GODDESS OF THE MOON (A Diana Racine Psychic Suspense) (5 page)

L
ucier examined the note.

“What does it mean?” Beecher asked.

“I’m not sure what the crescent moon and
star symbolize
,” Lucier said, “but ‘We await you, Diana,’ is clear enough, don’t you think?”

Diana lifted her gaze from the paper. “Ernie, remember a few weeks ago I told you that Diana was the Goddess of the Hunt, and you said she was also the Goddess of the Moon?”

“Yeah, I remember.”

“The crescent moon is a symbol of Diana, but it’s something else too―a symbol of witchcraft.”

Lucier fixed his gaze on Diana, unable to hide a frown. He turned to Cash, the
uni
t’s
closest answer to a computer geek. “Google Diana, Goddess of the Moon and Diana, Goddess of the Hunt. See what comes up.”

Cash settled at Lucier’s
laptop
. Pag
es of sites filled the monitor.
This article
say
s
the city of Byzantium was dedicated to Diana. That’s Constantinople, right?”

“If I remember my history,” Lucier said.

“
They called her Diana, Goddess of the Hunt,” Cash continued. “Then it says the crescent moon was a symbol of her
, so she was called Diana, Goddess of the Moon too
.
It also says she was a fertility goddess and a…a virgin.
”
Cash’s face flushed. He kept his eyes on the monitor. “People everywhere practiced witchcraft, sorcery, and magic in her name.”

Diana tilted her head back and closed her eyes. “This just keeps getting better.”

Cash pointed to the computer screen.
“
L
ots of stuff about God and
S
atan.
And Jesus
.
Wait,
get this―
”
h
e
turned to
Diana and Lucier
―
“
s
eems there’s a link between Diana and Lucifer himself
.
”

An uneasy feeling rose in
Lucier
’s gut. He
rested his hand on Diana’s shoulder. “Until we know what we’re dealing with, keep your doors and windows locked.
When you visit
the children’s ward at the hospitals, I don’t want you to go alone.”

“Aren’t you overreacting?” she asked.

No, he thought.
No.
Diana
live
d
alone, vulnerable to those who
’d
want to hurt her.
He wanted to live with her, to protect her. But she wasn’t ready. He
didn’t push
even though he was.

It had been eight years since an auto accident
took the lives of
his wife and children
.
He’d survived the grief, the endless days of work and sleep and more work.
Diana
had breathed new energy into him. She wanted him to cherish the memory of his
former life
and
the woman with whom he shared it.
He loved
Diana
for that
.
He’d never forget that life, but
Diana
was
a different woman
not a replacement,
and their life toge
ther would be a different life.
He couldn’t lose her. He wouldn’t.

“
No. ‘We await you, Diana’ doesn’t sound good to me. In fact, it sounds like someone
is eager
to make your acquaintance.”

“They’re capitalizing on the publicity.
S
omeone
’s
trying to put a scare into the psychic, that’s all.”

“Yeah, well, he’s putting a scare into the psychic’s boyfriend.” Lucier realized what he said
in front of his men
. “You guys didn’t hear that, okay?”

Beecher zipped his lips but
couldn’t
hide the smirk beneath. Cash snatched the newspaper and hurried from the room.

Diana’s smile brightened her face. “I like the sound of that, Lieutenant. I’ve never had a boyfriend before.”

“What are you laughing at?” Lucier snarled at Beecher, who took the hint and left.
Lucier
stroked his
fingers across
Diana
’s
cheek. “I don’t want to be your
first boyfriend and your last.”

The Offering

T
he man with the red beard stepped into the bedroom. The walls were painted bubble gum pink, and the sun shone through the Victorian leaded-glass windows, creating facets of dancing light across the room. Pausing by the empty crib, he remembered the baby who had occupied its place. She was a beautiful baby, he recalled.
Always hungry.
It was a pleasure watching her feed. He lamented that he had to give her up so quickly, but that’s what they wanted. The babies only stayed for a short time before they were transferred. They’d probably have to stop for a while or a pattern would emerge. Maybe the FBI had already found
one
. He walked to the second crib and looked down at th
e small figure wrapped in pink.

“Good morning, Lilith.” He
stroked
the baby’s cheek. “I’m so sorry you
must
leave me soon. I wish I could keep you longer, but it’s not to be.” When he reached the third crib, he leaned down and picked up the new arrival with the same care her mother would have, given the opportunity. “You are a beauty,” he said. “What shall I name you? Ah, Persephone, a fitting name.”

He brought the baby to the young woman with long blonde hair
,
sitting in a rocking chair
,
and placed the infant in her arms. She unbuttoned her blouse and unsnapped the panel of the nursing bra. Cradling the baby in her arms and cooing softly, she guided the hungry infant to her
chest
. Persephone placed her tiny hands on each side of the woman’s breast, as if to squeeze every drop from its overflowing bounty, and suckled hungrily. After a few minutes, the
young woman
changed sides and the baby drank until she fell asleep. The
n she
put the sleeping infant back in her crib and covered her with a soft pink blanket.

The man with the red beard
watched
Persephone
sleep
. “You will be a special gift. But the ultimate offering will be Diana herself, Goddess of the Moon.”

Into the Mythological Realm

W
illy Cash carried the printout into Lucier’s office. “Here’s the lowdown on the babies snatched in the past year, Lieutenant. Two from hospitals like the one here, but different M.O.s for the other. Besides the Seaver baby and the girl in Mobile, one baby went missing in Atlanta.” Cash flipped to another sheet of paper. “
A few other
reports of missing babies
from
around the Southeast were parent abductions, and the police found both the parents and the babies.

“Halloran and I
studied
the tapes from
the hospitals
where the
other
kidnapped babies were born. Our man is in all of them.”

“We got ourselves a suspect,
”
Lucier
said. “Now who the hell is he?
”

Lucier’s phone rang. Diana. He shot a pleading glance at Beecher. “Give me five,
okay
?”
Beecher left, and
Lucier
turned his chair around to answer the call.

“Will you make it here for dinner?” she asked. “I’m trying my hand at pot roast. Even I can’t screw up that.”

“Yeah, but I don’t know what time,” he said, curling around the phone.
“
Might be late.
”

“
I’ll wait,”
she said
. “
And guess what’s for dessert?”

“I give up. What?”

“Me.”

Lucier broke into a huge grin. “I’ll be right there.” Her wonderful, full-throated laugh never failed to excite him. “
Keep dinner warm, and―” he lowered his voice―
“
d
on’t let dessert get cold. I like my psychics warm with a little whipped cream.
And I’m starved.
”

He hung up, turned around, and noticed Cash standing near his desk, looking almost as embarrassed as Lucier.
Shit
. He hated when his men caught him in a personal moment. “What?”

“Um, we showed the picture of our
suspect
to the hospital staff.
Even though the face is obscured, o
ne of the janitors recognized the jacket.
Our guy’s
another janitor, named
Dudley
Reems
, and he hasn’t shown up for work since the kidnapping. Here’s the hospital picture. No record we can find.”

Lucier
examined
the picture.
“Unless that’s not his real name.
Any other record of employment?”

“Not under that name. The same janitor that recognized the coat said
Reems
didn’t talk much, but
overheard him on the phone once
mentioned the Sunrise Mission here in New Orleans.”

“Doesn’t that mission take in the homeless,
give them a bed,
and help them
find jobs?”

“That’s the place. They’ve been written up several times in the papers. People claim the place saved their lives. Maybe
Reems
stayed there.”

“
Did you f
ind out who runs it
?
”

“
Yup.
It’s under state control, but it was the idea of a guy by the name of Brother Osiris.”

“Osiris. What the hell kind of name is that?” Beecher asked, slipping into the office.

Lucier did a double take. “You’re kidding, right?”

“Nope,” Cash said, brows raised, mouth twisted in a smirk. “That’s his name, at least to everyone who enters his domain.”

“Sounds mythological
.
Find out Brother Osiris’
s
real name and the mythology
,
Willy
.”

“I’m ahead of you. Real name is Edward Slater.
Forty-one, unmarried, no kids, not according to this, anyway.
In the late eighties and early nineties he was picked up on
drunk
charges a few times, and last year he was questioned after a woman filed a complaint that he swindled her.”

“What happened?” Lucier asked.

Cash flipped the pages of his notebook. “
Slater
produced a signed letter that she’d willingly donated $25,000 to the Sunrise Mission. She didn’t deny signing it and then dropped the charges.”

“Sounds like a con man to me,” Beecher said. “Hits on the ladies before they know what they’re doing.”

“Sure does, but you know as well as I that if someone wants to leave all her money to her cat, there’s not a damn thing anyone can do about it. Remember that hotel heiress? What did she leave to her dog?
Twelve mil?”
Lucier
scanned
the sheet on Slater. “
I assume you’ve already checked
the mythology angle
?
”

“
Yeah
, and you’re going to love this
.
I’ll give you the abridged version
.
” Cash carried a compute
r printout and started reading.
“Osiris
was an
Egyptian fertility god,
sometimes called god of the underworld. He was married to
Isis
and
slain by his brother Seth, who then cut his body into fourteen pieces and cast them to the winds.
There’s another story that says his body was cut into twenty-six pieces. In both,
Isis gathered up all the pieces except the phallus and healed the body. She magically restored that little baby ’cause she conceived Horus, who is often portrayed as a babe suckled by his mother.’”

“Jeez,” Beecher said.

“Hey, I just
wrote what I found
. You couldn’t make up this stuff.”

“What does it all mean?” Beecher asked.

“He takes the name of a god whose member has been severed and restored,” Lucier said. “Maybe he’s saying he can overcome anything, or maybe it’s a validation of his virility.”