GODDESS OF THE MOON (A Diana Racine Psychic Suspense) (54 page)

“Take over, Detective Beecher,” Craven said.

Stallings nodded to Beecher.
“Damn heat,”
he
said, looking around
. “Jesus, you got a mess here.”

“Another body in the kitchen.
The housekeeper.”
Craven said. He nodded toward Easley’s body.
“My weak
link.”

“Gues
s someone else thought so too.”

“Long as they contained their little cult, Easley went along. But kidnapping babies and a cop
involved
set
off
his
panic button. He harbored a pa
thological fear of the police.”

“Yup.
Read
his file. No wonder.”

Craven motioned Stallings into the kitchen. Blood covered the floor and spattered the cupboards.
He’d already seen the slaughter, but his stomach lurched again.
“Bigger mess here
.
”

Stallings made a hissing sound at the sight of the woman lying with a gaping slice across her t
hroat.
“Jesus.
“
You never get used to carnage like this. Poor woman worked for the wrong people.”

“Maybe she was a threat because she knew too much.” Craven poked through the papers on the kitchen desk. “We’re not going to find anything incriminating here, but we’ll sift through
them
anyway.”

After a visual sweep of the room,
Stallings
asked,
“Where’s the Missus?”

“Good question. One of the neighbors
said she left
with luggage early this morning.
Neighbor
didn’t think
much
of it. The
Easleys
were always going somewhere, she said.” Craven ran a hand across the back of his neck
. “Wish I knew where.”

“May be able to help you out.”
Stallings wrinkled his nose. “Let’s get out of this room. I just had lunch.” They
walked outside into what seemed like frigid air after the house’s sweltering interior
.
They leaned against Craven’s car.
“My investigators
untangled
a large tract of land
from a land trust
about
five
hundred miles from here in Oklahoma.
It’s remote
,
not too far from a national park.
Might be what we’re looking for.” Stallings loosened his tie and unbuttoned the top of his shirt. “Crane’s father bought the property
way back when
, and
his
lawyers shifted ownership from one
shell company
to another.
Phillip
Crane’s
geniuses
did the same.”

“Reckon
ed it was something like that.”

“I guarantee when you find Mrs. Easley, she’ll deny knowing anythin
g about
these murders
.”

“
I
f we find her.
Either Anastasia
Easley killed her husband, or she called someone else in to do it, then she ca
lmly packed her bags and left.”

Stallings nodded in agreement. “I’ve already contacted our office in Oklahoma City. They’re sending a
chopper to scope out the area.”

“I hope it’s what we’re looking for.
After
this scene I’m more worried about Ernie and
the
Racine
woman
. These people crossed the line
too many times
. There’s no turning back. Crane and Compton tie up loose ends, and Ernie and Diana are
loose ends
.” Craven related Cash’s theory
about
the kidnapped babies. “Ernie was working on the idea, but frankly, it sounded too weird
yesterday
.
Doesn’t sound weird now.”

“A genetically mastered race, huh?” Stallings said.
“Somewhere in Oklahoma?
I agree with you.
S
ounds far-fetched.
Even if you’re right, they have corporations, employees,
houses
. Christ,
their
famil
ies are
in Louisiana
.”

“They wouldn’t be giving up anything. Both the Crane and Compton
corporations
are intertwined and run by family
members
. They’ve probably funneled funds into
emergency
accounts all over the place, as well as property.
I
f they felt it was time to pull out, they’ve protected their assets.” Craven
pushed himself off the car and paced a few steps
. “From what Ernie said, Compton is an arrogant
megalomaniac
. He thinks we couldn’t find our own dicks with both hands, let alone their private Hades.”

“Maybe he’s right,” Stallings said. “The Oklahoma City boys might not find a thing. And even
we find
them
,
owning property isn’t a federal offense as
long as they pay their taxes.”

Fire roared in Craven’s gut.
“But kidnapping and murder
are
.”

W
elcome to Paradise

L
ucier
waited a long minute for his eyes to adjust to the dark. He
took some more time to
scan the perimeter.
Satisfied they were
safe,
he
hopped
inside the golf cart Mountain Man used to travel around the compound. Anna
sli
d in beside him, issuing directions.
H
e didn’t move.
T
urn
ing
to the girl
, he
asked
,
“
Are you with me, Anna?”

The young girl
paused before she answered
. “I
came here when I was
very young
, so I don’t remember much of the outside
world. When new people came―not
our
people but surrogates and guards―they mentioned things. My friends and I
talked about what we heard
.
We weren’t supposed to, but we did. W
e’re
not allowed
TV,
and
computers
are loaded with studies the leaders choose, no
Internet.
Speak out
and you disappear into
these cabins
or you’re put in isolation, like Anat and Master Cal.
We accepted the rules, but now…
”
s
he steadied her childlike blue eyes on him
,
“
I guess it’s time for me to be brave.”

He let out a breath.
Anna
appeared to be
processing
whether
to
reject
everything she’d
been taught
. Exactly how much did
she
know?
How deep was the group’s dogma implanted in
this fourteen-year-old
innocent’s
brain?
She could lead him right to Slater or Compton and he wouldn’t know the difference.
With nothing and everything to lose, h
e had
no choice but
to trust her. “
Okay
.
Who
else
is
in these cabins?”

“You’re the only one. They said you were going through indoctrination.”

Lucier snorted.
“Yeah, if you call indoctrination being tied to a chair and shot full of drugs for two days.”
The heavy weight of the
Glock
pressed against the small of his back gave him a measure of comfort. But one gun didn’t mean much in a place where
the only
escape was a plane
trip
out.

“
W
here
are
they keeping Ms. Racine?” The girl hesitated. “It’s a matter of life and death, Anna. Please.”

Still wary, she
glanced
back at the cabin.
“In
…in
the visitor’s quarters.
I served her.”

“Now tell me, is Mr. Compton here? Mr. Crane? What about Mr. Slater?”

“You mean Brother Osiris?”

Lucier almost laughed. He wondered if
Anna’s mythology classes told the story
of the mythical Osiris. Somehow he doubted it. “Yes.”

“I think so.
T
hey’ll want to
hear
how
badly
you’ve been treated.”

Oh,
for sure
. Ha
d
this child
already been taught to worship a dark god
? Lucier doubted they were
given a choice
.
He thought back to other compounds, other messianic cult leaders who led their flocks to follow, even to their deaths.

“
I’m sure they will
too
, sweetheart. Now
,
how do we get to the visitors’ quarters without
exposing ourselves
?”

She stared into the dark night. Was
she
having second thoughts
?
He was telling her to hide from people she
’d
trusted all her young life and help him, an outsider, who wanted to stop everything she’d ever known. He needed this girl to get to Diana
and
figure out the next move
after
he found her
.
Come on,
Stallings
. Keep
searching those tangled deeds and trusts until
you find
this place
.

“Do you trust me, Anna?”

She hesitated. “I don’t want anyone hurt.”

“
Has
anyone been hurt?”

She didn’t answer for a
n excruciatingly
long time. Every minute meant
more
danger
for
Diana.

“Miss Maia is locked up, too.”

Had
he heard right
?
“Maia
? H
ere?”

“She’s always been my friend, and now I can’t even talk to her. She’s in a guest suite.”

“
If
Maia is
here, she’s
in danger
too
, Anna,” Lucier said. “You
must
trust me.”

Tears fell from the young girl’s eyes.
He understood h
er confusion. He’d
made his case. Either she
bought his story or she didn’t.

“You wouldn’t lie to me,
would you? About Miss Maia, I mean.”

He
met her gaze
. “
I’m telling you the truth
.”

She nodded
, let out a long breath
. “I can get you to the building. After that, I can’t guarantee no one will see us. I’m expected
to return
to my group with the man you left tied to the bed. Someone might be out looking for us already.”

“
Guess w
e’ll have to take our chance
s.”

“Okay.”

Anna
’s
directions
led them on a dirt trail through the woods,
skirt
ing the main area of the compound.
The
drive
went on
forever
.
How big was this place?
Where was it? He
doubted most people there knew
; otherwise, how could
Compton keep
the
compound
secret
?
E
ventually someone would talk.
A spike of reality caused a shiver. Talk to whom?

“Where are we? What state?” he asked.

“Paradise,”
she answered.
“We’ve always been told we’re in Paradise
.
”