Big Easy Escapade (26 page)

“I’m going to eat an entire filet,” Lucy said
as she sat down. “I’m not sharing.”

“I think I could eat two steaks right now,”
Kate said, taking a seat next to Lucy.

John the bartender introduced himself and
gave them each a bar menu. Two appetizers would hold them over
until dinner arrived.

“We’ll have the mini-crab cake BLTs and the
petite filet mignon sandwiches,” Wendy said, closing her menu. “And
we’d like to go ahead and order if that’s okay.”

Lucy, true to her word, got the center-cut
filet. Kate ordered the porterhouse so she could get the filet on
one side and the New York strip on the other. Vivian ordered the
Cajun ribeye and Wendy the Shrimp Alexander.

“And what can I get y’all to drink?” John
asked.

Before any of the girls could answer, a man
in a tuxedo came over. “They’ll have a bottle of Silver Oak
cab.”

“Ralph!” Wendy said and jumped up and gave
the maître-d a hug. “So good to see you!” Wendy bartended at
Morton’s in Houston during college; Ralph was her manager.

“What a surprise to see you,” Ralph said.
“What are you doing these days?” They caught up and reminisced
about the late nights in the bar playing cards.

John served the wine and the appetizers,
which were gone in minutes. He inquired about the scratch on Lucy’s
face, so they told him all about their crazy ass day in the swamp.
From the hicks to the shooting, he was captivated. “Y’all should
write a book about this.”

The girls laughed and cheersed to that.

The steaks and shrimp were all cooked to
perfection. The girls dipped their bread into Wendy’s Shrimp
Alexander sauce.

“That is the best damn sauce,” Lucy said,
taking a second swipe and double-dipping.

Wendy shielded her plate. “Back off,
sista.”

They finished dinner and resisted dessert,
but John surprised them and brought out the Godiva cake, topped
with Haagen Dazs vanilla. Heaven on a plate.

Vivian’s phone buzzed with a text from
Adrienne.

This jailbird is free. Hope u made it back
ok. Get car 2moro.

Vivian filled in the girls, then threw down
her napkin. “I need to walk, y’all about ready?”

Kate set down her fork and wiped her mouth.
“I just want to go to bed. I don’t want to have to tell Jason
anything. It’s going to be heartbreaking.”

Wendy polished off her glass of wine. “It’s
not the worst news that could be delivered. It still leaves hope
that Daisy will be found.”

Vivian tucked her phone back into her purse.
“I just texted him and he’s good with us coming by. Let’s go.”

The girls said goodbye to Ralph and John and
left the restaurant. Two cop cars were parked facing opposite
directions on the streetcar tracks on Canal. The officers talked to
each other through the driver’s open windows. A street light
illuminated the three-sided shelter of the streetcar stop, where
two passengers were waiting.

Vivian did a double take as she recognized
the blond-haired, buzz cut guy sitting long ways across the bench.
She tilted her head slightly in his direction. “Don’t look over
there, but there’s that damn undercover cop again.” She started
walking toward the Marriott a few blocks down.

“This is officially getting creepy,” Lucy
said.

Wendy stopped and bent over, pretending to
fix her flip-flop. “He left the shelter and is walking down the
median.”

“You’ve got to call Antonio,” Kate said.

***

Daisy remained hiding in the bathtub until
her muscles ached with stiffness. The blows to her legs and back
didn’t help. Wanting more comfort, she peeked into the bedroom, and
finding no one there, crawled into bed. She had left the television
on a local station, and the late news was about to come on. She
felt around the bed for the remote but didn’t find it and didn’t
have the energy to look for it.

The screen cut to a female reporter, who was
having a bad hair day, standing in front of a hospital sign. “We
have an update on the murder and kidnappings that are plaguing the
adult entertainment industry in New Orleans. Simone Hitchens, the
second victim who was taken two weeks ago, is being treated in the
Medical Center of Louisiana at New Orleans after being rescued
today in St. Bernard Parish by neighbors. According to her family,
the kidnapper was shot twice during the rescue. Sources tell us
he’s in stable condition here. The police have just released the
identity of the body that was found yesterday in St. Louis Cemetery
#1. We’re told it is the first kidnapping victim, Lisa Miller, who
had been missing almost a month. The third victim, Daisy Easley, is
still missing. We will continue to provide updates as they become
available.”

Simone
being found alive gave Daisy a little hope, though she had no idea
if Sonu had anything to do with her or Lisa’s kidnappings. She
didn’t think he did, but what did she really know about him other
than he was a delusional jerkwad who thought she was going to marry
him in his country? Probably some very hot, sandy country with
weird customs and archaic ideas about women.
No fucking
way.

***

The girls walked into the lobby of the
Marriott and Vivian called Antonio. She got his voicemail and left
a message about the undercover cop being outside of Morton’s.

They took
the elevator to the 14
^th
floor
and Lucy hesitantly knocked on Jason’s door.

He answered looking more upbeat than Vivian
expected, but that quickly changed once he realized the girls were
not too chipper.

“What? What’s happened?” he asked as they
entered the room. He looked up and down the hallway before closing
the door.

Vivian took a deep breath. “It’s not horrible
news, it’s just been a crazy, crazy day. Crazier than we ever could
have imagined.”

Jason sat on the bed and pointed to a chair
across from him. “Tell me about it.”

She recounted the airboat chase with the
swamp brothers and how that led to Mustang guy. She told him about
the gunfight that led them to Simone.

Jason stood up. “You’re sure he didn’t know
anything about Daisy?”

“I’m almost positive. Adrienne crammed her
foot into his gunshot wound and was adamant as he answered. He
admitted to killing the other dancer but said he knew nothing about
Daisy.”

Jason sank further into the bed and put his
head in his hands. “What does this mean?”

Wendy put her hand on his shoulder. “We feel
like Daisy is alive and waiting to be found.”

Kate moved to him, placing her hand on his
other shoulder. “We won’t give up, Jason. We know this isn’t
over.”

Lucy stood next to Kate. “Absolutely. This
isn’t finished.”

Vivian got up from her chair and Jason stood,
staring down at her with tears in his eyes. “I can’t give up
hope.”

Vivian squeezed his hands. “We haven’t.”

Day 6

T
he girls
awoke earlier than usual since they had gone to bed before midnight
and no one was hung over.

Kate sat on the edge of her bed, TV turned
down low, watching the “Today Show.” Bobby Flay was grilling
post-St. Patty’s Day brunch on the plaza.

Wendy had the one-cup coffee maker hard at
work. She was on cup number three as she waited for everyone else
to get dressed. “I’m ready to take on the Big Easy today. Y’all put
it into overdrive.”

At 9:25 the channel switched to a brief
section of local news. A picture of the Medical Center of Louisiana
at New Orleans flashed on the screen beside a blonde with a big
smile.

Kate jacked the volume. “Listen up!”

“Authorities continue to investigate the
shooting yesterday in St. Bernard Parish that freed kidnap victim
Simone Hitchens from her captor, Donny Dickens.” A mug shot
replaced the hospital picture. “Dickens was shot twice by a
neighbor during the rescue. He has previous convictions, including
aggravated assault and armed robbery. His injuries are not
considered life threatening but he remains hospitalized. New
Orleans police are looking for connections between this case and
the kidnapping of dancer Daisy Easley.” A picture of Daisy was
shown. “Easley was kidnapped from the French House three nights
ago. Police have established a tip line and are looking for any
information in the case.” The phone number flashed on the screen.
“And now, here’s Hank with your weather.”

Kate lowered the volume. “Adrienne’s the
neighbor!”

“Best neighbor ever!” Lucy said, and they
high-fived.

“So, Donny Dickens, that was the guy,” Wendy
said.

“How on earth is a guy who’s been found
guilty of aggravated assault and armed robbery walking around
free?” Lucy asked. “Something is wrong with the system.”

“Yeah, and he’s probably got more of a record
than that,” Vivian said, pulling out her mascara wand and examining
the brush. “They probably just hit the highlights because of
time.”

Kate turned off the TV. “Hopefully this time
he’ll be kept in the slammer, where he belongs.”

Vivian ran a last swipe of mascara over her
lashes and put the brush away. “I’m ready. Where’re we going?”

“We’ve made a big dent in my list of places
to go on this trip,” Wendy said and pressed her finger in Vivian’s
forehead dent, “but we haven’t hit the Acme Oyster House yet. Y’all
mind?”

Vivian shooed her hand away.

“Sounds good,” Lucy said and picked up her
purse. She looked over at Vivian, who had made no move to leave.
“They serve more than oysters there, ya picky freak.”

With that, they left the room, stopped by the
valet and gave Adrienne’s name so she could pick up the car. They
walked past Jason’s hotel and two local news vans out front, one
with the antenna raised and a woman in her early 30s dabbing powder
on her face. A camera man sat in a folding chair facing the hotel’s
entrance.

“Looks like they’re camped out for the day,”
Vivian commented and they kept going.

***

Daisy woke, tangled in the sheets and
sweating although it was not hot in the room. She had been running
through the desert in her dreams. She instinctively reached across
the bed for Jason but he wasn’t there. Reality hit hard and sucked
her willpower to get up. The only thing that motivated her to leave
the bed was the need to pee.

Her body ached everywhere. She looked at
herself in the mirror and cringed. Black was not the best hair
color against her skin. She took off the wrinkled dress. The
bruises on her back and legs were a lovely purple and green. Since
the dress was off, she went ahead and showered, to wash off his
touch if nothing else. Thinking about his kiss from the day before
made her want to vomit. Even though she was starving, she wasn’t
sure she could swallow anything if they brought her food.

After her shower, she picked up the three
remaining dresses on the floor in the closet. The only one that
didn’t have yesterday’s breakfast on it was the navy. The room had
started to stink from the rotting food, and she threw towels over
the biggest splatters.

Surely they’ll give me new towels. Maybe even
have housekeeping clean it up. I may be able to tell them what’s
going on.

She sat in the chair, as far away from the
stink as she could get, and watched TV, her only pastime in the
small hotel room. Hoda and Kathie Lee had just come on when the
roofie asshole pushed the breakfast cart into the room. One whiff
of syrup and she knew she could eat.

“Could you have housekeeping come clean this
up?” she asked him.

He looked at the crusty eggs, other white
matter and towels, then left. A few minutes later, the leery guy
came in the room with a stack of towels. He watched her scarf down
breakfast.

This fucking guy digs ugly dresses. The uglier the better.
Creep
.

She stood up and glared at him. “Why don’t
you take a picture, weirdo?”

He left the room.

***

The girls made their way to the Acme Oyster
House and were pleased they didn’t have to wait in line this early
in the day. They were seated right in front of the windows so they
could watch the goings-on in the Quarter.

“It’s mimosa time,” Vivian said, looking over
the non-oyster section of the menu.

The girls agreed and they ordered a round for
the table along with some Boo Fries and fried crawfish tails. They
took their time, not ordering more food until the appetizers were
polished off but ordering another round of mimosas.

Their cups of seafood gumbo and oysters
Rockefeller soup had just been delivered when there was a tap at
the window. The Romanian gypsy peered in and continued
knocking.

Vivian waved her in but the woman shook her
head so Vivian hopped up and said to Kate, “Buddy system. Come
on.”

They ran outside and the gypsy grabbed their
arms and held them tightly. She stared through Vivian and muttered,
almost trance-like, “Your friend is in grave danger. Find the
mirrors. Find them.”

“We found the mirrors when we found Harry at
Harrah’s, and then we found them again at the cemetery,” Vivian
told her. “That’s where we found the dead girl.”

The gypsy shook her head. “You are incorrect.
You must find the soaring predator surrounding the ship before
she’s gone.” And with that she took off, running down
Iberville.

Vivian took a few steps after her. “Wait,
what predator? We don’t understand!”

Kate stared after her, flabbergasted.

Lucy rapped on the window and gave them a
“what’s up?” shrug. Vivian and Kate went back inside.

“What’d she say?” Wendy asked.

Vivian sat down. “It was weird, a bunch of
mumbo jumbo. She said something about a soaring predator.”