Jo shook her head. “We’re okay, but we need to hurry. I should get back before anyone gets suspicious.”

The woman nodded. Jo looked at Special Agent Kelsey Camacho, thinking how she’d gotten to this point.

***

When she’d left the police station Thursday night, Jo had been frustrated that Detective Holton hadn’t believed her story. His sole focus had been that she was interfering in his investigation, and that the things she’d discovered didn’t have merit. She’d gone back to her to hotel, not sure what she was going to do.

She’d been sitting on her bed when a knock sounded at the door. She’d answered and found Kelsey standing in the hall with another man. They had a look—not just their attire, but their manner—that made it easy to tell they were with some government agency.

Kelsey introduced herself to Jo with the flash of a badge and told her she had questions about the bank robbery. Jo knew there was more than that, but she humored the woman and told her what had happened.

The discussion had gone on from there, and Jo realized that the agent had talked to Detective Holton. Kelsey then swung the conversation to what Jo had been doing since the robbery, all her stakeouts and conversations. When Jo finished going through it, she wasn’t surprised at what Kelsey said next.

“We’ve had JD Babineaux under investigation for several months now.”

“What did he do?” Jo asked.

Kelsey blinked a few times, as if contemplating how much to share. She didn’t disguise the way she studied Jo, and then she asked about Jo’s background. Jo told her, but it was obvious Kelsey had heard it all before.

“We think Babineaux is behind the murder of two local women several years ago,” the woman explained.

“Women he had affairs with?”

“Yes. Well, one of them, anyway.”

“Why kill them?” Jo asked. “A lot of people have affairs, and it doesn’t go anywhere.”

“Babineaux doesn’t just have affairs. He has . . . certain sexual preferences, deviances . . . that were not acceptable back then, and maybe still wouldn’t be now. He’s a rich and powerful man, and he wouldn’t want that information to get out. He spent some time with that woman, and even though he was careful, and he had his partner sign an NDA, she broke the agreement and told a friend about what she’d done with Babineaux.”

“The second murder.”

“Yes. This friend—I’m not going to tell you her name—went after Babineaux and tried to blackmail him. She had the kind of information that would certainly ruin not only his marriage, but his reputation. You know Babineaux has political aspirations?”

Jo shrugged. “I read something about that.”

“People will overlook a lot, but not murder. He had both women eliminated. If that comes to light, he could go to prison. Even if he’s able to defend himself in court, at bare minimum, it will ruin his career.”

“Babineaux wouldn’t be stupid enough to commit murder himself.”

“No, and neither would his right-hand man, Donald Kline. He takes care of security for Babineaux and his family. Kline would’ve arranged everything so that Babineaux’s hands are clean.”

Jo thought fast. “But Trent Fontenot had uncovered all this.”

Kelsey nodded. “Trent approached us recently and said he had information about Babineaux. He had details, proof that Babineaux was behind the murders, but Trent didn’t tell us what. We were about to meet with him again when he was murdered. We think he had that proof—his research—in a safety deposit box at National Bank, and Babineaux knew that as well.”

Jo stared at the Special Agent, thinking she’d been right in her suspicions. She thought back over everything others had told her.

“No one knew what proof Trent had?” she asked.

Kelsey shook her head. “He was too scared to tell anyone. It took him a long time to approach us. He was worried about what Babineaux would do to him.” Her eyes momentarily went sad.

“Babineaux’s behind Trent’s murder?”

“We think so, but we can’t prove it. The people we’re dealing with are extremely good at what they do. They’ve covered their tracks well.”

“Except for whoever talked to Trent.”

“Yes. Once some time has passed, people sometimes talk.”

Jo looked at Kelsey. Amid all this, the woman still hadn’t explained why she was talking to her.

“What do you want from me?” Jo asked.

“We need to get somebody on the inside, into the Babineaux mansion.”

Jo raised her eyebrows. “You think I can do that? How?”

“Lydia Babineaux has a driver assigned to her, but she’s picky about who she wants. They’ve been having trouble keeping someone, and they’ve been interviewing new candidates, all women.”

“Her driver has to be a woman?”

Kelsey nodded. “Lydia doesn’t want a male driver.” She pointed at Jo. “We’ll arrange for you to get an interview. If we can get you in that way, you might be able to hear what’s going on.”

Jo narrowed her eyes. “You want me to befriend Lydia to see what she knows, and to see if she’ll turn on her husband.”

“There have been growing rumors about Babineaux, and we think Lydia’s getting suspicious.”

“She doesn’t know what Babineaux’s been doing?”

“Not entirely. We don’t think she’s been involved in his dealings in any way.”

“Does she know about the murders?”

“She might think Babineaux’s behind something illegal.”

“What do you want from me?” Kelsey glanced away. “With your background, your communication skills, you might be able to turn Lydia, get her to help us.”

Jo thought long and hard about what Kelsey was proposing. There were a lot of risks, and she would be in danger.

“What if Kline figures out I was at the bank?”

“You’ll need to act fast, before he realizes anything.”

“You can’t protect me.”

Kelsey shook her head. “No. I wouldn’t blame you if you walked away.” Then she dropped a bombshell. “What if Kline figures out you were involved with that biolab in Colorado? What if others know that as well?”

Jo’s muscles tensed. “What do you know?”