Jacqueline sounded so logical that Keegan nodded, then smiled when Sept turned around. “I appreciate the pep talk.”

  “What else are big sisters for?”

  “Have you cooked your share for today?” Sept asked from the open door.

  “It’s not like we have a quota, Detective,” Keegan said.

  “Then how about an earlier night than we planned?” Sept stood with her hands still on her hips, making her jacket flap open enough for the butt of her gun to show now that it was in a shoulder holster.

  Keegan glanced at the nine millimeter before she settled on Sept’s eyes. Today they appeared like black pools that hid nothing of who Sept was and what was in her heart. “Did you have a better day?”

  “No one died, and that’s always a good day.” Sept relaxed her stance and moved closer. “I’m here with you, and while I don’t have as much experience with what that’s like, I’m predicting that’s always going to be good as well.” At the end of her words Sept stood in front of Keegan and kissed her.

  “A cop who sounds like a poet.” Jacqueline rubbed Keegan’s back briefly when the kiss ended. “That’s a keeper, sis.”

  “Can we finish tomorrow?” Keegan asked Jacqueline.

  “Sure—go have fun.”

  Keegan looked up at Sept’s mouth and tried to suppress the need to enjoy it for the rest of the night. They had made their date to talk, to learn about each other so they could move forward, but right now all Keegan wanted to do was be romanced.

  “What’s going on in here?” Sept tapped her finger gently against Keegan’s temple. “Change your mind?”

  “Absolutely not, I’m just glad to see you. What are you in the mood for?”

  Sept kissed her again and rested her forehead against Keegan’s when their lips parted. “I know you love to cook, but how about a drink first?”

  “You’re not hungry?” Keegan asked, enjoying the way Sept’s hands felt on her hips.

  “One drink and then I’ll do my best to help you in the kitchen.”

  “Do I have time to change out of the unflattering outfit Jacqueline loves to tease me about?” Keegan plucked at her top.

  “You’re fine, so tell the children good night.” Sept cocked her head toward the kitchen.

  “I don’t know, Seven. You looked like you were doing great in there with my staff.”

  “They were asking me about Donovan’s case.”

  Keegan accepted Sept’s help with her coat before she took her arm. “What’s funny about that?”

  “They weren’t laughing about that.” Sept held the car door for her. “They were shocked you let me back in the building after how things went that morning.”

  “And that was funny?”

  “The part about me threatening you with handcuffs is what got them going.” Sept parked on the street close to the Café Du Monde. It was usually a tow zone even for official vehicles, but most of the businesses in the area were closed for the day, and the visiting police officers from other states and emergency workers had headed back to their camp site two blocks away.

  Sept grabbed a small bag from the backseat before she opened Keegan’s door and took her hand. The walk to the levee wasn’t long and the benches at the top were empty, so they picked the first one they came to.

  From her bag Sept took out a bottle of wine and two glasses and went through the process of opening it. “When I started college I lived in a small apartment uptown that made me feel like someone had placed me in a soundproof room,” Sept said as she poured.

  “Why’d you think that?”

  “When you grow up with six other siblings and all of a sudden you’re alone, you go into shock. As much as I complained about the constant commotion in our house, I missed it when I left.”

  Keegan accepted her glass and sat slightly sideways so she could look at Sept as she spoke. “That sounds normal. Jacqueline and I were the only ones, but when we lived apart while I was in culinary school and she was starting her job, I felt a void. Having Gran offer us the house brought us even closer.” The sun was starting to set and Keegan didn’t remember ever watching it from here. “To a beautiful night.” She lifted her glass to Sept in a toast.

  “And many more like it.”

  They took a sip and Keegan felt it go down smoothly. “I didn’t mean to interrupt you.”

  “You didn’t, but let me finish so we can get to the enjoyment part of our evening.” Sept stared at the brown water of the Mississippi River and let the strong current swirl her back to the times she was dredging up. “At least one night a week I’d meet one of my siblings here to watch the sunset.”

  “That sounds sweet,” Keegan said, and put her hand on Sept’s shoulder close to her neck. She twirled a lock of hair around her finger and smiled when Sept leaned toward her.

  “It was a good way to catch up since my brothers were either already on the force, in the academy, or ahead of me in college. The one I missed the most, though, was my sister Noel. She decided on the University of New Orleans, where she was working on a teaching degree.”

  “I didn’t get to meet her last Sunday.” Keegan prided herself on her ability to remember names and people. “Did she relocate after the storm?”

  “Not exactly.” Sept took a deep breath, then a sip of her wine. “Right here was where we met and continued the talks we’d had most nights sharing a room at home. I could tell you every one of Noel’s wishes for the future, and every one of her secrets.”

  “I don’t think she’d appreciate you doing that,” Keegan said, in an effort to make Sept smile.

  “Noel’s dreams weren’t anything you had to keep secret. She lived them after she found her happiness.” Sept looked at her briefly before she turned back to the water. It was cloudy, but the descending sun would peek through every few minutes.

  “What happened?”

  Before Sept began, she warned Keegan that she’d never told the story from beginning to end. She’d only examined every aspect of it when she woke from her nightmares. The middle haunted her because she could only guess at that part.

  “Every day, we took turns going to the makeshift morgues,” Sept said softly. Throughout the story she paused and breathed deeply, in what seemed to be an effort to keep her emotions from spiraling away from her. “So many faces, but none of them were the ones we were looking for. We went until there were no more nameless faces to search through.”

  “They were never found?” Keegan closed her eyes at how horrific that fact must have been to live with.

  “They’re gone, and I never understood it.”

  Keegan took Sept’s glass from her and placed it and hers on the ground so she could get nearer. “What do you mean?”

  “They lived close to one of the breach sites, but even if they’d been washed away in the current they should’ve been found eventually.”

  “There’s still hope. From what I read in the paper, the search teams are still finding the missing.” Keegan lifted her other hand and pressed her palm to Sept’s cheek. “I’m so sorry for your loss, and for saying something to remind you of it.”

  “You didn’t do anything wrong, so don’t apologize. I just don’t expect it to still hurt so much.”

  “Of course it still hurts, it hasn’t been that long.” The sun made its final descent and the darkness closed in around them. “Don’t beat yourself up over this, and don’t feel bad about last night. If something happened to Jacqueline I’d be a wreck, and after spending time with your family I know you’re as close to them as I am to mine.”

  “Thanks, and I’ll take you up on that if you don’t blame yourself for yesterday as well. When you mentioned cooking with my mother, I thought about how much Noel loved to do that.” Sept put her arm around Keegan and brushed away her tears with her thumb. “Yesterday started really great. Then I was thrown into the hell of someone’s making, and you unfortunately got the end of that.”

  “I’m tough enough to handle some bad nights. After a while you’ll see I have a few myself, if enough goes wrong in a day. I feel for you, though. Losing your sister was bad enough, but add your niece—it’s a wonder you and your family are doing so well.”

  The guys a few blocks away had started a volleyball game, and Keegan figured it was to blow off steam. Their shouts and laughter were easy to hear since there was no other activity to compete.

  “My mom has this strong faith that made us all believe everything would eventually be all right. That helped, and then we started working on the house, which was even better.” Sept smiled as Keegan ran her fingers methodically through her hair. “That my parents lost everything was a blessing in a way, because it brought us together to rebuild it, which helped us recapture the happy memories of Noel.”

  “I hope you know I’m here for you as well. Even if we only become good friends, I want you to be able to let some of your emotions out like you did last night.” Keegan kissed her chin and stopped her head massage to trace Sept’s eyebrows. “Didn’t that make you feel better?”

  “As embarrassing as that was, I do feel better.” Sept took her hand. “And I’m interested in becoming more than friends.”

  “I’m glad you said that.” Keegan’s ears got hot when Sept kissed her palm. The sensation made her nipples tighten, and she was glad for the thick cotton top. “Because I want much more than friendship too.”

  “What’s making you blush?” Sept asked, her fingers skimming Keegan’s cheeks. “You okay?”

  “I’m fine, and I’m not blushing.” She laughed at Sept’s expression. “You’re raising my blood pressure, Seven, live with it.”

  The tease made Sept lower her head and kiss her as if she had all night. Keegan opened her mouth and accepted Sept’s tongue, and her ears got hotter. Not that she wanted to compare Sept to anyone else she’d been with, but it was difficult not to. The way Sept kissed made her look forward to the next level of their relationship because if she put so much into a kiss, she had to be the kind of attentive lover who would make you crave to be touched.

  “You ready to go home?”

  The urge to give in to whatever Sept wanted was on the verge of coming out of her mouth, but that’s not what Sept needed right now. “Come on, I promised you dinner.”

  “You did, and I said I’d help.” They walked back to the car, and on the train tracks between the levee and the street, two young punks stopped and stared.

  Keegan moved closer to Sept and put her hand on her back under her jacket. Between the story Sept had told her and the time afterward, Keegan had forgotten they were in one of the most unpopulated spots in the city, despite the team of police about a quarter of a mile away.

  “How you lovebirds doing?” the taller guy said with a smile that only made him appear more cruel.

  That he talked to them at all made Keegan grab the back of Sept’s pants, and she tried to calm her breathing. “Unless you want to start your night someplace you aren’t going to like, I’d move on, slick,” Sept said.

  “What, you give advice for a living?” The same guy kept talking while his friend tried to get behind them.

  Sept slowly handed the bag with the wine and glasses to Keegan and smiled at her. The move, Keegan realized, was to free her hands, but she didn’t want to move away from her. Keegan said her name, ready to follow any instructions Sept had.

  “Stay with me, okay?” Sept smiled in a way that Keegan thought was meant to reassure her. Her relaxed facial features didn’t give their would-be muggers the incentive to pull any weapons other than the knife held by the guy slowly circling them. In a flash, Sept had her gun in her hand and pointed at his head.

  “Actually, I don’t get paid to give advice. I get paid to drop scum like you in a dark hole with big horny guys named Bubba, so get your ass on the ground before you get there from the bullet I’m going to put in your head.” The taller guy started to move and Sept pointed it briefly at him. “Don’t make me say it again. On the ground facedown—now,” she yelled. Their inexperience and age gave them away when they dropped like they’d fainted.

  A call to the dispatcher brought a couple of units down, and they took the pair along with their two knives into custody. “We were only talking here,” the guy who’d first approached them said. “You can’t get arrested for that.”

  “Process them and put them in with the baddest ass you have,” Sept told the officer. “Even if they get cut loose tomorrow, they might learn a lesson.”

  When they were back in the car, she said to Keegan, “You okay? I’m so sorry about that. I should’ve thought this out better.”

  “That doesn’t happen to you often, does it?”

  “That’s the first time it’s ever happened to me, and I hate that it did when you were with me.”

  “It’s not like it was your fault, but you’re sure exciting in more ways than one.” Keegan put her hand on Sept’s heart. “That was scary, but thanks for keeping me safe. It’s crazy, but you made me feel like nothing bad could happen to me.”

  “Still, I should’ve handled it better.”

  “We’re both here and we’re headed to my kitchen instead of the hospital. You couldn’t have handled it better, in my opinion.” Keegan moved closer and kissed Sept’s cheek. “Want to learn to cook the perfect piece of salmon? I can almost guarantee there are no knife-wielding crazy people in my house.”

  “I’d love to.” Sept wrapped a lock of red hair around her index finger. “You are so beautiful,” she said softly and as reverently as a prayer.

  “I’ve never felt that way until now,” Keegan whispered back. “And unless you want your coworkers to know how much I like you, put this thing in gear.”

  Chapter Twenty

  Novice sat as still as possible, even though rats were crawling along the rocks next to him. He had known where his prey might go, and when she had left Blanchard’s and pointed her car toward the French Quarter, he had sped ahead and got ready.

  From his perch close to the water he had heard only the murmur of Sept and Keegan’s voices, but that was enough. Sept liked this girl. He could tell from the way Sept held her when she kissed her, and how she’d proven herself in battle.

  “See,” Teacher had said when Sept drew her weapon fearlessly. “That’s how you protect your own and why her woman will remain true. The gods reward that by giving her a woman who won’t be taken away.”

  Novice wanted to yell back, but he knew the taunt was a test, because any sound meant surrender. So he waited until the area grew quiet, as when he and Teacher had arrived. He chose the bench Sept and Keegan had and pressed the heels of his palms to his eyes.

  “Tell me what you’ve learned,” Teacher said.

  “What do you want to know?”

  “Who is the warrior god?”

  Novice pressed his hands harder against his face until his eyes hurt and rocked in place. These tests were hard without the crutch of the books he’d taken. “Chango,” he said suddenly.

  “Very good.” Teacher’s voice sounded as if it were coming from the water. “Your worst enemy will not stop until your heart is in her hand. She will succeed.”

  “No, she won’t. You said the gods would bless me if I believed. Sept would treat the gods with nothing but contempt. She believes in nothing.”

  “She believes in the battle—it’s what defines her. That’s true, and you know why it is as well.”

  Novice moved his hands from his eyes to his ears. “No, you’re lying.”

  “Your fear holds you back, so no one claims you. But she, without trying, is a child of Chango.”

  “I want that,” Novice said, spittle spraying the front of his shirt. “I want that,” he repeated, and beat his chest with his fist.

  “Then prove yourself by showing what you know,” Teacher said before he fled from Novice’s head.

  “You all right, man?” The guy who asked looked like he’d been with the two robbers the police had taken away.

  “I’m not okay,” Novice said as he stood.

  “You want me to call someone for you?” The guy moved closer, as if trying to get a better look at his face.

  Novice could narrow his vision to just one spot. That gift from the gods made it impossible for him to miss, and in his mind, as quickly as Sept had drawn her weapon, he pulled his knife from the sheath on his leg and felt the warm blood on his palm.

  The man who gurgled his last breath facedown and slumped on the bench was to Novice no sacrifice or gift, but proof that he was as much a warrior as anyone else. He left a message, so in a way his victim was a gift, only to Sept. It was also a present to himself, because the body would draw Sept’s attention away from what he had to do.

  “Let me show you what I know,” he told Teacher as he pulled his jacket tighter around him and his hat lower. It was going to be a busy night.

  *

  “Simple is always best, remember that.”

  Sept nodded, even though Keegan couldn’t see that her eyes had wandered from Keegan’s sure hands to her backside. When they’d arrived, Keegan had changed into her pajamas and come back downstairs with the boxers Sept had worn the night before.

  “At this rate the only thing you’ll learn is how to pick my ass out of a lineup.” Keegan turned her head away from the filet of salmon she’d been cutting into serving portions and tapped the tip of her knife on the cutting board.

  “Simple is best,” Sept repeated dutifully. “See, I’m paying attention.” She stood next to Keegan with the ingredients she’d been sent to find.

  “Uh-huh.” Keegan didn’t sound convinced, but she didn’t push Sept away when she kissed her. “I’m glad you’re here.” Keegan wiped her hands on a kitchen towel, then patted Sept on the butt.

  “Are you sure? Our night didn’t start off too well.”

  “However our night started is a memory now, and yes, I’m sure. Right now there isn’t any other place I’d rather be or any other person I’d like to be sharing time with.”