perfect place for him to start.
Millard tossed back the rest of his drink and set the empty glass on the desk with a thump. 'I'm going down in the Delta tomorrow,' he said. 'I want you to come with me, Parker. I'll show you the ropes, and it won't take long for you to catch on to the way we do things down here.'
Longarm finished his cognac. 'I'll be looking forward to it,' he said honestly. 'You expecting any more trouble from Royale?'
Millard grinned coldly across the desk at him. 'I don't know. But if we run into any, you'll be there to handle it, won't you?'
Most of the damage in the main room of the gambling club had been put right with surprising speed. The broken tables had been propped up, a cloth had been spread over the poker table with the slashed top, and the games were under way again when Longarm and Millard left the office a few minutes later.
Paul Clement had left the roulette wheel for the blackjack table. Annie was still at his side, one of her hands held firmly in both of his except when he had to let go to push chips up to the betting line. Unobtrusively, Longarm watched him play several hands. Clement was a plunger, Longarm decided, unable to stay even when the odds were on his side. On nearly every hand, he leaned forward and said in a breathless voice, 'Hit me,' succumbing to the siren call of the next card, whatever it might be. Not surprisingly, he lost more than he won, though he hit blackjack a couple of times and exclaimed happily.
Annie glanced over her shoulder and saw Longarm watching them. She slipped her hand out of her brother's grip, and Clement looked over at her sharply, almost angrily. Longarm saw her say something in his ear, and after a second, he nodded grudgingly. Annie walked toward Longarm with a smile.
'I told Paul that all the excitement earlier has given me a headache,' she said as she came up to him. 'I thought perhaps you would accompany me back to our mansion.'
'I'd be happy to,' Longarm told her, 'but isn't that something your brother really ought to do?'
Annie made a face. 'Paul would never forgive me if I dragged him away from his games of chance so early in the evening. He probably won't stop playing until the sun comes up. You can take me home, then return here or go back to the St. Charles, whatever you wish. The driver will come back here to get Paul later.'
Longarm nodded. 'All right. Let's go.'
Annie stopped long enough to get her lacy shawl from the cloak room. She wrapped it around her shoulders as they stepped outside. The evening's festivities on Gallatin Street were still in full swing. The warm night air was full of tinny music and shrill laughter.
The black carriage was waiting nearby at the curb. Longarm helped Annie in, then said to the wizened driver, 'The lady wants to go home. I'll be going with her, then back to the St. Charles.' He swung up into the carriage, and was about to sit on the front seat when Annie said, 'Sit beside me, Custis.'
'Always glad to oblige a lady,' he said with a grin as he settled down on the rear seat next to her.
'I'm very glad to hear that.' Her voice had an undertone that was almost a purr.
Almost instantly, Longarm felt himself growing aroused. Annie was sitting close enough to him that he could feel the warmth of her body, and her perfume, subtle yet insistent, filled his senses. She reached over and caught hold of his hand, twining her fingers with his.
'I am so glad I met you today, Custis, and that you were with us tonight at the club. When those horrible men came bursting in, I was frightened, and yet... I knew I would be all right. I knew you wouldn't allow any harm to come to me.'
She was giving him more credit than he was due. In the confusion of the raid, with all those bullets flying around, almost anything could have happened to her, and likely there wouldn't have been a damned thing he could have done to stop it.
But she had come through the violence all right, and if she wanted to think that he was partially responsible for that, he supposed it wouldn't hurt anything. 'I'm glad I was there too,' he told her. 'It means a lot to me, the way you and your brother have sort of taken me under your wing.'
She laughed, but didn't sound particularly amused. 'You won't need our help anymore, now that you're working for Jasper Millard. He's one of the most powerful men in New Orleans.'
'Him and that fella Royale, huh?'
A tiny shudder ran through Annie's body. 'Don't even talk about Royale. He... he frightens me.'
'But you don't have any real connection with Millard except patronizing his club, do you?' asked Longarm.
'No, of course not, but you saw what happened tonight. As long as Jasper and Royale are at each other's throat, no one in New Orleans is really safe.'
She had a point, thought Longarm. He had seen other towns where two or more factions of owlhoots had been feuding, and what usually happened was that more innocent folks were killed in the fighting than members of the opposing outlaw gangs. It was the same here in New Orleans. Everyone was at risk while the war between Millard and Royale continued.
He would just have to see what he could do about that, Longarm decided. Though his real job was to find out who killed Douglas Ramsey, maybe at the same time he could bust up the smuggling rings and put an end to the rivalry between Millard and Royale. Of course, somebody else would probably just come along and take their places later, but that was out of Longarm's hands. He couldn't be responsible for ridding the world of all its crooks and killers.
After a few minutes, the carriage reached Chartres Street and rolled through an open gate of black wrought iron onto a circular drive paved with flagstones. It led up to the entrance of a large, three-story brick house. Wooden pillars bordered a veranda that ran the length of the house. The pillars supported a balcony with moss dripping from its railing. The mansion was old but well kept, Longarm saw with a glance as the carriage came to a stop.
He opened the door and stepped down, then turned back to assist Annie. As she took his hand, she whispered, 'Come in with me.'
Longarm wasn't particularly surprised. All during the carriage ride, if not before that, he had been able to tell
