Free Mind Games by Polly Iyer

hard-on.”
    “Thanks for your concern, Sam. I appreciate it. But I’m a big boy. Like I said, nothing happened. Probably won’t either, even if I wanted it to.” A vision of Papa Racine flashed in his mind, and he didn’t know why. Maybe it was the evil eye the old man projected outside Diana’s dressing room door. Maybe it was just a recurrence of his paranoia. “And I don’t.”
    Diana’s raised voice distracted them as she tried to extricate herself from a persistent Jake Griffin. By the time Lucier intervened, her face changed from pale to furious red.
    “Jake.” Lucier grabbed Griffin’s arm and pulled him away. “Get the hell out of here, or I’ll have one of the uniforms haul you in to the station. See what kind of story you can write from behind bars.”
    Griffin grumbled, then scurried to his car and drove off in a belch of exhaust smoke.
    “The man came on like a bulldog. He wouldn’t leave me alone,” Diana said. “I wanted to smack him one, but as scrawny as he is, he’s still bigger than I am.”
    Lucier grinned at the mental image of Diana taking on Jake Griffin. Seeing the extent of her anger, she might have had a good shot at him. “It’s all right. He’s probably afraid you could take him. He won’t be back.”
    She poked him in the ribs. “Smart-ass.” She tugged on his arm. “Come over here, Ernie.” She walked him to one of the benches. “I got strong vibes here. I think Eleanor Hartwell sat on this bench.”
    “I’ll make sure the crime scene people go over this area.”
    She scanned the scene. “I don’t understand any of this.”
    “Neither do I, but I’m putting a twenty-four hour guard on you until we find out.”
    “You think he’s after me, don’t you?”
    “More like he’s trying to psych you out. Why is anyone’s guess.”
    Diana wrapped her jacket tighter, suppressing a shiver. “Do you think he might go after my parents to get to me?”
    “I’m not taking any chances. I’ll put a man on them too.”
    She moved closer to Lucier. “Can’t you stay with me? I’d feel a whole lot safer.”
    He felt her heat and backed up a step. “That wouldn’t be professional. I guarantee my boss wouldn’t think so either.” He watched Diana’s reaction to see if his next comment verified his suspicions. “And I think your protective father might have a thing or two to say about it.”
    Diana scoffed. “He doesn’t like anyone I’m interested in.”
    Lucier stole a quick glance, then turned away. Diana had the dismissive answers down pat where her father was concerned, but in a few minutes with the old man, Lucier detected all the signs from that had taken him a lifetime to catalogue. He didn’t doubt for a minute he was right. But he wouldn’t get into it now. “Let’s walk the crime scene. But be careful; the lab boys aren’t quite finished.” They walked deeper into the park.
    Diana moved in front of him, putting herself in his sight line. “Did you hear what I said?”
    He couldn’t avoid her. “I heard. This isn’t the time or place for this discussion.” Sam was right. She’d be gone in a few days. He couldn’t get involved. He was a cop on the job. Period.
    Pointing in the direction of the tree, he said, “Let’s look over there. See if you get any vibes.” They headed back to the body, but he felt Diana’s glare burn into him like hot pokers. He wouldn’t look at her.
    Charlie Cothran, the coroner for Orleans Parish, knelt over the body. Eleanor’s hands were bagged. “Looks like you’ve got another one, Lieutenant. That’s two sexual murders in two days. Is there something going here I should know about? A serial killer maybe?”
    “I was hoping you could tell me, Charlie. I need a report on this ASAP, okay?”
    “You got it.”
    Lucier approached one of the crime scene investigators. “Got anything?”
    “Whoever did this was careful. Scuffed up the ground pretty good. No footprints. So far we haven’t found anything