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Authors: Polly Iyer

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Mind Games

BOOK: Mind Games
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Polly Iyer

This book is a work of fiction. All names of characters and events are the product of the author’s imagination, including some references to New Orleans and surrounding areas. Saint Mark Parish exists only within the confines of this story. I hope no one is offended by the liberties I’ve taken under artistic license. Any resemblance to persons either living or dead is purely coincidental and beyond the intent of the author.

 

 

 

Cover design by Polly Iyer

 

 

 

 

 

Mind Games

Copyright © 2011 by Polly Iyer

ASIN:
B007QXT6ZO

Table of Contents

 

 

Chapter One

The Performance

Chapter Two

The Contest Begins

Chapter Three

The Born Skeptic

Chapter Four

Goddess of the Hunt

Chapter Five

The Button Speaks

Chapter Six

Background Check

Chapter Seven

Darkness Falls

Chapter Eight

The Chicken Wing from Hell

Chapter Nine

Pink Is the Color of Dead

Chapter Ten

Through a Third Party

Chapter Eleven

Found: Lost Gift Never Lost

Chapter Twelve

Into the Dark Realm

Chapter Thirteen

No White Women Allowed

Chapter Fourteen

Daddy Dearest

Chapter Fifteen

Obsession

Chapter Sixteen

A Who’s Who on Murderers’ Row

Chapter Seventeen

An Encyclopedia’s Point of View

Chapter Eighteen

Carried Away

Chapter Nineteen

A Mental Barricade

Chapter Twenty

Quieting the Jabbering Magpies

Chapter Twenty-One

Tracking a Sacrificial Lamb

Chapter Twenty-Two

Connecting Connections

Chapter Twenty-Three

A Trip to the Non-Virgin Islands

Chapter Twenty-Four

Matlock in Snakeskin Boots

Chapter Twenty-Five

Failing Fast

Chapter Twenty-Six

Divide and Conquer

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Collision Course

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Door One, Door Two, Door Three

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Role Reversal

Chapter Thirty

Near Miss

Chapter Thirty-One

Unfinished Business

Chapter Thirty-Two

The Little Brown Box

Chapter Thirty-Three

Sex and a Bologna Sandwich

Chapter Thirty-Four

Pieces of a Puzzle Paint a Picture

Chapter Thirty-Five

A Lesson Learned

Chapter Thirty-Six

Daddies’ Little Girls

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Nothing Beats a Little Luck

Chapter Thirty-Eight

An Unwanted Dinner Guest

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Stoned

Chapter Forty

Witchy Woman

Chapter Forty-One

Follow That Car

Chapter Forty-Two

The Empty Room

Chapter Forty-Three

A Deal with the Devil

Chapter Forty-Four

Promises, Promises

Chapter Forty-Five

Speechless for Once

Chapter Forty-Six

Just Another Day at the Lake

Chapter Forty-Seven

The Inevitable Vision

Chapter Forty-Eight

Forgone Conclusion

Chapter Forty-Nine

Curbing Temptation

Chapter Fifty

Into the Spider’s Web

Chapter Fifty-One

An Change of Routine

Chapter Fifty-Two

The Ghost

Chapter Fifty-Three

Nothing Is What It Seems

Chapter Fifty-Four

The Diversion

Chapter Fifty-Five

The Priest and the Confessor

Chapter Fifty-Six

Between Justice and Revenge

Chapter Fifty-Seven

Coming Unglued

Chapter Fifty-Eight

Harley’s Way

Chapter Fifty-Nine

A Vision to Die for

Chapter One

The Snatch

Chapter Two

The Call

Chapter One

The Performance

 

D
iana
R
acine, Fraud of the Century

 

T
hat was the headline in the morning’s
Times-Picayune
. She’d heard the accusation since she was a child. Charlatan in Miami, carny huckster in Detroit, and a dangerous witch in Boston. Others had called her a hustler, schemer, faker, pretender, gypsy, quack, phony, and scamster. That last was from Vegas. Totally biased reporting there.

They were all right. She was a fraud. And a damn good one too. A thirty-three-year old, five-foot-two bundle of fraud.

To a point.

Well here I am, people of New Orleans. Judge for yourselves.

She peeked around the curtain at the filled-to-capacity crowd, blew a curl off her forehead, and smoothed her skirt. After massaging her neck to loosen the tight muscles, she drew a deep breath, let it out slowly.
They’re just people, Diana. You’ve done this a thousand times before
. She stepped onto the stage to the welcome sound of applause.

After a few minutes of waves, smiles, and some audience banter that passed for warm-up, she picked out a cute guy in the first row. “What about you, handsome? Are you ready to be spooked?” She bent down closer to him and dropped her voice into her sexiest register. “Care to have your innermost secrets exposed to this raucous crowd?

“I’m ready for anything with you, Diana.” He reached out for her, nearly making contact. “In fact, you can take me home and find out everything about me.”

The audience burst into laughter and applause. Diana threw back her head, tossing her mane of shiny black curls, and laughed along with the others. Waggling her finger at him as she strutted backward on high heels, she said, “Uh-oh, I better stay away from you. You could put an end to my act.”

She teased a few others before scanning the crowd and randomly chose a chunky, red-faced woman from the third row, coaxing her to come onstage. Random to everyone but Diana.

“You don’t have to if you’d rather not,” she said to the woman. “And you can stop the reading at any time. No problem.”

After hemming and hawing, the woman went into a huddle with her husband for a minute.

The crowd spurred her on.

“Oh, go ahead,” one man shouted.

Another voice rang out. “Scaredy cat.”

The woman chewed her lip. “Oh, why the hell not?” She rose from her seat. “I have no secrets.”

Perfect.

The sparse stage displayed two wooden chairs and a café table containing a pitcher of water, tissues, and a stack of plastic cups. As the woman approached, Diana detected the stale smell of cigarettes.

“Please, have a seat and relax.”

“Yeah, right,” the woman said sarcastically. She eyed the water.

“You’re thirsty,” Diana said. “Nothing telepathic. Just an observation.” The woman’s lips twitched into a tight smile. Diana poured a cup of water and handed it to her. “All set?”

“Yes, I’m fine. A little nervous, that’s all.”

“No need to be.” She took the other chair. “If you wish,
you can tell me your name.”

BOOK: Mind Games
11.37Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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