The Blood Eagle in the Big Easy by K. A. Lange Page A

and the fact you couldn’t help yourself by insulting the Gatekeeper.” She sighed and she looked worried. “You may not need the courts protection but others do.” She looked at me with genuine concern in her eyes. “What will happen to them if Comus finds them guilty of assisting you?”
    That made me feel like a complete asshat. “I admit the fact that I do relish the opportunity to insult the little shit.” I looked up at her reassuringly. “I doubt Comus would side with Leonard.” I closed my eyes and leaned back in my chair as I thought about the situation. If I had to guess a decision would have to be made concerning Leonard when Comus arrived on King’s day.
    She sat back in her chair satisfied she’d made her point. “I have word from Rex, Zulu and the Muses that they want to meet with you as soon they are able to tear themselves away from Leonard’s riveting lectures about how things will proceed from here on out.” She rolled her eyes in disgust, loathing the man perhaps even more than I. “He is very intent on having Comus formally remove you from the courts.” She leaned forward as she lost herself in thought. “And having you put in chains afterward or exiled from the city at the very least.” She shook her head as she smiled sweetly at me. “You should count yourself lucky that Comus only shows up once a year, or he might throw you out just to shut Leonard up!”
    Her phone chirped alerting her to a new message and saving me from more of her lecture. As she read it she lit up like the cat who ate the canary.  Pushing herself out of her chair she moved toward the door. “One last thing, Rex has sent word that there has been some unusual inquiries about a certain Francisco Galvez M.D.”
    My curiosity peaked as I completely forgot about Leonard and the MCC. “Do we have anything else on the man?” I honestly hadn’t expected for anyone to have a lead for me this fast.
    “We will know more shortly. I’ll let you know when something pops.” She shrugged once more and as an afterthought looked back. “In the future when you plan on pissing off the Gatekeeper please give me a heads up so I don’t have to scramble.”
    Chuckling at the comment I gave her a quick thumbs up. It isn’t as if I go in there with a plan to piss the guy off. “I am sure that my continued existence is a thorn in his side. So rest assured, for future reference if he see’s that I still draw breath he is going to be pissed off!”
    She rolled her eyes as she flipped me the bird. “God, I know how the man feels on a daily basis.” She shut the door before I had a chance to say something else annoying, or as I see it, funny and incredibly witty. I sat down at the desk and started reviewing the twenty year old notes of the previous encounter. About five minutes later my door opened and without lifting my gaze from my tablet I reminded her, “And you think I’m funny and incredibly handsome too.”
    That actually got a smile out of her. “In your dreams, but back here in reality we have some information on Dr. Galvez.”
    That shut me up as I quickly looked up from my reading. “Tell me! From the tone of your voice it would appear you have something interesting for me.”
    She glanced at her tablet as she spoke. “I just sent you the file. Mr. Galvez is a native of Puerto Rico who moved to the states in the early seventies. After arriving he attended medical school at Tulane here in New Orleans.” She walked around and took her seat once more before continuing. “He specializes in geriatric psychiatric care and this is truly an odd combination, renal failure.” She looked up at me as if she were expecting me to say something. Seeing no reaction from me she continued. “Dr. Galvez owns a facility on the Lakefront out in the East on Hayne Blvd. The place has a clean track record according to the state inspections.”
    My hopes were quickly being dashed with each word she spoke. “I don’t see anything