CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Noah and Julia set up their table early the next morning, seated beneath a large umbrella with two comfortable chairs for their potential customers. The graphics team at Belle Fleur helped to make signs for everyone that made them look as if they were professional and well established.

U-Jin walked up, handing them both cups of coffee and beignets, then began setting up his own table.

"Have you done this before?" asked Julia.

"You forget who my parents were. I was trained in a little of everything. I know enough to satisfy people's curiosity and not cause any harm. If they want to know more, I'll send them to Ruby and Mama Irene. If they want to know of a deceased loved one, I'll send them to you. That should work."

A few minutes later, Ruby and Irene walked up, directing Otto, Pork, and Kegger on how to set their area. They had a massive table covered with a pristine white tablecloth and bouquets of flowers. The enormous umbrella covered them, the table, and part of the table next to them.

There were two signs on easels advertising the witch and voodoo queen. No one was sure which one was which, but at this point, it didn't matter.

"My money is on Irene being the witch," said Noah. Julia smirked at her big friend, nodding.

"It's a safe bet. But I'm not sure either of them is a witch or a voodoo queen. I think we are in the midst of greatness, and we don't even know what it is." Noah smiled at her, pulling out her chair for her.

As the crowds descended upon Jackson Square, business picked up. Where other vendors were begging for customers to come over to their tables, there were lines waiting at the three new tables. People were spreading the word that something special was happening in the Square with three new vendors who seemed to know everything about everyone.

"I just want to know that Marvin is okay," said the woman. "They said he killed himself, but I don't believe that. My son wouldn't do that." Julia smiled at the woman and closed her eyes.

She didn't need to close her eyes, but it was so she could hear everything Marvin was screaming at her without indicating through the look on her face.

"Don't tell Mama I did it, lady. Please don't tell her. It would break her heart. I just couldn't handle it all anymore. Everything was coming at me all at once and I just couldn't do it any longer. It wasn't her fault."

Noah heard the man's voice as well and stared at him.

"What shall I tell her?" whispered Julia. The woman looked at her strangely, then at Noah, who only smiled.

"Tell her I'm fine and that she needs to move on. Tell her to look in the box in my closet with the cassette tapes. There's something in there for her."

"What's happening? Are you speaking to him?" asked the woman.

"He said to tell you he's just fine. It was all an accident, and he's okay. He'd like for you to move on. There's a box in his closet with cassette tapes, and he said he left something there for you. He said everything will be okay now."

"Thank you," she said with a huge exhale. "Thank you. I knew it. I knew they were wrong." She paid her fee and left a small tip for them. Noah looked at Julia and shook his head.

"This could become more difficult than we imagined, sweet Julia. That young man did kill himself."

"I know," she said, swallowing. "I know that, but he was in a great deal of pain and couldn't go on any longer. There was something wrong with him, but I couldn't get a feeling for what that was. He's okay now, and she will be as well."

"Alright. I'll take the next one."

Next to them, U-Jin was speaking with two young girls who appeared to be around the age of high school girls. However, they weren't dressed like girls in high school. They were dressed more like hookers. He frowned at them, but they seemed oblivious to his displeasure. The young women wanted to know if he could tell them if they'd be famous or not.

"Your birthdates indicate happiness and a good life ahead of you."

"But will we be famous singers? Like, will we be famous pop stars like Taylor or Brittany or Gaga?" asked one of the young girls. He couldn't lie. Truthfully, he didn't know for sure.

"You will have good lives. Happy lives and want for nothing. Embrace the skills you have now." One of the girls frowned at him, looking at her friend.

"Skills I have now. Maybe I'm supposed to design clothes for singers, not be the singer," she said to her friend.

"No! No, we're going to be famous!" said the other girl.

"I don't think so. I've been thinking about it lately. I'm just not very good at this, and it's too much, all of it. I don't have the talent to be famous."

The girls didn't say anything else. Just paid him his fee, leaving no tip at all. He looked at Noah and Julia and just shrugged.

"It's alright, U-Jin. You did the right thing," said Julia.

She looked at the table with Ruby and Irene, seeing the long line stretching behind them. Shaking her head, she watched as the two women told fortune after fortune simply by looking at palms and cards.

Seeing three mature women in the line, they waited patiently to see what they would ask.

"Ladies, it's lovely to meet you," said Ruby. "What can we do for you?"

"Well," said one woman, "we're all residents of Maison Soleil, the retirement community, and we've lost a few members lately in strange ways, and that's making all of us nervous as you can imagine."

"I see," said Irene.

"Patti here," she said, pointing to the woman with the blonde hair, "she's all heated up over one of the residents who works for the facility as well. But we're worried about her because he's had two wives, and they've both died suspiciously."

"I would be worried about that as well," said Irene. Beside them, Julia grasped Noah's hand, seeing the specter behind the older women.

"It's Gladys," she whispered. "That's Gladys."

The ghost stared at the young woman and handsome man, slowly moving to their table. She looked at them, then noticed that they were looking at her. They were seeing her.

"You can see me?"

They both nodded, not wanting to draw suspicion from others around them.

"Tell them to stop asking questions. They'll only be killed as well."

"What happened to you, Gladys?" asked Noah. "We know you were hit by a car, but who hit you?"

"It was either Al or Mike. I'm not sure. I was asking questions about things. Mike married Mr. Browning's daughter, and then she died shortly after that. Now he's after Patti and her money. I asked him what he was doing, and he told me to butt out."

"It was very brave of you, Gladys, but also foolish, I'm afraid. Do you know what he and Al are doing?"

"It's not just them. There are others. Dozens of others. They came to the facility for a meeting a few days before I was killed. So many men and not one woman."

"Did you hear what they were talking about?" asked Julia.

"No. We were told it was a private event, and we were not to come to the clubhouse. They even blocked the doors and made sure that we didn't get near them."

"Gladys, do you know anything about the women working at Maison Soleil?" asked Julia.

"Oh, they're all not what they seem. I told them I was a teacher when I came here, which was partly true. I spent the first ten years of my career as a school nurse. Then, I taught biology and nursing at a local technical college.

"I watched those women who claim to be nurses. They don't know the drugs they're giving. They have to look them up on their phones, and then they give too much or too little."

Gladys looked back over at her friends and shook her head. They were asking questions about Mike. Questions that might get them hurt.

"I have to go now. Help my friends," said Gladys. She disappeared as quickly as she had appeared.

Noah and Julia listened to Ruby, telling Patti she should be careful and not give all of her trust to Mike.

"But he seems to so sweet," smiled the woman. "And lord, that man knows his way around a woman's body. I mean, I've had lovers since my husband's death, but he's on another level."

"And a man that knows his way around a woman's body like that has had a lot of practice," said Ruby. "You asked for my advice. Don't trust that man."

"Ma'am," said Julia, walking toward her.

"What are you doing?" said Noah, pulling back on her arm.

"Helping. Ma'am, while you were here visiting with these fine ladies, your friend Gladys came to us at our table. She's very worried for you and said to tell you not to trust Mike."

Patti looked so disappointed Julia thought she might cry. What she should have seen was the man marching toward them.

"There you are," smiled the man. "Hello, baby. I've come to take you home."