Fat Tuesday(105)

"I thought I did," he answered, baffled by the misconception he had lived under."Maybe not."

Slowly, he repositioned himself until his face hovered above hers, until their hands, those handcuffed together and those not, were clasped on either side of her face, and he could feel her breasts rising and falling beneath him, and taste her breath on his lips.

He laid his cheek along hers, rubbed his nose against her earlobe, inhaled her scent. For one forbidden moment, he imagined his mouth being intimate with hers, his hands exploring, that demanding part of himself being enveloped by her body.

The images were so real, he moaned with longing. But he pulled back.

When he did, she opened her eyes. Tears still glazed them. They also reflected her confusion."Basile?"

"God knows I want you," he said raspily."But I won't take you. I won't give you a reason to hate me."

Dredd saw him coming and was standing at the edge of his pier."

Bout time you showed up. I gave you up for a thirty."

"Nobody's killed me yet," Burke said, responding to the policeman's term for a murder victim."The rain kept me away." Noticing Burke's primitive repairs, he asked, "What happened to my boat?"

"It got me here, didn't it?" Burke snapped, immediately defensive.

He was in the worst of moods, and the sooner his friend understood that, the better. Ground rules for any dialogue should be laid now, so there wouldn't be hard feelings later.

His malcontent stemmed from the night he'd spent lying next to Remy while upholding his resolve not to touch her. What-he'd told her last night was only partially true. If he made love to her, she would hate him. He would be like all the other men, including her husband, who had exploited her.

The flip side to that coin was that if he made love to her, he would hate himself.

Five days ago, he'd been contemptuous of her for maintaining a relationship, any relationship, with a bastard like Pinkie Duvall.

His contempt had shielded him from his own attraction. But now, knowing what he did about her life before and after Pinkie entered it, his opinion of her had changed. Drastically. Disturbingly. He could no longer rely on his contempt to keep him honorable.

"How's it going?"

As the boat drifted toward the pier, Burke tossed the rope up to Dredd.

"Don't ask."





Dredd maneuvered his cigarette to the opposite corner of his mouth.

"Hmm. I'd ask, What's up?" but I think I can pretty well guess that.

The pichouette is getting to you, is she?"

As Burke climbed onto the pier, he shot his friend a sour look.

"What makes you say that?"

"I weren't born yesterday, that's what makes me say that. If she'd been a butt-ugly ol' gal, this still would have been a bad idea. But seeing as she's "

"I get your point," Burke said testily.

Dredd wheezed his chain-smoker's laugh."I'd gauge by Father Kevin's scowl that he hasn't broken his vows of chastity, but he's sure as hell been tempted to."

Burke ignored his teasing and strode along the pier toward the building."Have you got any coffee?"

"Do gators shit in the water?"

"I don't know. Do they?"

"Where's Remy at?"

"I left her in the cabin."

"Alone?"

"She'll be okay."

Dredd's dubious look made Burke feel even more uneasy about a decision that had made him uneasy in the first place.

"How long will you be gone?" she'd asked before he left.

"As long as it takes me to get to Dredd's place, pick up supplies, and get back."

"Hours."

"You'll be fine."

"Take me with you."

"Bad idea."

"Why?"

"Because I don't know what I'll find when I get there. I might have to be ... flexible, and I can't be if I'm worried about you getting hurt."

"I could get hurt here."

"If a boat comes by, stay out of sight. I'll get back as soon as I can."

"What if they arrest you, and I'm stranded here?"

"I'll tell them where you are."

"What if you're killed, and I'm stranded here?"

"Dredd knows where to find you."

The argument continued for another half hour, but he had remained resolute Now, as he sipped Dredd's strong coffee, he was still haunted by her little-girl-lost expression as she stood in the doorway of the shack and watched him leave. He wouldn't draw an easy breath until he got back and found her safe. He hadn't forgotten about the men who'd happened by early last evening looking for Father Gregory.

He mentioned Gregory to Dredd now."Did he by chance come back here?"

"After stealing my boat? Not bloody likely. I'd've shot him on sight."

Burke related the story he'd heard from the search party."I'll be goddamn," Dredd cackled."A wedding?"

"That's what they said." Burke gestured toward the vintage black and-white TV set. Dredd disdained communication with the outside world and turned on the TV only if there was a hurricane brewing in the Gulf.