House of Blues

best thing. Surely no one who did such a thing, or series of
things, intended to stick around. Anna had to be smart enough to know
the cards and license were good for one day only, if that. But if she
was desperate, she could use them once, at least the cards. To buy an
airline ticket, for instance.
    She had to be leaving town.
    Skip didn't know how much time had elapsed, but maybe
not that much—maybe there was a good chance of catching her at the
airport.
    How could she be anywhere else?
    She thought it through again, trying to make any
other sense out of what Anna had done, or, assuming it was true,
imagine how she'd travel if not by plane.
    But nothing else added up.
    She called the airport police before she called
Cappello. "This is Detective Skip Langdon, NOPD. I need help on
an attempted murder."
    She gave them Anna's description, had a bad moment
explaining that the suspect might claim to be Detective Skip Langdon,
and said she'd call back soon.
    Looking out the window, she saw that firemen were
hacking apart the house next door and drowning it. Two climbed
ladders at the back, apparently trying to find signs of life.
    She called Cappello.
    More bad moments. No police officer wants to admit
being surprised, overpowered, and imprisoned.
    But Cappello was so glad to get her back alive she
didn't make any remarks, just listened, alert as always.
    "Okay, fine," she said, as if this were a
routine report. Skip could see her nodding. "You need to come in
and give me your statement. "
    God, shes unflappable. "I hope that isn't an
order. I've got to go to the airport."
    Cappello sighed, and for a moment there was silence
on the line. Finally she said, "I'll see you when you get here."
    Skip let out her breath; she hadn't realized she'd
been holding it. "Can you call Jefferson Parish?"
    " Sure."
    Though the city owned the airport, it was technically
out of her jurisdiction—she needed sheriff's deputies to meet her
there. Outside again, she saw firemen working to resuscitate someone.
Evie.
    Reed was nearly hysterical. "They didn't find
Sally. They went through every single room. Not a sign of her."
 
The hard thoughts that Skip had put off,
about the kind of woman who'd try to burn up a baby, took a
ninety-degree turn.
    "She must have taken Sally with her."
    " But why?"
    The answer wasn't pretty. "Reed, I need you for
something. Are you up to going to the airport? We could probably get
you a wheelchair once we get there."
    " You think that's where they are?"
    " Maybe. I think you need to be there for
Sally—if Anna sees her crying for you, it might do something."
She shrugged. "It's a shot in the dark, but it's all we've got
to work with. But here's the thing—you have to agree in advance:
You take orders from me. Don't do anything unless I tell you to;
don't interfere with me or any other officer in any way. Understood?"
    Reed nodded. "Of course."
    They got in the car, put the light in place, turned
on the siren and burned rubber.
    Skip radioed the airport police, saying she was en
route—and that the description had changed. They were now looking
for a woman with an eighteen-month-old child.
    They were nearly there when the airport police
radioed back: They had found Anna and Sally. Anna was holding a gun
to Sally's head, demanding a plane to New York.
    Skip made a fist and slammed the steering wheel.
    "Shit! I knew it!" Horrified at herself for
losing it, she sneaked a glance at Reed, whose head lolled back
against the seat, whose eyes closed briefly, then opened again.
    At least she's still conscious.
    "Reed, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that."
    She'd been through a lot, but there was a lot more to
get through. If her mind stayed clear, she'd be fine. She was worried
her control was slipping.
    "It's okay," said Reed. "The Dragon
won't hurt her."
    Skip said nothing, wishing she believed it, marveling
at the relentless power of the human mind to detour around disaster.
    "Evie told me she loves Sally. I've been
thinking about it. She said the Dragon was like some grandmother
who'd finally found someone to love."
    Skip remembered the child to whom she'd talked on the
phone, the one who must have been the Dragons niece, who had spoken
so lovingly of her Auntie Anna. But she didn't dare to hope. They
were talking about a woman who was holding a gun to a baby's head.
    The airport was closed to all except emergency
traffic, of which there seemed enough to control a prison riot, and
more was converging. Sirens