by Donna Grant
Not only had Delia left with all their money, but she had taken the car as well. What was Davena supposed to do? She had nothing with which to pay the rent on Monday or for food. How was she going to go into work without a vehicle?
Her knees buckled and she fell to the ground, resting the side of her face against the wall. With no idea of where Delia could have gone, Davena didn’t know where to begin looking. The questions rushing through her mind were so many and so loud, that she let herself zone out.
She didn’t know how long the buzzing went on until she finally noticed it. Davena blinked, looking to the kitchen table where the pager the veterinarian gave them for emergency calls bounced around as it continued to vibrate.
Davena suddenly had a purpose. She climbed to her feet and walked to the table. 911 flashed on the screen when she answered it, which meant an animal had been brought in for an emergency. With nothing else to do, Davena rushed into the bedroom and threw on some clothes. She ran back into the kitchen, turned off the coffee pot, quickly made a sandwich out of the eggs she had cooked, and grabbed the house keys on her way out.
She ate as she walked into town. It was only a few miles, but what would take them only a couple of minutes by car, would take her much longer on foot. Running wasn’t an option since she was eating, and she had to eat since she had no idea when she would be able to replenish the food. She knew what it was like to miss day’s worth of meals, and she wasn’t going to turn away food just because she wasn’t hungry.
Incredulity over what Delia had done turned to fury, and then resentment.
She was about a mile from the house when a car slowed beside her and the window rolled down. Davena glanced over and saw it was the sheriff’s department.
“Hello, ma’am,” said the man with a tip of his hat as the car drove alongside her.
Davena stopped and forced a smiled as she faced him. “Good morning, sheriff.”
“I’m just a deputy with the sheriff’s department, ma’am. My name is Marshall Ducet. I’m new to the area, so I mean no disrespect when I ask if you need anything?”
She looked into his gray eyes. His black hair was short and held a wave to it. He had an easy, charming smile that she bet normally put people at ease. Young and handsome, Davena knew if he weren’t already taken, he would be soon.
“Deputy, would it be too much trouble to ask for a ride? My sister has taken the car, and Dr. Hebert has an emergency.”
“The vet?” Marshall asked with a small frown. “Of course. Get in.”
Davena started to grab the handle of the back passenger door when he laughed. She looked up, and he motioned her to come around to the front. She gladly rushed to the front passenger seat and got into the car.
After she buckled her seatbelt, she looked over at him to find him staring at her. “Oh. My apologies. It’s been a...difficult morning. I’m Davena.”
“What an unusual name. Do you have a last name to go with that?” he asked as he pressed on the accelerator.
She had given her name so many times over the last few years, but now she found herself hesitating. Davena decided to take another approach. If he thought her nervous, she knew he would continue to press her. “Must you know details of everyone who sits up here with you?” she asked with a grin.
He smiled and glanced at her. “I’m just curious. I come from a big city, so this is a change for me. I want to get to know everyone.”
“You will soon enough.”
“Are you a veterinarian yourself?”
It was Davena’s turn to laugh. “No, though I do love animals. I help out in the office.”
Thankfully, they pulled up to the clinic then. There were only two vehicles there. A tan heavy-duty truck that belonged to Dr. Hebert, and an older dark green Suburban.
“I appreciate the ride,” Davena said and opened the door.
“My pleasure. Good luck in there,” Marshall said with a nod.
Davena closed the door behind her and briefly watched him drive away before she ran into the clinic.
~ ~ ~
Beau smelled the smoke again. It was heavier, clinging to him. He couldn’t take a breath, couldn’t see. The smoke wrapped around him as if alive. He swatted at it, but he couldn’t get free. It wound up his legs to his waist, clinging to him until he couldn’t move. He tilted back his head in an effort to keep it out of his face, but there was no escaping it.
He was held immobile. Through the smoke, he could see a female dressed in white. No matter how hard he looked, he couldn’t make out her face. Then the smoke took him to the ground and seeped into his mouth and nose and into his lungs. It was killing him, choking him.
Beau’s eyes snapped open as he jerked upright in bed. Once more, he was drenched with sweat. He sucked in huge mouthfuls of air and hastily glanced around to make sure there was no smoke.
His door suddenly burst open as all three brothers bounded into his room. Lincoln was the first in, his boxers barely pulled over his hips while Vincent’s hair stuck up at odd angles as he began to search the room.
Beau watched them both with a mixture of annoyance and amusement. Christian was the only one who seemed to have things together. He leaned, fully dressed, against the doorway and cocked a brow.
“What the hell is going on?” Beau finally asked.
Vincent stood up from looking under the bed and raked his hair back. “What’s wrong? You’re the one who shouted.”
“Yep,” Lincoln said as he checked the connecting bathroom.
Beau remembered the dream clear as day, but he hadn’t shouted. He had wanted to, but had been unable to do it.
“What happened?” Christian asked.
With all three of them staring at him, Beau knew he wouldn’t get out of it unless he told them the truth. “It was a dream.”
“A dream?” Vin repeated, skepticism thickening his voice.
Beau sighed and tossed off the damp sheet. He shoved Vincent out of the way and hastily stripped the sheets from the bed. That would make two days in a row with clean sheets. “Yes, a dream,” he answered crossly.
Lincoln grabbed one of the pillows and pulled it out of its case. “What was the dream?”
Beau paused and closed his eyes as he recalled it with perfect clarity. “Smoke. It came for me like it was alive.” He opened his eyes and looked at each of his brothers before he said, “It came to kill me.”
“This could be what Maria meant,” Christian said.
Vincent sank onto the mattress and shook his head. “What about that feeling you had yesterday, Beau? Do you still have it?”
He wanted to lie to Vin and tell him that it was gone, but that would put everyone in danger. “It’s worse.”
“Well, hell,” Christian said. “What now?”
Lincoln ruffled Christian’s hair. “We do what we do.”
“Everyone meet downstairs in ten minutes. We need to find out more about the Dumas family.”
Beau waited until everyone left his room before dropped his head. It wasn’t just the smoke. Whoever had been in his dream was who controlled the smoke. She was the one meant to do harm, she was the one they needed to find.
If only he could’ve seen her face. The only thing discernible had been the fact she was female and dressed in all white. He couldn’t tell his brothers that. It wasn’t enough to go on.
~ ~ ~
Davena put her hands on the small of her back and stretched. A car had hit the German shepherd, but luckily its owner had been close and able to bring the dog in for surgery.
With Delia nowhere around, Davena had to stay with the dog until Sunday when Dr. Hebert came in to relieve her. She checked on the dog again before going to the kennels and taking one dog at a time outside.
She walked outside, surprised to find that night had already fallen. It had been well after noon before the surgery had been completed, and a few hours after that before either her or the doctor had been able to take a few moments and get something to eat.
> The Pomeranian she was walking kept barking at something across the street. Davena peered into the darkness, but she couldn’t see into the shadows.
“Just pee already,” she urged the dog.
The small strip of grass left the animals little room to do their business. The dog growled and began to turn in circles before barking again, this time incessantly. Davena had no choice but to pick the dog up and try to quiet it. As she held it close, she could feel the animal shaking uncontrollably.
She looked from the dog to the shadows where he was still staring. Fear ripped through her. She clutched the dog, ready to bolt when something ran out of the shadows and beneath the next streetlight.
“A raccoon. It was only a raccoon,” she said with a laugh.
The fear should’ve dissipated, but it didn’t. It grew.
Davena turned and quickened her pace even as she walked back into the building. Not that it could keep her safe. Nothing would be able to keep her safe now.
CHAPTER TEN
“There’s not a goddamn thing out here,” Christian said, not bothering to whisper.
Vincent shot him a withering look. “They’re the most likely ones. We agreed.”
“That’s a crock of shit. We three voted, Beau just nodded. He doesn’t believe this Dumas family is our target.”
Beau wanted to slam his fist into Christian’s nose. “That’s not true. I agreed that this family could be the target. Ava’s connections found a lot of good evidence that pointed to them.”
“Tell the truth, Beau,” Linc said. “If it were up to you, would we be staking out the Dumas family tonight?”
Beau looked at the ground and blew out a breath. “No.”
“Son of a bitch,” Vincent mumbled as he turned his head away.
“I’m not going against you, Vin,” Beau said hastily. “I don’t know if I think it’s Davena Arcineaux because it is, or because...”
Shit. He couldn’t even say the words aloud.
“He finds her interesting,” Lincoln supplied for him.
Vincent met his gaze and nodded in understanding. “All right. You and Christian go into town and check on the Arcineaux sisters. Lincoln and I’ll stay here.”
Christian slapped Beau on the back and started across the field toward his truck. Beau looked at Vincent and Lincoln, unable to explain his need to get to Davena. He started to thank them, when a feeling of such hatred and evil rushed through him that it brought him to his knees. It clutched at his stomach, knotting it until he knew without a doubt that it wasn’t the Dumas family they should be watching.
Beau looked up as his brothers grabbed him. “Davena,” he said through clenched teeth.
“Christian!” Vincent bellowed.
Beau saw Christian run full tilt across the field to the truck while Vincent and Lincoln were on either side of him helping him walk.
“What is it?” Vincent asked.
Beau knew every moment they wasted was a second Davena and her sister were closer to death. “That feeling is back.”
“It’s not the Dumas family. I can hear the kids laughing all the way out here,” Lincoln stated.
Christian’s truck roared to life and came barreling toward them only to slide to a stop next to them. Beau was shoved in the front seat, and Vincent and Lincoln got into the back.
“Hurry,” Vincent said and grabbed the back of Christian’s seat.
Christian floored the accelerator, bouncing them over the land until they rejoined the road. He sped down the road going over a hundred. “We’ve got company,” Christian said.
Beau turned around and saw the flashing red and blue lights of the police. “Get me as close as you can.”
“We don’t even know where she lives,” Lincoln said.
That was a mistake on Beau’s part. He’d known she could be the target, but he’d been so intent on keeping his distance that he had failed to get the details. “I’ll find her.”
“I’m coming with you,” Vincent said.
On the outskirts of town, Christian jerked the wheel and sent the truck into a spin. Beau opened the door and rolled out, landing hard on his shoulder on the concrete.
“Fuck,” he muttered and jumped to his feet, his double-barrel sawed off shotgun in hand.
Vincent ran past him. “Hurry!”
Beau gritted through the pain in his stomach and his shoulder, and followed him into the shadows just as the sheriff’s car pulled up behind Christian. There wasn’t time to watch and see if his brothers could talk themselves out of going to jail.
“Which way?” Vin asked.
Beau looked first one way and then the other. “I don’t have any idea.”
“Start with what you do know.”
“She works at the animal clinic.” Beau fisted his hand in frustration.
Vincent grabbed him to keep him still. “Your feeling told you it was Davena and her sister, right?”
“Yes,” Beau said hesitantly.
“Then trust that feeling to lead you to her now. For some reason the two of you are linked.”
“Or it’s just that we’re both going to die by the same hand.” Beau grimaced and turned away when he saw the look on Vincent’s face.
Vincent unsheathed his machete. “You’re not going to die. No one is going to die tonight.”
“Then explain how I know these things?” Beau asked as he looked at Vin.
“I can’t.” His voice was calmer, composed. Vincent was once more in control of his emotions. “Find her, Beau.”
Beau knew it was pointless. The knot in his stomach grew more and more painful, a warning that time was running out. He thought of her sexy voice and her amazing smile. What an idiot he was not to have touched her hair when he’d had the chance.
“It’s no use,” Beau said.
Vincent parted his lips to talk when a scream rent the air. Both turned in the direction of the sound and took off running. Beau prayed it wasn’t Davena, and that they weren’t too late.
They rounded the corner and saw a woman with her hand at her throat. “She just disappeared,” she told the man beside. “Right in front of me!”
Beau exchanged a look with Vin and hid his shotgun against his other leg as they walked past. Only three blocks up was the animal clinic.
“Looks like we’re on the right track,” Vincent said.
“Looks that way.”
“We’ll get there in time.”
Beau was beginning to doubt it.
~ ~ ~
Davena looked at the whining yellow lab. He pawed at the kennel door, his big gold eyes silently beseeching her. The last thing she wanted to do was go outside. It was silly to think that walls could keep her alive, but it was a lot like thinking if she kept her eyes closed, the monsters in her closet would never get her.
She even managed to remember a few of her mother’s spells, not that it did her any good. She hadn’t practiced in years, and without the practice, the spells wouldn’t work. Death was death, no matter how it happened or when. She could remain in the clinic and take the chance that the animals were killed along with her, or she could go outside and face it.
Davena rested her forehead on the kennel. “I was going to get my hair done today,” she told the lab. “I was also going to go to the Chiassons and find Beau. I’m not sure exactly what I was going to do once I was there, but I was going to do it today.”
The dog cocked his head at her and whined again.
“All right,” she said and grabbed a leash from the hook. She opened the kennel door and snapped the leash to his collar.
Davena gave him a good rub before she walked him to the door. On the way out, she checked on the shepherd to make sure he was still all right. With her hand on the knob of the back door, Davena hesitated a moment, and then cautiously opened it. Nothing jumped out at her. She barely had time to let her shoulders sag before the lab pushed his head through the opening and raced outside.
She caught the edge of the door with her f
ingertip and managed to swing it closed as she followed the dog. He went to the grass and lifted his leg against the lone tree. Her gaze scanned the area around her. The darkness concealed too much. It made her jumpy and edgy.
The lab finished and lifted his ears as he looked behind him. Davena turned, her blood turning to ice as she expected to see Delphine appear in front of her. She bit back a scream when she saw the all white clothes come out of the darkness. The dog jerked the leash out of her grasp as he raced to the figure.
Davena stood in shock as the dog sat in front of the person, tail wagging. She frowned and looked closer. That’s when she realized it wasn’t Delphine, it was her sister.
“Delia,” she said, unsure of whether to be angry or relieved.
“It’s me,” her sister said and walked to her.
Davena started to speak, then stopped since she didn’t know what to ask first.
“I had to,” Delia said.
Davena rolled her eyes. “Had to what?”
“I had to do this. I had to prepare, and in order to do that, I had to leave you last night. It’s going to end tonight for good.”
“I hate riddles, Delia. Just tell me.”
Delia smiled in triumph, her gaze over Davena’s shoulder. She pointed. “Look for yourself.”
Davena didn’t want to turn around because she was afraid she knew exactly who was there. She slowly turned, and caught sight of Delphine herself, still looking as young and beautiful as she had six years before.
“Everything is going to be all right,” Delia said as she came to stand beside Davena. “Trust me.”
“Trust you?” Davena asked bewilderment.
Delia’s brown gaze met hers. “I can do what our mother couldn’t. I’m going to kill Delphine.”
Davena reached for her sister, only to be thrown backward. She hit the side of the clinic, her head banging against the brick. The lab was by her side licking her face and nudging her with his cold, wet nose.
