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Jessica Fraser listened to the music, the cool jazz tones She had closed her eyes, and despite the voices, the scraping of chairs and clinking of glasses, she could filter everything else out and hear the et the night, forget work and her upco her Froo now, she had been in love not just with the city&039;s sense of history and pulsing life, but with the sounds, especially theher eyes, she was alone All she could feel was the music, as if it had entered her body and soul, and soothed her

Of course, few people actually considered Bourbon Street to besoothing

Yet even as she listened to theof calm, a sense that all was not well startled her She opened her eyes and looked around, plagued by a sudden and yet very disturbing feeling that she was being watched

"Hey, did you hearJessica

"I&039;ie said, "is a bathing suit for people with a little et one of those tankini things," put in Stacey LeCroix, who helped Jessica with both her B and B and the designing she did, both sidelines, since Jessica&039;s real livelihood ca, cute and thin as a reed

Maggie sighed "Honey, a tankini doesn&039;t do a thing in the world for too hs"

Jessica couldn&039;t help but laugh as she looked across the table at Sean Canady, Maggie&039;s husband, a tall, well-built man who coly rugged face, an asset in his job as a cop "Please tell your wife she doesn&039;t have thunder thighs"

Sean pushed back a thatch of thick blond hair and looked at his wife "Maggie, you don&039;t have thunder thighs"

It was a curious coie, who tended to be farabout the fate of the world She had beenwith proble back," as they called it, of New Orleans On top of that, she was a stunning woman with burnished auburn hair and hazel eyes that seeold She was usually last person to feel insecure about her appearance Maggie knew there were real evils in the world, but she tried not to worry about the possibilities-natural and otherwise-unless she had to

Maggie sighed deeply "Who knows? Maybe I just gained a bit h with each of our three children But I drea suit Jessica, can&039;t you co? Hey, Jessica-are you with us?"

Jessica started; she had been looking around, certain she would find so her But no one seemed the least bit interested in her or her table

Maybe it was just the odd restlessness that had settled over her before she had even reached the club tonight, a restlessness she hadn&039;t been able to understand

"U her attention back to the conversation "If you want a bathing suit that covers n one for you"

"It&039;s going to make for a really weird tan line," Stacey warned

Jessica looked at her assistant Stacey onderful She was a fireball of energy, just over five feet tall, but confident and even fiercely assertive at tiressive, Stacey had once told her

"This whole conversation is" Jessica began, but caught herself before sayinginaneShe winced, wondering at the i It was as if she needed to be so, but she had no idea where or what Maybe she was just on edge about heading out to the conference

Jessica turned to see atoward them Bobby Munro, Stacey&039;s latest boyfriend, was one of Sean&039;s fellow cops, tall, dark-haired and good looking

He nodded at Sean "Lieutenant"

"Bobby, I thought you had to work," Stacey said

"I do, private party, around the corner," Bobby said "I just caood trip And say hello to you, of course" He stood behind Stacey, bent down and kissed the top of her head, then looked at Jessica "You be careful, huh?"

Jessica groaned

"It&039;s just a conference," she said She considered asking the others if they had been seized by any strange feelings, if they felt that eyes were secretively scrutinizing their every move, but forced herself not to Sean was a cop, for God&039;s sake If he saw or evenfelt anything, he would certainly say so She was just on edge because going to a conference in Ro

Bobby waved and left, and once he was gone, Sean leaned forward again

"You&039;re awfully tense for so off to a simple professional conference," he said "Hell, Jessicait&039;s a foreign country"

"It&039;s not a trip into the deepest jungle, Sean Romania is very oing with you"

Jessica waved a dismissive hand in the air "Don&039;t be ridiculous"

"I-" Stacey began

"I need you here to take care of things I&039; to a conference"

"Still," Sean observed, "you&039;re awfully tense Do you want a drink?"

"I&039;m not tense," Jessica informed him quickly Yes, she realized, she was She had practically snapped at Sean She was tense-and she had no idea why "I&039;m sorry It&039;s just that" She stared at her friends She just couldn&039;t sit still any longer She stood suddenly, feigning a yawn "Guys, excuse uess I&039;e"

"I knew it" Sean said "Youare worried about your trip"

"No, just antsy, I guess But I think I&039;ll head home," Jessica said

"I think I&039;ll leave, too," Stacey said, rising "It&039;s too bad you&039;re not going on a real vacation You need one You aren&039;t yourself tonight Maybe psychologists need psychologistsa trip to a e I ists&039; convention in Romania?"

"I&039;m an experienced traveler, so don&039;t worry about me This will be almost like a vacation, I&039;ll do all kinds of wonderful touristy things," Jessica assured her

"Will you go to Dracula&039;s castle, walk in the ie asked

"Exactly," Jessica said, shed "I hardly think Jessica needs to worry about vampires and olves For God&039;s sake, she&039;s from New Orleans, land of voodoo-and all the crazies whothink they&039;re zoie

"I know, it&039;s just thatI don&039;t know I just don&039;t like it"

"I&039;reat experience I&039;ht" Jessica hugged thee on her way out She lifted a hand and waved to Big Jie man, his skin was like ebony, yet he played his instruel&039;s touch in his reat instincts about people and situations, perhaps handed down by his family, many of ere known in the local voodoo coie, he&039;d befriended her when she&039;d firsthis head with a sigh Then he quietly mouthed the words to her, "Be careful"

She mouthed in reply, "Always"

He still didn&039;t look happy But then, Big Jim&039;s mother had been a voodoo priestess, and he was a definite believer that things weren&039;t alhat they seerin that teased her lips Bless hi brother

Band member Barry Larson, lanky, in his thirties, a transplant from somewhere in the Midwest, covered his ood trip and come home safe, okay?"

"Of course"

He seeky She&039;d been afraid when she firstof a crush on her, but he&039;d never said anything and over tilad that the French Quarter was back to its busy, even a little bit crazy, self It was just around eleven, a time when the streets were at their busiest She quickly walked the three blocks to her house, then, at her gates, paused for ain the air Rain toht, and looked up at the sky

She didn&039;t like what she saw As she hurried toward the front door, she ree at the rear, once the old sreat In return for a place to live, he kept an eye on the place, and on her and Stacey He was a quiet ht slouch and longish, clean but unkeood friends she&039;d

Even so, she paused again halfway up the ay, staring heavenward Again the sense of urgency assailed her, a feeling that she needed to be ht Maybe I do need a real vacation, she thought Or hed aloud at the idea of a vacation when she was feeling this terrible need to hurry, to get ahead of so she could do about it now The plane would leave the next day, and she would be on it

Jessica couldn&039;t sleep She lay on her bed, strangely aware of tiht, she walked outside to her balcony, which faced the street She loved her house, and it was sheer luck that she&039;d been able to buy it A from hurricane Katrina that had devastated so e to the Quarter or her house The house was quite large, and she was able to keep it because, with Stacey&039;s help, she ran it as a very selective bed-and-breakfast Her practice, which she ran out of the house, was a good one; in psychology, she had found the perfect vocation And, on the side, she designed one-of-a-kind costumes for various Mardi Gras krewes

From a distance, she could very faintly hear the sounds of hter, carried on the breeze froain Absurdly, it appeared as if there was a hint of red in the night air A hint of red that seeer as she watched and the darkness seemed to take almost physical forined herself with a shrink "I don&039;t actually see the darkIfeel it"

For a moment, a chill seized her as the darkness see A deep red darkness