Leopard's Prey

a lot?” Remy demanded.
    Robert nodded. “They’re kind of obsessed with her. They play her stuff all the time.” He ducked his head to avoid eye contact again. “They’ve been tryin’ to get onto the crew workin’ on her new apartment so they could put in cameras and maybe a few ways to get in without anyone knowin’.”
    Remy turned away to keep from leaping on the man. Robert was leopard. He knew Bijou was. It had become evident to all of them in the club, and yet he hadn’t immediately come forward to report a threat toward one of their women. Fingertips burned. His jaw ached. He was close, so close. His leopard was strong and territorial. Also protective. All his life he’d had to work at keeping his leopard in check. Robert was making it very difficult. Any threat to Bijou could not be tolerated.
    He took several deep breaths to keep control, breathing away his leopard’s rage. “Have they gotten onto the work crew?” It helped that Bijou rubbed the middle of his back in a soothing pattern. He could hear her breathing and it hadn’t changed. She was used to threats, he realized. Threats were a daily occurrence for her. That was why she hadn’t gone to the authorities when her stalker had escalated his behavior. She was just too used to threats.
    “Not yet,” Robert answered. “But they were arrangin’ an accident so that the contractor would be shorthanded. Tom and Ryan were supposed to help them with that.”
    “Tom Berlander?” Remy guessed. Berlander hung out with Ryan Cooper and Brent Underwood as well as the Rousseau brothers, so it was easy enough to guess, but Remy wanted Robert’s clear identification.
    Robert nodded. “He’s gotten pretty violent, along with Ryan. Brent hangs back as much as possible. He’s even claimed he’s been sick when we were supposed to hit a place.” He sighed and shook his head, slumping a little more. “I don’ know how you’re goin’ to catch Jean and Juste. No one can catch them. They work at the houses and the people they work for love them. They would never suspect them. They leave their prints everywhere on purpose. The elderly couples would go to court and say how wonderful they are. Jean and Juste actually bring them groceries and pick up medications, all the while laughin’, knowin’ they’re goin’ to rob and beat them.”
    Remy’s stomach knotted. The more he heard, the more he wanted his leopard to meet the Rousseau brothers out in the swamp.
    “Do you know if they’re the ones committing these murders and harvestin’ bones?” Remy asked.
    Robert frowned, remaining silent, clearly thinking it over. Finally he shrugged. “I don’ know, but they have human bones there in the swamp. I’ve seen them.” He looked straight at Remy, honesty on his face and in his voice and eyes. “If they did, they would never be sorry. They like hurting animals and watching the life fade out of them. They like beating the old people and knowin’ they had their trust. They really travel in the company of demons, just like they claim, and once you’ve made a pact with them, even if you were drunk and didn’t mean it, you can never be free of them.”
    “Is that why you began drinkin’ so much, Robert? And doin’ drugs? To live with the things you were doin’? You knew they were wrong,” Remy said.
    Robert nodded, pressing his fingers to his eyes, shaking his head. “I got in too deep, Remy. There was nowhere to go.”
    “That’s bullshit, Robert,” Drake snarled. He began to pace back and forth. “You’re a member of this lair. There is no excuse not to inform me of what is happening in our territory. You say they threatened your brother. He’s a member and under my protection. You knew you should come to me. If I hear another lie coming out of your mouth, I’ll take your damned head off and consequences be damned.”
    Robert pushed back in his chair, his face nearly frozen with fear. “I could get drugs any time I wanted. Drugs, alcohol, even women. Ryan had a thing going with Juste and Jean at the strip joint where he worked and the women did whatever he said. I had money and just about anything else I wanted and I just told myself I was keeping Dion safe.”
    “Are you sayin’ the Rousseau brothers are also runnin’ a prostitution ring?” Remy demanded.
    “No. No.” Robert shook his head. “No one pays them. They’re strippers. They do what Jean and Juste say to do.”
    “Out of fear? Do the brothers threaten the