Blood on the Bayou: A Cafferty & Quinn Novella by Heather Graham Page B

muck.
    Larue.
    “There’san old shack out there. It’s been there for years and years. You’re not going to believe who originally held the property rights around it.”
    “Count D’Oro?” Quinn said.
    “Bingo. We’ve got a team heading there as quickly as possible.”
    “I’m almost there.”
    “Quinn, we found Victoria Miller and Gene Andre. I had them brought in. They did hire that guy, Jim Novak is his name, to harass David Fagin and Julian Henri. But they swear that’s all they did. They said that he found them and instigated it. He promised he’d find out what David and Julian were up to and that he’d do his best to make their new company miserable. Victoria paid him, but then he wanted more money. Of course, Gene says he was against it from the get-go and wanted to tell us.” The doubt was clear in Larue’s voice.
    “You have both of them?” Quinn asked.
    “In custody.”
    “Thanks. Gotta keep moving.”
    “Police are on the way.”
    “They may not be in time.”
    He hung up and renewed his efforts with a burst of speed. He was pretty sure he knew just who the rougarou might be.
    And he’d given him plenty of time.
    To set a trap.
     
    * * * *
     
    The rain doused the fire, despite the gasoline. But as the sudden deluge eased, Novak stepped forward to light it again.
    “I control the wind and the rain,” she yelled, praying that the Louisiana weather would not let her down. And, to her relief, it did not. The rain fell harder.
    Novak let out a cry of terror.
    The rougarou seemed undaunted and stepped forward. Tied to the tree, Danni could do nothing. The “creature” drew out a knife. But instead of planting it in her, he severed the ties binding her and drew her from the tree.
    Rain kept falling.
    The heavy wolf’s head cane was raised, ready to smash it down on her head. But a mammoth mud creature burst from the swamp and tackled the rougarou .
    She blinked away the rain.
    The mud creature was Quinn.
    Quinn straddled the costumed man, pinning him down, wrenching the cane from him and throwing it away. The rougarou struggled for the knife. Quinn backhanded him across the face so hard that his arms fell flat. Danni dived for the knife. She heard a howl. It was Novak, racing for her.
    She braced herself, ready to use the knife.
    An explosion pierced the air.
    Gunfire.
    From Quinn’s weapon.
    Novak was hit in the kneecap. He let out a howl of pain that seemed to tear through the swamp as if a beast had been brought down.
    “Get up,” Quinn shouted at the rougarou .
    As he did, the rain eased.
    Quinn ripped the mask off.
    To reveal Detective Hayden Beauchamp.
     

Epilogue
    Detective Dirk Deerfield was the most stunned that the “ rougarou ” had been his own partner.
    He shook his head over and over again.
    Quinn felt badly for him. He’d thought his young partner an upright fellow and had been completely duped.
    “He asked me about the old case a lot,” Deerfield said. “I thought that sometimes it was just to remind me that while I might be the veteran and him the rookie, things had gotten by me. It never occurred to me that he was planning murders in the same way. Murders with the same details.”
    “How did Beauchamp and Jim Novak meet?” Father Ryan asked. “That has to be one of the most unlikely duos ever.”
    “It wasn’t surprising to me that Jim Novak is slightly crazy,” Natasha said. “Ignored by a father who died when he was a child. Not even given his name. His mother didn’t want him. He bounced through the system, went through all kinds of foster homes, unwanted. I guess a legacy as a rougarou was better than none.”
    They were all there, Natasha, Father Ryan, Billie, Bo Ray, Danni, Quinn, along withJake Larue and Dirk Deerfield, gathered at a place called Wicked Times. Beauchamp and Novak had both been arraigned on murder charges. Danni had been cleared from the hospital, since Quinn had insisted she have the knot on her head looked at. Communication between