Bijou might not realize it, but her staff was loyal to her. They weren’t stealing and the temptation had to be great. He could also see why she’d left her father’s estate alone for so long. Where did one even start sorting through things?

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.”