Page 7 of Carnival
I raise a brow. “There’s only a handful of places I know that don’t require coats and jackets for October.’’
Aria grins. “Come on, get there faster.’’
My brows narrow, and within the next two seconds, they widen astronomically wide. My mouth parts and I blink, trying to figure out whether or not she’s messing with me. But the smirk on her face tells me she’s dead serious, and I can’t help but grin in return.
“Are you serious?”
“We’re going to New Orleans, baby.’’
3
Rose
I’m anxious.
Noelle and Hudson think we’ve gone to the Bahamas. All I’m praying for is they trust Aria enough not to check where their daughter has gone. The trip is set to finish the day after her birthday, the day after Halloween night. The bravado I had before coming here seems to be slipping the longer we’re in this place.
Aria rented us a small house and then made sure we had all the evidence and knowledge about the murders and about the killer himself.
The first night of the carnival is tomorrow.
“Okay, here’s everything.’’ Aria takes a deep breath and sits down in front of the pile of papers and evidence that we’ve compiled. She hands me a glass of whiskey that I take with gratitude, and then we just… stare at all of it.
“The murders started the year I turned eighteen, right?”
Aria nods.
“Alright. What about the victim profile?”
“Well, from what I could find out since everything was wiped clean, the victims were all wealthy men. Though they share no connection except the fact that their wealth was generational.’’
“So very old money?”
She nods. “Some of the families even date back to the early 50’s. So pretty old.’’
“And the state of their bodies?”
She winces. “Mutilated beyond recognition. The only reason they were identified by their loved ones was because all of them had something. For example, the first victim, Aaron Brooks, had an eagle tattoo with his wife and children’s birthdates, so his wife used that to recognize him. The last year’s victim, Everett Davidson, had a wrist-watch that was handed down to men of his family since the seventies, so that’s how they figured it out.’’
“Isn’t it weird?” I take a sip of the whiskey. “All of them had something recognizable. If their bodies were mutilated, why not carve out the tattoo or take off the watch?”
“My guess is as good as yours,’’ she leans into the couch, pondering. “Why go to such lengths to remove all of their digital footprint and paper trail and then leave a watch? It makes no sense to be as organized in one aspect, yet so sloppy in another.’’
“Maybe they wanted them to be somehow recognizable. Maybe it was to send a message.’’
“The message being…?”
“I don’t know!” I finish the whiskey in one big gulp, put the glass down, and run my fingers through my hair in annoyance. “Well, all of the victims were wealthy, so maybe it’s one of those ‘eat the rich’ situations.’’
“Oh, don’t tell me you think this is some vigilante, Robin Hood shit?”
“Well, not necessarily that, but I think the murders were definitely money motivated. Noelle and Hudson don’t know who these people are, so they’re not an assassin organization; otherwise, they would’ve known.’’
Aria nods. “Correct. The only thing I managed to pull out of Hudson was the fact that whoever these people are, they have high connections in law enforcement. That’s why the culprit hasn’t been caught.’’
“Right, so it just means they're protected. It still doesn’t explain why they’d pick a Halloween carnival. Or why the murders are exclusive to New Orleans. Maybe they have some sort of history here?”
“Most likely. I’ll bet my money that the victims wronged the culprits one way or the other, and this is just… bad karma.’’
