Rougarou II

by Judith Ann McDowell

  “I guess I’m dense, because I have no clue what the hell you’re even talking about, Hays.”

  “I’m talking about Jonathan Hindel being a real-life, card carrying, in your face, werewolf! That,” he poked a finger in Perkins’ chest, “is what the hell I’m talking about!”

  “You’ve got to be kidding!” He backed away out of Donavan’s reach. “Hays, there is no such thing as a real life werewolf.”

  “Cajuns call it a Rougarou,” Jack spoke up. “Just a little bayou folk-lore.”

  “I don’t give a rat’s ass what it’s called. There’s no such thing as a human wolf. I swear to Christ, you two are over the edge!”

  “You know anything you’re told, or hear, about an ongoing case, is confidential. I want to make that clear.” Donavan continued to hold his gaze. “If I hear you’ve been talking outside this room about anything said here today, I will be filing a grievance against you.”

  “For what? Werewolf gossiping?” Perkins bent to look at the shaved pentagram again.

  “Nope!” Jack got right in his face. “Hinderin’ a murder investigation.”

  “Jack’s telling it to you straight, Perkins. You and I been friends a long time. We both know how strict the department is about leaks. For your own protection, keep this to yourself.”

  “All right.” Perkins turned away. “Is there anything else I should be looking for, Detective Hays?”

  Donavan ignored the sarcasm. “No, just the usual. Rape kit, fingernail scrapings, fibers and toxicology findings.”

  “No animal hairs to be searched for?”

  “Not this time. He was still in human form when he did this one.”

  Chapter Twenty Five

  Rafael poured himself a glass of white wine, placed the stopper back in the bottle. Lifting the glass, he walked to the living room to seat himself in a chair before the fireplace. The glowing embers reached out inviting him to settle back to enjoy its relaxing warmth.

  The taste of sweet wine and the changing hues of the flames reminded him of Christina. He breathed in the wine’s aroma and brought her forward into his thoughts.

  She was everything he had ever wanted in a woman. Beauty of face and body, the softness of voice and an innocence of life’s cruelties. For the first time in his life, he wanted to protect someone. He resolved to have Christina Crawford for his very own.

  “You aren’t like the others, my beautiful Christina,” he spoke his words aloud into the quiet. “Someday soon you will do me the honor of becoming mine alone.”

  “Perhaps now you are getting an inkling of what Jonathan felt for his Angelia.”

  Rafael looked up to see Chandra standing beside his chair.

  “You would do well not to intrude upon my private moments this evening, Chandra.”

  “Why? So you can daydream about a woman who can never belong to you?”

  “You do not know that. Christina found me very charming.” He took a sip of the wine, allowed its warmth to flow throughout his body. “She is a very special woman. One I could be content to spend my days with.”

  “And your nights, Rafael?” She sat in the chair next to his. “Would she welcome you into her bed with the reek of rotted flesh still clinging to you?”

  “Enough!” He sat forward in his chair. “You will leave me! Now! Or I will send for Lawrence!”

  “If that is your wish. I will not cower before you, Rafael. I know the time will come when you will tell Lawrence I am his mother.”

  “When I am finished telling him about all the things you have done, he will loathe the very sound of your name.”

  “This plane is a testing ground for the soul, Rafael. Before I destroyed Jonathan and my body, I would have begged you to keep my secret from Lawrence. Now, I see you will do what you will do and I will have to accept.”

  “I don’t believe you. Lawrence finding out everything you entered into of your own free will, not just with his father, but everyone he brought to you, will destroy you.”

  “No, Rafael, it will not. For that was then. I no longer wallow in the filth of the dark side. I have turned my face to my Mother and Father and they have opened their arms and welcomed me back.”

  “You are a liar, Chandra! A poor pathetic liar!” He was on his feet now, shaking a fist into the air. “You cannot return to the light after your soul has dwelled in the darkness my son led you into!”

  “Can a dark spirit call on the spirits of light to come to them? Can a dark spirit ask for the evil, you sent to harm Jack, to be bound and sent back to the dark side? You are not thinking, Rafael.” She held out her hand to him. “You can still call on Mother and Father to cleanse your soul.”

  “Your naiveté’ never ceases to amaze me, Chandra.” He sat back down in the chair, picked up his glass of wine. “You think because you have turned your face to the light that every evil you have committed against your fellow man will be wiped away?”

  “No, that is not true. I know when I return to the other side I will need to answer for all the pain I have caused on this plane.”

  “And that doesn’t bother you.” He swirled the wine in the glass. “You gave up all the power, all the respect of being a voodoo priestess, to embrace the light. Even knowing that when you step through that tunnel everything you’ve ever done in the name of darkness will have to be made right, before you will be accepted into the light.”

  “I will be accepted the moment I step foot on the other side. Our Holy Mother and Holy Father God will be there to meet me with their arms thrown open. It will be my choice to erase the stain on my soul.”

  “That is the most absurd thinking I have ever heard. You have a free pass to enter into the Kingdome of Heaven and instead of accepting that pass, you choose to work for it.” He left his chair to walk to the small portable bar. “Since I seem to be lacking in white-spirit etiquette, perhaps you will enlighten me on why you would want to go to all this trouble?”

  “To prefect my soul, Rafael.” When he continued to stare at her in confusion, she tried once more to explain. “When a soul comes to this plane each one is given the gift of free choice.”

  “I already know about free choice, Chandra.” He poured his glass full of wine, turned to walk back to his chair. “What I am waiting to hear about is why, if the choice is yours, you would wish to work for something you already have. You used your free choice to live on the dark side. Therefore, you have already made your choice. When a body dies, unless they decide to remain earthbound, their soul either goes to the light side or the dark side, or what people call heaven or hell! What I am trying to figure out, is if you are able to convince those in the light your soul is not bad enough to go to the darkness, but pure enough to stroll through the gates of the other side, what are you worrying about? You are home free! Shut up and consider yourself lucky you are able to fool them of your goodness!”

  “You cannot fool Mother and Father God, Rafael. If They do not think your soul is worthy then you will not think it is worthy.”

  “Oh I beg to differ, Chandra.” A smile lit up the gray eyes as he gazed over at her. “I think my soul is worthy of anything I wish to do. Now, or in the future, including when I leave this plane.”

  “That is because, when you leave this plane, your soul will go to the dark side. On the dark side there will be no one to judge you.”

  “Wrong again, Chandra.” He lifted his glass high into the air in a toast. “I will not just be judged, I will be revered for all I have accomplished on this plane!”

  “Rafael, when Jonathan offered me the gift of immortality, he was bound by the laws of spirit to show me what I would endure if I chose to give my soul to the dark side.”

  “I know that. And although you saw what waited, somewhere down the line, you still chose the darkness. What is your point, Chandra?”

  “Just that you know what awaits you. Don’t you ever think about all the agony you are going to have to go through? I know I did.”

  “No, Chandra, I d
on’t. And I’ll tell you why.” He brought the glass of wine to his lips, sipped. “The ones who will feel the agony, are the ones who stay there. I intend to return to this plane right away.”

  “How do you intend to do that?” She felt uneasy and she could not figure out why.

  “I will be reborn. Soon after my death, an innocent young woman will find she is pregnant and her joy will consume her, until I start to grow up and she sees what she has given life to.”

  Choosing to ignore his words, she replied, “I wonder if Jonathan has returned to begin his life of destruction all over again.”

  “If I care to venture a guess I would say he is waiting until the time is right. One doesn’t want to be in utero too soon. That would be boring. I think he will wait until the woman is about to give birth before he makes his entrance.”

  “How terrible. My heart goes out to any mother who would have such an evil thing happen. And the poor baby. He or she would be doomed from the very start.”

  Rafael looked at her and in his eyes she saw something that made her jump to her feet. “Who’s child is Jonathan planning on entering?”

  Rafael laughed, enjoying her terror of the moment. “A soul is a terrible thing to waste, Chandra. This way Jonathan returns to start living his life and the vendetta against Jack Olivier’ and Donavan Hays will be complete. A life for a life.” He watched as horror mounted in her eyes. “Sometimes no matter how much we wish to protect a loved one, we find our hands are tied. It is unfortunate that this is one of those times!”

  Chandra knew the warning had to come from her. First thing tomorrow she would go to Seelah and tell her of Jonathan’s plans to destroy her son.

  Chapter Twenty Six

  Donavan and Jack stood outside the gate of the Hindel Mansion waiting for someone to answer on the intercom. They could hear the deep-throated grunts of gators out in the swamp as they left the water in search of unsuspecting prey.

  “God, I hate that sound.” Jack scanned the area around him. “I’m always wonderin’ if one of them big fuckers is crawlin’ up on me.”

  “Looks like we’re leaving anyway.” Donavan turned to walk back to the jeep.

  “I’m not surprised they don’t want company. If I’d committed a murder, I’d be hidin’ behind locked doors, too. He knows we’ll be comin’ for him.”

  Donavan reached to open the door to the jeep, when a voice come back to him over the intercom. He moved back to the gate.

  “Yeah, Hindel, it’s Lieutenant Hays and Detective Olivier’ out here. We need to come in and talk to you.”

  “Is it important? It is getting quite late.”

  Jack punched the button. “Open the fuckin’ gate, Hindel! You know why we’re here!”

  “Always the professional, Jack!” Donavan glared at him. “Thanks to you, we’ll be doing good if we see him a week from now.”

  To their surprise, the gate slid back to allow them entrance onto the grounds.

  “See,” Jack grinned as they hurried back to the jeep, “you just gotta show him who’s boss!”

  Donavan drove forward in the darkness. “I think we should have brought backup. We already know we’re dealing with a psychopath.”

  “That’s true, but I’ve yet to see a psychopath who can stop a bullet.”

  Donavan braked outside the front steps of the mansion, shut off the engine. “First, we’re going to go in here and see what he has to say for himself. I know you think we can handle this son of a bitch alone, but I’m not so sure.”

  “Hindel’s voice sounded human on the intercom.” He was already stepping from the jeep. “Yoo hoo, Rafael!” Jack cupped his hands to his mouth.

  “God damn it, Jack!” Donavan hastened around the jeep. “Do you have a death wish? The bastard already hates us!”

  “Oh, calm down, Donavan. I’m just havin’ a little fun. I want him to know I ain’t afraid of him!”

  “Yeah, well maybe you should be. Remember, he’s not out to get just us, he wants to destroy our entire family!”

  “Lieutenant Hays, Jack,” Rafael greeted them as he walked out onto the porch. “I’m surprised to see you back so soon. I hope nothing has happened in the parish to throw suspicion on Lawrence and me, again.”

  “Why would you think that, Rafael? Maybe we just want to shoot the shit for a little while.” Jack walked up the steps.

  “As appealing as that might be, Jack, I already said the hour is late. Lawrence has already retired for the evening and I am about to do likewise. So, if that’s all you came for, I’ll let you see yourselves out.” He turned to go back inside.

  “Hold up there, Mr. Hindel.” Donavan came forward. “We have a few questions we need to ask you. We’ll try to be brief.”

  Without a word, Rafael waved them forward.

  When they sat at the kitchen table Hindel relaxed back in his chair to stare over at them.

  “What?” Jack drew back his head, spread his hands wide. “You’re not even gonna offer us a glass of wine? You’re not much of a host.”

  “According to Lieutenant Hays, this isn’t a social call, Jack. I guess we will have to make due without the social amenities this evening.”

  “Okay. Why’d you kill the hooker at the Gentleman’s Elite Club?”

  The expression on Hindel’s face never changed. “I have no idea what you are talking about, Jack. I have not killed anyone.”

  “You’re a lyin’ puke!” Jack bent forward in his chair. “Case you don’t know it, we got a witness who places you at the scene of the murder.”

  “I still have no idea what you are talking about. Maybe if you tell me who this unfortunate person is, I could better understand what their demise has to do with me.”

  “One of the girls at the Gentleman’s Elite Club got herself beaten to death.” Donavan entered into the conversation.

  “How sad. Although the club being what it is, I am not surprised. I understand it has a very bad reputation. As you can see,” he held out his hands for the detectives to look at, “there are no cuts or bruises on either of my hands. If you say the girl died from being beaten to death whoever did the killing would have to have marks on his hands.”

  “Yes, that’s true he would, if he beat her with his fists.” Donavan tried not to let surprise show on his face at Hindel’s unmarked hands. “We’re not sure about that yet. Have you ever been to the Gentlemen’s Elite Club, Mr. Hindel?”

  “Why are you asking me a question Jack has already answered?”

  “When did you go there?”

  “I went to the club earlier this evening. I saw you and your lovely family at the restaurant. If you recall, I sat at a table with Ms. Crawford. I am sure she has already apprised you of this information.”

  “That’s right she has. Although she shared this knowledge with me after I asked her how she came to be with you.”

  “What’d you do, Rafael, sample the goods ‘til you could be with the eye-poppin’ Christina? I think you’re gonna have to wait awhile for that luscious little tidbit to spread her legs! A woman that fine can have her pick of men!”

  The sick feeling in Donavan’s stomach sharpened as he waited for Hindel to react to Jack’s callous disrespect towards Christina Crawford.

  “The thing I don’t understand, is why she would be with you when she can lay down for a good-lookin’ man and still get paid for her time. I mean, come on, we all know what goes on at that club! It’s nothin’ more’n an upper-class whorehouse!”

  Rafael contained his anger as Jack worked on baiting him into saying something incriminating.

  “Mr. Hindel, if you got close to one of the girls and she made you lose your temper enough to strike out at her, we can understand how that could happen.”

  “Yeah, like snickerin’ when you couldn’t get it up!” Jack laughed outright. “Although I’ve never had that problem I can sure understand how it could happen to you. And I can see where it could be a real fuse blower!”

  “If you gentlemen ar
e through throwing out aspersions against Ms. Crawford, I think our time here is finished.” He rose to his feet. “I will be sure to let her know how you feel about her.”

  “Who the hell else would shave a pentagram in a woman’s crotch, other than you, Rafael?” Jack jumped to his feet to stand toe to toe with the man glaring at him. “A pentagram left on someone’s person means that person is gonna to be killed by a werewolf!”

  “That is very true, it does. As we can see that prediction came to fruition, since you are here investigating a murder.”

  “So you admit it!” Jack balled his fists ready to fight. “What the hell did you kill that girl for, Hindel?”

  “I never said I did. I agreed with you about the symbolism.”

  “How do you know about this symbolism? I mean, we know about Jonathan and what he turned out to be, but that don’t mean everyone in the bayous knows `bout him. I think you got some explainin’ to do.”

  Rafael’s deep laugh filled the silence. “If you are going to accuse everyone who has ever watched a horror movie of being a werewolf, then I think you had better rethink your theory.”

  Undeterred, Jack plopped back down in the chair. “Let me ask you something. Just how the hell does someone get turned into a monster like that?”

  “The answer is simple.” Rafael seated himself once more in the chair next to Jack, gazed into his anxious eyes. “To become a werewolf, a person must first be bitten by a werewolf; or and this is very important, Jack, he must be willing to give his soul to the dark side.”

  Jack felt his mind recoil. “Which one did you choose?” He leaned forward to reach for the gun secreted in his belt.

  “There is no reason to reach for your gun,” Rafael told him without dropping his gaze. “We are discussing how one would go about becoming a werewolf, if one should so choose.”

  “All right.” Jack left his hand where it was. “Then let’s discuss Jonathan.”

  For a flicker of an instant white-hot anger shone in the steel-gray eyes, then disappeared. “Each soul on this plane is given the gift of free choice. My son chose his path many years ago.”