Big Easy Escapade

by Joan Rylen

  Vivian gave him the rundown. She was just getting to the shoe when a limo pulled up and one of GQ’s goons started throwing luggage into the trunk. A purple-fringed, horse-drawn carriage sporting a fleur-de-lis emblem clip-clopped to a stop behind the limo. The driver was decked out in a lavender dress shirt and purple pants, vest and top hat. He hopped down and Gary walked over and took the reins. The driver indicated five minutes, then went inside the hotel.

  “They’re loading up the luggage,” Vivian said into the phone. “They’re getting ready to leave. You’ve got to do something.”

  The goon slammed the trunk, then looked to the hotel. Another came out arm and arm with a woman wearing a full-bodied brown robe and a scarf wrapped around her face and head, almost like a burqa. A third guy followed.

  “I gotta go!” Vivian yelled, then threw her phone into her purse.

  The girls ran onto the sidewalk, but traffic prevented them from crossing,

  “Daisy!” Lucy yelled.

  The woman looked up.

  One of the bodyguards opened the back door to the limo and shoved Daisy toward it. Gary tried to reach for her, but the bodyguard pulled him aside and punched him with a hard right. Gary went down.

  Daisy was shoved into the car, and a goon got in behind her. Another got in on the left side and slammed the door. The third sat up front with the driver.

  The girls started to run after the limo, but it sped off. Vivian knew there was no way they’d catch them.

  The midnight-black horse whinnied and Vivian stopped, then turned and looked at him. She could tell by the spark in his dark eyes that he wanted to run. He was tired of the slow pace that was forced upon him in the streets of New Orleans day after day. He stamped at the concrete with his front hoof and bit at his bridle.

  “Jump in!” she yelled to the girls, pointing to the fringed buggy. She stepped onto the running board, snatched up the reins and sat on the bench seat.

  The girls changed course and hopped in behind her, onto the rear bench seat.

  Lucy crawled over the short railing and sat shotgun. “Who’s driving this thing?”

  Vivian cracked the reins on the horse’s back. “Meeeeeeeeee!”

  Chapter 45

  The purple carriage raced along Chartres, trying to catch up to the limousine that held GQ’s goons and Daisy. Cars screeched to a stop and pedestrians jumped out of the way as the limo barreled down the road.

  Vivian flipped the reins up and down on the horse’s back. “Giddy up, horsey! Go, go!”

  “Do you even know what you’re doing?” Lucy yelled as they zoomed past the Shoe-Be-Do.

  “No, but I watched ‘Little House on the Prairie’ when I was a kid!” Vivian smacked the reins again. “Yah! Yah!”

  A gold sedan with dark tinted windows began to pull across the intersection right before the big courthouse but the limo swerved around it.

  “We’re gonna crash!” Lucy covered her eyes.

  “Where’s my ‘oh shit’ handle?” Wendy yelled and gripped the side railing.

  The horse expertly veered to the right and they missed the car by inches, but Vivian saw who was behind the wheel. “It’s that undercover cop!”

  “What the heck?” Kate said and strained her neck to look back.

  Purple fringe was flying as they passed the courthouse. As they neared the Camellia Grill, a herd of Japanese tourists stepped off the sidewalk into the street. The limo driver honked and the herd scrambled. As the girls flew past, the tourists snapped away at the excitement.

  “We’re coming up to Jackson Square!” Lucy yelled. “The driver is going to run over people!”

  The limo’s brake lights flashed and the tires screeched as he approached the square. He tried to make a sharp left onto St. Peter but fishtailed and skidded to a stop, metal crunching as the front end of the limousine crumpled and jammed into the back of a Dos Equis truck.

  “This is our chance!” Vivian yelled as the horse slowed.

  The reverse lights came on, the engine revved, and the back tires squealed and smoked, but the limo stayed put.

  “He’s trying to get away,” Kate shouted.

  Vivian pulled up on the reins. “Whoa, horsey. Good boy!”

  The carriage came to an abrupt halt. The girls jumped down, then ran toward the limo.

  The driver got out of the car and slammed his door, then put his hands on his hips, looking at the front of the car.

  The Dos Equis truck driver ran out of Le Petit Théâtre. “Hey, man, you all right?”

  “What the hell? You’re blocking the whole damn road.”

  The truck driver stopped. “I have my flashers on and this is perfectly legal. I heard the tires squealing. You were coming around the corner too fast.”

  Kate tried to open the back door to the limo, but it was locked.

  “Let me try this side,” Lucy said and tugged on the other door handle. It, too, was locked. “I’ll fix this.” She reached down and pulled off her Shoe-Be-Do wooden pump. She reared back, but the limo driver grabbed her arm.

  “Don’t even.”

  Lucy yanked her arm away. “Don’t touch me!”

  The Dos Equis driver intervened. “Take it easy, take it easy.” He stepped between them.

  “He has a kidnapped girl in there!” Vivian yelled. “Let her go!”

  A small crowd had gathered and the same cop who had helped apprehend the pickpocket whizzed up to the accident. “What’s the situation here? Anyone injured?”

  The limo driver started in. “This guy is blocking the whole intersec —”

  Wendy interrupted. “He has a kidnapped woman in the back of his car! We saw them put her in there! It’s Daisy Easley, the dancer!”

  The goon in the passenger seat of the limo got out and walked up to Robocop. “Officer, I don’t know what she’s talking about. We are not holding anyone against her will.”

  “They’ve probably got Daisy drugged!” Vivian yelled. “And they’re making her wear a headscarf so you can’t see who she is.”

  “There’re two other guys in there, too,” Lucy said. “They’re pretty damn big, you might want to call for backup.”

  Robocop parked his Segway and talked into his shoulder radio as he brushed past the goon and walked to the limo. He knocked on a back window. “Everyone out of the car.”

  The locks clicked and both back doors swung open. The other two guys got out of the car, but not the woman.

  “Everyone out,” Robocop said again, peeking into the car.

  The goons shared a look, then one of them reached inside and grabbed the robed woman, who emerged and stood quietly by the car.

  Robocop walked up to her. “Ma’am, are you being held against your will?”

  She shook her head, no.

  “They’ve probably threatened her life!” Kate said.

  The purple-clad carriage driver ran up, huffing and puffing from the run. “Those are the girls who took my Midnight.”

  “Oh geez,” Vivian said, who had started to walk toward Daisy. She turned around to Purple guy. “We just needed to borrow him to save Daisy. He did a great job!”

  The man nuzzled the horse. “Of course he did a great job. He’s Midnight the Magnificent. You should have seen him in his prime.” He turned back to the girls. “But you shouldn’t have taken him.”

  Robocop spoke up. “Milton, are you going to press any charges?”

  Milton petted the horse’s nose. “He seems okay, so I guess I’ll let it slide. Can I go now? I’ve still got a fare to pick up.”

  “You can go.”

  Milton put his purple self into the purple carriage and clip-clopped down the street. Midnight held his head high, his ears straight up and alert. He arched his tail and swished it repeatedly and he raised his front legs a bit more, almost prancing. He knew he’d saved the day.

  Robocop turned back to the accident and kidnapping. “Ma’am, do you have any identification? In fact,” he said, turning to the three goons and t
he two drivers, “let me have everybody’s.”

  A squad car pulled up and Robocop told them the situation. One of the officers started collecting IDs.

  Vivian looked at the woman, trying to make eye contact, but she stared at the ground. Finally, Vivian couldn’t take it anymore. “This is bullshit!” She ran over and flung the woman’s headscarf off.

  Chapter 46

  Who the hell are you?” Vivian asked, looking at the Hispanic woman wearing the brown robe, but now missing her headscarf.

  “Maria Montejano, I work at Hotél Versailles.”

  “What?” Wendy asked. “Where’s Daisy?”

  “I do not know a Daisy.”

  Robocop stuck his arm between everyone, making Vivian back up. “Let me ask the questions here. Ms. Montejano, what are you doing with these men?”

  She looked down at the ground. “They paid me $50 to do this for them. I didn’t know it would cause trouble.”

  ***

  The pistol-toting asshole stayed in the room with Daisy and wouldn’t let her leave the chair. She wanted to get the drug out of her system, but he wasn’t going to give her the chance. By the time she started to feel woozy, another man walked in. Daisy squinted at him, trying to place him, but her thoughts wouldn’t come together. The guy with the gun left and Daisy got up from the chair, only to be pushed down by the familiar face.

  A few minutes later, Sonu walked in and pulled the black burqa out of the closet and tossed it to her. Daisy made no move to put it on, so he roughly draped it over her head and put her arms through the sleeves. He pulled her to her feet and she wobbled, so he led her by the elbow to the elevator and out a side entrance of the hotel. A tan car waited at the curb, and he steered her toward it as the familiar-face guy opened the back door.

  It’s now or never. Daisy lurched to the side, away from Sonu, and ran to a large planter filled with red flowers. She stuck her fingers down her throat and heaved up everything she could.

  The guy holding the back door grabbed her around the waist and tossed her into the car.

  She had a sudden moment of clarity. He’s the other fake Desert Glitter guy.

  ***

  A shrill whistle pierced the air and Vivian looked down the street to see Adrienne waving her arms frantically.

  Vivian turned to Robocop. “You don’t need us, right? Since Milton isn’t pressing charges?”

  “I’ve got your contact information if I need you. Go on.”

  Vivian and the girls ran down the block to meet Adrienne.

  “What are you doing here?” Kate asked.

  “Antonio called me, said something was going down with Daisy at Hotél Versailles. We hauled ass over there and the doorman said y’all stole a carriage.”

  “We just borrowed it,” Lucy said.

  “What happened down there? Did you find Daisy?”

  “No, it was a decoy! Those fuckers tricked us!” Wendy said.

  “But GQ wasn’t with them,” Lucy said. “He must have Daisy.”

  Vivian snapped. “We almost crashed into that undercover cop we’ve seen all around town. He may have been going to the hotel.”

  “I bet he’s on the take,” Adrienne said.

  “GQ must have known we were on to him with the building inspector charade,” Kate said. “I bet he called the cop and GQ and Daisy are long gone by now.”

  Vivian looked at Adrienne. “If you were loaded and needed to get out of town quick, what would you do?”

  “How loaded?”

  “Super-rich loaded.”

  “You’d charter a plane and leave out of Lakefront. Low security, close by. It’s perfect.”

  “How do we get there?”

  “Al’s parked around the corner. Let’s go.” Adrienne took off and the girls followed.

  They hopped into the SUV, Vivian and Lucy in the middle seat and Wendy and Kate in the back.

  Adrienne told him where to go and Al hauled ass through the side streets, heading to the small, private airport. They called Antonio and put him on speaker phone in the car, filling him in on the decoy and where they thought GQ might be taking Daisy.

  “I’ll send a couple of cars, A, but I can’t call out the cavalry,” Antonio said. “Not on a wild guess.”

  “I just saw your undercover guy. He was driving by the courthouse and we almost ran into him with the carriage.”

  Antonio groaned.

  “Is he the problem in your investigation?” Adrienne asked.

  “It’s certainly starting to look that way. Dammit!”

  Al punched the accelerator. “Our ETA is seven minutes.”

  “Okay, I’ll call in some help and will do some checking around. Dammit!” Antonio hung up.

  Al raced across town, blowing through red lights. He drove 90 mph on I-10 before exiting for the airport. He turned onto Stars and Stripes Boulevard.

  “We’re almost there,” Adrienne said. “Shit! Turn here!” She pointed left.

  Al hit the brakes but couldn’t make the turn and sped by the main entrance.

  “It’s okay, just go on down to the service entrance,” Adrienne said. “We can turn around there.”

  They whizzed by palm trees and came up to a beige cinder block building.

  “Hang this left and we can do a U-turn,” Adrienne pointed.

  Al slowed and had to wait for a car before he could make his left.

  Vivian screamed and leaned forward over Al’s shoulder. “There’s the car that almost creamed us in the carriage! It’s the undercover cop!”

  Kate looked back. “I don’t see anyone else in the car with him.”

  “He’s already dropped them off,” Adrienne said. “That asshole. I hate dirty cops!” She slammed her hand on the dashboard. “We’re running out of time.”

  Al turned into the service entrance.

  “Wait!” Lucy said. “I think I see them!”

  Al slowed down and Lucy pointed to a woman who was being supported by two men, walking from the main building to a plane on the tarmac. The woman wore a black burqa and was completely covered except for the slit at her eyes.

  “Those fuckers have drugged her!” Kate said. “We’ve got to stop that plane!”

  Rather than do a U-turn to go back to the main building, Al headed straight toward the service entry to the tarmac.

  “Al, the gate’s closed!” Adrienne yelled.

  “Not for long!” He hit the gas and gripped the wheel tight. The SUV blew through the gate like it wasn’t there.

  The door to the airplane closed, and the plane soon started taxiing toward the runway. “How are we going to stop them?” Kate asked.

  “Whatever we do, we’ve got to do it quick,” Al said. “That’s a G650. It’ll be airborne in no time.”

  Adrienne reached into her purse. “Damn, the sheriff took my gun as evidence! Where’s yours, Al?”

  “Shit, lost mine in Gino’s poker game last night.”

  “Al!” Adrienne slapped his knee.

  “I’ll win it back tonight!”

  She shook her head as Al pulled behind the plane.

  “We need something heavy to throw at the plane,” Kate said and reached over the back seat into the cargo area. “What’s in this orange and black bag?”

  “Oh, nothing,” Al said.

  Kate unzipped it. “Bowling balls?” She tossed aside tape, scissors and playing cards, along with a pair of bowling shoes, including a slipcover on one.

  “Can we get close enough to the plane and use those to damage it?” Vivian asked.

  Al’s eyes flashed in the rearview mirror. “Not my bowling balls! Those are custom!”

  Kate passed a black and red one with a yellow flame up to Lucy as Adrienne opened the sunroof to the SUV. “Geez, how heavy is this?”

  “Wait, throw Vapor first, the blue one,” Al said. “Save my Ultimate Inferno!”

  Lucy put Inferno down and took the blue one from Kate. “Wow! What’s this one weigh?”

  “It’s a
fifteener,” Al said sadly.

  “You’ve got some serious balls, Al!” Wendy said.

  Lucy steadied herself in the sunroof, then leaned in and said to Al, “Get me close enough to throw this at the wing. I can damage it or something.”

  The plane slowed and turned onto the runway and Al pulled alongside.

  Lucy had blue Vapor at the ready. “You’ve got to get in front of the wing, Al! Speed up!”

  He gunned the SUV.

  The plane also sped up, but Al kept pace. Lucy chunked Vapor, but she overshot. It flew completely over the wing and crashed to the ground. Blue shards flew everywhere.

  “Shit! I missed!”

  Vivian handed her the Ultimate Inferno. “This is your last shot, Kingpin! Don’t miss!”

  “Ahhh! The pressure!” Lucy went back out and steadied the ball.

  The plane sped up and the wing almost passed them. Al redlined the SUV and got back in front.

  Lucy reared back and heaved the ball with all her might. “Geronimo!”

  Chapter 47

  The black and red bowling ball flew through the air, hit the leading edge of the wing, bounced, then hit the flap and took out a chunk before crashing onto the tarmac. Red liquid began spewing from a hydraulic line on the plane’s wing, and Al jerked the SUV to the left and slowed down.

  Lucy, still standing up in the sunroof, raised her arms in victory. “Strike!”

  Vivian tugged on her shirt. “Actually, that’s a spare. You got a gutter ball the first time.”

  “Whatever,” Lucy said. “Mission accomplished.”

  The girls and Al gave high-fives all around as the plane slowed down. Al followed the plane to the end of the runway, where it lurched to a stop.

  “What do we do now?” Kate asked.

  Al looked in the rearview mirror. “We don’t have to do anything. The reinforcements are here.”

  A few moments later, a police cruiser and airport security, lights and sirens going full force, pulled up behind them.

  A policeman yelled over the loudspeaker, “Driver of the SUV, move your vehicle away from the plane.”