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I laughed. I couldn’t help it. “Oh, I know,” I said wryly.
“Now, I’ve been in the middle of it all and I can’t dispute what I saw. But seeing ghosts . . . that’s going to take some getting used to.”
“I’ll help you th—” Before I could even finish the sentence, a knock sounded on the door. Both Hanlen and I looked over and saw Detective Stephanie Miller standing in the doorway.
“Hey, guys,” she said and walked in. “Sorry to bother you. How are you feeling, Hanlen?”
“I’ve been better,” Hanlen answered. “But at least I’m alive.”
“I just wanted to stop in and give you guys some updates.” She leaned against the wall and looked at us. “Remy Dee Reaume will never be able to hurt anybody again. I would actually be surprised if hedoesn’tget the death penalty. Surprisingly, he confessed to fifteen murders. I think he’s still proud of them and feels justified. Plus, he has your kidnapping and attempted murder. We had the forensic psychologist question him almost immediately and he said that Remy is one-hundred-percent sane and knew exactly what he was doing, so any bullshit insanity defense his lawyers may want to try will hopefully fail spectacularly.”
“How does someone even end up that way?” Hanlen asked. “I mean, I know it happens, I’ve seen it, dealt with it in varying degrees in even my career, but he was scary.”
“In Remy’s case, I’m not sure there was any environmental reason. Some people are just born that way. From what we can dig up, he wasn’t abused, he never had any injuries that could have contributed to his devolving morality. And what we uncovered at his house during our search leads us to believe that he’s been this way from a very young age.”
“Jesus Christ,” Hanlen breathed.
“Yeah, it was messed up. I probably shouldn’t be telling you this, but I know with everything you’ve been through and given your occupation, Hanlen, I feel like I can tell you. You know Remy lived way out in the bayou, right, Dev? Well, his home was a horror show. We found trophies from all of his victims in a loose floorboard in his home. He also had a stockpile of those creepy, hexagonal coppermemento moriskull coins that he was using as his kill signature. But that’s not even the worst part.”
“Oh, I can’t wait to hear this,” I said, sarcasm dripping from my tone.
“He had an industrial-sized freezer in his garage,” Stephanie continued. “Inside, we found the dismembered remains of his parents. We think they’ve been in there for at least ten years, if not longer. Nobody even knew that they were missing. Somehow, he found a way to make it look like they were loners. Perpetuated the charade that they were still alive and fine while utilizing their resources. This guy’s sick. He’s smart, manipulative, and I’m so sorry that it took you guys getting hurt for us to stop him, but I am beyond grateful that we did.”
“Unbelievable,” I breathed. “I still can’t believe I didn’t know. I can’t believe nothing tipped me off. What good is having the power I have if I can’t use it to uncover things like this and keep those I care about safe?”
“Dev,” Stephanie said and moved forward to grip my hand. “Please don’t beat yourself up over this. While this is a first in my career, I’ve spoken to enough federal profilers and talked to many cops and agents who work violent crimes. Most times, people don’t know. I mean, look at history. For the most part, the most prolific serial killers were all brought low by happenstance. Nobody knew. They’re really good at hiding who they are. Concealing the evil inside. Remy was liked by just about everybody who met him. This isn’t on you.”
I ran a hand over my hair and looked at Hanlen, brushing my fingers across her soft cheek as I took my seat in the chair once more.
“Well,” Stephanie said and twisted her ponytail before letting it rest over her shoulder. “That’s all I had. I just wanted to check in on you both and fill you in. Hanlen, we will need to get your official statement when you’re ready, but it hasn’t stopped us from moving forward.”
“Of course,” Hanlen said.
“I’ll leave you two to it,” the detective said and backed towards the door. “Call me if you need anything, but get better. Both of you.” She waved and headed out the door, leaving Hanlen and me alone once again.
“So, what now?” Hanlen asked. I wasn’t sure the breadth of her question, so I waited a beat to see if she’d elaborate. “I mean, for us. We don’t even live in the same state.”
“Well, in the short term, and despite everything, we need to finish this show.” I quirked a smile. “We’re still a day away from concluding the investigation. The good news is that it’s not live and the delay shouldn’t hurt anything with the network since we’re shooting in advance for this episode, but we do need to finish. I’d really like for this to air in two weeks. Which means, I still need access to your property. Which further means, you’re going to have to stick around for a little bit longer.”
She flashed me that cheeky grin of hers that always made me feel lighter. “I think something can be arranged.”
“After that . . .” I let the statement trail off and waited to see if she’d say more. When she didn’t, I figured now was as good a time as any.
I blew out a breath. “So, I’ve been thinking. How settled are you in Texas?”
“My business is there,” she answered, “but I do a lot of traveling already, can work virtually anywhere, and my one-bedroom apartment is nothing special. My lease is even up soon, and I haven’t once thought about renewing. Why do you ask?”
My trepidation eased a bit. She seemed open to at least exploring options. I really hoped she’d like to think about what I was going to suggest at a minimum. “This might be impulsive, but I don’t feel that way, and I hope you won’t either. What do you think about moving back to New Orleans? You have a gorgeous house just sitting here, you have me, new friends, and if you’re open to it, I can even give you some work while you settle in with Arbor Investigations here in Louisiana. I can always use additional investigators. And now that we lost Burke,”—I felt sadness well at the thought of the man whose life was cut way too short—“I could use some extra help.”
She seemed to think about it for a minute, but she didn’t immediately rebuff the idea, nor did she seem particularly opposed to it. “I love this city. I always have. I only moved because being here hurt too much. Now that you’ve opened my eyes to things that were previously well beyond my comprehension, and I know that, while no longer with me, Ray is fine, there’s really no reason for menotto live here. You’re right. Arborwood should be lived in. Enjoyed. It should be taken care of by those with a connection to the place and not trashed by vacationers. We’ve made enough money on the rental site that I could use it to take care of the property while enjoying it. It’s mine by birthright, and Mom won’t ever be coming back. There’s really no reason not to use it now.”
Hoped surged, but I could see that she was working through a few more things.
“Plus, I think it’d be good for Bea to have someone close who loves her.”
“You are absolutely right,” I said, feeling even more hopeful.
“And as for work, as I said, I can set up shop anywhere. I’ve already gotten offers on my office space since it’s in such a coveted part of the city there. I could easily use the money I make off that to buy something here. Or I could convert the carriage house into my office and work from Arborwood. It’s not so far out of the city that clients couldn’t find me.”
