“Sure. I’ll be ready when you are. Well, guess I’m off to be Old Hickory for a while.”
They all called out a thank-you to him for the beignets, and Benny headed to the corner and the little stump he used for his podium.
Katie finished off a beignet and sipped the café au lait, then handed the cup to him.
“Thanks. You don’t mind?”
She shook her head. He sipped. He tried to tell himself there was nothing all that intimate about sharing a café au lait.
A large group of tourists was headed their way. One woman stepped toward them and said they were part of a convention and obviously they wouldn’t fit in one carriage.
Katie and Lorna assured her they could divide up however they chose, and the carriages would follow one another.
She also wondered if they would be so kind as to leave them—for an extra fee, of course—at the World War II Museum.
Katie looked at Lorna, and Lorna grinned. They’d be following one another. It wasn’t far out of the French Quarter.
They assured the group they could do as they chose.
Dan sat back, listening to Katie as they drove. She knew her history; she loved the city. She talked about all aspects with ease. The tour group was good: people asked the right questions. None seemed to be into sensationalism, blood, guts, ghosts or the current murders.
While the carriage was moving down Bourbon Street again, almost at Lafitte’s, he looked out around casually—and saw her.
At first, he just noted the woman. And then he noted her swinging haircut and her clothing and the way she moved...
Pausing with a sigh of disgust as a staggering man ran through her rather than around her.
“Katie, I’ve got to hop out!” Dan said.
She wasn’t moving fast; it was easy for him just to balance on the carriage and hop off. He caught her eyes and promised, “I’ll meet you back at Jackson Square.”
He hurried across the street in pursuit, hoping his ghost would have something that just might help in some way.
CHAPTER NINE
At least he had left her with what remained of the café au lait.
Katie watched Dan leap down with an easy agility. He looked back at her, and she knew he had seen someone on the streets who had drawn his attention.
Living or dead?
She didn’t know, but she decided she was going to have to find one of her friends in the city who had also departed the physical plane long ago. She glanced out the way he had gone, but the only people she saw on the streets were those hurrying about on regular, living-person errands. “Is everything all right?” one of the women asked her.
“Oh, yes. The Great New Orleans Fire of 1788 destroyed eight hundred and fifty-six of eleven hundred buildings, and another fire, in 1794, destroyed another two hundred and twelve. Because it was a religious holiday, Good Friday, in 1788 priests felt they couldn’t ring the bells in warning. But as you see, the city rebuilt. And a lot of the rebuilding was done while the Spanish flag waved over the city.”
She went on; she answered questions.
Ahead of her, Lorna was moving her carriage around; they were ready to cross Canal Street and drop their convention guests off at the National World War II Museum.
When they reached the museum, Lorna hopped out of her carriage and hurried over to Katie.
“Where did Dan go?”
“I’m not sure, Lorna. I think he saw a friend when we were on Bourbon Street in front of Lafitte’s. But he’ll meet us at Jackson Square.”
“Good, good,” Lorna said. “Katie, I don’t like this. The more I think about it... Maybe we should head to Las Vegas for a girls’ weekend or something. Aren’t you scared? Terrified? Shouldn’t you be the hell out of your house?”
“I’m going to be okay.”
“He was there. At your house. A killer. And after what you went through as a kid... Oh, my God, Katie! Could it be the same guy? Could it be that he thinks you might know who he is or that he needs to finish what he started and... Oh, my God.”
“Let’s get back, Lorna, okay? Of course I’m scared. Everyone here is scared. But we need to behave in a sensible manner. And the cops or the FBI are going to rig my place with cameras. They’ll have people around it all the time.” She hesitated, not wanting to tell her Dan Oliver was staying with her, but then he had been at her house at the crack of dawn, so...
“Dan is staying over?” Lorna asked.
Katie nodded.
Lorna smiled. “Just don’t get so carried away that you’re not listening for danger.”
“Lorna, it’s nothing like that—”
“Sure, it is. Look at the two of you.”
“Lorna, it’s an arrangement.”
Lorna laughed at that. “Arrangement. I like that.”
“He’s working for me.”
“He works for me, too.”
“Lorna!”
“Okay, whatever you say.” Lorna gave her a look that said she absolutely did not believe Katie. “Listen, when you two go in for the night, Benny and I will come, too. All right? Do you mind?”
“Not at all.”
“I still think a Vegas vacation would be a good idea. With me...or Dan.”
“Lorna!”
“Okay!”
With a grin, Lorna returned to her rig, and they headed back to Jackson Square.
Dan hadn’t yet returned. But seeing her, Benny came over to the rig as Katie jumped down.
“The fortune-teller was out again,” he told her. “She told me the number six was coming around again. And you know what else she told me?” he asked.
Lorna had joined Katie on the sidewalk then. “What?” she asked anxiously.
“She said it was coming again. It... Something supernatural, a demon, a spirit. And it liked jazz. So tomorrow, I should dress up as a famous jazz musician from New Orleans.”
“Satchmo. Louis Armstrong,” Katie said.
“Yes!” Lorna agreed. Satchmo, Louis Armstrong, born in New Orleans on August 4, 1901, and probably one of the greatest jazz
