CHAPTER FIFTEEN
The Legacy team was struggling with what to do for their tortured ghosts. They knew they had to find their unfinished business but some of it seemed an impossibility.
“We can’t fix everything, Luke,” said Eric.
“No but this feels like something we should be able to fix. I don’t even know why but I can feel it in my soul that we’re supposed to do this.”
“Then we keep trying,” said Cam. “We need to figure out if there were any unfinished works of art for Morgan. Maybe there was a painting or photography session that needed to be completed.”
“Even if we find out what it is, how the hell are we going to finish it?” asked Hex.
“You ask us to help,” said Cassidy walking toward them with a tray full of food. She sat down at their table, Lily, Shay, Ela, and Brit joining them. “We are artists, you know.”
“Yes, we remember,” said Eric. “I didn’t even think about asking all of you. But how hard will it be to finish someone else’s work? I would imagine that’s tough.”
“It could be,” said Ela. “Then again, if there is enough of it done, we might know what she was trying to achieve. The harder part will be determining if these were commissioned art works.”
“Did she have a website?” asked Hadleigh, Major and Elena’s daughter. She was just a junior in high school but already showing a brilliant mind for computers and particularly in the area of artificial intelligence.
“She did,” said Eric. “According to her ex-fiancé she rarely met with people unless it was for a sitting portrait.”
“Okay. I’ll look into her webpage, see if I can dig up all the commissions from the last few months, anything that looks as if it’s not done. You guys get back to the loft and see if you can identify paintings that aren’t done or photos not processed,” said Hadleigh.
“When did you get so brilliant and bossy?” smirked Cam.
“I was born that way,” she smiled. “Remember that my mother and father are both highly intelligent people. Plus, I spend a lot of time with AJ, Hiro, and Tanner. I’ll let you know what I find.”
They all laughed as the young girl walked away. She had her mother’s beautiful almond shaped eyes and long black hair, swaying at her waist. There was no doubt she was a beauty but she was also brilliant beyond their comprehension.
“Okay, I’ll take you guys to the studio,” said Joseph. “We’ll see if we can find the undone work.”
“Great,” smiled Cassidy. “After we eat. We can’t operate on adrenalin and energy drinks like you guys.”
The men laughed at them, nodding. It was true that the men often didn’t stop for meals when they were working. They’d have to remind themselves to consider changing that when working with the women.
A few hours later they stepped back inside the loft apartment and studio for Morgan Segal. The women all nodded at one another smiling.
“I love that smell,” said Brit.
“Me too,” laughed Shay. “God, look at these photos. She was so talented. And the paintings! Amazing.”
“She was incredibly well organized,” said Lily. “Look at this. It’s a log book for every commission, every painting, everything. If she has it in digital format, it will be interesting to compare them but this is pretty detailed.”
“It looks like she had one unfinished photography commission,” said Brit.
“The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries. She was supposed to take photos of areas in the bayou with some of our indigenous birds, fish, gators, all of it. I think we can help finish this one for sure. I’ll reach out to their contact and see if they’re willing for us to complete this for them. ”
“I see five, six, maybe seven paintings that aren’t complete,” said Cassidy. “What does her log book say about that?”
“Bank One of Louisiana wanted a painting of a brown pelican on a pier,” said Ela. “Here’s another one, the New Orleans Saints wanted two paintings of their jerseys with former players names. The other three are portraits.”
“Can you finish any of these?” asked Eric.
“We can finish all of it if the client is alright with it. I mean, we all have a good name in the business so they should be okay with it. For the photographs, if they don’t want one of us, I guarantee they’ll want Ivy. No one has more requests for commissions than she does.”
“What do we need to do?” asked Eric.
“Contact the customers,” said Shay, shrugging her shoulders. “I don’t know. I’ve never had to complete the work of someone else. If it’s straightforward, like the wildlife and the jerseys, we should be just fine. The portraits will be different. They might have wanted her style.”
Eric stood in front of a wall with dozens of sketches and small paintings of people. He couldn’t tell what type of style she was using compared to anything he’d seen from their own team of artists. He turned to see Cassidy staring at a grouping of drawings on the wall nearest Morgan’s bed.
“Cass? What’s wrong?” he asked.
“I don’t know. There’s something about these drawings. They’re similar but not. And these two, it’s almost as if she smeared the faces.”
“Maybe she was worse than we thought,” said King.
“Did you ever find her parents?” asked Ela.
“We did,” said Eric. “They were of no help whatsoever. Neither had spoken to her in weeks. Neither knew anything about her work. And neither knew that she’d broken off her engagement with Javier until he called to tell them of her death.
I want to talk to both of them more but they were not willing in the moment. ”
“Involved parents,” frowned Brit.
“It could have been her that wasn’t involved,” said Joseph. “This place is heavy with sadness. I feel it in my chest and I can’t tell you why. I know she was depressed but this is something different. Something very strange.”
“I’m not sure that’s going to help us with these projects,” said Cassidy. “What do we need to do to get these things moved to our studios?”
“Let me call Javier,” said Eric. “He was making a lot of the decisions simply because her parents refused to do so. The landlord has been very easy to work with. I guess we could set up a scholarship fund for whatever commissions she makes on these works.”
“I think that’s a great idea,” said Shay. “This poor young woman was really in a dark place. It reminds me of when Sean found me. Losing my son was the worst day of my life. I contemplated taking my own life but he wouldn’t let me.”
“I’m glad he didn’t,” said Joseph. “We need you with our team.” She smiled, nodding at her friend.
“Thank you,” she said quietly. She looked around the room and then back at the others. “Is there any indication that she lost a loved one recently?”
“Afraid not. Parents are living but not very good in my opinion. She had no siblings, never been married,” said King.
“Okay. Let’s see if we can get some of this back to our place,” said Eric.
“Eric, I think we need to be prepared for her to react when she sees her work in our space,” said Lily. “This woman was obviously disturbed. Ghost or not, she’s going to feel something with her works being in a different space.”
Before Eric could respond, his phone rang and he frowned seeing the number for Isaac Andrews.
“Mr. Isaac, how are you sir?”
“Well, I’ve been better. My ghost isn’t leavin’ anytime soon. She was on my bus when I arrived this mornin’ and she’s still sittin’ here.”
“Where are you?” he asked.
“Corner of Canal and Bourbon,” he said. “I’m off-duty but stopped here to see if she would leave.”
“We’re only a few minutes away. We’ll be right there.” He looked at the others, giving a nod to Cassidy and King. “You two come with me. Joseph, if you’ll help to get the approval for us to take all this with us, that would be helpful.”
“Where are you guys going?” asked Brit.
“To talk to a bus riding ghost.”