The Dead Play On

by Heather Graham

  “I can head over and talk to them now,” he said. “See what I can do to convince them that they need to take special care.”

  “Special care? They need to stay somewhere else altogether,” Danni said.

  “And you think they can afford that? Or that they’ll even consider leaving their home?”

  “If they like living, yes!”

  Quinn looked at Danni’s drawing again. Her subconscious didn’t steer her wrong. It was time to start looking at Tyler’s bandmates, who just happened to be the last people who had been with Arnie on the night he died.

  “There’s also Arnie’s friend,” Danni said.

  “Which friend?” Quinn asked.

  “I didn’t get to tell you. There was too much going on last night.”

  “Okay. Tell me now.”

  “Arnie had a close friend in the military. His name is Kevin Hart—Corporal Kevin Hart. He stepped on a mine, and now he’s up in Walter Reed, doing rehab after getting a prosthetic leg. Hattie said she can help us get to see him. If Arnie was as close to this guy as Tyler says, he might have told him things he didn’t tell anyone else, maybe things about people here in town. Maybe he even entrusted his special sax to him.”

  “That’s a long shot.”

  “What else have we got?”

  “Following up on the musicians around here, on people who knew about the sax. Maybe following through on that Survivor Set connection.”

  “All right, I agree with you that we have to do all that, but I think it’s important that we talk to Kevin Hart, too.”

  “But we can’t be here and also there.”

  “I could go,” Danni said.

  “I don’t want you going anywhere alone,” he said quickly. Maybe too quickly, and a little too harshly. He saw her bite down lightly on her lower lip.

  Her tone, in turn, was cool. “Fine. You could go.”

  “I’m afraid to go. Too much is happening here, most of it dangerous. I need to keep an eye on things.”

  “You mean keep an eye on me. Quinn,” she said, walking to the door and shaking her head, “you have to have faith in other people sometimes. You can’t save the world on your own, you know. I have Wolf, Billie, Bo Ray and now Brad and Jenny.”

  “I do have faith in you. I just don’t think either one of us should leave here. Not even for a night.”

  “And I think it’s important to talk to Kevin Hart. One of us can stay, and the other one can go.”

  “No.”

  “Then we both need to go.”

  “No.”

  “You have to have some faith in me.”

  “I have tremendous faith in you.”

  “So you don’t think I can take care of myself, even with a houseful of people?”

  “I didn’t say that. We’re a team.”

  Danni sighed in aggravation. “Not much of a team if you don’t have any faith in me or my judgment.”

  “Wait a minute, Danni. Just wait. Even if Arnie spilled his heart out to this guy, why think he’d have anything to say that would help? The guy isn’t from NOLA. He wouldn’t have known any place or person Arnie was talking about. Not to mention the guy is in bad shape, so we could just be adding bad news to what he’s already going through.”

  “I’m sure he already knows that Arnie is dead. The military grapevine is pretty efficient. And I’m sure he’d want to help in any way he can to catch Arnie’s killer. He knew Arnie, and that’s what’s important, Quinn. He might know something about Arnie that Tyler doesn’t, that his folks don’t—maybe something Arnie was keeping from people here on purpose. The point is, we’re not getting anywhere, and people keep dying. I’m going to check on flights. You can come with me to see him or not.”

  As she walked out of the room he called out after her, “Hey! That’s not teamwork. That’s being a dictator.”

  Wolf looked at him and barked, obviously unhappy about a family argument.

  Danni was probably right again, and he knew it. But that didn’t change anything. He didn’t like the idea of leaving town when people were still in danger and when they were just starting to associate themselves with the music scene.

  He definitely didn’t like the concept of leaving Danni in those circumstances, though he wasn’t any happier about letting her leave on her own.

  Irritated, he walked into the kitchen, where Danni was sitting at her computer and apparently chatting casually with Brad and Jenny, both of whom looked at him with uneasy expressions. They’d undoubtedly heard the argument.

  “Coffee?” Jenny asked him, her voice pointedly cheerful.

  “No, thanks,” he said.

  He strode quickly up the stairs and back to the bedroom to get dressed.

  Back downstairs, he went straight to the courtyard door, but Danni saw him as he passed the kitchen, because he heard her jump up and come after him, calling, “Quinn!”

  “What?”

  “Where are you going?”

  “To see Arnie’s parents.”

  He didn’t wait for her to suggest that she come with him.

  Wolf had trotted along with him to the door. “Watch her, boy. Watch her and watch the shop, okay?” He scratched Wolf’s ears, his other hand on the doorknob.

  “You’re being unreasonable,” she said.

  “Really? When you went rushing over to Jenny and Brad’s the other night without thinking?”

  “I did think. I called—”

  “Whatever,” he said.

  He walked out the door, pulling it closed behind him.

  As soon as he was in the car, he realized she was right. He didn’t have enough faith in her to leave her on her own. That wasn’t bad—not really. It meant he cared, that she had become everything to him. He simply didn’t want her to be alone. No, not alone—without him. Maybe that meant he didn’t really have faith in anyone, anyone but himself.

  Or maybe it just meant he was afraid. The killer had come to their house and would have broken in if not for Wolf.

  Wolf, as incredible as he was, was still a dog. But Quinn told himself he could leave now because...

  Because the murderer wasn’t killing by day. He was stalking at night or very early in the morning, when he had the least chance of being seen, or, if he was, of being noticed.

  Or maybe that was when he was off work himself. Off work, and quickly wrapped in his coat, his mask hiding his identity.

  That gave rise to another thought, and he called Larue. When the detective answered he said, “How do you feel about a press conference?”

  Larue groaned. He hated press conferences.

  “What did you have in mind? Shouldn’t we at least discuss this first? And why now? You have something? A lead? A solid clue?”

  “No, sorry. I’m thinking of the city. I think we need to tell people what we know about the killer’s appearance, what they need to be on the lookout for. Can you call it for about five this afternoon? I need to make a call and then go shopping.”

  “Shopping?” Larue asked.

  “Show and tell. You’ll understand. I’ll meet you at the station by four thirty.”

  * * *

  Danni sat back from the computer, satisfied.

  It was possible to catch a flight at eight in the morning and be in Washington by eleven local time. An hour for traffic would bring them to Bethesda and the hospital by twelve or twelve thirty. Two hours there, then an hour back to the airport, and they could catch a five-thirty flight that would land them back in New Orleans by seven thirty. Even if it took them an hour to get back into the city, there would be no problem. They could still sit in with the band.

  “You found what you wanted?” Jenny asked her.

  “I did. It’s all possible,” Danni said.

>   “What’s possible?” Brad asked.

  “Getting in a quick trip to Walter Reed.”

  “You’re going to go away now?” Jenny asked, clearly upset. She turned to Brad with panic-stricken eyes.

  Danni knew they had heard her arguing with Quinn, so she quickly said, “We’ll only be gone about twelve hours, all of them in daylight.”

  She picked up her phone, ready to call Quinn. But then she hesitated, thinking about the way he’d walked out on her. She’d wanted to go with him to Arnie Watson’s house, but he had left without her.

  She excused herself and walked back into her studio to decide what to do next.

  Wolf, following at her side, whined.

  “You know what, boy? I have my own car. I can hop right in it and follow him on over there. And you know what else? I’m going to do just that!”

  As she spoke, Billie stuck his head in to ask what was up.

  “I’m going to be gone for a bit. I’m heading over to the Watson house,” she said. “I’ll take Wolf with me.”

  “Wolf should stay at the shop,” he said.

  She let out a sigh of frustration. “Well, if I don’t take Wolf, I’ll be in trouble for leaving on my own when a maniac is loose. I’m damned if I do and damned if I don’t.”

  “Where’s Quinn?” Billie asked.

  “Already on his way.”

  “Why didn’t you go with him?”

  “He left too quickly. I had something I had to check on.”

  “Why not just wait for him to get back?”

  “Because I want to talk to the Watsons myself. You stay here with Bo Ray, and I’ll take the dog.”

  “How about we leave the dog with Bo Ray and I come with you.”

  “Is Bo Ray going to be all right with that?” she asked.

  “He’s done it the last few nights. And, besides, it’s afternoon. Nothing is going to happen in the daytime. I’m not half as worried about Bo Ray as I am your friends. They seem to be really on edge, especially Jenny.”

  “All right,” she said. “Tell the others what we’re doing. I get you, and Bo Ray gets Brad and Jenny and Wolf.”

  * * *

  Quinn decided he felt a little better about the Watsons when he arrived at their house. Amy didn’t let him in without confirming his identity, and when he walked through the door he found Woodrow sitting in an armchair with his shotgun at his side.

  Amy offered him coffee, which he gratefully accepted. Within a few minutes they all had coffee in front of them, Woodrow and Amy on the couch and Quinn in an armchair facing them.

  “So,” Woodrow asked, getting right down to business, “do you know who the killer is yet?”

  “No, and that’s why I’d like you two to consider leaving here. Just for a while,” he hurried to add. Seeing Woodrow’s silent but firm shake of the head, he took another tack. “Then think about having someone else here at all times, someone who can fight hand to hand if it comes to that.”

  “Arnie was a trained soldier. He knew what he was doing,” Amy said. “And he was taken by surprise by someone anyway.”

  “There’s safety in numbers,” Quinn told her.

  “That’s a fact. We have family coming by during the day, and we have Tyler by night. I have my shotgun and my Good Book by my side. Amy and I are going to be all right,” Woodrow said firmly.

  Before Quinn could think of another argument, there was a knock at the door. Amy rose, and Quinn rose with her, drawing his gun.

  “Now, young man, don’t go panicking,” she said. “I don’t just open the door to anyone. But neither do I go shooting right off the bat when it might very well be a friend.”

  She walked to the door and, as she had said, she carefully looked through the peephole. A smile lit her face, and she opened the door.

  “That’s the problem. We all open the door right away to friends and people we think are friends,” Quinn began, but he stopped when he saw who it was. As Danni walked in he found himself admitting that she did have a way with people; he had to give her that. She and Amy immediately embraced. Then Billie walked in behind her, and he, too, was greeted with a hug.

  “Well, now, I’m betting you two are here to tell us the same things Michael here just did. So you sit down, too, and give us your arguments, but I’ll warn you, they’ll fall on deaf ears. We’ve thought this through. We’re staying right where we are,” Woodrow said.

  Danni glanced over at Quinn. He wasn’t sure what he thought of her following him here; he did know that she was as worried about the Watson family as he was.

  And so far he had struck out, so he could only hope she would do better.

  “I’ll get more coffee,” Amy said.

  As she left the parlor, Tyler made an appearance, rubbing his eyes sleepily as he walked in. “Hey,” he said, casually at first. Then, “Hey! Did something happen? Is anyone else...dead?”

  “No, no one else is dead,” Quinn said.

  “We’re pretty sure the killer tried to get into my place last night,” Danni said. “But Wolf started barking and scared him off.”

  Amy came back into the room, cups dangling by their handles from one hand, the coffeepot in the other. “Now, wait a minute, young ’uns,” she said, her tone a combination of affectionate and chastising. “Your house was nearly attacked, but you think Woodrow and I should get out of this one?”

  “Because you might be next,” Danni said.

  “You think the killer will just give up on you and try us?” Woodrow asked.

  “You think they should leave here?” Tyler asked. “I come stay with them.”

  Quinn just sat back to see what Danni would come up with. “But you’re not here at night, when things are most dangerous. Look, Mr. Watson—”

  “Woodrow, please,” he interrupted quietly.

  “Woodrow. I know you’re all intelligent and competent. But my friend was smart, too, and the killer went to her house knowing just what time she’d be there alone. He’s watching us. He knows us, knows our habits. The strongest guy in the world can be brought down by the right kick, the smartest man can be tricked. I believe...” She hesitated for a minute, glanced at Quinn then plowed on. “I believe he believed Arnie had his sax that night—his special sax. But he took that sax the night he killed Arnie, using a heroin overdose to make it look like Arnie had turned to drugs because of PTSD. The killer thought he could get away with it, and he almost did. Then he discovered it was the wrong sax, so now he’s looking for the real thing.

  “I think something in him snapped, the longer he went looking for the sax without finding it. First he just held up musicians on the street and stole their instruments. Then he realized he was going to have to start taking more drastic measures. He went after top sax players with enough money to have purchased Arnie’s special sax if you had put it up for sale. Now he’s killed three times—Arnie, Holton Morelli and Lawrence Barrett—and he broke into my friends’ apartment and tried to break into my place, too. I don’t know what would have happened if not for Wolf. But you don’t have a Wolf. And like I said, Tyler isn’t here most of the night, so you’re on your own. When you’re sleeping, you’re vulnerable, and Tyler could easily be in danger if the killer broke in and waited to ambush him when he came home.”

  Danni stopped speaking, her cheeks flushed, and looked earnestly at Woodrow and Amy, who looked first at one another and then at Tyler.

  “I never thought about the fact that we could be risking Tyler’s life, too,” Amy said.

  “So it’s settled?” Danni asked. “You’ll discreetly move out of the house, at least for a little while?”

  They still seemed hesitant.

  Quinn decided it was time to speak up. “Please,” he said earnestly. “The killer is not only escalating the level of violence but
also his timing. Jenny was attacked one night, and the next he was outside our place. He’s bound to make a mistake, and then we’ll catch him, but let’s let him make his mistake without losing any more lives.”

  Amy looked at Woodrow. “Where will we go? I will not go to any of the children’s houses, because I won’t bring danger down on them. And I don’t think we can afford—”

  “Come to my place,” Danni said.

  Quinn looked at her, startled, trying to figure out just where they would put everyone.

  But Danni had it covered. “There are three bedrooms on the second floor, and there’s a tiny third room up in the attic, next to Billie’s and Bo Ray’s rooms. It was once just storage, but there’s a bed in it. We’ll get it fixed up for Tyler. How does that sound?” she asked cheerfully.

  “Like a lot of trouble,” Amy said.

  Like a very strange frat party, Quinn thought.

  “No trouble at all. We love company,” Danni said.

  “The more, the merrier,” Billie added, looking at Quinn.

  Quinn glanced at his watch; it was getting late. If he wanted to get the word out the way he wanted to at Larue’s press conference, he had to get going, and Danni did seem to have things covered here.

  He rose. “I’ll let you all work out the particulars,” he said. “Thank you for the coffee, Mrs. Watson.”

  “Amy, please—especially if we’re going to be living in the same house,” she said.

  “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.