Only By Moonlight (33 page)

“Looks like you’re not up for it after all,
sweetie,” Gina said between heavy breathing. She put her face close
to LaShaun’s. “I hope they let me have a crack at you again. Hmm,
you smell good.”

LaShaun stared into Gina’s dark blues eyes.
The woman wore a sadistic smile as she puffed hard. With a burst of
red hot energy coursing through her veins, LaShaun grunted. Gina’s
mocking expression slipped, and so did the pressure of her hold on
LaShaun. She looked confused for a few seconds.

“What the hell is happening?” Gina squawked.
She tried to maintain her grip, but pain mixed with growing alarm
distracted her.

“I’m not having fun anymore, baby girl,”
LaShaun shot back.

She flipped Gina onto her stomach and
delivered two quick blows to the redhead’s jaw. Gina’s body went
slack, her eyes rolled back and then closed as she passed out. With
her opponent down for the count, LaShaun ran to the door. She got
there just as Marion appeared carrying a tray with glasses and a
Backgammon board tucked under one arm. LaShaun body slammed Marion
against the opposite wall and sprinted down the hallway to the
window. No bars. Gina hadn’t lied about that at least. LaShaun
grabbed a heavy brass ashtray on her way past a table. She smashed
through the glass, not willing to take time opening it. She
scrambled through it as male voices shouted behind her.

For a few dizzying moments LaShaun hung onto
the window sill. She looked down from the second floor. When the
voices grew closer she let go. A gardenia bush broke her fall, but
she had scratches from the wood. Rolling to the ground, LaShaun
felt stunned. But fear and adrenaline forced her up. She sprinted
straight ahead into dark woods. A full moon lit the way as she
pumped her legs until she ran full speed. LaShaun made as little
noise as possible despite the panic stabbing into her like daggers.
With eyesight sharpened by survival instinct, she dodged trees and
wild shrubbery. Shouts in the distance propelled her onward.
LaShaun slowed to a quick trot. Glancing around to get her
bearings, she estimated directions. Lights from the bed and
breakfast appeared to her left, west. So she raced straight ahead
in a northern direction. Highway 90 should be several miles ahead,
if she made it that far. Then she stood still. The sound she heard
meant someone or something had closed the gap between them.

“Damn.”

LaShaun shot forward opening up a burst of
speed as she zig-zagged hoping to confuse her pursuer. But the
effects of whatever drug Marion had put in the brandy seemed to
have bounced back on her. Light-headed and breathing heavily, she
slowed down. A solid body crashed into her as she darted to avoid a
large pine tree. They both hit the ground.

“Got you,” Chase said. Or it was Abiku using
his voice?

“Get the hell off me you...” LaShaun punched
hard but missed when Chase snapped his head aside.

“It’s me. LaShaun, it’s me.” Chase struggled
with her. “I swear it’s me.”

LaShaun continued to slap at him until her
will to right the man she loved dissolved. No matter what possessed
him, LaShaun couldn’t try to hurt Chase once she heard his voice.
He pinned her hands down against a carpet of dead leaves as she
sobbed until her chest hurt.

“I can’t do it anymore,” LaShaun cried.

“Shh..., baby I know.” Chase cradled her
against his body. “LaShaun, listen to me. We don’t have much
time.”

“Oh Chase.” LaShaun frantically kissed his
face, hoping to wake up from the nightmare.

He pulled away and pressed keys into her
hands. “I don’t know how much longer I can hold on. Thank God you
ran in this direction. Turn to your right. There’s an old barn. Get
in the truck and go.”

“I’m not leaving you with these demon
worshiping psychos! No, I won’t--”

“They’re not going to hurt me, right? They
need me to take over the world and start the new age. Until maybe
we get Manny out of prison,” Chase added in a soft voice.

LaShaun cupped his face with both her hands.
“You just said we, Chase. Let’s fight off that bastard from
hell.”

“I turned off my flashlight, so they can’t
see which way I came. Now run.” Chase shoved LaShaun away from
him.

LaShaun wiped tears from her eyes. Voices
sounded closer and closer. “I’m coming back for you.”

“Don’t go home. Not tonight. But you know
that.” Chase turned to leave, but then faced LaShaun again. “I love
you.”

“We’ll be together,” LaShaun protested,
pushing back against the finality in his voice.

Chase shook his head and shot off in the
opposite direction. Seconds later a bright light bounced when he
turned on his flashlight again. LaShaun bit back a cry of anguish
as she followed his instructions. After ten minutes of hard running
she found the ramshackle barn with the doors lying broken on the
ground. LaShaun almost sagged to her knees with relief when she saw
Chase’s truck. She scrambled inside, fumbling to get the key into
the ignition because her hands shook. Once she got the engine
started, LaShaun hit the gas pedal. Five minutes of bumping down a
gravel road brought her to a black top surface.

“Which way do I go?” LaShaun muttered in
frustration as she looked around. Then she remembered the GPS
system.

LaShaun whispered a thank you when the
mechanical sound of its voice command gave her directions. Each
time she saw headlights in her rear view mirror LaShaun tensed up.
She didn’t know which made her more paranoid, being alone on the
dark highway or watching a vehicle approach. With the window down
and cold air hitting her face, LaShaun’s thinking cleared. Only one
destination might offer safety for a time.

“Let’s hope I’ve got enough gas to make it to
Mouton Cove.”

Chapter 19

Miss Rose shushed her anxious husband and
three grandchildren. The oldest child, a tall lanky girl of eleven,
had large eyes, round with curiosity. The next one in age was a boy
who appeared to be about eight. The youngest couldn’t have been
older than five. She had sandy red hair, light brown skin, and one
thumb in her mouth. She gazed between her grandmother and their
visitor.

LaShaun hadn’t expected Miss Rose to have a
full house. No wonder they stared at her in fright. Leaves drifted
to the floor when LaShaun raked fingers through her tangled hair.
She tried to tuck the shirt into the yoga pants. Realizing that
only made her appearance more bizarre, she smoothed out the shirt
instead. LaShaun smiled at the five year old. The little one shrank
behind her grandfather until she disappeared completely.

“Pierre, take the children over to Eloise’s.
They can spend the night there,” Miss Rose said quietly. Then she
looked at her grandchildren. “Your Tante Eloise baked a chocolate
cake and has ice cream waiting. Your cousin Tremaine is over
there.”

“Tremaine has video games,” the little boy
piped up in excitement. He shot off without waiting for more
instructions.

“Come with us, Monmon,” the youngest girl
said in a high voice that spoke of tears to come.

“Papa is going to be with you, sweetheart.
We’ll sing while your Uncle Ivory plays his guitar,” Mr. Fontenot
said. He picked her up and kissed her round cheeks. As he tickled
and teased her, the little one smiled. Soon she let out a laugh as
Mr. Fontenot walked off with her.

“Go on now, Isabelle,” Miss Rose said, urging
the older child to follow him.

“I’m not scared. I can help,” Isabelle said
with confidence. She gazed at LaShaun.

“Not yet, baby. I’ll let you know when it’s
time.” Miss Rose shooed her down the hallway. Though reluctant to
leave, the child obediently walked away. But not without several
backward glances.

“That little lady wants to know what’s going
on,” LaShaun said when Miss Rose came back into the living
room.

“Isabelle has the gift of special sight. I
pray that she’s not burdened by it. But Le Bon Dieu knows best,”
Miss Rose said with a sigh. Then she turned her full attention to
LaShaun. “Well?”

“These people are playing with forces they
don’t understand, Miss Rose. But that’s on them. I’ve got to save
Chase.”

“Sit down and tell me.” Miss Rose eased into
one of the chairs nearby, a rocker that matched the two sofas.

“No, if I sit down I might pass out from
exhaustion,” LaShaun replied. She massaged her forehead trying to
think straight.

Then she told Miss Rose about the sequence of
events while pacing. She paused only when Mr. Fontenot came back to
announce they were leaving. With a brief wave he turned back down
the hallway. The children’s voices could be heard as they waited
for him at the back door. The back door slammed shut and the locked
clicked. Only then did LaShaun finish her account. Miss Rose asked
no questions, but allowed her to tell the story in her own way.
Finally LaShaun finished. Spent, she sank down onto the sofa.

“I ended up here to tell you what happened,
to get advice or an opinion. Or... something. I don’t know. I can’t
go home.” LaShaun hid a yawn behind her right hand. “I’ve got money
for a hotel.”

“No, you won’t go to a hotel. You stay here,”
Miss Rose said.

“I can’t put you at risk, Miss Rose. They’ll
be looking for me. Chase will figure out where I am eventually and
he’s, well he’s not responsible.” LaShaun fought the urge to curl
into a ball and cry her eyes out. Now was definitely not the time
to collapse.

“You’ll be more vulnerable alone. Besides,
you say those folks are on a deadline. They won’t spend what little
time they have searching for you.” Miss Rose looked at LaShaun with
a grave expression. “They have Deputy Broussard, and as you said
this evil one has control over him.”

“He helped me get way, so the control isn’t
complete,” LaShaun protested. She sat up straight.

“The fact remains that Deputy Broussard loses
himself for long periods of time, cher,” Miss Rose said, pressing
home her point.

“I would know, if...”

“Non, ma cherie. We who have the gifts can’t
always tell what is happening to the ones we love. It’s as if God
knew what true heartache that might bring. How could we stand to be
around family knowing they would be hurt or worse? How could
Pauline and Justine not go insane hearing from their own deceased
family members constantly? There are those of us who do. Mostly
they live solitary lives with no mate, no children. They cut
themselves off to have some measure of peace.” Miss Rose gently
rocked in the chair.

“That’s who we need, someone with a powerful
connection to the other world. Let’s get in touch with her, or
him.” LaShaun stood up.

Miss Rose continued to rock in silence for a
few seconds. Then she went still and gazed up at LaShaun. “I only
knew of two. Your grandmother, Odette. The other was the man Jean
Paul. I haven’t seen him in over thirty years, and I have no idea
where he might be.”

“But there must be others,” LaShaun insisted.
“You just said...”

“I know of others, but only secondhand. We
can’t just call up somebody we don’t know and invite them to battle
with demons, cher.” Miss Rose raised a hand cutting off LaShaun’s
impending passionate argument to the contrary. “There is more. Sit
back down.”

“I don’t like the sound of this,” LaShaun
mumbled, but obeyed much like the older woman’s granddaughter had
earlier.

“From your account these events have been
well planned. Those teenagers have likely been performing rituals
that strengthened this thing,” Miss Rose spat out the last word
with disgust.

“Makes sense,” LaShaun agreed.

“But more cunning adult followers somehow
detected the demon had grown in strength.” Miss Rose stopped
talking and studied LaShaun. She waited patiently while LaShaun
thought for a time.

“How would Neal Montgomery know about things
happening in Vermilion Parish?” LaShaun asked, but not Miss
Rose.

The older woman kept quiet as LaShaun got up
and paced again. This time LaShaun didn’t have the feverish
movements of a woman in panic mode. She turned over the facts in
her mind. Suddenly images flashed before her as though a tiny movie
screen inside her head.

Miss Rose nodded. “You see it.”

“Montgomery met Manny Young a good five years
ago. This club or group has been searching for a sign, and Manny
led them to Vermilion Parish.” LaShaun came to a stop in front of
Miss Rose. “He and this spirit have grown stronger, thanks to
me.”

“No time for self recriminations. You weren’t
the first Rousselle deceived into opening the door for him,” Miss
Rose warned wagging a forefinger at LaShaun.

“I carry the same amount of guilt for this
crime,” LaShaun said. “But you’re right. What’s done is done.”

“So this Montgomery and those of his group
learn that a strong power rests here in Vermilion Parish. Go on,”
Miss Rose urged.

“They probably stumbled on Manny by accident.
Nothing in the court documents would make him stand out from any
other serial killer in Louisiana.” LaShaun paused. “Can’t believe I
just said that.”

“South Louisiana has been a killing ground.
Three killers were caught in Baton Rouge alone. They were sentenced
to death like Manny Young.” Miss Rose stopped rocking and rubbed
her chin in thought.

LaShaun looked at her. “There are still at
least sixty unsolved murders of women in East Baton Rouge Parish.
None have been connected to any of those three.”

“There’s another series of murders in central
Louisiana, too.” Miss Rose stared back at LaShaun.

“You’re thinking what I’m thinking, huh? Evil
has been at work. What if these lawyers and their helpers know
other serial killers? They could be helping them avoid capture.”
LaShaun stood still as the full force of her theory hit home. “What
if this demon leads them to the others? They represent them for
minor crimes; advise them on staying under the radar or how to
avoid detection.”