Leopard's Prey(134)

He inhaled. His woman was in the master bedroom and so was Saria. They were alone. The stench his leopard identified as Durang was too faint for him to still be there—but he had been. He didn’t smell blood, but his pulse jumped at the thought that the two women had been close to Durang. Did they know it? They had to. Bijou hadn’t chanced texting him back. He signaled Dash and his brother went to the left. He took the right. They entered Bodrie’s master bedroom, guns drawn, sweeping the room carefully.

There was no one in sight. The room wasn’t at all what Remy expected. There was no round, vibrating bed. No pictures of naked women. Nothing at all that indicated Bodrie Breaux was a rock legend—or even that he’d ever been in the room.

They continued to move silently through the room, signaling to one another as they approached the doors to the master bath. The room was enormous, with a step down to an indoor hot tub and a step up to the bathroom.

Dash leaned in, caught the doorknob and pulled open the door. Remy swept the room. The bathroom was bigger than the entire apartment he rented. They cleared the glass shower stall and the giant gold Jacuzzi tub as well as the toilet stall. There was no indication either woman had been in the dressing area or near the long makeup mirrors other than their scents.

Dash shook his head and pointed back toward the outer room’s closet. Remy smelled lavender much stronger as he approached the closet. She was there and she wasn’t moving. She’d been in the closet and she should have still been there.

A leopard’s hearing and sense of smell were particularly acute. He knew Durang was still in the house, although his scent was much fainter. The intruder had gone up one of the winding, spiral marble staircases and was busy going from room to room. But where were Bijou and Saria?

Remy followed his cat’s nose. The trail led straight into the wall of the closet. Dash raised an eyebrow. Remy ran his palm against the wall until he found the small button that served as an intercom. He leaned close.

“Bijou? Saria? Are you all right?”

There was a moment of startled silence. “Why wouldn’t we be?” Bijou’s voice was tearful. “Come in.”

The wall creaked and a door sprang open. The safe room was quite large and furnished comfortably. The two women sat on the floor and next to them was a box of letters, some pictures and what appeared to be a diary. Bijou looked as if she’d been crying. Even Saria looked as if she quickly blinked back tears when they entered.

“What are you doing here?” Bijou asked.

“Lookin’ for you as usual,” Remy replied.

Both women caught the scent of blood at the same time. Saria came to her feet instantly, a slight frown on her face. “Dash? What happened?”

“There’s an intruder in the house,” Remy replied, never taking his eyes off of Bijou. “You don’ seem to understand the word danger.”

She made a face at him. “I understand perfectly. The Rousseau brothers can’t hurt us. And what intruder? Dash, did you get hurt?”

Dash looked more mortified than ever as his sister fussed over the back of his head and Bijou jumped up to look at the cut as well.

“He snuck up on me. I was so into my game I wasn’t payin’ attention to my leopard.”

“He who?” Saria asked.

“Jason Durang,” Remy said, his tone grim. “I’m really showin’ restraint, Bijou. I’d like to shake you until you show good sense, if that’s even possible.”

“Jason Durang is in this house?” Saria asked. “We were in the safe room, and unless the intercom is on, you can’t hear anything. The room is sealed. Bijou guessed Bodrie kept her mother’s things in here.” She frowned again. “Who is Jason Durang, and what’s he doin’ in the house bashin’ Dash over the head?”

“Shouldn’t you be arrestin’ him for trespassin’?” Bijou asked Remy, a mixture of challenge and defiance in her voice.

Remy caught her arm and pulled her to him, needing to touch her more than he wanted to admit. The relief at finding her safe overshadowed his anger at her for not being more careful—by just a little bit—he told himself.

“I wouldn’t mind arrestin’ you,” he hissed at her. “You’re goin’ to give me gray hair if you keep this up. You knew Durang was still out there.”

“Actually, I didn’t think about it,” Bijou said. “I’m sorry, Remy, I shouldn’t have put Saria in danger, but I just got excited about findin’ out about my mother.”

“It was my suggestion,” Saria admitted. “I thought the threat was over and it seemed a good time to find her mother’s things. Who is Jason Durang and what does he want with Bijou?”