The Unforgiven

by Heather Graham

  Dan burst through the swinging kitchen doors at last to see that the ostensible Dr. Neil Browne carried a gun for use when he wasn’t wielding an axe.

  He had the cooks and bussers and several of the servers lined up on one side of a large, stainless-steel workstation, almost on top of some massive ovens and cooktops. Browne was across from them, his gun leveled at the shaking, crying crowd.

  One person wasn’t shaking: it was Katie. She stood out in the dress she was wearing, and because she simply was a beautiful young woman. She also stood out because she was staring at the man with the gun with so much disdain.

  “You, get over here!” Neil Browne called to her.

  He’d been wearing prosthetics, and they were peeling off him now. The kitchen was hot; he’d been hot running. He looked a bit like a zombie, decaying in the steam that rose from pots on the cooktops.

  Dan took aim at the man, but Browne had known he was there. He cocked his gun, still aimed at Katie.

  “I’m going to get that girl, G-man,” he told Dan. “You lower your weapon, or she dies first and then as many as I can take down.”

  “But you’ll be dead,” Dan said.

  The man’s gun didn’t waver but remained directly aimed at Katie as he turned to look at Dan. “I don’t really care. I am a creature of the six. I will go on. She will die along with all the rest of these people.”

  “I’m not a G-man. Lower your weapon.”

  He could fire...and kill the bastard, here and now, easily.

  But the man’s gun was cocked...

  One of the waitresses let out a loud sob. Her knees seemed to give, and she collapsed to the floor. Katie moved to comfort her.

  “Get back!” Browne ordered, his gun on the crowd as he moved around the island to reach Katie.

  “Let her go. It’s your only chance to run. I see a back door. Let her go, and you can run and disappear again,” Dan yelled, trying to keep his own gun leveled at the man.

  Browne hurried to Katie, wrenching her from the sobbing girl.

  Again, he turned to Dan.

  “Two seconds. This isn’t the way he wanted it, but it’s the way that it will have to be. Two seconds... Lower your weapon or—”

  Dan saw Katie make a sudden, swift move.

  Too fast for Browne.

  The sobbing waitress had collapsed in front of one of the massive stovetops, and Katie grabbed hold of one of the boiling pots of liquid cooking there.

  She slammed it into Browne’s face.

  His gun went off, but the bullet flew up into the ceiling as the man shrieked in agony. Dan rushed over as Browne tried to absorb the pain and take aim again.

  Dan was ready to shoot to kill, but he veered his aim just a hair, catching the man exactly as he had wanted, shooting his gun hand.

  Browne’s gun fell to the floor. As Dan progressed around the island to wrench the screaming man from Katie, he heard shouts of “FBI!” and “NOPD!”

  The kitchen staff was running out.

  Officers and agents were filing in. He reached Katie and Browne, slamming Browne hard in the chest and sending him flying, still wailing and blubbering and screaming with pain.

  He pulled Katie into his arms. They were both shaking badly.

  “Brave, brilliant girl,” he said, pulling her against him. He knew Axel and Ryder were both there. They had called for an ambulance, and despite Browne’s screeches, Axel was advising him he was under arrest for the murders of Elle Détente and Lettie and Randolph Rodenberry.

  The man was half laughing and half crying as he declared, “I didn’t murder them!”

  It didn’t matter. His denials were nothing.

  Axel went on to add the murders of Anita Calabria and Lou and Virginia Delaney.

  Dan noted the band had ceased to play. He glanced at Axel who nodded and led Katie out of the kitchen. The bar had emptied quickly. Police officers were blocking the front and the area around it.

  “You okay?” he asked Katie.

  She looked at him and nodded. “Thank God for gumbo.”

  “What?”

  “Gumbo. I got him with gumbo,” she said.

  Dan smiled as he saw EMTs rush in, heading to take Browne, who would also have a police escort.

  Axel came toward them. “There’s paperwork, and Ryder and I will be heading to the hospital with Browne, whoever he may really be, so we’ll get together in the morning. Another Krewe agent is here... His name is Andre Broussard, and he’ll take a report from you for now. You were a consultant on this, Dan, so...just make sure he knows you and Katie were out for a nice dinner when Katie recognized Browne, and he saw her, and law enforcement was immediately notified, and...well, whatever happened after.”

  Dan nodded. “Right.” Apparently, it didn’t go on a report anywhere that a dead man gave you a tip.

  Axel paused, staring at Dan.

  “Amazing. You disarmed him. You didn’t kill him.”

  “I wanted to kill him,” Dan admitted softly.

  “But you didn’t.”

  “No.” Dan took a breath. “Almost. But we need him alive. He’s not the mastermind behind all this. There are others involved, and we don’t know how many. I’m not so sure I was being moral or ethical at all. We need him alive.”

  Axel nodded. “Well, I’m going to the hospital. He’s pretty badly burned, but... Hey, Katie. Quick thinking. Well done!”

  She gave him a weak smile. “Thank you.” She was quiet a minute. “Others are involved, but that man killed my mom and dad. Brutally. He hacked them to pieces. I hope I hurt him badly. I hope he’s in pain for as long as he may live. They say that healing comes only through forgiveness, but he planned on killing me, too. I guess... I guess I’m glad we didn’t kill him. I never want to be as bad, but I hope he hurts. I can’t help it!” she whispered.

  “That’s okay, Katie,” Axel said. He saw the EMTs were carrying the man out on a stretcher. Ryder was right next to it, nodding to them, but not about to leave the suspect—even burned and shot—without him making sure he wasn’t going to try to bolt and run.

  “Get some rest,” he said softly. “Ah, here’s Andre.”

  The man coming toward them looked to be about thirty-five, and Dan had the feeling that he’d probably been part of some branch of law enforcement or another for a while. He was about Dan’s height with dark hair and dark eyes in a lean, sharp face, and he had the look of a man who kept fit, as field agents tended to do.

  He offered them a nod as Axel quickly introduced them, and then Axel took off after the stretcher carrying Neil Browne out of the restaurant.

  “Shall we sit?” Andre asked Dan and Katie. “The kitchen employees and staff are all giving brief statements, but what they know is a man burst into the kitchen waving a gun at them.” He shrugged. “So... I just need you to start at the beginning.”

  He had an official-looking pad out; he wasn’t using a smart phone.

  “Wow. Pen and paper,” Dan said.

  Andre Broussard grimaced. “Old-school. Yeah. I’ll need your signatures.”

  Dan looked at Katie. “Well, we’ve learned through the investigation this man was in town and was with the murdered woman we found in the old cemetery. Katie knew both of them. They were the couple who disappeared off the boat the day her parents and a friend were murdered...axes and knives used on them,” he said quietly.

  “We were just about to order dinner. New place in town, you know,” Katie said.

  Andre Broussard grinned and said in a soft whisper, slightly accented with a bayou twang, “Ghost told you, eh?”

  Dan and Katie glanced at each other. “Well, anyway, when he saw Katie and knew that she had seen him, he took off. She pointed him out to me immediately, and I went after him. This place was crowded, and it seemed as though he might try to hide among the patrons. I
came in first, but Katie was closer to the kitchen.”

  Katie continued the thread. “He had a gun. He forced me in and then terrified the entire staff in the kitchen. He forced us all to one side and then used me and a threat to kill everyone in there to try to force Dan to drop his weapon. I’d gone to help a girl who collapsed, and she happened to do so right by a stovetop. When he came to grab me, I noticed the bubbling gumbo on the stovetop and...” She faltered.

  “You stopped him,” the agent said.

  “Yes, Special Agent Broussard,” Katie said quietly.

  “Andre, guys, please. Everyone just calls me Andre.”

  Dan nodded.

  “Okay... Read what I’ve written. If it’s what happened as you told it to me, just sign it please,” he said.

  Dan read the rendition Andre had put down. It was exactly what they’d said.

  He looked at the agent. “Uh...damn, you’re good.”

  Andre grimaced. “I can write fast. I guess it’s a good ability.” He hesitated. “I’m from Louisiana. This is... Well, it can’t mean as much to Adam and me as it does to you, Katie, but it means a lot to us. So...any time I can help you, in any way, reach out. I do know the area well. I was raised in Lafayette, did a tour in the military after college, and when I found out about the Krewe of Hunters, I applied to the Academy. Then I worked in New York City with the team there.”

  They were alone in the bar; employees and management were gone. Police photographers were still in the kitchen, but other agents and officers were out on the street finishing up with the large number of witnesses to the evening’s events.

  “You...you always knew you wanted to be Krewe?” Dan asked him.

  “Long story, but yes,” Andre said. “I’ve had so-called imaginary friends since I was a child. So far, it’s an amazing group. Never easy. But you don’t go into any of this if you’re looking for easy, right?”

  “Right,” Dan murmured.

  Andre stood then and gave them both a card. “That’s my cell, on me at all times, and obviously I shadow Axel, but if you can’t reach him or need anything...call.”

  They thanked him and stood as well.

  “We can go home?” Katie asked him. “Oh! Dan, did you want to go to the hospital, too? See what Axel can get out of... Neil Browne? Once he stops screaming,” she added softly.

  Dan did want to help interrogate Browne. But he also didn’t. He didn’t want Katie anywhere alone. Not that night. Not until it was over. Really over.

  And while Jennie might be dead and Neil Browne might be in custody, it was far from over. And he knew that already from the words the man had spoken in the kitchen as he’d waved his gun around.

  “No. I’m good. Axel is there for the Feds, and Ryder is there for NOPD.”

  “You two look exceptionally nice,” Andre complimented them, taking in their outfits.

  “Thank you, but no more fine dining for me tonight,” Katie said. She pulled a face, looking at Dan. “Pizza to-go on the way home?” she asked.

  He nodded, glad that after the trauma, she wanted pizza.

  Dan gave Andre his hand. “Thank you.”

  “Glad to meet you both. Sorry for the circumstances,” Andre said, indicating the front of the bar. It was time for them all to leave.

  A crowd had gathered. They made their way through it, trying to blend in, just as Neil Browne had done earlier at the bar. They got a pizza and then did their best to get through to Dan’s car.

  “You’re going to be a hero,” Dan told Katie. “Heroine, sorry. Fiercely defending herself and others...with gumbo.”

  “New Orleans is famous for gumbo, you know,” she told him as they got into the car. “I’m actually starting to feel really bad about it. Dan, I did scald him. I mean, it was there. The pot was there, and I had to do something.”

  “Katie, you defended yourself and others.”

  “But what if... His burns have to be pretty severe. And he knows more, Dan. Yes, I believe he and Jennie killed my parents. And I feel torn. I never thought I was vicious, and I wanted justice...not revenge.”

  “We always feel torn. He’ll live. And yes, we must learn from him everything there is to learn. Somehow. He isn’t going to want to talk. Remember, he didn’t care if he died. He was part of six. He said that made him immortal.”

  “‘This isn’t the way he wanted it, but the way it has to be,’” Katie said, repeated the words that had been spoken. “A creature of six...and a he who is calling the shots. Oh, Dan, I wonder if that meant I’m supposed to die under an axe, like my parents.”

  “Katie, we have Browne. Jennie is dead. We believe they were low on their number. Maybe the couple killed in Baton Rouge were part of the group. Jennie was seen, and so she had to die. Come to think of it, I wonder if Neil would have been killed, too. You knew he was in the city. You saw him. Once you saw him, he became a liability... Interesting. I’m sure Axel and Ryder will see that guards are posted on him at the hospital.”

  They reached her house. The dogs were waiting.

  Katie greeted them with a lot of love. “My knights in furry armor!” she said.

  “They do love you,” Dan agreed.

  “And they seem to like you okay, too,” she said.

  “I like dogs. They’re honest,” he told her as they went up the porch steps and then into the house.

  They ate the pizza in the kitchen.

  Katie climbed up the stairs ahead of him.

  But she went straight to the guest bedroom, crashing down on the bed.

  “I think he is the big man,” Dan said, sliding his gun and holster onto the bedside table and walking idly to the dresser to strip off his jacket, vest and shirt. “He wants to recreate the Axeman and revive the belief in immortal creation on the Sixth, or whatever. But I believe different people carry out different crimes. I do believe Neil killed Jennie because he was ordered to do so. And he killed your parents and probably the couple in Orlando. But here in New Orleans, he really went for the Axeman legend. The big man himself seems to have committed the murders of the Rodenberry couple and Elle Détente. I don’t know whether he knew George before the murders or just knew George was a close friend of your father’s, or even if George was really supposed to die, but he turned out to be a very convenient scapegoat.”

  He sat at the foot of the bed, sliding out of his shoes and socks, thoughtful. He turned to Katie, knowing her mind must be in turmoil and wanting to hold her.

  “Katie?”

  He curled up next to her.

  He’d been talking to himself.

  Despite the trauma, Katie was sound asleep.

  He lay next to her, careful not to wake her, and held her tenderly in his arms.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  Neil Browne sat across the table from Dan, Axel and Ryder. Dan thought that, under normal circumstances, they would have been a formidable trio.

  Apparently not to Neil Browne, or whoever he really was.

  He just stared at them all as they entered with folders and sat.

  And he just kept smiling.

  He spoke before any of them could begin to question him.

  “I have nothing to tell you. And just what are you going to charge me with? I mean, all the garbled stuff you were saying... A murder in Florida? Come on, man, that’s... Wow. That’s stretching it. But you want me to say I’m guilty, that I’m the Axeman’s Protégé? Okay, if that’s what you want.” He started to laugh. “Prove it. Prove it in a court of law.”

  Ryder looked at Dan and Axel and shrugged. “Not sure about all the murders, but there was an eyewitness to one. Except that was when you were Neil Browne. Most recently, you were Brian Denholm, but he’s dead and you stole his ID, and there’s a whole cast and crew from a movie who will swear to that.”

  Dan thought Ryder’s words gave Browne concern,
though he tried not to show it. Maybe he hadn’t known law enforcement had found the bodies of the dead man and woman he and Jennie had presumably killed, and from whom Neil and Jennie had taken their latest identities. Dan leaned forward, glancing at Axel and Ryder and then smiling at Neil Browne.

  “Well, let’s see... I think there’s a lot we can prove. You were armed and attempting murder in the bar. That’s enough for them to hold you here for arraignment. And no judge is going to allow bail for a man who might be the Axeman’s Protégé. That will give us plenty of time to gather what we need to charge you with... Wow! I’m not even sure how many murders.”

  “You can hold me. You can’t prove anything against me,” he said with a shrug.

  “Well, actually, we can,” Axel said.

  Neil Browne shook his head. “No, no, you don’t understand. The Axeman comes, and the Axeman goes. He’s immortal, created the last on the Sixth Day, given ultimate power. Some call him a demon, and some...well, some say that he is God! Let’s face it, fellows, people need God to be a good god. The old Hebrews had it right. God created us in his image—on the Sixth Day. But everyone seems to take God all wrong. I mean, he has a temper and a sense of humor. He gets mad, and he gets playful, and he likes jazz... He really likes jazz. So, you see, demons and gods, all the same thing. Superior beings, and most people just want to believe in goodness and kindness and respect for one’s fellow man because they’re weak! They are not survivors. The Axeman—a demon, or perhaps a god bored out of his mind, and you must figure, he’s vengeful and playful and loves blood. He demands sacrifice. And six! The count of six.”

  “Jennie was one of your six, right?” Dan asked pleasantly.

  At last there was a flicker of emotion in the man’s eyes.

  “Jennie went on. She will be rewarded. Only a shell was cast aside.”

  “Yeah, well, you see,” Ryder said, sitting back and crossing his arms over his chest, “we mere mortals see that as murder.”

  Browne shrugged.

  Axel leaned in. “We need to know about the rest of your six, Mr. Browne.”