GODDESS OF THE MOON (A Diana Racine Psychic Suspense) (60 page)

“I’m in charge,” Crane said, “and I’m afraid we can stop you from leaving. Truth is
―
we’re the ones leaving.
Y
ou, my dear Maia, will remain here with your friends, except for Diana, of course. She’ll accompany us to our new location. My
wife and
daughters have already departed. You see, this runway can handle a plane big enough for everyone in this compound
. It will arrive late tonight
,
and w
e’
ll have cleared out by
midday
tomorrow
. W
hen
and if
the authorities find this place, all they’ll find is a burned out parcel of land in the middle of nowhere
, b
ecaus
e that’s all that will be left.
”

Crane made a slow
visual
rotation
of the property
, a frown creasing his forehead.
“Pity, really. We weren’t ready to move on quite yet, but I’m afraid your father gave us no choice, Cal.
Martin’s
pathological
fear that he would realize the same fate as his
own
father played right into the hands of the police. He verge
d
o
n
breaking. My daughter felt compelled to stop him.”

Cal took a step backward.
“Anastasia murdered my fathe
r?”

Phillip pursed his lips.
“
U
mm, m
urder is a strong word. I prefer
to describe her action as protecting
the group
.
I knew about Martin when I recruited him, but he was a brilliant man and would produce brilliant children, like you
and your siblings
, only with Crane genes. I needed him.
” He
sighed
.
“
Who thought things would get so out of hand?”

“You don’t subscribe to the devil, Phillip,” Cal said. “You are the devil.”

With an arched brow, Phillip said,
“I do what needs to be done
.
”

“Yet you did everything to
involve
the police,” Lucier said.
“Notes,
druggings
.
Why?”

“
Martin
sent the
notes
.
He
wanted to stop this
before it went further
. He thought if he scared Diana away, the cops would stay away too.
Had I known at the time, but…
”
He cocked his head toward Silas. “
He
wasn’t as upset at Martin as I was.
I should have paid more attention to a man whose ego made him think he could do anything and get away with it
, like putting drugs in Diana’s drink
.
If I’m being honest,
his
reprehensible behavior is
what drew me to him in the first place. How could I ignore a man who blackmailed his own father-in-law into trading votes in the Senate for a government contract?”

“Blackmailed him?” Maia said.
“How?
Gault
Fannon
was a wonderful, kind man. What could you possibly
have
used against him?”

“Wonderful?
Kind?
Maybe
,” Silas said.
“
But your grandfather
suffered from
a similar perversion
as
poor Edward. He couldn’t help himself. He hid it well, but I found out. The threat of exposure left him a broken man. In addition to the tragedy of
your brother
’s death, learning about her father sent your mother over the edge.” He shrugged helplessly.
“With a little help.”

Maia
leaned against Seth.
“
A little help?
Y
ou
killed my mother
,
and
you
knew Edward
was abusing the children
?
Your grandchildren?
” Her knees
gave way, and Seth
reached
his
arm
around her waist to keep her
upright
. “
My precious babies?”
She hugged
Phillip
closer. “
You’re evil, Father.
Evil.
Oh,
G
od.”

Seth
took
Phillip from her and whispered something in her ear. She calmed.

Diana sensed it had to do with upsetting the children, for Maia nodded and
stood
erect.

A little late to worry about yo
ur children, isn’t it, Seth
?

She hoped they were too young to understand what one grandfather had done and that the other planned to incinerate th
eir parents like so much garbage.

“
Sacrilege
.
Don’t mention God in my
presence
, Maia,” Phillip said.

“You’d do this to your own famil
y
?” Seth asked his father.

Cal stepped forward. “Oh, yes. Nothing stands in the way of the mighty Cranes. Anat has always been a thorn in his side. No tears
will be
shed over her demise.
Y
ou stood a chance before today
, Seth
. The good soldier, only following orders
, b
ut you lost favor when you couldn’t father more children. Now, unforgivably, you’ve screwed up by finally seeing the light. You’re no good to them anymore.” During his speech, Cal took another step forward. No one noticed Lucier doing the same.

Diana needed to help. She had one thing in her favor.
Phillip
Crane wanted her alive. She stepped closer to Compton, the man who
’d
drugged her and placed her at Satan’s altar. She’d
improvise
as she went along.

“If you don’t care about me, Father,” Maia said, “what about your grandchildren?”

“The
children
will come with us. They’ll be safe
, b
ut I can’t trust you any longer. And Anat
―
” He snorted.

“Anat what?”
Anat said. “You’re disappointed? I’m delighted.”

Silas brushed her off with a flick of his wrist.

Diana moved
closer to
him
. One of the thugs stepped up to her and
jabbed his gun in her ribs
. Lucier lurched
toward her
, but a second man waved him back with his weapon. Unfazed, Diana pushed the gun
aside
and reached for Compton’s hand. He tried to pull away, but she wouldn’t let go.

“What’s the matter, Silas? You always wanted a reading, and I’ve never given you one, have I? Now is the perfect time, because after today, I probably won’t be
clearheaded
enough to use the gift that makes me so valuab
le to your future generations.”

“Get away from him, Diana,” Phillip said.

Compton put up his hand. “No, she’s right. Without Edward, who wanted her for himself, we don’t need her lucid. We only need her fertile.”

“You never learn, Silas
. G
o ahead, get your jollies.”

The guards kept their guns steady, but the idea of
her reading
drew their focus
.
She went into full performance mode. Only Crane showed wariness, but eventually he
,
too
,
seemed drawn in.

I hope you know what I’m doing, Ernie, because it’s now or never.
She took Compton’s hand. A moment of apprehension struck when she looked down.
Nothing.
No black skeleton, no nausea.
S
he was in total control
, onstage once again
.

“I don’t usually do this standing up with guns pointed at me
.
”
Get that, Ernie? The guns are pointed at me.
“But I feel
your vibes, Silas
.”
Definitely a load of b
ull
.
She felt nothing but fear. “Just relax
.
”
Her
soothing voice belied the tremors inside. The same voice she used to
engage
her subjects, including the serial killer intent on beating her at her own game. “Forget where you are. Forget what you’re doing.” She covered both his hands in hers and closed her eyes
as
she
’
d done thousands of times
before
.

She drew out the moment. Everyone was silent, fully engrossed. Compton
didn’t move
. “I see a peaceful place with
―”

S
he heard
a
scuffle.

A gunshot.

A groan.

Kids screaming.

Without
turning
around
, s
he
kneed
a distracted Compton in the groin as hard as she could.
Another groan.
This one from Compton.
His face contorted into a mask of pain. He drew a deep raspy breath and howl
ed
, clutching
himself. She kicked him again
, smashing his hand too
. He
dropped
to the ground
, and sh
e stomped on his
knee
,
relishing
the
crunch
of bones
.

Yes!

Compton
curled on his side, writhing in agony, oblivious t
o
the
going
s-
on
around him
.
She kicked him one more time for good measure.

A quick check
showed
Lucier trad
ing
punches with his
guard
, ducking
a left hook and
coming
back with a right cross.
H
e
swung a low kick into his opponent
’s
leg
,
throwing him off balance and sending him to the tarmac
. The gun flew from his hand and skidde
d into the heavy brush surrounding the hangar. The guy hopped to his feet, limping and stunned, but
still swinging
.

Diana glanced
at Compton
―still o
ut
of commission, then at C
al
, who held
his own with a
panting
, overweight
rival past his prime
, and
Seth
, whose
left arm hung useless at his side
,
b
lood cover
ing
shirt
,
grip
ped
his
adversary’s
gun
with his good hand
and
turn
ed
the muzzle away.
Anat, Maia, and the children were nowhere to be seen.

Diana
skirted
the melee to
search for
the gun
in the brush
.
Damn
.
Where did it go
?
She
kicked her way around
the heavy growth.
O
n her hands and knees
, she
plowed through the thicket. Sharp needles of dried brush pricked her skin, but she
kept crawling, searching
.

Checking back to gauge her time, she saw
Seth head-butt the brute’s nose. Blood splattered everywhere
. He
dropped his gun and clutched his nose with both hands. Seth crumpled to
his knees
, his face drained of color, and keeled over.
Diana
gave up her search
,
dodged Cal’s scuffle
, and
dove
for
the gun near Seth
before Broken Nose
nabbed
it first
.
Breathless, s
he lifte
d
the weapon
and shot twice in the air.