GODDESS OF THE MOON (A Diana Racine Psychic Suspense) (4 page)

When he quieted, she asked again if she could touch him. He didn’t
answer
. She rested her hand on his forearm. He waved at her again, but she didn’t move away
nor did he push her away
. Other than trying to glean something from his touch, it was important to connect with Jamie physically, to create a bond.

After some minutes without a negative response, Diana placed
the dozen
black and white photo
s
in Jamie Shore’s line of sight. “Jamie, do you remember
seeing any of these people at the house next door the other day?
”

Jamie’s head rotated from side to side
as she flipped through the photos slowly. After one pass-through, she started over. This time he slammed his hand on a photo of a man
, although his face was mostly hidden by the hood of a sweat jacket
. Diana glanced at his mother and patiently waited. Then Jamie spoke in a panicked voice.

“Man, man, man
.
Man, man, man.
Brown coat, brown, brown.
Man, man,
window. Man, man, brown, brown
.”

Diana nodded at Lucier sitting quietly with Jamie’s mother, both rigid in their seats.

“Bag, bag, bag, bag, Bongo, Bongo, bag, bag, Bongo, man, man, brown, brown, bear, beard, beard, man, man.

“The man had a beard?” Diana said, glancing at Lucier and nodding. “He must have been a very old man with a white beard.
Very old, Jamie.”

“Red, red, red man, red man, beard, bear, bag, bag, Bongo bag.” Jamie stopped, as if a faucet had been turned off. He
cast his gaze around the room
at everything and at nothing,
still wringing his hands
,
and
finally settl
ed
his
focus
outside
.

Liz Shore stood up, a clue that the meeting was over. “I think that’s enough.”

Elated to have culled such important information
, Diana removed her hand from Jamie’s forearm. She felt sure she could glean more from the boy, but his mother knew best when to stop. “Thank you, Jamie. Thank you very much. You will help us find the baby.” But Jamie had gone somewhere Diana couldn’t reach, even with a touch. He
returned his focus to the papers on his desk,
picked up a crayon
,
and continued his drawing.

The adults moved into the entry hall. “He knew the man carried a baby in the bag,” Lucier said.
“How?”

Liz nodded.
“
Hard to tell
.
He picks up on things others would never see, almost
as if
he has extrasensory vision, and he remembers everything. Once it’s in that complicated brain of his, it’s there forever. A year from now, he’ll mention the man with the brown coat and the Bongo bag.”

“Who’s Bongo?” Diana asked.

“Bongo Bear is a TV cartoon
show that’s
been on for years.”
Mrs. Shore
shook her head. “
H
is world is in another place, and he sees more of what we see and much we don’t see at all.”

“So there are bags with Bongo Bear’s image on them?”

“Bongo’s a marketing bonanza. Everything you can think of has Bongo’s image on it.”

“Where have I been?” Diana said, although she knew. He
r
life had been restaurants, hotels and theaters, with only newspapers
, TV,
and magazines to keep her abreast of what was going on in the world.

After a few words of thanks, Diana and Lucier left the Shore house and stepped into the bright sunlight.

“Good job, Diana. He told you what he saw by correcting you.
Excellent
interrogation tactic.
Something to
remember.”

Diana didn’t say anything.

“What’s the matter?”

“I can’t imagine being locked up inside
myself
like that, not relating to another human being, not even my mother.” She choked back the sadness but couldn’t stop the tears
filling
her eyes. “How hard that must be for Mrs. Shore, wanting to hold him, to share affection, to relate like parents do.
Kind of
like
Rainman
,
huh
?”

Lucier put an arm around her shoulder and pulled her to him. “
Y
eah, I guess so. He possessed a gift too, didn’t he?”

“Yes, breaking the bank in Vegas.” The thought made her smile and pulled her out of her melancholy. “Now that’s a skill.”

“Okay, so what do we know?
From the picture Jamie targeted, o
ur kidnapper is a short man
compared to the others in the background
, five-six maybe, with a red beard,
probably
red
dish-brown
hair.
Age, undetermined.”

“
S
omewhere between seventeen and forty-five
, since Jamie didn’t mention any white in his beard
.
It’d be something he’d notice.
”

“Good point.
Seventeen to forty-five.
Not necessarily from New Orleans. That narrows it down considerably.”
He snorted.

* * * * *

D
iana
joined Lucier’s team in his office
, still melancholy over the thought
of
Jamie
’s
un
reach
able
world.

“
Halloran’s at the hospital now, showing the picture
,” Beecher said
.
“
The guy’s in too many shots. H
e h
as to work there.”

“Let’s hope. What about the hoodie?” Lucier asked.

“
Brown
’
s not a big color for hoodies,” Beecher said.
“And the
padded
Bongo Bear bag?
There are thousands of those
in existence
, millions maybe. We’ll run a check, but I wouldn’t put
an
y hopes on coming up with
a hit
.
Our best bet
’
s the photo.
”

Lucier looked at the picture. “I agree.
Spread it around.
”

Willy Cash stuck his head in Lucier’s office
, carrying a rolled-up newspaper
.
“
Big news
,
Boss.
I came up with a similar abduction in Mobile
about six months ago
.
A baby girl taken the same way.
The feds
hit a dead end with that one.
I contacted Stallings.
T
he
case is still open.
He ran a search for similar baby kidnappings, and found ours
is the fourth baby snatch in the last
three
year
s. I ordered tapes from the
Mobile
hospital.”

“Good work, Willy
,” Lucier said
.
“
I remember the one in Mobile.
Father was a big wig in some biotech company.
The feds thought it was an inside job
for ransom. B
ut
no one ever called.
I’ll contact Stallings and get the particulars of the other kidnappings, then call each one to see if anyone’s come up with a lead.” Lucier
poked at his computer.
“I hope this isn’t what it looks like.”

Diana watched him, digging her nails into the palm of her hand. “You’re thinking a baby kidnapping ring, aren’t you?”

“Has all the earmarks. I’m sure
Stallings
will
agree
. If it is, those babies are long gone.” He sat on the corner of the desk. “Tell me about the evil you felt, Diana.”

“
How can anyone explain the unexplainable?
S
omething in the vision of that room
creeped
me out, something perverse.”

“
Sorry to interrupt,
Lieutenant
, but have you seen the morning papers
?” Cash
threw
the
Times
Picayune
on the desk.

Diana’s picture
centered
the front page.

Psychic Brought in to Track Kidnapped Baby

By Jake Griffin

Diana’s abduction the previous month made headlines all over the world, and Griffin chronicled the story. His account was picked up by every paper in the country and put him on the short list for a Pulitzer.

Oh, yes, Diana thought, Jake Griffin would be all over another story about her, and he wouldn’t hesitate to expose the romantic relationship between her and Lucier. Especially since she publicly notified the world that she
’
d given up show business to settle down and live life out of the
spot
light. The two of them made great copy
―the cop and the psychic―
but as much as she hated the
notoriety,
she hated it more for Lucier
.

“How the hell did he get this story?” Diana as
ked.

“
Shit leaks
,” Beecher said. “Everyone knows you gave him the story
after
your
ordeal.
Hell, he milked it for all it was worth. They probably figured he’d pay for information about anything you’re involved in.”

“I’m going to put a hex on that little twerp,” Diana said.

“Can you do that?” Cash asked with wide-eyed innocence.

Diana chuckled. “No, but I wish I could.”

“Well,
the story
’s out in the open now,” Beecher said. “Maybe
it will ring some bells about other
baby abductions.”

“I’m sorry, Diana,” Lucier said. “I know you didn’t want to get involved in this kind of thing anymore. I
should
have kept you out of it.”

“Too late now.
Besides, getting involved was my idea. You couldn’t have stopped me if you wanted to.” She got up and paced the room. “You want to know what will happen after that article
hits
the street? I’ll tell you. Every kook with a baby story will be calling in. Babies who died at birth talking to their mothers from beyond, babies kidnapped by cults and aliens, fathers disappearing with newborns. You’ll see. I’ve been through it all before.”

* * * * *

B
y next day, calls from Maine to California, Florida to Washington State, jammed the switchboards just as Diana predicted. Stories that no police department in the world would take seriously, except those where one or the other parent abducted their children in custody cases.

Brady, the desk sergeant
on duty
, knocked on the doorjamb. “Sorry to interrupt, Lieutenant, but I found this on my desk. Don’t know how it got there. I asked, but no one saw anything.”

“Thanks, Sergeant. Let’s have a look.”

Beecher leaned over the envelope. “Oh-oh, I don’t like the look of this.”

“Me either,” Lucier said. He pulled a pair of gloves from his desk drawer and slit the envelope with a letter opener. He slid a single sheet of paper from the envelope and read what was on it. “Shit. Dust this for prints.” He picked up the phone and called Diana at the house she rented near his. “You need to get over here right away. I’m sending Cash to get you.”

“Why, what’s happened?”

“An envelope just arrived in the mail. It has your name on it. And I don’t like what’s written inside.”

The Star and the Crescent Moon

WE AWAIT YOU, DIANA