Between Dusk and Dawn (19 page)

“
I’m okay.” LaShaun said.
She accepted the cup and took a few sips.

“
Let’s go down
there.”

M.J. pointed to the end of the hall
past the two empty rooms. They moved farther away from Willie’s
room and the deputy. A large window faced one of the parking lots.
Beyond the pavement and circles of white light from large lamp
poles trees seemed to hover like giants in the dark. LaShaun
crossed her arms to ward off the cold she felt.

“
What just happened?” M.J.
looked to LaShaun for answers.

“
Willie Dupuis seems to
think LaShaun can help him get absolution.” Chase rubbed his
jaw.

“
That makes no sense. He
should have asked for a priest.” M.J. continued to stare at
LaShaun. “But instead he asked for
you
.”

“
She doesn’t know anything
about...” Chase stopped when LaShaun gave him a look.

“
You’re right, M.J. It’s
weird that he asked for me, but I’ve never met him before.” LaShaun
returned her gaze. “I don’t like it anymore than you
do.”

“
Then what the hell are we
dealing with?” M.J. broke off when Dr. Oliver strode toward
them.

“
Don’t upset my patient
again.” Dr. Oliver jammed his fists on his narrow hips.

“
He asked to talk to us,
and we’ve got a murder investigation to conduct. He’s the main
suspect,” Chase said.

Dr. Oliver wore a grim expression.
“Well I doubt he’ll make it to a trial, or even out of this
hospital. We tried strong antibiotics, but I’m afraid he’s got a
resistant bug.”

“
A strange infection is
what the charge nurse said,” M.J. replied.

“
Strange is right. His
grayish skin looks like silver poisoning, which is something I’ve
never seen before. But it’s rarely fatal, even if the patient has
ingested large quantities.” Dr. Oliver sighed.

“
Why would people swallow
silver?” M.J. asked.

“
Folks have used silver for
generations for various home remedies, despite medical advice to
the contrary. But he didn’t know what I was talking about when I
asked. Even that doesn’t cause his symptoms: fever, blisters, and
that wound on his left leg won’t heal. In fact it’s getting worse,
like the flesh is just rotting away.” Dr. Oliver sighed. “Mr.
Dupuis gave us next of kin contact information. His mother hung up
on the hospital social worker after saying she didn’t even want to
speak his name. So Willie gave me permission to talk to you three
about his treatment. If we don’t figure out what he’s got and how
to treat it he’ll take his secrets to the grave.”

“
Thanks for the
information, doc. We talk to you first before we question him
again,” M.J. said.

“
I wouldn’t count on that.
He’s slipped into a semi-comatose state. I hope you got something
helpful tonight.” Dr Oliver gave M.J. a handshake, nodded to Chase
and LaShaun and walked away.

“
Sorry I couldn’t get more
information from him,” LaShaun said.

“
You did good,” Chase
replied. “You sure he didn’t scratch you?”

“
No, but it wouldn’t matter
if he did.” LaShaun cleared her throat, but decided not to say
anymore in front of M.J. “We need to find out who Willie was
talking about, the guy that got him into the ‘pack’. And the one he
begged me to find.”

“
We know exactly who he is
and where to find him,” M.J. said. Her dark eyebrows pulled
together to give her a seriously troubled expression.

“
Yeah, and we don’t have to
worry about him going anywhere either,” Chase added. “He’s talking
about his cell mate back in 2002 at the Lafayette Parish
Jail.”

LaShaun felt the rise of bile in the
back of her throat. She swallowed more of the now tepid water in
the plastic cup still in her hand. Then she looked at
Chase.

“
The Blood River Ripper was
Willie’s old pal,” M.J. said quietly.

An hour later LaShaun was home. Chase
checked her locks and security system thoroughly as she filled a
kettle for hot tea. She’d tried to assure him there was no danger,
but he made his rounds anyway. His cell phone rang twice as he did
so. His muffled voice sounded clipped and to the point. When Chase
returned to the kitchen he sighed.

“
I’ve got to go, still on
duty. But I hate leaving you alone.” As he spoke, Chase strode to
the window and looked out into the dark.

“
I’m fine. Besides, I have
it on good authority that Mr. Marchand and his son are keeping a
sharp eye out. They’ve got rifles and know how to use them.”
LaShaun joined him at the window and pulled him away. “There’s
nothing to worry about.”

Chase kissed her. “No going out to
investigate strange noises or opening the door to late night
visitors. Do it for my peace of mind.”

“
I’ll follow your orders,
sir.” LaShaun planted a kiss on the tip of his nose. “Now go catch
some bad guys.”

Once alone LaShaun read through her
family journal again. After a few minutes of reading she put it
aside and did an internet search. She found the right company and
clicked on the button to order the specialty ammunition, silver
bullets for Chase and silver pellets for her shotgun.

Chapter 11

The next evening LaShaun’s had dinner
alone for the third straight night. Chase was working long hours,
barely taking time to eat and sleep for a few hours. So she ate
from a tray sitting on the sofa with only the television for
company, not that she paid much attention to it. An old black and
white zombie movie from the fifties played in the background. She
laughed at the bad acting and an even worse story line. Her phone
rang, and she picked up the cordless handset at the same time she
hit the mute button on the TV remote.

“
You better turn to Channel
Six,” Pete said without pausing for usual chit-chat.

“
Good evening to you, too,”
LaShaun retorted. “Yes, I’m feeling fine and yourself?”

“
Sorry. My Yankee
directness comes back even after living in the south for eleven
years,” Pete said.

“
You know we don’t get to
the point until we’ve rambled on for at least ten minutes,” LaShaun
quipped as she hit the button to bring up the local station. Her
amusement evaporated when she saw James Schaffer and Reverend
Fletcher on the local Fox affiliate.

Schaffer wore a black turtleneck,
black jacket and sunglasses. Seated across from him was Reverend
Fletcher. “So you believe that demonic forces are in Beau Chene?
This is such a beautiful bucolic place. Amid the magnolia trees and
Spanish moss draped oaks bathed in fall sunshine, it’s hard to
believe evil lurks here.”

“
Give me a break,” LaShaun
muttered.

“
Look at Fletcher. He’s
trying to figure out what bucolic means,” Pete said with a
snort.

Indeed the preacher stammered for a
few moments. He soon found his footing by honing in on the words he
did understand. “Satan uses beauty to seduce those who aren’t on
guard to his cunning ways. Look in the Bible. There are so many
instances of lovely women pulling men to their doom.”

LaShaun flinched as if he’d aimed a
direct hit at her and Chase. “I’d like to pull him into something
unpleasant.”

“
Well, thank you for that
insightful discussion. Reverend Fletcher.” Schaffer turned in his
chair as the camera moved in to show only him. “The story in this
pretty little bayou town continues to get more and more
extraordinary. Residents are buzzing about late night visits to
interview a suspect rumored to be possessed, and another shocking
murder has occurred. The local sheriff seems overwhelmed by the
bizarre events. Our Ghost Team will have all of the shocking
details in our next episode. We’ll wrap after the
break.”

“
What a ham,” Pete blurted
out.

“
Yeah, but sounds like
Schaffer knows about Willie Dupuis.” LaShaun looked at the
television screen without really seeing the next commercial about a
local bank.

“
Willie who?” Pete
asked.

“
The guy they found not far
from my property, with the dead woman.” LaShaun sat down on the
edge of the sofa.

“
I’m not surprised he’s
found folks willing to flap their lips,” Pete said.

“
Yes, but certain parties
were supposed to keep quiet.” LaShaun shook her head.

“
When money starts talking,
people start talking back. Guess we better tune in next week to see
what Schaffer had to say. Maybe he’s just blowing hot air for
ratings, and he doesn’t really know anything. Don’t let it bother
you. Call if you need any more research. And do keep me informed of
anything you find out.”

“
Yeah, right,” LaShaun
mumbled and hit the off button.

Her appetite was gone, so LaShaun put
away the remains of her dinner of Cornish hen, green beans and
dirty rice. She was still wired about the Ghost Team interview two
hours later when Chase showed up at her kitchen door. His morose
expression meant she didn’t have to ask how his day had gone. They
kissed, and he trudged off to wash up while LaShaun heated up a
plate of food for him. When he came back they exchanged small talk
as he ate. LaShaun gave him space to wind down from work. In
between bites of food Chase read text messages a few times. Finally
LaShaun rubbed his shoulders.

“
Put the phone away and
have a slice of homemade pecan pie and a cup of coffee,” she
said.

“
Thank you, baby, for
making me a pie,” Chase said with one last look at his phone before
tucking it into his shirt pocket.

“
I never said it was made
in my house. Miss Joyelle brought it by earlier, in gratitude for
easing her mind.” LaShaun put a slice on a desert plate and poured
Louisiana dark roast coffee into a cup for him.

Chase dug into the pie and washed down
the mouthful with coffee. “Hmm, tastes might good. Speaking of
which, let’s talk about rougarous. Now there’s something I never
would have thought I’d be saying.”

“
At least Schaffer doesn’t
know
that
bit.”
LaShaun dumped the remains of food from his plate and loaded them
into the dishwasher.

“
He will soon, if he hasn’t
heard already. Joyelle joked to a relative about how silly she felt
after talking to Pete about rougarou. The cousin repeated the
story, and by the time it made the rounds it changed. You know how
it goes. The original tone gets lost, and a bit more gets added to
the story. By the time Miss Clo heard it, you had a starring role
with Pete saying research by leading experts agree rougarou
exist.”

“
Damn.” LaShaun rubbed her
forehead as if she already had a headache. “Pete is going to have a
fit.”

“
The best we can do is
damage control. Keep repeating that it’s just a legend, no
different from vampires.” Chase’s jaw tightened.

“
What about Willie Dupuis?
Schaffer dropped a hint that he knows, so Joyelle is the only one
who’s been talking,” LaShaun said.

“
I don’t think anyone
around town is making the connection. So far all the talk is
speculation, so I’m sure the hospital staff hasn’t talked,” Chase
added.

“
How’s Willie doing? I feel
bad about cutting him, even if he isn’t exactly a solid citizen,”
LaShaun said.

“
You don’t know for sure it
was Willie,” Chase said quickly.

“
He
told
me it was him. How else did he
know me?” LaShaun asked.

“
You’re somewhat of a
celebrity around here,” Chase replied with a shrug. “You told me
yourself that a lot of wannabe goths and dabblers in the
supernatural show up here. Maybe Willie and his pals heard about
you.”

LaShaun shook her head. “No, it was
Willie. I’m certain.”

When the doorbell rang
Chase stood. He talked as he strode down the hall to the front
door. “What I wouldn’t give right now for a
normal
murder
investigation.”

Minutes later she heard voices and
multiple footsteps approaching the kitchen. Miss Clo appeared
first. She wore an apologetic smile. “Good evening. Sorry to bust
in on you without notice.”

“
Hi. We should have called
first. Sorry.” M.J. glanced at her grandmother. “No pie for me. I
wolfed down a hot meatball sandwich for lunch, and my stomach is
fussing at me about that.”

“
Pie for you, Miss Clo?”
LaShaun asked.

“
No, thank you, dear.” Miss
Clo smiled at LaShaun. “But I’ll take a slice to go for a late
night snack.”

“
I’ll wrap you up a couple
of slices.” LaShaun smiled back and headed for the kitchen
again.

Miss Clo followed her. “This is such a
cheerful room. I love the way you have a country feel, and how it
flows to the den area.”

“
Thank you. I did a few
renovations in the past few months.” LaShaun went to the counter
and pulled out plastic storage box. She uncovered the pie dish and
sliced two generous helpings.