attacker but maybe going to a public place and calling the police would have been a better bet. Was this the same person who had defaced the convent and all the rest? What else had Heaven stuck her nose in? The scene at the coffee warehouse popped into her head. But this wasn’t the big man that she’d seen there and technically she hadn’t really interfered in Truely’s business. She’d only asked a couple of questions about Truely’s business, inquiring innocently to Will, Truely’s best friend. Heaven peered into the darkness behind the streetcar but her pursuer was nowhere to be seen. Maybe he’d given up on following and was taking a shortcut. A guy in reasonable condition could run down to the end of the line as fastas the car traveled, what with the stops. The car slowed down and they were at Riverwalk.
Heaven walked rapidly toward the doors of the shopping mall. They were locked tight, of course. “What an idiot,” she said aloud to herself. She hadn’t worn a watch to dinner and hadn’t thought about how late it was. She hadn’t taken her cell phone with her to dinner. “I’m totally unprepared for this,” she muttered and looked around. She needed to get away from the front of the closed mall. It was fairly dark. But, she tried to tell herself, the chances of the guy having followed her were slim. After all, he had delivered his message. Also, even if someone wasn’t chasing her, she shouldn’t be standing around in the shadows of a locked shopping mall.
All of sudden, from the river side of the big building, Heaven saw him appear. He was jogging, not running, and he spotted her but didn’t increase his speed. If the distance was straightened out, he was still more than a block away. Heaven turned away from the direction he was coming and started across the street. She spotted the big casino, Harrah’s, on the other corner. “Perfect,” she said, and ran into the sparkling gambling emporium as fast as she could.
Heaven went looking for the security office, then thought better of it. No one would make a scene in a casino. An assault here would be met with zero tolerance. Heaven spent a few minutes lurking around the front door waiting to see her attacker enter and then realized there were entrances on other streets. He could already be in the building, could have already spotted her, could be making his way toward her right now.
She looked around nervously and walked into theocean of slot machines, bought a roll of quarters and sat down in front of a Triple Wild Cherry slot to think.
The blinking, ringing, chinking, the soundtrack of the casino, was soothing to Heaven. She put quarters in the machine automatically and won a few back. Maybe, if she just stayed there a few more minutes and didn’t see the bad guy, she’d get a taxi back to her hotel and the whole thing would be over. The cheery bell told Heaven she’d won again, and this time twenty or thirty dollars worth of quarters must have poured down in the trough. She put them in one of the plastic cups stacked by the side of the slot machine and walked over to another set of machines.
That’s when she realized she should have kept moving from the very beginning. Her red hair made her easy to spot. She sat facing a different direction, her eyes scanning. Another five minutes went by and Heaven was beginning to breath normally. She would just get up and go to the Poydras Street entrance to the casino and get a cab. It would be easy. She shoveled as many quarters as she could in her small purse, leaving the rest next to a slot machine.
At that moment, her attacker appeared on the false horizon of slot machine tops. He was in another room coming her way, moving his head slowly from side to side, like a robotic surveillance camera in a convenience store. Heaven hadn’t seen him except at a distance in the dark, but there was no question in her mind that it was him. He was shorter than he’d seemed up close, more compact.
She shrank
Heaven walked rapidly toward the doors of the shopping mall. They were locked tight, of course. “What an idiot,” she said aloud to herself. She hadn’t worn a watch to dinner and hadn’t thought about how late it was. She hadn’t taken her cell phone with her to dinner. “I’m totally unprepared for this,” she muttered and looked around. She needed to get away from the front of the closed mall. It was fairly dark. But, she tried to tell herself, the chances of the guy having followed her were slim. After all, he had delivered his message. Also, even if someone wasn’t chasing her, she shouldn’t be standing around in the shadows of a locked shopping mall.
All of sudden, from the river side of the big building, Heaven saw him appear. He was jogging, not running, and he spotted her but didn’t increase his speed. If the distance was straightened out, he was still more than a block away. Heaven turned away from the direction he was coming and started across the street. She spotted the big casino, Harrah’s, on the other corner. “Perfect,” she said, and ran into the sparkling gambling emporium as fast as she could.
Heaven went looking for the security office, then thought better of it. No one would make a scene in a casino. An assault here would be met with zero tolerance. Heaven spent a few minutes lurking around the front door waiting to see her attacker enter and then realized there were entrances on other streets. He could already be in the building, could have already spotted her, could be making his way toward her right now.
She looked around nervously and walked into theocean of slot machines, bought a roll of quarters and sat down in front of a Triple Wild Cherry slot to think.
The blinking, ringing, chinking, the soundtrack of the casino, was soothing to Heaven. She put quarters in the machine automatically and won a few back. Maybe, if she just stayed there a few more minutes and didn’t see the bad guy, she’d get a taxi back to her hotel and the whole thing would be over. The cheery bell told Heaven she’d won again, and this time twenty or thirty dollars worth of quarters must have poured down in the trough. She put them in one of the plastic cups stacked by the side of the slot machine and walked over to another set of machines.
That’s when she realized she should have kept moving from the very beginning. Her red hair made her easy to spot. She sat facing a different direction, her eyes scanning. Another five minutes went by and Heaven was beginning to breath normally. She would just get up and go to the Poydras Street entrance to the casino and get a cab. It would be easy. She shoveled as many quarters as she could in her small purse, leaving the rest next to a slot machine.
At that moment, her attacker appeared on the false horizon of slot machine tops. He was in another room coming her way, moving his head slowly from side to side, like a robotic surveillance camera in a convenience store. Heaven hadn’t seen him except at a distance in the dark, but there was no question in her mind that it was him. He was shorter than he’d seemed up close, more compact.
She shrank
Similar Books
