Big Easy Escapade

by Joan Rylen

  “Cops are here searching the warehouse and surrounding area,” Al said. “They want to talk to you guys.”

  One of the policemen pulled out a small steno notebook. “I’m Officer Perez, let’s start from the beginning. What’s going on here?”

  Jason approached him. “My fiancé is missing.”

  “When’s the last time you saw her?”

  “When she came out on stage about an hour and a half ago.”

  “Why do you think she’s missing?”

  “She was supposed to come back to the table after the show. When she didn’t, I called and called, but she never answered.”

  “We found her phone. The screen was shattered.” Kate pointed to the phone, which was still in Jason’s hand.

  “Where did you find the phone?” Perez asked.

  “Right by the back door,” Kate said.

  The other policeman pulled an evidence bag from his pocket and held it out. Jason hesitated before dropping the phone in. “I’ll need you to show me exactly where you found it.”

  Jason took him down the hall.

  “Her dressing room is messed up,” Vivian said to Perez. “The flowers are knocked over.”

  “And there’s only one shoe,” Lucy added.

  “The clothing rack was tumped over, too.” Wendy said.

  Jason walked back into the room. “I know something’s wrong. She would never just leave.”

  “Okay, let me go take a look,” Perez said.

  Gino escorted the officers to Daisy’s dressing room, not allowing Jason or the girls to follow.

  Jason paced the room. “I know who did this. That fuckin’ guy Harry. I told Daisy he was bad news but she insisted he was harmless.”

  “Who’s Harry?” Adrienne asked.

  “He’s a fucking stalker, that’s who he is. He follows her around the country, goes to every show.”

  “Was he here tonight?”

  “Yes. That fat fuck was standing right by our table during her performance.”

  Vivian snapped. “I saw him! He was super sweaty.”

  “That’s him, and he always sends her flowers. The ones in the room are probably from him.”

  “Maybe that’s why she knocked them over,” Vivian said. “She was sending you a sign.”

  Jason reared back and slammed his fist through the wall. The wallboard crumbled and fell to the floor, leaving a hole twice as big as his fist.

  Gino poked his head through the door. “What the hell, man?”

  “Sorry, sorry,” Jason said and continued his pacing around the room.

  “Okay, calm down and let’s try to focus,” Adrienne said. “Other than being fat and sweaty, what does the guy look like? Gino will have security video that we can check.”

  “I don’t know. Old and hairy. White.” Jason started to walk toward the door.

  Adrienne reached out a hand to stop him, touching his arm. “Hold on. Is there anyone else you can think of who would want to hurt her? Was anyone mad at her?”

  Jason blew out a breath. “No, not really. She and Vikki aren’t the best of friends. Vikki talks a lot of shit about her. I think it’s pure jealousy.”

  A man with great arms, brown eyes, olive skin and dark, cropped hair came into the room. He hugged Adrienne. “There you are, what’s going on?”

  “So glad you’re here,” she said. “This is Jason. It’s his fiancé that’s missing. She’s one of the dancers who performed tonight.”

  “I’m Detective Antonio Robichaux,” he said and motioned toward Jason. “Come with me.” He and Jason left the room.

  “Uhhh, hello. Was that incredibly hot man your brother?” Vivian asked Adrienne.

  “The one and only. And yes, he is pretty cute.”

  “Single?”

  “He’s that, too.”

  A tall black man came into the room and gave Adrienne a one-armed hug. “I should have known you’d be here.”

  “Eddie, how are you?”

  “Can’t complain,” he said to her, then continued, “I need to get a statement from each of you, then y’all can clear out.” His voice was smooth and deep as the ocean.

  Adrienne introduced him as Antonio’s partner, Detective Edwin “Eddie” Leffall. He sat each girl down at the dressing station and took a statement, making a few notes. During his interview with Lucy she fiddled with the plastic lid on a container of cotton balls, taking it off, setting it back down, over and over. He asked her, “Do you think Jason has anything to do with Daisy’s disappearance?”

  Lucy dropped the lid and it clattered to the floor. “No! He was with us and he’s freaking out. He loves her.”

  Leffall nodded and closed his notebook. “Thank you. You don’t have to stay. I’ve got your contact info if we need you.”

  “Can we talk to Jason real quick before we leave?” Vivian asked.

  “Sure. I’ll be right back.”

  A few moments later, Jason came in, his face flush and eyes red.

  Vivian gave him a hug. “We’re here for you. Call us if we can help in any way.” She handed him her phone. “Call yourself from my phone. That way you’ll have my number, too.”

  He reached out a shaky hand and dialed, his pocket buzzed a moment later. He handed it back and said, “Thanks,” then turned and left the room.

  Adrienne whipped out her phone. “Let me call Al, see where he got to and what’s going on.”

  Before she could dial, Al popped out from around the corner. “I’ll tell ya what’s going on. Something went down here, and it ain’t good.”

  “Jason told us about a stalker,” Adrienne said. “We want to see the security video.”

  Al reached into his sports coat pocket and held up a flash drive, grinning mischievously. “One step ahead of ya, babe.”

  Chapter 14

  Adrienne hugged and kissed Al. “I love you. Always thinking ahead.”

  “Shhh,” he said. “Gino doesn’t know.”

  “How can we watch it?” Vivian asked.

  “Haven’t gotten that far yet.”

  The group was quiet for a minute before Wendy spoke up. “My laptop is in the room, we’re staying at Hotel De Lis. Let’s go get it and maybe go to Café Du Monde. I could use some café au lait.”

  “Yum,” Vivian said. “I could use a sugary snack.”

  “I’ll call our driver,” Al said.

  The group headed toward the back door but Officer Perez stopped them. “Sorry, folks, gotta go out the front. This is a crime scene.”

  A chill ran up Vivian’s spine at the sight of the crime scene tape. An image of the cordoned-off beach in Mexico where Jon Tournay had died popped into her head. She didn’t have to be told twice and turned around. They walked through the backstage door, the bodyguard now replaced with a police officer, and made it toward the front. The club was mostly cleared out. Cops in a strip club were a buzz kill.

  A black Cadillac limo pulled into the porte cochere. The driver got out and opened the back, left door. Al stepped forward and motioned for Adrienne and the girls to get in. As the driver shut the door for him, Al said, “Hotel De Lis. Thanks, Tony.”

  “Ooh la la, this is fancy shmancy,” Vivian said, rolling down the window partially, then rolling it back up. “I need a better job. Or a rich husband.”

  Adrienne picked up a crystal decanter that was in a built-in bar. “Anyone like a drink?”

  Everyone said yes.

  “Let me,” Al said, then he began placing cubes from an ice bucket into rocks glasses. “What’s everyone want? We have bourbon, rum, vodka, scotch and gin.”

  “Got any Coke to go with that rum?” Vivian asked.

  He opened a small refrigerator. “I do. Anything you’d like.”

  He poured and mixed to the girls’ requests, then handed out glasses.

  The driver pulled up to the hotel and Wendy went inside with Kate, buddy system back in effect, and emerged shortly with the computer.

  Al buzzed the driver, telling him th
eir next stop would be Café Du Monde. The streets were fairly empty of pedestrians, and the horse-drawn carriages that typically lined Jackson Square were long gone. The driver pulled directly in front of the entrance to the café that never closes and the six got out.

  They quickly put a couple of round tables together, and a Vietnamese lady approached wearing black slacks, white button-down dress shirt, white apron, black bow tie and the signature white paper hat with Café Du Monde printed in green letters on each side. Al ordered four plates of beignets, and everyone put in for various drinks ranging from water to milk, hot chocolate to café au lait.

  Wendy’s laptop finished booting up just as the order was delivered.

  “Can I have some beignet with my powdered sugar, please?” Vivian said as she picked up one of the hot, square, perfectly fried French donuts and took a big bite. Powdered sugar stuck to her lips and fell from the pastry, dusting her shirt. “Mmmmmmmmm.”

  They all dug in as Wendy pressed play on the front-door security video. She positioned the computer so everyone could see.

  “How do we know who Harry is?” Kate asked.

  Adrienne finished a big bite, then said, “Jason told me his white hair sticks out everywhere and he’s got a big belly.”

  “Eeewe!” Lucy squealed.

  “Doesn’t sound like a good look,” Kate agreed.

  They hit fast forward and watched as man after man entered, paid and moved on.

  “Hey! There we are!” Wendy said and pointed with her beignet.

  “But we don’t pay!” Vivian said.

  “Benefits of the guest list,” Lucy said.

  They watched a few more minutes, then Wendy hit pause. “That’s gotta be him. Look at that bad hair.”

  Lucy coughed from laughing at the frozen image. A puff of powder floated across the table and landed on the computer screen.

  “Look at the chest hair busting out of that shirt. It’s Hairy Harry!” Vivian pointed to the tremendous tuft of chest hair being held back by the buttons of a hideous, bowling-style shirt. “What the hell is all over it? Stamps?”

  Kate gasped. “Oh my gosh, I saw that guy. He was standing right next to me. Those aren’t stamps, those are tiny Playboy covers!”

  “Oh geez, no,” Lucy said.

  “Yes!” Kate said. “I was going to point it out to y’all, but he disappeared after Daisy danced.”

  “Look, you can almost make out the little bunny image,” Wendy said, pointing to a square.

  “Okay, so we know he looks like,” Adrienne said. “Let’s pull up video from the back door. See if he shows up there.”

  Wendy closed out of that file and opened another. She sped past images of the back door until a guy appeared carrying a vase of flowers and wearing a Louie’s Flowers T-shirt.

  “What time was this?” Adrienne asked.

  “Says 10:26,” Wendy said.

  “Almost 30 minutes before she went on stage,” Vivian said.

  The guy hit a buzzer by the door, then a few moments later Daisy opened it, smiling. She took the flowers, the door falling shut behind her, and the guy turned and left.

  Fast forward again. Two guys approached the back door. Wendy slowed the video, and everyone watched as the guys tried to get in. One guy even took a credit card and tried to jimmy the lock. They were unsuccessful and wandered off.

  Wendy fast forwarded the video ahead eight minutes until the door opened from the inside and Trikki Vikki emerged, using a nearby brick to prop open the door. She lit a cigarette and waited until a guy walked up from outside the club. She talked to him for a minute.

  “Is there any way to get sound on this?” Kate asked.

  “Nope, it’s only video,” Al said.

  Vikki looked agitated, pointing with her cigarette inside the club, then outside. After a few more moments, she flicked her cigarette in the man’s direction, then waved her hands in the air as she yelled something. She kicked the brick away from the door and slammed it as she went inside.

  “Rewind it,” Kate said, moving closer to the screen. “Let’s see if we can figure out what she’s yelling.”

  Wendy did, but after several attempts, no one could agree.

  “I think she’s yelling, ‘Just fucking do it,’ ” Lucy said.

  “It does kinda look like that,” Vivian said. “But it also looks like, ‘You’re a fucking screw-up.’ ”

  “He did look like a screw-up,” Kate said.

  “Hard to tell, for sure,” Al said, “but it does make you wonder.”

  Adrienne set down her coffee. “Maybe my brother’s team can make more sense of this. Let’s keep going.”

  Wendy fast forwarded 22 more minutes when the door flung open from the inside again.

  And then they saw it.

  Chapter 15

  The girls, Al and Adrienne cringed at the sight of Daisy being carried out the back of the club, arms draped over the shoulders of two guys. Her head hung forward and her feet dangled between them.

  “She looks drugged,” Al said.

  Adrienne’s eyes filled with tears. “That poor girl. I can’t believe she’s number three.”

  Vivian looked at her. “What do you mean three?”

  “Two other strippers have gone missing in the past month. Both disappeared after work.”

  Vivian’s heart dropped and she couldn’t talk.

  “Are those Antonio’s cases?” Lucy asked.

  Adrienne shook her head. “No, different jurisdictions, but I’m sure he knows about them. He’s probably already asking the detectives working the other cases to share information.”

  “Three? So there’s a serial stripper snatcher out there?” Wendy said, shaking her head.

  “Not necessarily, don’t get worked up. Let’s do what we can to help,” Al said and looked at the laptop.

  They backed up the video and played it slowly, second by second, squinting for clues.

  Lucy pointed to the screen. “She’s only wearing her one Shoe-Be-Do shoe.”

  “Who are these guys?” Wendy asked. “They don’t look like creeps; they look well dressed.”

  “Well-dressed guys can be crazies, too,” Kate said.

  “Yes, but how did they get back there, and what do they want with Daisy?”

  “I feel like I should text Jason and tell him about this,” Vivian said, picking up her phone. “Do you think he knows already?”

  Adrienne shook her head. “I doubt it. Most likely the police consider him a suspect. That’s generally the way it works in the beginning.”

  Vivian set her phone back down.

  “Yeah, but he was with us,” Lucy said. “When the cop asked me that question, I told him absolutely not.”

  “It’s just part of the job,” Adrienne said. “I’ll call Antonio and ask him if Jason has been cleared as a suspect yet.” She got out her phone and stepped away from the table. She came back and said, “They’ve seen the video and are trying to enhance it to pick up any details.”

  “I wish I could zoom in and sharpen images on this computer, but I don’t have that kind of technology. Not like I need it for the mortgage business,” Wendy said, and she paused the video.

  “Let’s concentrate on what we can see,” Kate said. She got a pen out of her purse and dusted sugar off of a napkin. “Two guys, dark hair, wearing dark slacks and jackets, pretty tall from the looks of it.”

  “That’s not much to go on,” Wendy said.

  “What else do we see?” Kate asked.

  “They seem to know to hold their heads down,” Vivian said. “We can’t see their faces.”

  Al cleared his throat. “They probably knew there was a camera out there. That’s why they’re doing that. These guys aren’t your run-of-the-mill idiots like those other two shmucks we saw earlier.”

  “Maybe the police can pull a fingerprint off the door,” Lucy asked.

  Adrienne frowned. “I wouldn’t count on it. They probably just leaned into it to get it open.”

>   Everyone was solemn for a moment. Wendy rewound Daisy’s abduction one more time and played it at regular speed. Still, everyone was quiet.

  Kate clicked her pen, then started writing again. “We have the flower guy, the two younger guys and the guys who hauled her out.”

  “What about Vikki and whoever she was yelling at?” Lucy said. “I don’t trust that girl.”

  “They are up for the Newcomer of the Year award,” Adrienne said. “It’s worth 25 large.”

  “Wow!” Vivian said. “That ain’t no chump change. That’s a big deal.”

  Al tapped the table. “It’s a lot of money, but it’s all about the prestige for these girls. The winner will make thousands more on the road all year. Big demand for her shows.”

  “Cha-ching! Sounds like motive to me,” Vivian said.

  Kate underlined Vikki’s name on her napkin. “We need to let Antonio know.”

  “He’s a good detective. I guarantee he already knows all of this and more,” Adrienne said.

  Kate clicked her pen again. “Shouldn’t there be video of the valet area or parking lot? We have video of the back.”

  Al shook his head. “Two of the monitors were black, which makes me think a coupla cameras are out. It’s gotta be the parking lot and the valet.”

  Everyone groaned.

  “I imagine Gino’s going to get some shit from the cops for that,” Al said.

  Lucy snapped. “Oh, wait a second. The gypsy lady.”

  “What?” Adrienne asked.

  “She said Daisy’s job would put her at risk, or in danger, or something like that. I can’t remember exactly. But we should go find her.”

  Vivian was doubtful. “I don’t know. That’s pretty vague.”

  “She was right about you, wasn’t she?” Wendy asked.

  Vivian looked down at the ground, then nodded her head.

  Al called for the car, and soon Tony pulled up and the group piled in.

  “Can we drive by the gypsy lady’s corner, see if she’s around?” Lucy asked.

  “Absolutely,” Al said. “Tell Tony where.”

  Tony drove around the Quarter a bit, going down Royal and Bourbon and back and forth on side streets, but they didn’t see the fortune-teller, so Tony dropped the girls at their hotel.