Darkwater Truth

by Robin Caroll

  The chants were almost deafening as the words were spoken faster and faster, almost whirling in the air like the wind.

  “Please, stop.” Definitely a woman’s voice.

  A baby cried out.

  No more time to wait for backup. They had to act now.

  Beau crouched up the stairs, his partner right behind him. Marcel nodded as Beau reached the door. His partner fell in line behind him, watching his back. Beau checked the windows—no lights or movement detected. He performed a quick self-check, as he always did just before going into an unknown situation.

  Vest—check. Gun—check. Extra magazine loaded—check. Several tactical zip tie handcuffs—check.

  Beau knocked on the door, gun in hand, Marcel at his six. They wouldn’t be dismissed and turned away this time.

  A younger man wearing a black robe eased the door open. Before he could speak, Beau leveled his gun at him. “New Orleans Police. Get down.”

  The man started to run. Beau pushed him down and pulled out one of the zip tie handcuffs. Marcel stood with gun drawn at the ready while Beau slipped the cuffs over the man’s hands behind his back and cinched them.

  The sound of sirens wailed.

  The man on the ground screamed, “Cops!”

  Pandemonium erupted as robed, hooded men rushed into the room. Shots were fired. Yelling. Screaming.

  Lights from police cruisers filled the front of the house and spilled through the open door.

  A child’s scream echoed over the chaos.

  Beau ran in the direction of the scream.

  Bam!

  He slammed against the wall. White, hot fire shot through his left shoulder. His eyes filled, blurring the darkness.

  Beau glanced down. Moisture darkened his shirt sleeve.

  Great. He’d been shot.

  — Addy

  The robe she’d lifted off the rack was way too long for her, but it served its purpose. With the hood covering her head, no one suspected she wasn’t one of the other hooded robed people milling about. All she could hear was talk about a ritual and it was time for them all to go to the altar room. She’d been moving slower to stay out of the crowd. All the others were men, so if anyone suspected she was a woman…she’d be busted.

  Pop! Pop! Pop!

  Gunshots! Yelling! She had to act now.

  Addy lifted the robe up a couple of inches and ran full speed toward the room where she’d seen them carry Sam into. Addy ignored the pandemonium and jerked open the door. She saw Sam in a portable playpen, crying. He was all alone in a room with nothing but a lantern to provide light.

  She reached out and picked him up. “Hi, Sam. Remember me?” She spoke in soothing tones, desperate to keep him calm. Now all she had to do was get him out of there. By the sound of the sirens and guns, the police were here. Beau would save her. Save them. She just had to get them out of this room before someone from the cult came to get Sam.

  Lord, please help me!

  With Sam in her arms, Addy secured the hood to the robe and crept out the door. The main hall was filled with men in hooded robes, running. Some had guns, some didn’t. Addy ducked down and took the only other way, away from the men. It would take her deeper into the house, but maybe she could find a way out.

  Her bare feet made no sound as she rushed down the empty corridor. There was less light this way, but she didn’t care. All she cared about was keeping Sam safe and getting him away from this awful place and these awful people.

  She rounded a corner and nearly dropped Sam.

  One of the men in a black hooded robe stood before her, but this one was wearing a unicorn mask. He froze.

  She froze.

  Sam whimpered.

  The unicorn man held out his arms. “Give me the child.” His voice sounded a little weak. Or maybe that was just her wishful thinking.

  Addy twisted, putting her left shoulder toward the man while clinging to Sam on her right hip.

  “Give. Me. That. Child.” His voice had strengthened. “God has ordained me to rid the world of the demons.”

  Footsteps sounded louder. Closer.

  She looked over her shoulder, back to the way she’d come. Shadows crept on the walls. They were coming closer.

  Unicorn man had taken a few steps closer. She could see into his eyes through the mask. What she saw sent tendrils of fear throughout her body. Hatred. Anger. Rage. Darkness.

  Evil.

  Sam pulled at her, tugging the hood down.

  Unicorn man gasped, and his eyes under the mask went blank. “You imposter! Give me that child!” He raised his voice and called out, “Cretum Deus members, come to me. A woman has stolen the child. The demon is escaping!”

  Yells and footsteps increased as they came rushing to his protection.

  Addy took a deep breath and barreled right into him as hard and as fast as she could. She didn’t think of anything else, just to run.

  She hit the man and he fell to the ground. A thud sounded, followed by a groan.

  Addy kept running hard. The roughness of the floor dug into her feet, but she kept running as fast as she could. She almost tripped on the long robe, but she kept running.

  Her mind screamed with every step: Get out! Get out!

  She bolted down yet another corridor, no clue where she was heading. Addy had gotten all turned around inside the house as she tried to escape. Little Sam clung to her, his whimpers pushing her faster.

  Bam!

  She’d hit a muscled chest and fell back against a wall as Marcel reached out to steady her. “Addy? Is that you?”

  “Marcel?” She’d never been so happy to see Beau’s partner before. She slumped against him as exhaustion pulled on her limbs.

  “You’re okay.” He took Sam from her arms. The child started crying.

  “Sam? Sam?” Zoey raced to them, taking her son into her arms, crying and kissing his face.

  “He’s okay. They hadn’t hurt him.” Addy left off the word yet.

  Zoey reached out and hugged Addy, leaving her almost breathless. “Thank you, Addy. Thank you.”

  A uniformed officer led Zoey away.

  Addy stood on her own. “Dimitri?” she asked Marcel.

  “He’s fine.”

  “Where’s Beau?” She couldn’t wait to see him. To hold him. To tell him that she’d made her decision and she’d chosen him.

  Marcel frowned.

  “Marcel?” She suddenly felt like she was going to be sick. “Where’s Beau?”

  “Addy…he’s on the way to the hospital. He was shot.”

  26

  —Beau

  “Thanks, Doc.” He stared down at the nurse sewing stitches in his shoulder.

  “Just keep it clean and go to your regular doctor next week to make sure you’re healing well and to set up an appointment to remove the stitches. I’ll send a copy of your records to his office. It’s really nothing more than a flesh wound. You were lucky you were wearing your vest.” The doctor left the triage room.

  Beau glanced at the slugs still embedded in his Kevlar vest. While his chest may be bruised for a while where he’d been hit, the slug over where his heart was would forever be a reminder just how precious life is, and how blessed he was that he was still alive.

  He closed his eyes as the nurse’s actions tugged on his skin. They’d gotten in before the cult could start their ritual. Marcel told him there had been a makeshift altar with candles ready beside a tray with several axes. It was downright creepy just to imagine.

  Where was Marcel? He’d wanted to come to the hospital with Beau, but Beau had refused to go to the hospital unless Marcel promised to stay and find Addy. The ambulance had gotten him to the emergency room fast, and since he was a police officer, he’d been seen to immediately, but still, Marcel should have called or been here by now.

  His heart tugged harder than the stitches pulling at his skin as he worried about Addy. Had he known this was such a slight injury, he would’ve never left. Even though Captain Istre
had ordered him into the ambulance with the threat of firing him from the police force.

  If anything had happened to Addy…

  A uniformed officer slipped through the curtains of the triage room. “Detective Savoie?”

  “Yes?”

  “Detective Taton said to tell you he’s on his way here with Ms. Fountaine.”

  Beau released a long breath. “Thank you.”

  “Yes, sir.” He turned to go.

  “Officer?”

  “Yes, sir?”

  “Do you have an update on the status of the cult’s raid?”

  “Yes, sir. No civilian casualties or serious injuries. Two cult members were shot and died at the scene. Five more are on their way to the hospital for treatment. Eighteen arrests. Oh, and the leader of the cult, Will Youngblood?”

  William Lowe. “Yes?”

  “He’s dead.”

  “Shot?”

  “No, sir. Best that those on the scene can figure is he was knocked down and hit his head on one of the brass candleholders. He was wearing a unicorn mask, sir.”

  Fitting, actually. “Thank you.”

  The officer nodded, then left.

  Beau glanced down at his shoulder. The nurse applied a gauze over the four stitches. “Keep it dry for twenty-four hours. You can remove the bandage then, but still keep it as dry as possible to reduce the chance of infection.”

  Beau nodded.

  “They’re okay in the shower after twenty-four hours. Just pat them dry with a towel. If you see any redness or they ooze, call your doctor for a follow-up, otherwise, go to your doctor as instructed for care.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  She stood and pulled off her gloves, putting them in the trash before she grabbed the electronic tablet. “You can put on your shirt. I’ll start your discharge papers and be back in a few minutes.” She disappeared before he could thank her again.

  He eased his shirt over his head. They’d cut the sleeve in the ambulance to get access to the bullet wound. Blood stained the area of his shirt. This one would go in the trash tonight. Well…maybe not. Maybe he’d hang on to it, just to remind him of how blessed he really was.

  The curtain split again, this time Marcel stepped into the space. “He’s decent.”

  Addy rushed in and hugged him, careful to not get near his injury. “I’m so glad you’re okay. I can’t believe you were shot.”

  He hugged her back, inhaling, pulling in every scent that was fresh and all Addy. “You scared me. I about died a thousand deaths when Tracey told me you and Geoff had gone to the cult house.” He gave her a hard stare. “You know better, Addy.”

  “I just couldn’t sit by, not once I knew that Dimitri, Zoey, and Sam were abducted. I know what that feels like.”

  Marcel nodded at Beau, then discreetly stepped out of the triage room, pulling the curtain closed behind him.

  Beau didn’t know what hurt more—his arm or knowing that Addy had risked her life to go after Dimitri. Sure, it was her nature to take up for others, but this…this was taking it a step too far. He knew she had feelings for Pampalon, of course, but he hadn’t thought they’d run this deep.

  He wasn’t sure how to feel about that. Jealousy had worked its way through him last month and he thought he’d gotten over those feelings. But now? Now that he realized just how precious his own life was, he didn’t want to waste a minute of his life without Addy.

  The dilemma was how to tell her how he felt. He didn’t want to rush her or push her into a decision. He’d told himself he wouldn’t ever issue her an ultimatum. On the other hand, he couldn’t keep these feelings to himself. Even if she rejected him, even if she chose Pampalon, Beau knew he had to tell her the depth of his love for her.

  Yes, it was love. He’d been toying around the word for some time now, but it was love. He knew it. He felt it. It was time to call it as it was. Only one thing made him hesitate…

  The thought that she might refuse that love scared him in a way the cult or being shot never could.

  — Addy

  She just wanted to hold him forever. The fear she’d had on the drive over, even though Marcel had sped like a demon chased them, had almost caused her to have a breakdown before she got into the emergency room. She’d gone between lamenting her fears to Marcel and praying silently that he was really and truly okay.

  But he was okay. He was sitting here, smiling at her, holding her hand. He was really and truly okay.

  “I was so scared when Marcel told me you’d been shot.”

  “Just like I was scared when Tracey told me you’d gone there.”

  “Like I said, I had to go. You and Dimitri had come for me last month when I was abducted. And sweet little Sam. I was terrified for him.” To see him safe in his mother’s arms, Zoey crying tears of relief and happiness, made Addy realize that she wanted a family of her own. Not immediately, but definitely in her future. For so long after Kevin Muller had hurt her so badly, she had shied away from any man. Then, after Geoff had killed him and she’d told her father and Beau and Dimitri what she’d been through, she’d accepted that she’d survived and deserved to be happy.

  She hadn’t really considered having a family until she’d held little Sam. Now…well, now she knew she wanted that for herself.

  Addy just hoped Beau did as well.

  “I’m glad Sam and Zoey are safe. And Dimitri.” Beau’s hand twitched in hers.

  It was now or never. “Me, too.” She took a deep breath. “Beau, about Dimitri…”

  The curtain ripped open, and a nurse with a wheelchair stood there. “You’re all set.” She handed him the tablet. “Just use the stylus or your finger to sign, and I’ll wheel you out.”

  Addy swallowed the frustration. Maybe this was God’s way of telling her to wait.

  She only prayed it wasn’t His way of telling her it wasn’t meant to be between her and Beau. She didn’t know if she was prepared to accept that.

  Beau handed the device back to the nurse. “I can walk.”

  “No, sir. Hospital policy. You have to go out in the wheelchair.”

  “That’s ridiculous. The doctor said it was basically a scratch. I’m fine.” He jumped down from the bed—and wobbled.

  Addy and the nurse eased him into the chair.

  “Fine, but a little shaky on your feet. That’s normal, which is why it’s hospital policy to go out in a wheelchair. We can’t have you falling out on the floor, now can we?” The nurse situated him and put the tablet on the counter as she pushed him toward the exit. She looked at Addy. “Why don’t you bring the car around, honey?”

  “Um…”

  Marcel joined them. “I’ll bring it around.” He winked at Addy, then jogged toward the exit.

  “I can wheel him out for you.” Addy reached for the handles of the wheelchair.

  The nurse smiled. “Okay, honey. One of the boys out there will bring the wheelchair back.” She patted Beau’s right shoulder. “You take care, Detective.”

  Addy wheeled him outside.

  The full moon and array of stars filled the night sky. Peaceful. Calming. A masterpiece of God’s handiwork.

  Addy rolled him beside the benches just outside the door. She sat down beside him and took his hand again. She couldn’t wait any longer. “Beau, about Dimitri.”

  “Look, I said I wouldn’t pressure you or rush you. I’m not going to do that.”

  She smiled.

  He kept talking. “I mean, you’re a grown woman and you’re entitled to make sure of your heart and what you want despite—”

  Addy leaned over and kissed him. Full on the mouth. Full of all her emotions. Full of the fear she’d had earlier of losing him. Full of fear of not being able to have a family with him. Full of her chosen.

  She pulled back, breathless. “I choose you, Beau. If you’ll have me.”

  He let out a rush of air. He reached out and grimaced as he moved, but held her face with both hands. “Oh, Addy. I love you. I love you. I love
you.” He leaned, closer, pulling her against him, and kissed her as ferociously as she’d kissed him. But more because now she could feel the love in their embrace.

  She melted against him. Her heart sang as she prayed a silent prayer of thanks. This was what she wanted in her life, this warm love and peacefulness. This was a dream come true, she had her heart’s desire. Only God could have brought her life full circle and given her what she wanted—and needed most.

  Peace, love, and a lifetime of happiness with Beau.

  Dear Reader:

  Thank you, once again, for returning to New Orleans with me and the crew of the Darkwater Inn. I loved sharing the dynamics of Addy-Beau-Dimitri with you readers, and hope that you are satisfied with the outcome. These characters have been living with me for the past year, and saying goodbye is hard. Look for Darkwater Inn novellas to be released in the future.

  As I’ve said before, Louisiana is in my blood, and Cajun country has a large piece of my heart. If you get the opportunity to visit the area, I encourage you to do so. The laid back, generous, and hospitable attitudes of most of the people who live in south Louisiana will steal part of your heart too.

  The research for this novel was intense, but as soon as I read the history of the Axeman, I knew I wanted to blur the lines between past and present. I hope I did the plot justice. It is a fact that the identity of the Axeman was never discovered.

  There are many cults throughout the United States, and sadly, many are settled in or near the New Orleans area. New Orleans is home to not only a smelting pot of cultures, but also beliefs. I tried to portray the reality of such, as per my experience.

  Additionally, I took liberties in twisting the truth to make my plot work. I would love to hear from you. Please visit me on social media and on my website: www.robincaroll.com. I love talking books with readers.

  Blessings,

  Acknowledgments

  I have been so blessed to work with some amazing people on this book. Thank you to Lora Doncea for your in-depth editing on this manuscript. Your comments and insights were so incredibly helpful. Thank you to the cover designer, Olivia, who used one of the photos I used on my research trip and did the cover justice to fit the others in the series. I’m so incredibly thankful.