“Yes, ma’am. Well, excuse me, but I have to go. Please lock the door behind me,” Quinn said.
He could feel Danni’s stare boring into his back as he headed for the door. She’d proved her point, and now she thought he was upset. He was, though he couldn’t explain why. She’d managed to do what he hadn’t, but that didn’t bother him.
He just wondered if they were making a mistake, gathering so many people together in their house. If the killer decided to change his MO, maybe go for arson, they could all be wiped out in one fell swoop.
No, he decided. He agreed with the safety in numbers.
He turned back, intending to smile at Danni before leaving. He would even give her a thumbs-up.
But she wasn’t watching him. She was studying her coffee cup.
He left the house and hurried to the one costume rental shop on Magazine that he knew carried almost everything possible and was open every day of the year except Christmas.
But he just didn’t feel right, leaving Danni there with things so unsettled between them.
*
Billie and Danni hurried back to The Cheshire Cat to make room for their newest guests. She was glad to have Jenny and Brad there to help get everything ready.
“This is great,” Jenny said. “Does it mean you won’t be leaving?”
“I’m still going to leave, Jenny, but just for a day,” Danni explained to her. “I’ll be back before dark.”
“Is Quinn going, too?” Jenny asked.
Danni was glad she and Jenny were alone in the spare room on the second floor, and Brad was helping Billie in the attic. No point in hurting his feelings yet again.
“I don’t know, but even if he does, you’ll be fine. Wolf will be here, Billie knows how to take care of himself and Brad and Woodrow both have guns. In fact, I hope we catch this killer before Woodrow finds out who he is and goes looking for his own justice.”
“The killer should die. I’m pretty liberal, but this guy really needs to die,” Jenny said.
“That’s up to the courts. I just don’t want to see Woodrow locked up for murder,” Danni said, going back to making the bed.
“What if your plane is delayed?” Jenny asked a minute later.
“It won’t be,” Danni said, growing exasperated. Honestly, she really didn’t know if Quinn was going with her or not, and she still had to call Hattie and see if she could set something up for the next day. It was short notice, but now that she had decided to go, Danni wanted to go now.
“Danni, do you think—”
Jenny never finished her thought, because Billie and Brad had apparently finished up in the attic and Billie called loudly from the ground floor, “Hey, come on down here!”
The two of them hurried down the stairs to find that Billie had turned on the news on the small set in the kitchen. Larue was on, with dozens of reporters facing him. Quinn was there, as well, standing just behind Larue.
“Oh my God! That’s him!” Jenny breathed, turning pale.
As Larue described the costume worn by the man they were seeking, one of his officers donned a similar mask and a trench coat. The warning was now out all across the city: if anyone saw anyone dressed and masked like the officer, they were to notify authorities.
“Is this how the Sax Murderer has been getting around unseen?” one of the reporters asked.
Danni saw Larue wince; he hated it when killers were given names. It upped their importance, in their own eyes.
“Yes. This is the costume described by several witnesses,” Larue explained.
The conference continued for a few more minutes before the station’s regularly scheduled programming returned.
“That will get him,” Jenny said hopefully. “That creep won’t be able to run around in that sorry mask anymore. The bastard.”
“Here’s hoping. Meanwhile, we should get dinner going,” Danni said. “Tyler will be here with the Watsons soon, and we all need to get ready to head out to work.”
She had to hand it to Quinn; she was impressed by the way the press conference had gone. Descriptions went out as a matter of course, but there was nothing like seeing something with your own eyes to make an impression.
She hoped it would make a difference and the killer would be caught soon. If not, sax players would soon be leaving the city in droves.
Not good for a city that thrived on jazz.
She excused herself and called Hattie, who assured her that she would get round-trip tickets for both Danni and Quinn, though there was no way to send the whole band to play for the vets, as Danni had hoped.
“Thankfully,” Hattie said, “it’s spring, so you shouldn’t have any trouble getting home before dark.”
“You’re keeping yourself safe, right?” Danni asked her.
“Sweetie,” Hattie told her, “I couldn’t play a saxophone if you tried to teach me from now until doomsday.”