The man's wife, a nice-looking woman with gray, curly hair, lifted beseeching eyes to him. She was genuinely upset. "Really, Officer . . ."
"Detective," Harrison said.
". . . Detective, we'll see what happened. It wasn't deliberate. We have a high credit limit. Really!"
"It's okay, ma'am," Harrison said. "You enjoy the rest of your night, now." The couple gathered their belongings and rushed out of the restaurant. Behind Harrison, the family at the next table mimed applause. Griffen grinned. They went back to their table.
Edwin followed them and helped them be seated. "Well, Detective, we are very grateful for your help. We'd like to--"
"Now, don't you say another damned word!" Harrison snarled. Edwin halted, eyes wary. "I do not want to hear another word about it. I am just doing my job. No freebies." Griffen pushed down on the air with his flattened hand just behind the detective's back.
The waiter subsided. "Well, I will just go and make sure the coffee is as good as it can be." He bustled away.
Harrison's pager buzzed. He looked down just as Edwin brought a cafe presse to the table.
"Shit. I almost made it to the coffee," he said.
"We'll put it in a go-cup for you, Detective. I hope you enjoyed your meal."
"Sure did," Harrison said. He pointed a finger at Griffen's chest. "Don't think this takes you off the hook, McCandles."
"No, Detective, sir," Griffen said. Harrison hung around long enough for Edwin to pour his coffee into an insulated container. "And I want to make sure you're gonna pay for this meal."
"I know," Griffen said, reaching for his wallet. "Theft of service, theft by deception, and whatever else you can think of."
"Damned straight," Harrison said. "I'll use whatever tools are in my toolbox on you if I have to. Whatever makes it work down here so that life goes as peacefully as it is going to go."
He took his coffee and went out into the night. Griffen felt his shoulders relax as soon as the detective was out of sight. That hadn't gone as badly as it could have. They weren't exactly friends again yet, but they were allies. Harrison felt more in control than he had before. Griffen didn't mind letting him think he was on top of that hierarchy. It worked better for both of them.
Fourteen
Valerie looked back over her shoulder onto the street. Two men had stopped, one lighting the other's cigarette, just out of the light of the vintage streetlight. "They're still there."
"If you want, I will take them out," Gris-gris said, guiding her by the elbow to one of the naugahyde-covered booths. "It would be my pleasure. I just want you to relax and have a good time. You took a weekend night off just for me. I want you to be happy."
Val almost said yes. She kind of liked having a boyfriend who was willing to kill two people just because they were bothering her.
She hadn't really thought she liked the bad boys, but the mild men she picked up she often forgot a week later. The dangerous aspects of Gris-gris really turned her on. Griffen carried a knife in his pocket, but Gris-gris had actually used his. The boys she had dated at college would probably pass out if you showed them one. That was one reason why she continued to see him when there was so much variety in the Quarter.
"No," she said. "Unless they come in here. As long as they keep their distance, I'll be okay."
"Whatever you say. Hey, Clarissa!" he shouted. "You got some service coming out here?"
"You shut up, Gris-gris!" Clarissa shouted back. She was pouring coffee for a man at the counter.
"You want me to come and mess you up over there? My lady wants some service!"
"Hey, Val, honey," Clarissa called over. "That man bothering you?"
"No," Val said, grinning at him. "Not yet. Unless I get lucky."
She glanced out the window. The men had stopped on the other side of the street. They stood smoking and talking, but she knew, she could feel, that they were watching her out of the corner of their eyes. Her temper flared. The room suddenly seemed too small, as if her world was constricting.
A light touch brushed her hand. "Hey, sweet thing, keep it down. They only used to seeing one size of you in here, okay?"
Val looked at him in shock. She glanced at their hands. Hers were bigger than his. She had grown without thinking about it. She shot a hasty glance at the other people in the diner. "Did anyone see?"
"Maybe the two guys outside, but I think they already know. Right?"
Val concentrated hard on returning to her normal size. Damm it. She thought that she had gotten that reaction under control! It was the tension from worrying about Melinda jumping out and surprising her that was throwing her off. She had to get herself together.
The men outside had not been sent by Melinda but by Griffen. She was perturbed by his overprotectiveness even though she understood it. It was sweet. She knew it meant he cared; but they went everywhere she did, even when she went out running in the mornings. She hated the idea of being under surveillance. Even more, she hated the reason she had to be under surveillance. Mai insisted that Melinda was a fearsome opponent and would stop at nothing to get what she wanted. Well, if she wanted Val's baby, she was going to be disappointed.
She found herself getting angry all over again, but she controlled herself before she started Hulk-ing out all over again.
"Sorry, I'm not being fair to you," Val said to Gris-gris. "Thanks for asking me out this evening."
"We haven't really had any time alone lately," he said.
Val glanced out at the loitering men. "And we don't exactly now."
"Well, I hope they ain't gonna be following us everywhere." He looked her up and down with interest. Val felt her own response growing. Her body was changing, but not enough to interfere with lovemaking.
"They'd better not," she said, huskily. "I owe you my undivided attention for a while."
"And why is that?" he asked, studying her. She liked the incredible dark brown of his eyes. When he looked at her, they seemed to absorb her gaze so she couldn't break away.
"Well, all the nice things that you say and do for me."
He looked pleased. "You're a special lady. I'd do it just because you're you. But your family has treated me right, also. That means something to me."
Val looked into those deep eyes. She didn't want to fall in love with him. She was too young. They really didn't know each other well. She liked spending time with him. He let her take the lead on their lovemaking. That meant something to her. So little of her life before New Orleans had been in her control. Her uncle had chosen where they went to school, enrolled her in the college of his choice, even given her a clothing allowance in store credits so she had to shop where he chose. Gris-gris gave her freedom to act. Whether or not they had any kind of future together was something she didn't want to overanticipate. What happened, happened. She tore herself away from his gaze and gave him a sardonic smile.
"Did I tell you about Griffen's meeting with his krewe?"
"Yeah. Are you going to be a queen?"
"No," Val said, peeved at the memory. "And I am not buying Griffen's explanation that the krewe has chosen a queen and wouldn't tell him her name. I think he's just putting off having to choose one of us because he knows the other two are going to be mad at him. Still, being a maid sounds like fun. You'll come to the parties with me, too, won't you?"
"That's all out of my league, mostly," Gris-gris said, honestly. "Society people, rich people, educated people."
"But do any of those matter? I want you there."
He nodded. "Then I will be there, pretty lady."