“What happened next?”
She gave it some thought. “Nothing. I woke up here in the hospital, my head and my arm hurt like hell, and they said you found me in the courtyard. Why don’t you tell me what happened next?”
Landry said, “I will, but let me keep going for a second. You got your glass of wine at the bar inside security at the airport and recall nothing after that?”
“Right.” She raised her eyebrows. “What if somebody drugged me?”
“Who was next to you?”
“No one, but the bartender could have slipped me something.”
Landry saw no motive for someone to drug her. Tiffany arrived in New Orleans without knowing how she got here, and her loss of memory at the airport was more likely another episode just like the first. He told her how he’d found her in the unlocked building and how the cops questioned his involvement.
She laughed. “You could have been involved, for all I know.”
“And they may still believe I am, for all I know,” he countered.
This was a delicate situation. Just like Jack, something in Tiffany’s mind drew her back to the building. She suffered two periods of amnesia, returned to the French Quarter, and this time she was injured. For both their sakes, he had to figure out what was going on.
“Has the doctor said how much longer you’ll be in the hospital?”
“I may get out tomorrow. He says I’ll heal just fine. They had a shrink come in and talk to me, but I don’t remember much so she won’t be of any help.”
Landry said he and Jack were already seeking answers, and he’d be back to see her in a few hours. She had her cell phone — it had been in her pocket all along — and they promised to keep in touch if things changed. Just before they left, Jack asked to take her picture. That surprised Landry and Tiffany, but he gave a smart explanation. When interviewing people to reconstruct her movements, a photo might help people recall her face.
“Impressive,” Landry said as they walked to the car. “I also saw you taking notes while she talked. Okay, investigative assistant, what’s our first move?”
Pleased at the compliment, Jack looked at his notes. “To the airport, driver. We have people to see.”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
They began at the American Airlines ticket counter. The picture came in handy; they found an agent who recalled a frazzled woman with no baggage and a one-way ticket to Los Angeles. Those red flags caused her to remember one passenger among thousands. She'd sent an electronic warning to TSA, but Tiffany had passed the screening process with no problem.
That was all the agent recalled, so Landry took a chance and asked for an airline gate pass, explaining that he needed to interview the bartender at a drinking establishment near the gates.
"I’d give you one if you were an officer, but you're not, Mr. Drake. I recognized you when you walked up. The only other way is if you're meeting an elderly parent or an unaccompanied minor. Got any kids you’re keeping a secret?"
He laughed. "No, but my mother's elderly. Well, not really elderly. She'd kill me for saying that. It's important that we help this lady, and I'm already here. Can you do this for me?"
The line of passengers behind him was growing, and to move things along she issued one pass. Jack would have to wait outside security, but Landry could go through.
He found the busy Sazerac Bar in Concourse B. After a moment he caught the harried bartender's eye. When she advised she’d worked Sunday, he showed her Tiffany's picture.
"Did you wait on this woman?"
"You a cop?" she asked.
“I’m an investigator.” Technically it was the truth, or close enough, because it worked.
"I remember her," the woman said. "She seemed exhausted. She sat there at the bar and ordered a wine and a sandwich. Thank God I got her credit card up front, because she walked the tab before her meal came out. I delivered her wine, and the next time I looked she had disappeared. Hold on a minute." She walked to the cash register and returned with Tiffany's Visa card, which she handed over.
"Is she in some kind of trouble?"
"Not at all. She's had memory issues, but she's okay."
Landry exited security and found Jack waiting on the far side of the terminal. "I have news," he said. "She never boarded the plane. After calling her name twice, they gave her seat to a standby passenger."
"Great investigating!" Landry said, impressed. "How did you learn that?"
"By chatting up an agent at the ticket counter. And..." He paused, beaming from ear to ear. "And I got her phone number. I haven't had a date in three years. Never dreamed it would happen again. I can't stop thinking about her." He babbled on and on until Landry held up a hand.
"Don't take this the wrong way, Jack. Be proud of yourself for taking a risk but it’s still early. Three days ago, you were sleeping in a doorway. Don’t take anything for granted yet. Alcoholism isn't something you can beat in a day."
Jack snapped, "You think I don’t know that? Is it unrealistic to dream of a life again? How long will it take to convince you I can stay sober, so you'll allow me to have a life?"
Surprised at Jack's sudden burst of anger, Landry said, "Hey, ease up. You're like a man who just got out of prison. You're free for the first time
