But the moment passed.
She stepped inside and closed the door.
And he headed up to Bourbon Street.
Kendall’s cheeks were flushed. She pressed her palms against them. If he’d stood there a moment more, she would have dragged him in.
Because she didn’t want to be alone.
And even more, because she couldn’t remember ever wanting someone so much.
She was an idiot. She’d been an idiot to tell him about the reading, and worse, she was an idiot to be anywhere near him. Her first impression was the one she needed to go by.
It didn’t matter. What she liked about him, what she didn’t like, the good, the bad, it all combined to create an attraction that verged on embarrassing. She wanted to sleep with him.
Even though he undoubtedly thought she was crazy.
Not even that mattered. It was as if she could feel the remnants of his energy around her, as if she were still inhaling his scent, something woodsy and compelling that haunted her, made her want to run out to the street and try to be matter-of-fact and polite and invite him back for after-dinner sex, just as she might have invited him in for coffee.
Jezebel meowed, striding sinuously between her legs. She absently stooped to pick up the cat.
She couldn’t believe she had told him about the tarot card.
Jenny Trent’s tarot card.
Death, coming to life.
Just as it had today. For Ann. The pretty little thing who was heading out on a ship tomorrow. The girl who was, no doubt, out there right now, celebrating with her friend, unaware that danger could be stalking her.
Kendall had no idea what she would even say to her if she found her, and anyway, there were so many places where she might be.
No, there was only one place where tourists went looking to party in the decadence of the Big Easy.
Kendall set the cat back down on the floor, turned and left her apartment, heading straight for Bourbon Street.
10
It was just after ten when Aidan reached the bar. The early crowd had come and gone.
It was still busy, with the late crowd coming out in force. Several wore name tags that identified them as a group that would be leaving on one of the cruise ships in the morning. He was glad to see them there; he knew that the city’s economy counted on the passengers to come and stay before sailing to the Caribbean, or after they returned.
Jeremy was at the bar when Aidan came in, standing at one end and resting his back against the wall, so he could see everything going on. When he saw Aidan, he indicated a nearby empty table that was also against the wall, affording a bird’s-eye view of those who came and went.
The only other person Aidan recognized in the place at the moment was Vinnie, and he was playing his heart out on stage.
“How was dinner?” Jeremy asked once they sat down.
“Fine. Kendall remembered Jenny Trent.” He didn’t add that Kendall was convinced a tarot card had taken on a life of its own when she had done Jenny’s reading.
“So we can more or less trace her steps until she arrived here,” Jeremy said.
Aidan nodded. He was surprised when the waitress dropped by the table, planting a beer in front of him. “There you go. Still cold.”
“Thanks,” he told her.
“That’s only beer number two. Your brother is a slow drinker.”
“Sorry,” Jeremy said.
“It’s all right. You play the hell out of a guitar. Glad to see Vinnie talked you into joining him after all.”
“Thanks.”
Aidan watched the woman walk away, then said, “Kendall saw Jenny. And earlier the waitress said she was flirting with the band, or the band was flirting with her. They both said she was a nice woman.”
“So what next?” Jeremy asked.
“You need to go sit in for Vinnie.”
“Again?”
“I need to talk to him.”
Jeremy looked at his brother. “Isn’t this a long shot?”
“I’ve got to start somewhere.”
“Well, just so you know, for what it’s worth, your friend Jonas was in here. So was Matty. Thing is, I don’t think he was expecting her. He was flirting with some girl at the bar when I let him know she was here.”
Aidan shook his head. “That’s sad. She had all that surgery to make him happy. And she was a pretty girl from the start.”
“Your buddy Jon Abel was in, too, with a group from the coroner’s office.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Yeah. And Hal Vincent was in, too. Looking like a lost puppy dog.”