Target by Stella Cameron Read Free Book Online

Meche wants is to be retired. We don’t need to make this public. We don’t want to make this public. Keeping things to ourselves works for us.”
    Sarah kneaded the muscles in the sides of Nick’s neck. “Matt Boudreaux, then. He’d want to help.”
    â€œMatt’s a good friend,” Nick said. “But like I said this afternoon, if we do go to the police here, they’ll contact the people in California. I think that’s a bad idea, and this isn’t Pointe Judah police business.”
    â€œNo, it isn’t,” Delia said.
    â€œIt will be if someone comes here and kills us all,” Sarah said.

6
    H oover stood on the backseat of the Audi with his head on Aurelie’s shoulder. The dog looked straight ahead, panting loudly, and snuffling from time to time.
    Nick drove back through town, passing through a typical wispy blanket of ground fog coming in the wake of a boiling day. What Delia had called rain was more mist. “When we get there, just drop everything and get to bed. I’ll take Hoover out back.” He had better not give in to any more selfish urges, like trying to find a way to do more than give Aurelie a bed for the night—on her own—unless he was prepared to ruin the family Delia Board had so successfully put together.
    â€œI’ll take him,” Aurelie said. “He likes to be out for a bit.”
    He had never wondered how she took care of her dog. “I’ll go with you.” He knew better than to say she shouldn’t be out alone at night, even with a big dog.
    Aurelie scratched the dog’s neck, then gently pushed him back. “Lie down,” she said and the animal surprised Nick by doing just that.
    More or less forcing her to spend the night at his place had been one dumb move. Sure, she would be fine there, but it wouldn’t help him.
    He felt her look at him and glanced back.
    She smiled.
    Smiling at her was easy.
    Funny how a face you’d known as well as your own for years could seem mysterious. Each time he looked at Aurelie he got a jolt. And the jolts were getting harder to brush off. For months now he’d fluctuated between longing to be around her and trying to stay away. Well, hell, maybe he would hate having her in his space. That would solve the problem.
    â€œTough times,” she said in a small, tight voice. “I hope the way I left hasn’t upset Sarah.”
    Always saying the right thing could wear on a guy. “You dealt with her fine. And she needs to be on her own to think. She’s used to that.” They all were, but it could be nice to have someone around to be quiet with sometimes. Or could it?
    â€œI’m glad I came home,” she said. “At first I thought I was being a chicken and turning the bad news into an excuse for giving up my job. Everyone else was managing just fine, or so I thought. Only they weren’t—aren’t. Not all of them.”
    â€œWho are they? ”
    â€œAll kinds of people working in New Orleans. Could be I need a break and then I’ll go back, just not as a lawyer.”
    He cast her another grin. “You could change your mind about that.”
    â€œI guess. Can’t imagine it, though.”
    â€œDelia’s pissed.” He chuckled, but knew it would have been kinder not to bring up the subject.
    â€œShe’ll be okay,” Aurelie said. “She’s an overachiever and she wouldn’t understand what I’m doing or why.”
    Being with her was comfortable, and like balancing on the edge of the Grand Canyon at the same time. What the hell was he going to do with his fantasies about Aurelie? What would she say right now if he told her he never went anywhere without her photo, that he couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen her mouth and not thought about kissing her?
    They reached the middle of town and he drove slowly past familiar shops, Sadie and Sam’s, Kay’s