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“It’s not a problem, I told you that.” Harris tilted her bottle back and downed a third of it this time. At least she seemed to be slowing down. “But are you sure you have to leave? You can’t get out of it?”
“I didn’t ask.” When Harris pinched her eyebrows together, Cassie rushed on. “I just took off a bunch of time visiting with my sister, and then going to Charlotte to see my parents. It didn’t feel right to get out of this trip, too.”
“I’m sure they’d understand. Did you tell them what happened?”
“No. Nobody knows.” She refused to feel guilty about that. “I’m not ready to talk to them about it.”
Harris looked away, but she didn’t say anything. Whatever she was feeling, she kept it locked down. “Where are you going again? New Orleans?”
Cassie bobbed her head up and down, grateful for the change in subject. “We’re lending a couple pieces to the NOMA, and my boss wants me to oversee the installation and build a better relationship with the staff.”
“The NOMA?”
“New Orleans Museum of Art.” Cassie smirked. Harris seemed so far removed from her world at the museum. “It’s one of about a dozen or so museums around the country to take part in a program to increase collaboration in the hopes that it sparks community interest and visitation.”
“You sound like you studied the brochure.”
“They told me there would be a test.” Their usual banter was flat. Neither of them put their heart into it. “Look, I’m sorry if it seems like I’m running out on you—”
“No, no.” Harris set her bottle down, then rubbed her hands down her face and sighed into her palms. When she looked up, Cassie could see the pain and confusion in her eyes for the first time. “I’m not trying to get in between you and your job. I just—I don’t really have anyone, okay? I can’t talk to Lisa, I’m not about to talk to the Chief, and no one else knew David like you did.”
Cassie had known the detective wasn’t there to find out where she kept the cat food. She couldn’t be mad at Harris for wanting to know, but that didn’t make it any easier. “I can’t answer a question you haven’t asked yet.”
The pain on Harris’ face aged her twenty years. She looked so tired. “It’s not fair to ask you.”
“You wouldn’t be the first.” Cassie had resigned herself to the fact a long time ago. “And you won’t be the last.”
“Have you seen him?” Harris had to choke out the words. “Talked to him?”
“No.”
The detective stood up and peeked through Cassie’s window. Bear lifted his head and watched her, then settled back down. Apollo kept snoring. When Harris faced Cassie again, the mask she’d been wearing for the last few days had returned. “I don’t know what I was hoping for.”
“Well, if you’re anything like me, you wished the answer was ‘yes,’ because at least you’d have a shot at answering the questions lingering in your mind. But you’re also relieved the answer was ‘no,’ because maybe that means he’s at peace.”
“But he was murdered.” The mask flickered, but Harris kept it in place. “How could he be at peace?”
“I don’t know.” Cassie remembered what she’d told Lisa about David not wanting to visit her after he died. “Maybe he doesn’t want to.”
“Does it always happen right away?”
“Not always.” Cassie tucked her feet underneath her. Talking about this, even to Harris, still felt strange. And vulnerable. Like she was exposing the rawest nerve in her body to someone who had been a complete stranger a few months ago. “It’s not like there’s a rule book. Spirits come and go in whatever way they can. Sometimes it’s their choice. Sometimes there are other factors at play.”
“That doesn’t help us solve David’s case.” Harris put her hands on her hips and tipped her head back. She sighed at the ceiling before looking back down at Cassie. “I didn’t mean it like that. I know you can’t control any of this. I’m just frustrated.” She sat down and drained the rest of her beer. “Not at you. At the case. At David. At myself. At the world.”
“I am, too. Trust me.” Cassie took another sip of wine and felt the liquid warm her body. “But you’ll figure it out. We’ll figure it out. I shouldn’t be in New Orleans more than a couple days. Maybe by then you’ll have learned something else.”
And maybe by then I’ll be ready the solve my best friend’s murder. But I doubt it.
“I hope we have that kind of time.”
Cassie cocked her head to the side. “What do you mean? Isn’t this a top priority for the department?”
“Of course.” Harris shrugged. “But that doesn’t mean they’ll catch the right person.”
“I don’t follow.”
“We were meeting a witness who wanted to turn on Aguilar. Then David winds up dead and the witness is missing? It was either a setup or a lucky break for Aguilar. Either way, this man is powerful. He’s always been untouchable, which means even if we catch his guy, the one who killed David, it doesn’t mean we’ll catch him. Just because someone else pulled the trigger doesn’t mean Aguilar isn’t responsible.”
