Page 34 of Cheater Slicks

“You’ll figure it out. You always do. I believe in you.”

“I don’t know where you get your faith in me, but I would like to buy some. Preferably in bulk.”

“Mine’s homemade, but I can spot you a jar.” She curled a lock of my hair around her finger. “Pascal and I have a ways to go, but there are no cases of the affliction outside of the Quarter aside from Matty’s and Leyna’s so far.”

“Excellent work.” I pinched her cheek. “I knew I kept you around for a reason.”

“Yeah. To feed you. Not for my secretarial skills.”

“Kierce and I need to head out.” I stood with a grunt, careful to set Anunit on a cushion first. “We have a couple of stops before we stake out Ursulines Avenue at midnight.” I had thought of a few more spirits worth quizzing, if I could find them. “Do you want to come, Anunit?”

With Harrow gone, she had no reason to skulk around the house but no reason to help us either.

“Yes,”she decided and shed her alligator skin, stepping into the room in her breathtaking spirit form.

Hard to believe such a majestic creature could be crammed into that cowgirl catastrophe, but such was the power of the divine.

“Nice.” I had used my last lancet, so I needed to restock. “Let me grab my bag, and then we can go.”

“I’ll start on Rollo’s notes,” Josie said, setting off down the hall. “Pascal can finish up our call list.”

“That would be a huge help.” I followed, turning right two doors before hers. “Thanks.”

Standing in my bedroom, I drew in a long breath, filling my lungs until they ached, reminding myself that even slow progress was progress. We knew more tonight than we had last night, and maybe among Rollo’s notes was a fresh lead we could follow.

A girl could dream.

Thirty minutes until midnight, I was pacing Ursulines Avenue, raking through my brain for anyone else to question since half the spirits I had been searching for were no-shows at their usual haunts, even with Kierce hanging back, and the rest were as baffled by the Midnight Parade’s sudden appearance as me.

And terrified if they ventured too close, it would suck them in and drain them dry too.

About the time I started eyeing the lamppost, tempted to kick out my frustration and probably break a toe, my phone rang. “Hey, Mary.”

“I found a link—maybethelink—between the names on Rollo’s list.”

Slowing to a stop, I held my breath. “I’m listening.”

“He had already verified the victims’ names and their emergency contacts while he was identifying them in case he needed to reach out with future questions or updates. So, I called down the list of emergency contacts, a few times, which didn’t win me any friends, and pushed for new angles.” She kept rambling. “Every single one of the victims attended the funeral of Ms. Sugar Brown, which, no offense to the dead, but that has to be a stripper name, right? Anyway, it was held at Lafayette Cemetery No. 2.”

Lafayette Cemetery No. 2 had seen better days the last time I visited it, but it was beautiful nonetheless.

As far as I knew, it remained closed to the public for repairs, meaning only those who owned plots could enter. That was good news, if the name was legit and not an alias, because the cemetery records could hold answers for us.

“The name isn’t familiar to me, but Vi knows everyone in the Quarter, and she never says no to anyone.”

Her deep ties to the community meant she was always going to so-and-so’s house or to a party or to a funeral or to a wedding or to a baby shower. She spent a fortune on gifts, but she considered so many of her neighbors as the next best thing to an extended family, she never resented the expense.

“It still doesn’t explain how Matty was afflicted,” Josie said, “but it’s got to mean something.”

He was the outlier for sure, him and Leyna, but establishing a link with the other victims was a start.

“Hey, you did good. Don’t be so hard on yourself.” I clutched the railing until the twisted metal bit into my palms. “We need to find out Sugar Brown’s connection to the others.” I forced myself to relax my grip. “I can ask Carter or Harrow to run the name, see what they find. They’ll have easier access to the cemetery’s records too.”

“I already asked Carter to do police stuff on Sugar Brown. We should hear back soon.”

That was news to me, but I was glad to hear they were communicating in some form.

“So, you two are talking.” I strained my ears to catch her reaction. “Everything’s okay?”

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