Killer Assignment
Page 21
“I understand.” He pushed his plate away. “From everything I’ve seen and heard, he was a good man.”
“The best.” She blinked away her grief with a quick flutter of her lashes and a flash of regret in her expression. “Now, let’s move on, shall we? We have a lot to discuss. I’ll show you some of the other art pieces—some I own and others on loan for the reception we’ll hold here before the official show in the Quarter. As you know, I intend to be in New Orleans for at least three months. How long do you plan to...shadow me?”
He gave her a direct look. “I have the whole month.”
One month, weeks and weeks, with this nice-looking man. Lara had to wonder if they’d get along, or if they’d wind up getting on each other’s nerves.
“Don’t look so glum,” he said, as if reading her mind. “I don’t bite. I know my job and I know my place.”
She shook her head. “But I want you to feel comfortable. I want you to get the story right. You know, a lot of people think I’m just interfering, trying to get publicity or pity, anything you can think of. They can’t seem to grasp that I lived here for many years and I want to give back to the place I love.”
“I don’t care what other people think,” he replied. “I’m here to follow you and to capture that essence that makes the world so fascinated with you.”
“I’m not so sure I have an essence,” she retorted, embarrassed by the way he looked at her. “I do care or I wouldn’t be here.”
“I believe you.”
“Then let’s get started. I’ll have Deidre bring dessert and we’ll eat while we compare.”
For the next couple of hours they nibbled on their mini-fruit tarts and drank more coffee while they went over the details of the next week.
Finally, Lara glanced up and noticed the time. “It’s close to eleven. You must be exhausted.”
“No, I’m good.”
He gave her that look again, the one that made her blush. Was he one of those night owls who needed little sleep?
“But I imagine you’re tired.”
“I am rather fatigued,” she said, patting at her hair. She longed for a bubble bath and a good night’s sleep.
They both stood up and Lara was about to escort him to the door when Deidre walked in with a package. “Ma’am, I found this at the back door.”
“The back door? That’s odd. No one alerted us.” Lara took the square box and began to open it, thinking it might be the stationery she’d ordered from her favorite local paperie. “Do you mind if I check on this?” she asked Gabriel. “This might be the addressed invitations for the gala and silent auction we’re having at an old mansion in the Quarter. We had a typo in the first batch, so they were going to do a rush order to get them here in time.”
“Of course not.” He sat back and studied his notes.
Deidre watched as Lara tugged at the box. “I’ll put it away after you’re finished, ma’am.”
Lara pulled back the tissue paper and gasped, then backed against a chair, the box still in her hands.
Gabriel jumped up and grabbed the box. “That’s not invitations.”
Deidre peered over into the open package. “Oh, my. Oh, ma’am, I’m so sorry. I’ll take it away immediately.”
Lara nodded, put her hand to her throat. “Yes, please do.”
“No, don’t touch it.” Gabriel pushed Deidre away. “We need to alert security.”
“No. I don’t think—”
“Yes,” Gabriel said. “Just as a precaution.”
After Deidre turned away to pull out her phone, Lara regained some of her composure and stared up at Gabriel. “I think someone is trying to warn me away from New Orleans.”
He frowned, his gaze centered on her. “I think you might be right.”
She closed her eyes and thought about what she’d seen in that box. It was just superstition, nothing else. Or had the horror she’d feared started already? Had her tormentor already arrived in New Orleans?
Gabriel seemed to be as concerned as she was. He took her hand away, forcing her to open her eyes. “Who do you know that would send you a voodoo doll with a pin through the heart, Princess?”
ISBN: 9781460319086
KILLER ASSIGNMENT
Copyright © 2013 by Mags Storey
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