Boogie House: A Rolson McKane Mystery Read Online Free Page B

passed. I finished the bourbon and three Millers under the impression that I'd get drunk. All that happened was the hangover returned. I slept until the rain stopped at dusk, at which time my cell phone rang. It was my lawyer, Jarrell Clements.
    I flipped open the phone and said, "Run out of my money so soon? You know I'm on a cop's salary."
    His voice was purely old school country. "Not anymore, you’re not."
    "Ouch."
    "Ah, hell," he said, "ain't a damn thing, son. Even Thomas Jefferson died in debt."
    "As long as you realize how broke I am."
    He chuckled. His voice was low and refined but contained a slight drawl, like a verbal birthmark. "I came in fully understanding that. Can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear."
    "That's an old saying."
    "I'm old school. Gimme a minute and I'll tell you firsthand about the War of Northern Aggression."
    I rolled my eyes. "You got something?"
    On his side of the line, I heard shuffling papers. "Sorry. My old ass is getting disorganized. The wires aren't firing as smoothly as they used to. I’m trying to get all my business settled for the day."
    "That's all right. You're working hard."
    The shuffling ceased. "Janita Laveau's made a turnaround in her opinion of you."
    Now that was something. "What's that mean?"
    "Means she's made it clear she does not want you prosecuted for ramming her with your car. Damndest thing I've ever heard of. You must have knocked something loose in her brain."
    Even though I felt an extreme amount of guilt over the accident, I wasn’t ready to bow out for a stint in lock-up. "Anybody listen to her?"
    "Course not. Nobody's rooting for you in this situation."
    "Nothing to root for, Jare. I got drunk, T-Boned a poor woman's Chrysler."
    "Can't do anything about the DUI, but you already know that. That's a done deal. You were drunk, admitted to a breathalyzer. It would take a whole lot more than what you’ve got to be able to get that dropped down to reckless driving or some other nonsense. But if she clangs around enough, she might convince the DA to reduce or throw out the other charges."
    "What are you going to do?"
    "Me?" He made an incredulous pfft sound. "I'm gonna let her do it. You don't go-"
    "Looking a gift horse in the mouth. That’s also an old one.”
    “I’m an old man. A day older’n dirt and twice as gritty. You’ve got to have a little faith in the old man, though. I’m all that’s keeping you from living the next six months in a box.”
    “You’ve got no bedside manner, do you?”
    "Ask the people I lost cases for. They'd agree. Hell, ask my exes. They’d say the same thing. Have a good evening. I'll keep you posted on Laveau, see if she’s using some kind of reverse voodoo on you."
    “That’s not funny,” I said.
    Jarrell was about to say something, but I cut him off. I hung up the phone and watched the rain sweep in large sheets across my lawn.
     
    *  *  *
     
    I proceeded uneasily inside. The Boogie House was dark, but it seemed to be made of bones or matchsticks or something. This was not the juke joint of reality, but a strange, otherworldly manifestation of it.
    There was no moonlight to guide me, and clouds had blocked out the moon. I walked on, stumbling forward into the gaping holes of the building's floor in a strange, determined zombie-march. Each time I fell down, I almost lost consciousness, my eyelids trying to shut so I could rest. I persevered.
    "He's not here," I repeated, unsuccessfully trying to convince myself that the dead body was gone. I don't know if you can break out in gooseflesh in dreams, but my entire body went cold. My stomach was engorged with ice water.
    The ragged old piano situated behind him, the dead man stood at the room’s center. Smiling broadly, one grizzled hand reaching behind his leg and tinkling random piano keys. Reality broke, and I was left hanging onto the jagged shards of what I hoped was a dream.
    I lurched toward him, fighting to keep my eyes open. Getting closer, I saw that