GODDESS OF THE MOON (A Diana Racine Psychic Suspense) (53 page)

Anna flinched
. F
ear once more sparked her blue eyes. Lucier approached the restrained man and socked him squarely in the jaw. He looked dazed but still conscious. Lucier hit him again, and this time
he
fell back into dreamland. Lucier rubbed his
throbbing
knuckles, then wadded up a bigger chunk of fabric and forced it into the man’s mouth, glad he didn’t have to worry about losing his fingers in the clamp of teeth. Facing Anna, he asked again, “Now will you help me?”

With her frightened gaze on the tethered man, she said, “Yes.”

T
he Truth Will Set You Free

E
ggs floated in the air like little puffs of clouds. A magic wand kissed each one, cracking the shells, and infant
Dianas
pranced out, smiling and kicking, having the time of their baby lives. They crawled into her ears, talking, whispering sweet words
, calling her Mama
. Then their voices turned angry, urgent. Wake up
.
Wake up
.

Diana
sprang
up
from her bed,
body soaked. Sweat dripped down her back and chest, yet the room was cool. Confused, she shook off her sleep and tried to focus.
Dim light bathed the room. She stared at the picture on the wall until her head stopped spinning.

Voices still sounded in her ears. Was this a dream within a dream? No. People were talking outside her door. She couldn’t make out what they
said
, but one voice was definitely a woman.
They
seemed to be arguing. Diana tiptoed to t
he door, and put her ear close.

“Why would I have the key to her room if my father hadn’t sent me?” the woman said. “You know who my father is, don’t you?”

“Yes, Miss Maia, I do
, b
ut
no one
informed
me
you were coming, especially at this late hour. I was told not to let anyone inside her room except your father, Mr. Crane,
or
Brother Osiris.”

Diana covered her mouth, smothering a gasp. Maia. What was she doing here?

“Okay then, go ahead, call my father,” Maia said confidently. “He’s organizing the meeting and won’t be happy to be disturbed. You know what he’s like when he’s mad. He’ll probably chew you out, but do what you
must
.”

A
fter a
long silence, the male voice said, “Well, okay. I guess it
’
ll be all right.”

Diana heard the jingl
e of keys, and the door opened.

Maia turned back to the guard outside. “We won’t be long.
She’s expected at
the meeting before the stars are in alignmen
t. This is a private offering.”

Diana moved back into the room. She started to say something, but Maia shook her head as a warning to play along.

“Okay, Miss Psychic, get dressed. Daddy wants you to perform tonight.” She stared down the guard, who had inched into the room. “She
can’t
dress
with you in the room
.” Maia
waved him out and
closed the door
. She
turned to Diana
and whispered
. “No questions. Hurry up and dress. We have to get out of here.”

Diana didn’t have to be told twice. She yanked off the flimsy nightgown and searched through the closet. Oh for a pair of slacks. She found a
silky blouse and a
short stretchy knit
skirt
that allowed for movement.

“Hurry,” Maia prompted.

“I’m done.” she said. “What’s
go
―
”

“
Shh
. Not now.” Maia slid the key into the door lock and pulled it to. Silas Compton and Edward Slater stood waiting. Compton, wrapped in a
terrycloth r
obe, looked disheveled and sleepy, unlike
Slater,
wide awake and fully dressed
.

“
W
here do you think you two are going?” Compton said,
crossing his arms over his chest
. “Maia, Maia. Did you really
believe
you could get away with this with us a
stone’s throw from this room?”

Slater pointed to the little red light in the vent and shook his head.

Diana glanced at Maia and jerked her head toward the camera with a shrug. “I forgot.”

“
T
he guard wasn’t fooled,” Slater said. “Our people are well taught. There are no surprises, even when the daughter of one of the directors tries to pull
a fast
one.”

“I’m disappointed in you, Maia. Selene warned me, but I wouldn’t listen. How could I imagine my own
flesh and blood
would betray me? Not once but twice.”

Maia squared her shoulders and threw out her chin. “It’s you who’ve betrayed me, Father, by making us all accomplices in your crimes.
Federal crimes.”

“You fail to
comprehend
the ultimate objective, my dear.
The creation of a new world.
One of beauty and sensuality and brilliance.
The special babies will be nurtured in a paradise of intellectual stimulation. So what if a few people
make sacrifices
in the process
?
There’s always collateral damage in the quest for a better life. The returns more than make up for the losses.”

“Parents whose babies
were
stolen from them don’t
agree
.”

“They’ll have others,” Compton said. “If they knew the loving care and exaltation their offspring will enjoy, I’m sure they’d offer their babies to us without hesitation.”

Maia clasped her hand over her heart and struggled for breath. “You’re insane
.
”

“I’m sorry you feel that way, but I
wo
n’t let
anything stop what we’ve started
.
” He brushed her off.
“
We’ve wasted enough time and energy with traitors. Phillip is right. Time to rid the compound of all those who refuse to embrace our ideals. I’m afraid that includes two of my daughters. We will offer you to God’s adversary, our supreme leader, as a measure of our devotion.”

Maia stuttered in disbelief. “So
…so
you’ll eliminate Anat and me and
anyone
else
who
hinders
the
propagat
i
o
n
of
your Utopia? Tell me, did you kill my mother
,
too, when she didn’t go along?”

Compton straightened and settled his gaze on his daughter.
“A necessary progression.
Your mother didn’t understand. She was lost to me after the death of your brother.
S
o sad
.”

Maia
’s knees buckled, and she fell back against the wall
in despair.
C
over
ing
her mouth didn’t muffle the unearthly wail that rose from her
soul
.

Diana
moved
to comfort her. Compton and his group of Satan worshipers were worse than she imagined. Now, with cold calculation, they were about to become murderers. A vision of Lucier smiling, his topaz eyes watching her, flashed in her mind
, and the thought that
she’d put
his life in danger left her lightheaded
. She looked up
at
Slater. “Edward, how
…
how can you let this happen?”

A small shrug.
“Life is a series of tradeoffs, Diana. I traded off
,
for love not evil. You’ll see. You’ll be safe here,
cherished
. Just do what we
ask of
you and you’ll live a charmed life.”

Diana wanted to argue the point, but for once she
decided to keep her mouth shut.

Inside her scream would not be silenced.

Ernie, where are you.

B
reaking the Weak Link

C
aptain
Jack Craven followed his gut, and he didn’t like the warning sign churn
ing
there like a bad case of indigestion.
Another
day
and
no word from either Lucier or Diana Racine.
So far, the police had ke
pt
their disappearances quiet, but that wouldn’t last. Someone was bound to talk. If Jake Griffin got hold of the story, the implications
would be disastrous.

No one accused men like Phillip Crane and Silas Compton of heading a satanic cult without
irrefutable
proof, and they didn’t have it.
One incriminating word and
Compton’s attorneys would come down on the
district
like an out
-
of
-
control meteor.
Owning
a house where satanic rituals were pract
iced didn’t make
Compton
the devil.

Beecher’s visit to the Easley home yesterday produced a big fat zero, other than to pinpoint the boss in the family. Martin Easley was a weak link, and Craven wanted to
talk to
him without his wife supplying the answers. He
phoned
Easley’s office
personally to make the request
, but
the
secretary said he hadn’t come in this morning
. T
hen Craven called his
home
.
The lack of
response sent an even more ominous signal since Beecher
mentioned
they employed
a housekeeper.
Craven
decided to follow up
. Beecher
went
with him.
In ten minutes, the
y
pulled into Easley’s
circular driveway
.
”

“No cars,”
Craven said
.

Beecher pointed to the back.
“There’s a
three-car garage
behind the house.
”

The
house
appeared
deserted
,
curtains pulled
closed
.
They
climbed the few steps to the gallery and rang the bell. When no one answered,
Beecher
lifted the fancy doorknocker and rapped.
Nothing.
He shrugged.

Tension in the air stretched tight. A spiral of fear slithered down
Craven
’s
back. He
walked to the bay window
s
that flanked the right side of the door.
A small crack in the
drapes
allowed
for
a peek inside.
He
wav
ed Beecher over to take a look.

“Shit,” Beecher said.

“Call
for backup, an ambulance, and a crime scene unit
,” Craven ordered
.
He pulled out his weapon.
“
Probable cause
.
”
Then h
e
shot the lock off the door.

* * * * *

C
raven watched as Charlie Cothran, the assistant coroner of Orleans Parish, bent over the body of Martin Easley and examined the knife stuck in his
chest
. “He’s still in rigor. Best I can guess is death occurred sometime early this morning,” Cothran said.
“Can’t pinpoint the exact time ’cause the air conditioner’s off.
Place is like an oven.”

“Yeah, I know,” Craven said. “Smelled death the minute I
walked through
the door.
S
till
taste it on my tongue.” He saw Ralph Stallings duck under the yellow crime scene tape that encircled the Easley home.
The agent
flashed his ID to the cop on guard and lumbered u
p the stairs to the front door. He donned booties and gloves and entered the house.