Between Dusk and Dawn (40 page)

“
I been taking good care of
‘em,” Patsy said, a strain of defensiveness in her voice. “Nobody
touched either of these girls.”

LaShaun followed her gaze to Orin.
“Thank you. Now send them over to me.”

“
I don’t think so,” Orin
said mildly. He waved a .38 revolver. “You just come on in and join
the party. The more girls, the merrier. Especially when the other
guys get here.”

“
Your friend is hugging a
tree trunk. He’s not coming,” LaShaun replied. She walked closer
and heard Jessi gasp. “It’s okay, sweetie. Everything is going to
be alright.”

“
Don’t make promises you
can’t keep.” Orin stood with his legs apart. “Put down any weapons
you have.”

“
I’m not armed. I came to
find the girls just thinking they’d wandered off too far and got
turned around in the dark.” LaShaun listened for any sound, but
Chase seemed to have melted into the landscape silently.

“
Come closer so I can see,”
Orin said.

“
Not with you holding a
gun. You let the girls go. Then you and me can play,” LaShaun said
with a smile.

“
We’re going to play no
matter what, and the young ladies will stay right here with us,”
Orin shot back. “You’re on my stomping ground. Two of my boys are
going to be here soon enough, now move. I’ll plug one of the girls
right through Patsy if I have to. I’m sure your companion doesn’t
want that.”

“
I’m alone.” LaShaun
shrugged. “We split up to search. Nobody thought the girls came
this way or so far out.”

“
You’re lying,” Orin
snapped. He started to go on, but a shout and then gunfire stopped
him. “Now you’re alone. I told you my boys would get
here.”

“
Taking the girls was a bad
idea, Orin. Let them leave. None of the killings can be traced to
you, and nobody is going to listen to Manny.” LaShaun’s gamble paid
off. Orin jerked in surprise.

“
What does that
mean?”

“
He filled in the details
that Willie Dupuis didn’t provide for one thing. I know a lot about
you now,” LaShaun replied with a calmness she didn’t feel. Her mind
reeled with possibilities to get the children away from
here.

“
Manny wouldn’t be locked
up if he’d listened to me. Sloppy; just like my other son. And
stupid to let you cozy up to him.” Orin spat on the ground to
punctuate his disgust with his offspring.

“
You can still salvage this
screw up in an otherwise perfect series of crimes. They can’t link
you to any of the murders. Far as the sheriff’s department is
concerned Willie was the killer. Case closed.”

“
That’s great, Orin. She’s
right. We just let the kids go and then...” Patsy blurted
out.

“
Shut the hell up.” Orin
nodded at LaShaun. “I knew you’d be trouble the minute those two
old bitches got you involved. I’ll fix that little problem
tonight.”

“
You said since I covered
their eyes we could let ‘em go.” Patsy blinked at him.

“
Orin likes little girls a
little too much, Patsy. Ask him about his daughters,” LaShaun said.
She risked a glance around in an attempt to locate
Chase.

“
What’s she talking about?”
Patsy frowned at Orin.

“
Stop being so damn dumb,”
Orin shot back. “She’d say anything to save her own
skin.”

“
Ask him about how much he
enjoyed being alone with his own girls when they were young. Long
afternoons with daddy that they weren’t supposed to ever
tell
anyone
about,” LaShaun said. She nodded when Patsy’s eyes widened.
“You’ve made a lot of mistakes, but I always heard you love your
children. You wouldn’t hurt an innocent child. He’s looking forward
to doing exactly that.”

“
Another word and I’ll
forget about having fun with you first,” Orin said.

“
I talked to his daughters,
so I’m not making this up. Because of this man and his buddies,
you’re connected to murders and worse.” LaShaun prodded Patsy as
she kept an eye on Orin.

“
My God. I wasn’t there
when they... You said Willie and T-Row did all that killing without
you.” Patsy backed away from Orin pulling the girls with her.
“You’re right. I’ve been really dumb to get mixed up with trash
like you.”

“
That’s really funny coming
from the town slut. I should have known you couldn’t be trusted.”
Orin trembled with rage. When he snarled at Patsy, huge canine
teeth gleamed as though moonlight reflected on them.

LaShaun eased the derringer from the
inside pocket of her jacket. When Orin turned to face her again,
LaShaun pointed the Remington at him. “Let the children
go.”

Orin uttered a gruff laugh that ended
as a rumbling growl like a mad dog. “I ain’t scared of guns,
especially not toys pistols. If you’ve talked to Manny you must
know that.”

“
And if you know about the
Rousselle family then you won’t be surprised to hear my bullets are
special. By the way, Manny wished me luck. He’s not exactly
sentimental about you,” LaShaun said. She smiled when Orin’s cocky
grin slipped a notch.

“
I should have smothered
that little mutt when he was a baby.” Orin blinked hard then
quickly swiped a hand across his forehead.

“
The pack you so carefully
built up is torn to shreds. Willie’s gone. I took out three more at
my house the other night.” LaShaun could smell the animal in him, a
rancid mixture of sweat and hair, and something else. Fear. She
could also sense Chase getting closer. “Your boys haven’t shown up
yet. Those shots didn’t sound that far away.”

Orin risked darting a glance around.
“Hey, Shawn and T-Row. What y’all doin’? Get the hell out
here.”

“
They’re not coming, Orin.
I’m going to pray you right into hell, Orin Graves Young. Monmon
Odette learned the words from her mother and grandmother. You’re
not even the strongest we’ve faced.” LaShaun stared at him intently
with a fierce smile.

“
Get back.” Orin seemed
mesmerized by LaShaun’s words. He swallowed so hard his body
jerked. “I’m gonna shoot.”

“
Let my prayer go up to
heaven and rain down divine retribution on this tool of the devil,”
LaShaun said.

She switched to Louisiana Creole
French as taught to her by Monmon Odette. With each phrase Orin
grew more agitated. LaShaun heard Patsy’s voice grow shrill with
fear. The longer LaShaun prayed, the more Orin cursed. Everything
and everyone else faded as LaShaun honed in on her target, the man
who stood before her; the one who had chosen to live as a
beast.

“
Run, baby,” Patsy said to
Jessi. She pushed the children behind her to shield
them.

“
Get back here or I swear,
I’ll rip you in half,” Orin shouted.

But he was too late, the girls slipped
into the darkness of trees. He spun around and fired. Patsy
shrieked and dropped to the ground. LaShaun stammered for a second,
but kept praying.

“
Stop that racket.” Orin
moved in a semi-circle around LaShaun, pointing the gun at
her.

“
You’ll be able to sit and
have a chat with Satan very soon, cher,” LaShaun hissed at him. She
started a second prayer.

“
I’m going to kill you and
deliver the bloody parts to St. Augustine church since you love to
pray,” he shouted at LaShaun.

Orin stumbled and started to shake
violent. He blinked hard as sweat stung his eyes. His gun wobbled,
and he grabbed his with both hands in an attempt to steady his
aim.

Then Orin winced as a thin line of
smoke rose from his hands. A hissing sound grew louder, like meat
on a hot skillet. He dropped the gun and fell to one knee. The .38
landed several feet and out of his reach, so she took a few steps
closer to him.

“
You’re nothing, and your
God is a weakling.” Orin sprang from his crouched position like a
rabid dog, his lips pulled back and teeth exposed.

LaShaun shot him in the throat and
jumped to the left to escape his forward motion. Orin clawed at the
hole in his flesh, eyes wide as his mouth worked to form words or
suck in air. His hideous gurgling sent chills through her. He
dropped to his knees again.

“
Please,” he hissed. “Don’t
want to die.”

“
I know,” LaShaun said, not
an ounce of pity in her tone. “I’m glad to deliver you into the
hands of the one you’ve followed so faithfully for most of your
miserable life.”

His glazed eyes widened in terror and
seemed to be looking at something beyond LaShaun. Then he focused
on her face again. “No, no stay away... help me,” he
croaked.

“
Go to hell,” LaShaun
whispered in reply.

Chase rushed into the clearing but
skidded to a stop when he saw Orin lying on the ground. Blood
bubbled through Orin’s fingers as he held his throat. His mouth
stretched wide as he tried to speak. Seconds later two more
Vermillion Parish deputies arrived followed by M.J. She let out a
low whistle at the scene.

“
Lord have mercy. LaShaun,
you got to stop having these kinds of night time adventures.” M.J.
checked on Patsy, who had managed to crawl a few feet into the
woods. She covered Patsy with her jacket and issued orders. The men
rendered what first aid they could.

M.J. used her walkie-talkie to direct
emergency medical techs to the area. Then she gave orders to her
men to start securing the area as a crime scene. “She’s been shot,
but she’s still breathing. Do the best you can, guys. Go back the
way you came. Maybe we’ll avoid tromping all over
evidence.”

“
The girls okay?” LaShaun
said to Chase.

Chase nodded and slung the shotgun
over his shoulder. “I had to shoot one guy after I practically
tripped over him sneaking this way. When the girls took off running
I caught up with them. Dave is taking them back to the
house.”

LaShaun raised an eyebrow at the news
that Chase’s opponent in the election was on the scene.
“Interesting.”

“
He’s a senior detective,”
Chase replied. He shrugged when LaShaun continued to look
skeptical. “Yeah, reporters are at the house. They somehow found
out, probably a scanner. When they mentioned my name and yours,
well, you know.”

“
Okay,” LaShaun said.
Politics. No doubt Dave didn’t want Chase to grab the glory. She
brushed that aside when two medical techs arrived.

The next four hours stretched on as
Chase and M.J. took charge of the area. The medical techs got help
from a second team. They carefully lifted Orin on to a stretcher.
With a lot of work they took him down the rough path to a waiting
ambulance. Another tech worked to stabilize Patsy. Ten minutes
later they moved her as well. Blue lights flashed through the trees
from two sheriff’s vehicles. Red lights from the ambulances flashed
as well. After detailed questioning M.J. allowed LaShaun to go
home. Chase walked with her to one of the cop cars. A deputy drove
them. Chase’s father met them when they arrived at the Broussard
house.

“
Y’all okay?” Bruce, Sr.’s
faces had deep lines of worry that made him look every bit of his
sixty years.

“
We’re fine. What about the
girls?” Chase put a hand on his father’s shoulder.

“
They’re shook up,
especially Melanie. Jessi seems to be coming around a little bit.
She says you kicked butt, LaShaun.” Bruce, Sr. managed a weary
smile.

“
I don’t know about that,”
LaShaun replied.

Mrs. Broussard strode down the steps
toward them with Sharon close behind. “You brought danger to our
doorstep, no, right into our home.”

“
Mama, please don’t,”
Sharon said.

“
None of this would have
happened if she hadn’t come here,” Mrs. Broussard said to
Chase.

“
Liz, c’mon.” Bruce, Sr.
shook his head. He put an arm around his wife and spoke gently to
her. “Those sick bastards lured them away. You can’t blame
LaShaun...”

“
I most certainly do blame
her. Misfortune follows her, and everyone knows it.” Elizabeth
glared at Chase. “I want her away from this house and my
family.”

“
Liz, lower your voice. The
kids will hear you talkin’ like this.” Chase’s father glanced at
the deputy, his face red with embarrassment.

Elizabeth stood rigid and did not look
at her husband. “Don’t ever bring her here again.”

“
I’m sorry... I mean she’s
just close to hysterical about the kids.” Bruce, Sr. said and
rubbed his face hard. “We’re all keyed up and
exhausted.”

“
Don’t speak for me, Bruce.
I know exactly what I’m saying.” Elizabeth stared at
LaShaun.

“
We’re leaving, mama. If
you don’t want us here, then we won’t be back.” Chase grabbed
LaShaun by the hand.

Elizabeth transferred her gaze to
Chase’s face. Her chin trembled and her eyes filled with tears.
“Then you made your choice.”

“
And you’ve made yours,”
Chase replied quietly.

“
This isn’t right,
Elizabeth, and you know it,” Bruce Sr. said, his shoulders slumped
even lower from the stress of more conflict. His wife ignored him
as she walked away.