Darkest Journey (Krewe of Hunters #20)(77)

He stood, ready to leave her.

She stood as well, and said, “Thank you, Captain.”

She didn’t need to open the door again. He simply dissipated into the air.

Charlie sank down on the bed, suddenly weak. She glanced at her watch, anxious now for the excursion in Natchez to be over and for her father to return to the ship.

She desperately needed to talk to him.

Alone.





14

As they boarded the ship, Ethan called Jude to tell him they were back. Jude assured him that everything was fine. Charlie was in her cabin next door to his, and he’d called to check on her not five minutes ago. He was about to go get her, then walk her, Alexi and Clara to the dining room.

Ethan briefed Jude on what they had learned and told him that he would wait on deck for Jonathan Moreau to return.

He’d been waiting for what felt like hours when the tour buses finally began to pull up by the dock. In a few minutes he saw Jonathan Moreau—followed by a string of what he could only call fans—approach the ship.

Ethan had to give the man credit; he never seemed to notice the admiration in the eyes of his listeners, nor did he pay any extra attention when an attractive woman was especially in awe. His excitement was all for the history he passed on.

As he reached the deck, Jonathan noticed Ethan—and Ethan’s expression. He excused himself to the group and approached Ethan.

“What now?” Jonathan asked flatly.

“You tell me. What are you still not telling us?” Ethan said.

“What are you talking about?” Jonathan demanded. “If I knew anything—especially since I know my name keeps coming up in your investigation—wouldn’t I tell you? Good people have been killed. If I could help in any way, don’t you think I would?”

“I’d like to believe that, yes.”

“Then what the hell are you talking about?”

“I’m talking about Doggone It,” Ethan said.

Jonathan stared at him, then shook his head. “What about it? It’s an organization promoting no-kill shelters. I send them a check for twenty dollars every month. How did I hear about it? At my Masonic lodge. A number of my lodge brothers are into saving animals. People who like to save animals don’t usually kill humans—who are animals, too, after all.”

“I was at their headquarters this morning,” Ethan said.

“I hope you left a healthy check.”

“I spoke with Mr. Hayworth.”

Jonathan continued to stare at him, but Ethan simply waited patiently for him to crack and say something.

“I don’t know the name,” Jonathan said. “I’ve never actually visited the place.”

“All right. How about Sane Energy?”

Jonathan frowned. “I help them out from time to time, yes.”

“Doing what?”

“Trying to get people to talk to one another.”

“Were Hickory and Corley some of the people who need to talk?”

“I don’t know. Maybe. There’s a company called Gideon Oil. Sane Energy has been reaching out to them, hoping to discuss a potential win-win solution. There are several engineers in my lodge who say there’s a safer, albeit more expensive, way to lay oil lines along the river from the Gulf of Mexico. There was talk about arranging a sit-down between members of Sane Energy and the management of Gideon Oil.”

“Why didn’t you mention this?”

“Because it didn’t occur to me to mention it! Sane Energy has hundreds of members, and I don’t even know anyone at Gideon Oil. I assumed they had someone with better connections setting it up.”

“Hickory and Corley were passionate about Sane Energy’s cause, and word is they intended to use you as a negotiator.” He was guessing, of course. But, if he sounded definite enough, he might be able to draw out the truth.

“If they were, I knew nothing about it. But you can easily find out tomorrow. The head office of Sane Energy is in Vicksburg. Use your badge to make people there talk to you. Ask them what they know. If Hickory and Corley wanted to involve me, maybe they told the top people at Sane Energy. They certainly didn’t tell me.”

“How could you not know if your friends had plans for you?”

“I’m passionate about one thing, Ethan. History. Other than that, I help out my friends when they ask. But I swear to you, no one had asked me about this. So, yes, I lied at first. I lied to you. And, God help me, I lied to my daughter. But I did it to protect a confidence. Now you know the truth, and the truth is that both murdered men were my friends, and I would do anything possible to help find their killer. If it has something to do with Gideon Oil, that’s news to me. So go to Sane Energy tomorrow and—”

He broke off, looking at Ethan and shaking his head. “You already planned on going to Sane Energy tomorrow, didn’t you?”

“Yes, I did. We did.”

Jonathan stared at him. “Then excuse me. I’d like to shower and change and go hear my daughter sing.”

As Jonathan walked away Ethan glanced at his watch. The second dinner seating was due to begin shortly.

He headed to the Eagle View.

*

She waited until the second seating, but then, as she had promised, Charlie saw to it that they sang both songs Captain Ellsworth Derue had requested. And, as she expected, she looked out over the dining room and saw them all—the ghosts of the soldiers who had died so long ago—filling the room. They were like double-exposed film, moving silently among the diners who still lived and breathed.