Big Easy Escapade

by Joan Rylen

  “Did y’all see into the room when Vikki came out?” Wendy asked.

  “Not really, too far away,” Vivian answered. “Just the TV flickering in the background and a guy, I think Clint, standing beside it.”

  “We couldn’t see from where we were sitting, but we heard two guys and a girl.”

  “Who was the other guy?”

  “I think it might have been one of her brothers. She called him Kevin, then mumbled something about them being related,” Kate said. “More importantly, Clint said they had a mess to clean up.”

  “What kind of mess?” Lucy asked. “Think it was something to do with Daisy?”

  The door to the motel room opened and a big guy in a T-shirt and athletic shorts stumbled out.

  Vivian said, “He’s big like one of the guys who took Daisy. Do y’all think she’s in there?”

  “I think you should text Adrienne and let her know what we heard,” Kate said.

  Vivian typed out a quick message, and they watched Kevin slowly work his way toward Bourbon.

  A minute later Vivian’s phone vibrated.

  Antonio said they’re on it and that y’all need to LEAVE. NOW.

  Vivian looked around. “The cops are watching us watching Clint and Vikki. Adrienne says we need to leave.”

  Kate hitched elbows with Lucy. “Well, if they don’t want us here, let’s follow the other guy.”

  They set off after Vikki’s brother. The streets were empty, and following him onto Bourbon wasn’t a problem. He stopped at a pizza-by-the-slice place.

  “Oh my gosh, that sounds good,” Lucy said, walking faster. “I’m so in.”

  Kevin sat at a small table in the window, working quickly through three slices. Lucy drug Kate into the line while Wendy and Vivian grabbed a table.

  Kate ordered a slice of cheese, but Lucy ordered a slice of Italian sausage from a muscular, baby-faced slice of Italian sausage behind the counter.

  Lucy was in love. She couldn’t get enough of her Italian stallion, Jonathon. She flirted with him at the counter while Kate picked up the pizza and took it to the table. The sausage slice slid off the paper plate and onto the floor.

  Kate looked at the slice on the floor, then up at Vivian and Wendy. “Whoopsie.”

  Wendy hopped up. “It’s okay, five-second rule.” She grabbed the plate from Kate and used it to scoop up the slice. It had fallen crust-side down.

  Vivian was horrified. “We can’t let her eat that.” No telling the last time the tile floors were cleaned. Bourbon Street black-traffic tracks made clear paths through the place. Tomato sauce and God only knows what else was stuck under their table.

  Wendy sat back down. “It’ll be fine. It’s nothing her immune system can’t handle.”

  Kate laughed and sat down with the pizza. “She’s too wrapped up in pizza boy to notice.”

  “I think he’s outside the decade rule,” Vivian said. “He is awfully cute, though, and I bet he’s spunky and energetic.”

  Kate took a bite of her cheese slice, then offered it to Wendy and Vivian. “This is pretty good.”

  Lucy walked over, Jonathon in tow. “Let me check out your handiwork.” And with that, she took a big bite of her Italian sausage. “Mmmm, fantastic.”

  Vivian tried not to cringe as Lucy playfully fed Jonathon a bite. She also tried not to laugh.

  Jonathon reached for a packet of red pepper. “I like to spice things up.”

  “Pour some pepper on me, baby,” Lucy said, then took another big, dramatic bite.

  Wendy got out her phone. “Lucy, you and lova boy skooch over to the left a little so I can get your picture.”

  Jonathon picked up the piece of crust and fed it to Lucy. “Open wide.”

  Wendy angled the camera just right and snapped a couple of shots. “Got it.”

  “Let me see,” Lucy asked and reached for the phone. “You chopped off Jonathon!”

  Kevin got up, leaving his trash on the table, and walked onto the side street. Vivian followed him out. He hailed a cab and was gone a second later. She looked for another cab, but none was around. She went back inside and sat down. “Dammit, that’s the end of that.”

  Wendy held up her phone. “I got a picture of him, though.”

  Kate finished her slice. “What we need is his address.”

  “I’ll call Adrienne in the morning,” Vivian said, then looked at her watch. It was 4 a.m. “Or maybe right about noon.”

  Wendy yawned and stretched. “I think it’s time to call it a night. I’m done.”

  Lucy ran a hand down Jonathon’s arm. “We have to go.”

  “I’ll walk ya back,” he said and stood.

  Jonathon didn’t bother to let his boss know he was leaving; he just walked out with the girls and escorted them to their hotel. By the time they were in the lobby, he’d gotten a text. He glanced at it and said, “I’m fired. But it was worth it,” then he bent down and gave Lucy a kiss.

  The other girls woo-hoo’ed and Lucy blushed. She and Jonathon exchanged numbers, and the girls went up to their room.

  Lucy flopped onto the bed, not bothering to get ready for bed. “He’s awesome. I bet he’s good in the sack. I could feel what he’s got goin’ on in the package department, and it’s definitely something I want to unwrap.”

  Vivian grabbed her jammies out of the drawer. “Lucy, he’s at least a dozen years younger than you.”

  She started laughing. “He doesn’t think so! I told him I was 25.” She almost rolled off the bed cracking up. “He’s nineteen!”

  Chapter 24

  Day 4

  Daisy slept poorly, her dreams filled with people chasing her, of trying to break out of rooms and of searching for a key, seeing one appear, then fade. She awoke and felt worse than when she had drifted off. She couldn’t live with the smell of herself much longer, so she brushed her teeth using a plastic wrapped toothbrush and a sealed tube of Colgate and showered, but she put her clothes back on. She searched for her other shoe but couldn’t find it, so she went barefoot. She wanted to be ready to run.

  I’m not wearing those fucking dresses.

  She sat in the blue-and-tan-striped chair and watched the local morning news. It had an update but not much, basically saying there had been no new developments.

  How can three of us disappear in a month and the police don’t have anything to go on? Maybe they’re not telling the media everything?

  The man who had given her the drink in her dressing room pushed a cart with covered dishes into the room. She smelled eggs and her stomach growled. Sonu walked in just in time to hear it.

  He looked her up and down. “I see you showered but still have not dressed in appropriate clothing.” He walked over to the window, then stopped in front of her. “You must learn to do what I ask. I will not tolerate insubordination.”

  “You can’t keep me prisoner. This is wrong.”

  “I can do what I please. You do not know the power I have. No authorities will touch me.”

  “You’re crazy if you think you’re getting away with this.”

  He started walking toward the door. “Enjoy your breakfast. You will not eat again until tonight.”

  Daisy followed after him, trying to get a look at the rest of the hotel suite. “How long are you going to keep me here?”

  “Until my plans come together.” He closed and locked the door.

  ***

  The curtains never block all the light, Vivian thought as soon as her eyes opened. So annoying. She lay there for a minute going over the last three days. Good food, good music, good times. Daisy! She sat up with a start, head pounding and a little dizzy. “Ouch.” She sank back into the pillows.

  Wendy, wrapped in a towel with wet hair, brought over a cup of water and three ibuprofen. “Life-savers.”

  “I need more than this one cup of coffee.” Kate sat on her bed, cup in hand. “Like caffeine from 20 cups of coffee. The late night and lots of walking yesterday got me.”

 
“Sure it wasn’t the peach daiquiri or all the beer?” Wendy asked and held out the ibuprofen bottle to her.

  Lucy rolled out of bed and shuffled to the bathroom. “I need a 5-Hour Energy, some Spark and a Monster. All at the same time.”

  The girls laughed, and Vivian said, “Sure you don’t just need your 19-year-old?”

  Lucy paused in the doorway and smiled. “Was he for real? I kind of thought that was a dream.”

  Wendy showed her their picture. “He was real, all right.”

  “Mmmm, mmmm.”

  Wendy pulled a shirt and capris out of her drawer. “What we need to do is call Adrienne and figure out our game plan for today.”

  Vivian sat up, slowly this time, and reached for her phone. “True. And we would have heard by now if Clint and Vikki had Daisy, so I guess that wasn’t the case.”

  “Ask her for Kevin’s address or last name,” Kate said.

  “Hey, Adrienne,” Vivian said when she picked up. “What happened last night at Clint and Vikki’s motel? Anything?”

  Adrienne laughed. “Sounded like you girls were a hot mess, but other than that, the police were able to determine they weren’t holding Daisy there.”

  “How’d they do that?”

  “One of the undercover guys pretended to be drunk and tried to open their door. When Vikki cracked it, he stumbled inside. He was able to look around enough before Clint threw him out.”

  “Which one?” Vivian asked. “Because we’ve seen one guy a couple times.”

  “I don’t know,” Adrienne said. “What’s he look like?”

  Vivian described the blond guy they had seen at the Roosevelt and The Dungeon.

  “He sounds cute. I’ll see what I can find out.”

  “Any other updates? They find Harry or figure out what he did with the $20,000?”

  “I’m meeting Antonio for brunch at The Camellia Grill on Chartres in an hour. Why don’t y’all meet us there? We can quiz him.”

  “Sounds great, thanks!”

  Vivian relayed the info to the girls, and they got ready quickly, as they had the bathroom sharing routine down. They decided that it was definitely a sundress kind of a place. Vivian, despite Lucy’s warning about her well-endowed chest falling out, wore a strapless floral print knee-length number, while Kate, Wendy and Lucy went with more modest sleeveless, not strapless, versions.

  “At least put some sunscreen on your shoulders,” Wendy said and handed Vivian some SPF 15.

  Vivian loved a good tan, but didn’t want to fry, so she slathered up, being careful not to get it on her cute dress.

  They walked up Chartres, past the courthouse a block to Camellia’s. Adrienne and Antonio sat at the end of one of two long countertops. She read the local paper, the Times-Picayune, and he typed on his phone. The girls hopped onto the stools on either side of them, Vivian beside Antonio.

  He brushed her hand with his and smiled. His touch was warm and he smelled like he’d just stepped out of the shower. His freshly shaved face was irresistibly kissable, but Vivian didn’t want to explain anything to Adrienne, so she held off.

  Damn, he’s hot. I wouldn’t mind waking up to that in the morning!

  The six made chit-chat while they ordered breakfast. The waiter had everything for their drinks right behind the counter and served them quickly. Kate looked happy about the coffee.

  Adrienne got right to it, tucking the paper into her purse. “So, Tone, catch us up. Any news on Harry and his 20k?”

  He gave her a disapproving look.

  She waved him off. “They know everything. They’re trying to help.”

  Antonio shook his head and looked at the four girls. “What were y’all doing following Clint and Vikki last night? I don’t want y’all getting into something you can’t get out of.”

  “We had to see if they had Daisy,” Vivian said. “We had to follow them around, see where they were staying or who they talked to.”

  “You knew we were on it, and we’re following up on every possible scenario. We are aware of the bad blood between the dancers.”

  “Seemed like more than just bad blood to me,” Kate said. “Vikki hated her.”

  Antonio dismissed that. “That was friendly compared to Laura’s hatred of her.”

  Everyone was quiet for a moment, shocked.

  “Who the hell is Laura?” Vivian asked.

  “The other dancer. I think she danced with lollipops?”

  “Ohhhh, Lala Lollipop,” Lucy said.

  “We didn’t know she hated Daisy,” Wendy said.

  “We interviewed all the dancers and employees. Other than the bar fight, which was quickly broken up, nobody noticed anything out of the ordinary. But by far the one who disliked Daisy the most was Laura.”

  Vivian raised her eyebrows and looked around him at the other girls.

  Antonio put his hand on her arm. “That doesn’t mean she kidnapped her. Don’t go off chasing after another stripper and getting into trouble.”

  Vivian changed the subject. “So what did Harry spend that money on?”

  “We’re still looking into it, and again, you stay out of it.”

  Wendy put down her coffee cup. “Something was going on in that room last night. What’s the deal with Vikki and her brother, Kevin?”

  “Daisy was not in that room.”

  “Could they have her somewhere else?” Kate asked.

  “Kevin’s a drunk and a few notes short of a song.”

  Vivian set down her chocolate milk. “Did y’all follow him last night to the pizza place?”

  Antonio smirked but didn’t respond.

  The waiter refilled drinks and then delivered their food, which had been prepared just beyond the counter, in the open kitchen. Antonio’s breakfast of eggs, bacon, sausage, pancakes, grits and hash browns took three plates. Vivian’s ham and cheese omelet only required one plate and was delicious.

  Kate used her whole-wheat toast to sop her eggs over easy and asked Antonio, “What is Kevin’s last name?”

  “Smith.”

  “Really?”

  “No.”

  “I guess that means you won’t tell us where he lives?”

  “Correct.”

  Adrienne popped a piece of cantaloupe into her mouth. “What about Vikki’s financials, and her brothers?”

  Antonio stacked his pancake plate on top of an empty one. “We got the warrant, but this stuff takes time.” He liberally poured on the syrup.

  “But it’s past the first 48,” Lucy said, then took a sip of orange juice. “I watch that show, and they say if you don’t find them within the first two days, chances are you won’t.”

  “Chances do diminish, but this city has a lot of eyes and ears. Someone knows something, and we’ll find that person. Then we’ll find her.”

  Vivian found Antonio’s confidence comforting, but she still wasn’t dissuaded from trying to help. Kate had a dream, after all.

  “Did y’all find the two younger guys who tried to break in?” Kate asked.

  “Not yet, still working on it.”

  Adrienne pulled the newspaper out of her purse. “There’s a mention of the abduction, but I’m a little surprised at the lack of detail. Why didn’t they put the guys’ pictures in here?”

  He pushed the paper away. “I’m not in the PR department, A.”

  “Are y’all going to show the video on the news?” Vivian asked. “That’d probably help. There’s hardly anything in the news about the other abductions. Three girls in less than a month.”

  Antonio threw his fork down, clanging loudly. He wiped his mouth, pulled out his wallet and put some money on the table. “We don’t have anything conclusive that proves they’re all linked.” He turned to Adrienne. “I’ve gotta go. See you later.”

  He turned, but Adrienne grabbed his arm. “What the hell? You can’t be pissed about that.”

  He threw his head back, angry. “Some of the fucking evidence has disappeared. Something’s not right.”


  “Before you go, who is the blond undercover guy that was at the Roosevelt Hotel and at The Dungeon yesterday?” Adrienne asked.

  “I don’t know, some guy I’ve never worked with. He asked to be on the task force. I’m done answering questions. Next time you ask me to breakfast don’t have an agenda.”

  The girls sat stunned for a minute as he walked to the door. He shoved it open, then turned around and pointed at the girls accusingly. “I can’t believe y’all let her eat that pizza last night.” He nodded to Lucy.

  Lucy gasped. “What was wrong with my pizza?”

  Chapter 25

  The shit hit the fan after Lucy learned her pizza hit the floor.

  “It had some extra Bourbon Street flavoring,” Adrienne said. “There’re worse things. Remind me to tell you about the time I went to Detroit when I was a Luvabull for the Chicago Bulls. Now that was a nasty experience.”

  It took some time, a paper sack and a trip to the bathroom to rinse out her mouth, but Lucy calmed down. Finally able to concentrate, the girls worked out a strategy for helping Daisy, even though they weren’t supposed to be helping.

  Adrienne gave the girls the newspaper. “I’m going to sic Al on this lack of press bullshit. I’ve seen it before in New Orleans, the media ignoring crimes involving strippers. I’m not going to let them ignore this.”

  “It’s a shame they’ve not done more,” Vivian said. “Maybe Gino would have had more security on staff if he’d known this was going on.”

  “Perhaps. And one other thing, before y’all got here, Antonio said he and Eddie’s team have gone over video from the club and eliminated a bunch of people who don’t match the description. They’re still looking at videos from the surrounding businesses, trying to find the car she was loaded up in.” Adrienne grabbed her purse. “You girls keep at it and we’ll work on this media thing. See ya later.”

  Adrienne walked out the door, and Vivian decided they needed to call Jason.

  He answered on the second ring. “Hey Jason, just calling to check on you. How you hanging in there?”