Something moved along the edge above them, clearly following the path of the SUV. There was a lot of cursing in Cajun French.

“We have to be rescued before dark,” Arnaud pointed out in his usual pragmatic way.

She was silent a moment, then she snapped her fingers, already moving, trying to curl herself into a little ball. “You get rescued, and then come back for me.”

“You really like this man, don’t you?” There was a trace of amusement in his voice.

“Don’ laugh at a desperate woman, Arnaud,” she warned. “You’ll be goin’ back in that really smelly, disgustin’ water.”

“Blue? Where the hell are you? You damn well better not be in that sunken SUV.”

Arnaud raised his voice. “We’re here, trapped below you. A little worse for wear but we’re alive.”

“Traitor,” Bijou hissed between her teeth. She covered her face again, smearing more mud. “I’ll never live this down.”

“Bijou?” Remy’s voice was directly overhead. A small amount of dirt rained down.

“The ledge is crumbling,” Arnaud cautioned. “You’ll have to stay back from it.”

“Well back,” Bijou whispered. “Like the other side of the bayou. Why do these things always happen to me?”

“Bijou.” There was a short pause. “I need to hear your voice. Are you all right?” This time the tone wasn’t so commanding and for some insane reason tugged at her heartstrings.

She sighed, resigned, and sat up slowly, shoving dripping hair from around her face. “If you can call smelling like sewer and being covered in germs all right, then I’m perfectly fine.”

“Damn it, woman.” Relief poured into Remy’s voice. “You took a few years off my life.”

“Poor you,” she called back. “You should have been here for the last few hours.”

“You really are fine,” Remy said. “If you can come back with your sassy sarcasm.”

“Well, for heaven’s sake, Remy, I was the one someone was tryin’ to kill. And, I’m the one who ended up in the bayou, not you.”

“I was wonderin’ what that smell was,” Remy called back.

She hissed out a swear word between her teeth.

Arnaud grinned at her, his eyes briefly warming. “You really do like this man.”

“No, I don’. At least not right at this very moment.” She raised her voice. “Is my car still there, Remy?”

“Sort of. It’s been vandalized. Your fan was here and must have been in a really bad mood.”

That now-familiar uncomfortable heat whenever she was in Remy’s presence was beginning to drift through her body, warming her in spite of the wet clothes. She closed her eyes and shook her head. She stank. She was in an impossible situation, looked like a drowned rat and she was getting all hot and bothered just at the sound of his voice.

Remy stretched out carefully in the dirt and peered over the side. He needed to see for himself that she was alive and in one piece.

“Look at me, Blue.”