Haunted (Witches of the Big Easy Book 3)

by Susan E Scott

  He narrowed his eyes. “If you don’t believe in all this, how do you know so much about it?”

  I rolled my eyes. “I don’t believe it, but my memere does, and she told me stories when I stayed with her as a kid.”

  Rafe smiled at me. “She sounds like a smart woman. I’d like to meet her sometime.” Then, he gave me that little bratty pout that drove me crazy and made me want to grab him and kiss it off his face or put him over my knee.

  I rolled my eyes. “I have to go.” He walked me to the front door and never said another word. No, that’s not true. He touched my arm, and I thought I heard him whisper something under his breath. It sounded like Latin, but I couldn’t be sure. I was about to ask him what he said, but he stepped back quickly and didn’t say anything else, so I didn’t either since he was already starting to close the door. As soon as I stepped out onto the front porch, which still smelled awful, by the way, he shut the door right behind me, and I heard him lock it.

  Chapter Nine

  Gage

  Luc had texted the address where I was supposed to meet him, and I saw that it was only about ten minutes from Ravenwood. I spent the short drive to the crime scene trying to put my thoughts about what Rafe had told me on the back burner so I could focus on my job, but I was really worried about him. I was usually good at compartmentalizing my life, but I was having trouble doing it today, because there seemed to be something wrong with my ear, and it was distracting me.

  It started almost as soon as I got in my car at Ravenwood. My right ear began ringing and wouldn’t stop. It wasn’t a loud sound, but it was enough to be annoying. I tried yawning, like you do when you go over a mountain, to relieve pressure on my eardrum, but that didn’t work. I thought that maybe I’d gotten water in my ear when I took a shower earlier, but I couldn’t understand why I didn’t hear the ringing until I was in my car, leaving Ravenwood. I tried shaking my head or leaning it over to the side, but nothing worked.

  By the time I’d tried all that several times in an effort to relieve the annoying sound, I was at the crime scene, pulling into the driveway. I saw that Luc was already there. He must have called me as soon as he was on his way, or he couldn’t have gotten there before I did. I got out of my car, looking around. The house was a modest, older home on a tree-lined street with houses that looked very similar. The difference was that the front door of this house was standing wide open with people going in and out. Forensics. There was a uniform cop standing at the door, and I flashed my badge as I walked past him. I could hear Luc’s voice coming from the back of the house and what was probably the kitchen, so I strolled in that direction, looking around and being careful not to touch anything.

  He was there talking to an older woman who had obviously been crying and was now sniffling quietly. He looked surprised to see me. “That was quick. Where were you when I called?”

  “Ravenwood.” I noticed that the female looked up with a shocked expression on her face and hurriedly made the sign of the cross. Luc quirked a brow and gave me a knowing look, like, see? I told you that house was creepy. I returned the look with a scowl. I was so not in the mood for this today. “So, what have we got here?”

  “Mrs. Landry, here, usually comes over for coffee with the victim every morning. She lives next door.” He pointed to a house we could see through the window. “She said that the victim rarely locks her doors, so she just walks in and yells out a greeting to let her know she’s here. This morning, though, she saw her friend.” He pointed to the body still lying on the floor, eyes open and fixed. She noticed all the blood, and the broken dishes, and the chairs overturned and knew that her friend had been killed ‘just like poor Josephine.’ Josephine Henry, who happened to also be a friend of hers. Seems they all went to church together. Anyway, she was terrified that whoever did this might still be here, so she ran back home to call the police.”

  I looked over at Mrs. Landry and back to Luc. “Have you got everything you need from her?”

  “Yeah, I think so.” He knew what I was getting at and said, “That’s all I need for now, Ma’am. Why don’t you go on back home and rest for a while? Do you have someone to come be with you?”

  She smiled at him. “Yes. A friend across the street is coming over when I call her.”

  “Great. We’ll be in touch if we have any other questions. Thank you.”

  She left, and I made sure she was out of earshot before I turned to Luc. “Listen. Rafe told me that he knew Mrs. Henry—well, that he didn’t really know her, but that she was a church friend of Camille’s and was one of the women who brought food to Ravenwood when his grandfather died.”

  “Hm. Interesting. I wonder if the victim here, her name was Marie Guidry, by the way, was also a close friend of Camille’s. I wouldn’t be surprised given the fact that Mrs. Landry said that she and the two victims all went to church together. That would certainly make things interesting, wouldn’t it?”

  I nodded. “That’s what I was thinking. We’ll need to get a list of all the church members. Maybe the minister can tell us which women were Camille’s closest friends.”

  Luc nodded. “You want to go on over to the church now? I don’t think it’s too far from here.”

  “Yeah. We might as well see if can get that list and get started on it as soon as possible.” I turned around and saw my friend, Gabrielle, kneeling by the body. “Morning, Gabby. We were about to go do some follow-up and maybe set up some interviews. Do you need us here for anything?”

  “No, I don’t think so. I’m going to be transporting the body to the morgue soon. I’ll text you when I get ready to start the autopsy.”

  “Okay. If you determine an approximate time of death before then, call and let me know.”

  She looked up and waved me off. “Will do. Now, get out of here and let us do our job. I’ll call you.”

  I chuckled and waved back at her. “So bossy,” I said as Luc and I walked out. When we got outside, we saw that my car had been blocked in, so we took Luc’s car.

  “Do you know where you’re going, Luc?”

  “I think so. Isn’t that the church that’s down that old dirt road?”

  “That’s what I was thinking.”

  It only took us a few minutes to find it, and once we did, we discovered that we were in luck. The church secretary and the minister were both there, so we were able to get the list of members right away and talk to the minister, Pastor Rideau, at the same time. He went over the list with us and was able to point to three women that Camille was closest to, and two of the three were our murder victims. The other one was Mrs. Landry, so Luc called the Watch Commander for the patrol units and asked for a couple of guys to watch her house until we could follow up some leads and hopefully catch the killer soon.

  While we were talking to the Pastor, it occurred to me to ask if he’d known Emmanuel and if he’d attended church there with his mother. “Yes, of course, mostly as a child—not so much as an adult. Both boys did. Their mother brought them every Sunday. We were about the same age, so we were in the same Sunday school class.”

  Both boys? “Uh, wait a minute. Did you say both boys?” I looked over at Luc, who raised his eyebrows.

  “Yes. Emmanuel and Emil. They were twins. I’ve seen Emmanuel from time to time over the years, but Emil left home…” He paused for a minute. “Goodness, it must have been over twenty-five years ago, and I haven’t seen him since. I asked Camille about him through the years, but she always acted as if she didn’t want to talk about him. She would just say he was fine and change the subject.”

  I had to admit I was shocked. Why, in all the research we’d done on the Dubois family, had we not uncovered the fact that Camille had twins? Somebody’s head was gonna roll over that one. I’d relied on reports of what the birth and death certificates had said. Reports that were obviously incomplete.

  Luc took me back to Marie Guidry’s house and thankfully most of the crime scene guys had left, so my car was no longer blocked in. Whe
n I got out of Luc’s car, I leaned down and said, “I’ll see you at the station. I want to see that original birth certificate. Maybe we can get the initial report into the computer, too, and try to get in touch with as many people as we can on that list. It’s a small church, and there aren’t that many members, so we might be able to get out of the office at a fairly decent hour. We need to find out about the voodoo practices that Camille was involved in up to her neck. I’m wondering about those other women and if they are involved in voodoo as well.”

  Luc gave me a penetrating stare. “You think voodoo had something to do with the murders?”

  “She was in the middle of ‘raising the dead’ when she was killed. What do you think?” And I’d like to know how Abel’s corpse got set on fire. And why.”

  “Are you planning on going back out to Ravenwood?”

  “I told Rafe I’d come back if it wasn’t too late.”

  “To stay all night?” At my nod, he shivered. “I’ve told you before, I don’t know how you can do that. That old place has to be haunted as hell.”

  I shook my head and laughed. “I’ll see you at the station.”

  On the way to work, I couldn’t help thinking about what Rafe had told me earlier. I didn’t believe any of that stuff about him and his family being witches, but it was obvious to me that he believed it. I was worried about the state of his mind and determined to take care of him. I was hoping that Luc and I could get through the preliminaries of this investigation, and I could get back out to Ravenwood to see about him.

  ****

  Rafe

  It was almost midnight. It had been rather ominously quiet all evening, and I hadn’t heard anything from Gage since he left. I was about to give up and go to bed when my phone rang. I was relieved to see it was him.

  “Hey, bebe. I’m sorry to call so late, but Luc and I just got done here, and I’m leaving the station now. Is it too late to come back?”

  “No, of course not. I told you this morning that it didn’t matter how late it was when you got done, I wanted you to come back.”

  “Okay. I’m on my way, then.”

  “Great. Have you eaten? I could make you a couple of sandwiches.”

  “No, that’s okay. Luc went out earlier and picked us up some burgers and fries so I’m fine. Just tired. I’ll see you in a few minutes.”

  “Okay.” I ended the call and went to the kitchen to pour myself a glass of wine and wait for Gage. While I was waiting, I began to hear the intermittent knocking in the wall again. Loki heard it, too, and sat beside me looking toward a small storage closet under the staircase. I began walking that way, but before I could get there, I heard Gage pulling into the circular drive in front of the house. The knocking stopped, as I turned back toward the front door. I had it open just as Gage stepped up onto the front porch.

  As soon as he walked in, he put his arms around me and hugged me. He nuzzled my neck and said, “What a hell of a day. I thought it would never end.”

  I smiled up at him. “I know. I’d about given up on you, but you’re here now and that’s all that matters.” I took a step back and said, “I just poured myself a glass of wine. Would you like one? Or maybe a beer?”

  “A beer sounds great.” He followed me to the kitchen. “What did you do today?”

  “Not much of anything. I have some good news, though. Beau called and said that he and Nic will be back in New Orleans tomorrow—in the morning, actually. They have an early flight.”

  “Will they be staying here?”

  “At Ravenwood? No. They’ll be staying at Nic’s house in the Quarter, but they’re coming out here tomorrow around lunchtime.”

  Gage frowned. “Would you like me to leave in the morning before they get here, then?”

  “Absolutely not. I thought we’d agreed to try turning whatever this chemistry is between us into a full-fledged relationship instead of the occasional booty call.” At his nod, I continued. “So, you’re my boyfriend now.” I couldn’t stop smiling. “Besides, Beau knows me well, and he’d already picked up on my interest in you.” I batted my eyes at him, and he laughed. “Now, why don’t we take our adult beverages upstairs and relax?”

  “That sounds good to me, cher. I have a headache and had the most annoying ringing in my ear all day.”

  Oops. I gave his ear a little caress. “Damn,” he said. “It stopped.” He worked his jaw and stuck a finger in it. “That’s been driving me crazy all day. And then poof, like magic.”

  “About that....”

  We were about halfway up the stairs, and he glanced behind us. “Oh hell, we left the kitchen light on. Wait right here, and I’ll go turn it off.”

  I put my hand on his arm to stop him from going back downstairs. “There’s no need for you to do that.” I raised my arm, snapped my fingers and said, “Averte lux.” The light went out, and Gage gave me an astounded look.

  “How the hell did you do that?”

  I smiled at him and patted his cheek. “Magic, of course.”

  He didn’t say a word, just followed me the rest of the way up the stairs. As soon as we reached the top, I heard a noise, but it wasn’t knocking this time. It was more a scratching sound. Gage looked at me and said, “I’m afraid you may have rats, cher. Do you hear that?”

  “Yes. I’ve been hearing something knocking inside the walls for a while now too. I never hear anything in the same place—sometimes it’s up here and sometimes it’s downstairs. I need to get rid of it. I’ll talk to Beau and Nic about it tomorrow.” I shivered, and he looked at me.

  “Are you okay?”

  “Never better.”

  He chuckled and put his arm around me as we walked into my bedroom. “Yeah, you do that—make a ‘spell.’” He was chuckling to himself as we came into the room. It was dark, so I snapped my fingers and said, “Lucernam accendi.” Both bedside lamps came on, and I turned to Gage, who had stopped laughing and narrowed his eyes at me when I did that little parlor trick.

  “What’s the matter, Gage?”

  “Oh, I don’t know, bebe, maybe the fact that you keep saying those Latin words and turning lights on and off. How are you doing that? And don’t say with a spell.”

  “Then I won’t say anything. Because they are spells.”

  “Uh huh. So, you’re an honest to God witch, you say, but you’re afraid of rats in the walls.”

  I shook my head and looked over at him. “I’m not exactly afraid of whatever is in the walls. I just want it gone from my house.”

  “Okay. Now, I want you to tell me how you do that with the lights.”

  I smiled smugly at him. “I’ve already told you. Magic.”

  He rolled his eyes so hard I thought he’d hurt himself. “Don’t tell me then. And the next time you ask me something, I’ll just…” He snapped his fingers. “I almost forgot that I had something to tell you. I think I can solve the mystery of the man that looks like Emmanuel or what you say is his ghost. I think it might be his twin brother.”

  “What twin brother? What are you talking about?”

  “When Luc and I went to the church today, the one that his mother Camille attended, and the pastor told us that Emmanuel had a twin brother named Emil.”

  I was so shocked by the news I sat down hard on the bed. “What? I’ve never heard that. I don’t remember Camille mentioning any child except Emmanuel.”

  “Pastor Rideau said Emil left over twenty-five years ago, so I figure he must have left around the time you and Sophie and Beau came here to live. You’d have only been a baby. That’s when Camille and Emmanuel were moved out of the house and into the cottage, wasn’t it?”

  “I don’t remember any of this, and I’m not sure if Beau will. If he ever knew anything about it, he probably won’t be able to recall it now because of those shock treatments he was subjected to. I’ll ask him tomorrow anyway.” I sat on my bed for a minute thinking about how angry all of them must have been if things had happened that way. “Damn, Gage, I’m surpris
ed that Camille didn’t poison every one of us.”

  “She was probably afraid of getting caught or hell, she might have been afraid of what your grandfather would do.”

  I thought about it and decided that she more than likely was afraid of what Abel would do to her if she hurt us. He was a powerful witch, and she knew it.

  We heard another thump as we walked down the hallway, and I stopped and went over to the wall and knocked back. Nothing. In a loud voice, I said, “If anyone’s there...if this is Emmanuel, knock three times.”

  “Rafe…” Gage said.

  I held up my hand to shush him and waited. Nothing. I knocked three times again. “If you’re here and want to communicate with us, knock three times.”

  Still silence. But it was a heavy, oppressive silence. Creepy. The silence in the house had a waiting quality to it...like someone was standing behind the wall, listening to what I might say next. Even Gage was quiet and watchful. I saw him glance behind us at the dark hallway. “Cut it out, Rafe,” he said uneasily.

  Then, distinctly, there came three loud bangs on the wall.

  Knock! Knock! Knock! The sound came from right in front of us.

  “Merde!” Gage cried out, and I put my hand on his arm and sent him calming energy.

  “If this is Emmanuel, knock again. Once for yes and twice for no.”

  Silence for at least ten seconds and then, knock!

  “Shit, Rafe...cut it out.”

  “Obviously, I’m not doing it. It’s the ghost.”

  “Emmanuel,” I said, raising my voice a little. “Why are you here?” Silence.

  “Knock if you’re here for...revenge.”

  The answer came almost immediately. Knock!

  “Against me and my family?”

  Knock!

  “Do you want to hurt me?”

  Knock!