One minute later, things went wrong.
A loud knock came at the door. "Police! Open up, Mr. Drake!"
CHAPTER TWENTY
He pushed the barrier of furniture away from the door and opened it. Two officers walked in.
“Landry Drake, you’re under arrest for assault,” one said, reading him his rights and ordering him to get dressed. He emerged from the bedroom a few minutes later, gave Cate the lawyer’s number, and asked her to make the call.
With hands cuffed behind his back, they led him down two flights of stairs and put him in a cruiser. This was I — on the night Tiffany was hurt a week ago they’d stuffed him into a cop car the same way.
Surprised that Tiffany slept through the ruckus, Cate called Pamela Sacriste. The attorney said she was on top of it and promised Landry would be home by afternoon. A few minutes later Tiffany emerged from the bedroom in Cate’s robe. She seemed bright and perky after being so confused and uncommunicative yesterday. She asked if there was coffee and maybe something to eat. It appeared now that she was back in New Orleans, whatever force controlled her psyche had been temporarily mollified.
“Is Landry still asleep?” she asked, and Cate advised what had happened.
“He didn’t hurt me. They can’t do this! I’ll tell them I’m not pressing charges or something.”
“It’s not that easy. Since you were unconscious, you can’t say who attacked you. As the only other person there, they arrested him. I must tell you I’m worried. His career and his freedom are on the line. He must find the answers.” With tears brimming in her eyes, she turned away and fixed Tiffany’s breakfast.
The police car was on Rampart Street, heading for the justice center on Loyola, when the driver’s phone rang. He listened for a minute and replied in a voice too low for Landry to hear. Then he put on his turn signal, lit up his light bar and took a left.
“Where are we going?” his partner asked, but the driver shook his head and pointed to the back seat. Landry noticed they were on Toulouse heading back into the Quarter, and he wondered what happened.
He saw flashing lights a few blocks ahead. At Royal, a police car blocked the intersection, and news trucks from WCCY and another station were setting up a satellite feed. The cop directing traffic at the corner stepped aside so their car could proceed, and Landry saw more cops in what had become a familiar location.
As they stopped, Detective Young stepped to the car, helped Landry out of the back seat, and removed his cuffs. He said, “You’re not free, but I brought you here to see something.”
They walked through the gate and down the corridor to the busy courtyard. A body covered with a sheet lay on the paving stones by the fountain, and a teenaged boy sat on the ground while talking to a plainclothes detective.
“Two nineteen-year-olds – the deceased and his friend over there – entered the building around five a.m. According to the friend, they knew rumors about the haunted building, but the gate was unlocked and they had to pee. Once inside, they made a bet who’d chicken out first. Looks like this guy on the ground won the bet. He died here.”
“What was the cause of death?”
“Blunt force trauma. He has several broken bones and contusions.”
“Do you think the other kid attacked him?” Landry didn’t, but he wanted to know the angle the police were taking.
Young said, “I don’t think so. I listened to his story and told the guys to bring you here right away. The friend says he was urinating in a corner of the courtyard. He heard a noise, looked up and saw the other guy standing up there on a balcony.” Young pointed to the tall windows on the second floor, where no balcony existed.
“He claims something dark and frightening appeared in the window behind his friend, and the next thing he knew, the guy fell over the railing to his death. I’m sure he’s still intoxicated, but he hasn’t changed his story since he called 911 at fourteen minutes past five.”
“That’s because there is no other story.”
“I thought you might say that, but there’s also no balcony and no railing. If he fell to his death, enlighten me on how that happened.”
Landry told him the history of the building and the LaPiere family. He explained about the stairway and balcony that once existed, and he talked about Tiffany’s and Jack’s dreams.
“According to legend, a lot of inhumane things happened inside these walls. Tiffany and Jack talk about how the building calls out to them and tries to lure them in. I haven’t figured out the connection, but I’m convinced something paranormal is happening here.”
Young asked if Landry knew where Tiffany Bertrand was, and the answer surprised him.
“When the cops took me away this morning, she was asleep in my guest bedroom. This is the second time in two weeks she’s awakened en route back to New Orleans. We can’t leave her by herself; I barricaded my front door last night in case she tried to leave.”
“Where’s she trying to get to?”
“Right here, Detective. She’s coming to this building. This courtyard. As you know, I found her unconscious on the pavement here last Monday. She went to the hospital and then flew home. The next thing she knew, she was on a plane back, with no recollection of boarding it. She returned to LA a second time, and yesterday she called from a diner in Blythe, California. She has a
