by Linda Ladd
“Apparently, they’ve been holding Andrea captive in some kind of place back in the swamp called the Sanctuary. They tied her up out there while they went to find Prudence, the girl who committed suicide. Pru apparently didn’t want anything to do with their cult when she saw what they were doing to their friends. She got away from them and hid in her dorm room, but that’s why she jumped out that window. She saw Danforth and Nev come into the room and thought they were gonna get her again. I guess she just panicked.”
“Good God.” Black frowned. “I’ve already called Jonas and Abigail and told them that you found Andi and that she’s safe and being checked over at the hospital. They want to talk to her themselves as soon as they can. Is she conscious?”
“No, she’s sedated right now. But Novak’s friend, Adonis? She’s alive and well. It wasn’t her in that fire. It was another girl named Poppy who was so terrified with what those two kids were doing to people that she ran off and let Andrea and Adonis get away. That’s how Danforth punished her. Burned her alive.”
“Well, I am glad that Novak found you. When he called me, he didn’t have a clue where you were, and neither did I.”
To Black’s surprise, Claire suddenly leaned up against him and laid her forehead against his chest. He put his arms around her and hugged her in close.
“What’s wrong? Did something else happen?”
“Novak got there in the nick of time. I’m just glad you’re here and everything turned out good for all of us.”
Something else had happened, all right. He didn’t know what, but he wasn’t going to press her about it. She’d tell him in time, if she wanted to. Right now, she apparently needed him to comfort her, and that’s what he was going to do. So they stood there together like that, out in the hallway. It was just for a few moments, but it seemed as if that was enough for Claire. She pushed back away from him and heaved out a long sigh.
“Okay, to answer the questions you’re not asking. Like I said Novak showed up right in time to save the day.” She paused, stepped aside for an orderly pushing an empty gurney. “Actually, that poor little abused girl I told you about. Adonis? She’s the real hero in all this. She got Andrea away from those killers, so she saved her life, and all by herself, too. Then she got the guy who had been abusing her and Andrea, and God only knows who else he murdered. Killed him on the spot with her bow. We all owe her, so now it’s up to you to save her.”
“Me? What’s that mean? Where is she?”
As Claire took his arm and led him down the corridor, Black listened silently to Claire’s disconcerting tale of devil worship, demons, torture, and murder, and even Interpol involvement for God’s sake. He wondered how any of that could even be possible down there in Lafourche Parish? Smack-dab in the usually peaceful bayou country, not very far removed from the city of Thibodaux itself? Leave it to Claire to uncover something so evil and bizarre and lethal. But why should he be surprised? Almost nothing Claire did should surprise him, not anymore. It seemed like she was a natural born magnet for danger, any kind, anywhere, anytime. It was, hands down, the most frustrating thing that he’d ever faced in his entire life. And it didn’t look like there was an end in sight.
“So this poor girl killed the guy, and he was a security guard at Tulane? He was a police officer for God’s sake?”
“Yes, in training. He and our little friend, Nev, have been torturing and terrorizing Adonis for a long time. Nev’s singing like a bird, probably angling for some kind of deal. She has admitted to murdering other people, too, all in the name of Satan. She’s saying Danforth forced her to do it, but I can attest that’s a lie. So can Adonis, I suspect. I think Adonis deserves a gold medal for sure.”
“Where’s this Nev girl?”
“In custody over at the sheriff’s office. She’s probably still spilling her guts to Zee and his partner, as we speak, now that Danforth’s dead and she’s facing the electric chair. They let me sit in on the first interview.”
“Who got her?”
“I got her twice with that cool little S.M.A.C.K. stun gun you gave me. And I held down the trigger on her as long as I could, believe you me.”
“I am going to buy you a whole bushel full of those damn keychains. Best investment I ever made.”
Claire smiled, but just a little. “She’s the one who flew over to Paris and surprised Pierre Dubois. She went to boarding school in France so she knows her way around over there. And she’s the one who got Jasper Danforth into satanism and human sacrifice. Apparently, she’s quite a believer in black magic and started this whole nightmare thing with Adonis. I don’t know yet how they picked Adonis, but they’ve been terrorizing her. Nev has been enticing girls out to the swamp, mostly runaways and kids she knew who’d dropped out of school and gotten into drugs. It’s just unbelievable, the things they’ve done, Black. What they’ve gotten away with. There’s still a lot we don’t know. Oh, my God, it’s just mind-boggling what Adonis went through.”
“Who are those two? Where the hell did they come from?”
“Yeah, hell is probably a good guess. Nev said her family’s loaded and sent her to a Catholic boarding school outside Paris as soon as they could get rid of her. That’s when she got into the occult with some of the kids who went there. She sat there and told us that she enjoys killing, especially her enemies at school. She said they were stupid and needy. Then she found Danforth and he was as bad as she was, if not worse. He enjoyed raping their victims before they murdered them. Quite a psychopathic duo, a match made in hell for sure. This last year or so? They’ve been luring innocent girls down here to the bayous, enticing them with occult fantasies and then inviting them to join a modern witch coven. They terrorized Adonis and made her do some awful things. That’s where you come in.”
“You’re talking about that kid that Novak helps out? The one who’s scared to come out of her house, right?”
“The very same. I’m pretty sure Novak would’ve killed them both on sight if he had known all the cruelty they’ve subjected her to. Somehow, that kid, abused and terrified, she still managed to drag Andrea Quinn out of their lair and keep her alive someplace out in the swamp. They’ve been hiding out there while those two psychos searched for them.”
“If it wasn’t Adonis tied to that stake, then who was it?”
“Nev told Zee that it was her roommate. Poppy Randolph. They had talked her into joining them, but when she got scared and ran away, they chased her and she had to pay the price. She’s the one who was supposed to be guarding Adonis and Andrea, but she took off and that’s when Adonis got Andrea out of that barn from hell, or Sanctuary, or whatever the hell they were calling it.” She shook her head and appeared slightly shocked by it all. “As far as I’m concerned, that girl deserves a medal and some serious TLC and you’re the one who needs to give it to her.”
“You’re talking about psychiatric TLC, I take it?”
“That’s right. She’s been through a lot. And according to Novak, even before these two maniacs got hold of her, she had a bad lot in life. She needs you now, before she comes outta that semi-shock fog she’s in right now and loses all grip on reality again. That’s why you’re here. If anybody ever needed a shrink, this girl does, trust me. God knows what all she’s been through in her life. She’s really young, Black, just a kid.”
If anybody could relate to that, Black thought, it was Claire. She’d had a horrible, miserable childhood herself. “Well, before I go in and see her, let me say this. Thank God you’re alive and relatively unscathed for a change. I am right about that. You aren’t hurt, are you? Do we need to talk about all this?”
“No, for once, I’m not hurt. Novak does come in handy I have to admit. He was there for me.”
When she avoided his concerned look, Black knew there was something else troubling her. He wondered why she didn’t want to talk about it. She obviously needed to, but this wasn’t the time to try to get into it. “Well, that is good to hear. Maybe now you’ll consider keep
ing him around. So, okay. Where is this poor kid?”
Claire stopped in front of a hospital room and stood in the open door. Black squeezed her hand, and then he walked inside and over to the bed. He gazed down at the tiny waif of an adolescent girl lying there. She had her eyes closed, but she opened them after a moment and stared back up at him. She made no indication that she saw him or was aware of his presence. Her eyes looked completely vacant. Her face was still and white and expressionless. She looked like a living corpse lying there in the equally white sheets.
“Don’t be afraid,” he whispered to her very softly. “I’m not going to hurt you, Adonis. I promise.”
She didn’t move. Her eyes didn’t blink. It seemed she was barely breathing at all.
Black tried again. “My name is Nicholas Black. I’m a doctor. Your friend, Will Novak? He said that he wants me to talk to you for a little while. He thinks I can help you feel better and understand all the terrible things that have happened to you.”
Adonis stared up at the ceiling, not moving a muscle, still not blinking, barely even breathing. Black frowned, not so sure if he was going to be able to reach her. Not for a long time anyway. He continued to stand there, telling her everything was all right, that he only wanted to help her, that Novak was very worried about her. Then she moved her gaze just a fraction, off the white ceiling tiles and onto his face. Then she finally said something, as softly and quietly as he had been talking to her, so much so that he had to lean down to even make out her words. Her thin little face was very solemn.
“My little puppy’s all alone out there,” she whispered. “He’s gonna be real scared all by himself. Something’s gonna get him. His name is Toby.”
Black smiled and let out a relieved breath. He leaned closer. “I see. Well, how about this, Adonis? How about I go get him for you, okay? Claire and I will go out there and we’ll search everywhere until we find him. Then we’ll bring him back here to your room so you can see him and know that he’s safe and sound. What do you say? That sound okay to you?”
At that, Adonis actually smiled, but it was a little shy one. “Thank you, kindly,” she whispered.
After that, Black pulled up a chair close beside the bed and sat down next to her, thinking so far, so good. This kid had been through hell and back, and probably endured tortures that they could never even imagine. He hoped she wasn’t emotionally damaged beyond his ability to help her. Then, she turned her head toward him. She reached out her little hand, and Black took it and smiled down at her. She closed her eyes and relaxed back against the pillow, but she kept a tight hold on his fingers.
Black turned and looked back at the doorway. Claire and Novak were both standing there, watching them. They were both smiling. Okay, things were okay. They all had to look at the bright side. This latest ordeal was over. They’d found their missing girl. They’d gotten the bad guys. The good guys were all alive. All was well. Right now anyway. Best of all, in exactly sixty-seven days, he and Claire would be married and off on their honeymoon. He could live with all of that.
Black squeezed the girl’s hand again, very gently, and then he whispered down close to her ear that he was going to go get Toby now. When she nodded, he stood up and moved back to the door and put his arm around Claire. He pulled her close again. Over her head, he nodded at Novak. Will Novak nodded back, understanding Black’s tacit thank-you, and then he turned and walked into Adonis’s room and took Black’s chair beside her bed. Black watched the small girl turn her head and smile at Novak. She probably felt safe now, probably for the first time in a very long time. If ever.
In time, Black felt that she just might be okay. He took Claire’s arm. “Come on, Claire, we’re going to check on Andi’s condition with the doctors and then call Jonas and Abigail again and tell them what happened and that we’re putting her on my plane headed to Australia as soon as she’s released from the hospital. Then we’re going to catch ourselves a lost little puppy and bring him back here to Adonis. After that, we’re going home and staying there. You and Novak just solved your first case, and we are going to celebrate.”
“Sounds good to me,” Claire said. “Let’s blow this place and find that dog before a gator gets him.”
Black followed her out of the hospital, thinking everything was going to be just fine. All they had to do now was just make it to the wedding date with both of them alive and in one piece. Which was easier said than done. But things were looking up, he had to admit, things were looking way up.
Be sure not to miss the first book in Linda Ladd’s new
Claire Morgan Investigations series
Homicide detective Claire Morgan has a bad feeling when
a man’s body is found in a Missouri state park.
The crime scene is buried in snow. The corpse is frozen in ice.
And nearly every bone has been broken, shattered, or crushed …
Claire’s suspicions only get worse when the body is thawed and
identified. The victim was an ultimate fighter on the cage-match
circuit. His wife blames her ex-husband, a Russian mafioso.
But Claire knows this is no mob-style execution.
This is something worse. Something evil …
Raised from childhood to inflict pain, the killer uses rage
as a weapon. Punishing without mercy. Killing without
conscience. Upholding a dark family tradition that is so twisted,
so powerful, it destroys everything in its path.
And Claire is about to meet the family …
A Lyrical e-book on sale now.
Read on for a special excerpt!
Chapter One
Lake of the Ozarks looked like a winter wonderland, or the North Pole; take your pick. Everything was pure white and mounded up and pristine and shining with ice. In fact, so much snow had fallen thus far in the month of January that all precipitation records had been blown away, both in accumulated inches and serious vehicle collisions. From where Canton County Homicide Detective Claire Morgan sat inside her partner’s white Bronco, heater on and blasting hot air on her frozen hands and feet and face, she watched Bud Davis taking his turn working outside on the slick streets, directing slipping, sliding, out-of-control vehicles around yet another traffic accident. This one was snarling traffic near the entrance to the Grand Glaize Bridge, and that was not a good place to line up impatient drivers.
At the moment, Bud was gesticulating traffic signals so wildly that he was having trouble staying on his feet atop the thin sheet of ice covering the roadway. The snowplows were still out and clearing county roads, but nowhere close to finishing the job. A silver BMW ignored Bud’s urgent gestures to stop and thereby started a sideways skid down toward one of the mall’s entrances. Excited, Bud slipped again and fell on his knees but had barely hit the ground when he was back up, trying to veer off to one side and warn a new white Camry that was now entering the street in the path of the out-of-control vehicle taking a rapidly accelerating backward slide toward a steep embankment. Both vehicles managed somehow to stop before the worst could happen. Claire had to laugh a little under her breath at Bud’s wild antics and wished she’d had a video camera running. The other guys down at the office would’ve had a ball watching it. She started to pull on her heavy gloves and get out to help him, but then she realized that he now had everything under control.
Actually, Bud was very good at traffic control. Claire had done a few similar gymnastics herself while on today’s beat, including skinning up her knees. Her backside was also sore from going down hard on the ice more often than she liked to admit. She decided to get out and help him anyway, even though her thirty minutes of heater heaven wasn’t up yet, but her smart phone chose that particular moment to vibrate alive.
Quickly digging it out of her brown departmental parka’s pocket, she was expecting yet another call alerting them to yet another traffic smashup. They had been summoned to one after another all day long, the accumulated layers of ice
and snow on the county highways causing all kinds of havoc around the lake. In fact, all of Missouri suffered the same inclement conditions and the state was hard-pressed to get the interstates cleared for travelers wanting to go anywhere at all.
Caller ID said her boss, Sheriff Charlie Ramsay, was on the line, so she picked up in a hurry. “Yes, sir?”
“You and Bud still down at the bridge?”
“Yes, sir. We’re directing traffic around a pretty bad fender bender. The ambulances haven’t shown up yet but they’re on their way. I can hear the sirens coming. We got a couple of patrol cars out here with us, but they’re working traffic down at the mall entrances.”
“Well, I’ve already got another patrol car on the way to take your place. I need you both at Ha Ha Tonka, and ASAP. Park ranger found a body out there.”
Shocked, since that was the last thing she had expected him to say, Claire remembered all too well one other time they’d investigated a murder in that same rugged Missouri state park, a horrendous case that she wished she could forget. “Is it a homicide, sheriff? Or an accident?”
“I’m gonna let you and Bud determine that. Just get out there in a hurry. This’s all we need with everything else going haywire today.”
“Where’s the body?”
“At the bottom of a cliff, somewhere up around the Castle ruins, I think. Apparently, he went off one of those sheer drops out there. They told me to tell you to take the tourist boardwalk to the area, but then you’re gonna have to get off it to find out where he went down. Be careful. The ranger said it was as slick as glass up there along the edge.”
Well, that was just great, just about as hunky-dory as it gets. Climbing around on straight-to-the-bottom craggy cliffs the day after an ice storm was just what they needed to end their otherwise hellish day on the job. “Yes, sir. We’re on our way.”
“Well, make it quick. If it is a murder, keep me posted. Hell, keep me posted whatever the hell it is. Dadgummit it, I hate these blasted ice storms.”