Voodoo or Die

by Stephanie Bond

  With his weapon still trained on the man, Zane crouched to check for a pulse. "Was he alone?"

  Gloria nodded.

  He stood and reholstered his gun, then crossed to her in two strides. "Are you all right?"

  She went into his arms and clung to him, shaking. "I'm okay. That's not Cameron Phelps."

  "I know."

  "He told me everything—he set fire to Steve's house."

  "I know."

  She pulled back. "How? How did you know I was in danger? Did George call you?"

  "No." His face was grim. "The watch that Jimmy Scaggs found in the woods led back to a Cameron Phelps in San Diego whose physical description didn't match the Cameron Phelps I'd met. I knew something was wrong, so I came straight here and called the U.S. marshals in New Orleans on the way."

  Her heart swelled with awe and gratitude. "Zane... I love you so much."

  She wanted the words back as soon as they left her mouth. In a heartbeat, his expression went from grim to guarded.

  A frantic pounding sounded from the bathroom. "Gloria!" Diane shouted. "Gloria?"

  "Get us out of here!" Sheena screamed. "I'm freaking out!"

  Zane pulled away and yelled for the women to stand back. Then, with a couple of well-placed kicks, he breached the lock. The door bounced back, revealing Sheena standing on the toilet, her eyes as big as eggs, and Diane flattened against the wall.

  Zane helped Sheena down. Even in her traumatized state, she managed to shimmy down him as if he were a dancing pole.

  Then Diane walked out and stopped in front of Gloria. Eyes shining, she pulled off the wig of mousy brown hair to reveal the shock of pale blond hair that Gloria had inherited. Then she removed the contacts that had rendered her vivid blue eyes almost colorless.

  Gloria's eyes filled with tears of disbelief. "Mom?"

  Diane bit into her lip and nodded. "It's me, honey. I look different, I know. I... had to have some cosmetic surgery."

  George's words came back to her. Riaz's men left her for dead.

  Gloria's chin quivered as she reached forward to touch her mother's new face. Within the new features, she recognized old ones—her mother's eyebrows, with the mismatched arch, the slight sprinkling of freckles across her nose, her short, spiky eyelashes, the sparkle in her eyes.

  "Mom," Gloria breathed and pulled her into a fierce hug, her heart expanding in her chest. "Where have you been?"

  Diane pulled back and wiped her eyes. "All over. It took me a while to recover from my surgeries, then I made my way to New Orleans."

  "I went there, too," Gloria said. "I remembered you'd always wanted to live there. I thought I might find you."

  "It wasn't fun living there alone," Diane said. "It just made me more lonely for you. I came to Mojo one year for a voodoo festival, and I liked it here—it made me wish I'd raised you in a small town."

  "But the people here... they harassed you."

  "Just a few bad apples," Diane said. "Besides, I met Jimmy here, and then I couldn't bring myself to leave. And I'm so glad I didn't."

  "Then you knew it was me all along," Gloria said with wonder.

  Her mother nodded. "As soon as you walked into the doctor's office, I knew. I was dumbfounded... and ecstatic. And when I heard on the news that Bernard Riaz was out of prison, waiting for a new trial, I knew I had to stay close to you."

  Gloria laughed. "So you applied for a job?"

  "Yes. Brilliant, I thought. Lot of good I was when his guy showed up."

  "You saved my life," Gloria said earnestly, then remembered they had an audience and a dead man at their feet. She turned to Zane, who was ending a call on his radio. "Zane, this... is my mother."

  He blinked in surprise. "Ms. Lawson? Good to see you... again."

  She smiled. "Call me Diane."

  He nodded and shepherded them all outside as the crime scene techs arrived to process the scene. Holding hands with her mother, Gloria watched the activity, feeling Zane's watchful gaze upon her from a few feet away. She squeezed her mother's hand, unable to remember a time when she'd been so happy.

  Zane came over with his professional mask in place. "Whenever you're ready, I'll need to take a statement."

  She nodded, cringing when they brought the body out on a gurney. "He told me he put the body in Steve's house and set the fire, so that's two charges Mark won't have to face."

  Zane pulled his hand over his mouth. "Maybe three. It's starting to look like he might not have poisoned Chasen."

  She frowned. "Then who did?"

  "I'm still working on that."

  A black SUV pulled into the parking lot and two suited men emerged, flashing badges at Zane when he stepped forward. They identified themselves as U.S. marshals. "Is Lorey Lawson here?"

  Gloria stepped forward. "I'm... Lorey."

  "Ms. Dalton, Marshal O'Connor asked me to give you a message."

  "What?"

  "Less than an hour ago, Bernard Riaz was shot and killed in his home by a member of his own organization."

  She never thought the announcement of someone's death would cheer her, but knowing that the man responsible for destroying her family could no longer hurt them was the equivalent of having a tank lifted from her chest.

  "You are officially being released from WITSEC," the marshal continued. "And if you ever are in touch with your mother, let her know the same applies to her."

  Diane squeezed her hand and Gloria squeezed back. "I have a feeling she knows. Thank you, and give my best to George."

  She stole a glance at Zane to find him staring at the marshals with a look of barely suppressed rage that she well understood—the senselessness of how criminals tore through people's lives was staggering. And there were usually more victims than met the eye.

  Zane turned his back and strode away. Gloria broke away and followed him. "Zane."

  He turned back, his gray eyes angry, his mouth tight. "What?" he bit out.

  "Don't be bitter. What happened to my family, what happened to us, was horrible and unfair, but it happened. Let go of the anger."

  He scoffed and looked away, then back. "What if anger is the only thing that's kept you going for the past fifteen years?"

  "That's not the Zane I remember."

  "Well, like you said, we're both different now." He straightened, his professional demeanor back in place. "I wanted to be the one to tell you—I've decided to leave Mojo."

  Her heart stalled. "Leave?"

  "I've been offered a job in New Jersey that will be closer to my mother and to Lisa and her family."

  She tried to smile. "That's... wonderful."

  He lifted a hand and gestured vaguely to the businesses, to the town. "I just don't fit in here with all the voodoo weirdness and the small-town gossip."

  "I understand."

  He wet his lips. "Plus... I feel as if I've finally closed a door on my past and now it's time to move on."

  She stood there nodding like an idiot, wanting to laugh at the irony of her deciding not to relocate and now Zane was leaving. They seemed destined to be on different timelines, different paths.

  "When do you leave?" she asked.

  "End of the week."

  "So soon."

  "I haven't unpacked yet, so it'll be an easy move."

  Easy for him. "You do what you have to do, Zane. Be happy. My place is here, with my mother, and I think these weird people are just what I need." She smiled. "I've finally found my personal mojo." She turned to walk away, chin high. And she was finding more every day.

  Chapter 34

  "Chamomile?" Penny asked, poised to scoop tea leaves into a diffuser.

  "That sounds wonderful," Gloria said, easing into a chair at the counter.

  Penny smiled. "I like your hair."

  Gloria touched her grape-colored curls. "Thanks. So do I."

  "So... what do you want to be called now—Gloria or Lorey?"

  She smiled wistfully. "I'm Gloria now... with a little bit of Lorey in there to
keep me inspired."

  "B.J. is still devastated over how much he and Kyle trusted the man who passed himself off as Cameron Phelps." Penny shivered. "I can't believe he stood right here and flirted with you, and all the while he was planning to kill you."

  "Or at least kidnap me," she said, thinking of her close call at the police station.

  "Wow, what a wild couple of weeks you've had."

  "I know. Isn't it ever boring around here?"

  Penny thought for a few seconds. "No."

  The door opened and Marie rushed in. "I got the last one!" She held up a copy of the Post with its headline, candy company employee admits to poisoning chocolate bar.

  "Daniel Guess is loving this," Gloria murmured dryly. The man had been calling her nonstop for an exclusive interview about her life in the witness protection program. "Although I am happy that Mark won't have to stand trial for murder."

  "Steve's death just seems so... random," Penny said.

  "Jules says that nothing is random," Marie piped up. "That everything happens so that everything else can happen."

  "She told me that about the voodoo dolls and Melissa Phillips," Gloria said.

  Marie leaned in conspiratorially. "Melissa's diaries revealed that she and Steve both participated in what was going on at the voodoo museum."

  Gloria frowned. "How do you know that?"

  Marie's mouth rounded, as if she'd been caught. "I... heard."

  Penny made a thoughtful noise as she poured Gloria's tea. "I think it's interesting that there have been three voodoo dolls, and all of the residents who died afterward were tied to the bad things going on at the museum."

  "Yeah," Marie said. "It's almost as if the evildoers are getting what's coming to them, one by one."

  "Makes you wonder who could be next," Penny mused, looking sideways at Marie. "It almost makes you wish you could see into the future."

  Marie seemed engrossed in the paper, but Gloria and Penny exchanged smiles.

  "Marie," Gloria said nonchalantly, "you wouldn't happen to know where my cat is, would you?"

  Marie glanced up. "Why would I know where your cat is?"

  Gloria shrugged. "If you had to guess, where would you say it is?"

  "Well, if I had to guess," the young woman said, heaving an inconvenienced sigh, "I'd say it's rolling in something... green." Then she made a rueful noise. "Sorry, that's the best I can do."

  Gloria squinted, then glanced at her watch and pushed to her feet. "I have to run. My window is being lettered this morning."

  "Oh, nice," Penny said. "Say, doesn't Chief Riley leave today?"

  Gloria's stomach dove. "Does he?" she asked, trying to sound indifferent.

  "Left," Marie said.

  "What?" Penny asked.

  "Left, as in already gone." Marie nodded toward the street side of the building. "He drove by about a minute ago."

  Gloria pivoted her head to look at the blinds covering the windows facing the street. "You were standing here a minute ago, reading the newspaper. How do you know?"

  High spots of color appeared on Marie's cheeks. "I... heard him drive by. His vehicle makes a very unique noise."

  "It's called having an engine," Penny muttered. "Bye, Gloria."

  Gloria waved and left the health food store, telling herself as she drove to her office that she shouldn't feel so wounded that Zane hadn't come around to say good-bye. It had simply spared them another awkward conversation.

  And her, more painful memories.

  The sight of her office front cheered her up. Elton had finished repairing the siding, and he'd replaced the door and the window—again. When she pulled up, he was "supervising" the application of the gilded lettering spelling out her name... and scratching his ass.

  She smirked and climbed out of her car. "Good morning, Elton."

  "Mornin'," he said, beaming. "Almost finished."

  "It looks terrific," she said, nodding with approval. "Elton, I brought you a thank-you gift."

  He turned a hundred shades of red. "What is it?"

  From her bag, she pulled the City of Mojo back scratcher. "Enjoy."

  He gave her a goofy grin. "Hey, thanks."

  "Don't mention it." He needed it more than she did, even if it meant that she had to rub herself against door facings for the rest of her life.

  She unlocked the sturdy new door and walked into the chilly lobby, warmed by the cheery items her mother had put on the desk—new photos of the two of them, one of them taken after Brianna had given them a complimentary mother-daughter makeover.

  On her way into her office, Gloria flipped on the coffeemaker and grabbed a fax that had come in since she'd left the evening before. When she set down her things and glanced at the paper, her eyebrows shot up. "Last will and testament of Steven E. Chasen."

  The cover letter was from a New Orleans bank, with a note reading that Steve had kept the will in a safety-deposit box, with directions to have a copy faxed to this number upon his death.

  The bell on the front door chimed and she moved back toward the lobby, reading the will. She looked up, expecting to see Elton or the lettering guy... and instead it was Zane, dressed down in jeans and a navy sweatshirt, looking achingly sexy.

  And holding her black cat.

  "I found something you were looking for," he said with one of those lopsided smiles she thought she'd never see again.

  "Hi," she breathed, setting down the fax and reaching for the cat. It came to her and licked her face, purring happily. She snuggled the cat and looked back to Zane. "Where did you find him?"

  "Next to the interstate, about the same place he ran away."

  "Oh. On your way out of town."

  "Yeah. But I know how much you love that cat, so... I had to come back."

  She smiled. "Yes, I do love this cat."

  He cleared his throat. "I even thought it might be... some kind of sign."

  Her eyebrows went up. "Sign?"

  "That I was supposed to come back."

  "Except you don't believe in stuff like that."

  "Right," he said quickly. "Well, mostly I don't, I guess."

  Gloria gave a little laugh. "Since when?"

  He sighed. "Since I got sucked into this weird little town." From his back pocket he removed the front section of the newspaper. "I thought you might need a copy of this article for your lawsuit."

  "Thanks. But since the candy company has admitted culpability by ignoring the employee's threats to kill someone randomly for the thrill of it, I think it'll be a slam-dunk case." She set the cat down and picked up the fax. "Speaking of Steve's estate, I just received a copy of his will."

  "You found it, huh?"

  She frowned. "Actually, it found me."

  "Did he leave everything to a relative we couldn't find?"

  "I don't know," she said, flipping through. "I didn't get a chance to look." When she found the wording, she gasped. "I don't believe it."

  "What?"

  She laughed through her fingers. "I, Steven E. Chasen, being of sound mind and body, do hereby relinquish all my worldly possessions to my beloved cat, Gris-Gris."

  At the sound of his name, the cat meowed.

  Zane's eyes widened. "Can Chasen do that?"

  "Sure. The bank will choose someone to be executor on the cat's behalf." Gloria touched her palm to her forehead. "I asked Marie just now if she could tell me where my cat was, and she said he was 'rolling in something green.' Get it? Green—cash! He's rolling in cash—she was right!"

  Zane winced. "If you say so. That woman scares me. What will you do with the money if the bank chooses you as executor?"

  She reached down to scratch the cat's ears. "If the bank chooses me, then I think we shall donate all the money to the families of the victims of the voodoo museum."

  He smiled. "Nice." He turned and gestured awkwardly to the window. "Your window looks great."

  "Thanks," she said with a laugh. "I was starting to think it was cursed or something."

>   "I love you, too, Gloria."

  She looked up and blinked. "What?"

  His gray eyes were clear, the little pinch between his eyebrows gone. "I love you, too."

  Her heart did a little jig, but she wasn't about to set herself up for another fall. "Where did that come from?"

  He captured her hand and folded it over his heart. "Here. Did you know the reason a person's first love is so strong is because your brain is actually developing chemical pathways—you're literally learning to love?"

  "No, I didn't know that," she whispered.

  "I don't know how to love anyone but you, and I want to get to know you all over again," he murmured, lowering his mouth to hers for a sweet, thorough kiss.

  When they parted, she sighed in satisfaction, her body turned to the "on" position. A small part of her brain pushed a big worry to the forefront, however, and she whispered, "I don't want to leave Mojo."

  He heaved a sigh. "Guess that means I'll have to get my old job back."

  She grinned. "Really?"

  "Really." He stood behind her and put his arms around her, tucking her head beneath his chin. "There's something about this place," he murmured. "I don't know what it is, but you're right. It draws a person in. Besides, the town needs someone sane to sort through all this mess with the voodoo dolls."

  She smiled against his chest. "And that's you?"

  His laugh was short and dry. "This could be my toughest assignment yet." Then he made a rueful noise. "We do have one immediate problem, though."

  "What's that?"

  "I don't know if that window is big enough to be able to add 'Riley' to your name."

  She bent her head back. "Isn't that being a little presumptuous?"

  "Marry me."

  "Okay," she breathed, feeling herself expand and bloom under his kiss.

  The chime sounded as the door opened. Sheena Linder and Mona Black stood there, the odd couple of the moment, from all the gossip.

  Sheena sniffed as they disentangled. "Guess I'm going to have to find me a new leading man."

  Gloria straightened but couldn't keep the happy smile off her face. "Can I help you, ladies?"

  "We just stopped by to tell you the good news," Sheena said, snapping her gum. "We're going to make a movie."

  Gloria frowned. "Who's 'we'?"