One Blood (44 page)

“
You can’t,” a gravelly baritone spoke from behind them.

Karen and Brandon looked up to see a tall man with a pointy white hood over his face glaring down at them. He removed the hood slowly with one hand; a strange gun was clutched in the other.

Karen gasped. The man’s face was a grotesque mask of blood and charred flesh, but Brandon still knew him.

Randy Lafitte offered a grime-filled smile and regarded them with bloodshot eyes. “Daddy’s home.”

* * * * *

Chapter Eighty

I-10 West

Coral opened her eyes in time to catch a green sign announcing the arrival of Iowa, LA in one-fourth miles. Lying horizontal in the backseat, she stared at the bald head of her driver. There was a whistling sound outside of the car she recognized as wind, though she’d never heard any wind sound like this before.

Adjusting her body into a more comfortable position, she noticed Lincoln Baker’s eyes watching her through the rearview mirror. She’d seen him staring at her the same way in more nightmares than she could count, although this was the closest she’d physically been to her son’s killer. Now, with only inches separating them, Coral didn’t feel how she thought she would. For one, there was no hate. Strangely, she felt…gratitude. Besides, hadn’t Snake Roberts confessed to the crime? The car was pushed violently across lanes and Coral realized they had much bigger things to worry about than hate and forgiveness.

* * * * *

Almost home.

Lincoln exhaled as they passed the Iowa exit. He couldn’t stop thinking about Brandon.
If he was stuck in the police station during the hurricane…
Lincoln shut down this train of thought. He tried the radio again, but no news. All of Southwest Louisiana was deserted.

Coral’s up.

Lincoln caught her movements in the rearview. Their eyes met. Then without warning, the wind whipped under the Jeep and lifted it off the highway for an eternal second.

Shit!

This storm was no joke. If they didn’t find shelter soon, the Jeep was going to take flight.

“
Where are you taking me?” Coral croaked suddenly.

“
Home.”

Coral nodded.

He wondered if she felt it too, the magnetic force that seemed to be pulling them back to Lake City. He was definitely on a mission—after he dropped Coral off he needed to locate Brandon and get him to higher ground. Thankfully, Moses’ house was in one of the only sections of town high enough above sea level to withstand the inevitable flooding.

As Moses was fond of saying, “If we’re flooded over here, the rest of Lake City is underwater.”

Thinking of Moses, Lincoln had an attack of conscience. For the first time in his life, he felt the urge to confess and make amends. Lincoln knew this woman would never understand why he’d done what he’d done, but he felt compelled to try. He didn’t know if he’d have another chance.

“
Look,” he started. “Did you know those men back there?”

Coral raised an eyebrow. “They work for my husband. Or at least they did. They kidnapped me.”

“
I know. I saw the whole thing.”

“
You were there?” Coral asked.

“
Yes.” Lincoln cleared his throat. “Mrs. Lafitte, how well do you know your husband?”

Coral fidgeted, clearly offended by the question.

“
I mean…do you have any idea what he’s capable of?”

Coral stared out the window, ignoring the question.

“
Does the name Walter Simmons mean anything to you?” Lincoln pressed.

“
Well, of course. He ran against Randy and won the election for Mayor.”

“
And then he was killed.”

“
Yes,” she said. “It was a horrible accident.”

“
Was it?”

“
What are you saying?” Coral asked, her skepticism and mistrust slowly subsiding

“
I ain’t sayin’ nothin’. Just layin’ out some facts. Tryin’ to make sense of what she told me.”

“
She, who?”

“
This woman, Jhonnette Deveaux. Claimed to be some kind of psychic.”

“
And you believed her?”

Lincoln looked away. “I’ve been seeing some crazy stuff today. Stuff that makes me want to believe her.”

“
What kind of stuff?”

“
Well for one, I’ve been seeing your son, Kris. Everywhere. He’s been talkin’ to me. Showin’ me things.”

Coral looked away as a tear ran down her face.

“
You too? I guess that makes some kinda sense.” Lincoln lost his train of thought as something caught his attention from the corner of his eye. A huge billboard was skimming down I-10, directly toward them. He maneuvered out of the way, just in time to watch the sign roll down the highway like a giant tumbleweed.

They both exhaled in relief. Silence wedged between them once more.

“
I was going to kill you,” Coral spoke up abruptly.

“
What?”

“
This morning. I went to that hospital where they took you after you got out. But you weren’t there. Instead, I found Snake Roberts.”

So that’s what happened.

Lincoln had wondered what went down after he and Jhonnette split.

“
He got the bullets I’d reserved for you,” she sighed. “Right after he basically told me my husband had ordered him…ordered him to kill…our son.” Coral’s lips quivered as she got the words out. Tears gushed from her eyes. “And then you come and save my life. I don’t know what to think about anything anymore.”

Lincoln considered this near miss as he put his eyes back on the road.

So Randy ordered Snake to kill Kris.

Lincoln rubbed his shoulder on the site of the wound he’d received right before he accidentally shot Kris.

“
Gotta put it all together,” Lincoln whispered.

“
So what else did this psychic tell you?” Coral asked.

This was so crazy Lincoln had to smile. “This is gonna sound nuts, but what the hell, here goes. Supposedly, your husband…is my father.”

“
That’s ridiculous!”

“
Is it?” Lincoln probed. “I mean here we are talkin’ about a man who may or may not have killed his political rival and may or may not have ordered the killing of his own son. Think about it. Cheatin’ on his wife wouldn’t be that far a stretch for a guy like that.”

“
I don’t want to hear any more of this.” Coral said, looking away.

Through the rain-blurred window, Lincoln observed the demise of Lake City as he navigated them slowly over downed power lines and around assorted tree parts lying scattered all over the highway.

“
Turn off here,” Coral directed as they arrived at the Lake Street exit.

They drove to the Lafitte homestead in silence. At last, they pulled into an empty driveway in front of an enormous home.

“
Looks like nobody’s home,” Lincoln said. “You sure you want to go in there?”

* * * * *

This close to the lake, Coral could really feel the hurricane’s fury. The Jeep rocked from side-to-side. The rain and wind battered all scenery. Coral tried to calm the panic uprising underneath her skin. No, she did not want to go in there. She had a bad feeling she was going to find corpses of her family in the foyer.

Lincoln must have sensed her hesitation because he said, “Look, if you want, I can go in with you and check everything out.”

Coral looked back at Lincoln and thought about everything he’d said. If he was right, she’d been living with a stranger. A monster. She didn’t want to be alone right now, but she also didn’t want Lincoln in her house. Conflicted, she replied, “Thank you, but you don’t have to do that.”

“
It don’t feel right just leavin’ you here. Come on, let’s get you inside.” With that said, Lincoln attempted to push open his car door, but the wind was too strong. “Okay, let’s try the other side.”

“
Lincoln, wait.” Coral put her hand on his shoulder to stop him. One last matter needed to be addressed. “I have to know something first. What was your involvement in my daughter’s kidnapping?”

She watched Lincoln compose himself. He let out a shaky breath and said, “No matter what Snake said, I was there. Fate brought me and Kris together that day. And I shot him. It was an accident, I swear. But I paid for it. I spent the last ten years in prison beatin’ myself bloody over it. And then I learned about Walter Simmons and how he was killed. Your husband became the target of all my anger. Taking your daughter was just a means to an end. I had to get out so I could kill him, and the only way to do that was to force his hand. So yeah, I was involved in your daughter’s kidnapping. I guess it don’t mean a lot to say that if I knew then what I know now, then none a’ this woulda’ happened.”

Coral didn’t know why this latest revelation shocked her. But his words rocked her core. The tears that had subsided came roaring back as Lincoln continued.

“
I want you to know I’m real sorry for what happened to your daughter and son. I’m sorry for the part I played in all that. But I would’ve been to blame for both of those crimes, even if I didn’t do them. I know now I was set up. Been set-up from the very beginning of my life. But there’s no point in laying blame at no one else’s feet cuz I went along with it. Just like we’re going along with this right now. And I don’t expect your forgiveness or nothin’ like that. That’s not why I’m tellin’ you all this.”

“
Then why?” Coral wailed.

“
Because, this is all startin’ to make sense to me now. Kris told me somethin’ earlier. He said, ‘Looks are deceiving’. Your house looks empty, but I don’t think it is. I think we’re supposed to go in there together, and the only way you were gonna let me get you in there was if I told you the truth, am I right?”

Coral looked up at her home and then back at Lincoln.

“
I’ll take that as a yes.” Lincoln said, abruptly opening the passenger’s side door and stepping outside into the elements. His hospital get-up billowed in the wind like a parachute as the rain soaked him. It took him a few moments to situate himself to open Coral’s door.

Coral’s body was still betraying her. Lincoln had to lift her out of the car like a groom carrying his bride. With her arms wrapped around Lincoln’s neck, Coral once again felt Lincoln’s strength. She thought about his confession and what it meant. Coral knew she’d never forgive him, she couldn’t even forgive herself. But she was very glad of his company.

Making their way up the driveway, her eyes fixated on the old live oak tree behind them. She noticed something odd about that tree, but she couldn’t place it. Then a gust of wind nearly knocked them down.

That’s it!

The wind swirled all around them, but not a frond on that tree budged. Everything became clear. And the picture that manifested chilled Coral down to her marrow. This was about history. This was payback.

* * * * *

Lincoln got the door open on the first try and carried Coral out of the storm into the darkened foyer. The door slammed behind them on its own, like in a haunted mansion, and they both flinched.

“
Where can I set you down?” Lincoln asked moving cautiously in the dark. When Coral didn’t immediately reply, he asked her again. But Coral’s focus was behind them.

Lincoln felt the barrel of a gun poke his skull and knew he wasn’t going to save Brandon after all.

* * * * *

Chapter Eighty-One

Angola, LA

With an unconscious Jhonnette flung over his shoulder, the stranger led Moses to a covered guard tower adjacent to the building, one of the few dry places left in the prison complex. The last of the drowning prisoners’ screams had stopped a few minutes before and the rain once again trumped all other sound.

Chest heaving with exhaustion, Moses looked at the strange man across from him. As they were making their way through the prison, the stranger had tried frantically and unsuccessfully to revive several of his fellow prisoners. Now he looked shell-shocked and whipped.

“
It’s okay, Son,” Moses said in an attempt to console. “There was nothing more you could have done.”

The stranger maintained his defeated posture.

“
You know if you hadn’t shown up when you did…” Moses shuddered. He’d danced with death too many times for his own comfort. Maybe silence was best.

The stranger got to his feet and dragged Jhonnette to the railing. As he hoisted her up, Moses realized he meant to throw her over the side of the tower to her death. He propelled himself into the crazed man’s path. “Stop!”

They locked eyes. Moses saw more than lunacy in the other man’s face; he recognized a deep reservoir of regret. “What are you doing? You just saved this woman’s life and now you want to kill her?” Moses asked.