20. Twenty
TWENTY
Charlie wanted authentic food, so I decided to take advantage of our location. Jack was back behind the wheel — Knox was following in his truck — and I directed him to Heard Dat Kitchen.
“Dat?” Charlie asked once we were in front of the restaurant.
I smirked. “It’s a New Orleans thing.”
Her expression brightened. “Should I be saying things like ‘who dat girl’ and ‘dat’s the way I like it?’”
She looked so hopeful that I paused before responding. Knox, who was making his way toward us, took the decision out of my hands.
“Don’t ever do that unless you’re drunk and making a game of it,” he said.
Charlie jerked her eyes to him. “Why?”
“That’s something tourists would do, and I’m guessing you don’t want to be seen as a tourist.”
“Definitely not.” Charlie gave me a stern look. “Were you going to let me look like a moron?”
It felt like a personal attack. “If you don’t help, I’m going to ask a million questions about the chupacabra,” I warned Jack.
He paled. “You’re a monster.”
I shrugged. “Just wait until you meet my parents.” I headed for the door.
“Also, I wasn’t going to let you say that,” I promised Charlie.
“I was just trying to figure out a diplomatic way to save you from a fate worse than death. It’s a true testament to how much I like you that I was trying to be nice.
Otherwise, I would’ve been rude.” I cast Knox a baleful look. “Like someone else I know.”
“Hey, I was saving her from becoming a laughingstock.”
“Well, I certainly don’t want to be a laughingstock.” Charlie strode forward to pick a table, leaving Jack to glare at me.
“I don’t ever want to hear about the chupacabra again,” he warned me.
“Why?” I was genuinely curious. “It sounds like a fascinating story.”
“It’s a stupid story. She could have died.”
“But I didn’t,” Charlie, turning around, interjected. “I didn’t die because you found me. And when I woke up, you were sitting next to my hospital bed. That was the moment I realized I liked you.”
He sighed, the sound long and drawn out. “It’s hard for me to be annoyed when you say things like that.”
“You can never be annoyed with me.” Charlie’s smile was sweetness and light.
Jack looked to be struggling to tamp down a smile. “I love you dearly,” he said, “but you can still be annoying, and you are when you bring up the chupacabra.”
“He doesn’t mean it,” Charlie told me confidently. “He thinks everything I do and say is adorable. He’s going to be a walking doormat when we have a kid.”
I smirked and followed her to the table she’d chosen. “Is that happening soon?”
Charlie held out her hands. “It was something I couldn’t fathom back when Sybil was trying to kill me. I didn’t think I would survive, and leaving a child behind … .”
I nodded in understanding. “I get it.”
“Probably,” she confirmed.
“Sybil is gone,” I pressed.
“And that means we get to dream again.” Charlie beamed at Jack. “It’s the best thing in the world.”
Jack covered her hand with his. “You never stopped dreaming. You just stopped yourself from planning. She wouldn’t even consider planning a wedding until Sybil was gone.”
“I knew what I wanted, and it didn’t include making him a widower,” Charlie explained when I sent her a questioning look.
“I had faith we’d win, but just in case …
.” She trailed off, looking older and wearier than I’d ever seen her.
“Everything had to come together just right, and we lucked out because it did. I’m still coming to terms with it.
” She turned her hand over and linked her fingers with Jack’s.
“House first. I want to have fun decorating and shopping. Then a baby.”
“Just one?” Knox asked. He, surprisingly, looked interested in the conversation.
Charlie shrugged. “One to start. I’m not opposed to a second one — probably not more than that because I don’t think kids should outnumber adults under one roof — but we’ll play it by ear.”
“I want a girl,” Jack volunteered. He looked so thrilled at the idea that I was taken aback. “I want a little girl, and I want her to look just like her mom.”
“So you can spoil her rotten?” I asked.
He nodded. “You have no idea. I plan on spoiling my wife rotten when making choices for the house, too. She just doesn’t know it yet.”
It brought up questions of Jack’s wealth. He worked for the Legacy Foundation, which was run by a wealthy family, but how had he garnered his wealth? He didn’t dress like a slug or anything, but he was hardly wandering around in designer duds. Well, except for his sunglasses. Those were expensive.
Jack picked up on my unasked question and smiled. “Before the Legacy Foundation, I was in the military. I can’t really say what I did, just that it gave me a very specific skill set.”
“Like Liam Neeson in Taken?” I asked without realizing I was going to speak.
Jack didn’t laugh. He also didn’t deny it.
“Yes. I made a lot of money with that skill set before joining the Legacy Foundation. Because Myron was desperate to keep his nephew safe — Chris always has his head in the clouds — he paid me what Charlie refers to as a ‘buttload of money’ to do just that.”
“And that’s why they’re still paying you even though you’re no longer in Boston,” I guessed.
“Chris and his wife, Hannah, have a young child,” Jack said, searching for the right way to explain things without saying too much about the people they’d left behind.
“They’re still going on jobs — and Charlie and I will go with them occasionally if it’s a job we feel we’re needed for — but for the time being those jobs are much smaller than those we worked. ”
“You can’t just haul a baby out to the middle of the woods when you’re looking for Bigfoot,” Charlie explained. “A three-year-old, maybe. Not a kid that’s just learning to walk.”
I tried to picture a three-year-old wandering around the woods in search of Bigfoot. Then something occurred to me. “Wait.” I held up my hand. “Did you actually find Bigfoot?” I was excited at the prospect.
Charlie laughed and shook her head. “No, Bigfoot eluded us. But the Rougarou didn’t.”
I narrowed my eyes. “You mean the Rougarou here? The one that was wreaking havoc on the city about a year ago?”
Charlie’s smile was benign. “That’s the one.”
“You were here for that?”
“I was. It was right before the final fight with Sybil. We went from here to her.”
“Who is Sybil?” Knox asked. He’d been quiet during the conversation, trying to figure things out.
“A witch from my family who was waiting for a specific female to be born so she could steal her powers and live forever,” Charlie replied.
“That’s the gist of it. I was the first girl born in forever in the family, and they hid me in the system to keep me from her until I was old enough to fight her. ”
“Sounds like something from a book,” Knox said.
Charlie shrugged. “Welcome to my life.” She sent Jack a loving smile. “At least I got my happily ever after.”
They were so happy I wanted to gag. “If you two start making out, I’m leaving,” I warned.
“Me too,” Knox said. “You guys are gross.”
“So gross,” I agreed.
Jack laughed and leaned back in his chair.
Thankfully, the server picked that moment to arrive at our table.
“Do you know what you want?” she asked.
“I think so,” I replied, knowing Charlie hadn’t even looked at the menu yet. It didn’t matter. She would make her selection with her gut, and it would be the right one. “I’ll have the gumbo combo and an iced tea.”
When the server turned to Knox, I didn’t miss the way her eyes warmed. Her shoulders moved back, making her impressive rack look like something out of an old Baywatch episode. “And you, sir?”
Sir? I didn’t hide my eye roll from Knox, who looked more embarrassed than pleased by the attention.
“I will have the BBQ Shrimp Fries,” he said.
I found myself nodding. That was a good choice.
“Shrimp fries?” Charlie asked.
“It’s basically barbecue shrimp on top of French fries,” I replied. “It’s good.”
Charlie slid her eyes to Jack.
“Don’t look at me,” he said. “I remember the first time we were here and I told you about eating crawfish and alligator, but you insisted on doing it anyway. You make the choice.”
“Um … .” She glanced back down at her menu. “You go first.”
Jack chuckled. “I’m going to try the Dat Plate with fried chicken, please. I’ll also have an iced tea.”
I watched the server closely. She smiled at Jack, engaged with him easily enough, but she was nowhere near as flirty with him as she was with Knox.
Was that because she recognized the wedding ring Jack wore so proudly?
Jack didn’t wear any other jewelry besides one of those military watches.
He wasn’t flashy. He always had his left hand out so everyone could see his ring, though.
That signified that the best thing in his life was Charlie, and he wanted everyone to know it.
“That leaves me.” Charlie looked tortured as she scanned the menu. “There’s so much I want to try.”
“Baby, we can come back,” Jack told her. “This isn’t a one-and-done thing. It’s not that far from the office. I promise to bring you back. Just choose what you most want to try.”
Charlie nodded. Jack’s words seemed to settle her. “I would like the Bourbon Street Love,” she said. “I’ll also have an iced tea.”
“Awesome.” The server smiled, but her gaze skittered right back to Knox, as if she couldn’t get enough of him.
To my surprise, he put his hand on my chair, as if it belonged there, but didn’t look at the server. He kept his focus on me. “Let’s talk about the case.”
Disappointment ricocheted across the server’s face, and she beat a hasty retreat. Knox didn’t drop his hand until she left. I sent him a curious look, but he was focused on Jack.
“What do we know?” he prodded.