Mischief in New Orleans Read online

  Evie wandered over to the couch to begin loading pictures on Sunshine’s Instagram account. She called out, “Whatever you’re eating smells so good, Dor. Got some for me?”

  Dora smiled. She’d already tossed two sandwiches into the pan to cook, knowing Evie couldn’t resist gooey cheese, bread, and butter, but she couldn’t help teasing her friend. “I thought you were going to eat étouffée.”

  “Can’t I have both?” Evie asked as she came up behind Dora to peer over her shoulder.

  Dora laughed. “Way ahead of you.”

  While Evie heated up her meal from Myrtle, Dora had to admit the étouffée filled the kitchen with a delicious aroma, and if she’d been feeling better, she might have tried it. Once dinner was ready, the two sat down at Gertie’s kitchen table to eat.

  Evie grabbed her sandwich, took a big bite, and let out a sigh of contentment as she chewed. “Why does the grilled cheese that you make always taste the best?”

  “Food always tastes better when someone else makes it. Especially if it’s your best friend who does it without being asked.”

  Evie smiled at her. “This is why we’re such good friends. You love me, Dor.”

  “I do.” Dora couldn’t help but think about Gertie and Myrtle. She imagined that Myrtle getting up early in the morning to walk with Gertie was about spending time together, while Gertie may have been working on her friend’s health to keep her around a little longer. Yet it was Myrtle who’d ended up left alone.

  Dora’s throat thickened, and she had to gulp to get the food in her mouth down to her stomach. She’d always thought she and Evie would be two little old ladies living together in their golden years, and she imagined she’d be the one making Evie walk early in the morning. She envisioned Evie complaining, but talking and laughing with her the whole way just the same. And then she wondered how she’d ever go on if Evie died and left her first. She set her sandwich down as her eyes filled with tears.

  “What’s up?” Evie asked, her face full of concern.

  Dora shook her head. “I was thinking about how close Gertie and Myrtle were, and it made me imagine us.” She reached her hand across to grab Evie’s. “I hope you die first.”

  “What?” Evie chuckled. “You can have your sandwich back,” she joked.

  “No. I didn’t mean it like that. I meant that I can imagine how hard it will be for the one left behind when one of us dies, and I want to spare you that pain.”

  “Awww, Dora.” Evie’s eyes were glassy now too. “That’s really sweet.” She sniffed and then smiled. “But I want you to die first.”

  “You want to spare me the pain of missing you, too?”

  “No,” Evie forked a mouthful of étouffée and lifted it up. “I know that when I’m gone you won’t know how to have any fun, and at that point you might as well be dead.”

  Dora let out a snort. “Fine. We’ll die together.”

  “Now you’re talking. Preferably Thelma and Louise style.” As Evie chewed, her brow furrowed, and after she swallowed her bite of the classic New Orleans dish, she said, “You may have ruined crawfish étouffée for me.”

  “With my famous grilled cheese?”

  “No, its…” Evie took another bite and held it in her mouth as she frowned. She swallowed with a grimace. “Either Raúl isn’t a very good cook, or I’m too susceptible to the power of suggestion.”

  Dora raised her eyebrows because the latter statement was definitely true. “There was that time in high school I had to stop you from shaving your head and donning a robe to hand out poppies.”

  “True, but those little flowers were awfully cute.”

  “The hairstyle would not have been,” Dora said.

  Evie ignored Dora’s comment as she sucked her tongue a few times as if trying to rid her mouth of an unpleasant flavor. “I swear I taste mud now.” The bowl scraped on the table as she pushed it away. “Weird.”

  “Sorry. I didn’t mean to ruin that dish for you.”

  “No worries.” Evie reached over to swipe half of Dora’s sandwich. “I’ll just eat more of what you’ve got.” She pumped her eyebrows and took a big bite.

  After dinner, the two women sat on the couch to watch TV with Sunshine. Dora noticed Gertie’s laptop sitting on a small, antique secretary, and she walked over to pick it up from the dropdown leaf of the desk. “I wonder if we could find out from Gertie’s laptop if she even received the Buddha.”

  “Not a bad idea. She probably kept good records of her business transactions.”

  Dora plopped down on the sofa next to Evie, who had just started a romcom, and she opened the computer. As she’d suspected, though, it was password protected. Something she’d need to explore with a plan. One she wasn’t ready to formulate tonight. She hadn’t gotten much sleep being sick last night, and they’d had a busy day. It had worn her out. “I’m going to have to work on this tomorrow. Want to take a crack at it?”

  Evie shook her head and placed her hand on her stomach. “No. I’m feeling a little funky. I think it can wait until tomorrow.”

  “Oh, no. Maybe what I had last night was a virus and not from what I ate.”

  “Do you think so?” Evie asked with a grimace.

  “No. Not really. My stomach turned itself inside out in a way that happens with food poisoning.” Dora stood up. “I know the heartburn medication is expired, but do you want some bicarbonate to settle your stomach?”

  “Say what?”

  “Baking soda. Mix it with a little water, and it works the same as over-the-counter chewables.”

  “You’re a handy person to have around, Dor. Sure, I’ll try it.”

  Neither woman made it through the movie Evie had picked before retiring early. And it was a good thing, because Dora needed every minute of precious sleep she could get before she witnessed Evie reenacting last night’s food-poisoning scenario.

  Sometime just before dawn, Dora awoke to the sound of retching and made her way into the bathroom. The tile floor was hard under her knees as she kneeled down to pull Evie’s bright pink locks into a ponytail. “Hey, Evie.”

  Evie groaned as she turned her head to look at Dora.

  “Whoa,” Dora said when she noticed how flushed her friend was. She put her hand on Evie’s forehead. “I’m worried about you.”

  “I’m a little worried too.” Evie said as she got up from the floor and placed a hand on her chest. “My heart is beating so fast. Like I just sprinted or something.” Water rushed into the sink when she turned on the faucet, and she bent down to drink out of it.

  “Evie!”

  “I know, I know,” she said as she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. “Use a glass.”

  “No. I mean yes, but that’s not what I’m worried about.” Dora grabbed Evie’s wrist to take her pulse.

  Evie pulled her hand back. “I’m fine.” She walked out into the kitchen, and Dora followed her, concerned that her friend was not at all fine. Evie said, “It’s better now. It was probably the spice in the étouffée that got my pulse racing.”

  Dora opened the fridge and pulled out the plastic container of the seafood concoction. She lifted the cover to sniff it. “This doesn’t smell spicy.” She scanned Evie with her gaze, looking for anything that might be off. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

  “I think so, but Dor…” Evie scowled. “What if that was poisoned? What if both the meals we ate were from Raúl and—” Evie let out a sigh. “I’m being dramatic, aren’t I?”

  “Maybe. But maybe not.” Dora took the étouffée and dumped it into the sink. The smart thing to do would be to have the food tested for poison, but considering they were on the run with zero connections, it wasn’t as if they could just walk into the police station with the food and ask someone to do them a favor. It was better to just get rid of it so no one else, including Sunshine, consumed the possibly tainted food. With a spoon she shoved it down the garbage disposal as the blades whirled to grind it up. She glanced over at Evie. “I’d fe
el a whole lot better if we checked on Myrtle to be sure.”

  “I agree.”

  10

  The scent of peppermint wafted up Evie’s nose as she sipped on her tea. Her heartbeat had returned to normal, and the herbal tea was helping to settle her stomach as she and Dora waited until it was a reasonable hour to go check on Myrtle. Knowing the woman had only gotten up early to walk with Gertie, they assumed she’d sleep at least until eight. And since Dora had an eight-thirty appointment to get fitted for her Scarlett costume, they figured they stop by Myrtle’s apartment on the way.

  Evie opened up her phone to check Sunshine’s Sushi Instagram account. She was hoping Trace had found it and at least liked one of the photos to let her know he knew she was safe. She’d had the Sushi account follow him after her initial post of Sunshine in her bad girl outfit. She smiled when she found that Trace had not only hearted the initial image but also commented with #musicianlove on the picture of Sunshine kissing the sax player.

  She really missed Trace and was a little surprised by how a simple thing like commenting on her dog’s picture made her day. Perhaps she did care more for the broody bass player than she was willing to admit to Dora. She let out a sigh, wishing she could snap her fingers and make everything go back to the way it was less than two weeks ago. Back when her biggest concern was keeping her current job instead of hiding out while trying to clear her best friend’s name.

  Dora’s voice carried from the bedroom. “What kind of adventure are you going to go on today, Sushi girl?”

  She walked into the kitchen with the dog in her arms, and Evie chuckled when she saw that Sunshine now had streaks of purple and green in the white fur on the top of her head. “Some might say you’re getting a little too into the disguise thing, Dora.”

  “Shush. It may be months until Mardi Gras, but Sunshine is just getting into the spirit anyway. Aren’t you girl?” she cooed.

  “She does look cute.” Evie stood up. “Is it time to go?

  “You have a few minutes still.” Dora was dressed in Bermuda shorts and a silk sleeveless top. She was also wearing a strand of pearls that Evie wouldn’t be caught dead in, yet they matched Dora’s new look perfectly. “How’s your stomach?” Dora asked.

  Evie’s mug clattered in the sink when she set it down. “A little gurgly, but that might be my worry for Myrtle.”

  “I feel the same way,” Dora said, setting Sunshine down and moving toward the sink where, Evie knew, she would wash the mug and put it away. “Hurry up and finish getting ready so we can go check on her.”

  “On it.”

  A few minutes later they were knocking on Myrtle’s door. After the second rap, Evie wondered if they might need to find a manager to let them in.

  “You two are Gertie’s nieces, aren’t you?” called out an older woman as she approached them. She was wearing loose shorts, white sneakers and a big floppy hat that made Evie think she was coming in from her morning walk.

  “We are,” Evie said, and when she noticed the woman take out her keys she asked, “Do you live on this floor too?”

  “Right across the hall.” She leaned down to ruffle Sunshine’s fur as Evie held the pup. “Aren’t you a precious little Mardi Gras dog?”

  Sunshine let out a little yip as if to say thank you, and the woman said, “If you’re looking for Myrtle, she’s at yoga.”

  “Yoga? Well good for her,” Dora said.

  “It is good for her,” said the woman. “Poor thing has been missing Gertie something awful.”

  “I’m sure,” Evie said as her chest loosened up with relief. “If you see her let her know we stopped by. We’ll check on her later today. “

  “Will do. Enjoy your day,” the woman said as the lock on her door clicked open.

  “You too,” Dora said with a smile.

  Once the woman was in her apartment Evie let out a breath of air. “I feel better already. I’m sure glad Myrtle and I weren’t poisoned. I must have gotten the one bad crawfish in the bunch.”

  “Yeah,” Dora said.

  But Evie’s words were just a brave front, because she wasn’t so sure. As they walked down the hall toward the exit, her gut told her something was off. It seemed like too much of a coincidence that Dora and she had both gotten sick from food Gertie and Myrtle had. But knowing Myrtle was okay let her focus on the current task at hand. Getting Dora into a cooperative mood.

  Evie began to hum an upbeat tune as they went out the door, and when they got into the heat, instead of complaining about it, Evie opened up her arms and looked up to the sky. “It’s a beautiful day to be alive in New Orleans, don’t you think, Dora?”

  Dora tilted her head at her friend, considering the words. “The bustle of the city with its rich heritage does have a beating pulse of life that’s hard to ignore. You’re awfully happy today, Evie.”

  “Why wouldn’t I be? I’m about to watch a tailor manhandle my best friend. Better you than me.” Evie winked at her.

  Dora let out a groan. “Why are we friends again?”

  Evie hooked her arm in Dora’s. “I’m teasing. It’ll be fun. I can’t wait to see how fabulous you look in a Scarlett costume.”

  “I suppose.”

  A car horn honked when they stopped at a crosswalk and waited their turn to cross the street. “Hey, when you read the Outlander series, you told me you wished you could wear a dress like Claire’s. Think what it’s going to do to your boobs, Dor.” Dora’s lips turned up with the hint of a smile and Evie took it as encouragement. “And you get to pretend to be a southern belle, too. Aren’t you even a little bit excited about that?”

  “Okay. Yes, that does sound like fun. But—”

  “Are you worried about Marco?” Evie asked as she stepped over the puddle next to the curb.

  “A little.” Dora shook her head as she placed a hand on her stomach, and that’s when Evie got it. Her friend had been shy as a child, and even though she was now quite capable in social situations, Evie knew Dora’s knee jerk reaction to attention was to be that timid little girl. “A little social anxiety kicking in?”

  Dora gave Evie a wry smile. “Yes. Maybe you could take my place.”

  While the thought of replacing Dora had occurred to Evie in the form of jealousy, she knew this was a growth experience for her bestie. And it was also Dora’s turn to bask in all the attention. “No way. You have the look, and you’re going to be fabulous.”

  “I don’t know.” Dora stopped and stared in the window of the tailor shop, likely debating what would happen if she refused to go.

  The window had two mannequins dressed in masquerade ball attire, and the name of the shop, Antoine’s, was on the glass in gilded leaf. Evie grabbed her friend’s hand before she could run. “This place is adorable!”

  They stepped into an air-conditioned space, and both women let out a sigh of relief. The shop had an old-fashioned feel to it with a creaky wood floor underfoot and various mannequins dressed in period costumes. Flora had said that Antoine had the best custom costume shop in the city. And judging by the price tag Evie turned over on a green silk gown, she believed it.

  Once they were past the displays, Dora and Evie found themselves in a small area that had a platform set before a three-way mirror. A desk was set off to the side with a tattered looking notebook, a measuring tape, large clips and a pincushion sitting on top. There was also a worn vintage couch, and Evie plopped down on it with Sunshine as a tiny man with wild gray hair resembling Einstein came out from behind a folding partition that functioned as portable wall to create a dressing area.

  “Ah, my Scarlett is here,” the man said with a hint of a French accent. He scanned Dora with his gaze as if she were being presented to him for his consideration. He smiled and winked at Evie as if they were in cahoots. “The corset is going to do wonders for this one.”

  “That’s what I said,” Evie replied, happy to encourage his plotting.

  Flora hurried toward them from the front of the shop. She s
miled apologetically at Dora and Evie. “Sorry I’m late. I wanted to be here to help pick out the best costume. But looks like I made it in time.”

  * * *

  Dora nodded at her and let out a sigh. “Should I get changed now?”

  “Yes, yes,” Antoine said as he scurried behind the partition again. The women heard the rattling and crashing of items followed by a grunt before Antoine returned carrying a burgundy-red dress.

  “Oh,” Dora said as she scowled. “I knew I shouldn’t have agreed to this. Do I really have to wear the scandalous dress? Why not the pretty white and green barbeque dress with the big floppy hat?”

  “That dress was just as scandalous for its time,” Flora said in a southern accent. “Women didn’t show their bosom during midday hours back then.”

  “Be thankful you’re not wearing the curtain,” Antoine said, which made Evie snort.

  But she quickly recovered. “Dora, the red is going to be gorgeous with your coloring. Besides, the whole point behind Scarlett was that she was scandalous. Just enjoy playing a part that isn’t you.” Her voice got softer. “Do it for Gertie.”

  Dora sighed, and Evie wondered if her friend was thinking the same thing she was. Poor Gertie had died before her time, and the least they could do was make something she cared about be the best it could be.

  Dora held her head up and stood up a little taller. “You’re right. I’m going to make Gertie proud.”

  11

  Dora took a deep breath and blew it out as Antoine had instructed, and then she tried not to groan when he yanked the corset strings tighter. She was humiliated enough standing there in nothing but a pair of bloomers and a low-cut corset barely covering her breasts that were now plumped up to maximum volume.

  “There!” Antoine cried out. He stepped in front of Dora and held out the red dress for her to step into.

  She was more than a little horrified that the first time she’d tried it on it wouldn’t button around her waist. Now that she could no longer take a deep breath, she understood why. She was very glad she lived in the twenty-first century and didn’t have to endure the pain of such restricting undergarments every day.