching the different sorts of people passing. A

man in a top hat and cape strolled by, clicking a walking stick

on the pavement. A woman rode the other way on a bike, fairy

wings and ribbons fluttering behind her.

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“It’s an odd sort of place, yeah?” Liam commented. Zane

laughed. “That’s a big son of a bitch right there,” Liam added.

He nodded toward the intersection as a man walked across

the street. Zane’s eyes followed. It was unusual to encounter

people that made Zane feel smal .

“Hey Zane!” Ty called from the pool of light around the

door of the tavern.

Zane glanced toward him and waved. “Be there in a

minute.”

“Your boyfriend?” Liam asked.

“Yeah.”

Liam glanced toward the light. Ty was joined by the

others and they stood around talking and laughing, waiting

for Zane. It was dark enough in Zane’s alcove for Liam and

Zane to stare without fear of being seen ogling them.

Liam looked Zane up and down one last time. “Lucky

him,” he drawled.

Zane glanced at him, surprised. Typically when people

saw Ty, the response Zane expected was “lucky you.”

“Perhaps I’ll see you around again. Without your

boyfriend,” Liam added, giving Zane another wink before he

turned and made his way down the darkened sidewalk, away

from the tavern.

Zane took a step to watch him walk away. He had no

intention of ever being with someone else again, but he could

see why Ty enjoyed a harmless flirtation now and then. It

was quite the ego booster. And kind of a turn-on. He wanted

to get Ty back to the hotel and into a bed now. Thank you,

stranger. He pursed his lips, turning his back on Liam Bell’s

retreating form and strol ing toward Ty and the others.

Ty put a hand around his waist when he joined them.

“Making friends?”

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Zane shook his head. “Arranging a tryst for later tonight.”

“Oh yeah?” Ty asked, his tone as casual as Zane’s had been.

“Well, what happens in NOLA . . . goes home with an STD.”

A scream tore through the night and interrupted their

laughter. Zane wasn’t the first to push through the door of

the bar, but he could see the commotion over the shoulders

of the men in front of him. A woman was in hysterics, being

held in place by two men who were trying to ascertain what

had frightened her so much. She finally gave up on words and

pointed to the tiny bathrooms at the back of the bar.

A red stiletto sat in the doorway, blocking the door open.

Beyond, Zane could see one bare foot on the floor.

Nick forced his way through the crowd, reaching the

bathrooms first. “I’m a cop, I’m a cop, move aside,” he kept

repeating, until he’d almost cleared out the area. One look

into the bathroom was all he needed. He didn’t even try to

step in to check the girl. He turned to them and gave a curt

nod. “Call it in,” he said. “And don’t let anybody leave.”

Owen and Digger had stayed near the entrance, and they

closed in to block the doors, preventing anyone inside from

exiting. The patrons began to protest, panic building as they

realized they were trapped.

“Everyone stay calm,” Zane called out, raising his badge

so people could see it. “Remain calm until the police arrive

and we’ll get this sorted out. We’re containing the scene and

material witnesses, that’s all this is. We thank you for your

cooperation.”

The crowd began to calm with his words. Nick nodded

to him and smiled gamely. None of them were armed because

neither Ty nor Zane had been given the chance to get their

weapons before they’d been kidnapped. And it was merely

luck that Zane still had his badge on him. He was surprised

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Ty hadn’t flashed his as well to help him calm people. Zane

took a moment to glance around the bar for his partner. But

Ty was gone.

Nick knelt at the door to the tiny bathroom and peered

through the crack left by the shoe wedged in it. He had no

jurisdiction down here, but it was ingrained to try to preserve

a crime scene and that’s what he’d done. He felt someone

kneel beside him, and was surprised to find Zane instead of

Ty there.

Zane gave him a shrug. “I’ll have to do for your sidekick

this time. Ty’s gone.”

“What? Where’d he go?”

“I have no idea. He was right beside me one second, then

he was gone. He had to have slipped out before you said to

block the exits. Fire hazard, by the way.”

“The cops can arrest me when they get here,” Nick

muttered.

Zane snorted. “Is this a murder?”

“I would say so, but I’m sure as hell not touching anything

to find out. I’ll fake getting pegged for a murder all day, but I

don’t want to do it in real life. You got a pen or something?”

Zane dug around in his pockets and pulled out a Bic. Nick

took it and nudged the door open wider. It was mostly out of

habit and curiosity that he was looking at the scene, because

the FBI didn’t have jurisdiction here, and the Boston Police

Department sure as hell didn’t either.

“Ligature marks,” he whispered to Zane. “Definitely a

crime scene.”

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“What is that in her hand?” Zane asked. He glanced over

his shoulder at the people around them trying to peer in.

Nick waved for Kelly, and the man came over to usher

people away. Nick smiled. Sidewinder had never been used

to investigate crimes, but Nick had to give the boys credit for

being able to handle crowd control. Except for Ty, who had

bailed on them.

With a bit more privacy to work with, Nick gently lifted

the girl’s fingers with the tip of the pen. She was holding a

small white bag in her palm. Its contents had spilled open:

dried herbs of some sort. Probably drugs, but not the kind

Nick usually saw at murder scenes. The fact that they were

still there meant they weren’t anything to write home about.

In her other hand was a small strip of paper. Nick was careful

not to touch it as he pushed her fingers aside.

Zane crowded closer to him, and Nick shifted to let him

see. Zane reached his phone over the girl’s hand and snapped a

picture. They could hear the sirens drawing near, so they both

stood and backed away from the door. They helped Kelly keep

people away from it until the police took over.

“What’s the FBI and Boston PD doing here?” one of

the officers asked Zane, his shoulders squaring like he was

preparing for a fight.

“Just on vacation,” Zane said with a sigh.

“We didn’t touch a thing, just tried to lock it down until

you got here,” Nick assured the man. “All we want to do is give

our statements and move along.”

The cop eyed him suspiciously, but he finally gave a nod

and took down their accounts. Nick didn’t have to tell the

others not to mention Ty being there. They all knew he’d

spent a few years undercover in the city. Whatever his reasons

for disappearing, they were probably good ones.

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It was nearly an hour after the discovery of the body

before they were allowed to leave.

“Least they could have done was thank us for helping,”

Owen muttered as they trudged across the street into a crowd

of curious onlookers.

“We’re lucky they didn’t arrest Nick for poking the dead

girl,” Digger said.

“I didn’t poke her. Jesus.”

“Looked like you poked her.”

“Shut up.”

Zane laughed ahead of them, and slowed to let Nick catch

up. He glanced at Nick, smiling wryly. “I forget how much

you and Ty have in common sometimes.”

“Yeah, until O starts taking it up the ass, they’re not as

alike as you think,” Owen mumbled from behind them.

Nick turned and held up his hand, stopping the group in

the middle of the road. “Enough with that bullshit, hear me?”

He tried to catch his breath to add more, to tell Owen that he

did in fact enjoy such things, to finally put up the united front

Ty deserved, but a hand on his arm stopped him. He turned

to find Ty there, looking sheepish.

“Where the hell did you go, man?” Kelly demanded. “Left

us there to do the dirty work.”

Ty glanced around guiltily. “I didn’t want the locals

catching sight of me. And all those people with cameras in

their phones, I had to get out.”

“Why?” Owen asked. He was still scowling, transferring

his irritation from Nick to Ty.

“I wasn’t exactly friendly with the locals when I was

undercover, okay? I don’t want to spend my weekend in

lockup.”

“Again,” Digger added.

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“Yes, thank you,” Ty snapped. He nodded at Nick. “Was

it a murder?”

“Definitely. Looked like it might be drug related.”

Zane shook his head. “I don’t think so. She was strangled.

Pretty efficient. The scene wasn’t messy and the drugs were

still there. If that’s even what they were. Drug deal gone wrong

would have been more spontaneous. And the bag in her hand

didn’t look like any drug I’ve ever seen.”

“Wait, she had a bag in her hand? What kind?” Digger

asked.

Zane and Nick shared a glance, then both shrugged. “It

was just a little white bag,” Nick said.

Ty held up his hand, making a circle out of his thumb and

forefinger. “About this big? Full of herbs?”

“Yeah,” Zane said.

“I saw you take a picture. What was that of?”

“You saw me? How? Where were you?”

Ty shrugged. “Around. Did you get a picture of the bag?”

“No. She had a slip of paper in her other hand,” Zane

said, glancing at the others as he dug out his phone. “I took

a picture of it to see if we could read what was on it, but I

couldn’t get a good angle.”

“Can I see?” Ty held his hand out for the phone. Zane

handed it to him. Ty’s frown deepened as he looked it over,

then he glanced up to meet Digger’s eyes. “It looks like a strip

of parchment.”

“It would have had her name on it then. It was a gris-gris

bag,” Digger said. Ty nodded.

“What the hell is a gris-gris bag?” Nick asked.

“Voodoo,” Zane said. “Right?”

Ty nodded again and gave him his phone back. “They’re

usually used for good things. Luck, love, safe travel, protection.

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All kinds of stuff. But sometimes they can be used to bind or

hex. It’s rare; most voodoo practitioners don’t mess with the

negative outcomes.”

“Too dangerous,” Digger explained.

“Dangerous? What does that mean?” Owen asked.

Ty looked around the crowd that had formed. He took a

deep breath, beginning to edge toward the nearest side street

as he spoke. “It’s like a boomerang. The evil comes back at

you.”“Threefold.”

Nick snorted. Between Ty, Digger, and Sanchez on

missions, all the superstitions had almost killed them al . It

was contagious, though, because Nick had carried his own

good luck charms with him. So many that other Marines

had taken to cal ing him Lucky. After all he’d seen and been

through, he was willing to put some stock in the reality of

magic.

But Zane gaped at Ty. “You actually believe in that stuff?”

“To an extent, yeah. Yeah, I do.” Ty shrugged. “And you

can bet people around here believe it too.”

“The stronger you believe, the stronger the power of the

spells,” Digger added.

“Wow, D. Wow,” Kelly said. He was keeping a straight

face, but his mouth twitched.

“Well, the bag the girl had was white,” Nick said. “What’s

that mean?”

Ty ran a finger over his lower lip, wincing. He walked

further into the shadows, like a magnet being repelled by

the crowd. “I think it’s for protection. Something about

protecting your home, maybe. I don’t remember.”

“It’s for any kind of protection,” Digger said.

“Well, it didn’t work for her,” Owen muttered.

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They all stared at him for a second before Nick cleared his

throat. “Anyway.”