4. Four
FOUR
Iwas still annoyed when I got home. The walk, brisk even by my standards, burned all the alcohol off. That allowed me to fume without getting sidetracked.
There was absolutely no sexual attraction between Knox and me. None.
Sure, he had great arms and hands, and the way he filled out his jeans was impressive. That didn’t mean I was attracted to him. I was mature enough to admire how much work he obviously put in at the gym. That didn’t mean that there was anything there. Claims otherwise were ridiculous.
I managed to fall asleep despite my anger. Unfortunately, my dreams didn’t make things better. No, my dreams made things 10 times worse thanks to the naked bounty hunter who had been frolicking in my subconscious.
I blamed Toni. I wouldn’t have dreamed of Knox if she hadn’t put the idea in my head. Sure, he’d been a frequent visitor in my dreams the last few weeks. That was simply because I was settling into a new facet of my life, and he represented upheaval. That was all there was to it.
Right? Right?
I showered, did my hair, and headed out for coffee. I needed to put in some face time at the office. As much as I preferred being out in the field — and I did — I was the boss. That meant checking in with my employees. And my new business partners. I hadn’t seen them in days.
Charlie Rhodes-Hanson and her husband, Jack, were, for lack of a better word, interesting.
Charlie was a mixture of about ten different things, a witch, a shifter, a demon, and a sphinx.
She didn’t even know what she was. Those small doses of magic should have done nothing for her.
She should have been practically nonexistent as a paranormal force.
Instead, she was a complete and total badass.
There were hardly any paranormals as strong as her.
It wasn’t her magic that made me like her, though.
I had never met anyone more enthusiastic about magic.
She had a real joy for learning, to the point she’d excitedly text me entire passages from research books even though she barely knew me.
As for Jack, he had no paranormal abilities.
Well, unless you included loving his wife beyond measure.
He had a military background and was good in a fight.
While his greatest desire was to protect Charlie, he never got in her way. They were a good match.
It didn’t hurt that they had ties to the Legacy Foundation, the premier paranormal investigation team in the country.
Heck, they could’ve been the most dominant group in the world when it came to that stuff.
The way Jack explained it, they still worked for the Legacy Foundation, but were not restricted by the group’s schedule.
If they wanted to take a job, they did. Otherwise, they decided things on their own.
It was their ties to the foundation that had convinced me to join forces with them.
They had access to the sort of research I could only dream of.
That went for paranormal and human research, which meant that at some point they might be able to help find Holly.
It was a long shot, but it was something.
Plus, well, I liked them. Charlie had an ability I coveted.
She could make friends with anyone. Jack was more standoffish, but he encouraged Charlie to follow her instincts when it came to people.
As far as I could tell, he was the perfect man, at least for Charlie.
I hummed to myself as I waited in line for my latte.
My mother gave me grief about my expensive coffee habit whenever she saw me with a cup.
She was a big fan of chicory, and while I could tolerate it if I had no other choice, it was never my go-to drink.
I preferred half almond milk and a bit of flavor.
Toni had gotten me into the habit young, and I’d never grown out of it.
“Thank you,” I said to Angela Fleet, the barista I most often dealt with at Cafe Beignet. “This smells delightful.”
Angela gave me an amused smile. “You know, if they ever ban caffeine you’ll have to go to rehab for that addiction of yours.”
I laughed. “Let’s hope that never happens.” I turned to leave but stopped long enough to glance up at the television. It was turned to the morning news, and it looked as if something big was breaking. “What’s that?” I pointed at the screen.
Angela followed my finger. “You haven’t heard?”
There were at least ten police cars on a street I couldn’t identify. That meant it was something big. Even three cars would mean it was something big. Ten meant it was something else entirely.
“What’s going on?” Anxiety licked up my spine. I had a sixth sense about things at times. This was one of those instances.
“Well, you’re not going to believe this.” Angela ignored her other co-workers and the customers who had lined up, keeping her full focus on me. “Apparently, two people were attacked in their home with an axe.”
“An axe?” I was thrown. “Like … for real?”
Angela bobbed her head. “The rumor is that they got a call before it happened and were threatened if they didn’t leave their door open and play jazz that they would die. They brushed it off and, well, they’re dead.”
There was no way. “That’s the story of the Axeman.”
“I’m well aware. That’s why it’s such a big deal.”
“But … .” I trailed off, uncertain what I should say. Ultimately, I shook my head. “This has to be a story taking on a life of its own.” That was the only thing that made sense.
“I don’t disagree. I just know what’s being spread around.”
“Do you know where it happened? Which neighborhood?”
“Sorry.” She held out her hands. “I’ve been watching the screen, but I haven’t picked that up yet. Doesn’t look like Uptown or the Garden District. Maybe Treme or Bayou St. John.”
“Maybe.” I forced a smile I didn’t feel and clutched my latte. “Well, I guess I know which news story I’m going to follow today.” I was going for levity, but it fell flat.
“Yeah, it’s going to be a big one,” Angela agreed. “Even if it doesn’t match the Axeman story, it’s too late for people not to make the comparison. It’s going to be a runaway freight train if they don’t catch whoever did it right away.”
“Yeah. It’s going to be a mess.”
I PICKED MY WAY AROUND THE CONSTRUCTION when I got to the office building I’d purchased the previous year.
It was older, and there was a bar on the street level that paid me rent.
I’d managed to buy the entire thing with minimal help from my parents, and I was proud.
I was close to paying them off even though they kept telling me it wasn’t necessary. It felt necessary to me.
The construction was a new thing. Jack had purchased the building next door, and we’d opened up a wall between the two buildings to share the space.
The door we were putting in would allow the two buildings to remain separate if anyone wanted to sell in the future.
It meant we didn’t have to walk down three flights of stairs and back up to talk to one another.
The other building served as the Legacy Foundation’s New Orleans office. Jack would operate his own business out of it as well. For the sake of our collaboration, however, the door was necessary. I knew I would enjoy the setup a great deal more once construction was finished.
“Hey,” Charlie said when she caught me walking into her office.
She’d decorated it with a comfy sitting area, including a couch, and there were black-and-white photos of her and Jack on every wall.
She’d gone all out and had them matted and professionally framed.
They were a new addition from the last time I’d been in her office.
“Hey,” I said, moving directly to the photos. Some were candid shots in various locations. “Where were these taken?”
“Oh, everywhere.” Charlie grinned. “We got into the habit when we were traveling of taking a photo everywhere together. I wanted to have something to remember it all.”
My eyebrows migrated toward one another. “What do you mean?”
She lifted one shoulder. “Just that I knew we wouldn’t always be on the road. We had fun, and I enjoyed it, but I really wanted my own house. You have no idea. So, we took a photo wherever we went, and now we’ll always remember how we started.”
She was just so sweet. I had no idea how she functioned. “You guys belong in one of those saccharine teen shows, you’re so cutesy.”
“Somehow I don’t think that’s a compliment.” She cocked her head. “You seem … frazzled.”
I was never frazzled. Never. “I am concerned,” I clarified. “Have you had the television on today?”
“No. Should I?” She grappled on her desk until she came up with her remote control and turned on the television. She didn’t have to change the channel. The local news was already on. She read the crawl and frowned. “They were killed with an axe?”
I nodded. “The thing is, there’s a local legend.” I wasn’t sure how I was going to broach this subject with them.
That was the moment Jack strolled into the office. He had a tablet in his hand and looked up at the television as he entered. “You’re talking about the Axeman.” It wasn’t a question.
I nodded, relieved. “You guys have heard of him before?”
“Oh, Charlie knows every New Orleans ghost story.” Jack sent his wife a fond smile before focusing on me. “We’re familiar with the story.”
“Are they saying a ghost did that?” Charlie pointed at the television. “Like, for real?” She looked far too excited at the prospect.
“No one says it’s a ghost,” I replied. “In fact, other than the axe, I’m not sure anyone is saying there’s any similarity to the Axeman case.
Angela at my coffee shop said that the rumor is someone called the couple and told them to play jazz before it happened, but I don’t see how that can possibly be true. ”
“Or how anyone could confirm that now,” Charlie agreed.
Jack shifted his tablet. “I have contacts at the police department. I can see what kind of information I can dig up.”