Page 40 of After The Storm

Peeking her head up, Kate pounded on the window. “Right! Take the right and then the ramp onto the highway.”

He followed her directions and cut across the lanes to head onto I-10. Looking in the rearview mirror, he checked for any sign of the cops following them and saw nothing but a few cars behind them and no police cars.

Kate still sat crouched on the floor, and Roman didn’t want to risk it letting her up just yet. “Stay down for a while longer. I just want to make sure we aren’t being followed.”

“That’s okay,” she said with a wry smile. “It’s not too bad down here, other than the shards of glass and the empty cigarette packs. Whoever’s car this is, they treated it like a garbage can.”

“Just a few minutes more. What exit am I looking for off this road?” he asked, trying not to smile at how frustrated she sounded.

“You’ll need to look for Lake Pontchartrain Causeway. Your friend just texted the address, so since I’m assuming this heap of junk doesn’t have GPS, I can just use your phone to find the house. Give me a few seconds and I’ll have it for you.”

He couldn’t stop himself from smiling at her irritation at his choice of cars to steal. “Next time, I’ll try to find a newer make and model. Does that make you happy?”

Rolling her eyes, she grimaced. “What will make me happy will be a shower and a change of clothes. Any chance your friend has a female friend or a wife who’s my size?”

Roman watched the road and thought about her question. He had no idea about Butcher’s private life. That’s not the kind of friends they were.

“I’m not sure. Maybe. I don’t know.”

“Real close, huh?”

The kind of friendship he and Butcher Richards had stemmed from their time in war. They were brothers in arms, far more than mere friends. Others might think they weren’t close because neither one of them knew about their personal lives.

But they knew something far deeper about one another. No matter what, they were there for each other when the need arose. That’s the kind of close they were.

Chapter Thirteen

Kate didn’t knowhow long she sat on the floor of the passenger side of that brown 1980s piece of crap car Roman had hotwired, but when her legs began to cramp up and send shooting pain up to her hips, she had to move.

“Hey, is the coast clear yet? I’m tired of doing my stowaway act down here. Can I get up?”

Roman nodded as the car turned left. “Yeah. We’re almost to his house.”

Happier than she thought she could be at hearing those so simple words come out of his mouth, she pulled herself up onto the passenger seat and stretched her legs as she looked out the window. In all her time living in New Orleans, she’d never come over to this side of Lake Pontchartrain. The sight of the enormous million dollar homes and their perfectly manicured properties told her why. She had a feeling she couldn’t even pay the cover price to get into this area of the city.

“So you know a bajillionaire?” she asked while they drove past each gorgeous home.

He laughed, like she’d said something outrageous. Maybe he didn’t know how much the houses around there cost, but she didn’t have to be a realtor to understand it took some serious cash to afford a place on the lake in Mandeville.

“I’m not kidding. These homes are certifiable mansions. Your friend must be loaded,” she said, staring at the double staircase up to the porch on the house they drove past.

“What’s the address again?”

She checked the text. “1819. It should be just up ahead. So you didn’t answer me. Is he a bajillionaire? They must pay you guys a bunch to swoop in and do your knight in shining armor thing.”

Turning to look at her, he raised his eyebrows at her mention of his job. “He and I don’t work together. We knew one another in the Army. He was my captain.”

Who knew the US Army paid their people so well? If she’d known there was so much money in enlisting, she might have considered it. Since she’d never made enough at her job as a legal assistant to even drive out near homes like these, she had to believe she’d made a mistake in her employment choices.

“So was he higher in rank or lower than you?” she asked, suddenly curious about this man she knew so little about who had come into her life just days before.

Roman pointed out the window at a house and pulled into the driveway. “I wouldn’t call him my captain if I was higher rank than him.”

The disgust in his voice came through loud and clear, irritating Kate. Feeling defensive, she tossed his phone into his lap as he shifted the car into park.

“Sorry. Those of us who are mere civilians don’t know the Army nomenclature. Whatever he was in the service, he clearly has money. This house might not be a mansion like the ones further down the street, but it’s still nicer than anything I’ve ever lived in.”

She hadn’t exaggerated. As she stared at the raised Acadian style home in front of her and looked at the mere two block distance to the lake, she knew this friend of his had spent a pretty penny on this property. As anyone in real estate could attest to, the most important thing was location, location, location.

---