“He lived in the Lower Ninth Ward, had a couple of rentals there, too. All gone. His parents lived in one. They got out,” he said, not adding that their cats hadn’t. They’d hidden during the storm and when the rescuers had come, couldn’t be found. Weeks later, when the floodgates had receded, Brinkman had returned to his family home and found the house marked with an X by the searchers. The other note said only: “Two dead cats inside.” Brinkman had gotten to dispose of the animal carcasses and inform his mother. Since then, he’d packed up his parents, who now lived in Austin, and was talking of getting the hell out of Dodge himself.

“It’s too bad.”

“Yeah. So I’m not going to let some government-drawn lines stop me from looking into the disappearances on my own time. I’ve got a call up to the Baton Rouge PD.”

“Because you don’t have enough to do.” She lifted the tea bag from the cup and dropped it, dripping, into a nearby trash basket.

“I said it was on my own time.”

“Time you could be spending with your family.”

“Kristi is my family.”

“I was talking about me,” she said.

He smiled. “I know.”

Sipping the tea, she said, “I could put on my sexiest negligee and we could…” She let her voice trail off.

He cocked a brow.

“Interested?”

Pushing his chair away from the TV tray, Bentz growled, “Always. But you don’t need a negligee.”

“No?” She looked up at him over the rim of her cup.

“Waste of time.” He took the cup from her hand and set it on the window ledge. “So tell me, Mrs. Bentz, is this attempt at seduction because you’re so hot for me you can’t think straight, or is it because it’s the right time of the month to conceive?”

“Maybe a little of both,” she admitted, and it was like a douse of cold water.

“I told you…I don’t think I want any more children.”

“And I told you, I need a baby.”

He rested his head against hers and saw the desperation in her eyes. He’d give her anything. But this…

“Being a cop’s kid is no picnic.”

“Neither is being a cop’s wife. But it’s worth it. Please, Rick, let’s not worry about this, okay. If it happens, it happens, if it doesn’t, then we’ll see.”

“Meaning?”

“Meaning let’s not worry about that now.”