by Deanna Chase
I poured two tumblers of scotch and handed one to Julius.
He lifted his glass in a salute. “To the lovely hostess who doesn’t mind an uninvited houseguest.”
“My door is always open.” The glasses clinked when I knocked mine against his, and then our eyes locked as we both took a long sip.
He gulped down the amber liquid, quickly draining his glass. The tension eased from his shoulders as he relaxed against the counter. “Thank you. I’ve waited a long time for that.”
“Another?” I asked, waving to the bottle.
“That’s very kind of you, but I better not.” He put his glass in the sink and jabbed his head toward the kitchen door. “Want to finish that tour?”
I’d barely sipped any of my scotch but discarded it anyway. The last thing I needed was to be tipsy around him. With the way my body was already swaying toward his, who knew what I’d do? I felt the blush creeping up my cheeks and slipped past him, back into the large living room. The dining room was off to the left near the floor-to-ceiling windows that looked out over Bourbon Street.
“Nice balcony,” Julius said, passing by the windows.
“It’s fun during Mardi Gras.”
His eyes lit with excitement. “I always did love the parades.”
I smiled. “Were they as crazy as they are now?” Shaking my head, I said, “No. I bet there wasn’t much boob flashing.”
His expression turned to one of shock. “Heavens, no. The parades didn’t run through Storyville.”
He was referring to the red-light district where anything was possible. I raised one eyebrow. “But they did run on Bourbon Street, right? From what I understand, it’s never really been a family-friendly place.”
He laughed. “You’re not wrong about that. Once Storyville shut down, most of the ladies just migrated to the French Quarter. But they had to be a lot more discreet in order to avoid being arrested.”
Storyville had been located just behind the French Quarter. It was where one went for legalized prostitution and other vices in the city. After it was shut down, some of the prostitutes either left town or sought other employment, but many of them just opened up illegal places of business right here on Bourbon Street.
“And did you know any of these ladies?” I laughed as I led him to the guest room.
His lips turned up into a rueful smile. “I might have been friendly with a few, but I didn’t know them in the biblical sense.”
“Too poor?”
He chuckled, clearly enjoying our banter. “Perhaps.”
“Well, don’t look for any action in here. This is my guest room slash painter’s studio.” I opened the door and waved Julius in. Just as he was brushing past me, my phone went off. The screen had Jade’s smiling face. “Give me a sec.”
Julius nodded and continued into the room without me.
“Hey, what’s up?” I said into the phone.
“The police were just here. They had a lot of questions about Ruby. It appears they think we might have some information you weren’t willing to say earlier.”
“Oh son of a… you can’t be serious.” How stupid were they? Didn’t they check Ruby’s security camera? It had to have shown us leaving and then later me arriving by myself.
Julius appeared beside me and placed his hand on the small of my back. “What’s wrong?”
I held up one finger in a wait motion.
“The police heavily implied you were hiding something from them and that I might know about it. Apparently we were the last to enter her shop before she was attacked.”
“The security video doesn’t show anyone but us?” Son of a monkey. So they had seen the video and were still trying to blame us. “That makes no sense.”
Jade said something, but I couldn’t hear her over the sound of my doorbell.
Fear crawled up my spine. No one should’ve been able to enter the building without me buzzing them in. Not unless Kane had let them up. “Hold on, Jade. There’s someone at the door.”
Peeking through the eyehole, I let out a string of curse words. “Jade, the police are here.”
“Yeah. They want to corroborate our stories.” There was a heavy dose of sarcasm in her tone.
“They can shove their questions up their—”
The knocking on the door grew more insistent.
“Call me after they leave,” Jade said, sounding tired all of a sudden.
“I will. Thanks for the heads-up.”
As I ended the call, I glanced back at Julius. He was standing in the doorway of my guest room.
“Do you need to get that?”
The doorbell rang again.
“Unfortunately.” I pulled the door open to a middle-aged female police officer and a young male who looked like he couldn’t have been on the job for more than ten minutes.
“Ms. Rayne?” The woman had a perma-scowl on her face.
“Yes?”
“I’m Officer Dell, and this is my partner Officer Brant. We’re here to ask you a couple of questions.”
“About?” Even though I already knew why they were here, I resented the way she was looking at me. It was as if she’d already deemed me guilty.
“It’s about the homicide of Ruby Charles. You were one of the last people to see her before her unfortunate demise.” She stretched her neck, trying to see into my apartment. The invasion of my privacy had me bristling.
I pulled the door closer to my body, blocking her view. “Yes. I’m also the one who found her.” I swallowed the lump forming in my throat, suddenly choked up. I’d liked Ruby, and finding someone so brutally attacked wasn’t something anyone should have to endure. “Excuse me. This is a little overwhelming.”
“Ms. Rayne,” young officer Brant said with a sympathetic smile, “I know this must be an intrusion, but if you’ll accommodate us for just a few moments, we’d appreciate it. We’re trying to piece together Ms. Charles’s day.”
The female officer let out an irritated huff and fingered her handgun.
“I’m sorry,” I said to her. “Is there a problem?”
“Not at all, except that you obviously knew we were coming and are acting as if you didn’t.” She narrowed her eyes. “What is it you don’t want us to know?”
How the heck had she known that? Did she have a superpower that allowed her to hear my conversation with Jade or something? I clamped my mouth shut.
“Dell,” the young officer said, “Ms. Rayne is not a suspect.”
“Yet.” She crossed her arms over her chest and glared.
Jade had been right. They were trying to pin the murder on the easiest target. Most likely me since I was the one who called 911 and they knew I’d been there earlier in the day. But why? Were they that lazy, or was someone trying to cover something up by deflecting blame elsewhere? Well, I had nothing to hide. Flinging the door open, I waved a hand. “Come in.”
I turned and caught Julius’s eye. His fists were clenched and he was scowling.
“Who is this?” Dell asked, whipping out a small notebook.
I held my hand out to Julius, not sure what to say. He’s my ghost crush didn’t seem like the best answer. “He’s just a friend.”
“Well, friend. I’m going to need your name for our records.” Dell held her pen poised, waiting for him to answer.
Julius took a step toward me. He opened his mouth to say something, but before he could get the words out, he vanished once again into thin air.
Chapter 5
Dell whipped out her gun and held it with both hands, scanning it across the room. “Show yourself!”
“Shit,” I mumbled.
“Where did he go?” she asked me, still waving her gun.
I raised my hands in surrender. “I have no idea.”
“Watch her,” she said to Brant and crossed the
room, checking behind the sofa and the chairs. When she came up empty, she headed to the guest room. She kicked the door open and stood with her feet shoulder width apart, pointing that damn gun in every direction as she cleared the area.
“He’s not in there,” I said to Officer Brant.
Both of his eyebrows were raised as he stared at me, his clear blue eyes cautious. “Want to tell me what’s going on?”
“Sure. Julius is a ghost.” There was no reason to lie. Either they believed me or they didn’t. Unless Julius reappeared, they weren’t going to find him.
He rolled his eyes. “Seriously? That’s what you’re going with?”
I shrugged. “It’s the truth.”
Dell reappeared from the guest room. “Anything?”
We both shook our heads.
The pure contempt in her expression made me wish I could disappear just as Julius had. Lucky bastard.
Dell took a few moments to check my room and the kitchen. When she returned, she had her gun holstered. “I want his name, address, and place of business.”
I considered giving her the address of the Saint Louis Cemetery and had to stifle a laugh. Being inappropriate would get me nowhere with these two.
Brant cleared his throat. “She says the gentleman is a ghost and that’s why he disappeared.”
She clenched her jaw and all but sneered at me. “This is not a game, Ms. Rayne.”
“I’m well aware of that,” I said, losing my temper. “Julius is a ghost. I have no idea what his last name is or where he might have worked when he was living, which according to him was in the nineteen twenties.” I placed my hands on my hips and matched her glare. “Not that it should matter to you anyway. What could you possibly want with him? He wasn’t anywhere near Ruby’s this afternoon.”
Her lips formed into a triumphant smile as if I’d just given her a gift. She opened her black file and pulled out a computer scan picture of me in the silver-beaded dress. I was standing in front of the mirror and right there in the reflection was both Julius and me. Oh, double dammit on a cracker. How was I going to explain this?
I bit the inside of my cheek.
“Well, Ms. Rayne, we got this off the security camera. Seems your memory is faulty. Or are you trying to say this man is not the same one who just disappeared from your living room?” Dell waved the photo in front of my face.
I was getting really tired of her attitude. There seemed to be no other solution than to answer her questions as best I could. Biting back a snarky reply, I waved to the couch. “Maybe we should all have a seat.”
Dell’s smile turned self-satisfied.
I sat in the armchair to the right of the couch. “You know, if you’d been a tiny bit more pleasant, we could’ve skipped the hostility and gotten right to it.”
Dell opened her mouth to no doubt put me in my place, but Brant cut her off. “Thank you for taking time to speak with us. We apologize for the intrusion.”
I nodded. What else was I going to do? Offer them coffee? Hell no. Maybe if Dell weren’t around. Brant seemed pleasant enough. He reminded me of a carefree surfer boy with his natural tan and sun-kissed blond hair.
Dell flipped a piece of paper over the top of her notepad and proceeded to ask me a bunch of mundane questions, such as how long I’d known Ruby, when was the last time I’d seen her, how often I frequented her store. Then she ended with, “Why did you want her dead?”
My mouth fell open in shock. “Excuse me?”
“I believe you heard me.” Dell’s gaze didn’t falter as she studied me.
“You’re barking up the wrong tree, Officer Dell.” I stood up. “Unless you plan to arrest me, then I think it’s time for you to go.” A small quiver of unease took up residence in my gut. What if they did haul me off to jail? They couldn’t, could they? There was no evidence to speak of.
“Let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves.” Brant sent his partner a warning glance.
She ignored him as she pushed a lock of her dirty-blond hair from her forehead. “Are you sure you want to stick with your ghost story? That’s not going to look good to the judge, especially after I produce the picture of you two together.”
My hands curled into fists as I tried my best not to throw her ass out. “Yes. It’s the truth. Besides, Julius wasn’t in the shop. He only appeared in the mirror. You can ask my friend Jade. She was there as well.”
“We already did.” Dell stood up and stuffed her pen into her shirt pocket.
“And?”
“Your stories do not match.”
Of course they didn’t. Jade wouldn’t want to bring the supernatural into things if she didn’t have to. Witches weren’t exactly a secret in New Orleans. But most of the mundanes didn’t really believe. They liked to pretend the paranormal was all just part of the city’s lore. “Well, I don’t know what to say to that. Maybe Jade didn’t realize he was a ghost.”
Dell let out a snort and moved toward the door. “Don’t leave town, Ms. Rayne. If you try to, we’ll be forced to bring you in.”
I didn’t bother to hide my scowl. She could bite me.
Brant followed her to the door but abruptly stopped and turned to me. He held out another photo scan. “One more thing. Have you ever seen this woman before?”
I took the photo and peered at it. A tiny gasp escaped my lips before I could stop it.
Brant cocked his head to the side, his expression full of curiosity. “You know her.” He wasn’t asking.
I shook my head. “No. Sorry. It’s just that I…”
“You what?”
Damn. I’d gone and opened my big mouth. If I didn’t elaborate, I’d only make things worse.
“Hold on. I’ll be right back.” I hurried to my bedroom and grabbed the silver-beaded dress I’d brought home from Ruby’s. In no time at all, I was back in my living room, clutching the hanger. “This looks like the same dress.”
Brant glanced from the picture to the dress and pursed his lips. “So it is.”
Dell grabbed the photo scan and studied it and the dress. “Why do you have it and where did you get it?” she demanded.
I’d had just about enough of her. “Look, Officer. I’m only trying to help. I’ve already told you I have nothing to do with any of this. I’m a customer of Ruby’s and picked this up today. She did mention it had just come in yesterday if that helps you at all.”
Brant nodded and scratched some notes in his notebook. “Thank you, Ms. Rayne. That information is indeed helpful.”
“It is?” I laid the dress over the end of the couch. “Why, is the past owner a suspect or something?”
“That’s police business,” Dell said and disappeared into the hall.
Brant gave me an apologetic smile, working his boyish charm for all it was worth. “Sorry about that. She’s had a rough day.”
I gave him an incredulous look. “Not as rough as Ruby.”
“Or Ms. Shelby Crow.” He waved the photo, indicating the previous owner of my dress. “She was found strangled earlier this morning. It’s possible the same person killed both her and Ruby.”
My hand flew to my throat. “My God. That’s terrible.”
Brant’s expression turned somber. “My partner knew her. She was the girlfriend of a friend of the family.”
A deep sadness ran through me and settled in my soul. The woman was so young, early twenties. And beautiful. Why would anyone want to kill her? At least that explained Dell’s attitude. Not that it was an excuse to be so bitchy, but it did put things into perspective. “I’m sorry I couldn’t be of more help.”
“Actually, Ms. Rayne, you’ve given us quite a lot to go on. Thank you.” He pulled out his card. “Don’t hesitate to call if you think of anything else Ruby might have said to you or if you find you need help with your ghost problem.” He winked. “I’ve had a litt
le experience with banishing spirits.”
I forced myself to not frown. Eliminate Julius? No way. Besides, if my place was cleansed, it might make it harder to access my guides. And the truth was, I kind of liked having them around. “Thanks, but I’m okay for now.”
“Sure thing. You’ve got my card just in case.” He gave me a genuine smile and then left, closing the door gently behind him.
“Holy crap.” I picked up my dress and then sank into the oversized chair.
“You’re upset.” Julius’s voice came from behind me.
“Julius!” I jumped up. “Where the hell did you go? That woman officer almost lost her mind when you vanished.”
He gave me an apologetic smile, but it didn’t reach his eyes. They were cold and hard, full of hatred. “I have history with the NOPD.”
“Recent history?” I found that hard to believe. Even though he sometimes appeared in solid form, like he did now, he was still a ghost. What kind of issues could he have had?
“No, but I’ve seen enough over the years to know nothing has changed.” His hands fisted and his arm muscles bulged. There was a raw fierceness to him I hadn’t seen before. It was as if he was ready to strike at any moment.
And it scared me. I took a step back, putting distance between us. It was the first time since we’d met that I hadn’t felt completely safe around him.
His gaze followed me, and after a moment, he blew out a breath, visibly calming himself. He rolled his shoulders and rubbed a palm over the back of his neck. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you. Do you want me to leave?”
I hesitated. Did I? No. Not really. I liked having him around. He made me feel… alive. And after hearing about the death of two women, I wanted that. I shook my head. “Maybe we could sit and talk a bit?”
His easy smile slid back into place. “I’d like that. More than you know.”
I took a seat at the end of my couch and Julius sat next to me, his body turned in to face me. “What did they want?”
