GODDESS OF THE MOON (A Diana Racine Psychic Suspense) (40 page)

“Who watches them?”

“The leaders take turns. What’s this about?”

How could she phrase this without proof? “I think Phillip has been sexually abused.”

Seth started to laugh but stopped when he
realized
Maia was serious. “Don’t be ridiculous. The pleasuring here is strictly heterosexual, and a strict hands-off policy
is in effect
until the kids reach a certain age. You know that.”

“What about Cal Easley? Does he spend time with the
children
? Could he have been with Phillip alone?”

“Cal? He spends time with all the children, teaches them math and science and art.
Every subject imaginable.
The kids love him.
Cal
’s the
most gentle
person here. He’d never touch a kid. He may be gay, but I think he’s more, I don’t know,
asexual
. Sex with either gender doesn’t seem to interest him. He’s always been
…
different, an anomaly, ever since we were children. He does pretty much what he wants, and no one pays attention. Cal shouldn’t be here,” Seth admitted
.
“
I
f he could find his way out, he
’d be gone
. Cal
is
instrumental
in
the intellectual cultivation of the next generation
, but a sexual predator? No. Not Cal. Not anyone.”

Maia felt ashamed to suspect Cal because he was gay. Child predators
we
re a special strain of deviant. “I don’t believe this.” Maia paced the floor
of her suite
. “Don’t you care what happens
to the children
?
To
your children?
Your sons have all the characteristics of troubled psyches
, and
you choose not to notice.” She fell into a chair. “It’s as much my fault
as yours
. I’ve been a pawn in all this. Silas said go, I went. Silas said stay, I stayed. Silas said fuck, I fucked. My children have been raised by others when I should have raised them.
But not here.
Not in this place. I want both worlds and I can’t have
either
.”

Seth knelt down before her.
He gently brushed away a tear crawling down her cheek.
“I’ll talk to Phillip. If something
bad has happened,
he’ll tell me. I’ll find out
, Maia
.
Promise.”

“I need to talk to the group, Seth.”

“Not until you go through
…
counseling. Those are my instructions.”

“You don’t mean counseling, you mean a dozen sessions of brainwashing. It won’t work. It didn’t work on Anat, and now it won’t work on me.”

“Then you’ll never leave here. That’s the word from the counsel
, w
hich is okay with me. Nothing would make me happier.”

Never leave?
Even though she’d brought up the possibility herself, hearing the words from Seth turned her stomach into a tornado. Had she
made another mistake
? Screwed up again
? Why didn’t she just keep her mouth shut and go along until they let her go?
Then s
he
w
ould have blown the whole thing wide open.
Instead,
she was ca
ught in a web of her own doing.

H
er
sons needed counseling, outside the compound. There was no time to lose. Anat’s plan, as difficult as it would be,
was
the only way.

T
he Night of the Crescent Moon

A
fter the abruptly ended conversation
with Dione Compton,
Lucier
finished up his work and headed to Diana’s house.
Dinner
there
had become a routine. She practiced her cooking, he ate.
He couldn’t have cared less about the
food
. He loved
being with Diana.

Tonight she ordered a pizza, which was fine with him.
They devour
ed
it in record time.
He patted his belly. “Good dinner
.
Pizz
a
from
Gino’s Grotto is my favorite.”

“I didn’t feel like
cooking
tonight. Hope you d
o
n’t mind.”

They were sitting on the sofa
. A
n empty pizza box
took up most of
the coffee table
, along with
paper plates
,
soft drink cans,
crushed red pepper
,
and
the remains of
freshly grated Parmesan.

“Once my belly’s full, doesn’t matter whether I’ve eaten a gourmet meal or a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
”
He moved closer and nuzzled his face into the crook of her neck. “Actually, my needs are more primal. Food is survival. Making love is soul food.”

“
I love
soul food
,
”
she whispered in his ear
,
“
b
ut
I want to hear more about Dione Compton.”

“
Ri
ii
ght
,” he drawled, disappointed
she
didn’t pursue the
more amorous
angle.

She g
ather
ed
the crumpled napkins, tossed them into the box along with the paper plates
,
and brought them into the kitchen. Lucier carried the drink cans
.

He gazed wistfully at the moist spot on her neck and sighed.
“When I asked
Dione
if
she
knew where her sister was, she gave me a rather cryptic answer
.
”

“Like what?”

“How did she put it? ‘
Yes and no.
’
”

“She knows but doesn’t know
the physical location
?”

“That’s what I thought.”

Diana finished her Coke and tossed
both
can
s
in the recycle bin. “
Y
ou
haven’t found
possible properties?”

“
A
clever corporate attorney can
tangle properties
into all kinds of corporate mumbo jumbo.
Neither Jason nor Ralph Stallings, with all the FBI’s data, came up with anything. The
y’re
still
trying
.”

“If they
hadn’t stolen
the babies, we might never have known
about this group
.”

“
T
his is bigger than
I
thought. The idea gives me the creeps.”

“Wherever this place is, it
must be
remote, and they go by private jet. What do the experts say? Ninety-eight percent of the population lives on two percent of the land
?
That leaves
a big part of country
from whic
h to carve out their hideaway.”

“Thanks,” Lucier said. “
I
feel a whole lot better. Both Crane Corporation and Compton International have their own planes, but the pilots aren’t around
for us to interview
. That leaves
the airport and
Dione.
I bet Compton or Crane pays out enough money to the right people, who in turn will say whatever they’re told to say.
”

“
Will
Dione
be
at Compton’s
the night of
the crescent moon?”

“I doubt
he’ll
allow it. Checking her cell phone means he doesn’t trust her, and I’m sure he
won’t
want her anywhere near me.”

“Maybe if I say she asked for a reading. What do you think?”

“
You’d be putting words in her mouth.
” Lucier stopped and weighed his words.
He couldn’t deny how uneasy he felt about their upcoming evening.
“What if I asked you not to do this reading?”

She stopped wiping down the counters
and raised an eyebrow
.
“What
?
Say tha
t again. I must have misheard.”

“You didn’t. I asked you not to go to Compton’s on the crescent moon.”

“Why?”

“
T
hey’ve done everything to broadcast that something will happen on the
night of
crescent moon.
Dione
confirmed t
hat you’re in their plans.
I have a bad feeling for good reason.
”

“I’m the one who’s supposed to have those
prescient
feelings. Besides, it’s tomorrow night. What
can
they do, Ernie? People will know where we’ll be. Compton wouldn’t dare do anything.
I
f he was seriously planning something, why would he send notes and warnings
?
”

“Maybe he’s not the one sending them.”

“Then who?”

“I don’t know, but I don’t like it.”
Lucier
’s
premonition
s
came shrouded in a black cloud. He couldn’t shake it. Compton and Crane’s wealth and power had insulated them. They flaunted their misdeeds in the faces of those they considered inferior and expected to get away with them. Lucier
didn’t know what they planned for Diana, but his job
was
to make sure nothing happened to her
, both as a cop and a lover
.

* * * * *

A
ll
the next
day,
Diana
’s thoughts focused on this night―the night of the crescent moon. She
peeked out the
bathroom
window. Though still light outside,
t
he pale
sliver of
moon
h
ung
low
in the sky, one eye winking at her. Her heart beat a little faster
, and a ring of heat circled her neck
.
S
he’d determined long ago that she had a screw loose somewhere to keep tempting fate.
N
ow
,
she was about to do it again.

Lucier had gone home to change
.
She hadn’t heard him come into the house
, but
she turned to
find
him leaning against the frame of the bathroom door with an admiring expression on his face
.

“Are you ready?”
he asked.

After
a dab of her bright red lipstick, a quick fluff
of
her curls, and
one last
check
in the mirror,
she said,
“
Yup
, r
eady as I’ll ever be.
Tonight
’s the big night.
The night of the crescent moon.”

“You’re sure you want to do this?”

She drew a deep
breath
,
let it out
in a long sigh
. “Positive. This is our chance to find out what’s going on. Five men think they can hide their inner sensations. I’m betting at least one of them will give off vibes that
exposes
their plans
,
whether he wants to or not. That’s all we need.
Just one.”

“I’m worried about ‘Diana of the Moon, we await you.’
T
hey want to place you on an altar and worship you.”

She snorted.
“They’ve already done that.”

“
Except
this time I’ll be watching everything you put in your mouth. Drinks out of the same containers as everyone else; food the same way.”

“They can’t drug me without drugging you, and how
can
they do that when your men know we’re there.”