by C. J. Parker
Following her own advice, she ran to the exit, getting within a foot of the door when it crashed open. Bobbie came face to face with Carla.
“We have to get out of here,” Carla told them.
Bobbie ran her gaze over the floor length royal blue, silk robe, stopping at the flames licking the hem of the garment. Bobbie’s body froze, her mind trying to reason that what she saw wasn’t real. She forced herself to move and ran to the bathroom and snatched a towel from the floor, and returned to beat the flames away. Carla’s skin hung in tissue thin sheets from her calf and ankles, leaving behind raw angry looking patches on her legs. Tiny droplets of blood formed within the burns and trickled downward. Carla whimpered.
“Carla, you’re burnt. Get out. Go.”
“Have to save you. Tabatha would never forgive me.” Carla slumped against the shattered and smoldering doorjamb, but Bobbie yanked her away and held her to her side.
The snake side of Bobbie began to recoil away from the flames. The twisting and squirming creature settled a moment short of shifting. The leopard roared to life, and clawed at the snake, sending it back into its confines. The softness of her fur emerged just enough for Bobbie to know she was there, ready to strike upon demand. Bobbie couldn’t shift in front of Carla, it would send the woman over the edge. She seduced her leopard with soothing words assuring the creature all was well, she was safe. The cat retreated. Bobbie spun around to find Rhonda behind her. “Rhonda, let’s go. Hurry.”
Bobbie gathered Carla into her arms and walked as quickly as she could down the stairs and out of the house. She placed Carla on the grass of the front yard and lay back to breathe.
Carla gasped for air. “Where’s Shane. Where’s the baby?” Bobbie’s heart skipped a beat before she remembered Shane was with his grandparents. But before Rhonda or Bobbie could stop Carla, she rose and raced back inside the burning house.
Horror cut through Tabatha like chainsaw. “No, Momma,” she screamed as her connection to the sights at the fire disappeared.
Derek squeezed her arm. “Tabatha, we’re here. The firemen are talking to Bobbie and Rhonda.” He pulled his gaze away from Tabatha toward the house.
“Momma went back for Shane. She doesn’t know he’s not here. I have to get her out, Derek. I have to save her.” She couldn’t let this happen. Her mother had changed, it was getting better. She couldn’t lose her now.
Derek pulled right up to the house, and Tabatha jumped out of the car before it came to a halt. She managed to get within a few feet of the front door when a fireman stopped her. “You can’t go in there, ma’am.”
Tabatha wanted to claw the man’s eyes out. He didn’t understand. “My momma’s in there!”
“No. Look. Johnson has her. See?” The fireman pointed toward the front door. The fireman walked out of the house and laid her mother on the lawn. “The ambulance should be here any minute, ma’am.”
Tabatha fought a crush of emotions at the sight of her mother’s limp body. “Is she dead?” she whispered.
“No, ma’am. She’ll live, but she’s gonna hurt for a while.” The fireman shouted over his shoulder, “Where’s the damned ambulances?”
“ETA two minutes,” answered another fireman.
Two minutes sounded like an eternity to Tabatha.
Bobbie and Rhonda rushed to Tabatha’s side. Rhonda’s eyes were round and glazed over with shock. Mild burns glowed red on her chin, arms and hands. Bobbie’s burns, though less in number, were more severe, and skin peeled from the calf of her right leg and arm.
Tabatha wanted to touch each one of them. To lessen their pain.
Rhonda grasped the wrist of Tabatha’s blistered hand. “You’re hurt. How did you do this?”
“I’m not sure. It’s not important.” Tabatha lowered her gaze to Carla. Her mother’s face was blackened, hair singed, and the silk robe had fused to the skin of her legs. Carla’s breathing was labored, fluids gurgled inside her throat, and choking coughs tore from her chest.
“I’m so sorry I wasn’t here, Momma. This is all my fault.” Tears slipped down Tabatha’s cheeks.
“No.” Rhonda shook her head. “But, someone did this, Tabatha. Someone tried to kill us. They set rags on fire in the hallway.”
Tabatha tried to gather all the scenes with the arsonist into a cohesive thought. It was a woman. She could sense Tabatha in her head. Someone with a power of her own?
Derek walked up the lawn stopping at Tabatha’s side and looked them over. “The ambulances are here. Tabatha, why don’t you go with your mother?” Tabatha nodded though she’d have accepted no other arrangement.
He laid his hand on Rhonda’s shoulder. “You and Bobbie go in the other ambulance. I’ll follow in the car.”
Bobbie stood and backed away. Her face paled and her eyebrows arched. “I can’t go to the hospital, Derek. I’ll heal too quickly. And if they take blood from me, there’ll be too many questions.”
Tabatha hadn’t thought of that. She glanced at Bobbie’s burns and realized they’d begun to heal already. “Derek, take her...” Tabatha didn’t know where Bobbie could stay.
Derek ran his fingers through his hair and looked away for a moment. “I’ll take her to the condo. She’ll be safe there.”
“No.” Bobbie shook her head. “I need to shift. Change to the leopard. I’ll be healed when I shift back to my human body.” She glanced around. “Those trees by Nyssa’s cottage, I’ll go there. Derek, come back for me in a couple of hours.”
He nodded. “Why leopard? Why not the snake?”
“The snake would want to shed its skin to rid itself of the wound. That saps me of strength and leaves my skin raw. Sort of like a microderm abrasion from hell.” Tabatha winced. Bobbie glanced around at the scurrying firemen. “How will you explain my leaving?”
Derek nodded. “I’ll think of something. Don’t call attention to yourself.”
Bobbie gave him a cocky smile. “Yes, sir.” She strolled to the back of the house and out of sight. Tabatha noticed, for once, Bobbie didn’t strut or sway her hips seductively.
Tabatha climbed into the ambulance as they loaded Carla in the back. “It’s okay, Momma. I’m here. You’re going to be okay.”
Carla pulled at her robe and whimpered. “My duster. It’s ruined.”
“I’ll buy you another one. Hell, Momma, I’ll buy you a hundred more.” Some things would never change. Her mother was in pain, Tabatha could see it in her tight expression, and the glossiness of her eyes, but all she worried about was a damned piece of clothing. “What were you thinking going back into that house? You could have been killed.”
“Shane. I didn’t get Shane out.” Her mother sobbed and tried to sit up, but the paramedic gently pushed her back down. “I let it happen again.”
“Momma. Shane is with his grandmother. He wasn’t in the house.”
Tabatha swallowed hard. “I’m proud of you. You did a good thing saving Bobbie and Rhonda. Thank you.”
Carla closed her eyes and released a deep breath. “Not enough.” Wait. What had she said? It happened again? What? “What do you mean happen again?”
“My brother. We were only four years old. We were playing with matches, and the curtains caught fire.” Tabatha didn’t want to hear the rest, but her mother continued. “I ran away and left him. He died. I couldn’t let that happen again.”
“Momma, you were a baby.” Tabatha realized she knew little about her mother’s life. That disappointed Tabatha in herself. Had she asked? Would her mother have told her stories of her childhood? “You didn’t know better. Let it go.”
Rhonda walked up the back of the ambulance. “Is Carla okay?”
The female paramedic looked Rhonda over. “There’s another ambulance waiting for you, honey. Don’t worry. You’re both going to Ochsner and will arrive within seconds of each other.”
“I’m staying with my mother.” Tabatha settled on the bench across from her mother. “I’m not leaving her.”
&nb
sp; “That’s all right, but you’ll have to stay out of the way.” The paramedic placed an oxygen mask over Carla’s nose and mouth and opened a bottle of saline before emptying the contents on the burns. Carla hissed and tried to move her legs away.
The paramedic from the second unit dashed over. “Who am I here for?”
Rhonda glanced in Tabatha’s direction as if waiting for her permission to leave. Tabatha couldn’t understand what Rhonda was waiting for. “Go ahead. I’ll see you at the hospital.”
Rhonda lowered her gaze to the ground and cleared her throat. “I don’t have insurance, Tab.”
Damn. Why hadn’t she thought of that? She’d embarrassed Rhonda by sin of omission. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll cover the cost. Now go.” Rhonda turned and limped away.
Derek walked to the back of the ambulance. “Is she okay?”
Tabatha squared her shoulders and tried to appear brave. Derek had enough to worry about without her adding to it. “She’s hurting, Derek, and I can’t do anything to help.”
Derek leaned into the ambulance and grasped her hand. “Just let her know you’re there.”
“Baby girl! Where’s my baby girl?”
Tabatha turned to find Bertha running from one fireman to the next screaming for Tabatha. The fireman Tabatha knew only as Johnson directed Bertha to the ambulance. Bertha rushed toward them with hands over her mouth and tears wetting her brown cheeks.
A rush of relief settled over Tabatha with warming comfort.
“Tabatha is fine, Bertha,” Derek assured her. “It’s Carla and Rhonda that got the worst of it.”
The old woman ran a critical gaze over Tabatha before turning her attention to Carla. “Oh, Miss Carla, you gone and burnt yourself up. Just look at you. Don’t you worry, I’ll take good care of you.”
Mason walked up behind them and nodded once to Derek. “And how did you know about the fire, ma’am?”
The official tone of Mason’s voice set Tabatha on edge.
Bertha looked him from head to toe and snorted. “Everybody in the parish knows about the fire.”
“Maybe, but the streets are blocked off.” Mason drew a notepad out of his picket and jotted down a line on the paper. “How’d you get here?”
“My usual path.” Bertha turned away from him, cooing and whispering over Carla.
“And just where is that?” Mason persisted.
Bertha raked her dark gaze over Mason. “What you trying to say, young man? You think I had something to do with this? You think I’d hurt my baby girl?”
“That’s ridiculous.” Tabatha started to stand but Derek settled his hand on her knee.
“Baby girl wasn’t in the house.” Mason pointed his pen in Bertha’s face. “But her mother and friends were.”
“Stop it,” Tabatha screamed. Had Mason gone mad? Had the whole damned world gone mad? “Bertha had nothing to do with this. What the hell is wrong with you?”
Mason shrugged. “Wouldn’t be the first time hired help...”
“Bertha isn’t hired help. She’s family.” The familiar pressure grew in Tabatha’s skull. Her stomach soured. Derek jerked his hand from her lap and stared at her, shaking his head. She didn’t understand what had happened between her and Derek, but he had sensed the power within her. And just a look from him had sent it packing. A quiet voice whispered in her head, Lifemate.
“Lieutenant, why are you doing this?”
“As I was saying, people decide all the time to end a grudge with murder.” Mason returned Bertha’s once over with one of his own. “I hear you got magic of your own. Voodoo Priestess or something, isn’t it?”
Bertha’s back stiffened, and her voice lowered to a hard-edged murmur. “What or who I am is no concern to you as long as I don’t break any laws. Next time you fall on your face in Miss Gray’s home, see if I take care of you. I’ll just sweep you out with the rest of the trash.”
“He’s not welcome in my home anymore.” Tabatha returned her attention to her mother.
The other paramedic climbed into the driver’s seat. He glanced back at his partner. “Everybody ready?”
The female paramedic nodded. “We’re leaving now. This patient doesn’t need to hear this. Take your conversation elsewhere.” She slammed the door shut in Mason’s face. A satisfied smile touched the corners of Tabatha’s mouth. Bet Mason wasn’t used to people telling him to get lost and that’s exactly what the Paramedic had done.
Tabatha watched out the back window as they drove away. Derek took Bertha by the arm and led her to his car.
“Voodoo priestess?” the paramedic asked with a chuckle.
Tabatha shook her head. “Good grief.” She couldn’t think about this now. “I’ll worry about that tomorrow.”
“Scarlet,” Carla whispered and smiled.
Tabatha leaned closer and ran her fingers over her mother’s forehead. She was warm, not warm enough to be talking out of her head. Tabatha and the paramedic shared a worried glance. “What about her, Momma?”
“You’re starting to sound like Scarlet.” Carla grinned, a flash of white from her smoke-blackened face. “Is your heart set on Derek, Tabby?”
Her heart, her soul, her passion. “I love him, Momma. Have from day one.”
Carla closed her eyes. “Be cautious then, Tabby. People you think are least likely to present a threat are the ones you need to beware of most.”
How could Tabatha tell her mother Mary was dead? “Your friend, Mary?”
“Yes, her for one.”
Tabatha told Carla what happened in the cemetery, leaving out Elizabeth’s rising and ghost. “It was self defense. They had to shoot her.” When Carla opened her eyes, they were filled with questions.
Tabatha nodded. “She’s gone.”
“I always suspected she was the one who killed Elizabeth. She was obsessed with Derek.” A shiver ran over her body. “It’s hurts, Tabby. Make it stop.” Tabatha ached for her mother. If there were a way to stop her pain she would have done it already.
The ambulance came to a stop, and the back doors flew open. “I’ll do everything I can.” Tabatha laid her hand on her mother’s waist and Carla relaxed. “I promise.”
Chapter Forty-Four
Derek led Bertha to his car and opened the door for her.
“I can’t believe that little shit, thinking I’d set fire to Tabatha’s home.” Bertha puffed up her chest and released a growl of anger.
Derek had to agree with her. Why Mason had turned on the woman was a mystery to him as well. But he’d been a cop too long to discount anyone as a suspect. Even Bertha.
“If I may be so rude to ask again, how did you know about the fire?” Mason slid into the back seat of the car.
She shut the door without answering.
Derek joined her and opened the windows. “Want to tell me?”
“Oscar, my husband, is a retired fireman and still has a scanner sitting in the kitchen. He had it on listening to the dispatcher. Then the call went out for a fire at Tabatha’s address. I didn’t even stop to change. Look at me.” She waved her hand over the simple housedress she wore. “I never go out in public dressed like this.”
“You look fine.” Derek turned the key in the ignition and buckled up. “You want to go to the hospital?”
She shook her head. “Take me home so I can change. You can just drop me off and go on. Tabatha needs you. My car’s in the shop, but I can take Oscar’s.”
“How’d you get here?” Mason once again scribbled on his notepad.
“My son dropped me off at the corner, and I came down the path. I figured I’d stay with my baby girl. Guess I wasn’t thinking how bad it could be.” Derek settled back against the driver’s side seat. He knew it could have been a lot worse had Elizabeth not alerted him and Tabatha to what was happening.
Mason nodded, seemingly satisfied with her answer. “I’m going to see what the firemen found. I may want to talk to you again, Bertha.”
She raised her shoulde
rs and dropped them with a flourish. “Suit yourself. I ain’t got nothing to hide.”
“What’s your last name?” Mason rubbed the back of his neck.
“Monroe. Maiden name, Cuvier. But you know that already, don’t you, Lieutenant? Voodoo priestess?” She tossed a glanced over her shoulder at Mason. “Where did you hear that one? Nyssa Bouchard and her gossip?” Bertha’s nostrils flared. “Maybe you should check her out. Her halo ain’t as straight as she pretends. No, sir.”
Derek was in agreement on that one. He’d go so far as to say the halo was been foreclosed on long ago.
The Lieutenant stepped out of the car and walked away without comment. His shoulders slumped forward as if the weight of his duties had grown too much for him to bear.
“Get me home, son. Our baby girl needs her man there with her, not sitting here talking to an old woman.” She lowered her voice and mumbled, “Or some puffed up, full of himself asshole.”
It took all of Derek’s self control not to laugh out loud. His soul was lighter, as if a great burden had been lifted from him. He guessed it had. He’d said goodbye to Lizzie and was okay with that. He’d found the killer, or should he say she had found him? That part of his life was over, his life with Tabatha had just begun. He looked behind them then pulled away from the curb and made a u-turn toward the river. “Bertha, you will never be old. You’ll probably outlive us all.”
She shook her head, her expression saddened. “No, son, I won’t. I’m old, older than anyone knows. I just needed to make sure Tabatha was going to be taken care of.” She glanced out the window. “You know where I live?”
Derek nodded and offered a toothy grin. “Yes, ma’am. Oscar and I have known each other since my rookie years. But, I didn’t know he was your husband until you said he was a retired fireman and you told Mason your last name.”
“Well, you ain’t got time to catch up on things. Just drop me off. Maybe I’ll bring Oscar with me to the hospital.”
