by Blake Banner
“Yes, but unfortunately for you, Carmichael, and Jackson and Ivory, I happened to be on my way to New Orleans, and I happened to pick up a copy of The Advocate.”
“And am I glad you did, sir!”
Simone was still staring at the storm outside. “So where does all this leave me?”
I shrugged. “For my part, I think you have paid a very high price for your stupidity. Your behavior was reprehensible and adolescent, but love doth make fools of us all. I just hope you learned your lesson.” I turned to Hirschfield. “I am pretty sure that the DA will be grateful for a swift, uncomplicated prosecution of this case. What do you think?”
“That’s very likely. He has two officers murdered by a Burgundy PD Detective. It’s an ugly mess and the brooms will be out.” He glanced at Simone’s back. “If you are prepared to act as a witness for the prosecution, there’s a good chance they won’t press charges against you.”
She nodded.
Carmichael made a noise of disgust. “How cozy, how convenient.”
I studied his face a moment. “A lot of people are dead because of your greed, your avarice, and your vanity, Carmichael. Frankly, you’re lucky to be alive. I suggest you just exercise your right to silence, while Hirschfield calls the sheriff.”
He glowered at me sullenly, but said no more after that.
Epilogue
Over the next forty-eight hours, Hurricane Sarah, the biggest and most violent in recorded history, steadily blew herself out. The flooding was unprecedented and the cost of the destruction was off the chart. As Bat and I watched the last blustery gusts drag the debris of planks and slates and refuse containers across the old, cobbled streets of Burgundy, and as the last shreds of tattered cloud drifted across a sky that was slowly turning to blue again, I wondered what Ben and the elite of Omega had made of it all back in Washington.
I was pretty sure that to them it was a series of statistics, of notable facts, a marker on their road toward their clinical, mindless utopia. What it was not, was a good woman murdered because a damaged, twisted man could not bear to lose her, or her property. It was not about a broken heart, a lonely woman aching for a lover she could never have, it was not about a solitary soldier of fortune who had glimpsed for a moment a fleeting vision, a dream of love and home. For them, it was not about three human beings, imprisoned by their dreams and their needs, trying to hold on to the things they loved, or break free from the things they had grown to hate.
For Omega, Hurricane Sarah was the first loud alarm announcing that the old order was dying, and the new order, their new age of power, was coming.
But their new order was not here yet.
Fortunately, my car, the deadly and silent Zombie, was not dragged into the bayou. I was able to recover it, and once it had dried out, the damage proved to be superficial, and, a week after the storm had finally subsided, Bat and I shook hands outside the Soniat, because British guys like Bat don’t embrace other guys, and said our farewells.
“You know my address now, you have my phone number, stay in touch. And if you ever get arrested again, don’t even dream about calling me, you son of a bitch!”
He laughed noisily. “Don’t worry. Once is enough for me. I’ll keep my nose clean.”
As I headed down Route 61, I slowed and almost stopped at Simone’s house. I’d heard from Hirschfield that the DA was not going to press charges against her. Carmichael had pleaded guilty to all charges, and had given up his challenge against the new will, so she had been granted probate. She was now a very rich woman.
I thought for a second or two that it would be good to see her, and say goodbye, but for some reason I kept going. Some things you can’t go back to. They have their moment, and it’s best simply to remember them as they were at that time, and not try to hold on. In the end, all you can do in life is keep going, keep moving forward, searching for something you may never find, and make the most of whatever comes you way, while it lasts.
I cruised down through the flooded wastelands that flanked Route 61, and then through Baton Rouge, like the Zombie knew where it wanted to go. I didn’t mind, I was happy to follow. As we crossed the Horace Wilkinson Bridge, I even began to smile. I poked a Camel in my mouth, flipped the Zippo, and lit up. Then, I switched on the radio. They were playing the Eagles, Desperado, a classic.
I had no idea where Marni was, or where my search for her would lead me, or even if she ever wanted to see me again. But right then, as I cruised along the I-10 toward Houston, Texas, listening to the Eagles, I didn’t mind letting her do the searching for a while, if she felt so inclined. Personally, I had a promise to keep with Dr. Katy Glendinning, regarding the next time I was in town. And it was a promise I was pretty keen to honor.
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ALSO BY BLAKE BANNER
Up to date books can be found on my website: www.blakebanner.com
DEAD COLD MYSTERY SERIES
An Ace and a Pair (Book 1)
Two Bare Arms (Book 2)
Garden of the Damned (Book 3)
Let Us Prey (Book 4)
The Sins of the Father (Book 5)
Strange and Sinister Path (Book 6)
THE OMEGA SERIES
Dawn of the Hunter (Book 1)
Double Edged Blade (Book 2)
The Storm (Book 3)
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[] See Double-Edged Blade
[] See Dawn of the Hunter and Double Edged Blade