Cut and Run 7 - Touch and Geaux

see?” Ty held his hand out for the phone. Zane handed it to him. Ty’s frown deepened as he looked it over, then he glanced up to meet Digger’s eyes. “It looks like a strip of parchment.”
    “It would have had her name on it then. It was a gris-gris bag,” Digger said. Ty nodded.
    “What the hell is a gris-gris bag?” Nick asked.
    “Voodoo,” Zane said. “Right?”
    Ty nodded again and gave him his phone back. “They’re usually used for good things. Luck, love, safe travel, protection. All kinds of stuff. But sometimes they can be used to bind or hex. It’s rare; most voodoo practitioners don’t mess with the negative outcomes.”
    “Too dangerous,” Digger explained.
    “Dangerous? What does that mean?” Owen asked.
    Ty looked around the crowd that had formed. He took a deep breath, beginning to edge toward the nearest side street as he spoke. “It’s like a boomerang. The evil comes back at you.”
    “Threefold.”
    Nick snorted. Between Ty, Digger, and Sanchez on missions, all the superstitions had almost killed them all. It was contagious, though, because Nick had carried his own good luck charms with him. So many that other Marines had taken to calling him Lucky. After all he’d seen and been through, he was willing to put some stock in the reality of magic.
    But Zane gaped at Ty. “You actually believe in that stuff?”
    “To an extent, yeah. Yeah, I do.” Ty shrugged. “And you can bet people around here believe it too.”
    “The stronger you believe, the stronger the power of the spells,” Digger added.
    “Wow, D. Wow,” Kelly said. He was keeping a straight face, but his mouth twitched.
    “Well, the bag the girl had was white,” Nick said. “What’s that mean?”
    Ty ran a finger over his lower lip, wincing. He walked further into the shadows, like a magnet being repelled by the crowd. “I think it’s for protection. Something about protecting your home, maybe. I don’t remember.”
    “It’s for any kind of protection,” Digger said.
    “Well, it didn’t work for her,” Owen muttered.
    They all stared at him for a second before Nick cleared his throat. “Anyway.”
    “Are we investigating a murder while we’re here, or are we actually going to get to be normal tourists this time?” Kelly asked.
    Zane glanced at the scowls they all gave Kelly and he laughed. “This time, huh?”
    “Don’t ask,” Nick muttered. His theory was that it was because they were all trained to help, but even he had to admit they stumbled over crimes more often than your average bear.
    Digger shrugged. “Sounds like a hoodoo thing. Turf wars. The locals can handle the weird ones like that.”
    Ty looked relieved.
    Nick wondered just how much trouble Ty would be in if someone recognized him down here. He knew Ty would never tell them until trouble reared its ugly head, but he supposed he should have expected Ty to have left New Orleans with enemies. He was suddenly very conscious of the fact that they might have put Ty in danger by luring him here.
    “Not our jurisdiction. Not our problem, right?” Ty said.
    Zane’s brow furrowed, but he remained silent.
    Nick shrugged. “I guess not.”
    Kelly continued on down the street. “Kind of a buzzkill though.”

    The grisly crime in the middle of their revelry had indeed cast a pall over the night, but they only had the weekend to enjoy each other, so they continued on. They hopped from bar to bar for another hour, and after a quiet talk with Zane about the alcohol, Ty finally ordered himself a few oddly colored drinks to toast the memory of their fallen brother. They told stories, sharing them with Zane so he wouldn’t feel left out, and reminisced about the good days they’d spent together.
    Most of the tales had to do with Elias Sanchez, and Ty had to force himself to relax and enjoy it. It wasn’t hard to push the murder out of mind; that was what they dealt with every day and he’d learned to compartmentalize. He ignored the fact that Owen was ignoring him. He battled the guilt that came with every sip someone took in Zane’s line of sight. He tried to forget that he might be recognized by the wrong person and bring all kinds of trouble down on them.
    The ambiance and good company were finally enough to filter through the worries, and the night wound down as a success. As they were strolling toward the hotel, Ty slipped his arm around Zane’s shoulders. New Orleans was still one of the most romantic places Ty had ever