Chapter 26 #2
“They’re doing well, considering. There were so many people there to support the family. And a lot of press, too, as you can imagine. They’re calling her ‘the last Katrina victim.’ Although whether that’s true or not remains to be seen.”
“Speaking of which—did Mimi mention the rings? We have them, and you’re welcome to take them back with you.”
Felicity shook her head. “She didn’t ask, so if you don’t mind keeping them here for a little bit longer…”
“It’s fine. For me, anyway. But I’m sure you’d like some answers before you head back to New York.”
“Yeah, well, my return is sort of open-ended right now. My boss is pretty understanding, and he told me to take as much time as I need. My mom and Michael have been living in New York to be with me, but I know they both want to come back to New Orleans. The house on Audubon Place has been rented for a year, and they have until the end of the lease to decide what to do. With my dad’s trial pushing them into the spotlight, it just got ridiculous.
But this is their home. Michael’s been running the Sabatier Group from New York, but he’d be much more effective if he were here. ”
“So you think you might move back?”
She shrugged. “I doubt it. This isn’t home to me. And I have a life in New York. New Orleans will always be the place where my mom died, and where my dad disappeared.”
“I get that. Charleston will always be my home, but New Orleans is home now, too. I don’t think there’s a rule written anywhere that says you can have only one. Unless you’re Jolene, who is more Mississippi than the river.”
Felicity gave me a lopsided grin. “Yes, well, I’ll remember that.
And thanks. I’m glad to know I have at least one friend here in New Orleans.
You have to promise me that you’ll show me your cottage before I leave.
I’m not going to step on Jolene’s toes, but I know a thing or two about interiors.
It comes from working estate sales for the auction house for so long.
I know everything from Mafia gaudy to Jackie Kennedy Parisian chic. ”
“I’ll keep that in mind.” Her smile vanished, and she looked so sad that I wished I had two good ankles so I could stand up and hug her.
“Are you going to hog those peanut butter balls all for yourself, or can I have one?” Sarah reached for the tin and I let her have it, ignoring Melanie’s voice in my head reminding me to make sure that Sarah didn’t gorge herself on junk food. Sarah’s love for sweets was a surprise to no one.
After Felicity and Sarah resettled me on the sofa, I noticed that Henry was missing and must still be in the bathroom. Sarah caught my gaze and made another gagging pantomime with her finger in her mouth.
Felicity sighed. “I have no idea what Camille sees in him. There’s only so much a pretty face can compensate for before the jerk inside shines through.” Turning toward the closed bathroom door, she shouted, “Henry—it’s time to go!”
Henry emerged from Jolene’s bedroom. “Sorry—I didn’t have time to really look at all of Jolene’s collectibles. Some of them might be worth something. Please let her know that if she is up to selling anything, I’d love to talk.”
“Sure,” I said, “but I doubt she’ll want to part with any of them.” I shivered, suddenly aware that the temperature in the room had dropped. Felicity noticed and grabbed a blanket that Jolene had placed on the back of the couch and settled it around me.
“Feels like there’s a window open,” she said. “It’s been pretty windy—maybe one of the casement windows in the back room got blown open.”
“I opened the bathroom window to air it out,” Henry said without embarrassment. “But the door’s closed, so it’s probably not that.”
“I’ll go check,” Sarah said with rounded eyes, then disappeared into the back hallway, the air in the room warming as soon as she left.
I watched Felicity’s expression change, as if she’d noticed, too.
“We’ll let ourselves out,” she said. “Don’t hesitate to call if you need anything at all, and definitely let me know when you’re planning to head to the Esplanade house.”
“Will do. Speaking of which, has Beau said anything about the bloodstain they found in the upstairs room?”
“He hasn’t said anything, although he and Uncle Bernie spent a lot of time talking after the funeral, so maybe there’s news.”
Henry was already headed toward the stairs. “Let’s go. There might still be food left.”
Felicity shook her head. “Remember—anything at all, I’m here. And tell Sarah I said good-bye,” she said as she rushed to catch up to Henry.
As soon as the door shut downstairs, Sarah reappeared. “No open windows. I still need to check the bathroom, but I’m going to give it a little more ti—” She stopped, her eyes focused on something behind me.
I turned to the small tray table where I kept my water glass and pain pills.
The first thing I noticed was the pill bottle, now righted and with its top screwed on, all loose pills presumably returned inside.
But it was the glass that Felicity had recently refilled and that sat next to the pill bottle that made me lean back as if to get away from it.
It now appeared to contain solid ice, its sides frosted over.
Sarah reached up to stroke the peacock brooch on her sweater.
“Do you know what this is about?” I asked.
She didn’t answer right away, which scared me more than any answer would have.
“I don’t know. But I saw the same thing happening in the kitchen when we were in there with Felicity.
The coffee in the glass pot froze, too. We had the freezer and refrigerator doors open, and I thought maybe that was why…
.” Her voice drifted away as she realized how much that didn’t make sense.
“Are you’re saying that Felicity has powers she’s unaware of?”
“Maybe.” She bit her lower lip. “It’s like how when Beau and I are in the same room together there’s this sort of static electricity that bings in my head.”
I didn’t ask her what she meant by “bing”; Melanie had used that exact word when describing how it felt when she and her sister, Jayne, were together. She likened it to the spark given off when striking a match.
“She—Adele—came in with Felicity, but Felicity didn’t seem to be aware of her mom’s presence.
Or maybe she was but she’s so used to ignoring it that she doesn’t notice it anymore.
” Sarah frowned. “I don’t think Adele likes Henry very much.
She kept poking him in the back to annoy him.
Anyway, there goes our theory that once Adele was put in the family mausoleum her spirit could rest. Her funeral was hours ago. ”
“True.” My gaze strayed to the side table. “I think she tidied up my pills, too—unless you did that?”
Sarah shook her head. “Wasn’t me.”
My gaze immediately shot to the coffee table, where Adele’s rings had been inside a plastic bag. Except they weren’t there anymore.
“Don’t panic,” Sarah said. “I found the baggie in my sweater pocket when I went to check on the windows. So I hid it for safekeeping. And I’m not going to even try to guess how it got into my pocket.”
“Good thinking.” I took a deep breath in an attempt to calm my racing heart. If the rings had disappeared, they could have been taken only by Felicity or Henry, and both scenarios were equally disturbing.
Sarah plopped down in the armchair across from me.
She looked exhausted, her skin appearing pasty, with a thin sheen of sweat on it.
I wished that I could call Melanie and ask if this was normal.
Instead, I decided to wait for thirty minutes to see if Sarah improved.
If she didn’t, I’d figure it out. Forcing a smile, I said, “So, pizza or one of Jolene’s casseroles for dinner tonight? ”
Before she could answer, the unplugged landline phone—the same one that wouldn’t stay hidden in my closet—rang, making us both jump. “I guess you want me to get that?” she asked.
“No. I don’t think you should. And I don’t want to break my other ankle trying to get to it before it stops ringing. Stay where you are—it’ll stop eventually.”
We stared at each other, listening to the incessant ringing.
Finally Sarah stood. “I can’t take it anymore.
” With heavy steps, she approached the desk and picked up the receiver.
I could hear only the faint sound of static and the echoing of a high-pitched voice that seemed to be coming from deep space.
Sarah didn’t speak, but she closed her eyes to concentrate on listening.
After she hung up, she approached me wearing an expression of confusion.
She fell back into the chair, her face even paler than before.
“It was Bonnie,” she said quietly.
“Bonnie,” I repeated. The name unsettled me, the sound of it foreign to my ears. I hadn’t heard my mother’s name spoken out loud in a very long time, and I had to think for a moment to recall where it fit.
Sarah nodded. “Yeah. She said Sunny told you that she was watching out for you.”
I recalled the note Sunny had made for me and stuck in my purse before she’d skipped town after we’d discovered her true identity.
In it she’d said that Adele and Bonnie were watching over me to help fight the demons that hadn’t stopped chasing me.
I’d used the purse a couple of times since then, the wrinkled note still at the bottom.
“Why? Am I in danger?” I was only half-serious; danger seemed to be a running theme of the conversations on that phone.
“She kept saying the same thing over and over, but it didn’t make any sense.”
I hesitated, not knowing if I really wanted to know. “What was it?”
“ ‘Find the stones.’ ”
“What does that mean?”
Sarah shrugged. “I have no idea. I’m just the messenger.” She leaned her head against the back of her chair and closed her eyes.
I’d made the executive decision to order pizza for dinner and was pulling out my phone when I heard a loud thump coming from the direction of Jolene’s bedroom. I glanced over at Sarah, but her deep and heavy breathing told me she’d fallen asleep.
Not willing to wake her up, or wait until she woke up on her own, I slid down to the floor and crawled to the back hallway. When I was halfway there it occurred to me to be wary of an intruder, but I reassured myself that I had my phone and could dial 911 if I needed to.
I peered around the corner of the doorframe and immediately spotted the source of the sound.
Jolene’s Bible, usually perched on her bedside table, lay on the floor five feet away from where it should have been.
I crawled closer and slid the book toward me.
It was open to the middle of the book of Luke.
Even if I believed in coincidences, I would feel sure that two Bibles falling open to the same place in separate locations within days of each other wouldn’t qualify as one.
I was tempted to call my dad but I discarded that idea almost as soon as it came to me, for the same reason why I couldn’t call Melanie.
Instead, I called Cooper. I had no idea what time it was in Malaysia, but I had an urgent need to talk to someone who understood as much as I did that puzzles were meant to be solved.
He was also someone who’d known me for a long time and liked me anyway.
The call went directly to voice mail, and I hung up without leaving a message.
Wherever our relationship was, it seemed desperate to leave one, so I told myself that he’d see that I’d called and would get back to me when he could.
Then I crawled back to the sofa and ordered pizza while I waited for Sarah to wake up.