April woke up alone in Trish's bed. She heard voices outside the bedroom door, and assumed Trish and Jasmine were already up. Finding her clothes in a neat pile, on a chair near the bed, she jumped in the shower.
Fifteen minutes later, she walked into Trish's kitchen to find her and Jasmine finishing their brunch. Trish gave her a smile and handed her a plate of food. Jasmine didn't even look at her.
She took a seat at the end of the table, putting Jasmine between her and Trish. She ate in silence while Trish and Jasmine chatted away. Trish's eyes kept darting back and forth between her and Jasmine while they talked, but Jasmine acted like she wasn't even there. Halfway through her meal, Jasmine stood up and announced she was leaving. Trish walked her to the door, they hugged, and April stared at Jasmine's back as she disappeared down the hall. The sound of Trish's voice jerked her back to the present.
"I'm sorry April. She tried to leave this morning, while you were still sleeping. I finally talked her into staying; so I thought she was willing to talk to you, maybe work things out, but..." her voice trailed off.
No, Jasmine had decided to stay just long enough to bury a knife in her heart, and then give it a good twist. It hurt. It hurt like hell. She just sat there, staring at the door, feeling like she'd just been sucker punched. Eventually, though, her Irish temper kicked in, pushing out the pain.
"Fine, Jasmine," she thought. "We're even. Even and done."
Fueled by temper, she thanked Trish and said goodbye, drove back to her hotel, took another shower, changed clothes and checked out. She headed back to New Orleans, making the hour and a half trip in an hour flat. It was temper that had her practically kicking her own door in. She threw her bags on the bed and marched out to the balcony. Hands gripping the top of the railing, she stared out over her little piece of The Quarter, lost in thought.
First, she imagined knocking Jasmine on her arrogant little ass. Then her mind started replaying last night. After that, her mind drifted to the first time they had made love, and their first kiss in front of the drug store, over three months ago. She felt tears welling up in her eyes and marched back inside, shaking them off. She stood in the middle of her apartment trying to gain control of her emotions.
She needed a game plan. She always felt better if she mapped out a course of action. She stared at her bed, marshalling her thoughts into some kind of order. She needed to call John, give him an update. Maybe he would know why Jade had chosen the name Lee Anne. Then she needed to find Jade and haul her ass back home. She'd hog tie her and throw her in the trunk of her car, if she had to. After that, she was getting as far away from this city as humanly possible, and then forgetting she had ever heard the name Dupree. Feeling calmer, she snatched up her phone and put a call in to John.
##
April eased the phone back into its cradle, actually feeling a little optimistic. John had given her a last name, St. Clair. Apparently, Lee Anne St. Clair was the sisters' mother's maiden name. It made sense, knowing Jade as she did, for her to decide to take that as her new identity. Spurred on by this new piece of information, she found her laptop and went to work.
##
Two hours later, she had a headache, sore eyes and nothing new. She couldn't find any new listings, anywhere, for a Lee Anne St. Clair in Baton Rogue. She had tried to find some information about the private club Jade was now working at, and had come up empty there, as well.
She needed a hacker. Mason had done a fantastic job for her last time, but it was now fall, Halloween was just a few weeks away, and he was back in school. She was sure he'd be happy to help her, but his time would be limited, and April didn't want to wait around. Snatching the phone back up, she called her old friend Mike from back home, hoping he could recommend someone else.
It turned out Mike had several names for her. The best one, though, was going to be hard to find. Her name was Alyshia, no last name, and Mike swore she was the best hacker on the planet. That, in April's mind, was high praise. Unfortunately, this master hacker wasn't easy to locate. Whoever she was, she kept a very low profile, communicating only through e-mail, and was usually so busy, she turned down a lot of jobs. Mike had promised to contact this woman for her, hoping she might be more willing to accept a job offer from a fellow hacker, but there was no guarantee. April decided to give it 24 hours. After that, she was moving on to the next name on her list.
The following afternoon, Mike called April back. "You're in luck. She accepted."
"Great! Thanks Mike, I owe you one."
"Yes, you do, but I'll just add this one to your tab," Mike said, chuckling.
"Ha ha. Ok, so what do I do next?"
"Pick her up at the airport. She was already on the road and emailed me that she was headed to New Orleans."
"That works. When does her flight come in?"
"Four o'clock this afternoon."
"Shit! Mike! It's 3:45. Jeez," April frantically looked around her apartment for a pen and paper. "Ok, what's the flight number?"
April scribbled the information down on the back of a pizza takeout menu and rushed out the door. She mentally crossed her fingers hoping Alyshia didn't get mad and leave before she made it to the airport.
##
Almost an hour later, April rushed into the airport, frantically checking the signs. She couldn't find the flight number posted anywhere and checked at the desk. The woman there pointed out a lounge area and explained that that was the most likely place for Alyshia to wait, unless she had gone into one of the restaurants. April sped off towards the lounge area and found a young, petite blonde woman sitting in a seat off in the corner, surrounded by several pieces of luggage. April hurried over to her.
"Alyshia?" She asked, uncertain. When the woman nodded yes, April let out a sigh of relief.
"I am so sorry for being late. By the time Mike got back to me with your flight information, your plane was probably already landing, and traffic was murder getting over here." Alyshia just nodded and started gathering her bags.
"Here, let me help you with those." April took the larger pieces. Alyshia didn't look like she'd weigh 100 pounds, soaking wet. They walked to April's illegally parked car in silence and April silently groaned. "Great," she thought, "she's angry that it took me so long to show up." She really needed this woman's help and was kicking herself for getting off on the wrong foot.
Finding the car, April loaded up the trunk while Alyshia climbed into the passenger seat. April jumped in behind the driver's wheel just as a traffic cop was about to write her a ticket. She waved, and made a show of pulling out and the cop was nice enough to wave her off, letting her go without a ticket.
April drove back towards the city. Alyshia was silent the whole time. As they neared town, April asked her were she was staying. Alyshia just shook her head no. April wasn't sure what that meant, but didn't want to push her luck, so she just drove back to her apartment.
Once there, she helped Alyshia carry her bags inside. Alyshia grabbed a couple of them, sat down on the couch while pushing April's laptop out of the way, and started setting up her own equipment. April just stood behind the couch and watched. When Alyshia seemed to have every thing ready, she looked over her shoulder at April with a questioning look on her face.
April wasn't sure what to do next. It was bugging her that Alyshia appeared to not want to talk to her. April walked around the end of the couch and sat down next to Alyshia, determined to patch things up.
"Listen, I'm really sorry about the screw up at the airport, but how are we going to work together if you refuse to speak to me?"
April watched as Alyshia leaned towards her laptop and opened a Word document and started typing.
"I'm mute," April read.
"Well why didn't you say so earlier." The minute the words were out of her mouth, April groaned and buried her face in her hands. "Great, Shaughnessy," she thought, "Why stop at sticking your foot in your mouth when you can just shove it down your own throat."
She looked up to find Alyshia looking at her with an amused look on her face. Ok, so maybe she wasn't mad.
"I'm sorry. I'm not usually such a bumbling idiot." April saw Alyshia's smile widen a little and felt relieved. Obviously, Alyshia could hear her just find, so that saved her from asking another stupid question. Deciding it was best to just go to work, she explained the case to Alyshia and what it was she needed help with. Alyshia nodded and went to work on her computer, her fingers flying over the keyboard, causing windows to fly open, code scrolling madly across the screens. April figured it was best to just let Alyshia do her thing, so she left her alone on the couch. Not sure what to do with herself, she started pacing around the apartment. After a few minutes, she looked up to find Alyshia giving her feet a pointed look. Her pacing was irritating Alyshia. Taking the hint, April sat back down on the opposite end of the couch.
"Are you hungry?"
Alyshia nodded yes.
"Pizza or Chinese?"
Alyshia held up one finger.
"Pizza?"
Alyshia nodded yes and April went in search of her collection of menus. She found one for a pizza shop that was quickly becoming her favorite place, and held the menu out to Alyshia. Taking a pen, Alyshia scanned the menu and then circled what she wanted. April found her phone and placed the order. Hovering near the door, she studied the woman sitting on her couch. She looked really young. April didn't think she was much more than 20, tops. She had an angular face with high cheekbones and full, blood red lips. Her straight blonde hair fell just a little bit past her shoulders and was cut in a layered, staggered style. Actually, Alyshia had a very exotic look about her, which April found very sexy. She quickly shook that thought off. She had enough problems in the romance department, and now wasn't the best time to create new ones.
