Bayou Jeopardy. Rita Herron

       www.millsandboon.co.uk

      To my beautiful and sweet daughter Elizabeth who lives in New Orleans and loves it!

       Chapter One

      Eight years ago when Katrina hit New Orleans and turned the city inside out, Mack Rivet had lost everything. His job as a detective. The woman he loved.

      And the little boy she had been carrying.

      He slid onto his usual bar stool at the Gator Saloon, shaking rain off his jacket as he made himself at home. Outside, the monsoon continued.

      Cars were flooding. The river rising. People frantically searching for backup generators in case they lost power.

      The bartender, Cooter Willis, set a cold black-and-tan in front of him, and Mack nodded his thanks.

      He sipped the beer, hoping the cold liquid would soothe his nerves. But that same soul-deep ache ate at him as the storm continued to rage. Every time it rained, the haunting memories returned. Half of New Orleans’s residents probably shared them.

      Images of Lily and their little boy flashed in his mind.

      If his son had survived, he would be eight. Mack would be carrying him to Saints games, teaching him how to shuck oysters, taking him gator watching in his pirogue in the bayou.

      And Lily…beautiful, sweet Lily. She’d been too good for a man like him, but that hadn’t seemed to matter. If she’d lived, they’d be making love right now, maybe making a second baby.

      He chugged the beer, then slammed the glass down on the bar.

      Reading his mood, Cooter slid him another one.

      He’d been nursing his wounds for so long he didn’t know how to do anything else. Hiding out in bayou country while the city rebuilt itself.

      Grieving.

      And waiting for the chance to clear his name.

      Eight years later, and he was no closer to that than the day Lee Barnaby had him hauled to jail. But he had been doing his research, keeping an eye on all the players.

      He turned his second beer up and drank, the stench of his conversation with Barnaby still eating at him.

      He hated most that Lily had died believing he was on the take.

      “You’re just like your old man,” Barnaby had said. “You’ll die in prison, too.”

      Hell, his father might have been dirty. But Mack had worked hard to stay on the up-and-up.

      It hadn’t mattered, though.

      Sure, there had been corruption in the NOPD. The feds had known it and had enlisted him and his best friend, Remy Comeaux, into helping Special Agent Ray Storm with the investigation. The task force had been close to breaking that corruption wide open when Katrina hit.

      Then all their lives had gone to hell.

      He and Remy had been arrested. Ray transferred to God knew where.

      The bar grew noisy as Friday night patrons filed in, and Cooter flipped on the TV.

      A special news report suddenly interrupted the commercial, and a photograph of the very man he hated flashed on the screen. Lee Barnaby.

      In handcuffs.

      What the hell?

      “In a shocking twist tonight, our city’s chief of police, Lee Barnaby, has been arrested on charges of corruption as well as assault and attempted murder.” The camera flashed onto Barnaby, who ducked his head, obviously trying to avoid being seen on camera.

      “Private detective Remy Comeaux, who was once part of the NOPD himself, not only found evidence of drug trafficking, but apparently he saved Carlotta Worthington’s life when Mr. Barnaby allegedly assaulted her.” The reporter took a breath, then continued, “NOPD officer Doyle Shriver was killed when he became suspicious, leading to Lee Barnaby’s arrest on corruption, tampering with evidence and the far more heinous crimes of the attempted murder of Carlotta Worthington. At this point, detectives believe they are just beginning to uncover the truth as to Mr. Barnaby’s criminal activity. A full investigation is now under way.”

      Mack’s pulse hammered. Remy had phoned him a couple of times this past week, but he hadn’t taken the call. He hadn’t known why Remy was back.

      Did he wonder if Remy and Ray believed he was dirty?

      Suddenly the beer burned like acid in his belly. He motioned to Cooter to get him a shrimp po’boy so he could sober up.

      If Remy proved Barnaby was dirty, maybe Mack could prove Barnaby had set him up. It wouldn’t bring back his wife and son, but clearing his name would be something.

      LILY LANDRY RIVET LEANED over to kiss her son good-night, her heart swelling with love. He might have been born on the worst night in the history of New Orleans, but he was the best thing that had ever happened to her.

      And every time she looked at him, she saw Mack Rivet, his father.

      They shared the same coal-black hair, the same soul-deep brown eyes and the same bad-boy attitude.

      It was a damn shame Mack hadn’t gotten to know him.

      Winston gave her a surly look as if he knew it was bedtime but he wasn’t ready, and she almost laughed.

      Maybe it was better he hadn’t known his father. Especially after what she’d learned the night of Katrina…

      “Do you have to go tonight, Mom?” Winston asked.

      Lily ruffled his hair. “I told Grandpa I would, honey. But if you need anything, Anita will be here.”

      “I’m too old for a babysitter,” Winston said with a pout.

      “Anita is Grandpa’s cook and maid and part of the family,” Lily said. “So be nice to her.”

      Lily kissed him again. “Ten more minutes, then get some sleep. We’ll go to the parade tomorrow.”

      His eyes lit up, and he crawled into bed with his computer. One of his favorite parts of living in New Orleans was the parades. And Mardi Gras had been an exciting experience.

      The kid was obsessed with alligators, too.

      She left the room, then grabbed her shawl.

      She’d agreed to accompany