Blood in the Marsh (8 page)

“You’ll do no such thing. I don’t want and don’t need your help. And just for your information, so there won’t be any misunderstandings, I don’t intend on selling Lucius’ house or his things.”

“Then what do you plan on doing with it?” Lexi asked.

“I’m going to move into the house.”

“Alone?” Leopold smirked. “I do not think that is wise. I really think it would be best if…”

“I don’t give a rat’s ass what you think!” Lyra was getting madder by the moment. “So just take your advice and shove it.”

She walked to the kitchen door and stopped, turning to look at Leo and her mother. “And another thing, Leo. Stay out of my business and stay the hell out of my room because if you come near me again I’ll have you arrested. In case you haven’t noticed, you’re not the big dog around these parts. You’re on my turf now and the authorities around here don’t think too highly of foreign perverts harassing the local women. So save yourself some time and trouble and stay the hell away from me.”

“Well, I never!” Lexi turned to Leo as Lyra stomped out of the room. “What in the world was all that about? I’ve never seen her like that. I didn’t even know she had it in her to get that mad. What in the world did you do to her?”

Leopold laughed and stroked her face. “Why, nothing, my pet. Absolutely nothing. You know how young girls can be—imagining offence at the slightest thing.”

Lexi smiled up at him. “Yes, especially Lyra. She acts like she’s scared to death of men, and if one does pay her attention she doesn’t know how to behave.”

“Ummm, yes. Lexi, darling, has Lyra ever been with a man?”

“I don’t have any idea. As icy as she is, probably not. Why?”

“Just curious.” He considered it for a moment. The pieces of the puzzle were all coming together.

Chapter Four

Brunswick, Georgia

“What’re you still doing here?” Nick walked into the kitchen to find Michael sitting at the table. “You usually clear out at first light.”

“Got some checking around to do on a case,” Michael said with a yawn.

“Must be important for you to have that look.” Nick poured a cup of coffee and sat down. “I haven’t seen that look since…”

“Don’t remind me. Damn, I thought once I left the military I’d leave all that shit behind. But it just follows you around, you know?”

Nick nodded and took a drink of his coffee. “Is this case top secret or you want to talk about it?”

Michael refilled his coffee cup and sat back down. “It’s kinda weird. This old man, you know the one I told you about that owned the farm next to my uncle—old man Black? Anyway, he calls up and complains about some hooligans stealing his prize calf. I went over to check it out and found this.” He pulled the snapshots from his pocket and put them on the table.

Nick glanced at them and grimaced. “Grizzly stuff, man. Looks like you got yourself some kind of cult. What’s the word on the street?”

“That’s what’s strange.” Michael stared at the pictures. “I’ve checked with every snitch I know and no one seems to know anything about it. Whoever’s doing this shit is doing it real quiet and no one’s talking.”

“Maybe it’s just a bunch of kooks that get weird kicks from killing animals.”

“I don’t know. I got a bad feeling about this one, Nick. And something else’s is gnawing at me. Right about the time this started, a college girl disappeared. She was in Jacksonville, visiting some friends for a couple of weeks before she was to head back home to Tennessee. One evening she runs out to pick up a six-pack of beer and doesn’t come back. Just vanishes without a trace.”

Nick leaned back and stared at him. “That kind of thing happens all the time, unfortunately. Besides, there’s nothing to link the two is there?”

“No. But we got another missing person report yesterday. This time a girl who was down visiting some family for a couple of weeks. Another college girl. Her relatives live over off highway 17. She left a couple of days ago in the afternoon to go to the mall and never came back. They found the car in the mall and there was blood on the front seat.”

“And you think the missing girls and the weird cult stuff are connected?”

Michael rubbed his eyes and stood up. “I don’t know what to think at this point. All I know is my gut hasn’t been twisted like this since we intercepted the communiqué on that mine.”

Nick frowned and stood. “Look, Mike, you’ve got to quit beating yourself up over that. A whole team of specialists listened to that tape and they’re the ones who made the decision to keep the Robert on course. It wasn’t your fault.”

“But I felt it. Right here in my gut. Just like now. And if I’d been able to convince them, the frigate would’ve never hit that goddamn mine. No one would’ve died.”

Nick put his hand on Michael’s shoulder. “You did what you could, man. You’ve gotta let it go. But if you’ve got that feeling now then stay with it. If anybody can get to the bottom of it, it’s you.”

Michael smiled and ran his hands through his hair. “Hey, you’re pretty good to have around, Austin. But I think it’s only fair to remind you that you ought to try practicing what you preach. Seems to me you’re still carrying a lot of excess baggage.”

Nick’s face hardened and Michael changed the subject. “We still on for the party tomorrow?”

“Yeah.” The look faded from Nick’s face. “I talked with Jimmy and Don last night at the club and they said they’d bring the band. Oh, that waitress, you know, the redhead you thought was so fine? Anyway, I asked her and she’s coming. Said she thought you were cute. And Lyra’s bringing her best friend, Chelsey. She’s a real knockout…if you go for the gorgeous, killer-body, slightly dingy type.”

“Sounds like my kind of woman. So, this mystery lady of yours is coming?”

“Yeah, she’ll be here. But she’s off limits. Keep your charm and your hands to yourself.”

Michael held up his hands and laughed. “Yes, sir. I get the message. By the way, can you stop and get the shrimp on your way home tonight?”

“No problem.” Nick started out the door. “Catch you later. And don’t worry. You’ll find out who’s behind this. Just don’t go off half-cocked, okay? Think it out before you move on it.”

Michael nodded. “You bet, buddy. That’s just what I’m going to do.”

Nick smiled and stepped outside. He didn’t underestimate Michael. Underestimation could prove to be very troublesome, and Nick’s plan was far too important not to pay attention to all the details.

As he started for his Jeep, his thoughts turned to the past.

Two Years Ago—Columbia, South America

Nick stood in the shadows, silently observing as Juanamirez walked onto the upstairs terrace of his palatial home and stared out blankly across the vast expanse of the immaculate gardens.

Nick had no problem touching the old man’s mind. He knew intimately what Ramirez felt. His joints ached and his body grew weaker each day. Old age was an encumbrance and a nuisance he had no use for.

Yet Ramirez knew, just as Nick did, that growing old was sometimes necessary. It often took a lifetime to accomplish everything, to amass more fortune and accumulate the kind of power they craved.

Ramirez sighed and took a seat on the terrace, propping the elaborately carved ivory and gold cane beside him. For a few minutes, he sat in silence. His solitude was interrupted by another man, Paolo Karauna.

Paolo was a big man, standing more than six and a half feet tall and weighing at close to three hundred pounds. His dark face was hard, the kind of face that instilled fear in even the bravest man. It was the face of an enemy to Nick, yet an enemy he had use of at the present. Both he and the man who went by the name Paolo were there for the same reason.

Ramirez showed no fear of Paolo. He turned to him and raised his eyebrows in question. “Yes?”

“We have located the man. He is staying with the Contrera’s at their estate. But he is being closely watched. Our sources tell us that the American CIA has the estate staked out night and day and all the Contrera holdings are being monitored as well. They beat the bush to find the cobra.”

Ramirez laughed and looked away. Nick smiled to himself. Ramirez had overestimated him. Nick knew that Ramirez was the Cobra, a nickname he had picked up some years ago and had become fond of.

Ramirez was aware the CIA was trying to get to him, but he didn’t believe they would succeed. His arrogance had made him less attentive to details than he should have been. Nick knew that Ramirez saw himself as not only more intelligent and resourceful than everyone else, but he had had a great many years in which to establish and organize his base of power to the point it was impregnable. At least he thought it was. That was why he had finally found the courage to challenge Nick.

Ramirez turned to Paolo. “I want him. Now.”

Paolo walked over and sat down beside Ramirez. “It will take some time to arrange. There are delicacies to sustain you until he can be brought here.”

Ramirez looked at him with a feral gleam in his eye. “Yes. At least three. And do not forget about the Santos girl. Make sure she is not touched. I want her pure and clean.”

Paolo nodded. “It will be done. Shall I have the first one brought out?”

Ramirez shook his head. “Have her taken to my chambers. I will meet you there in ten minutes.”

Paolo nodded and stood. Ramirez watched him walk into the house. Nick could feel the moment of jealousy Ramirez felt for Paolo’s powerful body and abundant energy. He had no doubt that Ramirez planned to soon have a body such as that for himself.

Nick waited a few seconds after Ramirez left the terrace then made his way into the house. He headed in the opposite direction Ramirez took. Once inside the secret passage it took only seconds to find his way to the small chamber than looked into the master suite.

The bedchamber was dimly lit by the glow of candles. Paolo stood at the foot of the bed as Ramirez closed the door.

Ramirez nodded and Paolo stepped aside, displaying the girl who was tied to the bed. Her arms and legs were stretched out taut, lashed securely to the heavy wooden bedposts. She was naked and sweat glistened on her skin in the candlelight as she struggled against her bonds.

Ramirez smiled and walked to the bed, sitting down and smiling as he ran his hand down her voluptuous body. “Yes, you are quite lovely.”

“Let me go!”

He smiled and reached over to pick up a sleek, silver handled stiletto from the nightstand. “I don’t think so, my dear. But I do enjoy the sound of your voice. Perhaps you could entertain me.”

“What do you want?” Her eyes were glued to the knife he turned in his hand.

“Why, I want to hear you scream, darling,” he whispered as he ran the tip of the blade around one dark nipple.

“No, please! Please, I’ll do anything you say, just please don’t hurt me!”

Ramirez pressed harder on the blade, watching in excitement as blood welled from the cut. The girl screamed in pain as he moved the knife, slicing through her soft skin.

“That’s better, my dear,” he crooned intimately. “But I think you can do even better. Why don’t we find out?”

Paolo stood watching from the foot of the bed. He turned away as the girl’s screams became guttural howls of agony. Nick didn’t. He knew that Ramirez could stretch the torture on for hours. It was clear that Paolo had no desire to watch. He had seen too many women die.

At last, the girl’s screams began to weaken. Her body was criss-crossed with an intricate pattern of cuts. Her ear lobes had been slashed into strips and her eyelids cut off. Long cuts extended from each corner of her mouth, giving her a bizarre carnival look. Her breasts had been punctured repeatedly; the nipples removed and left lying on her belly. There was even more damage that had been done with the knife to her genital area.

There was little blood on the bed. Ramirez was very fastidious about licking the cuts clean. Now he was preparing for the finale. He stabbed the knife into the girl’s neck, just below the left ear. Blood spewed from the cut and Ramirez fastened his withered lips over it, drinking greedily.

Ramirez sat up and fastidiously wiped his mouth with a white silk handkerchief he took from his lapel pocket. He tossed it down on the girl’s chest and stood. His skin had much more color now and his eyes gleamed as he smiled at Paolo.

“That was delightful. Have another brought to me this evening. I am feeling particularly hungry.”

Paolo nodded as Ramirez left the room then wrapped the girl’s body in the bed sheet and slung it across his shoulder. Nick exited the hidden room and made his way outside. One way or the other it would not be long before Ramirez joined his victims in the grave.

Present Day —Friday,Sea Island

“Well?” Lyra turned from the mirror and looked at Chelsey.

“God, it’s a miracle!” Chelsey stared at her with a surprised expression on her face. “You look fantastic.”

Lyra smiled and turned to look at herself again. She and Chelsey had spent the afternoon shopping for something to wear to Nick’s party. For the first time in her life, Lyra bought something that wasn’t baggy and didn’t cover her from the chin to the ankles.

With Chelsey’s help, she had found a short, slightly flared skirt made of pale green silk. The matching top was made like a loose, short-sleeved peasant top with a fitted body. Low-heeled sandals completed her outfit.

She was still a little unsure about wearing it. The skirt only reached midthigh, much shorter than she was used to, and the top was cut low enough to expose the tops of her breasts. She felt as if she were half-naked.

Chelsey walked over beside her. “We’re like night and day. You with your dark hair like the night and me with my blonde hair like the day.”

“You look beautiful, Chelsey.” Lyra admired the way Chelsey looked in her tight, black, strapless dress and stiletto heels. “You’ll have every man there drooling as soon as you walk in.”

“Not every man.” Chelsey turned away.

It had taken a couple of days for Lyra and Chelsey to make up after Nick asked Lyra out. Earlier in the afternoon, they had patched things up. At least, Lyra thought they had.

“Are you sure you’re not mad at me?”

“No, I’m not mad. I guess I’m just feeling a little rejected. I’m not used to getting passed over for my shy, wallflower friend.”

Lyra smiled and gave her a hug. “You’re the best, Ches. God, look what time it is. Come on, we don’t want to be late.”

“Darling, we must,” Chelsey droned in a good imitation of Lexi. “After all, we have to make an appearance.”

Lyra laughed as they walked downstairs. She reached to pick up her keys from the table in the foyer but Chelsey stopped her. “Let’s take my car.”

They had just started out the door when Leopold called to them from across the foyer. “And where are you two ravishing creatures off to?”

“A party, darling,” Chelsey answered in a sultry tone, grinning wickedly.

He walked across the foyer and stopped in front of them. “You look absolutely radiant, my dear. Like a young princess off to meet her handsome prince.”