She shrugged. “I loved it once. Now,” she said, offering him a smile, “I love mules. And New Orleans.”
He returned her smile. “Katie, what do you remember about that day?”
“Oh, God,” she whispered.
“I’m sorry. I don’t mean the horror you discovered coming up from your dive. I don’t want to subject you to that again. I mean, what do you remember about going out?”
“Well, my dad had the boat at a private wharf. He rented the space. The couple who owned the property could have five boats docked there. The wife kept a little shop with bait, sodas, snacks, life vests...some diving equipment. But when we out...”
She paused, remembering the day.
“We came in separate cars. I mean, my folks and I were in one, and the Calabrias and their friends came in George’s car. We met on the dock. You said you know my dad, so you know he welcomed them. And my mom, too. She liked people... She was happy to look for the best in them. And friends of George and Anita were, naturally, welcome.”
“I interviewed Mrs. Jennings, who owned the dock. Mr. Jennings wasn’t home when you went out that day. She did think she saw more people than just you, your parents, and Mr. and Mrs. Calabria. But she couldn’t be sure. And she couldn’t identify anyone.”
“I know.”
“So we need to find this couple.”
“You said yourself law-enforcement officials from all over tried. They’re nonexistent. What makes you think we’ll have any luck this time?”
“I think they’re here. In Louisiana. In New Orleans.”
Katie inhaled. “And you think they...that they murdered the people this morning?”
“I do. Otherwise, I’d never cause you distress again. But desperate times call for desperate measures, as they say. And I know you’d go the distance to find justice for your parents. To that end, I’ve come to you. And to another individual who was in on the second investigation.”
“Oh, no, no, no!” Katie said. “You don’t mean Dan Oliver. Look, he’s not even a cop anymore. I didn’t know he was living in New Orleans. Go figure on that, of all the cities in all the world... But no! He was obsessed with skewering George.”
“So? Maybe George did have something to do with it. Maybe he didn’t. You believe in the man. You have good instincts. In that case, let’s clear him altogether by finding the truth, shall we?”
“Can we find it this many years later?”
“You’d be surprised. Where is George now, by the way?”
“I—I don’t know.”
“You don’t know?”
“After the trial, he was a mess. First, he said something about heading to the least congested island out there and burrowing himself away in a hole. Then he decided that would make him crazy. All he would do would be to sit and remember. He wanted to plunge into something else that would keep him busy and send his mind in other directions. He loved the movies, too, and decided he would look for the least skilled, most legwork job he could find with any old movie-production company. I told him to call me when...when he wanted old friends in his life again.”
“But he never called you.”
“No.”
The dogs started to bark. Katie frowned.
Adam Harrison sat back. “That should be Dan Oliver now with one of my team, Special Agent Axel Tiger. They knew each other from Florida, so I sent Axel after Dan. Katie, please don’t just sit there. Let’s go introduce them to the dogs and let them in.”
CHAPTER FOUR
Dan wasn’t sure it was the right time for him to be arriving on Katie Delaney’s doorstep.
Yet, according to Ryder, he needed her help to keep him in the loop on everything that was happening with the case.
Axel’s arrival had been beneficial. Dan knew he’d comprehend just how beneficial once his head stopped reeling.
Katie came out of the pretty little Treme house along with Adam Harrison, calling to the dogs that it was all right. She reached the wooden fence ahead of Adam, talking to the dogs, telling them he and Axel were good.
Dan knew dogs. Most of the time, he thought they were far more honest and giving than people. But he knew he’d been jaded for a while now, and it was his own fault. He needed to get over the past, get over himself.
And this might be his chance.
He ducked down to pet the three giant shepherds that greeted him with slobbery excitement once they’d been assured he and Axel were friends.
He glanced up as Axel introduced himself to Katie and greeted Adam. He noted Katie was watching him. She looked wary, but at least he seemed to have gained her approval by being a dog person.
“Shall we go in? It’s getting late,” Adam said.
Katie didn’t say a word. She turned and led the way.
She went straight to the front door, allowing the others to follow. Inside, she moved through the narrow entry hall to the parlor at the left of the house and into the dining area, where she took a seat. She sat stoically with her hands folded before her.
The others joined her at the table.
“Well, all right, I’ll begin,” Adam said. “Axel and I are here at the request of the local police. Because of the nature of the crime, they know they’ll be dealing with rumors, truth and myth. I became involved with this on a personal level when Katie did.” He stared at Dan Oliver. “I know how hard you fought to bring a killer to justice. Whether you had the right man or not, we don’t know.”
“It wasn’t George,” Katie said flatly. She gave Dan what he construed as an extremely hostile glance.
“Maybe not,” Adam agreed. “And Axel is willing to start back from scratch, but he’ll consider all the accumulated knowledge of the crimes that have occurred.”
“What about you?” Katie demanded, her stare on Dan.
Dan nodded. “I am willing to go back over everything I know and to investigate these murders to the best of my ability.”
Axel gave him a nudge with his foot beneath the table.
Dan gritted his teeth but added, “With an open mind to the fact I might have been wrong.”
“Really?” Katie said doubtfully.
He met her gaze; she was so sure. As sure as he had been the man had been guilty.
“With an open mind,” he said, and suddenly he meant it.
Hell, just this morning, he’d believed there were no such things as ghosts. And while the couple on the Delaney boat that long-ago day had seemed to be specters, they might well have been real.