“No,” the man said, shuffling off. “I don’t have answers. You go away. Get out of town while you still can.”
“Excuse me,” Kelly said, hurrying to catch up. “What do you mean, while we still can?”
“Just go,” the man said, fiercely. “I ain’t talkin’ to you. Ain’t nobody gonna say they seen me talkin’ to you. Get out of here. Go!”
“Would a drink help?” Kelly asked.
The man paused but didn’t turn around. Then he shrugged.
“Down the end of town there’s an old boathouse,” the man said, quietly. “You bring me a bottle. Hard stuff. I gotta have my bottle so the voices won’t get me, too. Don’t let nobody see you come. Right before dark. You need to be back in your room by dark or you’ll never leave.”
Then he hurried off.
“I’d dearly like to talk to him,” Kelly said, musingly, as he turned away from the figure. “But the only place to get a bottle is in the bar, and they’d know why.”
“I’ve got a bottle,” Barbara said. “In my bag.”
“What’s a nice Christian lady like you doing with a bottle of whiskey in her bag?” Kelly said, amused.
“I’m Episcopalian,” Barb replied, lightly. “We don’t have prohibitions against drinking. And it’s a habit I picked up from my mother. I haven’t drunk any of it, but it’s sitting there in case I need it. Jim Beam.”
“What would you need it for?” Kelly asked as they walked back towards the courthouse.
“I dunno? Brushing my teeth?”
“With whiskey?” Kelly said, aghast.
“Better than water in some of the places I’ve been,” Barbara said, shrugging. “Don’t mix it with toothpaste, though, that’s really horrible. Mixed with water it kills almost anything that can ail you, though. And it tastes better than iodine.”
“What an… interesting point,” Kelly said. “Where’d you learn that?”
“Borneo,” Barb replied.
“Borneo?” Kelly said. “I thought you were from Mississippi?”
“My husband is from Mississippi,” Barbara said, smiling slightly. “I’m not from anywhere. My father was an Air Force officer, a bomber pilot. When they demobbed-”
“Demobbed?” Kelly asked.
“Demobilized, sorry. When they demobilized most of the B-52 fleet he was given the choice of being riffed, sort of like laid off…”
“Riffing I know…”
“Or retraining. He took retraining and managed to get a foreign area officer slot. So for the first ten years of his career we wandered around from airbase to airbase and for the last fourteen years, which are the ones I remember the best, we moved around east Asia from embassy to embassy. Hong Kong, before the hand-over, Japan, Malaysia and Borneo to be specific. And travel to other countries while we were there.”
“And that’s where you learned to brush your teeth with Jim Beam?” Kelly asked.
“My mom learned it from some colonel’s wife when she was a JO… a junior officer’s wife. The colonel’s wife had picked it up from some civilian lady she’d known way back in Iran before the fall of the Shah. And that’s why I’ve got a bottle of Jim Beam in my bag. It’s just a pint flask, but it should do. So, what are you going to do with it?”
“I’m thinking that I’d like to talk to him but what I really should do is go back to New Orleans,” Kelly mused. “If he’s right, and there’s going to be a problem tonight, getting out of town is the right thing to do.”
“You are not leaving me here,” Barb said.
“No, of course not,” Kelly replied.
“And that ignores the question of if your car is going to work or not,” Barbara said, suddenly feeling a chill. “We haven’t been in sight of it most of the day.”
“You are just the most optimistic person,” Kelly said. “Let’s go check the car and then get your bottle.”
“You’re going to meet with him, then?” Barb asked.
“Yeah. I’m tired of working in the dark.”
Chapter Six
The cop was talking to Chauvet,” Deputy Mondaine said.
The meeting was in the back of the old church where the sacristy had once been. The room had been fixed up to minimal standards and now served as the office of the cult. On the back wall, by the window, was a black flag with a shape like a weird green dragon. In one corner was a sculpture of the same creature, twisted and horribly deformed. Carlane Lancereau was standing behind the desk, looking out over the bayou with his hands folded behind his back.
“I told you we should have had him killed,” Mondaine said when there was no response. “Sacrifice him to the Master.”
“Such a soul would be of little use, worn and devoured as it is by time and life,” Carlane said. “And what is he going to say? That devils live in the swamps? That the whole town has succumbed to evil? That there are voices in his head? That should go over well. And after tonight, it won’t matter. The master will have fed and fed well. After tonight he shall be fully manifest upon the Earth. And then, we move. Be prepared.”
“I will, Your Unholiness,” Mondaine said, bowing.
“But bring Officer Lockhart and the woman to me,” Carlane said, turning to face the deputy, his eyes glowing a sickly green. “Lockhart’s soul is steeped in the evils of the street and worth little. But the woman glows with power. She will be fine food for the Master.”
“Wait,” Lockhart said as they approached the car. It was parked by the courthouse in one of the reserved parking spaces. He pulled his keys out and thumbed a control. There was no apparent response.
“Shit,” he muttered, thumbing the control again.
“What’s supposed to be happening?” Barbara said, lifting an eyebrow.
“It’s supposed to start,” Lockhart replied. “We had a rash of attacks on police during the drug wars. Now all the unmarked cars can be started remotely since starting was one way that was used to bomb them. It’s not starting.”
“Maybe the battery is out on your little controller thingy,” Barb said, quirking one cheek in a slight grin.
“Maybe,” Lockhart said. “Stay here.”
He walked over to the car and opened the door with the key, then attempted to start it.
“And, then again, maybe your car has broken down,” Barbara said, walking over.
“This is really annoying,” Lockhart replied. He slid out of the car and underneath, soiling his clothes on the dirty parking lot. After a certain amount of fumbling from under the car he slid back out.
“The ignition wiring harness has been cut,” he said, frowning. “And a section is missing. Since it goes to the computer as well as the solenoid, just hooking up another wire won’t work.”
“No car,” Barb said, frowning slightly.
“No car,” Lockhart agreed, nodding. “Which is stupid since I can just call New Orleans PD and have someone come out and pick me up. Us up.”
“So what now?” Barbara asked.
“You get your bag,” Lockhart said, going around to the back of the car. “We’ll go to the hotel and get a couple of rooms. Then I’ll get the bottle and head down to the Piggly Wiggly and give Lieutenant Chimot a call. You stay in the hotel.”
“Nuh, uh,” Barb said. “Horror movie time. What you just said is ‘let’s split up.’ ”
“Good point,” Lockhart said, grinning. “Okay, plan b. We both go to the phone. I call the PD. Then we get your bag, go back to the hotel and do the transfer. I’m not taking you with me to talk to the drunk. You stay at the hotel.”
“Let’s go,” Barb said, waving in the direction of the store. “But let’s get my bag first.”