GODDESS OF THE MOON (A Diana Racine Psychic Suspense) (31 page)

“Of course.
I don’t know what to say except thank you.
I look forward to reading it.”

A first edition
tome
behind the cupboard doors was not what Diana expected. Was she relieved or disappointed?
What had she anticipated?
No question about her host, however. Disappointment etched his face. He expected more of her.

“I’ve let you down, Edward. You gave me too much credit.”

“Not at all.
I
tend to assume
things
sometimes. Why would you know of this book? It’s not as if you had time
to study this field in depth
, always on the road. Your strengths are far more esoteric, more unexplainable than any written word. I apologize. You could never let me down.”

“Thank you. I
look forward to reading
this.
” She carefully tucked the book in her purse.
“
Now, you mentioned something you wanted to tell me.”

“Oh, yes, I almost forgot. Brigid and Nona Fulceri came by yesterday.”

Hidden Meaning

I
t took a moment for Diana to comprehend what Slater said. When she did, words failed her. She finally found her voice. “Why didn’t you call the authorities?
T
hose girls are wanted for questioning. They were in that house, nursed the kidnapped babies.”

Slater leaned forward in his chair, his arms folded on the
barren
desk. “You don’t know that. The police have no proof other than your impression from a vision.
From a vision, Diana.
Besides, the
Fulceris
said they weren’t there.”

His voice was so
persuasive
she
easily envision
ed
him convincing people to donate money to his worthy cause.

“These girls have been through hell
,” he said
.
“
They trusted me when they came here to explain.”

“You may not put
cre
dence
in my visions, but I found that house, and then those
young women
disappeared. A man killed himself rather than talk about what went on there. Doesn’t that resonate with you?”

“Obviously not in the same way it does with you. Both those girls were raped by their pedophile father from the time they were old enough to understand what he’d do to them if they told. I’m sorry, but I
wouldn’t
turn them over to the police and their interrogation methods. They need counseling
.
I made an appointment with a psychologist. I begged them to
go
,
but I
force
d
them
.
Not because
I
be
lieve they had anything to do with Deems
,
that house
, or
those babies, because I don’t. I want them to straighten out their lives.
”

“
You made a
judgment call
. I don’t agree
.” Diana
rose
. “Thanks for the lunch, Edward, and for the book. I’ll read it.”

“You’re upset with me again,” he said, standing. “I push your buttons, don’t I?”

“You impeded a police investigation.
If I’m right about t
hose girls
, and I am, they
might
have
help
ed
us find the kidnapped babies. There’s something evil going on, and you’re
purposely ignoring it
, first with Compton, now with the
sisters
.”

“
I
f I were involved with the house on Parkside Avenue or thought the Fulceri sisters were connected in any way, would
I
have told you about them
coming here
?”

Slater made a good point, but she was still angry
at his duplicity
. “I don’t know what I think anymore.”

“I suppose you’ll tell your lieutenant about this.”

“I suppose so.”

“I understand. Still friends?
”

“Of course, Edward.
Still friends.”

* * * * *

D
iana
waited until she and
Lucier finished dinner
and were settled in her small den with the remainder of the bottle of wine to tell him about the Fulceri sisters.
He reacted exactly as she anticipated.

“I have a good mind to arrest your Brother Osiris for aiding and abetting,” he said.
“And you
―
I
’m at a loss for words.
”

Diana
barely looked up from
her note
pad to say
, “He’s not mine.”

“You’re not listening.” Lucier huffed and sipped his wine. “First you go to the mission without
telling
me
―didn’t answer your phone either―
then you
report that
those two women popped in there to say
ciao
and
inform
Slater they didn’t know anything about the missing babies. Now you sit here and ignore me while I make the case that Slater is in this up to his
handsome
neck.”

Diana stopped
doodling
to focus on Lucier
. “Am I supposed to tell you everything I do? Maybe you should get one of those GPS things and strap it to my ankle so you
can track me
every minute of the day. Put me on house arrest
, why don’t you
?
” Her eyes filled with tears. “I can’t live like that, Ernie. It’s taken me twenty-five years to break from my parents and acquire a measure of independence. I
won’t
get into a relationship where someone’s telling me what to do all the time and hovering over me like I’m a child. I’ve lived
that life. I don’t want
a repeat
.”

Lucier set his glass on the coffee table and leaned over to kiss her forehead. “I worry about you. I can’t help it.
I’m a cop. Cops worry about the people they love.
If anything happens to you, I don’t know what I’d do. It took me a long time to find you, and I almost lost you once
already
. I
d
on’t
want to go there
again.”

“This isn’t always about you.” She brushed her hand across his cheek. “You won’t lose me, Ernie.
Ever.
But you can’t tie me to you. That’s not a relationship, that’s control. We can’t make this work
to suit
only your needs. I have needs too, and they don’t include a bodyguard.”

He pulled back.

“I wanted to tell you I was going to the mission, but you’ve been so overprotective and irrationally opposed to Edward, I decided
not to
.”

“Okay, I
concede
being
overprotective, but not
on
Slater. You seem blind to the possibility that he’s involved. He’s protecting those girls, and you don’t see it.”

Conceding, she said,
“I do,
and
I’m torn between what I felt in that vision and Edward’s faith in those girls. Maybe I’m wrong. I didn’t specifically
see
them in my vision, only that someone nursed in that chair.” She pulled Lucier toward her and told him the girls’ history, then kissed his cheek. “I’m sorry. I got pulled into their story. Edward didn’t want them to go through a police investigation. I was very verbal in my opposition, if that makes you feel any better.”

“
Good. Y
ou’re not completely oblivious to his manipulations.” He pulled a sheet of paper from his pocket and unfolded it, letting her see what was written on it. “I found this stuck in your door when I came looking for you.”
Drawn on t
he paper
was
a
crescent moon and the
printed
words, “A crescent moon is near.”

Diana read it,
held it in her hand
s
and closed her eyes
for a long minute
.
“No vibes,” she said when she opened her eyes.

“Nothing we can trace
either
,
” Lucier said.

“What the hell does
it
mean?”

“It means on the day of the crescent moon I’m not letting you out of my sight, even if I have to lock one of those GPS tracking devices on your ankle
,
and even if you never speak to me again.”

“When is the night of the crescent moon?”

“The new moon is in a few days. A crescent moon is a couple of days after that.
I checked.”

“Weird things are supposed to happen on the full moon, not a crescent one.”

“The crescent moon is the symbol of the goddess Diana, or have you forgotten?”

“No, I haven’t. I wish now I were back in the days when they called me Diana, Goddess of the Hunt. At least no one was sending me scary notes.”

“From the new moon on, and with your permission, madam, I will stick to you like glue.” He nudged his way next to her and
studied
the pad of paper she was doodling on. “Now, do you mind telling me what you’re doing?”

“
Check
this
out
.
Brigid and Nona’s last name.

FULCERI
 
CERIFUL
 
FURLICE
 
LICUREF
  LUCIFER

“Jesus,” Lucier said. “Remove one letter and it spells my name too, straight out.”

“I didn’t notice that,” she said, “but you’re right.
”

Irresistible Magnetism

W
hen
Maia arrived at the compound from New Orleans
,
Nona and Brigid
were already there
.
She
hadn’t seen
her half-sisters
in
a couple of years. She remembered
their transition
into young womanhood. Brigid had developed early, and Maia remembered how the young girl relished the attention and flaunted her attributes with no inhibitions, as
her mother
taught
her
. Now, as Maia
sat in the nursery
watch
ing
them
nurse the babies, she realized how perverted the group’s ambitious project was.
She’d spent the last two days kicking herself for
carrying out
the pitiful act of revenge against her father instead of going to Lieutenant Lucier and exposing the whole operation.

Instead, she’d been reprimanded and escorted to one of the Compton planes, flown to the compound, and confined.

Do not pass go. Go directly to jail.

She’d been allowed to see her half-sisters, but nothing she said to them counter
ed
the lifetime o
f programming they’d sustained.

Maia marveled at their
startling beaut
y
.
Phillip and Cybele Crane’s
sons and daughters
produce
d
perfect, brilliant, and beautiful offspring,
exactly
as
Maia
had. What she
saw
now was different.
Her half-sisters were nursing not their own children, but babies stolen from the warmth of their birth mothers
’ arms
.

Brigid was pregnant, and not for the first time.
A baby bump swelled under her clothes
, her figure fuller, breasts heavier. Maia remembered the feeling well. Although she was well endowed, she couldn’t compare to
Selene
’s obedient daughters.
R
aw sexuality
comprised part
of their genetic makeup, inherited from a great beauty and taught by the best of all teachers. Maia didn’t realize until now, looking at the two women, that Silas was nothing more than a pimp
with a stratospheric intelligence,
and that all his children were nothing more than pawns in
the group
’s
egotistical ambition to populate their
fantasy world with their genes.