Fire and Ice: A Paranormal Romance (4 page)

              Billy and Sarah kept going until they finally reached an outdoor cafe across from the cathedral and grabbed an available table.

              “Beignets are addictive, no doubt,” Billy said as they sat down.  Before long, a young waitress appeared, took their order, and rushed off.

              “This place is always so busy,” Sarah commented after the waitress left.

              “I know,” said Billy.  “We’re lucky we got a place to sit.”

              “Are you ready to get powdered sugar all over yourself?” laughed Sarah.

              “Not quite,” Billy smiled.  “But, it’s hard to avoid it.”

              “I always think of that as the
fun
part of eating beignets,” said Sarah.

              Billy looked at Sarah and thought of how she seemed to enjoy herself, no matter what she was doing.  He remembered her response to the egrets the night before and how she looked forward to feeding the alligators in the future.  Sarah was a happy person and he liked that about her.  Even in the midst of their search for the building earlier, she would flash him a smile and say, “This could be it!”  Billy wished that the two of them could get to the bottom of the matter that was in her dreams and put the whole thing behind them once and for all.

              Billy felt guilty about his initial response to Sarah when she told him about Jessie.  She was clearly trying to help him—and Jessie, too, in regard to her father.  Standing at the bayou, he had been so shocked to hear about Jessie from a total stranger and did not want the Texas beauty to take him for a fool.  Once he got to know Sarah, he realized that she was not capable of such a maneuver.  She was authentic—he was sure of that.                

              If Jessie had anything special to tell him through Sarah’s dreams, Billy definitely wanted to hear it.  But, he did not want to let that interfere with getting to know Sarah better on a personal level.  There was something about her that was like a magnet.  Maybe it was her emerald green eyes. Somehow, the happiness he lacked seemed to be inside of her.  Since Billy met her at the crawfish boil the night before, he started to remember what being emotionally connected to someone felt like.  It had eluded him for the past four years.  Perhaps Jessie’s memory had, in fact, faded more than he realized. 

                 Before long, the waitress brought their coffee and the popular donut-like concoctions. Billy paid the bill and gave her a tip.  Then, he and Sarah began to discuss the matter at hand. 

              “I think that if we go over tomorrow with all of these addresses, we will be able to find what we’re looking for,” Sarah told him.  “I am convinced more than ever that the building has been right in front of our eyes today.”

              “I gave it some thought last night,” said Billy.  “If Jessie’s father was in hiding, do you think that she could have known it all along?”

              “I wondered the same thing.  Did Jessie ever say anything that led you to believe he was?” she asked.             

              “No, not all.  I only talked about Jessie’s dad when she brought him up,” Billy confided in Sarah.  “I knew it was painful for her to discuss his disappearance.”

              “I can understand that.  But, did her mother act sad when it happened?” she questioned.              

              “Charla definitely did,” he said.  “But, I also got the impression that she was concerned about finances at the time because she sold his shrimp boat right away.”

              “Do you know who bought it?” asked Sarah.

              “I did,” said Billy. 

              “You mean that
you
own her dad’s boat?” Sarah could not believe what she had just heard.

              “Yes, and after that, I started shrimping on my own without my daddy,” Billy told her.  “In fact, Eddie didn’t have a St. Christopher on his boat.  That’s why I mounted one the minute I got it.”

              “I can surely understand that, especially after what had just happened to him,” said Sarah.  “What about paperwork.  Was there any on the boat when you bought it?”

              “No, not a thing,” said Billy.  “The authorities went over the vessel with a fine-tooth comb.  When I took possession of it, there was nothing in it except the registration.  I had already gotten the bill of sale from Charla earlier that day because the boat was in her name.”

              “It was?” asked Sarah.  “Let’s get out of here.  We really need to talk in private.” 

              “Where are we going?” he asked.

              “To my place,” she answered.   They got a bag for their beignets, to-go cups for their coffee, and were on their way. 

              The two of them walked the few blocks back to Sarah’s apartment.  She had the key to the hallway that lead to an old service elevator.  “I’m on the second floor,” she told Billy.  The elevator was slow, as usual.  When it finally landed on her floor, they stepped out into a carpeted hallway.  Straight ahead was the door to her apartment.  Once they got inside, Billy was captivated. 

              “This place is amazing,” he said.  “Where does that circular staircase lead to?”

              “To a loft upstairs,” she replied.  “It’s where my office is.  See?  It’s that small

room up there.”  Sarah pointed toward it.  

              “You would never guess from the outside how spacious it is in here,” Billy remarked.  “You’ve even got a fireplace.”  He put the beignets on the coffee table.

              “Yes, but I can’t use it,” Sarah explained.  “I understand that it’s against the fire code.  All of the buildings here are too close together.  If a fire started and got out of hand, it would be disastrous.”  She set their coffee cups next to the beignets.

              “It certainly would,” said Billy.  “In the 1700s, there were two huge fires that devastated the French Quarter. In fact, the first one broke out on a Good Friday less than a block away from Jackson Square.” 

              “That is terrible,” said Sarah.  

              “They lost over one thousand properties in those two fires combined, including major government buildings,” Billy told her.  “All of the damage happened within five hours.”

              “How devastating.  It’s not even a big area.”

                “Exactly,” Billy agreed.  “The Quarter is less than one square mile in size and more than half of it was destroyed.”

              “It’s hard to fathom,” said Sarah.

              “It certainly is,” Billy agreed. 

              “You sure know a lot about history,” Sarah noted.

              “I’m kind of a history buff,” Billy admitted.

              “I figured that when we took the drive last night,” she said.

              “Why?”

              “Because you seemed to know a lot,” she told him.

              “It’s just Louisiana history,” he said.

              “I think you’re being modest,” said Sarah.

              “No,” he assured her.  “It was my favorite subject in school.” 

              Suddenly, Sarah thought of something that Billy might find of interest.  She pointed to the ceiling.  “See those large wooden beams up there?”

              Billy looked up.  “They’re awesome.”

              “Years ago when wooden barges carrying cargo used to come from up north on the Mississippi, sometimes they were taken apart once they were unloaded,” Sarah explained.  “Then, the wood from them was used for construction.   Those beams used to be part of one of those flat-bottomed boats.”

              “They add so much character to the place, don’t they?” asked Billy.  “I had never heard about that before.”

              “I just love them.  Have a seat,” offered Sarah. They sat down on the white cushions of her rattan love seat. 

              Billy noticed a black upright piano against the large brick wall.  “Do you play?” he asked.

              “Yes,” Sarah said.  “I had my piano moved from Texas.  I’m lucky it fit in the elevator.”

              “I guess that’s a lot easier than trying to get it up my front steps,” he joked.

              “You’re right,” Sarah agreed.  “Once I got here, I was afraid they’d have to bring it up with a pulley.”

              “I believe it,” Billy said.  “You’re lucky you got it up here.”

              “I’d feel lost without it,” she confided.

              “I would love to hear you play some time,” Billy told her.

              “I’m sure that could be arranged,” Sarah smiled.  “My mother actually teaches music at the college near our home in Texas.  My father is a science professor at the same school.”

              “Then, I guess your becoming a teacher wasn’t an accident, was it?” he noted.

              “I think it was inherited,” she laughed.  “You know how people have certain genes for hair color and eyes?  I always joke and tell my parents that I got the ones for teaching!”

              “You certainly did come by it honestly, no doubt,” said Billy.  “I’ll bet your students just love you.”

              “I’m pretty crazy about them, too,” Sarah said.  She took a sip of her coffee and then looked at Billy seriously. “I wanted us to have a chance to talk in private.  But, this has to stay between us, do you understand?” 

              “Sure. Shoot.”

              “I’ve given it a lot of thought.  Eddie is missing.  You own his boat.  If he and Charla have been living a lie for all these years and she thinks that you are onto them, she can implicate you in Jessie’s death just to shift the attention from herself.”

              “What?” asked Billy.  “How is that possible?”

              “She could claim that you knew about this all along.  Did you get Eddie’s boat at a good price?”

              “Actually, I got it for less than what it was worth.”

              “That’s what I was afraid of,” Sarah admitted.  “Charla could argue that Jessie found out that her father was alive and questioned your involvement in the whole scheme.  To make matters worse, she drowned off of your boat.  Charla could claim that Jessie became confrontational and that you pushed her over the side.  Her death would have meant your self-preservation.

              “But, Jessie knew me,” Billy maintained.  “She would have never dreamed that I would be involved in such a scheme.”

              “
You
know that and
I
know that,” Sarah told him.  “But, don’t think for one minute if Charla realizes that you are onto her that she will hesitate to bring that to the attention of the police.”

              “But, Charla has known me since I was in grade school,” he said.  “When I bought the boat, it really helped her.  I don’t even know if she got the insurance money right away.”

              “Doesn’t it usually take seven years for a person to be declared dead after they are missing?” asked Sarah.

              “I don’t know,” replied Billy.  “I would assume that is determined by the circumstances surrounding a person’s disappearance.   Eddie was a man who simply went to work one day and was lost at sea.  Running a shrimp boat is a dangerous job.  Accidents happen all the time.  There was an all-out search conducted in those waters.  The story was in the newspaper and on the local television channels.  It was big news because he was well known in these parts.  I know that Charla bought her new house about a year after Eddie was gone.  I assume that is when she got the insurance money, but I could be wrong about that.”

              “I am not sure what happened, either.  But, if Eddie is alive and Charla is involved in this, she will not care if she has to blame someone else to save her own hide.  Trust me on that one,” said Sarah emphatically.  “She could even convince the authorities that you and Eddie coerced her into this whole scheme against her will.”

              Billy looked down and thought for a moment.  “We need to call the police right now.  We should get this all out in the open.”

              “Get what out in the open?” Sarah asked.  “Do you think that we can go to the police and tell them that Jessie came to me in a dream?  They will think we are crazy, or worse yet, that we made it up to cover up some serious wrong doings.  No, we can’t involve them.  We need to do this ourselves and find out what we can first.  We’ll start with all the addresses we’ve got the minute I get out of school tomorrow.  Somehow, some way, we have got to find out where Charla’s buildings are.  If Eddie is living in one of them, then we can call the police.”

              “I see what you mean,” said Billy.  “But, why do you think that Jessie wanted you or me to know about this at all?”

              “I have given that a great deal of consideration,” Sarah explained.  “I don’t think that this is about you.  I think it’s about Eddie.  It appears that she wants us to locate him.  I don’t know why.”

              “What if it’s not her father that she is worried about?” Billy asked.  “What if that man is someone else?  He doesn’t fit Eddie’s description.  He is much too thin.”

              “Do you think that we’re on the wrong track?” asked Sarah.

              “I don’t know,” said Billy.  “She gave you enough information so that I would trust you.  When I think about the name
Ice
, her medal,
Gotcha
, the riverboat, and the boots—all of those things could have only come from her.  But, why would she involve you at all?”

              “It must have been so that you and I would make contact, no doubt,” said Sarah. 

“Those examples leave no room for error.  This man, however, is a quandary.  So, in regard to these dreams, I have to go with my gut.  I think that Jessie is worried about him even if he’s not her father.”

              “Could it be that he is someone who is blackmailing her mother?” asked Billy.  “I mean, do you think that Charla is in some kind of danger?”

              “I honestly don’t have a clue,” she admitted.  “Maybe Charla really believes that Eddie is dead.  But, I think that he is alive and living in New Orleans.  Think about it.  When I saw Jessie and she appeared to me in every dream, she always had your son with her because he is on the Other Side.  If Eddie was dead, wouldn’t it stand to reason that he would have been holding her other hand or at least standing near her?”