Lafayette smelt… different. Ward had been there many times, of course, but he’d never sensed quite what he felt today. As soon as he set foot in the parish, he could feel it: the great swirl of a city’s thoughts. And this city was awash with indecision. A lot of it was just the general mood of the populace, wondering what they should do now – help their neighbours to the south, evacuate, strengthen their defences – but it was also the spirit of the city itself.
There was so much going on in the soul of the city that even Ward had trouble sorting it all out. There was a strong current of sympathy for New Orleans, but also a fear of it, which Ward attributed to worries about both refugees and government funding in the short term. The city was also afraid for its own sake – Katrina had come too close for comfort. And underneath all that, there was a sly calculation going on of how all this could work to Lafayette’s advantage in its never-ending struggle with Baton Rouge and New Orleans. Ward was used to the competitiveness of cities, but there was a vulturish quality to this particular incarnation of it that sickened him, even as he couldn’t help agreeing with the logic of it.
An instant later, Lafayette recognised him as the intruder he was, and his window to the thoughts of the city’s soul was slammed shut. Despite knowing that he’d been lying flat on his back the whole time, Ward had the sensation that the back of his head had been slammed against a wall. Hard.
Dammit. He had to learn to control his own emotions a little better. Lafayette had had no idea he was there until he’d reacted like that. Hard as it was, he needed to be better at this if he was going to be any use at all. That was what the Aussie at the casino had been trying to tell him, among other things. That was what had made him turn around and come home again. Mostly.
It made his head hurt to think about all this, although no doubt a part of that was the kicking Lafayette had given his spirit.
Ward got up and staggered to the minibar. This was going to require some anaesthetizing.
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