You know, a lot of people think I’m just interfering, trying to get publicity or pity, anything you can think of. They can’t seem to grasp that I lived here for many years and I want to give back to the place I love.”
“I don’t care what other people think,” he replied. “I’m here to follow you and to capture that essence that makes the world so fascinated with you.”
“I’m not so sure I have an essence,” she retorted, embarrassed by the way he looked at her. “I do care or I wouldn’t be here.”
“I believe you.”
“Then let’s get started. I’ll have Deidre bring dessert and we’ll eat while we compare.”
For the next couple of hours they nibbled on their mini-fruit tarts and drank more coffee while they went over the details of the next week.
Finally, Lara glanced up and noticed the time. “It’s close to eleven. You must be exhausted.”
“No, I’m good.”
He gave her that look again, the one that made her blush. Was he one of those night owls who needed little sleep?
“But I imagine you’re tired.”
“I am rather fatigued,” she said, patting at her hair. She longed for a bubble bath and a good night’s sleep.
They both stood up and Lara was about to escort him to the door when Deidre walked in with a package. “Ma’am, I found this at the back door.”
“The back door? That’s odd. No one alerted us.” Lara took the square box and began to open it, thinking it might be the stationery she’d ordered from her favorite local paperie. “Do you mind if I check on this?” she asked Gabriel. “This might be the addressed invitations for the gala and silent auction we’re having at an old mansion in the Quarter. We had a typo in the first batch, so they were going to do a rush order to get them here in time.”
“Of course not.” He sat back and studied his notes.
Deidre watched as Lara tugged at the box. “I’ll put it away after you’re finished, ma’am.”
Lara pulled back the tissue paper and gasped, then backed against a chair, the box still in her hands.
Gabriel jumped up and grabbed the box. “That’s not invitations.”
Deidre peered over into the open package. “Oh, my. Oh, ma’am, I’m so sorry. I’ll take it away immediately.”
Lara nodded, put her hand to her throat. “Yes, please do.”
“No, don’t touch it.” Gabriel pushed Deidre away. “We need to alert security.”
“No. I don’t think—”
“Yes,” Gabriel said. “Just as a precaution.”
After Deidre turned away to pull out her phone, Lara regained some of her composure and stared up at Gabriel. “I think someone is trying to warn me away from New Orleans.”
He frowned, his gaze centered on her. “I think you might be right.”
She closed her eyes and thought about what she’d seen in that box. It was just superstition, nothing else. Or had the horror she’d feared started already? Had her tormentor already arrived in New Orleans?
Gabriel seemed to be as concerned as she was. He took her hand away, forcing her to open her eyes. “Who do you know that would send you a voodoo doll with a pin through the heart, Princess?”
TWO
“Really, this isn’t necessary.”
Gabriel glanced over at Lara Kincade, surprised that she had not wanted to call her security team or the police. He and Deidre had finally convinced her to call her head of security.
“But it is. You have to take these things seriously even if you think they’re pranks.” He studied the little satin-covered doll with the big blue eyes and the blond yarn hair. “A voodoo doll is a signal, prank or no prank.”
“I get this sort of ‘signal’ all the time,” she said, one arm wrapped around her waist, propping up the other arm she had lifted to her face. She stood just that way, her fingers curled against her chin, while she studied the red-satin-lined box with the odd-looking little figurine lying inside. “When I was young, I saw one of these in a store window down in the Quarter. I begged for it, but my mother refused to let me have it. She told me it wasn’t the kind of doll with which a little girl should play.”
“It’s not the kind of doll a grown woman should fool around with, either,” Gabriel replied, his English not nearly as proper as hers. But then, he’d practically grown up down in the Quarter. He’d learned street smarts long before he’d studied photography, and he’d learned how to read people long before he’d studied journalism. And something about the woman standing in front of him didn’t wash. She was too calm, too practiced. “You can’t take any chances.”
“They’re on the way,” Deidre said as she bustled around the room with a cell phone in her hand, her dark eyes wide with concern. “Ma’am, I’m so sorry.”
“Deidre, you did nothing wrong,” Lara replied, her eyes still on the package. “Stop apologizing and please stop pacing.”
Deidre skidded on the spot but looked anxious all the same. “I should have waited until we’d had the package checked by one of the guards. I know the protocol.”
“Deidre, remind me again—you didn’t see who delivered this?” Gabriel said.
Deidre looked at him, then glanced toward the princess.
“Go ahead, answer him,” Lara said on a gentle voice. “He’s here to observe and take pictures, but he might be able to help.”
“I didn’t see anyone, and Herbert has already gone home so we can’t ask him.”
“Maybe we can call him. He might have taken the package.” Gabriel wanted to reassure the girl. “I’m trying to piece things together before we call the police.”
“The police?” Lara glared at him and shook her head. “I told you, no police. My head of security—”
A door down the hallway burst open and a tall bull of a man with tight graying curls muscled his way into the room. “Your Highness, we’ve alerted the team. We’ve got guards stationed all around the property.”
“—is here right now.” Lara moved away from the offending package but waved her hand toward it. “Thank you, Malcolm. There it is. This is what all the fuss is about. Quite silly, honestly.”
Malcolm glanced at the voodoo doll, then turned to stare at Gabriel. “What’s your take?”
Gabriel lifted his eyebrows, surprised that anyone cared about his thoughts on this. He didn’t want to be involved in whatever was going on. He’d already met Malcolm Plankston through a thorough vetting interview that had left him wondering if the man would even let him
