The Werewolf Queen of Bourbon Street: City For Lost Souls Series Book 1

by S. K. Gregory

  Rolling onto my side, I tried to switch my mind off, but I kept going over the list of suspects in my head. Unless one of them cracked and confessed, which didn’t seem likely, our best bet was to find this Frank guy. How we were going to do that in a city this size with only a first name to go by was beyond me, but it was our only lead.

  Maybe Frank knew Kandy or he was the guy Bobby saw her arguing with. He could be a boyfriend, she broke up with him and he decided to get his revenge. Or he found out she cheated on him with Bobby. You don’t almost decapitate someone unless you have real anger toward them. It was quick, clean and the person who did it had to be someone Kandy trusted. She would have seen them behind her in the mirror, so she was comfortable enough with them to let them get close.

  I really needed to read up more on her kind too. See how strong Chupacabra’s are and how fast, that way I could at least hazard a guess at what attacked her. Harry had a few books on supernatural races and there were bound to be a few places which sold occult books around the city. I hadn’t ventured into many of the stores yet, there didn’t seem much point when I couldn’t afford anything. I did plan on going on a huge shopping spree if and when I ever did earn any money. After I paid back all the money I owed Kol and Harry, obviously. Given how it had stacked up, I’d probably get it paid off in about five years or so.

  I thought of everything I could do when I had the freedom of having money. I could buy my own clothes, groceries, and in time I could save up and get my own place and finally live on my own. That would be weird, I’ve always lived with someone, but I was also excited about it. My own place, my own life, finally, free of Pack interference.

  During my down time at work, which was most of it, I had taken to checking out the local listings to get an idea of what places were available. A lot of them were way out of my price range but I could dream. A little one bedroom with my own bed sounded like heaven.

  No matter what Regine tried, I would figure out this case, solve it and get out from under her thumb. I wouldn’t give any of this up to become her slave.

  8

  Jade

  Harry laid a small cardboard box on the desk that he had picked up from the club, with Kandy's things in it. Regine refused to give it to him yesterday and made us wait until this morning. I wondered if she did it so she could remove anything incriminating from it first. Or she had to fish them back out of the dumpster.

  “Anything good?” I asked, lifting out a cell phone with a cracked screen. It was at least a few generations old. I pressed the home button but nothing happened. “Phone’s dead.”

  Harry pulled a tangled cord from the box. “Try this.”

  I plugged it into the socket and the battery icon appeared. It would take a while to charge. I left it on my desk while it did. Maybe it would tell us something useful.

  Returning to the box, I found some makeup, gum and a pink hairbrush with some stray strands of blonde hair in it. There was also a black drawstring pouch, with something inside.

  “What’s this?” I said, reaching inside to remove a small white ball. A sticky white ball. “Gross. What is this?”

  Harry pulled a face. “Uh, Jade, try not to overreact, but I’m pretty sure that’s a snack for Kandy.”

  I looked at him blankly.

  “Goat eyeballs,” he explained.

  “What?” I shrieked, dropping it onto the desk. I threw the pouch back into the box and ran to the sink. “Ew, ew, ew.”

  I scrubbed my hands in hot water and half a bottle of soap, but I didn’t think I could ever forget the feeling of that gross eyeball.

  Harry retrieved the eyeball using a tissue and popped it back into the bag.

  “Why the hell would she have that?” She couldn’t eat chips like the rest of us?

  “She had to eat,” Harry said. “I’m sure there are a few places around here who could supply her.”

  I didn’t want to think about that. I mean I know there are stores who supply items for supernaturals, but I never thought that included goat eyeballs. There were probably things that were a lot worse too. I shook my head, if I thought about that too much I may never eat again.

  I stared at my hands, searching for any sign of eyeball gunk, but they just looked raw from scrubbing them. I’d know better next time. Never stick your hand in anything where you can’t see the contents first.

  “Nothing useful then,” I said.

  “There doesn’t appear to be, no.”

  It was a long shot anyway. It would hardly contain a note saying ‘this guy killed me'. That would be too easy. Or Regine could have removed anything useful. No matter what way I looked at it, I kept circling back to her. Kandy had access to the club, she probably knew things about Regine that she wouldn’t want shared with anyone. Although admittedly Weres didn’t use knives to kill people. Not that they couldn’t, but most of them liked to shift and take care of whoever pissed them off that way. A knife seemed too…human.

  “I wonder where Kandy lived, before she arrived here,” I said. We had tried to find out, but since Kandy didn’t seem to be her real name and she wasn’t human, there was no paper trail.

  “It’s anyone’s guess. I did manage to find out that Regine does quite a bit of traveling herself, all over the globe. It’s possible she picked Kandy up somewhere along the way.”

  “And what? Smuggled her into the country?”

  “Why not? Humans do it, why wouldn’t supernaturals smuggle other supernaturals?”

  Because it’s a horrible thing to do? Oh wait, they don’t care.

  “Well, as much as I want to stay here and stare at the murder board for another eight hours, I think we need to try something else.”

  “Agreed, let’s hit the streets as they say and see if anyone saw anything suspicious the day Kandy died,” Harry said.

  If it meant getting out of the office, I was all for it. Regine didn’t have any cameras in her club, at least none she would admit to, but that didn’t mean another business didn’t capture something on theirs. Or someone might have seen someone running through the streets with a knife dripping green goo. That probably didn’t happen, but we wouldn’t know unless we asked.

  As we walked along the Quarter, I enjoyed the cooler weather. Part of me did miss the snow at Crestwood, but that was probably just nostalgia. I didn’t love it when I woke up outside after a change. I didn’t like hurricane season though, I could do without that.

  We stopped at the alley near the clubs, the one which led to Easy Ride and the dumpster where Kandy lay. Or at least what was left of her.

  A man sat on the ground at the mouth of the alley, begging for change. He wore a dark colored shirt and torn jeans, with dirty sneakers.

  “Let’s see if he saw anything,” Harry said.

  He leaned down to speak to the man, while I waited nearby. I hate seeing people living on the streets. I know how close I am to ending up the same way and I feel bad for them. This city had suffered a lot and so many people were left with nothing. No matter how much I hated being in the position I’m in, I had a roof over my head, so I should stop complaining. Things could always get worse.

  Harry spoke quietly to the man, then removed some bills from his pocket and offered them to him. The man’s eyes lit up when he saw them. It was probably more money than he had seen in a long time.

  Harry returned a few minutes later to my side. “He says he saw a man hurrying out of the alley, looking shaken.”

  “Our killer?” I asked hopefully.

  “Maybe. He gave me a description, but without a name, we don’t really have a lot to go on. It does however look like the killer is not one of the staff members who was working that night.”

  There went my Regine killed her theory, but if this guy did kill Kandy, there was always the possibility that she hired him to do it. It seemed strange to ask us to investigate though, if it could lead back to her.

  Glancing back at the homeless man, he sat cou
nting the bills. I noticed how easily Harry parted with the money just now. Considering how badly business had been and what he must have spent on the lease, I knew he had to have more than a teacher’s salary. Kol had to be right about him being rich. I don’t know why it bothered me. I guess because he never told me about it, like so many other things. Of course he wasn’t likely to drop it into everyday conversation. “Would you like some coffee? By the way I’m rich.”

  When we left the alley, I asked, “So, are you rich or something?” I tried to keep it light, I didn’t want him thinking I was angling for his money. I was just curious.

  “Uh, I do have access to family money,” he said slowly. Family money, so his parents had been rich.

  “Oh. You don’t talk much about your family back in England.” I think he mentioned his mother before, but I didn’t know much about his home life.

  “Nothing to say really. I left it behind to come here.”

  “No siblings?”

  “No, just me.”

  He still wasn’t giving anything away, so I dropped it. It was rude to ask anyway, and none of my business. So he had money, that was good for him.

  We walked further down the street and a funeral procession passed us. I stopped to watch it. I always liked how they did things here, how they honored the dead. Back with the Pack, you’d be lucky if they dug a deep enough hole to toss you into.

  Jazz music filled the air and I noticed a few people stopping to take pictures. There was so much history in this city waiting to be discovered. We may live here now but we were still basically tourists.

  “We should do one of those walking tours,” I said. “Really get a look around the city.”

  “I think we should solve this case first.”

  “Good point.”

  Sightseeing could wait. I stopped and looked around. There was a pawn shop across the street with a camera mounted above the door. If the man came this way, then he might have been caught on that camera. I pointed it out to Harry.

  “Let’s check it out.”

  Harry explained the situation to the guy running the shop and handed over more money so he would let us take a look at the tapes. He led us to the back where the cameras were set up.

  “Lucky you came today. It gets erased after a few days.”

  He pushed a few buttons, bringing up the footage from the day Kandy was murdered.

  “Stop it there,” Harry said.

  A man came hurrying down the street, glancing back over his shoulder like he was worried he was being followed. He paused opposite the shop and checked his phone before looking around again. Then he moved on out of sight.

  “That seems to be the man the homeless man described. Could we get a copy of this?” Harry asked.

  The man burned us off a copy, for a few more bucks. People were assholes. At this rate, Harry would be broke by the end of the month.

  We left and headed back to the office. “Do you think he’s the killer?” I asked.

  “If not, he might have seen something. We just need to figure out who he is.”

  “That’s not going to be easy,” I said. Short of going door to door, we didn’t have the resources. And we didn’t know if he had anything to do with it. A lot of this felt like we were chasing our tails. I have to admit I found it frustrating.

  “We have to try. If he is a local, someone might recognize him, if not, we could try that Detective Bell. She might know who he is.”

  I bristled at the suggestion. Why did he keep bringing that woman up? Did he like her too? I hoped not. The last thing we needed was a nosy cop interfering in our lives. Or Harry falling for another woman.

  9

  Jade

  While one of Harry’s contacts looked into the man, I headed out to grab us lunch. I preferred it to sitting around, at least it broke the monotony. I walked a little further afield today, looking for somewhere different to eat.

  As I passed a store, a black woman stood in the doorway, arms crossed, watching me. “Read your cards, girl?” she called. I could hear a Creole accent.

  “No, thanks,” I said, waving to her.

  “Are you sure? It could help with your dilemma.”

  I stopped walking. I know not every tarot reader is legit, but some are. After Rosa though, I wasn’t a fan of them.

  She stepped out from the doorway and walked slowly toward me. “Yes, I see trouble in your future.”

  “What trouble would that be?” I asked.

  “There’s a threat looming, one you hope to shake.”

  I stared at her. She couldn’t know that just from looking at me. Maybe she was legit. “Will I?”

  “Let’s find out,” she said.

  I followed her into the store. I guess it wouldn’t hurt to see what she had to say.

  Her store was filled with voodoo items for sale and she seemed to offer different remedies too. I wondered if she was one of the rivals Kol talked about.

  Leading me to a round table in the back, she motioned to the seat.

  She lifted a deck of cards with a black and silver design and began to shuffle them. I waited in silence, determined not to take anything she had to say too seriously.

  “You are a non-believer,” she said.

  “No, but I’m not going to take it as gospel either.”

  She smirked at me. “Being suspicious has served you well in your line of work.”

  I shrugged, not giving anything away.

  She lay out the cards for me. “Hm, yes, this threat is real, but you have choices, neither of which are very good.”

  Yeah, leave or join her pack.

  “The answers you seek are closer to home than you think. Trust your instincts.”

  This sounded like the usual garbage you got from the sideshow hustlers. I guess I was wrong.

  “Yeah, that’s great. I really need to get going,” I said, getting to my feet.

  The woman reached out and gripped my wrist. “If you had sense, girl, you would leave town for good. Find a new life elsewhere.”

  “That isn’t an option,” I said.

  “Then prepare yourself for a world of pain.”

  I snatched my arm away. “Whatever.”

  I didn’t need her cryptic bullshit. Stomping out of the store, I headed to get my lunch. Let her work the tourists with that shit.

  There was a wait for my order, so I sat at a table outside the restaurant until they were ready.

  As I took in the sights, I noticed a guy sitting two tables away. He was cute with brown hair and a nice smile. I saw him glance my way and quickly turned my attention to my phone. I didn’t want him to think I was interested. I’ve been burned too many times. Well, okay, twice. But since they both ended up dead, I didn’t rate his chances.

  After a moment, I glanced up again and let out a yelp. He now sat at my table, opposite me. I didn’t even see him move. Was this asshole stalking me? Did Regine send him?

  “What do you want?” I blurted.

  He gave me a lazy smile. “You looked lonely, so I thought I’d join you.”

  “Well, I’m not,” I snapped.

  He looked surprised. “Hey, I didn’t mean to upset you. Have you never had a guy chat you up before?”

  Oh yeah, right before he murdered two people and then tried to kill me.

  “From the look on your face, it didn’t go well. Sorry, I’ll leave you alone.” He smiled again and moved to the edge of the road.

  I didn’t mean to be rude, but I honestly didn’t trust anyone anymore. Especially not cute guys interested in me. That should be a red flag right there. He probably collected heads as a hobby.

  I still had nightmares about Seb coming after me. He almost killed me and I never suspected him, not for a moment.

  Which means I’m probably in the wrong job.

  The waitress signaled to me that my food was ready. I got up to grab it.

  As I left, I saw the guy who spoke t
o me, hustling some people. Moving closer, I tried to hear what he was saying.

  “I can read your mind, ma'am. I guarantee it,” he said to a middle aged woman with gray hair.

  Read minds? For real or was he just a con artist. I lingered to see what he did next. The woman decided to give him a shot.

  He placed a hand to his forehead like he was concentrating. “Think of a number between one and a hundred.”

  The woman nodded to show that she had chosen a number.

  He paused then said, “Ninety-three.”

  The woman laughed. “Oh my God, how did you do that?”

  “This time think of an animal, any animal.”

  After a moment, he said, “A bird.”

  She laughed again. “You’re good.”

  He bowed for her. “Thank you, ma'am. Any donations are welcome,” he said, holding out a hat. She dropped a bill into it and moved on.

  Smiling, he placed the hat on his head. Spotting me, he leaned against a lamp post, looking cocky.

  “So what’s your secret?” I asked, curious.

  “No secret. I can really read minds.”

  “Really? Okay, what number am I thinking of?” I said.

  He squinted at me for a moment, then frowned. “You’re a little harder to read,” he said.

  “Yeah, I knew you were full of crap.” I turned away.

  “No, I just have a harder time with supernaturals. Particularly, a…Were?”

  He knew what I was? I turned back to him. “Uh, wolf Shifter. What are you?”

  “Nothing really. I picked up telepathy from my father, but it has its limitations. Works best on humans.”

  “So you use your abilities to hustle people?” Seemed like a waste of a good ability. He could be playing high stakes poker or something with it.

  “Is it really hustling if I’m actually doing what I’m saying? And as it happens, no. I actually have a few jobs, mostly helping the SPA or the cops when I can. I’m Noah.” He looked particularly proud of his accolades and I realized he was trying to impress me.

  “Jade. You really help on cases?” The SPA were particular about who the used. They liked to use the strongest psychics or mind readers that they could find, not someone like him.