Blood on the Bayou: A Cafferty & Quinn Novella by Heather Graham Page A
Authors: Heather Graham
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you?” Her guess got their attention, so she continued. “Why you would want to follow in the footsteps of a father who didn’t even recognize your existence, I don’t know. And why you would be subservient to another, when you’re the son of the last rougarou, that’s mind boggling.”
“You are a witch, definitely a witch!” the man cried. “But I will be the next rougarou, whether your idiot friends hire me or not.”
One more piece of the puzzle clicked. And with her only goal to keep him talking, she threw another accusation their way. “So is the rougarou Victoria? Did she get you to apply for a job with David and Julian so that you could find out more about what they were doing? Were you supposed to try to sabotage their tours? Guess what? You didn’t even impress them enough to remember your name.”
“Shut up, witch! My name is Jim Novak and they damn well know it. You’re just stupid! You’re a stupid witch,” he said.
The rougarou slammed the cane against the man and whispered something that Danni didn’t catch.
Novak stepped toward her. She leapt at him, striking, clawing, screaming, using all of her strength. To no avail. He gave her a head-ringing pop atop her head and the world began to spin.
He tossed her over his shoulder and headed outside.
She struggled as he set her down and reached for ropes.
She was being tied to a tree.
In the time that he’d left her before the arrival of the rougarou , Jim Novak had been preparing for her death.
She wasn’t going to be beaten or ripped to death.
She was going to be burned alive.
* * * *
Selena Duarte brought Quinn out back, to the land side of her Honey Swamp shack, and pointed far to the west.
“Through all those trees,” she said. “When I see him, it’s in that direction. I’ve seen him there many times. I don’t know what’s back there. It’s overgrown and dense. And there are potholes and swampy land in between. All kinds of critters. Gators, snakes. They leave the rougarou alone. But you may not make it through.”
“I’ll make it,” Quinn told her. “And Selena. Thank you.”
He headed in the direction she’d pointed. By his reckoning, there was a lot of marshy land between Selena’s, the main swamp, and the road. But there had to be something out there. Some kind of old camp or shack. As he walked, he called Larue and told him where he was and where he was going.
“Find out,” he said. “There has to be something around these coordinates. Get some techs on it. Maybe there’s a way for cops to get there by a road of some kind before I can make it.”
Larue promised he was on it.
Quinn kept walking. Grass tangled around his feet. The mud was ankle-deep. He came upon a patch of bare land by a little pool. A gator, six or seven feet long, lay half in and out of the water.
“Brother, leave me alone and I’ll leave you alone,” Quinn said.
He skirted the alligator and kept going. Luckily, the beast continued bathing in what remained of the sunlight. He paused, looking ahead. For a moment, he thought that he saw smoke.
Which quickly dissipated.
He blinked but kept going, with a landmark now.
Toward the smoke.
* * * *
“You can’t kill me,” Danni said. “I’m the Good Witch of Honey Swamp, remember? I can make it rain.”
She so startled Jim Novak that, for a moment, he paused and looked up at the sky.
“I call upon the rain,” she yelled, feeling ridiculous.
But she had given him pause.
The rougarou let out some impatient sound and Novak stepped forward again and lit the dried branches around Danni’s feet.
She inhaled an odd smell.
Gasoline.
On the wood.
“I call upon the rain,” she shouted again.
And to her amazement, it began to rain.
* * * *
Quinn ran, tripping and stumbling.
To make matters worse, it had begun to rain. Heavy. Almost blinding him. His phone rang. It nearly slipped from his fingers as he answered, still making his way through the mud and
“You are a witch, definitely a witch!” the man cried. “But I will be the next rougarou, whether your idiot friends hire me or not.”
One more piece of the puzzle clicked. And with her only goal to keep him talking, she threw another accusation their way. “So is the rougarou Victoria? Did she get you to apply for a job with David and Julian so that you could find out more about what they were doing? Were you supposed to try to sabotage their tours? Guess what? You didn’t even impress them enough to remember your name.”
“Shut up, witch! My name is Jim Novak and they damn well know it. You’re just stupid! You’re a stupid witch,” he said.
The rougarou slammed the cane against the man and whispered something that Danni didn’t catch.
Novak stepped toward her. She leapt at him, striking, clawing, screaming, using all of her strength. To no avail. He gave her a head-ringing pop atop her head and the world began to spin.
He tossed her over his shoulder and headed outside.
She struggled as he set her down and reached for ropes.
She was being tied to a tree.
In the time that he’d left her before the arrival of the rougarou , Jim Novak had been preparing for her death.
She wasn’t going to be beaten or ripped to death.
She was going to be burned alive.
* * * *
Selena Duarte brought Quinn out back, to the land side of her Honey Swamp shack, and pointed far to the west.
“Through all those trees,” she said. “When I see him, it’s in that direction. I’ve seen him there many times. I don’t know what’s back there. It’s overgrown and dense. And there are potholes and swampy land in between. All kinds of critters. Gators, snakes. They leave the rougarou alone. But you may not make it through.”
“I’ll make it,” Quinn told her. “And Selena. Thank you.”
He headed in the direction she’d pointed. By his reckoning, there was a lot of marshy land between Selena’s, the main swamp, and the road. But there had to be something out there. Some kind of old camp or shack. As he walked, he called Larue and told him where he was and where he was going.
“Find out,” he said. “There has to be something around these coordinates. Get some techs on it. Maybe there’s a way for cops to get there by a road of some kind before I can make it.”
Larue promised he was on it.
Quinn kept walking. Grass tangled around his feet. The mud was ankle-deep. He came upon a patch of bare land by a little pool. A gator, six or seven feet long, lay half in and out of the water.
“Brother, leave me alone and I’ll leave you alone,” Quinn said.
He skirted the alligator and kept going. Luckily, the beast continued bathing in what remained of the sunlight. He paused, looking ahead. For a moment, he thought that he saw smoke.
Which quickly dissipated.
He blinked but kept going, with a landmark now.
Toward the smoke.
* * * *
“You can’t kill me,” Danni said. “I’m the Good Witch of Honey Swamp, remember? I can make it rain.”
She so startled Jim Novak that, for a moment, he paused and looked up at the sky.
“I call upon the rain,” she yelled, feeling ridiculous.
But she had given him pause.
The rougarou let out some impatient sound and Novak stepped forward again and lit the dried branches around Danni’s feet.
She inhaled an odd smell.
Gasoline.
On the wood.
“I call upon the rain,” she shouted again.
And to her amazement, it began to rain.
* * * *
Quinn ran, tripping and stumbling.
To make matters worse, it had begun to rain. Heavy. Almost blinding him. His phone rang. It nearly slipped from his fingers as he answered, still making his way through the mud and
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