CHAPTER THREE
“We got a man that wants to speak with us about the possibility of a case,” said Griff.
“What’s this case possibly about?” asked Eric looking up from the files in front of me.
“I think you need to hear what he has to say,” said Griff. “Trust me.”
“Well, that’s not suspicious at all,” frowned Hex. “Send him in.”
A few minutes later, Griff brought an older man into the boardroom, as the others stood to greet him.
“Fellas, this is Issac Andrews, a New Orleans city bus driver. He believes he saw something he shouldn’t have,” said Griff raising his brows.
“Mr. Andrews, I’m Eric, these are my colleagues along with Griff. That’s Cam, Luke, Hex, Joseph, and King.”
“Mornin’. Thank you for seein’ me without an appointment.”
“Not a problem,” said Eric. “What can we do for you?”
“Well, I’m not sure,” he said taking the seat offered by Griff. “I guess I’ll tell you a story.”
The men listened carefully as Isaac told the story of the woman on his bus and the encounter with the police officer. When they had questions, they asked and when they needed something repeated, he gladly did so. Griff and King took notes, trying to keep up with all the details.
“So, this officer said the woman died the day before?” asked Eric.
“He sure did. Looked at me like I’d lost my mind but I know what I saw.”
“Don’t the city buses have recording equipment on them now?” asked Hex.
“They do and I’ve looked at that footage a hundred times. No woman. You can see me turn and ask her the questions I had and there is nothing there. I look like a damn fool. Good thing no one else was on the bus at the time.”
“Did the officer say how she died?” asked Cam.
“Said she swallowed a bottle of pills. She was found in her car on the levee. Made my heart break. She couldn’t have been more than thirty or so. He wouldn’t give me any other details.”
Cam turned to look at Ace and he nodded, tapping away on his keyboard.
“Listen, I ain’t crazy. I might be old but I ain’t crazy. I’ve lived in New Orleans my whole life and things happen that we can’t explain sometimes. I know that and I’m okay with that. But this poor woman broke my heart. I can’t explain it.”
“You don’t have to, sir,” said Luke. “We understand.”
Luke’s mind traveled back to the animal sanctuary the day before and he frowned at the others in the room, knowing that they were thinking the same thing.
“We’re going to look into this for you, sir,” said Eric. “I guess what we want to know is what you hope for us to achieve by looking into it? I mean if she’s dead what can we do?”
“I don’t know,” he said shaking his head. “Maybe it wasn’t suicide. I mean, I’ve heard of folks that were murdered and came back to get someone to listen. Maybe that’s why she was on my bus. Hopin’ for me to listen to her.”
“But you said she didn’t speak or even look at you,” said Cam.
“No. No, she didn’t.” He stood and Cam reached for his arm.
“I didn’t mean anything by that, Isaac. I’m trying to get all the information here. We’re not unfamiliar with spirits trying to pass along messages.”
“You ain’t?” he asked cocking his head.
“Unfortunately, no,” smirked Hex. “Like you said, New Orleans has a pretty strange history and this land that we live on is the same.”
“Well, that makes me feel better. That young officer looked at me like I’d been drinkin’ or something. I’m off today but I just had to try and tell someone. Friend of mine owns Fleur-de-Lis Grocery and she recommended y’all.”
They all smiled and laughed, knowing Jennie well.
“I have some information,” said Ace.
“So soon?” asked Isaac with surprise.
“We’re good at what we do,” smiled Ace. “Her name was Morgan Segal. Thirty-one, engaged to one Javier Rancone. Except that obviously wasn’t true since Javier married one Chelsea Hebert this past weekend.”
“That poor girl,” said Isaac. “It musta’ killed her to know he was gonna marry someone else.”
“Maybe,” said Ace nodding at the man. “Or maybe there’s something else happening here.”
“What do you mean?” asked Isaac.
“I think what Ace means is that maybe she didn’t swallow those pills willingly,” said Eric. “I think we need to have a conversation with Javier and Chelsea. We’ll just make sure nothing strange was happening on the side.”
“Well, I feel better already. What should I do if I see the woman again?” he asked.
“Try to get her to speak with you,” said Luke. “Call her name, that might make her speak. Let her know that you aren’t there to hurt her. It may not work but it just might.”
“I’ll do that for sure,” he nodded. “What do I owe y’all for today?”
“Not a thing,” said Eric. “This one is our pleasure to try and figure out.”