“I—I— Danni, you have to forget about playing that other place. You have to. You’re my friend, and you have to come play with us. I need to work to survive, but I’m...I’m terrified. I can’t go back out in the dark, not without you there to keep me safe.”
Danni turned to Quinn. “She’s right. We can divide and conquer, you know. I can sit in with Jenny and Brad, and you can go to La Porte Rouge.”
It made sense, of course. But while he prided himself on not being a chauvinist, he couldn’t help but think that he wasn’t letting Danni go off alone to the Midnight Royale Café with Brad and Jenny.
“Let’s think on it, shall we?” he asked. “But don’t worry—we’ll come up with something.”
“Why don’t we do it the other way?” Billie asked. “You go with Brad and Jenny. Danni and I will stick with La Porte Rouge. I won’t leave her, and we’ll ask Father Ryan and Natasha to come again, too. Not to mention that nothing happens until after the set, when things go all to hell.”
Quinn still didn’t like the suggestion, though he had to admit it did make sense, and that if he weren’t so ridiculously in love with Danni, he would freely admit it was the best plan.
He could also get Larue to assign a man to La Porte Rouge. Besides, what Billie had said was true: the killer seemed to attack around five, after closing, when he knew the local musicians would just be heading home. He attacked when he could wear a mask and pretty much count on going unnoticed.
“That’s even better,” Jenny said cheerfully.
Danni looked at her. “Oh?”
“No offense,” Jenny said. “But Quinn just...well, he looks a lot fiercer than you, that’s all.”
Brad shrugged. “So Quinn is fierce-looking, huh?”
“Safety in numbers,” Quinn said quickly.
“So that’s the plan?” Jenny asked.
“Temporarily,” Quinn said. “Probably.”
“Go to bed,” Billie said. “And I mean to sleep.”
They all rose as one and headed up the stairs. Danni and Quinn showed their guests to Angus’s old room and gave them towels and whatever else they might need, including sweats to sleep in, since they had left Brad and Jenny’s house without thinking to pack anything, and no one had been in the mood to stop there once they left the police station.
Once they were alone in the bedroom they shared, Quinn tried not to jump down her throat in anger, but he had to say something. “What were you thinking? This guy is a maniac. First, you ran out of the house without letting anyone know where you were going. Second—”
“Quinn! I didn’t act foolishly—I called the police. I knew we would get there at pretty much the same time. You would have done exactly what I did.”
“Danni, I’ve been in the military. I’ve been a cop.”
“And you taught me how to shoot.”
“Did you have a gun on you?”
She drew in a breath and stared at him. “We can’t do this—argue like this.”
“You can’t risk your life that way—not even for Jenny!”
“Shh! She’ll hear you.”
“I’m speaking as quietly as I can. And then you suggest we split up. Are you crazy?”
“No, I’m just doing what my father would have done. Quinn, you can’t always be the conquering hero. We’re in this together. And right now I really am exhausted,” she said. “We can talk about this more when we’ve had a few hours’ sleep.”
It was true. He had to shut up.
“Fine,” he said quietly then removed his clothes neatly, pulled back the bedcovers and crawled in.
A moment later he felt her slide into her side of the bed. She didn’t touch him.
He lay there for a while, knowing he needed to sleep, his mind racing. He didn’t like to go to sleep when they were upset at each other like this. It hurt. At the same time, he kept thinking about the things Jenny had said.
Demon eyes?
Was the killer actually some kind of a demon, and was there really something special about the missing sax?
He didn’t know. The killer sounded like flesh and blood.
And the greatest evil in the world could exist in the human psyche.
He hated lying here like this, next to Danni, yet so far apart.
Apparently Danni did, too. She rolled closer, as if unconsciously trying to get more comfortable. But she had come to bed naked, as had he. And her flesh burned against his body, soft and silken.
He waited a moment, smiling to himself. She’d made the first move.
He rolled over, taking her into his arms, feeling the firm pressure of her breasts against his chest. He kissed her lips, and his mouth grew more forceful, his tongue pressing deeper as he was instantly aroused by the mere taste and feel of her.
It was all she needed. She crawled atop him. The soft tease of her hair fell over his flesh as she leaned down, planting slow, lazy kisses on his chest. The length of her body rubbed erotically against his as she rose to find his lips again.
“Danni, I just—”