Crescent Moon - By Lori Handeland Page 0,20

from balconies and onto my head as residents watered their plants. I dodged people meandering down Bourbon Street with cocktails in plastic glasses. Had they ever gone home?

The door to the shop was locked. I glanced at my watch, then the sign on her window. Two hours until she opened for business. I needed to talk to her now.

I'd just lifted my hand to knock when she opened the door. My eyes narrowed. "How did you know I was here?"

"How do you think?"

She turned, leaving the door open. I stepped inside.

"Lazarus?" she called.

I froze, one foot in, one foot out

"You mind shutting that?" she called. "If he sees the daylight, he'll bolt."

I cringed at the thought of Lazarus bolting over my sneakers, or maybe up my leg, and slammed the door. "How does a snake bolt?"

"You'd be surprised."

"Why is he out of his cage?"

"I let him out at night." Cassandra went down on her knees, peeking under one of the display cases. "Would you want to be stuck in a cage every minute of your life?"

Lazarus was a snake. Did he have wants and needs?

Something skittered across the open space. "There he is," I said, just a little too loud.

Cassandra started, bumping her head on the case before giving me a disgusted glare. "I thought you were a scientist. How can you be afraid of snakes?"

"Who said I'm afraid of snakes?"

She snorted.

"Call me crazy," I said stiffly, "but I don't like being in a small confined space with a freaking python."

"He's not interested in you."

A slight thud caused me to turn. Lazarus was right behind me. I stared at the odd growth in his throat Or was that his neck? Maybe his body?

"There you are!" Cassandra hurried over and snatched him up, popping the snake into his cage, then flipping the lock.

"Does he have a tumor?" I asked.

"What?" Horrified, she bent and peered at him.

Thai ing bump."

"I thought you were a zoologist."

"Crypto."

"Still - didn't you study reptiles?"

"As little as possible."

She put a hand on her hip and tilted her head. "What do snakes eat?"

"Rodents." The light dawned. "That's what's in his throat"

"Another reason I set him free at night He's much better man a cat. Never, ever, brings me a present" Cassandra shuddered.

I'd never had a cat never had a pet Can you imagine my mother allowing an animal to walk on her winter-white carpet? She'd rarely allowed me there.

However, I knew cats liked to share. Or maybe brag. I could see Cassandra's point, though I'd stop short of befriending a python.

Cassandra turned away from the snake. "What brings you here?"

I hesitated. It was one thing to consider asking the advice of a voodoo priestess in the middle of the night and quite another to actually do it in the daylight

"Tea?" She pushed through the beaded doorway without waiting for my answer, which would have been "ack" if I hadn't known that was rude.

I followed her into a quaint kitchen. "Don't suppose you have coffee."

"You suppose right. The stuff will stunt your growth."

I lifted a brow at her petite form.

"Never mind." Cassandra set the tea on the table and motioned me into a chair. "What happened?"

I found myself telling her everything. Since Simon's death I'd had no one to confide in, no one to bounce ideas off of, no one to trust Why I'd chosen Cassandra I wasn't sure. She just had a way about her.

Despite her youth, she seemed wise. Her eyes were a little sad, as if she'd seen more than she should. I sensed she'd lost someone, too, someone she'd loved. Despite our differences, I felt a kindred spirit and I responded.

She listened to all that I told her, not speaking until I was through. "Comparing a news photo and a man you saw from pretty far away is a stretch."

"I know."

"He could be a relative of the deceased. Resemble him just enough to throw you off."

"Most likely."

Cassandra took a sip of her tea, swallowed, set the cup down with a click, and met my gaze. "Then why are you here?"

"Exactly."

She blinked. "What?"

"Why am I here? I'm not the spooky type. I don't believe in this stuff. Yet here I am, asking a voodoo priestess why a dead guy was following me down Bourbon Street Why?'

"You've lost your mind?"

"I'm starting to wonder."

"Maybe you just need a friend."

I lifted my gaze. "That pathetic, am I?"

Cassandra smiled. "Not at all. You travel a lot How could you make friends?"

"Even if I was any good at it"

"You seem pretty good