Page 136 of Girl Between
Dana: Can you talk? Today was a hard one. We could really use you out here.
Dana: Fine, I could really use you out here.
She had no right to be pissed. Creed ordered Jake back to D.C. It’s not like he hadn’t told her he planned to return for the trial. Jake had only come to New Orleans to remind Dana she should be there, too. Which he’d done. Repeatedly.
Dana shouldn’t have let herself get pulled back into the comfortable routine of working a case with Jake. He wasn’t on this one. She knew he’d be an asset, but Creed had other ideas. What was Jakes supposed to do? Disobey orders and follow her around until she got her head straight? He would’ve. Knowing that made her indecision harder to swallow.
Jake’s words came back to her:Give me a reason to stay.
Dana squeezed her eyes shut wishing it was that simple. Whatshe’d told George was true. Not all ghosts are bad. The trouble was, Dana had no control over the ones that consumed her thoughts, dragging her back to the darkness she’d spent a lifetime crawling out of.
Jake battled his own demons. It wouldn’t be right to add hers to his fight.
Disappointed, Dana slipped her phone back into her purse and headed inside to say her goodbyes. After more hugs than at a funeral, she managed to make her way to the stairs. “Don’t forget to say goodnight to Jourdan,” someone called to her.
It made Dana smile. She’d heard the story of Muriel’s beloved ghost, Pierre Antoine Lepardi Jourdan. His was a cautionary tale of a man who’d built his dream home only to gamble it away. Though Jourdan’s insatiable thirst for the thrill of gambling cost him his treasured residence, he never truly left. Now a local legend, he’s believed to haunt the grounds of Muriel’s after committing suicide within its walls in 1814.
Being that the city embraced lost souls, Muriel’s continued to welcome their old kindred spirit to dine by setting a table with bread and wine for Jourdan each evening.
Dana knew it was just folklore, but she believed every life deserved to be remembered. It was nice to be in a city that shared that belief.
Pausing at the bottom of the stairs, Miriam Barton’s words returned to Dana. She raised her full wine glass. “Goodnight, Jourdan,” she said before placing her untouched wine on the fully set table.
119
“Want me to walk you up?”George asked when he parked under Hotel Monteleone’s marquee.
Dana smiled but shook her head. “If you did, I might do something stupid and ask you to stay.”
He flashed her that disarming grin. “Stupid can be fun.”
“And it can also just be stupid.”
He laughed. “You’re right. Worth a try though.”
“See you tomorrow?”
“You know it. Want a ride to the wedding?”
“It’s at your mother’s house. I don’t want to make you drive all the way over here.”
“It’s no bother. I’m going into the station first thing to check on Fontera, so I’ll be on this side of town.”
“I thought Creed gave you the hands-off order?”
“He did, and I already have coverage lined up from Slidell PD since half the precinct is going to the wedding, but it don’t feel right sitting this one out.”
“So, you’re going to what, babysit the investigation?”
George laughed. “FBI babysitter. Has a nice ring to it. Maybe I’ll add it to my resume.”
“You want help?”
“Nah, the last few days have been intense. You earned some rest.”
“So did you,” she reminded him.
He smiled. “Heading home to get some right now.”
