25. Twenty-Five
TWENTY-FIVE
We went with everyone upstairs to look at the body again. Nothing had changed. Barry almost looked upset that there were no obvious signs of physical mistreatment. He kept shaking his head as he circled the body.
“He may have died of natural causes,” Barry said after his third time around Archie’s decomposing form. “We have to wait for an autopsy.”
“Can you put out an alert on Brett?” Jack asked.
“For what reason?” Barry sent a baleful look in Jack’s direction. “We have no reason to believe that Archie was murdered.”
I rolled my eyes, something that wasn’t lost on Barry.
“We don’t have proof,” the detective insisted. “You might have a feeling — I might have that same feeling — but we need proof.”
“His father has been dead for days,” Knox argued. “He didn’t do anything.”
“Do you have proof he knew?” Barry challenged. “Because from everything we’ve been told, no one was allowed in Archie’s suite. If Archie was due in Baton Rouge, maybe Brett had no reason to believe that his father wasn’t already gone.”
“You seem to have it all figured out in Brett’s favor,” I noted.
“And you seem ready to ascribe murder to the son’s résumé when we have no idea what happened to the father yet,” he shot back.
Frustration bubbled up, and I had to force myself to remain calm. “I don’t want Brett to be a murderer. All of this is just a little too convenient.”
“I guess that’s why you’re not the police officer.” His statement was pointed enough that I turned away from him.
That’s when I realized Baron and Papa had disappeared. “Hey, where did they go?” I jerked my head left and right.
“They headed out the front door when we started upstairs,” Knox replied. “I was going to say something, but then realized it was pointless. There’s nothing we can do to stop them from being themselves.”
He was right, of course. I didn’t like it, but he was right. “We’re not doing any good here,” I said to him. “We need to go to the office.”
He nodded. “Okay, let’s go.”
“Hold up.” Jack extended his hand. “You tried to see the statue before. They won’t let you wander around the office.”
“They will if they don’t know we’re there,” I argued.
“Oh, I don’t want to hear this.” Barry grimaced. “If you’re going to break the law, I want no part of it.”
“We’re not asking you to go with us,” Knox replied. “We want to see a statue, not steal from the man. It’s not a big deal.”
Barry shook his head. “I have to call this in. I’m going to need official statements from you, on the record, to file with my paperwork.”
“What do you want us to say?” I asked.
“That’s up to you.”
He had reached the end, no matter what magic Charlie had worked on him.
I couldn’t blame him. He desperately wanted to exert some control.
No one felt more out of control than me in the wake of Holly’s disappearance.
Well, maybe my parents. They’d been desperate for something to control, too.
That’s who Barry reminded me of now. My father.
Realizing that, I forced myself to relax. “I understand where you’re coming from and that you’re frustrated with us,” I said. “We need to figure out what that statue is. I don’t know much, but I do know that the statue is important if we want to finish this.”
Barry held my gaze for three heartbeats, then nodded. “Do what you need to do,” he said. “I’ll do what I need to do. We’ll figure it out after.”
I flashed a flat smile. “Thank you.”
I grabbed Knox’s arm and gave it a tug, meeting Charlie’s gaze as we headed toward the stairs. “I’ll be in touch.”
She looked as if she wanted to argue, or perhaps suggest she and Jack come along, but she just nodded.
I didn’t say anything to Knox as we walked through the house and exited the front door. We had to walk through the gate because climbing the fence would be seen as suspicious. Once we were on the sidewalk, heading to where he’d parked his truck, I found my voice.
“Brett has something to do with this,” I said. “I don’t know what, but there’s no way he’s not involved.”
“I agree, but Barry is right,” Knox said. “We need proof.”
I opened the passenger side door and climbed in, then practically came out of my skin when I realized Papa and Baron were in the backseat. “What the hell?” I demanded, pressing the spot above my heart. “Are you trying to give me a heart attack?”
“You’re half-vampire,” Baron replied, sounding like a professor. “It’s unlikely you would be felled by a heart attack.”
I rolled my eyes. “Thanks for that health update, doctor,” I drawled. “What are you two doing in here?”
“We’re not done,” Papa replied. “We need to see the statue.”
“Why?” I asked.
“Why do you need to see it?” Papa shot back.
“Because I think it’s important.”
“We think so too.” Papa’s eyebrows moved toward his hairline.
“You’re not just a witch, or just a vampire.
You’re more than that. We have faith in your ability to find the end zone on this one.
” He paused a beat. “Is that the right saying? Should it be a home run? I have such trouble with the sports they play these days. I miss when everything was a fight to the death in gladiator pits.”
I was dumbfounded. “Gladiator pits? That’s not a New Orleans thing.”
“We weren’t always in New Orleans.” Papa patted the back of my head as if I were a dog. “Get moving. It’s stifling back here. Make the fake air go.”
I glanced at Knox. He looked as flummoxed as I felt. “Let’s go,” I said. “I guess we’re going to be a foursome.”
BARON AND PAPA KEPT UP A STEADY stream of chatter during the ride to the CBD.
They talked about where to find the best gumbo and which rye whiskey brand needed to be outlawed for the rest of time.
They talked about who had the most annoying wife.
Then they both checked behind the seat to make sure Erzulie and Brigitte hadn’t somehow stowed away on the trip.
When they started talking about their favorite bras — they were surprisingly animated for this conversation — I reached my limit.
When I made a loud harrumph — even I was surprised how loud — Knox reached over and patted my knee. He wasn’t getting fresh. He was just reminding me that now probably wasn’t the time to lose my temper. It was a friendly and weirdly intimate gesture.
I stared at the spot where he’d touched me for a long time. My cheeks had started burning, and I couldn’t force myself to look at him. Instead, I kept staring at that one spot. The only spot that currently existed in my world.
What the hell was going on? I was losing my mind. It was the only explanation. Getting distracted by something this ridiculous was the last thing I should have been doing. And yet here I was.
“Park there,” Baron ordered, jerking me back to reality.
I looked to the right and found that a parking spot had opened directly in front of the building. That never happened.
Knox grumbled as he pulled into the spot. I couldn’t make out everything, but it sounded like “Don’t tell me how to drive” or something close.
I still couldn’t meet his gaze when we parked, so I hurriedly pushed open the door and hopped out. Papa spilled out behind Knox and me, and Baron joined us from the other side of the truck.
“How do you want to do this?” Knox asked. If he recognized I was acting differently he didn’t show it.
“Oh, um … let’s try sweet-talking the secretary,” I suggested. “When I tried before, I didn’t have the charisma. Something tells me you might have better luck.”
His frown told me he didn’t understand, and I had to bite back a laugh.
“Your face,” I said. “You have the face of a Greek god.” The words were out before I could stop myself, and so was the heat I’d just managed to get under control. My face burned with the effort I exerted to refrain from lowering my eyes and slapping my own forehead.
He stared at me — what the hell was he thinking? — and then burst out laughing. I wanted to hurt him.
“It’s not funny,” I complained. “That came out wrong.”
“No, it didn’t,” Baron sang, enjoying himself.
“She meant it.” He strode closer to Knox, pulling the shifter’s attention from me, something for which I was beyond grateful.
“You’re quite handsome. I mean … if you go in for that sort of thing.
” He wiggled his fingers at Knox’s face.
“I personally don’t get it, but I can see why a straight woman might. ”
“Yes, it’s an appealing package if you like milky white thighs and too much body hair,” Papa agreed.
I might have been the one mentally digging a hole to bury myself in, but Knox now looked as if he wanted to join me.
“Let’s head up to see that statue,” I said, far too loudly. I even clapped my hands to make the situation ten times more awkward.
Knox jogged to keep up with me as we headed for the entrance to the building. “Yes, let’s find that statue,” he enthused.
Baron and Papa could have been the bigger people — er, loas — but that wasn’t how they rolled. Instead, they opted to speak in extremely loud voices as they followed.
“When do you think they’ll realize that they want to see each other naked?” Papa asked.
“I believe they both already realize that,” Baron replied in his professorial voice.
I was really starting to hate that voice.
“Unfortunately, they’re going to keep fighting it.
They’re both too stubborn. I believe it will lead to a fight in which they rip each other’s clothes off in the heat of things before we see any action. ”
“Ah.” Papa sounded as if he liked the idea. “That might be fun to witness.”
Witness? Did he think we were going to invite him to watch? Not that it was going to happen or anything. I mean, there was no way that was going to happen. Just … no. There was a single chance. Not one single, little chance. Nope.
Not.
One.
Chance.
That was still going through my head when we strode into the lobby. Unfortunately, the secretary who had shot me down when I asked to see the statue days before was behind the desk. She didn’t look happy to see me.
“Oh, not you again,” she moaned.
“I guess she recognizes you,” Knox said with a smirk. He’d heard what Papa and Baron had said, the same as me, but he didn’t seem bothered by it.
I didn’t respond. Instead, I tried to figure out how to schmooze her. It turned out I needn’t have worried about it.
“This time, let the adults handle it,” Papa suggested. He whipped his hat off his head and swept toward the secretary. He was dressed in his usual black pants and weird jacket. His hat, much like Baron’s, boasted chicken bones. He looked like an extra from a bad street theater troupe.
The secretary only had eyes for him, however. She looked dazzled.
“Hello, my good lady,” Papa boomed in a voice so loud it could have dropped buildings. I darted looks left and right to see if we’d garnered any unwanted attention, but there was no one else in the lobby.
“H-Henrietta,” the receptionist said, tripping over her own name. “You can call me Henrietta.”
“But of course.” Papa grabbed her hand and lavished kisses across her wrist. That only served to have Henrietta slumping in her chair. “We need to see the new statue,” he said. Henrietta, seeing only stars, didn’t seem to object. “We know it was delivered a few days ago.”
“She came to see it before.” Henrietta pointed at me “I didn’t like the looks of her, so I lied and said it wasn’t here.”
“Yes, she has one of those faces you can’t trust,” Papa agreed. “She looks as if she’s perpetually eaten something that tastes terrible.”
“She wants something from my boss,” Henrietta whispered. “I can tell. I’m not going to help her. Mr. Hayes is a good man.”
“Is he?” Papa challenged. “That’s not what the rumors say.”
“Okay.” Henrietta let loose a hollow chuckle. “He’s not a great man. He used to be, before his wife died.”
“What about the son?”
Henrietta sat straighter and scowled. “Rotten to the core. He should be in prison. He’s going to break his poor father’s heart.”
“Yes, he’s a terrible individual,” Papa agreed. “We still need to see the statue. Can we have five minutes to look at it?”
“I don’t know.” Henrietta gnawed her bottom lip. “I’m not sure that’s a good idea.”
“You’re going to let us see it anyway.” Papa was running out of patience. “I don’t care if you want to or not.”
Henrietta rolled her eyes, but the smile she shot Papa was full of flirt. “If you insist. The statue is in the atrium.”
“Where is the atrium?” I asked.
Henrietta pointed to her left, her eyes still on Papa. “That way.”
I headed to the hallway she’d indicated.
It was bland, nothing to see but employee headshots on the wall.
When I emerged from the next corridor, I found myself in a huge space filled with plants and water features, the trickle of running water both soothing and annoying because I knew it would make me have to go to the bathroom if I spent too much time in the space.
There, in the center of everything, was the statue.
The relief that pulsed through me was immense.
“Is that it?” Knox asked, arriving at my side.
“That’s it.” Seeing it again made me realize there was nothing about the statue that stood out, which triggered a bout of crushing disappointment. I crossed to it anyway and dropped to my knees to look at the symbol. “Here it is.”
Knox dropped down with me. “That’s the same symbol,” he agreed. “What do we know about the statue otherwise?”
“Nothing,” I replied. “We should have asked Henrietta for details.” I glanced over my shoulder at Papa. “Can you work your whammy on her again to find out who this is?”
“That won’t be necessary,” Papa replied. He was no longer smiling. In fact, he looked like a man who might never smile again.
“Why not?” Knox asked.
“He knows,” I said, realizing as I said it that I was right. “Who is she?”
Papa glanced at Baron.
“Who is it?” I repeated, annoyance getting the better of me. “Who is that?” I jabbed my finger at the statue. “She’s not a goddess. I thought she was when I first saw her, but now that I see it again she’s something else.”
Something powerful, I silently added.
“She was powerful,” Papa agreed on a heavy sigh. “So powerful that we had to bring in help from outside to get rid of her.”
It took me a moment to wrap my head around that. “Wait, she’s one of you?”
“She was,” Baron confirmed. “Her name was Marinette, and she had issues.”
Marinette. I knew the name. She’d been a loa until about a year ago. Then she was killed by the individual who was supposed to be bringing the loas into the present day.
“Why would Archie Hayes want a statue of her?” I asked.
“We need to have a discussion,” Baron replied. “I think … I think I might know what’s going on. At least part of it. Gather the rest of your team. The chimera for certain. Then we will talk.”
He strolled out of the room as if he hadn’t just dropped a bomb on us.