Darkest Journey (Krewe of Hunters #20)(40)

“Yeah, I know how you feel,” Ethan said. He liked Brad. He had also eliminated Brad and Mike Thornton from his personal list of suspects.

He believed someone had thrown a knife at Charlie.

And Brad and Mike had been with him at the time.

That still left a wide array of possibilities, along with the question of why someone was after her. Did it have something to do with her father? But what?

He glanced across the table at her. She was laughing at something Jimmy was saying. They had always been good friends, he remembered.

“Ethan, what are you having?”

He turned. Emily Watson—proprietor of Mrs. Mama’s since he’d been a kid—was standing behind him. Despite being at least eighty, she was still slim and straight, and her face was beautiful, even with the passage of time. She was holding a coffeepot, and when she offered him some, he grabbed the cup in front of him and accepted with an enthusiastic “Thank you.” He could see her age in her hands, but there was strength in them, as well.

He smiled at her. “I’ll have your gumbo, of course, ma’am.”

She nodded, pleased. Then her smile faded slightly.

“What’s wrong?” Ethan asked her.

“I’m proud of my gumbo. It’s my own recipe. But I can’t help remembering that both Albion and Farrell were in here often, and they both liked my gumbo—and now they’re gone.”

“Did they ever get together here, Mrs. Watson?”

“Oh, my, yes. Those fellows were the best of friends,” she said. Her eyes started welling up. “You find out who killed those two fine men, Ethan, you hear me?”

“I intend to do everything in my power,” Ethan promised her. “Miss Emily, were they in here together before they were killed, by any chance?”

“I don’t remember exactly, Ethan. I know they were both in here not long before they died, but not together, though.”

Ethan nodded. “Thanks, Miss Emily. And I promise you again, I’ll do everything I can to bring their killer to justice quickly.”

Emily frowned. “Maybe Jonathan can help you.”

“Jonathan?” Ethan said.

“You know. Jonathan Moreau. Charlie’s daddy. He’s in here all the time, too. Bless that man. He tells people on the boat that they have to come here for lunch. I saw him with both men together not that long ago. Maybe they told him something you can use. It was nice to see you come in here with Charlie, too.” She winked at him. “You two make one handsome couple.”

“Uh, thank you.” He didn’t try to tell her that he and Charlie weren’t a couple. “So you’re saying Jonathan was in here with Albion and Farrell recently?”

“Yes, a week or so ago, maybe. He’s such a nice man.”

A nice man whose name kept coming up in connection with two dead men. Even so, he couldn’t believe Charlie’s father had anything to do with the murders.

“You were always a bright and determined boy, Ethan. I know you’ll handle this.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Emily gave herself a little shake. “I’m going to get moving over yonder to see what Charlie would like to have—took care of the rest of these riffraff already,” she said, smiling.

“Miss Emily knows everyone in town—and just about everything that goes on, too,” Brad said. “And, of course, Nancy is working here now, too. What Miss Emily doesn’t know, Nancy does.”

“Nancy?” Ethan said.

“Nancy Deauville. Well, Nancy Deauville Camp now. She married Todd Camp. He works over at Perry’s Garage.”

“I remember her now. She was a year behind me in school.”

“She was the pledge master who had Charlie tied to that gravestone the night you and she...encountered that serial killer.”

“And she’s working here now? I thought she wanted to work for one of the airlines, see the world,” Ethan said.

“I guess she wanted to get married more. Todd was getting ready to go off and accept a partial scholarship to some big northeastern school. Nancy...needed him. She was going to have the twins. They got married, and Todd didn’t go to college. Like I said, now he’s a grease monkey at Perry’s Garage.”

“Our plans in life can change,” Ethan said.

“They were there that day on the Journey. Todd had the afternoon off, and Miss Emily is always flexible when it comes to Nancy’s hours ’cause of the kids. She doesn’t take much time off, though. She needs to make money any way she can,” Brad said.

“I guess if you have two kids, you don’t have much choice,” Ethan said. He remembered Todd better than he did Nancy. Todd had been on the football team and, like Randy Laurent, he’d been great at opening beer bottles with his teeth.

Ethan made a mental note to find out where Todd had been around the time of the murders. It was always good to know where everyone who could’ve been even remotely involved might have been.

“I half expected Miss Emily to be the ‘detective’ who solved this thing,” Jennie said, turning to look at Ethan. “She knows more than any local reporter. I’m from NOLA, but I get out here pretty often, and I can tell you, Emily Watson probably knows more about me than I know about myself.”

Ethan smiled, about to answer her when he found himself distracted by the television high above their heads near the counter.