Gray sighed.
“That I don’t know. Somewhere between Conti and here. And I’m sorry, I think closer to the Canal side, but I can’t be positive. You see, I saw them before I saw the sketches, so I wasn’t paying enough attention.”
“How do you know he works here?”
“He told her he was going in and she needed to keep a low profile, because all in all, the French Quarter was a small community. And she just said ‘What the hell do you think a dumb kid might remember?’ Anyway, he told her to go away, and he had to hurry. He didn’t want to be late for a shift until he was ready to quit. He was wearing one of those white jackets. You know the kind that waiters wear? That should help...a lot of the places along here are so casual. I think he’s working at one of the more high-end restaurants.”
Dan leaned back. That would help.
That would definitely, beyond a doubt, help them in a search.
“Thank you,” he told them both. “Sincerely, thank you.”
“We’re here to help. I mean, I think...we’re really here to help,” Mabel said, shrugging with a grin. She grew serious. “Get these people, Dan. Please get them.”
“I promise you I will do everything in my power,” he vowed. He stood. “I’d better go. I don’t want to leave Katie alone.”
“What? She’s alone?” Gray demanded.
“Alone, with half the city. But I’m on my way back to her right now.”
“You keep her safe, young man! That is one fine young lady,” Gray said. He looked at Mabel then. “And she lost people, people dearest to her in the world. Right this the best you can, young man. But you get back to her now.”
“I’m on my way!” he said.
Leaving the ghosts, Dan headed back toward Decatur. As he left, he called Axel.
It was going to be easier to explain his information to Axel than to Ryder.
“We need to go about a quiet search,” Axel said. “If Neil realizes we’re on to him, he’ll disappear before we can get to him.”
“Maybe we can start at opposite ends of the street and work toward each other. Bring Adam and Ryder in on it,” Dan suggested.
“That’s a plan,” Axel agreed. “And I may bring in one more agent, new fellow from Krewe headquarters who has been helping out on this here. He’s smart as a whip—”
“And speaks to the dead,” Dan said.
“Yeah.”
“All right. Katie will want to keep the carriage out until early evening—”
“That’s fine. Things don’t move here until late. If this guy is still around, the fine-dining places will be getting going after six.”
“Meet up then,” Dan said.
He ended the call. But then he called Axel back.
“What else?” Axel asked.
“Can you get Angela to do a deep dig on someone for me?” he asked.
“Who?”
“A casting agent, the one who let us know that both Jennie and Neil had been extras in the movie. Mrs. Carly Britton. Oh, yes, and check on her husband, too. She acted all terrified when she found out, but...”
“But?”
“Gut feeling.”
“Okay. I’ll call it in right now. If anyone can find out anything, it’s Angela.”
“Thank you.”
He was almost back to the curb in front of Jackson Square.
Katie’s carriage was just pulling out again.
He ran hard. She turned to see him, smiled and waited.
He leaped up on the carriage to join her.
She introduced him to her group, this time six people from a medical convention.
She raised a brow to him in question, even as she started a history lesson for the group.
He leaned close and whispered to her.
“Fine dining tonight, my love.”
And he realized that though he had spoken lightly, he meant that last part.
She’d come to mean so very much to him.
Was it something like love?
He wanted to find out. But first, he had to stop the Axeman’s Protégé. Had to protect Katie.
That was the only way he would ever really get to know.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
“Wow!”
“Well,” Katie said lightly, “you said fine dining. I thought maybe I should dress the part?”
“Wow,” Dan repeated.
She smiled. She’d put on a simple, knee-length black dress, but the way it draped always made her feel confident. It was nice to feel admired. And surprising, but then everything about her relationship with him was surprising. She’d never have imagined in a thousand years she would have made a move on him...and realize that she admired him, and maybe they were both haunted by the past, along with souls from the past.
She’d known him only a few days. Yet he was suddenly the most important person in her life.
“You dress up well yourself,” she told him.
“Do I? Thanks!”
He was wearing a tailored shirt but open at the throat, a vest, and a casual jacket over dark trousers. He looked as if he might have stepped from the pages of GQ.
“Anyway, I think they’ll let us in wherever we go. And I know where we should start,” Dan said.
“And where is that?” Katie asked him.
“A place called Duffy’s Den. It opened recently and supposedly has NOLA power money behind it from famous restaurant owners who have been working in finer establishments for years.”
“And why Duffy’s Den?”
“It’s new. They had to do a lot of hiring,” he told her. “Also, Angela gave me a list of places where the Rodenberry couple had eaten recently. They went to Duffy’s Den two nights before they were killed.”
“What do we do if we see him?” Katie asked.
“Both Axel and Ryder will be close by, somewhere on Bourbon Street. One of them will make the arrest. Or if worse comes to worst, I’ll hold him until one of them can get there.” He hesitated and shrugged. “I can stop someone, but I’m a consultant, and I don’t really have the authority to arrest anyone.”
“Ah.”
“So...shall we?”
He offered his arm to her.
She smiled and accepted. As they exited the house, Jerry, Ben and Mitch made an appearance on the porch, wagging their tails madly.
“I think Monty went out with a carriage tonight,” Katie
