by Greg Herren
But I was beginning to doubt myself when I got this eerie feeling like we were being watched. I looked back to the gate, which was still open. A car drove past on Washington Street, creeping slowly in the rain but still splashing up a stream of water. I looked the other way, but couldn’t see anything through the sheets of rain and the gloom. Lightning forked through the sky nearby, so close the air smelled burnt. The deafening thunder followed almost immediately. I was soaked through to the skin, and shivering with the cold. But I couldn’t help but feel we weren’t alone in the cemetery.
“Frank,” I said, swiveling my head from side to side, “I’ve got a bad feeling—”
I felt the bullet whiz past my ear and embed itself into the stone behind me. A chip flew out and hit me in the back. Frank grabbed me and tossed me to the ground. A geyser of water splashed up as the impact knocked the breath out of me. The water was moving pretty fast and the dirty cold water filled my mouth and nose. I sputtered and gasped as Frank hit the ground next to me, throwing up yet another spray of water into my face.
“We’ve got to find cover,” he shouted over the rain.
Well, duh, I thought, the shock wearing off. I looked up and scanned the area. I hadn’t heard the shot, which meant whoever it was had a silencer. There was a splash next to me as another bullet missed. Damn it! In a split second I figured that the shooter was in front of us, most likely to our left and firing from above. “Come on!” I shouted at Frank and rolled through the water to the right and slightly backward. Just as I moved, another little geyser sprayed up as a bullet hit where I’d been just a moment before. Frank moved back, and after what seemed like an eternity we were shielded by the mausoleum. I grabbed Frank’s arm and pulled him down so I could say in his ear, “Come on, babe, we’ve got to move.”
Frank nodded, his lips pressed tightly together.
I looked around the corner, and through the gloom could make out a shadowy form leaping from the top of one mausoleum to the next, getting closer to us. I pulled out my gun, carefully judged the speed of movement, aimed, and fired just as the form landed on a mausoleum about ten yards from where we were hiding. The form fell backward and vanished from view. “I think I got him,” I shouted to Frank. He winked at me, water running in a steady stream down his face. “Let me go be sure.”
Ducking down just in case, I ran across the flowing water to where I’d seen the form go down. I peered around the corner of the mausoleum and saw a body lying on its back in the water. Still crouched, I crab-walked over to it. He was dark-skinned, and there was an eye tattooed in the center of his forehead. His eyes were open and staring.
He was dead. But was he alone?
I stood up and looked around. I didn’t see anyone—but to be on the safe side, I crouched down and ran back to where I left Frank.
“He’s dead,” I shouted over the rain.
Frank nodded.
I motioned to go around the back, and we made our way to the street behind the mausoleum. I wondered again if the guy was working alone—just as another bullet went past me. Frank ran ahead of me, splashing until he reached a mausoleum with a door rather than drawers. The name on it read James. He kicked the door in and ducked inside. I jumped in behind him and shut the door.
It was dark inside, and as my eyes grew accustomed to the gloom, I saw that we were inside a narrow room that ran the length of the tomb. The wall behind me was where the drawers for the coffins were located. I shuddered and knelt down, putting my head down and taking deep breaths.
“We can’t stay in here forever,” Frank whispered, moving to the door and peering around the corner. Lightning lit up the inside of the room, followed by the ubiquitous thunder. “I don’t see anyone—do you have your phone?”
“Yeah.” I fumbled for it inside my jacket pocket, and flipped it open. I scrolled through the stored numbers and pressed Call when I reached Venus’s. The phone started ringing, and just as she answered, Frank fired.
“Venus, this is Scotty Bradley,” I said. “Frank and I are in Lafayette Number One and we’re being shot at.” Frank fired again.
“On my way,” she said and hung up.
That was one thing I loved about her—she didn’t waste time.
“I got him!” Frank exulted.
I breathed out a sigh of relief and pushed past him. I gave him a big kiss on the cheek. “I wonder if there’s anyone else out there?” I looked out and saw another body lying in the water about four yards away. He was face down in the water. Frank grabbed me by both shoulders and dragged me back inside.
“Are you crazy?” he hissed at me. “You don’t know if there’s anyone else out there.”
“I’m going to go look for the Eye,” I replied. “I don’t feel like there’s anyone else out there—and once the cops get here, we’re going to be tied up for hours, and we can’t risk someone else finding it.”
I shook his hands off and boldly walked back out into the rain. I scanned in every direction and didn’t see anyone. And that creepy feeling of being watched was gone, too. I splashed through the rising water and walked back around to the main alley.
“Those who gave their lives fighting the fire lead the way to a maiden whose own very eye points the way to find what you most desire,” I muttered to myself. I stared at the firefighters’ tomb. Lead the way? How—
I looked at the engraved carving of the horse-drawn fire truck. The team of horses all faced forward, except for the one in the lead. His head was turned slightly and looked out into the alleyway at about a forty-five degree angle. I turned and followed the direction of his head. It pointed to a passageway between the Fontenot and Delahaye tombs. I splashed over. The rain was starting to lessen a little and the sky was lightening. I heard Frank behind me. Once I was out into the alley behind those two tombs, I saw it.
A statue of a young woman was standing in front of a tomb. Her arms were spread wide, and she was wearing a long, diaphanous gown. Her head was tilted to her left, her head looking down at the bottom of the structure. It took everything I had not to scream out in delight.
The name carved at the top of the building was Garrett.
I dashed across to the front and looked at the stone in the lower left corner and caught my breath.
BENJAMIN GARRETT
APRIL 28, 1947–AUGUST 3, 1968
Underneath the dates were carved the words He gave his life for his country.
I closed my eyes. Larry Moon had taken the name of a New Orleans soldier who’d been killed over there. What better identity to assume than that of a dead man?
I knelt down and felt around the edges of the stone. It was loose. “Frank!” I yelled as I shoved my fingers into the small crevice. Frank knelt down beside me and we pulled.
The stone came out.
And just in front of the coffin was a small metal box.
My hands shaking, I reached forward and pulled it out. There was a lock on the front—but that wasn’t a big deal. It would be easy enough to cut that off—
“Please to hand me the box,” a voice said from behind us.
I turned. Two dark-skinned men in long trench coats with hats pulled down over their foreheads were standing there. Each held a gun in their right hands.
“Please to hand me the box.” The one on the left gestured with his gun. “I will shoot you.”
“How do I know you won’t shoot anyway?”
“By the name of Kali I pledge not,” he replied.
“Give it to him,” Frank said.
I held it out to him. Keeping his gun still pointed at me, he stepped forward and took the box, slipping it under his arm.
“Kali thanks you,” he said. “Now, please, go back to tomb where you hid?” He gestured in the direction of the James tomb.
Glumly, Frank and I put our hands up and walked back inside the tomb. The door shut behind us. I heard something snap shut, and then hurried splashing. I tried the door.
It was locked.
In the distance, I c
ould hear the wail of police sirens.
Chapter Thirteen
THE WORLD, REVERSED
Success yet to be won
“I have to give you two credit,” Venus said with a shrug as she shut the door of her SUV. She handed Frank and me each a cup of coffee from the shop across the street from where she’d parked. “Whenever you come around, there’s always an impressive body count.”
I opened my mouth to deny it, but thought better of it and said nothing. I couldn’t argue the point with her. She was right. The bodies in the cemetery were the third and fourth corpses I’d been around in a little less than twenty-four hours. I doubted anyone else in New Orleans could say that. “I can’t take credit for Doc,” I said after taking a sip from the steaming coffee. “You were already there.”
We were sitting in the backseat of her black SUV, wrapped in NOPD blankets. She had the heater on full blast, and I was finally starting to feel warm again—though I couldn’t wait to get home and get out of these wet clothes. But at least my hands weren’t shaking as I took another big drink of the steaming coffee. I closed my eyes and leaned back against the seat. It’s all over, I thought with relief. The storm had passed, but the sky was still covered by dark clouds. We’d already being grilled about what happened inside the walls of the cemetery.
Venus hadn’t been happy to find out some of the things Colin had kept from her—but without him to direct the interrogation, I’d seen no reason to keep anything back from her.
I couldn’t wait to get home and take a hot shower.
The front passenger door opened and Blaine Tujague climbed in. Venus handed him some coffee. “Thanks, Venus.” He took a drink and turned back to us. “They had their passports on them.” He shook his head. “Pleshiwarian nationals; apparently they entered the country through Houston. They came in with two others—I’ve put out an APB on them.” He sighed. “I wonder how long before the Feds take this over?” He glanced at Venus and added angrily, “We might as well not even bother to start an investigation. I’m surprised Homeland Security hasn’t already arrived here with an army of Feds.”
She shrugged resignedly. “We do our jobs until told otherwise.” She gave me a faint smile. “And you have no idea where Abram Golden is?”
I shook my head. “No. Like I said, I took a nap. When I woke up, he was gone—and I haven’t heard from him since.” And trust me, I have a lot of questions for him myself. “I’ve tried his cell a couple of times, but he isn’t answering.” No surprise there, either. I didn’t want to think he’d sent the assassins after Frank and me, but it was a possibility.
The one thing I couldn’t understand was why the first two had shot at us—the other two could have easily have shot us rather than locking us in the James mausoleum. But they hadn’t.
I guess we’d find out when they were caught.
I looked out the window just as the Crime Lab techs were carrying a body out on a stretcher. I winced and looked away.
No matter how many times I see death, I never get used to it.
“You two are free to go for now,” Venus said. “We’ll get your statements typed up, and just come by the station house to sign them later tonight or in the morning. And try to stay out of trouble?”
“All I want to do,” I said wearily as I opened the back door, “is take a hot shower and go to bed for a week.”
We got out of the SUV and walked over to where Frank’s MG was parked. The coffee was definitely helping. I’d begun to think I’d never feel warm again. We got into the MG and headed back home.
Frank was silent until we got to the light at Camp and Canal. “I have a confession of my own to make,” he said slowly. “Don’t be mad at me.”
“I’m too tired to get mad,” I replied, finishing the last of the coffee. It was true. I felt drained, both physically and emotionally. It was all over. The Eye was in the hands of the Pleshiwarians, Colin was gone again, and as far as I was concerned, the police or the Feds or whoever the hell wanted to could handle the whole mess from now on.
“I knew what Blackledge really was, and I didn’t tell you,” he said as he turned right onto Canal. There wasn’t much traffic, and he whipped the car into the U-turn lane just past Decatur. “When Colin said Blackledge wanted to open a branch office in New Orleans and hire us…well, I’d heard of Blackledge. Not much, but what I’d heard wasn’t good. Sure, I went to their Web site—you saw it—but I…” His voice trailed off as he turned onto Decatur in the direction of home. “Their Web site was just innocuous, like you saw. An international investigation company, but I knew it was probably just a cover. So I checked with some of my buddies at the FBI.”
“And what did you find?” I closed my eyes and leaned my head against the car window. I wasn’t so sure I wanted to hear any more of this.
“I found out what Blackledge was.” He gripped the steering wheel so tight his knuckles turned white. “Oh, there was nothing concrete—they’re much too good for that, of course. They’ve been operating worldwide since the end of the Second World War, doing dirty jobs governments want done but don’t want tied to them, you know? It was all mostly rumor and conjecture.” He sighed. “So I confronted Colin about it.”
“And you didn’t tell me any of this?” I closed my eyes. I was too tired to be angry or outraged. All I felt was disappointment.
“Colin—” He hesitated. “Colin told me that it was true, that there was a branch of the company that did that kind of work, but he assured me that we would never get involved in that, we’d be working for the investigation side.” He shook his head. “I believed him because I wanted to believe him.”
“And you didn’t tell me.”
“Colin thought it was better that way, and I agreed with him.” We stopped at the light in front of Café du Monde. The gilded statue of Joan of Arc was directly in front of us. I looked away, out the window at the empty tables and chairs under the green and white awning. “It was a mistake—I realized that once…” He swallowed. “Once we knew Colin had killed your uncles. But then, I was…I didn’t know what to do, Scotty.”
“You figured it was just easier not to tell me then.” I felt empty inside.
“I mean, by then we all knew what he was.” He stole a glance at me, but turned his head back to the road. The light turned green and the MG jumped forward. “I didn’t think—well, I didn’t think it much mattered at that point whether I…”
“Stop beating yourself up,” I said, sharper than I’d intended. “Right now, I am so tired and drained I can’t be mad. I don’t have the energy for it.”
“I just don’t want you to hate me.”
“I could never hate you.” I closed my eyes and put my head against the window. It was true. “I’m disappointed you didn’t tell me. I’m disappointed that you actually thought it was better to keep it from me than tell me the truth. I don’t know what that says about what you think about me, but right now I am too tired to get into it, okay?”
We drove the rest of the way to the parking lot in silence. I felt betrayed, but couldn’t summon up any emotion. We got out the car and walked back to the apartment. I unlocked the gate. Now that the storm had passed, the temperature was starting to go back up. We stripped out of our wet clothes on the second-floor landing and tossed them in the dryer and went on up to our apartment. I didn’t say anything as I walked into the bathroom and turned on the shower. As the steam from the hot water started filling up the room, I walked back into the bedroom. Frank had put on a robe and was sitting on the bed.
“Can I join you?” he asked.
“You go first,” I said, and walked out of the bedroom. I went into the kitchen and started a pot of coffee. As I watched the coffee brew, I tried to remember the last time I felt so tired, so drained, so defeated.
You didn’t fail, Scotty. The whole point was for the Eye to be returned to Pleshiwar. They have it, it’s probably on its way back to the temple right now, so Kali has been appeased. She won’t destroy the world
now that Her Eye is being returned to Her. Colin is probably on a plane out of the country even now. And does it really matter if Frank knew what Blackledge was all along and didn’t tell you? He was just sparing your feelings.
It didn’t make me feel any better, though.
I filled a mug with coffee and walked into the living room. I sat down on the couch.
I looked at the clock on the mantelpiece. It was shortly after five. Just twenty-four hours ago, Levi was sitting in here telling me his tale of woe. It was all lies, of course, and now he was dead.
Everyone lied to me.
Doc’s entire life had been a lie. He wasn’t Dr. Benjamin Garrett from Biloxi, he’d just been Larry Moon—he and his buddies had been hired by Blackledge to steal the Eye in the first place, for some reason known only to whoever had hired Blackledge.
And now they were all dead, and the mess they’d started all those years ago was finally over. The Eye was on its way back to Pleshiwar, where it belonged. Maybe it was in the right hands, maybe it wasn’t. It wasn’t my problem anymore.
I closed my eyes and leaned back.
I heard the shower turn off.
“Scotty?” Frank said. I didn’t open my eyes, and felt him sit down on the couch next to me. “Are you mad?”
“I’m not mad, I’m just tired,” I replied. I leaned against him, and he put his arm around my shoulders. “I know you think you were just trying to protect me—although I can’t imagine why.”
“You were so hurt,” he whispered. He put his head down against mine. “We both were—the whole family. Everyone was so hurt by what he’d done. I just didn’t see any reason to make things worse. I was wrong, I know that—I’ve regretted it ever since. I should have told you from the start…but—” He paused for a moment. “When I found out, it didn’t seem to matter. I know I shouldn’t have believed him—especially given what happened later—but we were all so happy…I’ve never really been happy before.”