Casting the Dice Read online

  “You’re right. What did your friend say about the air conditioning when you talked to him earlier?”

  “I need to go, Jack.” Hal called his old diving buddy and moved to the curb. “What’s happening with your BIL? My elderly aunt’s really suffering.”

  “It’s July.” Trey chuckled. “But he said he’d get to your place today.”

  “Thanks. I owe you.” He ended the call and gave Jack a thumbs-up. “Today sometime.”

  Jack jogged over. “Almost forgot. Found these in the bedroom.”

  His brother handed him a business card and a playing card. “Dump the woman at the hospital. Remember you’re on the clock here.”

  “I don’t need reminding.” He needed to arrest Randolph Lemoyne before the bond expired, but he could not abandon Annie Swanson like seaweed on a storm-tossed beach.

  Annie drank more water and lowered her hand as slowly as possible. Moving made her feel woozy. Daylight hurt. Squeezing her eyes shut helped, but a million hammers still continued to pound inside of her skull.

  She tried opening them, but everything shifted out of reach and became blurry. Here one minute, gone the next. Thinking hurt worse because of the headache, but there was something else going on. When she looked around, it was as if she’d never seen that pink house or this shady street. But she must have come here before. She had no clue when that “before” had happened or what she’d been doing then.

  The man calling himself a friend climbed behind the steering wheel. He’d startled her at first because she didn’t recognize him. But she must know him. Why else would he be helping her?

  The best thing she could do would be to stick with him until she recovered from whatever left her drained and exhausted. And drifting in a fog.

  His car door closed, the sound a cannon blasting through her head. She winced and opened one eye.

  He watched her. “You okay?”

  “Maybe.” She swallowed against rising nausea, and quickly took another sip of water. “I don’t feel good.”

  “Like you’re going to throw up?”

  She held her breath, and the sick feeling faded. She nudged the bottle into a cup holder. “I’m not sure.”

  She didn’t feel right. Sweating one minute then freezing the next. She clutched her hands in her lap. “I’m shaky.”

  The click of his phone hitting the dash sent an ice pick through her skull. She rubbed her temples and closed her eyes. “Do you have to throw things around?”

  No response, but she didn’t care whether or not he answered. She didn’t care about anything. Except finding a way past her pain. The motor started, but the car didn’t move forward. She peeked at him. “Is something wrong?”

  “Do you live there?” His dark eyes roamed her face. “In that house where we met?”

  The house where we met. “I don’t know.” She stared at him. “Where is the other man?”

  “Jack?” Dark eyebrows shot up. “He left in his car.”

  That couldn’t be right. She needed to know because… Her mind blanked. “Not him, your other friend.”

  The man behind the wheel swiveled to stare at her. “You were completely alone.”

  2

  “You still at the hospital?” Kurt practically growled the question. “Jack said you could have called an ambulance.”

  Hal turned away from the gift shop refrigerator. He wasn’t in the market for roses, and he didn’t know why he’d even looked at them. “She wears hearing aids and doesn’t seem to hear much without them. I couldn’t ditch her.”

  Annie’s aid batteries could die at any time. Kurt should understand about that. She was already vulnerable—and desperate. Based on her quick acceptance of his explanation about being a friend, the first unscrupulous person to come along could easily take advantage of her.

  “Call her family.” His oldest brother didn’t mind telling him what to do, but Hal made his own decisions.

  “I intend to.” He’d insisted the medical staff check her for snake bite before worrying about anything else. The results had come back negative, and the doctor had also dismissed the idea of drugs as soon as he’d seen her.

  “The hospital is still running tests, but I may have a lead.” Hal pulled the cards Jack had found with Annie and studied the one with a business name. “She had a card with her for a place called Magick Charms on Toulouse Street.”

  “Got it.” Voices came from Kurt’s end. “How soon will you be finished there?”

  Hal squelched a sigh and put away the cards. He was not going to get into this with his brother. Once, years ago, he’d been alone, as defenseless as Annie and unable to confide in anyone, not even family. Nobody should be forced to go through that kind of trauma. “What’s wrong? Is the A/C guy not there yet?”

  “He’s here,” Kurt said. “Supposedly he has the parts we need, but he hasn’t installed them yet.”

  That would explain his brother’s surly mood.

  “I’m looking at the website for this store.” Kurt read him the name again for confirmation. “Seems to specialize in crystals and tarot reading.”

  “Tarot?” Hal grabbed a bottle of water from the gift shop cooler next to the roses. “Doesn’t that involve a deck of cards?”

  “I think so, yeah.”

  Lots of tourists came to New Orleans to get a taste of woo-woo stuff, though he couldn’t understand the attraction. With real life so hard, why go looking for trouble?

  “I’ll find out more.” Kurt paused, and Hal pictured him swigging coffee. Like Jack, he always had a cup of joe handy. “Then you can get going on that.”

  “I don’t know when I’m leaving here.”

  “Don’t forget the clock is ticking,”

  The hospital exam room door opened, and Annie waited for the doctor to enter.

  Instead, the friend—she was still a bit foggy as to how she knew him—who had checked her into the ER, came inside. His chiseled features could have been carved from marble. With his broad shoulders, close-cropped hair and strong clean-shaven jaw, he resembled one of those Greek statues of the god Apollo she had seen in a book.

  At some point he’d rolled the sleeves of his windbreaker, though if he were hot, he should simply take the thing off. She, on the other hand, could have passed for a block of ice. “I don’t know the test results yet.”

  “We should find out soon.” He crossed the room, bringing his welcome body heat. “How are you doing?”

  “Okay.” Good enough to want to get out of here. She straightened on the table as best she could with one arm tethered to the saline drip. “I don’t know the test results yet.”

  “That’s why I waited.”

  The door swung inward again, and this time a guy in green scrubs stepped into the room. She should finally get some answers, but her friend, AKA Apollo-god, met the doctor at the door.

  She cleared her throat audibly, and Apollo-god glanced her way. He gestured the doctor closer to her table, and she straightened. “Hi.”

  The doctor introduced himself and asked, “Do you suffer—aches?”

  Some kind of aches? She pressed her lips tight. “Would you repeat that, please? I wear hearing aids.”

  He asked about migraine headaches and went on to describe possible symptoms. “Have you ever experienced something like that?”

  Oh, yeah. “From time to time, and this one today is really bad.”

  “I’ll give you something for that.” The doctor scribbled on his pad and handed the script to Apollo-god who folded it into a pocket.

  The men stepped into the hall then. She was about to call them back when Apollo-god returned. She still had not figured out how she knew him, but she had a name because he’d told her. Something starting with H. “What did the doctor say?”

  Apollo-god strode over, braced his feet apart and stuck his hands in his pockets. “You had a migraine-induced memory loss. That’s why the doc asked you about headaches.”

  His intense gaze never left her face, but
she still tugged at the hem of her gown. “Why did they run the CT scan and all the other tests for a headache?”

  “We had to get you completely checked out. I rescued you from a bad situation. But—”

  “Wait.” She held out a hand like a crossing guard. “What do you mean ‘bad’?”

  He crossed his arms. “Potentially dangerous.”

  Why did the question put him on the defensive? “I don’t understand. In what way?”

  “Don’t worry about that now. The important thing is that all your tests are normal.” He looked as if he wanted to say more but rubbed his jaw instead. A distinct five o’clock shadow lay along his jaw, and bittersweet-chocolate brown eyes were the same color as his eyebrows and short hair.

  He reminded her of some movie star. Clone? Clown? Something like that. Movies weren’t her strength.

  Those chocolate brows knitted. Uh-oh. Had he been speaking? “Pardon me?”

  “The doctor says you should rest a few days. Get lots of sleep. Then you’ll be fine.”

  She sure didn’t feel fine now. “Why did I feel like I was in a fog?”

  He rubbed a hand over his mouth. “You might not remember everything that happened, but the doc has seen this sort of memory lapse in many migraine sufferers and they all recover. Quickly.”

  “I do get migraine headaches, but I’ve never lost memories before.” She stared at him.

  He shrugged. “There’s always a first time.”

  Think about it. What would forgetting a few details matter in the long run? At least, she didn’t have some dreaded tropical disease and could still live a full life, as they say. “Thanks for letting me know.”

  A nurse bustled into the room, detached the drip, and wrapped her arm. She wheeled the stand away, leaving behind the lingering odor of rubbing alcohol.

  “We can test your memory now.” Apollo-god crossed his arms. “Do you remember my name?”

  Annie smoothed the bandage inside her elbow and concentrated. “It’s Hal.” She gave him a smile. “Like the Shakespeare hero. How do I know you, anyway?”

  “I came by to see the people at the house where we met and discovered you. Any idiot could see something was wrong with you.”

  The hospital hadn’t treated any wounds, so what did he mean? “What was wrong?”

  “You weren’t making a lot of sense because of the missing memory.” He glanced at the big watch on his wrist. “A lot of patients are waiting for a room. I’ll stand right outside while you change.”

  “I’m ready.” Annie left the door open for Hal, gathered her jacket and surveyed the exam room. Sink, orange bio-hazard box, hand sanitizer dispenser. She rubbed her aching forehead. Her other things—because she surely had something else—must be in the car.

  She crossed to the door, but Hal didn’t budge from the doorway. “I have a question.”

  What now? “Remember I have a headache.”

  He nodded. “On the way over here, you asked me about the other man.”

  “Who was I talking about?” She tucked her hair over her shoulder.

  His lips twitched. “That’s what I’m wondering.”

  She shrugged. “I don’t know who I was talking about. Sorry.”

  “That’s okay.” He retreated into the hall. “Where’s home? I’ll give you a lift.”

  She stared at him. “French Quarter?”

  That sounded right. She’d asked one of the hospital technicians earlier where they were. The name of the hospital didn’t ring any bells, but he’d mentioned New Orleans.

  She had to be in this city to do something, though at the moment she didn’t remember what that was. Her chest tightened as if an octopus wrapped its arms around her. She wasn’t supposed to ever come back to New Orleans. This city hadn’t been good to her family.

  Hal said the doctor thought she’d recover quickly, and she could hardly wait.

  The woman behind the ER admit desk waved them over. Annie moved in beside Hal and rested her arms on the counter. The clerk turned to her computer. “I need to finish her papers. We processed her as an emergency.”

  “It was an emergency,” Hal said.

  The hospital employee clicked furiously on her keyboard. “Who’s responsible for the bill?”

  “I am.” Annie leaned forward to get her attention.

  “I am,” Hal answered at the same time.

  She opened her mouth to protest, but he stopped her with a hand on hers. “Let me take care of this so we can get you home faster.” He turned to the employee. “I gave you my information earlier, ma’am. The doctor wants her to rest as soon as possible. Can we go, please?”

  Annie held up a hand. “I want to see the bill.”

  “It’s all taken care of.” Hal gave her a steady look that dared her to disagree. The clerk gave both of them a copy, and he steered Annie through the automatic door.

  She eased away from him, but he kept walking. “Wait a minute,” she called.

  He’d already reached the end of the ramp, but she waved to him. “I’d rather talk in the shade.”

  He stalked back and braced his hands on his hips. “What?”

  “Why did the hospital give you the bill?”

  “Someone had to be the responsible party. I volunteered.” He flicked sweat from his temple.

  Responsible for her? “I don’t understand. Why didn’t they ask me for some identification?”

  “You don’t have any.”

  Her pulse jumped. Her purse! That’s what was missing. “Don’t you have my things?”

  “You had that.” He pointed to her suit jacket. “We found the hearing aid which I gave you.”

  She felt behind each ear. “Right. I have both now.”

  “We also found these.” He fished his wallet from a pocket and withdrew two cards. “Do you know why you had them or what they mean?”

  One was a business card, though she’d never heard of Magick Charms. The other had a drawing of a skeleton in armor on a horse. “I have no idea.” She pocketed them. “But listen, I have health insurance that will pay for this visit.”

  He gestured to the parking lot. “Let’s talk details later. The sooner we get to the drugstore, the faster you can get your medicine. You can look for hearing aid batteries there if you need extras.”

  She lifted her eyebrows in surprise.

  “I have a brother with hearing loss so I know about those things.”

  “Mine’s pretty severe, as you can tell. I have aids, but I can understand better if someone is facing me. Thanks for doing that.”

  “Do you lip-read?”

  “Maybe.” She shrugged. “I’m not making a conscious effort to, but I might be. I just know it’s easier if the person is looking at me.”

  “Gotcha.” Hal accompanied her to the edge of the canopy. “You want to wait here while I get the car.”

  She didn’t feel completely right, but she wasn’t a baby, either. “I can walk, thanks.”

  Heat shimmered from the asphalt, and melting tar clutched at her flip-flops. Keeping them on was already difficult because they were so big. Car lights flashed in the next row. Hal beelined that way, but she took her time. Moving too fast made her head pound worse. He reached the car first, unzipped his jacket and tossed it into the open hatch.

  She gestured to the words stamped on his tee, her chest clenching. “Is that a local band?”

  He laughed. “Nope. I’m a bail recovery agent. By law, when I make an arrest, I have to wear something that identifies me.”

  Her throat clogged, and her insides twisted. She swallowed what felt like a boulder. “Did you make an arrest this morning? Or whenever?”

  “Not yet.”

  Her father had been mistakenly killed by bounty hunters. That was why she and her mother moved away, and why her mother had warned her not to ever return. Lot of good that had done. She was back now—with a bounty hunter.

  Hal caught her arms, and she jerked her gaze to his face. He leaned closer. “You okay
?”

  “I’m fine.” She stepped back, and he dropped his hands. “Why?”

  “You were swaying.” He frowned. “Looked like you might collapse.”

  “The sun’s really intense.” She shaded her eyes. “Are you really my friend?”

  His dark eyes burned. Goosebumps rose on her arms. She waited, but the glint in his gaze disappeared. “I didn’t mind helping you, if that’s what’s bothering you.”

  She licked her lips. “I-I do appreciate your help. Thanks.”

  Was she really thanking a bounty hunter?

  He opened the passenger door. Her insides screamed she’d be sorry if she climbed inside, but she had no purse, no money, and no other options.

  She still needed to be careful with him. Not just careful.

  Out of his sight.

  Annie glanced toward the drugstore prescription counter. Hal still waited there, and she pried open a city map she’d pulled from a rack. Once they got back to the car, he would ask for a specific address.

  Vague images floated around in her throbbing head, and she didn’t yet remember a specific location. She scanned the grid of streets and identified the French Quarter, looking for somewhere within that area Hal could drop her, somewhere that would sound convincing.

  A deep voice spoke behind her. She jumped and swiveled.

  Her Apollo-god stood directly behind her, way too close for a bounty hunter.

  She didn’t know what he might do, but she didn’t want to find out. A deep breath slowed her pulse, and she folded the map with nonchalance. “I needed something to read while I waited.”

  In the car, he handed her a bottle of water. She swallowed a pill, and he pulled onto the street, passing an old-fashioned green streetcar grinding down the landscaped median.

  Restaurants and bars eventually replaced the columned mansions facing the avenue. They drove by a grocery, a big apartment building, some restaurants, and underneath freeway ramps. With every passing block her nervousness built. “How far is the French Quarter?”