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       Chapter One

      You are going to die.

      The words of warning clogged Rachel Gregory’s throat as she sat across from the well-dressed woman who had come to her for a tarot card reading. Evelyn Morgan appeared to be in her late sixties, with dyed brown hair and carefully applied makeup, obviously a woman of a certain age who wasn’t going to let time compromise the image she wanted to project.

      And her mind was still sharp, because she instantly picked up on something in Rachel’s expression. Leaning forward, she asked, “What is it? What do you see?”

      To give herself a moment before answering, Rachel fiddled with a tendril of dark hair that had come loose from the French braid at the back of her head.

      “I think you may have a rough patch ahead,” she hedged as she looked down at the tarot cards again, hoping that her first impression was wrong.

      Evelyn Morgan had selected them from the many different decks on Rachel’s shelves, shuffled them, then made random selections before laying them out. She hadn’t pulled the card most people associated with death, a black armored skeleton riding a white armored horse. But the Fool was there, upside down, which indicated the desire to strike out on a new adventure, although the journey could be disastrous.

      The Nine of Wands was also reversed, showing that the man in the picture could barely take care of himself. And then there was the Hanged Man, contemplating making a sacrifice for the greater good. The Eight of Cups was also on the table, the card’s image signifying dissatisfaction with the woman’s present way of life. All in all, not a good outlook.

      But the cards were never the only indicators for Rachel. She’d been doing this for fifteen years, since her early teens, and she always picked up more from the subject than the pictures spread out on the table.

      Trying to pull her thoughts away from the woman’s uncertain future, she said, “You’re a visitor to the city. I think … you used to have a different name. Not Evelyn Morgan. You changed it after you left your previous job.”

      The woman’s eyes widened. “You got all that from the cards?”

      Rachel kept her voice even. “Well, the cards help me to … focus. To understand a person better.”

      “I’d call that more than understanding. You’re coming up with facts that I haven’t told you.”

      “Are they right?”

      Ms. Morgan shrugged, and Rachel didn’t challenge her. She hadn’t expected confirmation. That was another thing about the customer sitting across the table in the comfortable wingback chair. She had secrets that she might or might not be willing to reveal to a stranger. Even when she’d come for a tarot card reading.

      In this case, perhaps that was best. Because, if pressed, Rachel couldn’t explain how she dipped into people’s minds. Nothing deep. Only a superficial connection that gave her a glimpse into another person’s biography.

      Too bad she didn’t have the same kind of insights into her own life. Or that she couldn’t use the special knowledge to make solid connections with people. Sometimes she thought that she was doomed to drift through the days and years, snatching information here and there but never going deeper.

      She’d picked up a bit more from Evelyn Morgan. She had apparently held an important position in a D.C. think tank before abruptly leaving her job and going underground. She’d lived very quietly, because she was running away from something or someone. But what?

      Rachel wanted to ask about it, but she kept the question locked behind her lips. She wasn’t doing this to satisfy her own curiosity.

      At the end of the session Evelyn paid Rachel’s fee and gave her a generous tip.

      “I’d like to meet with you again,” she said.

      “Of course.”

      “I mean, I was hoping you could come to my hotel room tomorrow night—to discuss something with me in private.”

      Rachel looked around the cozy room where she did her readings. Before Katrina, she’d rented space in a coffee shop at the edge of the French Quarter, where the owner had let her read tarot cards for a percentage of her earnings.

      After the devastation of the hurricane, when many people had left town, she’d been able to purchase and renovate her own place on Toulouse Street, partly with money an aunt had left her and partly with her own savings.

      In addition to the readings that she did in the back room, she had a retail area out front where she sold various tarot card decks, magic wands, tea sets and other whimsical items that would appeal to New Orleans visitors.

      “I prefer to work here,” Rachel answered.

      “I’m hoping we can have a more private meeting.”

      “Everything that takes place here is just between you and me. Nothing you tell me will go any further,” she said reassuringly. Unless, of course, this woman wanted to tell her about a crime.

      Ms. Morgan leaned forward and looked toward the door between the reading room and the shop.

      “But anyone could wander in off the street and overhear us. Please make an exception for me tomorrow night.” She paused, apparently considering her next words carefully. “It could be significant for you.”

      “A business contact?”

      “I’m not going to talk about it here. Just give me the benefit of the doubt.”

      Rachel nodded. This woman obviously had something important to say. She didn’t want to say it in public, but she was holding her breath, waiting for