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And . . . I melted. Until I said, “Then you will love me.”Great, good one, Hanlen.“I mean, I do, indeed, enjoy my food. And this gumbo is to die for.”
He took another swig from his beer and then lifted it in a mock-cheers. “That it is. Though I’d watch that particular turn of phrase in this town.” He raised a brow and quirked his lips. “Anyway, you were saying?”
“Ah, yes, the glamorous world of Hanlen Arbor. I’m actually a private investigator. Arbor Investigations. I know, real creative.” I rolled my eyes and laughed at myself. “I’m working on a skiptrace case right now. Trying to track down a missing fugitive. Evidence has led me to believe the guy may be hiding out here in New Orleans. I have a couple of leads to follow up on.”
“You sound almost self-deprecating about it. It seems awesome to me,” he said, before taking another bite of his jambalaya. “And it’s a service that people need, and not many can provide. I feel like it takes a certain kind of person to be a P.I.”
I snorted. “What kind of person is that? Jaded, alcoholic, antisocial . . .?”
“Wow,” he replied. “Now it reallydoessound glamorous. Sign me up! Gotta be better than chasing dead people and delivering bad news that the beloved ghost in the attic is really just bad plumbing.”
I knew he was teasing me, and I actually liked it. I tended to turn people off in short order after meeting them, especially in recent years. Dev Glapion seemed a little harder to shake. I enjoyed it. It had been a long time since I could be myself with someone. Maybe even longer since I’d wanted to. And while I was still holding some things in, for some strange reason, I felt like I could let loose with Dev, and he wouldn’t run screaming.
We spent the next hour or so eating, drinking, and talking about his work and mine and what would be required of me for the show, and I found myself enjoying the night. It had been a while since I’d been out with someone, especially someone of the opposite sex, and actually relaxed enough to have fun. Dev was great. He may be a whack job who believed in ghosts, but he was awesome. And I could withhold my judgment if it meant being able to laugh like this again while I was in town.
Chapter 5
Dev
We closed down the restaurant, and I realized I couldn’t get enough of Hanlen. Sure, she was a bit acerbic and had absolutely no respect for what I did, but I hoped I could change her mind about that. At the very least, the next week or so would be entertaining, and she would provide good company.
Walking out the double doors of the establishment and onto the already—always—bustling streets of Tremé, I took Hanlen’s bag of bottles from her with a grin.
“Wow, such a gentleman,” she deadpanned and then smirked.
I tipped an imaginary hat. “At your service, m’lady.” Which made her laugh, as I’d intended. “So, where are you staying—if that’s not privileged information?” I asked, gazing up the way, wondering if she’d walked far from the hotel or maybe had grabbed a rideshare before walking the rest of the way on foot to where I’d run into her.
“Ah, so you guys didn’t book it for me. I’ll have to give my mom hell for not putting me up somewhere posher. I’m at The Ravisan,” she said and glanced at me out of the corner of her eye. I couldn’t help but stutter a bit in my steps. The Ravisan was one of the most haunted hotels in New Orleans. If Hanlen was indeed sensitive as I suspected, she was in for an interesting stay.
“So, we have a bit of a walk ahead of us then,” I said. “Are you okay with that, or should I app a car like we did earlier to get here?” I smiled at her, gauging her reaction. I’d be fine either way. The night was beautiful, and I wouldn’t mind more of her company. But it was about four miles to The Ravisan, even through the park and down Esplanade.
She flashed me a smile, the one I was coming to callresplendentin my head, as ostentatious as the word was. The one I wasn’t sure she shared with the world all that often. Then she said, “I’d love to walk. It’s been a minute since I’ve been here, and while I wondered how I’d feel about being back, I’m finding that some part of me missed it more than I imagined.” She looked away shyly and I couldn’t wait to get to the bottom of that trepidation. While my senses picked up that it was something born of the erection of personal walls, I could also feel pain. Soul-deep, personal, life-changing pain. I knew that type of hurt. Had lived it.
We headed off, taking in the breeze and the energy of the city. There really was no place in the world like New Orleans.
“It’s so beautiful here,” Hanlen said, echoing my thoughts. “I had forgotten just how much, and how captivating the city could be.”
“It really is,” I agreed. “There’s no place like it, and I’m grateful I get to call it home.”
Halfway through the park, I felt the energy change. A dark, oppressive, almost choking sensation replaced the lightness of earlier, and I immediately went on alert. Something was about to happen—or already had. Without startling Hanlen, I looked around, searching for the source of the discomfort and any friends or foes to be found.
The faux gas lamps and the moon illuminated the area enough for me to see by with my natural sight, but I still opened myself to see a little deeper and a bit more beyond the veil. A wavering red miasma drifted up from a spot not too far ahead of us, a section somewhat removed and hidden by the nature that tried so hard to reclaim its bounty. I must have been quiet for too long, or perhaps she sensed my tension, because Hanlen touched my arm as we walked.
“Hey, is everything okay?”
How did I answer that? Especially to someone who clearly wasn’t ready to have her mind opened quite yet. “Yeah, just have a weird feeling.” Not a lie, but definitely not the entire truth. Something bad was about to go down. I just didn’t know what yet.
“It’s funny that you say that. I was totally lost in my memories and enjoying the night. And then I suddenly felt uneasy. I figured it was just my overtired brain playing tricks on me, but maybe there’s a storm coming or something.”
There was a storm coming for sure, only it wasn’t the type she was talking about. I stopped and turned to her. “Can we go over there for a minute?” I pointed to the spot where evil and despair wavered in the air like heat off asphalt.
Hanlen glanced to where I indicated and shrugged. “Sure. Is there something new over there that I need to see? Something they put in after I left?”
I didn’t think what was over there was anythinganybodyneeded to see, but I didn’t say that. Instead, I instinctively grabbed her hand, not even realizing I was about to do it until it was done. I felt her tense momentarily, but she relaxed almost immediately and actually twined her fingers with mine. An electric shock shot up my arm when our palms touched, and I filed that away for later. There was most definitely more to this woman than met the eye. Then again, maybe it was simple chemistry. Who knew?
When we reached the grove, Hanlen stopped in her tracks, her entire bearing changing. “Dev, something’s not right. My investigative brain is screaming at me right now.”
“I know what you mean. It’s actually why I had to come over here.” I looked at her. “Should we go see?”
