Return of the Devil's Spawn

by John Moore

  “Why did you leave home?” I asked.

  “I was Catholic. Our priest was an old-schoolDutch man. He convinced my family I couldn’t stay in my town and have the baby. It would tempt other girls to sin, he said. They wanted me to hide in some backwoods convent for the pregnancy, then give the baby up for adoption. No way! So I left. I came to New Orleans. Thank God I was able to stay at the center. It was very hard on me, because I love my family, no matter what. I hope some day they will be proud of me again.”

  “They should be proud of you right this minute. I am,” I said.

  “Thanks, Alexandra. That means a lot to me.”

  We were there the better part of the morning before the lab tech called our names and presented us with our results. Jason was right. I had the chemicals that had killed my mother circulating in my blood, and twenty more. I was contaminated. It pissed me off to realize that profiteering, heartless, corporate behemoths could poison me and get away with it. The government thought it was fine, saying the chemicals were at safe levels and created acceptable risks. I’d had enough of their corporate bullshit. It was bad enough that pesticides were in my body, but I was floored to find out that many were also in the baby’s blood. I wondered how that was possible. The lab tech explained they travel from the mother to the child. My internal rant was interrupted by a call from Jess. She asked me to stop by her office.

  I had to rush Karen back to the center and run by Jess’s because today was finally our moving day. I dared not leave Tom and Piper alone to move our things and place them in the condo without supervision. They were a little reckless by themselves, but when paired together, they were a disaster. Traffic was cooperating for some unknown reason today so I traversed town without getting delayed or killing anybody.

  Jess was waiting when I entered her office. We walked together to the kitchen room to get coffee. She took tentative, guarded steps, causing me to shed an internal tear watching this magnificent woman struggle with simple tasks. It reminded me that life has seasons and she was in the fall of her life and that was just the way things were.

  When we returned to Jess’s office, she got right to the point. “Alexandra, I already know you aren’t going to follow in my footsteps here at the paper. I was disappointed at first, but now I realize your decision is correct. When I got into the business it was booming. Hell, the daily newspaper was how people found out what was going on around them. Most journalists had a strict code of conduct. We reported the news and tried not to sensationalize stories. That’s just not the case anymore. The competition for eyeballs is intense. The Internet is the way people communicate with each other these days. News on the net is instant. The writers can update a story in real time. The only thing holding it back is all of the bullshit written on the web. So what I brought you here to tell you is I think you ought to expand your blog into a daily magazine or news outlet.”

  “Jess, I want to do more than just report the news. I want to bring about change in the world. No longer can I stand by as a passive reporter telling the story of wrongdoing. I want to stop it. I want to be in on the action.”

  Jess laughed and took another sip of her coffee. “You are the new breed of investigative journalist. You mix it up with the bad guys. You scare the shit out of them and make them hide in the shadows. Interactive reporting is the wave of the future and you are leading the way. Don’t let anyone stop you.” Jess paused, coughed for a few minutes, then apologized and said the chemo was making her ill.

  “Please,” I said. “Don’t apologize. Take care of yourself!”

  She stood and walked with me to the front door of the building. She said she was heading home to bed. “This is the first time in forty years I haven’t worked a full day,” she said.

  “I’m glad you’re smart enough to know you need rest.”

  She looked at me ironically. “Yes, Alexandra, I’m smart enough. You be smart enough too. You can’t do everything by yourself.”

  “I’m always asking you for help,” I replied.

  “Keep asking.”

  I scurried to the Bourbon Street condo to help with the move. Tom and Piper were rearranging the furniture. I put a stop to that. They had absolutely no decorating skills. We worked and laughed our way to a complete redo of the condo. The security system was updated with remote control cameras patrolling the entire condo, including the perimeter. Our move was complete.

  I sat both Piper and Tom down at the kitchen table and told them about my trip to the hospital lab. I told them about my talk with Jess. They listened because they knew I had an announcement to make. “I’ve decided it is time to do more than just observe from the sidelines. The chemical and industrial food companies are compromising the health of the people. I want to start an organic farmers’ market here in New Orleans. Jason can help us set it up. I would like you both to help. Will you?”

  Tom jumped up out of his chair, nearly knocking it over. “Hell yeah, I’ll help. Those bastards have to be stopped. We can beat them one city at a time.”

  I loved it when he showed his true grit.

  Piper blushed a little, looked at me, and said, “What can I do? I don’t know anything about farming.”

  I ran my fingers through her hair. “You can help me investigate what these evil companies are doing around the world and put it on our website.”

  “Our website?” Piper asked.

  “Yes, our website,” I responded. “We’ll do this together.”

  Tom sat back down, his mind obviously churning. He busted out, “Why don’t we look for some land in LaPlace to farm? We can organize a cooperative or community farm. I will take the lead. I know plenty of people who would help. What do you say, Alexandra?”

  “That’s a great idea, Tom,” I said. “Piper can post our progress on the web with articles, photos, and videos. I can write all of the articles. We’ll encourage people in other cities to plant gardens. People are already doing this in some places. We’ll reach out to them with instructional videos and posts. We can expose what the food processors are doing and show the people the health consequences of eating that shit. This will be great!”

  “When do you want to get started? Do you have any land in mind? Where will be the best place for the farmers’ market?” Tom asked.

  “We can fill in all of the details later. What I am certain of is I want to find a piece of land, farm it, and bring the organic products to a market or markets accessible to ordinary people,” I said. “None of us should have to walk around with pesticides and herbicides in our bodies. It just isn’t right. Karen’s little baby had pesticides in his blood. The lab techs said it comes through his mother’s milk. We were told that babies in the womb get contaminated through the umbilical cord. What a nightmare.”

  Piper listened with razor-like attention to everything we were saying. She picked up her computer and visited some websites that verified what we’d been told by the lab techs. “This is as bad as Victor giving drugs to my mother and all of the other women at his spa,” she said.

  “Poison is poison,” I said. “We will stop them and give alternatives to people. We have to get the word out through our website. It will take a great deal of work. Piper, I’m counting on you to champion that cause. Warning people of the dangers isn’t enough. We have to provide them a convenient alternative to the contaminated food they eat today. People have become zombies. They go through their regimens doing what is most convenient to them, andthe conglomerates have exploited this tendency, making their products easily accessible. Tom, you and I will have to learn the organic farming business as well as how to get the products to farmers’ markets. Tomorrow we will start the process.”

  “I’m going to my room and will start getting the word out on the website tonight,” Piper said. I wasn’t surprised. She was a ball of energy. I was tired and wanted to spend some private time with Tom.

  Tonight was the firs
t night for us in our new home. We were official French Quarter residents. What a feeling. Even though I was freaked about Bob Broussard roaming free, I was ecstatic we’d made the decision to move. The new security cameras were in place, locks were changed, and I felt like we were secure enough if we were careful. I wondered if I would be able to sleep well. We ordered food from one of the cool new restaurants in the Quarter before bed.

  Piper went to her room, and Tom and I went to our massive master bedroom. We had painted the wall a grayish blue, leaving the ceiling a shade lighter. The window had white, wooden slat shutters covered by patterned curtains blending grays, blues, and rust colors, complementing the oak floors. A large ceiling fan hovered over the king-sized sled bed for those steamy New Orleans nights. Tom climbed into the bed, rolling back the comforter decorated by a large peacock strutting across a placid landscape. I went to the bathroom to ready myself for bed.

  I gazed in the mirror at myself, thinking how different I was from the first time Tom and I were in this condo Mardi Gras night. So much had changed. The diamond on my finger caught the light and bounced a brilliant flash off of my eyes. I looked at the ring, feeling a warmth circulate through my body. I was getting married to the man of my dreams. I took off my makeup and put on my negligee. Our first night in our new home was going to be special for Tom and me.

  I opened the door to exit the bathroom and stood in the dim light for a second. Tom’s eyes absorbed me as he stood and walked to face me. He placed his right hand with fingers spread wide on the back of my head and pulled my lips to his. This kiss was different than any before. He kissed me hard, a passionate kiss colliding tongues together. They danced a fiery ballet, tangling, entwining, and exploring each other. Without breaking our lips apart, I pushed him backward till the back of his knees hit the side of our bed. I fell on top of him. We kissed, twisting our heads to try to merge ourselves together. I broke the kiss and rolled over. He pounced on me, removing one strap of my negligee, exposing my breast. His mouth found my nipple as shock waves surged through me. The other breast silently begged for attention. Though the begging was inaudible, he heard it anyway and made his way slowly but steadily to the screaming nipple. Fire rushed through my body, engulfing me in hot passion. I tore off his clothes and threw my panties against the wall.

  I rolled Tom onto his back and climbed on top, guiding him into me. My body was yearning for him as he entered me. We rocked in rhythm, first slow, and then feverishly fast. We both fought the release we needed, wanting to make it last. Last forever if we could. Finally, we both surrendered to the flood of heated passion. I let a muted scream leave my lips as wave after wave crashed through my body, pulsingand throbbing bolts of sheer pleasure. When it finally retreated like a gentle tide, I rolled off and fell into a deep sleep, unaware of the sounds of the city, drifting into a place of unrestricted peace.

  Chapter Ten:

  Old Tricks

  My first morning in our new home began with Piper waking me from a love coma with a cup of freshly brewed Community Coffee. Thank God Tom and I were both covered. I don’t know why I worried so much about Piper knowing there were intimate moments between Tom and me. After all, she’d lived in a brothel in Los Angeles. We were going to be married soon, soshe had to expect we’d do what all couples do. None of it seemed to bother her, so maybe it shouldn’t bother me.

  “Alexandra, I worked on the website last night. You have to come see what I’ve done,” she said. My heart gladdened to see her diving into our new venture. I wondered how I ever got along without her.

  Tom rolled over making some unintelligible sound. “Let’s go outside on the balcony,” I said. “I want to sit with my coffee and enjoy the morning air.”

  Piper and I went to the balcony off of the living room area. We walked through the wooden French doors. She sat at the small cast-iron table she and Tom had placed in the center of the balcony. I walked to the edge and looked over the rail at the street below, my mind still humming with happiness. My eyes nearly popped out of my head. I couldn’t believe what I saw. There across the street, looking up at me, were Victor Ivanovich and Bart Rogan, big as life and twice as nasty. They were dressed in sharp suits, leaning on a storefront as if they were just enjoying the Quarter. Victor looked me up and down, and smiled and then both men turned and walked away.

  Holy shit. Those two devils had teamed up. How the hell did that happen? They weren’t in the French Quarter by accident. They were there for me to see them. What did they have in store for me and my family? I ran back into the house, dragging Piper with me.

  “Stay inside,” I said. “Tom, Tom, come here!” I shouted. Tom bolted into the room, tripping on the comforter wrapped around his waist, and fell on the floor.

  “What? What is it? What’s wrong?” he yelled as he scrambled to his feet.

  “Go to the balcony and look down the street,” I said. We both walked out on to the balcony. I pointed at Victor and Rogan, who were almost out of sight. “Do you see them?”

  Tom strained his eyes, furrowing his brow in the process. “You mean those two guys walking down the street? They look like businessmen.”

  I said, a bit frustrated, “Those ‘two guys’ areBart Rogan and Victor Ivanovich.”

  “Are you sure?” Tom asked.

  “What the hell do you mean, am I sure? What kind of a dumbass question is that? Both of those two assholes have tried to ruin my life. Don’t you think I know them when I see them?” I said, my voice carrying in the morning air.

  “Calm down, Alexandra,” Tom said. “I believe you. I just wasn’t sure you got a good look at them.”

  Piper snaked her way between us, and she looked up at Tom, letting their eyes meet. She said, “I saw them too. I don’t know who Rogan is, but it was Victor. I’m sure; I’d know him anywhere. Please believe me.”

  Tom’s face fell. He took her little hand and sat her down on the couch. “I’m sorry, Piper. I know you and Alexandra know what you saw. I just wanted to be sure. Sometimes I say stupid things. I’m better with fish than people.”

  Tom was so pitiful sitting there wrapped in a peacock comforter. He wasn’t fully awake, but he came running naked as a jaybird when I called. We were all on edge: Bob Broussard, Victor Ivanovich, and Bart Rogan loose in the French Quarter. Why the hell wouldn’t we be on edge? I wondered what Victor and Rogan were cooking up. Whatever it was, it meant trouble for me, Tom, and Piper. When would this stop? I knew evil was never-ending, but I wanted rid of the evil brought down on us by those three. I was sick of them and considered putting a lock of hair from each of them on voodoo dolls and pushing pins in their heads.

  And what role was Mandy playing in all of this crap? There were plenty of questions and not many answers. I took a deep breath.

  “It’s OK, Tom. We’ll figure this out. Maybe Clinton Cunningham has found out what the evil ones are planning. I’ll go see him after you go to work,” I said. “Charlotte and Michael are coming by today to follow up on our conversations about Sweet Treat stevia. Piper, will you stay with them while I go see Clint?”

  Piper gave me that look, the one teenagers give when they think you’ve completely lost your mind. I don’t know why she chose this moment to state the obvious, but she did. “Alexandra, I am not a helpless child anymore who has to be supervised every minute of the day. I can stay by myself. I am old enough to babysit and old enough to travel on my own. Now that we have moved into the French Quarter, I’ll be hanging out by myself most of the time. I’ll stay with Charlotte and Michael because they’re cool. But it’s time you started treating me like an adult.”

  Oh my God. She was right. I hadn’t realized that at her age I was taking care of both of my parents. My mother was sick and my father had dementia. Of course, she was fully capable of taking care of herself. Hell, truth be known, she was better at it than I was.

  “OK, Piper,” I said. “You’re right. But promise me
you’ll be careful. You know how dangerous the streets are these days, and now we have these three devils stalking us. I just worry.”

  “Deal,” Piper said.

  Tom gave me a huge smile. He’d already figured out he had two tough women on his hands. I guess with a gun-toting fiancée and a computer whiz niece in the house he felt confident we could handle just about anything. I’d never really looked at our situation from Tom’s perspective. Trouble seemed to follow Piper and me. Tom must wake up every day and wonder, “What the hell are these two going to get us into today?” He’d signed up to be a crusader against polluters when he joined ROLF, but I don’t think he knew when he met me he’d get involved with a rogue corporate fixer, a Colombian drug cartel, a serial killer, the Dixie Mafia, and the Russian Mafia. I couldn’t help it, I started laughing out loud.

  “What’s so funny?” Tom asked.

  “Oh, nothing,” I said. “Let’s get another cup of coffee and sit out on the balcony. It’s such a beautiful morning. I am going to love living here.”

  Piper nodded. She’d made her point and was happy to have more independence to explore her new world. I too wanted to do some exploring. I wanted to find out why those two evil demons had hooked up. It couldn’t be for any good reason, not involved in the same business. Victor was interested in bringing his prostitution business to New Orleans, and Rogan, well, he was interested in getting even with me. I remembered him saying to me, “This isn’t over, bitch,” as the Indian police led him away less than a year ago. Maybe he’d come back to even the score. But he was a corporate profiteer, so there had to be money in it for him as well. Money was all he cared about. That’s what drives people like him and Victor.

  But how could their financial interests bethe same? That question nagged at me, and I knew answering it was the key to the whole mystery. The one thing I knew for sure was that Rogan and Victor would be up to their old tricks, lying, cheating, and stealing, and somehow, I stood in their way.