Longarm and the Voodoo Queen (16 page)

"Of course. I'd like that." Annie looked at Claudette and went on. "I don't believe we've met."

Clement began, "She's a friend of-"

"A friend of your brother, me," Claudette cut in. She put out her hand and shook with Annie. "Claudette, that is my name."

"What a pretty name," said Annie. "And that gown and those earrings are beautiful. You and Paul are coming to the parade too, aren't you?"

"Of course. I would not miss my first Mardi Gras parade."

Longarm tried not to heave a sigh of relief. Claudette was really helping him out. Most women would have been spitting jealous, but she was going out of her way to keep the peace with Annie for tonight. He would have to thank her later if he got the chance. And he hoped that Paul Clement's big grin didn't tip off Annie that something more was going on than was readily apparent.

With Annie on his arm and Claudette being accompanied by Clement, Longarm shouldered his way through the crowd and led the little group to the door. As they stepped out onto Gallatin Street, the press of people around them lessened slightly, but the sidewalks and the cobblestone street itself were still unusually crowded. All the street lamps had been lit, and light flooded out through open doors and windows so that the revelers could see what they were doing. Everywhere, purple and green and gold--the official colors of Mardi Gras--were dominant, and hundreds, perhaps even thousands, of voices were singing the anthem of Mardi Gras, "If Ever I Cease to Love." Longarm found himself humming along with the tune as he and his companions made their way through the throng.

"Come on," Annie cried merrily as she tugged on Longarm's hand. "The parade is on St. Charles Avenue."

That seemed to be the direction the crowd was flowing, all right, thought Longarm. He was glad he wasn't trying to go the other way. It would be like trying to swim upstream against a strong current.

Claudette and Paul Clement were still talking animatedly. Longarm knew it was unreasonable, considering the way he had felt earlier, but now he was the one who was a mite jealous. Obviously, Claudette had been telling the truth: It wasn't so much seeing him again that had brought her to New Orleans. It was an honest desire to try something new in her life--an attempt to leave the bayous behind her. Longarm wished her the best of luck in the effort.

Longarm hadn't been to the hotel much in the past few days, but he had been aware of the sound of hammering whenever he went in and out of the place. Now he understood the reason why. Viewing stands had been built all along the avenue, and they were already packed. It was doubtful that Longarm and the others would be able to find a place to sit. They would have to stand along the sidewalks with the hundreds of others who had gotten there a little too late to fit into the viewing stands.

Annie noticed the same thing and mentioned it, then said, "But that's all right. When the floats pass by, we'll be able to catch some of the things the crew members toss down as they pass by."

She went on to explain the tradition to Longarm and Claudette. Each year, the members of the societies that built the floats threw candy, flowers, and coins to the spectators who lined the parade route. The gifts were meant primarily for the children... but at Mardi Gras, everyone was a child, at least to a certain extent.

Longarm, Annie, Claudette, and Paul Clement managed to find a place to stand near the front of the crowd. They were just in time, because not far away, someone shouted, "Here they come!"

Annie leaned closer to Longarm's ear and called over the clamor, "Rex, the King of Mardi Gras, will be on the last float! It's quite an honor for the gentleman selected."

Longarm supposed that was the case. He would have felt mighty funny dressing up in a mask and a gold crown and a long, fur-lined cape, so he was just as glad that he would never be the King of Mardi Gras.

The huge, elaborate floats began rolling by, pushed along on their wheeled platforms by krewe members who were concealed under the layers of flowers and bunting. Cheers went up from the crowd as the costumed men atop the floats began tossing their gifts over the heads of the spectators. It seemed to be raining candy and flowers and coins. Longarm grinned and ducked his head as a particularly heavy shower of gifts pelted him. Beside him, Annie was gleefully plucking items out of the air. On the other side of her, Claudette was doing the same thing. Children swarmed around them, darting between them to scoop up the treats that had fallen to the sidewalk.

Someone bumped heavily into Longarm from behind, and taken by surprise, he stumbled forward a step. As he caught his balance, he glanced back to see who had run into him, forcing down the irritation that was welling up inside him. Mardi Gras was no time to be losing his temper just because some old son was clumsy.

The light from a torch on one of the passing floats glinted off steel. Longarm's eyes widened as he saw a man in a pirate costume thrusting a short cutlass at him.

He would feel foolish if the cutlass turned out to be rubber and the "pirate" only playing, but Longarm had learned a long time ago it was better to be foolish than dead. He twisted, letting the blade pass harmlessly by him, and clamped his left arm down on the arm of the man holding the weapon. He drove his right fist into the man's midsection, sinking it almost to the wrist. Breath puffed out of the man's mouth.

Longarm caught hold of his wrist and wrenched it, forcing the pirate to drop the blade. It clattered to the cobblestones, and the sound told Longarm that the cutlass was most definitely the real thing. For some reason, this piratical reveler had just tried to kill him.

Close by, a woman screamed.

Longarm brought his fist up and slammed it into the pirate's jaw. The blow didn't travel more than half a foot, but it had all of Longarm's strength behind it. The would-be killer's head slewed to the side, and he sagged against Longarm, stunned. Longarm let go of him and stepped back, allowing the man to slide to the ground. He didn't want the pirate to be trampled to death, but that scream had sounded like Annie, and he was more interested in making sure she was all right. He looked urgently through the crowd for her.

She was gone.

So was her brother, Longarm saw. No sign of Paul Clement met his searching gaze. Of course, in this crowd someone could be only a few feet away and be invisible. Claudette was still there, looking surprised and more than a little frightened. Longarm leaned close to her and shouted, "What happened?"

"Paul and Annie, they are gone, them!" she replied. "I did not see where they went-"

Longarm wasn't surprised. No one in the wildly celebrating crowd had even noticed when the pirate tried to run him through. Everyone was too caught up in the excitement of Mardi Gras.

Which meant it was a damn good time to get rid of some enemies without anyone noticing.

"Royale," muttered Longarm through clenched teeth.

"What did you say?" asked Claudette, looking worried.

Longarm shook his head. "Nothing. Let's get you out of here, and then I'll find Paul and Annie."

He hoped he could make good on that statement. Royale clearly had spies everywhere, and he would know that the Clements were regular customers and friends of Jasper Millard's. It seemed unlikely that Royale would try to strike at Millard by hurting Annie and Paul... but none of Royale's other recent attempts had worked out exactly as planned. Royale could be getting desperate enough to kidnap the Clements and use them to try to force some concessions from Millard.

Those thoughts raced through Longarm's brain in an instant as he gripped Claudette's arm and attempted to wedge a path through the crowd for them. Everyone was pushing forward, trying to get closer to the floats that were still passing by, and once again Longarm was struck by the similarity to swimming upstream. He and Claudette were making only scanty progress.

How he heard the gun being cocked over the uproar was beyond him. Maybe it was instinct again. But something made him jerk around in time to see the little pistol being pointed at him by an Indian--or somebody made up to look like an Indian. Longarm's hand shot out and grabbed the barrel of the gun, twisting it upward just as it cracked spitefully. He heard the wicked whine of the bullet passing close beside his ear. It struck his hat and sent it spinning off his head. The Indian tried to bring the gun back to bear, but Longarm held it off while he brought his other hand up in a jabbing blow. With people all around him, there was no room to swing the roundhouse punch he wanted to throw.

The jab was good enough. The Indian's head rocked back, and the pistol slipped from his fingers. Longarm shoved him away and turned back to Claudette, hoping nothing had happened to her.

She was still there, but the crowd around her was clearing out a little. The gunshot had been loud enough to carry to the ears of the nearest revelers, and they were scurrying for cover. Several men shouted angry questions, and a couple of women cried out in fear. Longarm just grabbed Claudette's arm again and took advantage of the opportunity to plunge through the momentary opening in the crowd.

The whole place might be full of assassins, he realized. Like a damn fool, he had come out here to have a good time, and Royale's hired killers had followed him. He still had no idea what had happened to Annie and Paul, but there was no time to search for them now. He had to get Claudette to someplace where she would be safe.

For several yards, they were able to hurry along the sidewalk, but then the crowd closed in around them again. These people further along the block had not heard the shot, and did not know that a murder attempt was occurring in their midst. Frustrated, Longarm tightened his grip on Claudette's hand and pulled her toward the only open space he saw.

Together, they ran into the street, darting between two of the floats.

A startled shout went up from the krewe members on the next float in line. Longarm turned and began running alongside the colorful procession, tugging Claudette along with him. It was as if they were part of the parade, despite the fact that neither of them wore costumes. More shouts of surprise trailed them. Interfering with the Mardi Gras parade was unheard of. Not even those who had drunk far too much champagne would dare such a thing.

Longarm looked back and saw that he and Claudette weren't the only ones ignoring tradition tonight. Several men were pursuing them: a clown, a devil, and a man in the buckskins and coonskin cap of an early-day frontiersman. Dan Rice, Satan, and Davy Crockett, Longarm thought wildly. But the guns in their hands made them a deadly trio.

Those guns began to bang, and again there were screams as the crowd broke and ran for cover. The parade came to a screeching halt. Longarm ducked around another float, crossing back to the side of the street where he and Claudette had started. The would-be killers veered after them, firing again. Longarm heard bullets whip past his head, and hoped that the stray shots didn't hit anybody in the crowd.

He hoped as well that Captain Denton had some officers assigned to the parade route, but so far Longarm hadn't seen any police. Maybe they knew better than to interfere with Mardi Gras. It was certainly beginning to look like Longarm couldn't count on any help from that quarter.

Shoving Claudette on ahead of him, he turned and palmed out his Colt. He took careful aim and squeezed off a quick shot, and the clown stumbled, clutching at the leg Longarm's bullet had just ventilated. The brightly garbed killer tumbled off his feet, shouting curses. The Devil and Davy Crockett came on without slowing down. The guns in their hands blasted.

Longarm turned and ran again, thankful that Claudette hadn't slowed while he paused to cut down the odds. She was several yards in front of him now. She threw a frightened glance over her shoulder to make sure he was still behind her.

The mouth of an alley loomed up on their right. "In there!" called Longarm, indicating the alley with a wave of his gun hand as Claudette looked back again. She made the turn, stumbling only a little as she did so. Longarm plunged into the gloom of the alley behind her. Here in the thick shadows, Claudette was forced to slow down, and he caught up with her in a matter of seconds.

"Custis!" she panted, breathless from both exertion and fear.

"Keep going," he told her. "I'll slow them down again."

As he stopped and turned, he saw two figures loom up at the mouth of the alley, silhouetted by the light from the street behind them. One shape was indistinct, but the other was clearly marked by horns and a tail. Longarm triggered twice, aiming low. The muzzle blasts lit up the alley for an instant like orange lightning, and the roar of the shots was deafening in these narrow confines. Longarm couldn't tell if he had done any damage or not. Both of the pursuers fired, and brick chips thrown out by the bullets as they struck the building beside Longarm stung his face.

Behind him somewhere, Claudette let out a scream and shouted, "Custis!" Her voice was filled with mortal fear.

Longarm whirled around, leery of turning his back to the assassins, but knowing that he had to see what was happening to Claudette. He ran down the alley, heedless of any obstacles that might be in his path, veering from side to side to make himself a more difficult target. Suddenly, without any warning, he emerged into a small rear courtyard behind the buildings, and enough light came from the windows for him to see what was going on.