Only By Moonlight (35 page)

“Hey, we should have called, but frankly I
didn’t want to hear any excuses. We’ve got just one little detail
to wrap up and we’re done.” Chase’s sister Katie spoke rapid fire
as she passed LaShaun on her way to the kitchen. “You’ll have the
most elegant wedding this parish has seen since mine. And that’s
saying something. You can thank us later.”

“Hello, chica. Where’s your SUV?” Adrianna
asked. Chase’s sister-in-law gave LaShaun a quick kiss on the cheek
and followed Katie.

“Chase took it to work and left me the truck.
Um, in case I needed to haul something real big,” LaShaun said,
easily slipping into the lie.

“Like a coffin? You know folks already think
you’re the voodoo queen,” Adrianna joked. “Seriously though, the
polls are getting pretty close. We’re going to be biting our nails
election night.”

“None of that matters,” Katie announced. She
put down her tote bag. “Chase and LaShaun will have a happy wedding
no matter what happens with the election. Their life and future
together will start off with joy.”

“And nobody better get in the way,” Adrianna
said with a grin.

“Exactly,” Katie replied without smiling.
“Now LaShaun, I pulled off the impossible. Lucky for you I have
friends who are florists with connections. I managed to get red and
lavender orchids at a great price. I just need your approval.”

“I’m afraid to say no,” LaShaun murmured.
Instead of being annoyed at the interruption, LaShaun actually
welcomed it.

Katie gave a short nod like an army officer
pleased her orders would not be disputed. She scribbled notes.
“Good.”

“Lavender orchids are fabulous,” Adrianna
said. “You have to go to the right source to get the best ones.
Beautiful wild orchids grow in central and South America. Naturally
I would know given my proud heritage. I have cousins in Peru who
grow them for the American market.”

“Yes, yes, Adrianna. It was your idea.
Happy?” Katie retorted without looking up.

LaShaun gasped and grabbed Adrianna by the
shoulders. “Go to the source. What’s that old saying? Get to the
heart of the matter. Yes! I need to get to the heart or the
source.”

“Are we talking about flowers?” Adrianna
blinked rapidly. When LaShaun didn’t answer she glanced at Katie,
who shrugged and kept making notes.

“I’ve been too literal. I couldn’t see the
forest for the trees....” LaShaun stared past her future
sisters-in-law to the woods outside her window.

“Absolutely,” Katie answered glancing up only
for a few seconds. “Details matter, girl. That’s what I’ve been
trying to tell you.”

“I don’t think we’re talking about the same
thing,” Adrianna mumbled. She tried to get Katie’s attention away
from her notes but failed.

“I do believe we’re finito, done. Every last
flower petal, fabric swatch, and member of the wedding party is
efficiently dealt with, ladies. High fives.” Katie tucked away her
tablet computer and put on her big sunglasses. “Come on, Adrianna.
Let’s rock and roll. Two weeks to blast off.”

“LaShaun, is everything alright?” Adrianna
put a hand on LaShaun’s shoulders. She jumped when LaShaun slapped
her hands together. “My Lord, you scared the crap out of me.”

“What? Oh, sorry. Listen, I’ve got work to
do,” LaShaun started, but Katie broke in.

“We do, too. My lectures paid off,” Katie
smiled. “Even Chase seems to have straightened up. He was in a
great mood when I saw him a couple of hours ago. He’s ready. Of
course he might not win the election. It’s real close.”

“Katie,” Adrianna blurted out and
frowned.

“Might as well face facts. Mama is way off
base, because being with you has really lightened him up. He was
laughing and telling jokes,” Katie went on.

LaShaun had no interest in the election. “You
saw Chase? How did he seem to you?”

“Like I said, he seems just fine. Talk has
gotten around that maybe they need somebody older, and steadier as
Sheriff. Sorry, LaShaun, but he has been kind of moody lately. Even
for Chase I mean.”

“I’m sure the voters will realize that a
younger man with a modern approach to fighting crime makes more
sense.” Adrianna nodded encouragingly at LaShaun.

“Hmm.” LaShaun turned to Katie again. “Did he
say anything about me or the wedding?”

“Only that he’d see you tonight. We have to
get moving. I’ve got a gazillion things to do. Call you later.”
Katie jerked a thumb at the door as a signal that Adrianna should
follow.

Adrianna hung back a few moments. “LaShaun, I
feel like something is bothering you. And all this strange behavior
from Chase is...”

“Adrianna, I really need to leave now,” Katie
shouted. “We’ll have to hang out another day.” Seconds later the
outer screened storm door show banged shut.

“Don’t worry about me, Adrianna. Now go on so
Katie won’t be late. I’ve got a ton of errands myself,” LaShaun
said. She tugged her down the hallway toward the door.

“We should have at least one rehearsal, don’t
you think?” Adrianna tried to stop, but LaShaun kept them both
moving forward.

“The priest will stand there. We walk to him.
We say the vows. What’s to rehearse? Thanks for everything y’all
are doing. You don’t know how much I appreciate it,” LaShaun spoke
rapidly. Seconds later they were on the back porch.

“But Jessi is the flower girl and she...”

“Just walks ahead of us carrying a basket of
flowers. I know. It’s going to be wonderful. I’ll talk to you
later.” LaShaun nudged Adrianna off until she went down the
steps.

“But...” Adrianna stopped when Katie tapped
the horn of her SUV.

“Bye.”

LaShaun darted inside before Adrianna could
try again. Then she retrieved the knife. Once again she admired the
workmanship of it. Specially treated cloth lined the inside of the
case to keep the silver from becoming tarnished. Yet this was not a
decorative item to be displayed in a museum. She took out her
grandmother’s shotgun, and made sure all of the windows were
locked, and put the alarm on.

“I might as well be prepared in case they
come at me in the day time. Right, Monmon?” LaShaun tilted her head
as though expecting an answer.

Then she continued the search for answers.
For two hours she read. Seated in a cane rocker with her
grandmother’s favorite throw across her lap, LaShaun traveled back
in time. She needed to understand who and what she would be up
against later. Soon she was lost in the late eighteenth century
when her ancestor Alcide LeGrange began to prosper. The son of a
former slave in Saint Domingue, present day Haiti, he narrated his
extraordinary life. He befriended LaShaun’s other ancestor Claude
Alsace Rousselle. Twenty years later their children married. Yet
their friendship becomes strained. Alcide heard strange tales of
how Claude gained his wealth and influence. His wife, also a native
of Haiti, waves away his concerns. Then he becomes suspicious that
she, too, was involved in voodoo rituals.

Alcide wrote, “They have no shame in these
untamed gatherings. To my horror I have learned that my wife,
Marie-Claire, has been sneaking away to take part. I will not allow
such ungodly behavior in my household.”

His journal ended with that entry. The next
account LaShaun reads refers to his untimely death and funeral. A
prickle of gloom started at the base of LaShaun’s spine. Alcide
hadn’t died of natural causes, despite what the entry by his
youngest son says. LaShaun scanned two dozen pages hoping to find
letters or anything written by Marie-Claire.

“Damn. I’ll have to leave that mystery for
another day,” LaShaun mumbled to herself.

She was about to close a container when she
glanced at a stack of papers again. Carefully, she un-wrapped the
acid free sheets around them. These were letters written in French
and English. LaShaun put her bilingual reading skills to the test
as she switched between the two. Written over several years in the
early to mid eighteen hundreds, the grandchildren of Marie-Claire
and Alcide kept in touch. From their accounts the two families,
LeGrange and Rousselle, seemed to have suffered a series of
setbacks. The Americanization of Louisiana after the Louisiana
Purchase made life hard for Blacks, including Creoles of Color.
Therese-Claire Rousselle complained bitterly about their loss in
social status.

“We must call on our spirits again, sister,”
Therese-Claire wrote in 1824. “Lest our lands and livestock be
swept away. I know you are reluctant. Our grandfather’s words
contain wisdom on controlling the...”

LaShaun strained, but couldn’t make out the
rest of the sentence. The ink was smudged in some places, faded in
others. Desperate, she sorted through the rest of the letters until
she found a reference to the family cemetery. Suddenly LaShaun felt
tiny needles along her forearms again. She dropped the letters and
went to a framed antique map on the wall. Her forefinger traced a
line from landmark to landmark. Gazing at it, LaShaun prayed she
was right. Minutes later she raced to town in Chase’s truck,
pushing past the speed limit.

“I have to find the source,” she
whispered.

Chapter 20

By seven o’clock that night LaShaun had
returned home and made preparations. Savannah sent an e-mail
confirming LaShaun’s hunch. Manny Young hadn’t contacted the True
Justice Project. Montgomery and Juridicus had reached out to him
first. Over six weeks of visits, Montgomery had built a
relationship with him. Finally Manny agreed to hire him for an
appeal.

Chase hadn’t called, but she was sure he
would come. No doubt Montgomery and the others were waiting for
nightfall. The only other reason they hadn’t arrived was most
likely because of orders from Abiku. All this LaShaun knew with the
certainty because of her paranormal extra sense. She’d prayed about
what she must do. Miss Rose and the twins called to give her
counsel as well. The three women insisted that they should be
present, but LaShaun did not want them in harm’s way. She did her
best to reassure them. When she called Chase he picked up on the
first ring.

“Why aren’t you here by now, cher?” LaShaun
asked, her heart thumping. “You told Katie and Adrianna you’d see
me tonight. I hope you’re not still working. M.J. shouldn’t be
pushing you so hard.”

Chase’s rich, deep baritone laugh came
through the phone’s speaker. “Ah, so M.J. is to blame. No, I’m at
the scene of another murder. A body was found way down near
Vermilion Bay. I’ll be late, but I’ll definitely come to you
tonight love. Please forgive the smell of death on me.”

LaShaun shivered as chill bumps spread up her
arms. “I won’t give him up to you so easily you know.”

Chase’s voice changed completely. The accent
and manner of speech came from another time. “Ah, a challenge. I
love the fight in you. Maybe we will make love on the ground
beneath the moonlight after, eh?”

“Bastard,” LaShaun hissed in reply.

“LaShaun?” Chase replied. “I’m way out in the
middle of nowhere so you’re breaking up. I have bad news. We found
another body.”

LaShaun felt no surprise that suddenly her
Chase was back. She whispered a prayer into the phone. “I know. You
just told me.”

“I did?” Chase was silent for several
seconds. “Maybe I should stay away from you until I get my head
together. The last few days are a blur.”

“Chase, listen to me. You have to come to my
house tonight. Trust me, you’re not going crazy, and it’s not post
traumatic stress disorder from your days in the war. We need each
other to get through this.”

“You know what’s happening, don’t you?” Chase
said low into the phone. Voices of his colleagues were in the
background.

“Yes. Promise you’ll come to me no matter
what,” LaShaun said with force.

“Of course we’ll be there. I would not reach
my full power without my dear wife by my side,” Chase said in a
light tone, his voice changing again.

“Pride goeth before destruction, and a
haughty spirit before a fall,” she said quoting Proverbs 16:18.

“You really should stop reading that silly
book, my sweet. Until we meet beneath the moonlight.” A soft
kissing sound followed by laughter came through before the call
clicked off.

“I’m gonna kick your ass back to hell,”
LaShaun shouted into the phone. She tossed the handset across the
room where it landed on the sofa.

For another hour LaShaun had to restrain
herself. Though impatient to find answers, the fragile antique
documents had to be handled with care. As she read LaShaun paced
and glanced at the wall clock from time to time. A slight sound
caught her attention. When she glanced out of her kitchen window
LaShaun saw nothing. Only a small lamp was on in the large formal
parlor. LaShaun hurried down the hallway. Through one of the three
windows she detected movement just beyond a stand of trees. A bumpy
gravel path led to the Rousselle family cemetery.

“Cars, three of them moving slow with their
lights off. So the gang’s all here,” she murmured to herself.

Shadowy outlines of the vehicles inched
along. Soon she couldn’t see them at all. That could only mean
they’d reached the curve in the path leading deeper into the woods
and to the cemetery. LaShaun was in no hurry to confront the group
alone. She could only guess at what they were prepared to do, these
fanatics convinced they would be rulers in a new world order.
LaShaun let them think they had crept onto her land unnoticed. She
went to the small family parlor, knelt and prayed. Someone, or some
thing, banged loudly on her back door. LaShaun armed herself with
the silver knife. Next she calmly loaded silver bullets into her
small derringer. She walked to the kitchen with unhurried steps. As
the knob turned, LaShaun put on her jacket. Her boots were warm,
sturdy and would allow her to move quickly.