Innocent Blood
Linda S Prather
Copyright © 2017 Linda S Prather
The right of Linda S Prather to be identified as the Author of the Work has been asserted by her in accordance Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
First published in 2017 by Bloodhound Books
Apart from any use permitted under UK copyright law, this publication may only be reproduced, stored, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means, with prior permission in writing of the publisher or, in the case of reprographic production, in accordance with the terms of licences issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency.
All characters in this publication are fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
www.bloodhoundbooks.com
Contents
Also by Linda S Prather
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Epilogue
A Note From Bloodhound Books
Also by Linda S Prather
The Forgotten
Praise for Linda S Prather
'I really like this authors style of writing, it's crisp, spot on and a good snappy read with lots of action that your mind doesn't wander once.' Sue Ward - Read Along With Sue
'Linda Prather rocked the core of my being with this gruesome story and I just held on to every sentence.' Susan Hampson - Books From Dusk Till Dawn
'This is a fast paced mystery with a paranormal edge and a definite must read from me.' M.A. Comley - NY Times best-selling author
'The pace is fast and smooth and the narration goes speeding along so quickly you don't realise how long you have been sitting reading.' Aileen Mckenzie - Feminisia Libros Reviews
'A very clever story within a great setting.' Alexina Golding - Bookstormer
To my sons, Charles and Steven, who encouraged me to follow my dreams, work hard, and make them come true. To my husband, Coby, who taught me that love didn’t require a person to change, it only enhanced what they already were.
To my fans who keep my fingers moving and my imagination rocking for each new book.
To M. A. Comley and Mum, who encourage me when I’m down and give me a swift kick when I need one.
To Mary Endersbee for a lovely content edit and for keeping me laughing.
A special thank you to my wonderful line editor, Angela M. and proofreader, Jill, with Red Adept Editing and as always my wonderful publisher, Bloodhound Books.
Also a special thank you to Tracy Fenton and all the members of TBC who have become friends, fans, and new authors I would perhaps never have had the opportunity to read without their wonderful reviews and recommendations.
Prologue
Loki Redmond woke to the sound of a door softly closing. She tossed off the covers and made her way to the window, welcoming the reprieve from her dark, disturbing dreams. At least it wasn’t a vision.
Her brother Jules stood outlined in the moonlight, his fists clenched at his sides. A well of sadness opened up inside her at the sight of him standing there with his head bowed. If her dreams were dark and disturbing, his would be a thousand times worse.
Loki rummaged through her chest and donned shorts and a T-shirt. It was already warm, and the day ahead promised to be blistering. Since they were both awake, they might as well talk about what was bothering them. She tiptoed down the hall, through the kitchen, and out the back door. If he woke, Jake would demand to know what was bothering her, and she didn’t honestly know. Her dreams were most likely the product of her grandfather’s call for help with an issue on the reservation. He’d reminded her of her duty to her people.
Her people. Strange that Grandfather should put it that way. He’d constantly criticized her and her brothers and shouted more than once that they weren’t true Choctaw. He’d belittled their mother right up until the day of her death. Loki shook off the emotions churning in her gut. Grandfather was an old man now, and hating him would only hurt her.
“Hey.” She approached Jules slowly, aware that at times he walked in his sleep. “Bad dreams?”
Jules picked up a rock and threw it into the trees that surrounded the back of the property. “Horrible.”
“Want to talk about it?”
He shook his head. “I’m sorry I woke you.”
Placing an arm around his waist, she stood with him, just watching the beauty of the early-morning breeze gently swaying the trees. “You didn’t wake me, but even if you did, I’m glad. My dreams weren’t very pleasant, either.”
“Maybe you shouldn’t go to the reservation today. After the way they treated us, you don’t owe them anything.”
Loki sighed and dropped her arm. “Is that what’s bothering you?”
“No.”
Frustration overwhelmed her. For years Jules hadn’t said a word, trapped in his own mind with a horror he didn’t know how to express. All that had changed last year when she’d brought Jake to Grandpa Zachery’s farm to heal after his wife’s murder. What was supposed to be a vacation turned into a fight for their life against a madman and his mother, but for Jules it had been a miracle of sorts. They’d managed to save Grace, a thirteen-year-old who had been kidnapped and abused by the serial killers, and her month-old baby, Hope. And Grace had helped Jules heal. The two of them shared a bond that few people would ever understand. “I can’t help you, Jules, if you won’t talk to me.”
“Talking won’t change it, Loki. You and I both know that.”
“No, but sometimes it helps to share things.”
“Why do we call this the Redmond Farm?”
Loki chuckled. “Because Grandpa loved our mother so much that when she married our father, he changed the name of the farm. Sometimes I think he did it just to piss off Grandfather Redmond.”
“There’s something evil about Grandfather Redmond, Loki. Don’t trust him.”
“I didn’t before, and I’m not going to now.” She studied Jules’s face, looking for clues about what was truly behind his pain. “If there’s something you know about what’s going on at the reservation, you should tell me.”
“Have you ever known something was wrong but you didn’t know what it was or how to stop it?”
Loki dropped to the ground, hugged her knees to her chest, and patted the spot beside her. “You know how my visions work. I get images or feelings, and it’s always after something horrible has happened. I can never stop it.”
Jules finally sat beside her. “Some of the spirits are angry. Some are very sad. They say innocent blood has been shed, and the blood of more innocents will be shed in the coming days.”
“Have you talked to Grace about this?”
“She feels the same thing. I think she knows more, but she’s not ready to share it yet.”
“
Do you know when this is supposed to happen?”
“Today.”
Loki shuddered. She and Dadron were leaving for the reservation first thing this morning. The sun began to rise, but it did nothing to dispel the chill sinking into her bones and encompassing her. “Does this have anything to do with Grandfather?”
Jules stood, brushed off his jeans, and walked toward the forest. His voice was sad and filled with pain. “No, but you should tell Jake you love him before you leave.”
1
The sun blazed down on the small ravine as Jake Savior knelt beside Jules Redmond and studied the ground. In a few more hours the heat would be unbearable. “Anything at all?” Jake asked.
“Nothing.” Jules stood and wiped the sweat from his brow. “A child couldn’t have gone into that brush pile without leaving some trace.”
Jake removed his neckerchief and wiped his face. “So I guess it was a spirit or ghost or whatever it is you guys see that the rest of us don’t.”
“Loki doesn’t see spirits.”
“Well, she certainly saw something, and it’s happened three times now.” Jake started the slow climb to the road. It had been a long shot, bringing Jules here, but Jake felt helpless when it came to the things Loki experienced. This one had upset her more than usual.
“Maybe it was a vision.” Jules followed close on Jake’s heels.
“Water or beer?” Jake lifted the hatch on the Highlander and pulled out the cooler. “Is it always this hot here in April? It’s not even eight o’clock yet.”
“Water. It’s too early for beer.” Jules took the bottle, splashed half of it on his face, and drank the rest. “The winter was strangely cold, and no, it isn’t normally this hot in April. Doesn’t bode well for the summer months.”
Jake popped the top on a can of beer and took a long drink, his eyes scanning the terrain. “There aren’t any houses anywhere near here in either direction. If this is a vision of something destined to happen in the future, where would a child come from?”
Jules shrugged and grabbed another bottle of water. “Loki’s visions usually come after something has already happened.” He pointed at the ravine. “But there are no spirits here. We could have Grace search the computer databases and see if there were any car wrecks where a family was injured or died and a young girl survived and ran away. ”
“Sounds like a plan.” Jake slammed the hatch. “It’s too hot to stay out here any longer, and I’m hungry. You want to drive?”
The young boy’s face lit up. “Really?”
Jake tossed him the keys. “You’ve got your permit, and you have to learn sometime.” He held up the beer and grinned. “And I’ve been drinking before breakfast.”
Jules adjusted the seat and mirrors, waited for Jake to buckle up, and started the car. “So what exactly did Loki see?”
“A young girl, maybe five or six years old, running across the road. Loki thinks she was Choctaw, but she can’t be sure.”
“And you didn’t see her?”
“Nope. The first time she screamed stop, I almost flipped the car in the ditch. Loki ran after her, but she disappeared into that cluster of brush we just searched.”
“And is it always the same time of day?” Jules’s eyes locked on the road in front of him.
“I never really thought about it, but yeah, it was close to the same time all three evenings. Dark enough to have the lights on but not totally dark,” Jake said.
Jake leaned back in the seat and closed his eyes. In the past year, he’d accepted Loki’s visions, as well as the fact that Jules and Grace saw things no one else could. For Loki, the visions were simply part of her Choctaw heritage. Grace’s ability was brought on by trauma and loneliness during the years she was held captive by a madman and his crazy mother. Jules’s abilities were probably a combination of his Choctaw heritage and trauma. Jake had learned firsthand what trauma and grief could do to the human psyche. His friends’ abilities might be preferable to the insanity that had seized him after his wife’s murder. His heart still ached for Cara at times, but with Loki’s love, he was healing a little more each day and building a new life in Mississippi.
“Have you heard from Loki and Dadron?”
“She called to say they had arrived. I don’t expect to hear anything else until later. Cell service out there isn’t the best in the world. She said she’d call if they were staying overnight.” Jake shot a glance at Loki’s younger brother. Worry lines wrinkled Jules’s forehead, replacing the earlier gleeful face, and he gripped the wheel tightly. “Something bothering you, Jules?”
“Grace says the spirits are restless, and something terrible is about to happen. She doesn’t know what, but it has something to do with innocent blood.”
“And you think that has something to do with what’s going on on the reservation, or the kid Loki keeps seeing?”
“I don’t know. I don’t think so, but there are those in the tribe who love and respect Loki, and those who hate and fear her.” Jules’s voice faltered for a moment. “The hate is because of me.”
“She only promised to listen to what her grandfather had to say. Besides, Dadron is with her. He’s not going to let anything happen to her.”
“I still don’t think she should have gone there.” Jules turned in to the driveway leading to the farm. “This is not her fight, and she doesn’t owe Grandfather anything.” He parked in front of the house, turned off the motor, and handed the keys to Jake. “Thank you. Tell Grace not to set a place for me.”
“Where are you going?” Jake exited the vehicle quickly, but Jules was already disappearing into the forest behind the house.
The door to the farmhouse opened, and Grace came out on the landing. “Let him go, Jake.”
“Any idea where he’s headed?”
“He built a sweat lodge yesterday. He’s gone there to fast and pray for those who are about to die.”
Loki Redmond grabbed the door handle and held on tight as the vehicle hit a pothole. “With all the money pouring in from the casinos, can’t they do something about this section?”
Tim “Bearclaw” Whitefeather jerked the wheel to avoid another hole. “Politics.”
Loki glanced in the rearview mirror, meeting Dadron’s angry gaze. She understood his anger as they passed another section of clapboard houses, the yards littered with empty liquor bottles and piles of trash. They’d left the more prominent sections of the reservation over an hour ago and were now traveling through the parts hidden from tourists. She also understood Tim’s comment about politics. Even here, miles from what was referred to as civilization, the rich got richer and the poor continued to suffer.
Tim pulled into a section of trees and parked. “The basin is about a half mile through the forest. We’ll walk from here.”
Loki motioned for Dadron to hang back as she rushed to catch up with Tim. “Why did Grandfather want to meet out here?”
“You’ll have to ask him.”
Grabbing Tim’s arm, she turned him to face her. “I’m asking you. You haven’t said ten words to us since we got here. We were friends once. And you know how Grandfather feels about us. Please, tell me what this is about.”
“Nalusa Falaya.”
“You can’t be serious.” Loki laughed and shook her head. “Nalusa Falaya is a myth. Like the boogeyman, something made up by parents to keep the children inside after dark.”
“We have two missing hunters, Loki.”
“That doesn’t mean anything. If they’re unfamiliar with the area, they probably just got lost out here.”
“We found the third hunter.”
Dadron joined them. “Dead or alive?”
Tim’s jaw set in a hard line, and his eyes darkened. “Mostly dead. We’re wasting time, and your Grandfather doesn’t like to be kept waiting.”
Loki hung back to walk with Dadron. She really didn’t care what her grandfather liked or didn’t like. Tim had been her cousin Harry’s best friend all through childhood. The
y’d gone through the police academy together, and Tim had joined the tribal police when Harry had moved to Corpus Christi and joined the police department there. Living on the reservation kept some of the old myths and culture alive, but no one believed in Nalusa Falaya. “What do you think he means by ‘mostly dead’?”
“Grandfather asked you to bring Jules with you, didn’t he?” Dadron asked.
“Maybe.” Loki watched Tim’s back as he stalked away from them. Grandfather hadn’t asked her to bring Jules; he’d demanded she bring Jules. He’d wanted all three of them here. “Don’t worry, Dadron. It will be a cold day in hell before they get their hands on Jules again.”
2
Rafe Wilson watched his youngest child dip into the bowl of cereal, take a bite, and give him a toothy grin. He’d missed this little ritual for the first year of Anna’s life, and he’d missed it with Michael and Leesa. His memories were mostly the things Ruth shared when he came home at night. When he took the time to let her share them.
Rafe turned his attention to his wife as she poured eggs into the skillet then popped two slices of bread into the toaster. Her hips had spread out a little in the last few years, but she was still a beautiful woman. Any man out there would be lucky to get her. He hoped the next one wouldn’t take her for granted as he had. “Want me to drop Michael and Leesa off at school for you?”
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