House of Blues

apparently
realized Skip probably had news. "My dad! You must know—"
    " I'm sorry, Reed. He didn't make it."
    She looked away. "I knew that. I don't know why
I asked."
    " How did you know?"
    "I felt it." Reed turned toward her again,
her moment of mourning past. "How's my mom? And Dennis?"
    "Your mom's okay, and Grady's okay."
    "You know Grady?"
    "At this point I know just about everybody you
do. I'm Skip Langdon, by the way."
    "Oh. Don Langdon's daughter. Your parents are
regulars at Hebert's."
    Skip realized that if she had met Arthur, he would
have known her too. She had been in the paper more than once since
she got transferred to Homicide; New Orleans being a village of about
half a million, and her dad being a popular doctor among the Uptown
set, she had a certain dubious fame. It made her uncomfortable, but
she was used to it.
    Reed said, "You didn't say how Dennis is."
    "He isn't hurt, it isn't that. It's, uh . . ."
She didn't know how to break it to Reed.
    "He's using again."
    "I'm afraid so."
    She looked away, and when she turned back, her face
was wet. "Oh, Evie, why did you do this?" she asked the
wall.
    "Look, Reed, I know about Evie coming to your
parents' house and taking Sally. I know about you following. But
that's all I know. Where are we? Who's holding us prisoner?"
    "We're near Bayou St. John."
    "I know that. I meant, what is this place?"
    " All I know is I followed Evie here, and some
people were leaving. I called to them to help me, but they didn't,
although Lafayette Goodyear looked like he was going to."
    "Wait a minute. You knew these people?"
    "Sure, they're all members of the casino board.
You know, Hebert's is going to run the restaurant in the casino."
    "Yes." The whole city knew that.
    "Well, when we were trying to get the
concession, I had to appear before the board a lot—and then go talk
to everybody and have lunch, all that kind of thing too. So, yes, I
know them.
    "I know them well.
    "And they just stood there and watched me and my
daughter get kidnapped."
    Skip felt an icy hand clutch at her insides.
    "Maybe they didn't recognize me." She
paused, staring into space. "But I did call them by name. I
guess they didn't realize what was happening."
    I cannot believe the lengths to which the civilized
human will go to make excuses.
    Anything to avoid the all-too-obvious conclusion.
    She didn't find it a charming quality. "What
happened next?"
    "People grabbed both of us; and Sally. Evie was
holding Sally. They brought me here, and a very scary woman came in
and asked me some questions, but I couldn't answer any of them."
    " Who was the woman?"
    "I think of her as the Dragon. She didn't say
her name, but she was like no one I ever saw. Dark, but she didn't
have an accent. I mean, she looked foreign, but she wasn't. A long
face; older."
    "Why did you say she was like no one you ever
saw? What was different?"
    "There was something regal about her—something
commanding. Women aren't usually like that." She sighed. "I
wish I were, though. Don't you?"
    Especially now.
    " But something else. There was something very
sad about her, lines around her mouth or something; as if she hadn't
gotten what she wanted out of life." She paused, apparently
trying to reconcile the two impressions. "I don't know, though.
I saw her again, and she didn't seem that way at all. I mean . . .
regal, larger than life. She seemed scared or something. Off balance.
I don't know what."
    " You saw her again?"
    "Yes. You see, they locked me in here,
handcuffed to a chair in the daytime and to one of the beds at night.
So I can't move. Also, I can't hear anything. Do you think this place
could be soundproofed? I never hear a phone ringing or footsteps, or
anything. I never hear—you know—Sally. But Evie brought her in
once. I mean, just like—I don't how to say this—just like a
sister. She's never done anything like that in her life."
    " She brought her in? Why?"
    " That's what I mean. So I could see her, I
think. So Sally could see me. It was a kindness."
    " How does the woman fit into this? Anna
Garibaldi." The name slipped out unconsciously.
    "Anna Garibaldi?" Reed looked supremely
puzzled.
    "That may be who the Dragon is."
    "That's somebody we do business with. My father
knows her well."
    Skip was interested. "Tell me more."
    "Well, she owns the fish company we order from,
but I think she has some connection with the casino as well—that
would explain why half the board was here the other night. I