Darkest Journey (Krewe of Hunters #20)(81)
The captain nodded. “Yes, and you look just like him.”
“He does,” Charlie agreed.
The captain turned sharply to look at her. “You’ve—you’ve seen Anson?”
“We’ve both seen him,” Ethan said. “He’s there by Grace Church, outside St. Francisville. He’s helped us several times.”
“He saved my life,” Charlie told him.
“What I wouldn’t give to see Anson,” Derue said.
“We’ll be in St. Francisville tomorrow, but the Journey stops there every week,” Charlie said.
“I haven’t stepped off the ship since...since I died aboard her,” Captain Derue said softly.
“You must! Come with us tomorrow. I’m sure we can find him,” Charlie said enthusiastically.
“I can’t leave the men,” the captain said. “They were entrusted to my care.”
“And they’ll be fine if you leave them for just a little while,” Charlie said.
The captain nodded, then glanced toward the bed. He saw the pictures there and walked over to look down at them. “Her,” he said, pointing to the shot of Jennie McPherson. “She’s the one I told you about yesterday. She was arguing with Albion, and then...” He paused and turned to Charlie. “Then she went to speak with your father. I had forgotten that.”
Ethan and Charlie looked at each other quickly. Charlie had wondered if the argument had been with Nancy and Todd Camp.
Captain Derue looked at the pictures again. “Yes, many of these people were here. I remember all of these men,” he said, and pointed to the pictures of Jimmy Smith, Luke Mayfield, Barry Seymour and George Gonzales. “I remember them all.” He straightened. “It has grown late. I will leave you to sleep, but I would be most grateful if I might accompany you ashore tomorrow.”
“Of course,” Ethan said. “We’ll be with friends, but they’re all...safe. They’ve seen you, just as Charlie and I have.”
Captain Derue nodded. “I have seen them, I think, and I have noticed that they can see me and the men. Thank you, and good evening.”
He saluted and turned. Once again, he didn’t bother with the door but simply vanished.
“Jennie’s name does keep coming up,” Charlie said. “But she’s not even from St. Francisville, plus she’s all of five feet and ninety pounds. I can’t see her lifting an Enfield or wielding a bayonet, even if I could think of why she’d want to.”
“It will all make sense somehow,” Ethan murmured. “We’ll find out tomorrow. For now...” He stopped, shrugged and quickly cleared the photos off the bed, then smiled at her. “Time for bed, so we can make an early start in the morning.”
She was surprised when he swept her into his arms. “Seize the night—that’s what they say, isn’t it?”
“Seize the night,” she agreed.
And so they did, letting Charlie forget, at least for a little while, how much she was dreading tomorrow and the possible discovery that one of her friends was a killer.
*
The plan was that they would all go ashore in St. Francisville. Alexi wasn’t worried that they wouldn’t have a chance to rehearse. They already had a set list and knew all the songs well, so they would be fine.
Jude and Thor were going to go talk to Randy Laurent, who was expecting them. He was glum, having talked to half the people in town without discovering anything new.
Jackson Crow had contacted the CEO of Gideon Oil, Saul Gideon, and he had agreed to meet with them at his office in Baton Rouge the following day, although he’d made a point of saying he wasn’t sure what help he could possibly give them. He’d said he hadn’t even been approached by anyone from Sane Energy, but would have had no problem considering a new plan. And since he owned 51 percent of the company, the final decision on which method to go with would have been his.
They hadn’t spoken with Jonathan yet. Ethan had purposely delayed that morning, so by the time he and Charlie were ready to head ashore, Jonathan and his tour group were already gone. He wanted to observe Jonathan in St. Francisville. In fact, he was hoping to get Jonathan onto the film set, which might be possible, since he would be talking at Grace Episcopal Church, and it shouldn’t be too hard to sidetrack him afterward.
Alexi and Clara were going to hang out at Mrs. Mama’s Café. It was public and safe, and they just might overhear something useful.
The six of them met on deck before heading ashore, but they waited until pretty much everyone who was leaving the ship for the day was gone. When the deck was virtually empty, they saw Captain Ellsworth Derue coming toward them. They nodded to acknowledge his presence, since talking to thin air would have looked suspicious to the few people who were still around.
Derue was smiling broadly, and Ethan thought he was the happiest ghost he had ever encountered.
If nothing else, Ethan imagined there weren’t that many occasions when anyone acknowledged him at all, much less six people at one time.
Once they were off the ship, they claimed their rental cars and split up. Captain Ellsworth Derue accompanied Ethan and Charlie as they headed toward the bluff by Grace Church, where the film crew were still working on some last “rising ghost” shots. They’d spent the last several days, while Charlie was unavailable, working with Harry Grayson, Blane Pica and the ghosts, getting new angles on the climactic scene of the ghosts destroying the oil-company exec and the crooked senator. Ethan thought it was ironic they were now looking into Gideon Oil’s potential involvement in three real-life murders.