by A A Mize
It was unlike his Mentor to be so careless and he wondered briefly what his issue might be, but the concern was fleeting. He neared the bar, turning the corner as two police officers emerged from the alley and headed down the sidewalk in the opposite direction from him. Mamma followed them to the street, fanning herself nervously with a drink menu. When Matthias neared her, she shuffled him down the alley and into the bar, slamming the shuttered doors behind them.
“Lukas Toland Beaumont, if ya in dat kinda trouble I’mma beat ya half ta death. An’ dat’s if ya lucky,” she ranted, out of breath and sweating bullets, even in the pre-dusk chill. Whatever was going on had really ruffled her feathers if she was using his full name like that, but he couldn’t think of a thing he had done wrong. Well, except for stealing a car.
Oh no, Mamma was going to kill him.
“C’mon Mamma, settle down,” Matthias said, as he led her to a barstool. “What’s going on?”
“Them police, they says they found some lady dead in da park. Dey was lookin’ fo’ you. What’s goin’ on, boy?” Mamma’s voice changed from worry in the beginning, to a flat-out threat at the end. She had rolled up the drink menu and had begun to take a swing at him. Matthias caught her hand and pulled the laminated menu from her tightly balled fist. He took her hands in his and made her look him in the eye.
“Mamma, I’m surprised at you. You don’t think I could have killed someone do you?” Matthias’s mind was reeling, but he had to keep cool. “Why were they looking for me? What did they say to you?”
“I know, I know you ain’t da type to go roun’ killin’ folks. You my sweet boy, Lukas. I jus’ dunno why they came lookin’ fo’ you. They says they found some lady, dead, with no ID on her an’ dat her beau came inta da station actin’ all kinds a crazy. Had blood on him and everythin’. They didn’ say why they was lookin’ fo’ you, but I swear, if you did somethin’ bad, I’mma drag you out dere by ya ear like I did when you was little. Mamma didn’ raise no criminal.” She wagged her finger at him, trying to play it off like she was angry, but Matthias could tell she was worried about him. She didn’t seem to completely believe that he had nothing to do with this. Even if she said he was not capable, the way she spoke made him wonder if she really believed it. Mamma had always been a strong positive example in his life and to think that she had any doubts in his innocence, hurt him deeply.
“Calm down. I didn’t hurt anyone, OK? I don’t know why they’re looking for me. Maybe they got me mixed up with someone else. C’mon, let’s get ready to open. It’ll be all right,” Matthias passed off an easy grin, hoping it would be enough to convince her of his innocence and relax her a bit until he could figure out what was going on.
He pressed his hand to her cheek and after a few deep breaths, she seemed better, standing and giving Matthias a strong hug before shuffling behind the bar to clean glasses. “Ya know I love ya, Lukas. You a good boy. I know you a good boy. They got you all wrong. Jus’ da wrong person, I’m sure of it,” in her calmer state she seemed completely on his side and sure that he was innocent.
“I love you too, Mamma.”
While she was distracted, Matthias opened the shuttered doors to the outside. He leaned against an outside wall, fingers splayed against the rough exterior of the bar as if it was the only thing keeping him from melting into the sidewalk.
What happened that night? Had he really killed that woman? No. No, he remembered getting the cab. Besides, he didn’t think he’d had enough of her blood to kill her. Was she murdered when she got to wherever she was going? What about the woman he’d handed her over to? The questions flooded his mind and made concentrating nearly impossible.
Stop it, Matthias, he thought to himself, closing his eyes and leaning his head back against the cool wall. Slowly, he took himself through the events of meeting her again, trying his best to recall any little detail. The more he thought about it, the less he thought he had killed her. She was walking, albeit shakily, when they met the cab. He’d never had to carry her. He remembered that part. If only he could figure out who the other woman was, there might be a clue as to what happened to her. Just that one little bit of information would give the police a lead and get them to leave him alone. He was just sure he had not murdered her. No, not him. Never. Right?
13
Life settled in hard on Sophie’s shoulders when she looked upon the face of her cousin. It was her. It was Rachel. Sophie paused for a long while, looking for any reason at all to say this was not her beloved cousin. No manner of wishing could take away the truth however, and she was forced to give an affirming nod to the coroner, who offered her condolences before covering the face with a white sheet.
Since this was a murder, Sophie was not allowed to be alone with the body. That was fine with her. Already her memories of Rachel had been tainted by her corpse. It was expected. For a long time after today she would only be able to see Rachel in her mind as a body, lifeless and pale. Everything the living Rachel was not.
Sophie excused herself, needing a moment alone to collect her thoughts. The coroner pointed her toward a small break room where she could smell coffee brewing. Inside, a detective nodded politely and left with his cup of steaming coffee. Sophie helped herself to a cup before sitting at the table, hands shaking. For a long time she stared at her reflected silhouette in the black liquid, but her mind was somewhere else.
There was no way to rationalize what had happened to Rachel. This wasn’t the first time she had gone to a big city for vacation, and she knew the dangers of going anywhere alone. Sophie couldn’t imagine what would have made her separate from Dustin.
At the same time, she didn’t see Dustin laying a hand on Rachel. He was too kind for that. Sophie vividly remembered a time when he and Rachel had been play-fighting and he accidentally elbowed her in the eye. She had laughed it off, but he had apologized profusely and almost refused to roughhouse with her after that.
From a legal aspect, she could understand why they kept Dustin in custody. He was the last one to see Rachel, or so they said, and he was apparently very inebriated when he came in saying she was missing. Since her arrival, Sophie had found out that Dustin had blood spatter all over him when he came in. The coroner insisted that the blood would be tested as soon as possible now that the body had been identified and they had something to compare it to.
The thing that nagged at Sophie the most was the fact that no one would tell her how Rachel died. When she had asked, she expected a simple answer; that her cousin had been shot, or stabbed, or drowned. Instead, the coroner had given a detective a sideways glance before stammering that they still had some tests to do to determine the exact cause of death. The behavior of the coroner gave it away that something was going on that she wasn’t supposed to know about, and that only added to the mystery of what had happened to Rachel.
It was after lunch when Sophie finally left the coroner’s office but her day would only get worse. When she got to her car, she couldn’t get it to start and had to have it towed to an auto shop. That left her without a ride and she still had to call her mother and tell her what had happened. She leaned against the brick wall of a restaurant and dialed her sister.
“Hey Sophie,” he sister answered, tension in her voice.
“Hey Anna. Are you with mom?”
“No, she took Bluto to the vet for his shots. Have you… was it her?”
Sophie stared at the sky, blinking back tears. “Yeah.”
“I’m so sorry Sophie. I should have gone with you.”
“It’s ok, really. Someone needed to stay with mom.”
“Are you coming home now?”
“No, not yet. I’m stuck. My car wouldn’t start and I had to have it towed. I won’t know until tomorrow what the problem is or how much it’ll cost to fix it.”
“If you give me a few hours I can come and get you.”
“I kind of don’t want to leave. I don’t have any answers yet.”
“Do you have money for a
hotel?”
“I think I can find a cheep place for the night. Maybe a hostel or something.”
“How about this: remember when I took that year between high school and college and I lived down there? I dated a guy named Lukas. He’s really sweet and we still keep in contact sometimes. Why don’t I ask him if you can stay with him for the night?”
“I don’t know how I feel staying with some stranger.”
“Lukas is a total teddy bear, Sophie. It’ll be fine, really. Look, I’ll text you the address to the bar where he works, and I’ll call him up and explain what’s going on. If nothing else it’ll give you a place to hang out for the next few hours until we figure out what to do.”
“Fine. But if he gives me the creeps I’m not going anywhere with him.”
“I’m not going to put you in danger. Call mom when you get there, okay? I know it sounds selfish but I don’t have the heart to tell her about Rachel.”
“Alright, but only because you have to take care of her while I’m gone. Hey, I need to get going. I think it’s about to rain.”
“Ok, stay safe. Bye.”
Sophie memorized the map to the bar where she would find Lukas and set off into the heart of the French Quarter. Fog was settling in and she could smell rain in the air. Pulling her coat close against the chill, Sophie stuck close to the walls and windows as she passed under galleries.
Before she came, her mother had warned her extensively about scammers so at least she knew what to look out for. The problem right then wasn’t the con artists, but the rain. Clouds hung thick in the sky, threatening to drench them at any moment.
The French Quarter passed in a blur as she strode down the narrow sidewalks, trying to distance herself from the coroner’s office. Deep down paranoia told her it was dangerous to be alone, with no place to go. It told her she could vanish in a heartbeat, never to been seen again and yet she didn’t feel as threatened as she thought she should.
People looked happy and relaxed strolling around, even with the darkening sky. No one seemed to pay her any attention at all, and although her trek had so far been unheeded, she was beginning to feel claustrophobic with the closer she got to the address on her phone.
Sophie picked up her pace when the sky finally broke open, releasing a torrent of rain upon the city. Cursing the weather in her mind, Sophie ducked through the crowd of people scrambling for shelter or struggling to open their umbrellas, and into an alley where she spotted the bar she’d been looking for. Tall, shuttered doors opened wide to the outside, allowing warm light to flood the alley.
Inside, Sophie took a seat at the end of the bar, away from the other patrons. It was a quaint little place, full of curious knickknacks and nothing like the rowdy, neon-lit establishments she had been expecting. Everything was old and scarred from years of abuse, but Sophie found she liked it. There was a certain charm she couldn’t deny, and the people seemed friendly enough.
“Sophie?” the bartender asked, startling her out of her thoughts.
He was an attractive man, appearing to be in his early twenties with messy blond hair, intense blue eyes, and an athletic build. His skin was a light fawn and he had a jawline that could cut glass and an easy smile that she was sure caught the attention of women. It caught her attention.
“Yeah. And you’re Lukas?”
“You got it. I go on break in a few minutes. You want a drink while you wait?”
“Oh, um... sure. Surprise me,” she said.
Lukas chewed the toothpick that hung loosely from his lips before nodding and mixing up something for her. While he was busy, Sophie called her mother, opting to get it done and over with. Quick like pulling off a Band-Aid.
He placed the drink in front of her as she waited for her mom to answer the phone. Sophie gave him a polite nod of thanks, which he returned with a smile before tending to his other customers. Still she couldn’t help but feel his eyes were on her.
“Hello?” a voice said from the other end.
“Hey, Mom. Sorry it’s taken me so long to get back with you, but it’s been a long day.”
“Anna told me your car broke down?”
“Yeah but it’s okay. She talked to a friend of hers and she’s trying to see if he’ll give me a place to stay for the night.”
“Just be careful and keep in touch.”
“I will, mom. But I have some bad news. They were right. It’s Rachel.”
“Oh no. Did they say what happened to her? And what about Dustin? They don’t really think he murdered her, do they?”
“They didn’t say. The coroner said they still have some tests to do before they can confirm anything. Dustin is still in custody, and at this point they don’t have any option but to think he’s a suspect. I guess he showed up at the police department drunk out of his mind with blood splattered all over him. I’m sure it’s some sort of mistake. I can’t believe he’s capable of something like this.” Sophie stirred her drink absently, leaving out the coroner’s nervous body language. Something didn’t feel right, but that wasn’t necessary knowledge just yet.
“It has to be a mistake. He’s such a sweet boy. Someone did this, Sophie. Someone killed our Rachel, and now...” Her mother’s voice cracked.
“It’s alright, Mom. I’m sure they’ll figure it out and let us know in no time.”
“I know. It’s just so hard right now. When do you think you’ll be coming home?”
“I’m not sure. I won’t know until morning when the auto shop calls. Either Anna will have to come get me or I’ll need to get a bus ticket home soon since I only brought my overnight bag, but I think I want to stay in New Orleans until all of this is resolved,” Sophie replied.
“Honey, you don’t have to stay there. It could take weeks, months even. You come on home and we’ll just wait for the police to clear all this up.”
“I know I don’t have to, but I want to. I’ll be back to get my stuff out of the cabin, but I want to stay here until it’s over with. Do you mind if I keep my things in your garage until I can find a place to stay?”
“Sophie, you can’t just up and move to a new city without even having a job there,” her mother said.
“I have some money saved up. I can do it. Don’t worry about it. I’ll find a place to stay for a few days while I look for a job and if I can’t find one in a week, I’ll come home.”
“I don’t like that but you’re an adult. Well, I’ll see you soon. Call me before you leave and please be careful down there.”
“I will. Love you,” Sophie hung up and propped her head on her hands.
“Alright Sophie.” Lukas’ voice made her jump a little. She hadn’t even noticed him walk back to her until he spoke. “Anna tells me you’re in a bit of trouble and need a place to stay tonight?”
“It’s a family emergency. I just don’t want to leave until it’s cleared up.”
“Anna said your cousin died? Sorry to hear that. I didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but you think you might want to stick around for a while? My roommate is looking to rent out another room if you’re interested. It’s not very big, but it’s clean. Not far from here, either.” He gestured out into the alley, where the rain was still pouring down.
Sophie couldn’t form words. On one hand, she did need a place to go for more than just the night, but on the other hand, he could be some sort of killer who lured women back to his place and slaughtered them. Get a grip, Sophie, she thought. If he was a murderer, Anna wouldn’t have told her she’d be safe with him.
“How about we start over,” he said, smiling as he reached his hand across the scarred bar top. “Name’s Lukas. Most people just call me Luk.”
“Sophie,” she said, noting how cool his hands were, even in the warmth of the bar. “I’m sorry, this is all a lot for me right now.”
“I understand. I won’t make you do anything, but if you need a safe place to stay, even if it’s just for the night, I’ll be off at two. At least think about it? In the meantime, you relax and
enjoy yourself.”
“Thanks,” Sophie took a sip of her drink as he walked away, turning around on her stool to watch the rain. It seemed fitting for her mood. Never had she felt so muddied. Twenty-four hours ago, she never would have thought her life would change so drastically. Holding back the tears that burned her throat was no easy task but drowning the sting with warm liquor was a good start.
A few drinks later and Sophie felt a part of herself melting into the city. In an odd way she felt that she belonged and had even chatted with a few regulars. Though she was not truly enjoying herself, as the thought of her dear cousin lingered in her mind, she did feel less anxious than when she arrived.
Lukas had also managed to gain some of her trust, stopping to check up on her regularly with an easy smile. He seemed genuine and sweet, if not a little mischievous. Two a.m. came quickly, but the rain had never let up. When it came time to close and the patrons scattered to the wind, Sophie had decided to go with Lukas after an overwhelming web search for a hotel room. He pulled his black leather trench coat on, strapped a buckle across his chest, and held out arm, umbrella in hand. With barely a moment’s hesitation, Sophie took his arm and let him lead her across the Quarter and, unknowingly, to her destiny.
14
Sophie awoke with a gentle shake to her shoulder. Exhaustion had set in hours before, joined with liquor in her belly, gentle patter of rain on the window, and the warmth of a fire. Even in the strange environment Sophie had easily fallen asleep. She had decided to keep to the living room until Dominic returned from work, as Lukas had explained that it was his house and he would be giving the definitive yes or no to Sophie about renting the room.
Lukas had offered to show her the space, but she had respectfully refused, not wanting Dominic to feel as if she had already been given an answer. Instead she chose to stay on the long window seat in the living room and once Lukas started a fire, the dark house warmed up considerably. While her new friend showered, Sophie watched the dance of the fire, trying to process everything that had happened during the day.