by Lynn Emery
“Don’t talk about MawMaw Flora. She’s been through enough.” Manny swayed from side to side slightly, and then rocked back and forth in the chair. “Lord, that woman has suffered.”
The guard spoke into a compact walkie-talkie on his shoulder then strode forward as the door swung open. “Okay, ma’am. I think that’s enough for now.”
“I’m sorry, Manny. I didn’t mean to upset you,” LaShaun said quickly. “I know you wanted to talk to me. Maybe if you get some water and calm down.”
Roosevelt stood next to the other guard. “No, ma’am. I don’t think...”
“Wait, wait. I’m gonna be okay. It’s just that I’ve been real worried about my grandmama. Y’all can understand. Please, I’m goin’ to calm down,” Manny said and looked up at Roosevelt. “Please, she is tryin’ to help me.”
LaShaun saw Dr. Norris hovering just outside the door. Roosevelt glanced at the doctor. Some signal passed between them because he nodded to his colleague. The other guard took a position against the wall again, but remained vigilant. The door swung inward, but Roosevelt left a few inches of space so that it didn’t completely close.
“My grandmama ain’t been too well, and she’s had to go through hell.
Manny clasped his hands together tightly on top of the table. “Hearin’ about the killin’ and all was too much.”
“Of course, the trial and stress took a toll on her health,” LaShaun said.
His head hung lower. “I should have been stronger so I could be there to protect her. Not give her more grief.”
“Your aunts are there to help Mr. Orin take care of her.” LaShaun tried to reassure him. In spite of all he’d done, she felt a sliver of compassion for the man.
“Verlena got her family to think about, started over. I don’t know where Diane is,” Manny’s voice broke and he blinked hard.
“Sorry to hear it,” LaShaun said and leaned her elbows on the table. After a long moment of silence, she decided to stay away from discussion of his family. He seemed genuinely anguished, and might become too agitated to talk. “You remember an old friend, Willie Dupuis? He remembers you.”
“Willie... Willie, hmm. Now let me see.” Manny expression changed back to the wily truth twister again. “So you gettin’ close to the real deal. I been readin’ in here. They got a good library. Gettin’ more educated than I ever did on the outside. I read this old saying, ‘Be careful goin’ after what you want cause you just might get it’.”
“He says you got him into occult activity. Now he’s caught up in a murder.” LaShaun pulled back a few inches when Manny chuckled, his voice sounding hollow and deep.
“Shame on him. Can’t put that one on me. I’m obviously not gettin’ out nights to travel.” Manny nodded at the solid stone walls around them.
“Tell us about the other murders, and if Willie was involved. Six bodies of women found along Lake Chenier and the wildlife area. That’s a long way off. And two in Texas. Ripped up real bad.” LaShaun had the sensation of feeling crowded again, as though there were more people in the room with them. She gazed at Manny and something happened.
A dark bubble closed around them as she stared into his eyes. Green fire caused his eyes to reflect a strange glow. LaShaun could not move. She felt pain down the middle of her back as though a large claw raked her flesh. She tried to move and speak, but a kind of pressure held her in place, and kept her silent. Manny smiled at her.
“I smelled you comin’ miles away.” He sucked in a deep breath and let it out, then licked his thin lips making them wet. “I could have you right here and they couldn’t do a damn thing about it. I might have you yet, but not today. I got a bitch in here gives it up whenever I want it, and knows better than to say no. I bet you could handle my ten inches, couldn’t you? Yeah, you could handle it real good.”
“What have you done?” LaShaun heard her voice, but didn’t feel her mouth move.
“I’m goin’ to help you because I intend for you to come back. Highway 333 to Little White Lake is where they found the bodies, not Lake Chenier. Tsk, tsk, tsk. That was supposed to trap me, huh? Yeah, I know about Texas. I’m not the only one hungry for fresh meat and thirsty for blood. I’m not the first one either. You better watch your back, girl, cause they’re getting wild and loose. They don’t think anybody can stop them now. Find the house Willie told you about, and you should be able to track ‘em down. If they don’t come to you first. Use one of them GPS things. I’ll bet your man has one.”
“I can find it.” LaShaun blocked out all thoughts of Chase to protect him.
“He must be givin’ it to you good. I like loyalty.” Manny wore a smile that made him look anything but friendly.
“Why are you giving me clues?” LaShaun ignored the taunt, satisfied that he didn’t know about Chase. The less information he had about her personal life, the better.
“Because... I like you,” Manny drawled. He made the simple sentence sound like a sexual threat. His gaze into her eyes intensified. “So you want to know.”
LaShaun gasped as the air around them grew heavy and darker. Plunged into a night scene, LaShaun became lightheaded. She had the sensation of running. Leaves slapped her skin as she raced through woods. Instinct guided her around thick clumps of palmetto bushes and around tree trunks. A feeling of freedom coursed through her, and of power. The night belonged to her. Then she arrived at a clearing. Shadows moved, then came in closer. The others like her, sweating and exhilarated. Two of the group jumped on each other, not in attack. Their yowls softened as they mated. The rest of the group ignored them and trotted to another clearing. A woman lay on the ground looking wild. She smiled as they approached. Anticipation seeped from her pores as she moved toward a large member of the group standing tall, hair thick on his arms. The woman rose and slipped the pullover shirt over her head and shimmied out of her tight jeans. Gyrating in a bra and thong, she seemed eager for attention from her audience.
LaShaun struggled to scream a warning. This foolish woman, her brain fried by years of drug and alcohol abuse, expected a night of adventurous sex. Part of LaShaun felt the lust of the being whose eyes she looked through, and her stomach heaved. Yet she couldn’t make a sound. The object of the woman’s seduction grabbed her by the buttocks with both hand and licked her neck with a long tongue. Moaning and grinding against him, she dropped to her knees. He roughly forced her on all fours and mounted her from behind. His thrusts made the woman to cry out in pleasure. At first. Then she admonished him not to be so rough. But her lover didn’t stop. Digging her fingers in the dirt, the woman tried to pull away. Her screams of anger gradually changed to pleas for help. Her lover raked long claw like fingernails over the flesh of her thighs, threw his head back and howled. Those watching answered until their voices mixed with the woman’s screams. The mating turned into an attack. The man still clung to the woman as he sank his teeth into her back and ripped out a chunk of her. Blood dripped down his mouth as he continued to thrust. With a series of loud grunts he collapsed on top of the woman. Seconds later he appeared to sniff at the fleshy part of her arm. In shock, the woman whimpered and begged to be let go. Instead her attacker bit into her body again, and again. He flipped her over and ripped a hole in her neck. His pack moved in.
LaShaun shrieked at the horror movie playing out in front of her. With every ounce of psychic energy she had, LaShaun fought to block the vision. She’d never experienced being so fully pulled into the mind of another human being. Yet Manny did not feel human. The scent of a feral beast filled LaShaun’s nostrils causing her to gag. A thick mist swirled around her in a burst of blood red and black streaks. As though a rope had fallen away, she became able to move her arms. She yelled and struck out at something dark that had come too close. That thing had finished one meal and now came for her.
“Calm down! LaShaun, calm down!”
“Get away, get away!” LaShaun pounded her fist against something solid.
“You’re safe. The visit is ove
r,” a firm female voice said.
LaShaun opened her eyes, for the first time realizing that they were closed. She looked up into the worried faces of Chase, Dr. Norris and another man wearing green scrubs. She lay on a hospital bed. Chase held both her arms tightly as she panted for several seconds. “What’s going on?”
“You passed out so we brought you to the unit medical clinic.” Chase shook his head at someone.
She followed his gaze. Roosevelt stood on the other side of the bed. “I’m okay.”
“Maybe you should stay in the bed for awhile,” Chase said quietly.
“No, let me sit up.” LaShaun had a strong need not to feel vulnerable.
Chase kept one strong arm around her. “You’re still woozy.”
Indeed, LaShaun felt weak. She managed to get upright only because Chase lifted her. “What happened?”
“Jacob said Manny was talking to you and then he got real quiet,” Roosevelt said.
“Jacob?” LaShaun interrupted, and squinted against the light in the room. She remembered being in darkness.
“The officer who was in the room with you and Manny.” Roosevelt glanced at Dr. Norris.
“Oh, right.” LaShaun rubbed her eyes. “Go on, I’m okay.”
“Jacob says y’all just sat there staring at each other. Then Manny started talking so low that the guard couldn’t hear him clearly. You were nodding like you understood. All of a sudden Manny started yelping like crazy, and tried to jump across the table for you. About that time Jacob says you passed out and had some kind of a fit. By the time I ran into the room, Jacob had restrained Manny. Two other officers helped him while your friend here rushed in with Dr. Norris to help you.”
“Did I say anything?” LaShaun looked at Roosevelt and then at Chase.
“Your lips moved, but the words didn’t make sense. How do you feel now?” Chase sat next to her on the bed.
LaShaun sucked in air that tasted faintly antiseptic, and let it out. The images of the butchery she’d witnessed clung to her like spiders crawling on her skin. Her stomach still roiled, and her vision was still a little fuzzy. She rotated her shoulders feeling the stiffness in her neck muscles. “I’m fine.”
“Yeah, right.” Chase’s arm tightened around her protectively.
“I guess the tension of coming here caught up with me.” LaShaun managed a faint smile, but Chase’s troubled expression remained.
Dr. Norris cleared her throat and turned to male nurse. “Thanks, Steve. You can go.”
“Okay, but call if you need me again.” Steve gazed at LaShaun and Chase. He seemed reluctant to leave. “I could get y’all some water; maybe get the lady something to settle her stomach.”
“No, thank you,” LaShaun replied quickly. The thought of trying to swallow anything made her queasy.
“I’ve never seen anything like this before, and I’ve seen some strange sights workin’ here,” Roosevelt said.
“You might need to check on the situation with Manny, Roosevelt. See if he’s settled down. We don’t want this to spill over into the unit.” Dr. Norris looked at the big man and he got the signal.
“Sure, uh, I better get over there. Usually once he’s in restraints Manny gets straight fast. He don’t like being tied up.” Roosevelt glanced at LaShaun sideways, shook his head and left.
Dr. Norris walked out with him speaking low, but came back a few moments later. She had both hands in the side pockets of her white coat. “Tell me what happened.”
“I’m not sure. Like I said, maybe the stress of coming here and meeting a convicted multiple murderer got to me more than I thought it would.” LaShaun massaged her necked with one hand.
“Manny can be quite graphic in his descriptions of his past behavior. With a new and attractive audience maybe he lapsed into an old habit.” Dr. Norris gazed at LaShaun in waiting mode.
“Did he say anything about murders? Is that what freaked you out?” Chase added.
“I do remember he started talking about assaulting women, but things are fuzzy after that. I’m ready to leave.” LaShaun sighed and leaned against Chase.
“You definitely need to get out of this place.” Chase held on firmly as they both stood.
“Of course, get some rest. Call me if you need to talk.” Dr. Norris held out a business card.
LaShaun looked at it for a moment before she took the card and stuck it in the pocket of her suede jacket. “Thanks, but I won’t need that talk.”
“You never know,” Dr. Norris replied evenly. Her professionally arched eyebrows went high.
LaShaun nodded. Dr. Norris followed them out. Curious staff watched the trio as they left. Dr. Norris went with them to the door that led outside.
“Have a safe trip back to Vermillion Parish. An unusual place I hear, and for Louisiana that’s saying a lot,“ Dr. Norris said. Once again she seemed to peer at them with the intent of seeing beyond the surface.
“Yeah, a beautiful part of the state.” Chase smiled at her as he pretended to misunderstand her observation. He put a hand under LaShaun’s elbow. “Definitely time to go.”
“Thank you, goodbye,” LaShaun said. When Chase held the door open LaShaun had a rush of relief to be outside. She inhaled and exhaled a few times. “Thank God.”
“Damn, I knew he’d be out here waiting,” Chase said softly.
Orin Young strode toward them. Despite his age, at seventy-five he had a spring in his step. His body seemed more agile than expected for a man his age. The steel gray eyes appeared alert and sharp as he studied LaShaun. He didn’t wear glasses. LaShaun blinked at him as approached, trying to figure out some puzzle. When he got within a few feet he pointed to wooden benches beneath an oak tree, an oddly peaceful sight only a few yards from men like Manny. Chase and LaShaun followed him. LaShaun sat down while the two men remained standing.
“Well, you talked to my boy. You can see he’s disturbed.” Orin Young spoke as though they’d already been discussing Manny.
“Yes,” LaShaun said quietly. She shivered inside her jacket in spite of the warm sunshine they stood in.
“Then you can tell them, you and Dr. Norris can explain. Something evil took hold of him long enough to make him kill. Bad spirits can take over a weak mind. That’s Manny. He’s always been a follower and eager to please. But with treatment he’ll get stronger and not be a threat to anybody.” Orin Young spoke with force as his steel gray gaze bored into LaShaun.
“He may be crazy, but that doesn’t mean he didn’t know what he was doing when he killed those people,” Chase said sharply.
“He was convicted of killing one woman,” Orin shot back and held up a forefinger. “Just one. Those evil thugs killed the others.”
“The only reason why we didn’t purse the others cases is because he got the death penalty. Besides, the DA didn’t want to put the other victims’ families through hell. Did you see those crime scene photos?” Chase hammered home each word. “Did you really look at them, Mr. Young?”
“Chase, please,” LaShaun said and stood between the two men. She put a hand on Chase’s chest. His dark eyes flashed with outrage.
“I had to sit with the mother of one girl. She clung to hope that her daughter was alive, and then she just wanted to know she hadn’t suffered. But we had to tell her the opposite. Your ‘boy’ tortured her little girl.” Chase’s voice rang out like gunshots.
“Her little girl was a transient dope head and prostitute. She let anyone use her body so she could get high. The girl had two sexually transmitted diseases. She was spreading filth every time she opened her legs to some stranger. So yes, I paid attention to the autopsy reports. All that damn DNA evidence proved was Manny was one among dozens of men who had her.” Orin Young seemed taller as he spat back at Chase.
“So she deserved to die because she made mistakes? I’m telling you this; Manny ain’t nearly as crazy as his granddaddy.” Chase waved a hand at him and shook his head.
“Stop it, both of you,” LaShaun sho
uted.
She glared a warning at Chase. Turning around he walked to his truck and leaned against it. Yet he continued to stare at Orin. The older man huffed a few times in anger, but said nothing as he glared back at Chase. One of the security officers watched them through a window of the Forensics Unit, but didn’t come outside. LaShaun let a few more seconds tick by to allow Orin to calm down.
“Listen, Mr. Young. Manny is not going to be released,” LaShaun said.
“If he gets treatment, he could be. A lot of people have been released and are followed by the staff. They call it forensic aftercare. There’s this group home in Baton Rouge and--”
“He’s a convicted murderer who is suspected of being a serial killer. His behavior is clearly too unpredictable. The best you can hope for is that he gets a life sentence instead of going on death row. Chase is right. District attorneys in three parishes, and at least one county in Texas, are willing to revive their cases if they think Manny has a chance of being put back on the street.” LaShaun let out a long slow breath. “Besides, Manny killed and he enjoyed it.”
Orin Young’s eyes widened. He glanced from LaShaun to Chase. “I should have known. You’re on their side in this thing. I know about you two.”
“This has nothing to do with...” LaShaun started, but stopped when Orin raised a hand.
“Don’t bother. You came here to get Manny to dig his own grave, not to help him. You had your mind made up, Broussard here made it up for you. Fine. I’ll do it without your help.”
Orin strode off to his pickup truck, got in and slammed the door. The engine roared to life. The gravel of the parking lot scattered as he pulled away. LaShaun sighed again and then joined Chase at his truck. She leaned against it beside him and crossed her arms.
“Real pleasure trip, huh?” Chase muttered.
Chapter 15
During the drive back to Beau Chene, LaShaun kept mentally replaying every word and image of the past few hours. She was sure she’d missed clues to what really happened, and what was still happening. Manny looked like his grandfather a lot when she thought about it. His eyes flashed giving him the same fierce gaze.