Which meant, she must know he was watching over Casey and the shop.
He strode toward it, pausing when his phone rang.
It was Braxton.
“Hello, Detective Wild.”
“Hello, Special Agent McKinley. I guess I’m working for you.”
“Working with me,” Ryder said.
“Apparently, they’re quietly reopening cases—William Marley, Anthony Marceau, and Lena Marceau.”
“Someone helped William Marley have that heart attack,” Ryder said.
“Evidently. Can you tell me what’s new?”
“I’m on the street. Jackson Crow is in the city, but we’ll be calling on your people for help. Of course, we have our field office here, but we want the NOPD to be equal partners with us in finding out what the hell is going on.”
“Right. I don’t know—”
“I’m on St. Anne. There’s a coffee shop—”
“Thirty minutes?”
“Sounds about right.”
Ryder ended the conversation in time to see Gail Reeves leaving Casey’s store. He walked in a few minutes later.
“Gail was just here,” Casey said.
“I saw.”
“She said she’d heard about me and mentioned she loves shops like this and knew I had to be good if Lena came here. She wanted to set up a tarot reading. I told her Lena had not come in for a reading. And she said Lena had mentioned the shop and how much she loved it and how she felt an affinity toward me.”
“Ah.”
“So?”
“I’m not sure. But that’s interesting. I’m going to walk over to the coffee shop and meet up with Braxton Wild, the detective called in when Lena died. He’ll be working with us on this. I need to bring him up to speed. I can see the shop from there.”
“Thanks,” she told him, smiling as a woman walked into the store.
“Jennie! Hey, I thought you were on vacation,” Casey said. The woman was a customer Casey obviously knew well.
She was older, slim, and attractive, and made no pretense of doing anything but staring at Ryder.
“Hi!” she said, ignoring Casey’s question.
“Hi.” Ryder smiled at her. “Ryder McKinley,” he told her.
“I like it,” she said, looking at Casey. Then she added, “Oh, sorry. Jennie Sanders. I love this place—and Casey. She’s the best. Did you come for a reading?” she asked him.
“I just love the shop, too,” he said lightly. “And Casey, of course. She is the best. I’ll see you in a bit, Casey. I’m off for coffee.”
“You aren’t from around here, are you?”
“Actually? Originally from Gretna. Nice to meet you, Jennie. Later, Casey.”
He still heard the woman as he walked out of the store.
“Good thing I came in. I did say you might not be here if someone tall, dark, and dangerously handsome walked in. And did you hear? It almost sounded like he said he loves you. What? Don’t give me that look. Oh, Casey, I hope you jumped all over him.”
The door closed behind him, and he laughed, surprised that he could. It seemed his every waking minute had been bound by tension for too long...
And then Casey had come into his life. She wasn’t really in his life. More, she was letting him into hers. For now. But...
Braxton must have been in the French Quarter or at least near it. He was already waving to Ryder from a table at the coffee shop. It seemed he’d ordered. Ryder could see he had gotten two large cups of coffee, and Ryder knew one was for him.
He joined the detective, sliding into a chair that allowed him to easily see Casey’s shop.
“I’m glad you’re in charge of this thing,” Braxton told him. “Because I don’t know where to go. We questioned the men on the company’s board of directors—especially Justin, since he is a Marceau, but he doesn’t benefit any more than any of the others. He was not a beloved grandson like Anthony. I checked that out. He didn’t seem bitter about it and said he hadn’t cared about it or even Elijah much when he was younger. He was just glad his name had given him a position since he hadn’t been stellar in any career he undertook himself. We questioned Gail Reeves, too. And, yes, the woman was with her book club. How are you going to get anywhere from here? You said Jackson is here, but can you really babysit Stephanie and Annette for the rest of your life? And even if you could...there could be that one slip, one moment...”
“I could use some help keeping an eye on the shop right there,” Ryder said, pointing across the street.
“A Beautiful Mind,” Braxton said. “Someone with a beautiful mind did all this?” he asked dryly.
Ryder grimaced.
“Okay, my humor isn’t great.”
“Before she died, Lena visited the shop several times. She said something to the owner, Casey Nicholson. Casey finally went to Stephanie’s house, feeling like a fool but determined to let Stephanie know Lena had been afraid her husband’s death had been no accident. Anyway, I found out Barton Quincy and Larry Swenson were in the shop, too. Separately, just looking. I don’t think they were shopping. I think they were trying to find out if Casey knew anything.”
“So, both men are guilty.”
“Maybe.”
“Conspiracy theory?”
“Braxton, we know William Marley was helped into a heart attack. We know something happened. Maybe Larry was just doing something for Quincy. Perhaps they’re both involved. Didn’t the board members give the board alibis when the investigation began?”
Braxton nodded. “But how...?”
“I don’t know. We need to find out. Anyway, I need to be at the board meeting Stephanie is calling for tomorrow. So, I need you on the shop.”
“All right. On it. What about the baby?”
Ryder grinned. “Jackson is great with kids. He has some of his own.”
“All right,” Braxton repeated.
“The shop opens at ten. Casey works with two friends from her college days. It’s pretty cool. The female is an artist—a damned good one. The male with them is a musician, and they all perform in the shop when customers ask them to. You’ll be fine.”
“I’ll be fine. But you don’t have anything else?”
“Actually, I do. I think someone was trying to get to Casey Nicholson the other night. I couldn’t catch him. He was wearing black and crawling around in the building’s shrubbery.”
“You couldn’t catch him? You’re slipping, my friend.”
Ryder gave him a dry smile. “Oh, I will catch him. Trust me. I will catch him.”
* * * *
The day passed quickly. Not a bad one. Customers came in and out. Casey and Lauren sang with Jared a few times, and she convinced Jennie that Ryder was a visiting friend, and that she wasn’t being whisked away. Said he’d be going back to work in Virginia.
He hadn’t stated his title when he introduced himself. She didn’t want to go into it all with Jennie anyway, so she was as casual as she could be.
“Don’t let that one get away!” Jennie told her.
Casey smiled and patiently explained, “I don’t have him, so he can’t get away.”