Mind Games (43 page)
“They’re quite a pair, especially the old man. Are they for real?”
“’Fraid so. Can you get the doctor to keep them out until she wakes up?”
“Doc Cleghorn’s a golfing buddy. I’m sure he’ll do me the favor. He’ll expect me to miss a few shots on the course in return, but that’s okay. He hasn’t come close to beating me. A few holes won’t matter.”
“Thanks. I think Galen Racine is the last thing she needs right now.”
“When you finish your paperwork, get lost.”
Lucier heard him telling the volatile couple outside that they’d have to wait for the doctor’s okay to see their daughter. Footsteps faded down the corridor along with Galen Racine’s yammer.
Lucier gazed at Diana, afraid to touch her, afraid for once of pushing away the ever-present stray lock of hair from her face. She opened one eye. “Did I hear the distinctive voice of my father?”
“Yup. After the ordeal his baby’s been through, you honestly didn’t expect him to stay away, did you?”
“No, I guess not. How’s Jake Griffin? He’s not―”
“He’ll be fine. Got a nasty gash on his head. If I know Jake, he’ll turn his abduction into a Pulitzer Prize winning account.”
Diana exhaled a long breath. “I’m glad. I’d hate to think Macon killed him becau
se of me. Another body added to the list.”
Lucier wondered how many bodies he added to the list by his lost objectivity. He didn’t want to think of that now.
“Macon killed those people. You had nothing to do with it.”
“But your captain was right. I should have told you about the meeting in the park. But I was so afraid he wouldn’t let my mother go, I’d have promised anything. I lost all common sense. Three people died, and I’m responsible.”
“You heard the captain. Macon could have killed more people on his escape route out of the country or even people at the park if we’d moved on him. Innocent people, possibly children.”
“Guess we’ll never know,” she said.
“There’s enough blame to go around in this case. It went back more than thirty years. Nothing you or I could have prevented.”
“Macon didn’t have a chance,” she said, with a note of sadness. “He could have been so much more. He had brains, looks, a certain charm, and the gift. A gift like mine, which for him was more of a curse. But he’d been compromised and twisted by the events of his childhood so that his life could go only one way. And he knew it.”
“What do you mean?”
“He saw his end in a vision.”
Lucier listened as she filled him in on what Macon had told her about his mother and the man who’d replaced him in her affections. About murder and the sexual perversion that defined his young life.
“Freud would have a field day with him. I’m not smart enough to figure it out.”
“Don’t tell me you feel sorry for him.”
A wistful expression marked her face, and she tightened her tiny fingers over his hand. “Not sorry but sad. The last few weeks have changed me forever. I’m retiring, Ernie. I’m finished as an entertainer. I can’t do it anymore.”
“You’re upset. Give yourself time before making any rash decisions. I have a few weeks off. How would you like to go somewhere quiet to get your strength back? Just the two of us.”
Diana’s eyes brightened. “I’d love that. But retiring isn’t a rash decision. I’ve been thinking about it for a long time. No, I’m through. Maybe I’ll concentrate on performing for children. Something to make people happy, give them joy, you know? Nothing but light entertainment. No pay. For fun only.”
“If that’s what you want to do, then that’s what you should do.”
“And only in New Orleans and surroundings. No more than a couple of hours away.” She focused on him. “From you.”
His stomach did a flip. He brought her hand to his lips.
“How does that sound? Good? Pushy?”
“It sounds―”
Galen Racine’s bellow filtered into the room from the outside corridor. Lucier dropped his head. “It sounds great, Diana, but it’d sound a lot better if there were no background noise. Should I let them in?”
“I’m not sure I’m up to Galen and Blanche right now.”
But it didn’t matter what anyone wanted. Galen burst through the door with Blanche tagging behind. “Okay, okay, I’ve waited long enough.” He shot to Diana’s bedside like an on-track bullet “How’s my little girl?” Then to Lucier. “Lieutenant. Nice to see you again.”
“Mr. Racine.”
Blanche rushed to Lucier’s side of the bed, pushing away his hand to grab Diana’s. “Darling, I’m so glad you’re okay and that dreadful creature is dead. How awful it must have been for you, my baby.”
“I’m fine, Mother. Just tired from the shot they gave me.” Diana let go of Blanche’s hand and reached for Lucier’s again. “I don’t think I’m up to a lot of commotion right now. I have to give a statement to the Lieutenant, and when I get out of here I’m going to stay in New Orleans and relax for a while.”
“Not possible, dear,” Galen said. “We’ve come to take you home. I’ve rescheduled your appearances to give you some time off. You can relax there where we can take care of you.”
“I guess you didn’t understand. I’m staying here with Ernie. He has some time off and I think he’ll make a great nurse until I’m better.”
“That’s right, Mr. Racine. My pleasure.”
Galen stood to his full five feet four inches, his back ramrod straight. “Well, it won’t be mine. Diana, you’ll get yourself ready when they say you can go, and you’ll come with us.”
Diana struggled to sit up. “Galen, Blanche, we need to talk.”
Feeling superfluous, Lucier headed for the door.
“Don’t leave, Ernie. This concerns you.”
He turned around and held his breath. She turned toward her parents.
“I know how important my life has been for you both, and I’m grateful. But it’s time I lived for myself and you two lived yours. I’m a grown woman. I can’t live with my parents forever.” Tears welled in her eyes. “I’m tired. I need to be with someone I love, start a family, go to PTA, have a dog. All the things normal people do. Please understand.”
“But you’re special, baby,” Galen said. “You’re not like everyone else. You have a gift. What will happen to that? You can’t ignore it. Performing is in your blood. You’ll be bored, itching to get back on stage, and by then, no one will remember you.”
“I hope they don’t. I’ve had enough of the limelight. I don’t want to hurt either of you, but you need to back off. This is my decision, and it’s final.”
“I suppose
he
talked you into this,” Galen said, flipping his head toward Lucier.
Lucier hated that Diana was forced to deal with this now, but he couldn’t get involved. This was between her and her parents.
“He
didn’t talk me into anything. In fact, he asked me to wait before I decided. I’ve been thinking about this for a long time. I’ve made my decision, and you’ll have to respect it.” She looked from one to the other. “If you love me, that is.”
The last comment did it, leaving Galen and Blanche at an unusual loss for words. “Of course we love you,” Blanche said. “We don’t have to talk about this now. If you need to stay here in New Orleans for a while, that’s what you’ll do. We respect that, don’t we, Galen?”
Sputtering and scuffing, Galen agreed. “Hmmph, of course, but you wait ’n see. You’ll be calling us within a month to arrange shows. How much you wanna bet? You’ll see.”
Diana started to speak, but Blanche cut her off. “Galen, dear, I’m exhausted. Let’s stay the night and head back in the morning. I think Diana will be well taken care of.” She turned to her daughter. “You’re right, dear. You need a life of your own. It’s not normal for a woman your age to live with her mother and father. Not right.” She turned to Galen. “Besides, I have a few ideas. Some places I’ve always wanted to go. Places we’ve never been to, and we’re getting too old to not to go while we can. There are some other things we never seem to have the time for either, come to think. We have some serious talking, honeybunch.”
Lucier watched Blanche Racine work. He’d underestimated the woman, and a glance at Diana confirmed that she had too. Galen controlled things, but in her unassuming way, Blanche controlled Galen. He reacted to the wink from his wife, blushing, as if reminded about things he hadn’t thought of in a long time.
“Well, I s’ppose. Just for a while,” he said.
Diana propped herself up in bed. “Good. Then it’s settled.”
Galen glanced at his daughter. “You know, maybe we should get on the road now. We can get a good head start. What do you say, Blanche? Ready?”
Blanche bent down and whispered in Diana’s ear. Lucier couldn’t hear what she said and wasn’t sure he wanted to.
Diana smiled and squeezed Blanche’s hand. “Thanks, Mother.”
“You know, that’s the third time you’ve called me Mother, and all within a few weeks. I like it. Like it a lot.” She took Lucier’s hand. “You take care of her or I’ll send him down to deal with you.” Smiling, she left the room for her husband to say his good-byes.
“I’ll be calling to check up on you.”
“That’s fine. I hope you do. I love you, Daddy. You know that, don’t you?”
“Sure do, honey.” He leaned over and kissed his daughter. “I love you more than life itself.” Straightening, he offered his hand to Lucier. “I guess we’ll be seeing each other again. Saving her life makes her yours, you know. For now, anyways.” Then the old man turned and left the room.
Lucier took his seat beside the bed and wiped a tear from Diana’s cheek. “I didn’t think he’d give in so easily.”
“Neither did I. It’s a first. He kind of broke my heart, but it had to be done.”
“What did your mother whisper in your ear?”
“She wished me good luck and said to go for it. Then she said I shouldn’t worry about my father. She’d keep him busy.”
“Surprising woman, I’d say.”
“Did you mean what you said? About the two of us going away?”
“Yup. I know a beautiful place off the coast of Texas, in the Gulf. South Padre Island. It’s perfect. Secluded, quiet. No one to bother us.” Without saying a word, he removed the simple gold band from his left ring finger and slipped it into his pocket.
She lifted his hand to her lips. “Taking off that ring doesn’t mean you should ever forget your past life. You must keep it in your heart always, but it’s time for you to move on too. Time to start living again.”
“It won’t be easy for us, you know.”
“It’s a different time than when your parents were together. Besides, I never liked easy.”
He leaned over and kissed her. She started to shake like she had when she held Buffy Tyler’s shirt. The shaking became more pronounced. “What? What is it? Should I call the nurse?”
She moaned.
“Talk to me. Diana?”
She opened her eyes, remaining in a trance-like state. “I’m having a vision, Ernie. Oh, my God. No, no. I can’t believe what’s happening.” She started to pant, to whimper. The shaking continued.
Panic flooded through him. “What? Tell me.”
“I see a room. A bedroom. It’s so dark. Two people are on the bed. She’s screaming, gasping, scratching at the man. He’s sweating, thrusting himself at her. She’s still screaming. Oh, oh―”
“What the hell’s going on?”
“I see their faces. It can’t be. It can’t.”
“What? Who is it? Is he killing her?”
Diana stopped her act and grinned. “It’s us, silly. We’re near the ocean making love and I’m having an orgasm. God, it was so great. I wish you could have felt what I felt, Ernie.”
Lucier fell back in the chair, patting his heart, sweat dripping from his face. “You witch. I almost had a heart attack. I’ll get you for that, Diana Racine.” Then he laughed. “I promise, I’ll get you good.”
She threw her arms around his neck. “I’m counting on it, darling. I’m counting on it.”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Polly Iyer was born in a coastal city north of Boston, Massachusetts. After studying at Massachusetts College of Art and Design in Boston, she lived in Italy, Atlanta, and now resides in the beautiful Piedmont region of South Carolina in an empty nest house with her husband and family pets. Writing novels turned into her passion after careers in fashion, art, and business. Now she spends her time being quite the hermit in comfortable clothes she wouldn't be caught dead wearing on the outside, while she devises ways for life to be complicated for her characters. Better them than her.
Learn more about Polly and her books at
Following is an excerpt from
Goddess of the Moon
,
the second in the
Diana Racine Psychic
S
uspense series.
I hope you enjoy it.
