It was the kind of city through which all kinds of people traveled, a hard-hitting city with a high enough crime rate that locals were immune to shocking news and officials were too busy to care much about murders that looked like accidents. It was a great place for a Cruz-style hit.
Mia’s fingers tightened in his. Her personality was so big, it always surprised Cruz how small her bones were. His fingers closed around hers as they walked along the river, then turned onto Conti, a side street that led toward Royal. They wove between the musicians and street vendors who dotted the sidewalks along the gated gardens of St. Louis Cathedral.
He knew just where he wanted to take her to dinner, and had called ahead and set it up. For now they joined what felt like a party as they strolled the streets of the French Quarter. “You made Charlie’s day,” she told him. “If not his year.”
“Yeah, well, it shouldn’t take a damned tennis ball and an hour in the park to make a kid’s day.”
“When I talk to my cousin tomorrow, I’ll ask him to set the ball in motion for a place for Daisy and Charlie to live. Something temporary until she can get her feet under her. I’d offer to let her stay with me for a while, but something tells me she’d refuse.”
Not if he had anything to do with it. But that was a ways off. Daisy needed to stay put for several more weeks. And the longer she was stuck in that hospital bed, the more chance Latour had of finding her. Even with the round-the-clock security Cruz had hired. “Hungry?”
“Not yet. Oh! Look, a fortune-teller.” She tugged his hand and walked faster, toward an antique store that fronted on Royal Street. The shop had closed for the night, and the covered entrance, slightly off the busy sidewalk, became premium space for the woman, who had purple streaks in long, inky black hair, a crimson halter, and a flowing blue skirt.
She couldn’t be more clichéd if she tried. Cruz allowed himself to be tugged along. Mia happy was worth spending time with a tarot reader or whatever she was going to profess to be.
Her table was covered with a black velvet cloth, on which sat tarot cards, rocks, a crystal ball, and a dozen flickering tea lights. A black cat on a rhinestone leash sat at her feet, licking its paws. Very atmospheric.
Mia tugged at his hand, a little harder this time. “Come on.”
“You’re joking, right?”
“It’s just for fun.” She paused, giving him a quick quizzical look. “Scared?”
“Terrified,” he told her dryly. “I’ll pass.” He was sorely tempted to pull Mia along, away from the street performer, but once she’d made eye contact with the woman, it was too late.
“You want your fortune read by Madame LaBelle, pretty lady.”
Mia plopped her butt in the chair. “Yes.”
With a small shake of his head, Cruz took up position behind her chair.
“What kind of reading of the cards would you like: something fast and quick, or something more in-depth?” The woman’s gaze never left Mia’s. “Five dollars for a past, present, and future reading, twenty-five for the full spread of the cards.”
“The simple read, please.”
Cruz handed the woman five bucks. “If she’s a mind reader, she wouldn’t have to ask,” he whispered as he reached over her shoulder to hand over the money. The woman took it as fast as a Venus flytrap snapped up a hamburger. She spared Cruz a back-off-and-shut-up glance, then focused on Mia.
While it appeared that Cruz’s attention was focused on the two women at the table, he was minutely aware of the people milling around them. Of the cars, the music, the smells, and the lights.
The fortune-teller took the worn stack of oversize cards beside her and set the stack in the middle of the table between her and Mia. “Lay your hands on the cards and think about the questions you want answered. When you are ready, pick whatever three cards you wish and lay them out facedown next to each other in front of you.”
Mia did as she was instructed and cupped her hands around the deck of cards, then slowly slid three random cards out of the deck.
“Good. Now let us see what the cards have to say.” The fortune-teller touched her finger to the first card on Mia’s left. “This is your immediate past. It shows what has laid heavy on your heart and shaped the point where you are today.” She flipped the card and an image of a knight surrounded by fallen, slain enemies and five swords. “The Five of Swords. There is someone close to you who is making decisions, heedless of what others need or want. They work behind your back with hostility and trickery to get what they want and gain advantage in the situation. You have been lied to by those closest to you.”