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“And if we can’t get answers, then we can’t figure out what she wants. Which means there’s no way we can help her move on.” Cassie blew a piece of hair off her face. “Another dead end.”
“Another wrong turn.” Jason laid a hand on her arm. It was warm and comforting. “But I thought of something else.”
Cassie closed the book on Dr. Cohen, both literally and figuratively. “What?”
“Charli was a real person. She existed somewhere. Otherwise she wouldn’t have been able to get a job.”
It took Cassie a second to catch on. “The hospital. She’d need to give them some personal information to volunteer there.”
“I texted Vanessa. She said most of the volunteer workers go through one or two major organizations.” He looked at his watch. “It’s too late now, but we could stop by tomorrow. See if they can help us figure out what happened to her.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
Cassie wished she felt something other than disappointment, but at every turn they made, an obstacle rose to force them into changing course. She was glad Charli wasn’t a total dead end, but the Ghost Doctor remained an elusive mystery.
One she was tired of trying to solve.
27
Jason and Cassie stayed in the car until someone unlocked the front door of Dana’s Friends, a non-profit volunteer organization in the heart of downtown New Orleans. The bank to its right and the grocery store on its left dwarfed the building, but the bright green sign in the window was enough to catch attention.
The temperature had dropped overnight, and even though it would hit the mid-sixties by that afternoon, the early morning was dim and wet. A steady drizzle made the city look hazy, and the ice-cold drops of water sent goosebumps skittering across Cassie’s skin when they finally exited the vehicle and rushed across the street.
Jason pushed through the open door with Cassie on his heels. It was a cramped room, with three large tables and a smattering of chairs. Posters and bulletin boards covered every inch of wall space. Several people huddled in the back over paper coffee cups. When the bell chimed, a woman with short curly hair and golden-brown skin set down her cup and greeted them. Up close, Cassie saw her coiled hair had streaks of magenta. She wore large, round glasses that made her look like she belonged back in the 1970s.
“Hey there.” Her voice had a southern twang that made Cassie think of cowboy hats and Texas longhorns. “How are y’all today?”
Jason ran his hands up and down his arms. “Could do with a little more heat out there.”
“I hear ya.” The woman craned her neck to look through the front windows. “Supposed to stop raining at some point, but I’ll believe it when I see it.”
“My name is Jason.” He held out his hand. “This is Cassie. We’re hoping you can help us with something.”
She shook both their hands. “My name’s Poppy, and I’ll do my damnedest.”
“We’re trying to contact one of your volunteers. Charli?”
The woman’s mouth twisted into a sympathetic smile. “Unless you have a warrant of some sort, I can’t give away anyone’s personal information.”
“We’re not cops,” Cassie said.
“And we’re not looking for personal information,” Jason supplied. “We just want to contact her.”
“Unfortunately, that falls under personal information.” When the woman shook her head, her curls bounced. “I’m sorry, but there’s nothing I can do.”
“Can you at least tell us if she worked here?” Cassie didn’t hide the desperation in her voice. “Her name was Charli, without the e, and she had tattoos and piercings.”
“I know who you’re talking about.” Poppy cast a glance around the room. “Maybe you want to look around for a bit? See if you’re interested in helping us out sometime?”
Jason seemed to catch on before Cassie did. “Of course, thank you.”
“Let me know if you need anything else.”
Cassie waited until the woman walked away before turning to Jason. “Another bust?”
“Maybe not.” He pointed to the walls. “Who knows what we might find.”
Cassie took a step closer to one of the bulletin boards. There was no order to the chaos. People had pinned business cards to the middle of posters, which sat atop informational handouts. The topics ranged from insurance to proper care to women’s rights and rampant racism in the health industry.
