Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye by Imari Jade

Coke for Ernie.
    Vinnie shrugged. “You have no proof of that.”
    “Then why are we here, Vinnie?” Ernie asked.
    Vinnie turned and put three more quarters into the slot machine and pulled the lever. Three purple sevens appeared. The machine registered loudly again.
    “I don’t know why you’re here, Ernie, but I texted Miss Denning. One of you has brought me some luck. This machine wasn’t doing anything until you guys appeared.”
    Isabella grew tired. “Stop beating around the bush. Either you know something or you don’t.”
    “Hey, keep your blouse on, Miss Denning. There’s been some talk about the police blaming it on the lycanthropes but I don’t think they’re involved.”
    “What makes you so sure of that?” Ernie asked as the waitress returned with their drinks. He handed the Cherry Coke to Isabella and then tipped the waitress and sent her on her way.
    “It doesn’t fit their pattern. There are too many victims. Granted, most of them travel in packs, but someone is bound to see a group of wolves wandering around. Another reason is because there hasn’t been a full moon.”
    “Well, if it’s not the lycanthropes, then who?” Isabella asked. She’d eliminated them as possible suspects long ago because she couldn’t recall a time when wolves built altars or worshipped any significant religious symbols like the ones found at the crime scene. Vinnie needed to brush up on his lycanthropic culture. Anyone who knew anything about lycanthropes knew they didn’t need a full moon to change. The full moon made them unstoppable.
    “Does the name Samedi ring a bell?” Vinnie asked.
    Isabella frowned. Of course she knew who Samedi was.
    “Baron Samedi?” Ernie asked. “Ah, come on Vinnie. I haven’t heard his name since I was a child. He’s a myth.”
    Vinnie shrugged again. “You wanted info and I gave you all I know.”
    Isabella put her empty glass next to the slot machine. Baron Samedi? She sure hoped it was a mere speculation on Vinnie’s part. If what she knew was true, Louisiana was in for one hell of a blood bath. She thought about it for a moment. The end of the Mayan Calendar. Shit. She signaled Ernie with her eyes.
    Ernie put his glass down. “Well, thanks for the information. If you hear anything else will you let us know?”
    “Sure thing,” Vinnie said, looking back at the slot machine.
    Ernie and Isabella walked away from him and headed toward the escalator. Lucius Jones waited for them at the top. He walked toward them, running those wolf eyes all over her as she neared.
    Lucius was immaculately dressed, as usual, in an expensive dark brown suit, tailored perfectly for his wide shoulders and narrow hips. His dark brown eyes continued staring at her as she approached. Isabella would have felt flattered had it been any other man. Lucius was good-looking and clean-shaven with a close cropped afro and thin nose. He was a product of a mixed heritage like her.
    “Leaving so soon?” he asked as they met.
    “We didn’t come to gamble,” Ernie answered.
    “I know,” Lucius replied, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. “I saw you talking to Vinnie.”
    “Is that a crime?” Isabella asked, still trying to avert his eyes.
    Lucius smiled. “No. Vinnie gets a lot of visitors.”
    “It wasn’t a social call either,” Ernie said, measuring up Lucius with his eyes. “We needed to ask him a few questions.”
    Lucius put his hand on his chin. “Let me see. You needed to ask him about the murders on the east and west banks?”
    Isabella stared at him. “Do you have the place bugged?”
    A bell went off somewhere in the casino. All three of them looked over to and saw a young woman dancing around near one of the slot machines. Three Double Wilds displayed on her machine.
    “Some people have all the luck,” Ernie muttered.
    “You haven’t answered my question,” Isabella said, turning her attention back to Lucius. They had things to do and Lucius was messing with