Page 76 of Deadly Avarice
I started to reach out with my necromancer abilities, but my phone rang. Concerned it might be regarding Franklin, Iapologized and reached for my phone. “I’m sorry, but I need to answer this.”
Janet fidgeted with the sleeve of her jacket while nervously looking around. “That’s fine,” she assured me, even though I didn’t think that’s what she thought. I’d had nervous clients before, so it wasn’t all that unusual.
“This is Erasmus,” I answered. I’d recognized the number as belonging to Franklin’s precinct.
“Boone, this is Officer Becks. Am I catching you at a bad time?”
“No. Is Franklin okay?” Maybe his wound hadn’t been asinsignificantas Franklin made it out to be. That would be just like him, not wanting me to worry.
“Oh hell, I should have thought that’s what you’d think this was about. Franklin’s fine. Last I heard, he’s on his way back. I’m sorry if I worried you. This is about the footage Detective Cardoza sent me. I just wanted to let you know the program I ran on it finally finished. I’m not sure if it will help, but the computer program managed to clean the image up enough that we can get at least an idea of what it is.”
I nodded even though Ebony couldn’t see me. “What is it?”
“It’s a little speculative but looks like some type of animal. Most likely a tiger or lion. Maybe a jaguar head. My guess is it’s a school mascot. Like I said, I’m not sure that helps much, but it’s a start.”
It was and yet I agreed with Officer Becks, it wasn’t much to go on. “Thanks for letting me know.” I glanced back at Janet. Her foot was tapping and she offered me a tense smile. “Listen, I need to go. I’m on a job.”
“Oh, damn. I’m sorry I interrupted.”
“No, it’s fine and I appreciate everything. Please let me know if anything changes with Franklin.”
“I will, and Erasmus…what Franklin did today was good. I know it’s scary, but—”
“But it was necessary,” I finished for Ebony.
“Yeah,” she reluctantly agreed. “As much as I hate it, that’s the truth. We’re all proud of him.”
A hint of warmth pushed at the cold that had taken over ever since finding out Franklin was in danger earlier. “Thanks, Ebony. I’m proud of him too.”
“Take care. I’ll get busy on this list of necromancer mother names just as soon as I can” Ebony promised.
“I know you will. Bye, Ebony.”
“Take care, Erasmus.”
The call ended and I inhaled deeply, trying to recenter myself. Tucking my phone back into my pocket, I turned and headed back to where Janet was impatiently waiting. The tapping of her foot had picked up speed and if anything, she seemed even more anxious than before.
“I’m sorry about that, I—”
“Can we just get started? Hanging out in graveyards might be your thing, but it’s not mine.” Janet’s words were clipped.
My good mood soured. I’d never met a person who could flip their disposition as quickly as this woman. “I can bring him back now.”
Janet inhaled and just like that, her sweet smile was back. “Thank you. I’m just a little nervous, that’s all.”
While I could understand that sentiment, Janet Meeker’s demeanor was wearing. I wanted this job done ASAP. Centering myself, I pushed away the echoes of unhappy souls and concentrated on the ashes of the man I was supposed to bring back. I already knew the man’s name but when I tried to connect with the soul, there was…nothing. No string attaching what was in that urn to anything—alive or dead.
Something was terribly wrong, and I was going to have to be the one to break it to Janet Meeker that her granddaddy’s ashes were not in that urn. No ashes were. In fact, I doubted there was much of anything beyond air or sawdust inside.
Shifting from foot to foot, I debated what to say. I’d come across a lot of situations doing this job but nothing like this. My gaze flicked from the urn to Janet. Even in the shaded area of the mausoleum, she still wore her sunglasses and her hood remained settled over her head. We were out of the wind and the temperatures were comfortable. There was no reason for her… My eyes landed on the symbol decorating her sweatshirt.
A tiger. The letters LSU underneath.
I swallowed hard as unease settled into my gut. There were a lot of graduates of LSU. Hell, it was probably one of the largest, if not the largest, universities in Louisiana. There were thousands of LSU alumni out there. Just because Janet Meeker was standing in front of me, possibly wearing the same symbol as the person who’d run me off the road and shot at me didn’t mean anything. Did it?
My mind quickly tumbled over all of our previous conversations. How hot and cold Janet was. How she’d known I’d been run off the road and shot at. I’d never given her that bit of information and there was no reason Franklin or Detective Cardoza would have reached out to Janet Meeker. So, how did she know precisely what happened?
I took a step back and my hands immediately dove into my pockets, reaching for one of Pops’s charms. I never had a chance to activate it. Heavy hands grabbed my arms, pulling my hands from my pockets and scattering Pops’s charms on the ground. Those same hands hauled my arms behind my back, wrenching my shoulders. I tried to scream but the other hands clamped over my mouth and nose.
