One Blood (29 page)

“
Nothing. Mom got me a newer one yesterday for my birthday, remember? Besides, I’m going off to college in a couple of months and I know how much you’ve always wanted this. So think of it as a present.”

Karen jumped out of bed and hugged Kristopher hard. “You’re the best big brother ever!”

“
And you’re my favorite sister.”

“
I’m your only sister!”

“
I know, kiddo. And I love you. There’s a CD already in the player, but you gotta promise me that you won’t play it until I say, okay?”

“
Who is it?”

“
You’ll see soon, kiddo. You promise not to listen?”

Karen pouted. “Promise.”

Kristopher hugged her tight again. “Have sweet dreams, kiddo.”

* * * * *

Chapter Fifty

Monday

Lake City, LA

Karen’s eyes shot open. After a moment of disorientation, she rolled onto her back, not at all surprised to find she’d been tied up again. She manipulated the knots around her wrists. Her neck throbbed from the Penguin’s rough choking.

If I make it through this I’ll have one hell of a career as an escape artist.

She coughed up more blood and peered out the window. Two men, wearing blue and yellow paramedic uniforms, lay prostrate in the middle of the parking lot.

Karen pounded her head against the window, to no avail. She was getting a headache from the head butts, so she refocused on her hands. There was one upside to having lost so much weight—it made it easy to escape most wrist bonds. Moments later, she opened the car door, emerging into the humid Louisiana afternoon soaked from head to toe.

Okay, Karen, now what?

Two unmarked black sedans galloped into the parking lot from a side entrance, coming to an abrupt halt in front of the ER. Four men in dark suits got out and conferred with one another. Karen flashed back to that day ten years ago when cars just like these pulled up outside of her house.

* * * * *

Karen was playing tea time on the porch with Abby. Two cars pulled up and a man with long silver hair and a thick gray beard got out of the lead car. He reached into the backseat and emerged with the limp body of her brother Kristopher. Kristopher’s head lay upside down in the cradle of the man’s arms. His shocking blue eyes were wide open, but even at the tender age of seven, Karen knew Kristopher wasn’t seeing anything anymore.

* * * * *

The memory dissolved as Karen observed the situation unfolding before her. After a quick huddle, two of the men ran inside the hospital. The remaining two stood sentry outside. They reminded her of her father’s security guards.

Karen didn’t know whether to hide from them or run. The roar of an engine caused her to whip around. A third black sedan was speeding into the parking lot.

Karen froze as the car sped toward her.

Chapter Fifty-One

Lake City, LA

Amir regained his freedom as abruptly as he lost it.

This was the first time he’d been inhabited by a spirit. It was like being locked inside a cage within his psyche—as if he was standing in a cold cell with a movie screen before the bars watching himself viciously attack Anvil Head. Though disconnected from his body, he tasted the man’s salty skin, coppery blood in his mouth, and felt the tension in his neck and jaws as he held on until the man was lifeless. He spread his fingers around the rough unshaven skin of Red Wolf’s neck, helpless to stop himself from choking Red Wolf to death.

What have I unleashed?

Jhonnette had convinced him that bringing Kristopher Lafitte back to destroy his father was the only fitting punishment. She told him she could boost his spiritual powers so that he’d have the strength to control the
baka
. But Kristopher Lafitte wasn’t the only spirit who’d escaped.

The doorway is open.

While entrapped he’d sensed Melinda’s presence as well. He was unfamiliar with this
loa
, but being ridden was a two-way street. Some of her essence remained—a swirling static buzz in his mind. She was very old and had died tragically.

Amir found his bearings. He was speeding down Third Avenue, on a collision course with St. Mary’s Hospital. From the sound of Red Wolf’s phone conversations, something important was happening at the hospital.

That fight was no longer Amir’s. Without the girl, the plan was fucked. It was time to cut his losses; he needed to get the money, contact Lincoln, and get the hell out of dodge.

It was amazing how fast the situation had degenerated. Things had gone from bad to worse and from worse to shit and it was no use blaming anyone but himself. He’d have plenty of time for self-flagellation later; right now he needed to figure out the fastest route to the cash.

The hospital parking lot came into view.

Amir attempted to turn left at Guinn and get back on Highway 14, but the steering wheel did not obey his command. His body was rebelling against him. Amir was powerless as the car continued straight. His right foot jammed the accelerator to the floor.

The car entered the St. Mary’s parking lot at fifty miles per hour. The buzzing in his head was now a locust swarm. Blood dripped from his nose as he fought to regain control of his faculties.

After a short struggle, he reached into his cargo-shorts pocket and retrieved the switchblade. Everything slowed as the blade clicked open. The car veered drastically to the left and then hit a pothole listing back to the right. Amir’s eyes widened. He was headed directly for Karen Lafitte.

What the fuck is she doing here?

Their eyes locked. Karen smiled a knowing smile.

I won’t do this.

Amir screamed and buried the knife down to the hilt in his thigh, then slammed his foot down on the brake pedal with all the force in his body. The car fishtailed as the shriek and smell of burning rubber consumed him.

He missed Karen by inches, but didn’t miss the downed paramedics a few feet away from her. The car bunny-hopped the bodies and Amir was thrown forward, his head smacking the steering wheel. His foot found the accelerator again. An instant later the car slammed into a pair of black sedans parked in front of the Emergency Room.

Amir flew.

The next thing he knew, a roaring, wave-like noise battered against the sloshing insides of his gray matter. It sounded like he was inside a cavern behind Niagara Falls. Disconnected from his body, his whole world was consumed by the noise.

Someone close-by screamed. Then the earth-shattering sound subsided, replaced by something like a scrambled FM frequency. He wasn’t quite on the station, but could hear the announcers trying to reach him anyway. He strained to decipher the words.

“
Shut…move…here…slow…careful…burst…back,” was all he got at first.

Slowly but surely, the blanks began to fill in like a game of Hangman.

“
Clear…off his eyes…hemorrhaging…CCs…more oxygen…please shut…”

Whoever they were talking about sounded pretty fucked up.

“
What’s your name?” A female voice cut through the static clearly. “Can you speak?”

Someone screamed, “It’s gonna blow!”

The air quality changed. Amir felt a strong influx of hot wind whistle through his ear cavity. He was rammed back into himself like a square peg banged into a round hole with a sledgehammer. Invisible arms lifted him and he was casually tossed aside, like he’d encountered a patch of bad turbulence. Except, instead of dropping down, he was keenly aware of moving on up to a De-Luxe Apartment in the sky.

Then radio silence.

* * * * *

“
Just try to make him comfortable.” Words emanated from his left side some time later. “Don’t try to move,” the voice said.

Amir attempted to open his eyes but the burning sensation in his left eye forced him to close them immediately.

“
You’re going to be okay.”

“
Where…” he attempted to ask, but only hoarse groaning emitted from his throat. An overwhelming claustrophobia made it difficult to breathe. Amir couldn’t feel anything from the neck down.

“
Shhh…don’t try to speak. You’ve been badly hurt. You need to rest now.”

Amir knew she was right, but he couldn’t rest. Sleep was the cousin of death. Despite the pain, he forced one eye open and flinched from the light. His mother’s beautiful face came into focus.

It was like seeing heaven frowning down at him. She applied a compress to his face and gently wiped away shining fragments of glass.

“
That’s it,” Juanita whispered softly. Her expression was soothing as she stroked the cool cloth against his feverish skin.

“
I’m so sorry, Mama,” he moaned. “I messed…everything up.”

“
It’s gonna be okay.”

“
No…it’s not,” Amir gasped. “Lincoln…”

“
You saved him,” Juanita said. “You saved them both.”

“
Both?”

“
I want you to rest now, Amir. Soon you will be able to tell me all about it.”

* * * * *

Chapter Fifty-Two

Monday

New Roads, LA

Roberts’ face brought everything back.

At the prison, Roberts had offered Lincoln his hand, but instead Lincoln took his gun and bashed him over the head with it. Then he took Roberts’ car and drove to the Angola Ferry. Lincoln was practically home free, but for some inexplicable reason he decided to dive off the top deck of the ferry and almost drowned. Roberts was obviously here to finish the job.

“
Help!” Lincoln yelled.

Roberts was on him in a flash. “Shut the fuck up, goddamnit!” He pistol-whipped Lincoln in the face.

The pain the morphine had subdued came roaring back. Church bells gonged for Sunday service in Lincoln’s head.

“
That’s better,” Roberts said. “Why did yuh run from me? I’m tryin’ ta…”

“
Stop and turn around!” Jhonnette commanded.

She’d gotten the drop on Roberts. Standing in the doorway, she had a handgun pointed at his head.

“
Give the gun to Lincoln and kneel on the floor,” she ordered.

Snake placed the gun on the bed with a surprised chuckle. “So it was you all along,” he said, dropping to his knees.

Lincoln brought the butt of the gun down on Roberts’ head with as much force as he could muster. Roberts toppled over like a blow up doll.

“
We gotta get the hell out of here,” Lincoln said.

* * * * *

The movies made escape look so easy.

They never showed the blood spraying on the heroine’s favorite summer suit while she jerked I.V.’s out of the hero’s arm. They never showed the heroine struggling to support a man nearly twice her size as they limped, crawled, and rolled their way to freedom. No, movie escapes were infinitely more graceful.

Jhonnette was now navigating the rented Jeep Liberty toward Baton Rouge. The clock on the dashboard read 11:30 a.m. They needed to figure out their next move. She jerked the car across two lanes of highway and brought the vehicle to a halt on the shoulder. Lincoln lay in the backseat glaring at her in the rearview.

“
Lincoln, I know you’re in pain but you’ve got to talk to me. The police have probably found your buddy back there and are most likely hot on our trail right now. We’ve got to come up with a plan.”

* * * * *

Before everything went to pieces at Angola, Lincoln had a very specific agenda. Now that everything had gone to shit, Lincoln was rethinking his priorities. According to Jhonnette, Moses was in the Angola infirmary, one of the most dangerous places for any inmate to wind up, much less a civilian.

How the hell am I supposed to get Moses out of there? And where the hell is Amir right now?

Despite the odds, Lincoln refused to believe that it was too late.

“
Lincoln, I know you hear me talking to you.”

Lincoln regarded her silently. Jhonnette had shown up mysteriously that morning with information about Moses, claiming to be an ally. But what was in it for her? Sure, she’d saved him from Snake, but could she really be trusted?

“
Who are you?” Lincoln asked.

“
I know you’re having a hard time trusting me, Lincoln. Believe me, I do. And I’m ready to come clean.”

“
I’m waiting.”

Jhonnette continued. “Lincoln, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you’ve been lied to and manipulated by those closest to you.”