Page 2 of After The Storm

Away from the crowd, Kate could finally hear herself think for the first time since she walked into Lafayette’s. Now all she had to do was explain to Eve all that had happened and figure out what she was going to do.

“You know, my cousin Cherise has been dying to meet you. Why did you drag me all the way over here, for God’s sake? She’s going to think you’re a bitch, Kate,” Eve said as she sat down hard in a wooden chair she took from a nearby table.

Leaning down close to her friend’s face, Kate said, “I need you to listen very carefully to me. Something has happened.”

“You didn’t wear the dress you said you’d wear. What’s going on?” Eve said, completely missing the serious tone in Kate’s voice.

She had to be more obvious and let her worry show. All the better. Hiding it was making her more stressed out.

Kate forcefully held her friend by the shoulders so she had to focus on her. “Pay attention, Eve. Something terrible has happened. I think I’m in real danger. I need you to understand. Do you understand me?”

For a moment, she wondered if Eve understood anything she was saying, but then her friend nodded. “I’m a little buzzed, Kate. I’m not stupid. What’s got you all tied up in knots?”

Looking around, she checked to see if anyone around them was listening and saw not a single person cared one iota about what they were doing in the corner. She leaned in close near the side of Eve’s head, and as the band began blasting some song, she said loudly in her ear, “Someone murdered Jonas tonight. He was found dead in his office.”

Eve leaned away and stared at her in horror. “Jesus Christ! Are you serious? Who would want to kill Jonas Flynn, for God’s sake? He’s a two-bit lawyer who doesn’t pay his employees enough and works twenty-four-seven, but none of that is a reason to kill him. Well, other than his being a lawyer.”

Stunned at her friend’s bad timing for lawyer jokes, Kate’s mouth dropped open for a moment before she said, “Now you think is a good time to crack jokes? I’m in real trouble here.”

“Why? I mean, it’s terrible that someone killed Jonas, but what does that have to do with you? You were just his legal assistant.”

“Someone killed one of his clients tonight too. On a case he said could be dangerous. Something’s very wrong, Eve. What if whoever killed them thinks I know something? I was his assistant, after all. His only assistant.”

Eve stood up and began marching toward the door. “Come on! We need to get you to the police.”

“No! I don’t want to go to the cops,” Kate said, tugging on her friend’s arm to stop her. “Plus, you can’t leave your cousin all alone here.”

That made her stop and she turned around and nodded. “Right. Let me get her and then we’ll all go find a cop. Hang on.”

Before she could stop her, Eve had stumbled over to the bar to get Cherise. Kate had a sense as she watched them talk that her cousin didn’t want to leave, especially since she seemed to like the good looking guy to her left hanging all over her. All the better. Three would be a crowd anyway.

A few moments later, Eve returned to where she stood and announced her cousin had a good reason to stay. “I think she and that guy are going to get together, so she wants to stay. Let’s go find the cops for you.”

Kate shook her head, terrified at the prospect of talking to the police about this. “No way. I don’t know much about this case, but Jonas told me it had something to do with the police. I don’t trust them on this.”

“Then what do you want to do?”

“I don’t know,” Kate said, unsure where to go to find safety. “Maybe if I can just find a place to hunker down for the night I’ll be thinking clearer in the morning. Can you stay with me tonight?”

“Sure. Where do you want to go?” Eve asked as they walked outside into the street still full of partiers celebrating the final few hours of Mardi Gras.

Her mind raced with possibilities, each one quickly dismissed as too easy to figure out for anyone looking for her. The noise from a group of drunk guys singing some song next to them made thinking next to impossible. Fucking tourists!

Finally, she remembered that hotel they stayed in that night in high school after the prom. It wasn’t exactly The Ritz, but at least it would give her one night to get her head straight and figure out what to do.

“The Bayou Motel. Let’s go.”

The shock of hearing that name registered on Eve’s face, and her eyes flew open wide. “The Bayou? That place is a dive. Only cheating spouses and high school kids who can’t afford anything nicer go there. Can’t we find somewhere a little posher to go?”

Kate pushed her down the street through the crowd. “There’s no time to argue about this. One night in The Bayou Motel won’t kill you.”

“Honey, that place is an advertisement for tetanus and probably for at least a half dozen STDs.”

Grabbing hold of her friend’s arm, Kate trudged forward. “I don’t have time for this, Eve. Don’t argue with me tonight. Just move faster.”

Behind her, Eve whined, “Faster where? The Bayou? I don’t want to go there, honey. Let’s just slow down and think about where we could hang out for the night. How about Keaton’s? He’s always happy to let us hang when we need to.”

Kate listened to her but had no plans to go to their friend Keaton’s house. His wife and three kids made that idea impossible. She didn’t want to endanger anyone she didn’t have to. Dragging Eve into this was bad enough.

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