Rachel cursed as she looked across the room and saw the last person on earth she ever wanted to see again. It figured and it was just her luck, she gets rid of one annoyance only to trade him for another. Still at least the cute cop wasn't an asshole like the little weasel currently grinning at her from across the room.

What also really ticked her off was the fact that this weasel had seen her naked. Ex-boyfriends tend to have bragging rights to that, but she really didn't have to like it. With a groan Rachel turned to Lil and pulled her aside.

"I have to go take care of something," she yelled to the other woman and vaulted the bar to go see what Tony wanted.

Tony McNamara believed he was God's gift to the female sex and once, when she was young and stupid, she had believed she loved him. She had believed right up to the time she walked in on him screwing her best friend and gotten her arrested for possession of an illegal substance.

Apparently Tammy had been a bad little girl and gotten hooked on ecstasy and Tony had been using her as a fuck buddy while supplying her with her daily fix. Rachel had just been in the wrong place at the wrong time when the cops had rushed in and arrested everyone in the room.

Ever since then Tony had been turning up in her life like a bad, disease riddled penny. He usually came to her for money and had tried, only once, to come to her for sex. The broken nose she had given him had managed to deter him from anymore amorous pursuits of her. Dodging most of her male patrons roving hands she reached her ex and promptly dragged him out of the bar by his hair.

"Hey bab…" he had tried to say and ended it with a loudly yelped, "Ow!"

Rachel didn't even break her stride, she just pulled him outside. Lou the large, bald headed bouncer opened the door for her without a word and Rachel made sure they were well away from the club before she let him go.

"All right Tony, what is this? Have you forgotten the rules so quickly? You never come to see me here. I don't care if there a comet is about to crash into the fucking tri-state area and you are the only one left alive to warn me that I am about to die. You never come here. I will not lose my job over a selfish little prick like you," she spat.

Tony glared at her while rubbing his head gingerly.

"I'm sorry babe but I had not choice. Man, I'd forgotten what a caste iron bitch you are."

He calmly pulled a cigarette out of his pocket and lit it and Rachel made an effort not to appear affected by the comment but it hurt. She hated that it hurt, but Tony was naively what she considered her first love, and he knew it the slime ball. He knew that he could hurt her and wallowed happily in that fact like a pig in mud.

She sighed. "Just get to the fucking point Tony and tell me what hell you want."

"Money," he said.

"I just gave you money last week. Maybe you should try getting a job. Better yet just ask dear old dad for a loan."

Tony grinned and tsked at her.

"Rach, you know better than that. You keep forgetting that one call and…poof, everything you love goes up in smoke."

Rachel started shaking as she glared hard at the weasel and felt hatred clench her stomach.

"How much," she spat and he laughed.

"A grand," he said and took a deep drag of his cigarette. Rachel scowled and pulled out a roll of bills the size of a small fist. She peeled off a few bills and handed them to him.

"There is seven hundred, it's all I can give you today."

Tony smiled as he counted the money and then saluted her.

"Pleasure doing business with you Rach."

He turned and walked away. Rachel ground her teeth as he disappeared, wishing hell would decided to open up and take him early. Her wish wasn't granted.

Her mood black she turned to go back inside the bar, when a softly, southern accented voice drifted from the shadows and stopped her.

"What has he got on you?"

The question hung in the night air heavy with accusation and Rachel turn on the interloper with whiskey eyes flashing.

"Do all cops lurk in corners and butt into other people's business or are you just special that way?"

Nathan stepped out of the shadows to face her, all the normal good cheer having drained from his eyes.

He was wearing what Rachel knew was his cop face, that hard mask that reveled nothing and guarded thoughts and feelings better than a Halloween mask. It was the face her granddad had worn when he had bailed her ass out of jail after the Tony fiasco.

Nate sighed. "It's what we do best. Look Rachel, if you are in some kind of trouble maybe I can…" he tried to say but was cut off mid-sentence by her bitter laughter.

"You can what? Help me? Listen boy scout I know you lil' old southern boys believe in protecting your womenfolk but I was taking care of myself long before you came here and I will be taking care of myself long after you're gone. Now I have to get back before Lil sends out a search party."

With that parting shot Nathan watched her go. Jessie had been right about her, she was trouble with a capital T. He knew and at least the cop part of him knew that he should probably just wash his hands of her now.

Women like her were a walking time bomb for someone in his profession. He also knew that despite that fact he was going to help her. It was probably akin to committing professional suicide and God knew she wouldn't appreciate it, but dammit he couldn't walk away.

Maybe it was the false sense of bravado he sensed coming from her, or maybe it was some long ingrained chivalrous instinct. He wasn't sure but as he studied her retreating form in the moonlight he had a feeling it had more to do with the single tear she couldn't stop running down her cheek from tortured eyes before she turned away from him.


It was a cool morning for this time of year in the city which was why the man's body didn't smell quite as bad as it should have. Detective Jessie Leland placed a handkerchief over her nose to ward of the smell.

The corpse was an adult male in his late twenties. He had been shot cleanly in the back of the head execution style by a small caliber gun. Jess noted all these facts in a glance but it would take the corner's report to prove her correct.

With a sigh she stepped away from the body and checked her watch for the third time. It was just her luck that her partner would be on sick leave and she would be waiting for some rookie detective for back up. She had told her commanding officer that she could handle things until Lofton got back but he had insisted on sending someone. She looked at her watch again and cursed, that someone was twenty minutes late and she was tired of being patient.

Not only that, but the body had already drawn a crowd of curiosity seekers. The uniforms were keeping them at bay but soon the media wolves would descend on the scene. She wanted this to be done with before they got here.

Just as she was about to chuck it all and go ahead with the investigation a familiar car pulled up. When a very familiar blond man got out of the car she had to say that she wasn't really that surprised. She was also very happy to see him.

Jessie smirked. "You're late Boudreaux,"

He grinned and walked toward her, flashing his badge to the uniform on crowd control to gain entry into the crime scene.

"I got lost," he replied, a bit sheepishly. She tried not to laugh and managed to keep it down to a smirk in respect for the dead.

"What do we have, cher?"

The female detective's smirk turned into a scowl as she led him over to the victim.

"We have a male Caucasian, late twenties; early thirties, with a single GSW to the back of the head. Weapon was probably small caliber; possibly a .22, since most of his brains haven't leaked on to my good shoes."

Once at the body Nathan knelt down, careful to avoid touching anything, his trained eye roving over the corpse in search of answers. The victim's face was in profile and the detective sucked in a sharp surprised breath when he realized who the dead man was. Jess noticed Nate's reaction and narrowed her eyes.

"What is it Boudreaux?" She asked. He stood up and faced her with a grave expression on his face.

"I know him Jess, his name is Tony." Jessie waited a moment for him to continue and then sighed in exasperation.

"What is he one of those one name freaks like Madonna or are you going to tell me his last name?"

Nate shook his head.

"I don't know his last name but I know someone who does."

Jessie shot him a searching glare that told him he'd better spill. When he didn't, she grabbed his arm and pulled him out of earshot of forensics and the other cops.

When they were far enough away she dropped his arm and narrowed her green eyes.

"What's with you? You're acting like you have something to hide?"

He winced.

"I saw this guy outside of Coyote Ugly last week. He was arguing with Rachel, more importantly he was blackmailing her."

Jessie's look turned grim.

"Are you sure it was a shakedown?" Hoping he was mistaken, knowing that he wasn't. Nate didn't make mistakes like that.

"Yeah I'm sure. He had something on her; I just don't know what."

"Shit," she cursed and ran a hand through her long, red hair, mussing it.

"One of us is going to have to go talk to her."

"Let me do it," he offered.

Jess started shaking her head.

"No, I should go. After all she's my friend."

"Which is why I should go, cher. The captain will see less of a conflict of interests if I question her."

A very unlady like snort was his partner's response.

"Nate, if I go down for that one I'm taking you with me," she said. He narrowed his eyes.

"What's that suppose to mean, cher?"

Jessie repressed her shiver, she had never known a French endearment could sound so menacing. Still he asked the question so she was going to give him an answer, even it he wasn't going to like it.

"I know that you have been at Coyote Ugly every night for the past week, and don't tell me that you were just trying to get a date. Did you forget that Lil is an old friend of mine when you decided to go play Batman?"

Nathan had the good grace to wince slightly at her biting accusation. He hadn't forgotten about Lil being friends with Jessie he had just thought he had managed to stay out of sight. He should have known better.

"So what? I wanted to see if I could catch the parasite blackmailing her. It doesn't much matter now that someone seems to have solved the problem for me," he defended.

Jess looked at him like she wanted to shake some sense into him.

"Oh come on Nate, you're a good cop and despite the shit load of denial that seems to have dropped your IQ to that of a garden slug you know exactly how this God damn cape crusader bullshit is going to look."

"Why didn't you say something earlier if it was bothering you that much?"

"Because last week I didn't have a dead body on my hands; a body, I might add, that is gonna make my old friend our number one suspect."

Nate looked around to make sure that no one was paying attention to them and relaxed when he saw that the uniforms still looked bored by crowd control duty.

"Come on Jess you can't really believe that Rachel…" he said trailing off at the dark look she shot him.

"That Rachel what? Could kill someone? Hell yes, I believe Rachel could kill someone but she sure as hell wouldn't do it the way this guy was iced. Rachel is a fighter, you push her and she will push back. If I were hauling her ass in for killing someone it would be because they tried to kill her, or tried to kill someone she loved. This execution style shit just wouldn't wash with her. The problem is that both you and I know the captain isn't going to see it that way."

"I agree with you if that means anything but I still think that I'm the one who should go talk to her. At least the captain doesn't know that I have any personal feelings towards Rachel whereas everyone at the station knows that you were a coyote."

Jess gave her partner a long hard look and sighed.

"All right you go, but watch yourself. If she thinks you're threatening her she will clam up."

He grinned. "Trust me; I know what I'm doing."

Jessie didn't look all that convinced but she didn't argue, instead she tried for a tentative smile of encouragement. Nate grinned back, communicating a silent thank you. He just hoped that he wasn't biting off more than he could chew.


Nathan stood outside apartment four o' five and stared at the door like it held all the secrets of the universe. He had left the crime scene directly and come straight to Rachel's home.

With a sigh he ran a frustrated hand through his sandy blond hair. This was not how he wanted to see her place. He had been hoping that he would be able to wear her down enough to go on a date with him, which is why even though he had her address and phone number from her police record he hadn't used it to find her.

Hell, he felt bad knowing what he did from her file. A lot of it didn't really surprise him. She had some petty stuff from when she was a kid; at least she did until she was about fourteen. At that point her record became spotless, which meant that she either got smart or someone took an interest in her well being.

He had a feeling it was the latter, simple because when he met her he felt like she was playing it straight with him. She just didn't have any of the marks of a shifty criminal.

The only other things on her record were a drug charge for possession when she was twenty that someone had dropped, and the battery charges from a few months ago. He frowned and stared at the door for another five minutes before he got up enough courage to knock.

"Just a minute," a familiar voice called from within.

Nate was amused to find Rachel sounding almost cordial. He knew that when she saw him it wouldn't last. He heard a number of locks being drawn back and finally the door opened.

He got his first good look at her outside of Coyote Ugly and he was surprised. Her face was free of the make-up she wore to work and her long hair was pulled back into a ponytail. Her long legs, usually well defined by something skin tight, were hidden in the baggy gray sweats she wore and a white form fitting tank top hugged her slime torso.

The last thing he noticed was her bare feet and the hint of red painted toenails that peeked at him from beneath the cuffs of the baggy sweats.

He blinked. He was surprised at the splash of color. He hadn't seen her as the nail polish type for some reason. All in all she looked like she was about seventeen years old. The only thing that was left to remind him that she was a coyote was the fire flashing in her whiskey eyes.

The moment those eyes realized exactly who had come calling at her door they narrowed. Rachel then made a big production of crossing her arms, leaning against the doorjamb, and giving him a through once over before she spoke. Nate felt like she had stripped him naked with that gaze.

"I knew that cops were persistent but this is ridiculous. We have stalker laws in this state you know," she said, snidely.

Nate decided that he should clear the air as soon as possible. He was also getting a little tired of the verbal sparring sessions every time he saw her so this time he took the offensive.

"I wish this were a social call cher, but I'm afraid that I have to ask you some questions about a dead man we found this morning. Can I come in or do you want to come with me downtown. Either way I'm not going to do this in the hall and risk getting into a ball breaking match with you."

It was probably the most forcefully he had ever spoken to a woman but it had its desired affect. Rachel glared at him once, uncrossed her arms and retreated back into the apartment.

Nathan took his time entering half-expecting Rachel to come at him with a baseball bat; also he was curious what her place would look like. He had found in his years as a cop that the places people lived in could tell you a lot about them. The first thing he noticed was that it was clean but cluttered.

A modern brown leather couch shared the same space as a beat up recliner that had been fashionable in the early fifties. Baseball memorabilia also shared the same wall as a collection of porcelain fairies. It was the fairies that delighted him the most because they reminded him of Rachel.

There was an otherworldly inhuman beauty in them that no mortal would ever really understand.

He felt that way about Rachel. All she had done since they met was insult him and yet here he was back for more punishment. She was a bayou witch, a voodoo priestess that had entranced him. She was everything mysterious about the swamps that he had spent his summers in with his Creole grandparents since the age of five. He was terrified of her and drawn to her at the same time. Shaking off his fanciful thoughts he turned to face her.

"The man you were talking to outside of the bar last week. What was his full name," Nathan asked.

She had been watching him roam the apartment for the last five minutes but his voice still gave her a start of surprise. The man moved like a cat on the prowl. He was so silent that even if he were in the same room with you, you would forget that he was there.

Rachel felt again like she had before that there was something almost predatory about him and yet unlike other guys who had the same look she knew that she wasn't his prey. He almost made her feel safe, and that was probably scarier than feeling stalked. Stalked she could defend against, safe was an entirely different matter.

"Why is that any of your business?" she spat to cover her disturbing feelings. "I told you Boy Scout that it was my problem and that I am taking care of it."

"Sorry cher, but it has just become my problem."

She stiffened at the endearment and he frowned. It was a habit with him when talking to women to use the French endearment for dear, he had picked it up from his grandfather many years ago and it was meant as a sign of affection. He meant no disrespect but he could tell that Rachel thought he was patronizing her.

"Look southern boy, I know you have this white knight complex but I you sure as hell ain't my Lancelot and I will never be your Guinevere. I told you. I got it covered."

"I wish it were that simple. Your problem is now lying dead in an alley behind a Korean fish market, which makes him my problem. I need you to talk to me Rachel. I know he was blackmailing you and I have to find out if you had anything to do with it."

Rachel, who had figured that the dead body excuse, was just that, an excuse, was floored to say the least. She turned wide shocked hazel eyes on the detective before sinking boneless into a nearby chair.

"Tony…dead," she said in a small voice. She didn't realize it but she was starting to tremble. "Oh God at least when he was alive I could see…" she started to say but stopped when she noticed the interested and concerned look Nate was giving her.

The hard nose bitch immediately descended back behind her eyes and Nathan knew he was now facing the New York bitch of Coyote Ugly. It was too bad; he had been enjoying his glimpse into the person underneath, the real her, but it was probably for the best. At least he could remain objective now.

"I'm going to ask you again what your history with the deceased is. What did he have on you?"

She glared at him and was about to tell him just were he could stick his questions when a door from inside the apartment opened.

"Rachel what's going on," a gruff, rawboned voice asked. It was a man's voice.

Embarrassed, Nate was getting ready to explain to the guy she apparently was living with that he was just a cop coming to ask her a few questions when an old man shuffled in from around the corner. Rachel's face softened immediately when she saw him and she went to his side to assist him to a nearby chair.

"Grandpa you shouldn't be walking around without your walker, the doctor said…" she tried to say but the old man cut her off.

"Ah damn doctor doesn't know anything. Kid gets a few fancy degrees and thinks he knows everything, and you, babying me like you do. You would think I already have one foot in the grave."

He down with a grimace and Nathan in the meantime was trying to scrap his jaw off the ground. The man he had mistaken for a boyfriend when he heard him was eighty if he was a day. The many wrinkles covering his face had carved character woven groves while his big hands clutched Rachel's forearm as she helped him into a chair.

A miraculous change had come over Rachel as her whole face softened, her touch gentled, and she smiled at the ramblings of the old man. The next thing Nate noticed was what threw him the most. The old man was staring right at him now but he knew that he couldn't see him. The eyes that were once a rich hazel like his granddaughter's were now filmy and sightless. He was blind.

Despite his apparent age, the old man's voice had a youthful, exuberate quality that had led to his initial mistake. Nathan was finding this trip to be even more enlightening than he had fist thought. Too bad none of it had to do with the case.

"Now tell me girl, who was it I heard talking to you?"

Rachel immediately shot Nathan a panicked, warning glance that he knew meant don't upset him.

"My name is Nathan Bourdeaux sir. I'm a friend of you granddaughter."

If that wasn't stretching the truth a little he didn't know what was.

"That's a Creole accent you have there boy. I didn't know Rachel knew anyone in Louisiana." His tone was suspicious and Nate kept his respectful.

"Well sir, it is a new acquaintance we share being as new to New York as I am."

The old man smiled then and Nathan just felt he had passed some kind of test. Apparently he had because Rachel even gave him a small smile of her own.

"Grandpa I have to get ready for work. Lil wants us in by noon today for inventory. Leslie is going to be here early but if you need anything before that just call me."

She bent down and gave him a kiss on the cheek and Nate was suddenly envious of the old man.

"I'll be fine girl. Your friend Nathan and I will find something to talk about while you are getting ready so don't have any worries about that." Rachel panicked.

"I'm afraid Nate is very busy today and could only stop by for a moment. Isn't that right Boy Scout," she said pointedly. He grinned and decided that turnabout was fair play.

"Oh, I'm sure that Mr…" he said, letting it hang.

"O'Day," the old man supplied. "Shamus O'Day. You can call me Shamus"

"Shamus and I will find something to discuss, after all I don't really have anything else pressing to do. I told you that Rachel. Must be that poor short term memory of yours."

Shamus chuckled a bit and Rachel paled. She knew when she had been beaten but still never one to be defeated gracefully she walked up to the detective and pulled his ear close to her mouth.

"Tell him anything about why you are here or try to grill him about Tony in any way and I will cut off your balls and feed them to you," she said sweetly.

Not to be undone Nathan turned his head so that his lips were just inches away from hers. Instead of giving in to the urge to kiss her like he had done before he leaned in to whisper into her ear.

"Keep talking to me like that sugar and next time I might not be able to stop myself from plundering that sassy mouth of yours."

He gave into one of his urges and gave her ear a little nip. Rachel couldn't stop the small gasp that escaped her mouth before she turned and fled to the bathroom. Nathan had the immense satisfaction of hearing the door slam shut. He smiled even wider when the old man asked.

"I wonder what got her knickers in a bunch."

"I don't know, maybe it was something that bit her," he replied and laughed.