She smiled at the girls. “Don’t you worry. It’ll be business as usual.”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Annabel made the decisions for Vivien’s funeral, and Lucy paid the bill from the salon’s account. Vivien’s wishes were clear from a handwritten note Lucy had found in some personal items in a keepsake box under her bed. Cremation was Vivien’s choice, along with a simple procession by a few friends carrying her remains in a black box. Her ashes were to be spread around the garden area of the grave of Marie Laveau, the Queen of Voodoo buried in Saint Louis Cemetery.
The day of the funeral was perfect. Late evening, dark cloudy skies, rainy, just enough to break out umbrellas, and thunder rumbling a short distance away. Vivien’s dream was to have the day be as creepy as possible. Without a doubt, her wish had come true.
When a chilly gust of wind unexpectedly shook their umbrellas, Lucy glanced at Annabel. It might have been a coincidence, but Lucy took it as Vivien indicating her approval, and Lucy felt Vivien’s presence among them on the dirt road leading to the crypt.
It was a sad day. They all wished their friend off to what they hoped was a better place. More than once, Lucy was moved to tears. Vivien had been a true friend, and she’d given Lucy the knowledge and the means for a better life. Lucy had looked forward to a long partnership with Vivien, and Vivien hadn’t deserved to die a violent, horrible death.
If Lucy accomplished nothing else in her life, she’d see Felipe in prison for Vivien’s murder.
A few days turned into weeks, and Lucy still had not heard anything more from Zack and more importantly, she’d heard nothing from Picklehead or any of Felipe’s thugs. Mario started each morning off with a tap on the salon window before he took a seat at Café Beignet. Lucy often joined him for a cup of coffee, and they chatted. She appreciated that he made himself visible as a cop and her friend. In her mind, he was more like a bodyguard. People looked at her differently when she walked down the street, respectfully saying good morning, some of the men even tipping their hats when passing. Mario the cop brought respect to a woman who now operated a brothel.
Mario walked a beat encompassing a twelve-block square, and he knew all the business owners. On his breakfast, lunch, and restroom breaks, all the merchants welcomed him. Having a cop walk the area gave the owners a feeling of security, but that still didn’t stop Felipe’s protection scam. The merchants knew Mario couldn’t protect them twenty-four hours a day, so they paid up, and business went along without interruption.
The only person who wasn’t paying Felipe was Lucy.
The morning started off well when Ava Weber came in for her appointment. Overhearing another woman’s problem, she recommended the woman talk to Lucy. Ava was still riding a high from Lucy’s tarot card reading months earlier and had been having dinner every night with her husband since then. A credit she gave wholeheartedly to Lucy.
Of course, Ava didn’t know that Lucy had increased the night-caller hours, with Wednesday and Friday opening at three p.m. by appointment, with the gentlemen coming in through the alleyway door, one of them being Daniel Weber. But Ava could still thank Lucy for getting her husband home every night for dinner. It was Lucy who had recruited Ava’s cheating husband Daniel for a standing afternoon rendezvous with one of her best girls. He paid top dollar and tipped well, and Lucy made sure of two things. He was well taken care of, and he was home by six for dinner with his wife. She thought of herself as a marriage counselor of sorts; she took care of the husband and the wife.
But the day went south when a young woman came in with purplish blue hair. All but in tears, she told Lucy that to save money she’d dyed her own hair, and it had gone terribly wrong. Lucy assured her that Wanda, a hair color specialist, could make her hair beautiful again.
Lucy consoled her and off to the wash chair they went. Wetting her hair with some warm water, Lucy applied shampoo, and the color washed away.
Lucy laughed. “You’re in luck, honey. You bought a rinse, not a dye.”
The young woman got up, took a towel, and dried her hair. “Yes, I know, but I accomplished what I came in to do. I got you alone.”
Lucy was caught off guard. “What?”
“Your police friend can’t always protect you. Felipe can get to you anytime he wants.” She smiled, pointed her index finger like a gun at Lucy’s head. Above her thumb was a hummingbird tattoo.
Lucy’s eyes widened, not sure if the woman was a thug or more closely connected to Felipe. Maybe a girlfriend, like lovebirds.
“You’ll never see me coming,” the woman spat. Tossing the towel at Lucy, she walked out.
It wasn’t like Lucy to get stressed, but the woman had shaken her to the bone. She had more money than ever; it might be best for her and Wanda to run. Testifying was a bad idea. Even if she succeeded in putting Felipe behind bars, one day when she’d least expect it, someone would get to her with two bullets to the back of the head.
Not long afterward, Detective Nelson and his partner Johnny Guidry parked their cruiser at the curb. Before they walked in the door, Lucy saw the expressions on their faces. They weren’t bringing good news.
“Ms. Jones, can we talk in private?” Zack asked.
She took them to the kitchen. They sat around the table and helped themselves to the pot of coffee that Lucy placed at the center.
“As of an hour ago, the judge set a low bond for Felipe,” Zack said.
Lucy frowned. “So, he’s
