Between Dusk and Dawn (37 page)

“
Speaking of Manny, I went
to see him one more time. Don’t get mad,” LaShaun added quickly
when Chase’s dark eyebrows bunched together. “You had your hands
full, and I didn’t want an argument.”

“
We agreed, no secrets,
LaShaun.” Chase crossed his arms and stared at her
steadily.

“
I’m not keeping it a
secret, right? It’s just the timing of when I’m telling you.”
LaShaun tried to smile, but it faded when Chase didn’t look
appeased.

“
Keep talking,” he
clipped.

“
Don’t ask me how, but
Manny knew I’d talked to Verlena. Dr. Norris said after the first
visit he actually seemed to be more stable. His outburst might have
been some kind of emotional pressure release, and he talked more in
therapy. So she agreed to a second visit. About the same time I
called to ask permission, Manny asked to see me again.”

“
Serial killers are master
manipulators and figuring out what buttons to push. Manny is one
guy you don’t want in your head,” Chase said darkly.

“
He’s not,” LaShaun
protested. “Besides, I don’t think there’s any reason to see him
again.”

“
Orin Young’s solid
reputation is history since talk about him and Patsy got around.
This nurse he’s been romancing heard about it, and she got pissed.
So she’s trash talking about him like crazy. Trust me, Orin has
more on his plate than being mad at you,” Chase said.

“
You could be right.”
LaShaun stared through the window to the dense woods at the edge of
her property.

“
LaShaun, don’t keep things
from me, and don’t try that timing argument either. It won’t fly.
Now what else? Cause I know there’s more.” Chase gazed at her, the
lover and fiancé replaced by the seasoned cop.

LaShaun took a deep breath and gave
him a full account of her battle the night with barely human
opponents. She hastened to assure him she’d been well armed when
the color drained out of his face. “I had three weapons; and the
fourth one was knowing exactly what I was up against.”

Chase pulled a hand over his face.
“Saints in Heaven, given me strength. What the hell were you
thinkin’, girl?”

“
They started it,” LaShaun
glared at him defiantly. “I didn’t go looking for a fight a pack of
rougarous, but I sure knew how to finish it.”

“
You didn’t tell me
because...” Chase spread both arms out as though waiting for a
really big and excellent defense.

LaShaun cleared her throat. “You would
have tried to stop me, and I needed to fight them my way. And I
wanted you to be able to honestly say you weren’t
involved.”

“
Don’t do this kind of
crap, LaShaun,” Chase snapped. Then he closed his eyes for a few
moments. “We stand together no matter what. Your fight is my
fight.”

“
Okay, let’s talk about
trust. I mean your trust in
me
,” she added with force when opened
his mouth to speak. When he didn’t interrupt, LaShaun went on. “I
know you’re not totally convinced about a lot of supernatural folk
tales. But you have to admit that there is something beyond what
see around us every day. We good Catholics believe in angels and
demons. The church still does exorcisms.”

“
I haven’t studied the
subject. Too many human evil doers runnin’ around these days,”
Chase retorted. Still his frown relaxed as he leaned against the
counter, as though willing to at least listen.

“
I was born into the
Rousselle family, with a long history of extra sensory experiences.
My grandmother had the gift of sight and a rare ability to bend
people to her will, under the right conditions. I have a gift,
though it doesn’t always feel that way,” LaShaun added with a
grimace. “But my point is I’ve got experience with these strange
events, and like it or not this stuff seems to follow me. I’ll do
everything I can to keep you fully informed. Sometimes I need to
act first, and talk to you later. But I’m not trying to hide
anything from you.”

“
LaShaun...” Chase shook
his head slowly.

“
You’re the law enforcement
expert, and you can’t tell me everything about your cases. I know
it’s not because you don’t trust me, or because we’re not a team.
The supernatural is my territory. Trust me. Please.” LaShaun walked
close to him, pulled his folded arms loose and wrapped them around
her body.

Chase rested his forehead against
hers. “You’re right. Trust goes both ways. I just want you to be
safe.”

“
My big strong man,”
LaShaun said quietly, a gentle tease in her voice.

“
Okay, okay, I’m a throw
back. It’s what guys do. We protect the people we love. It’s
genetic or something.” Chase smiled as he spoke.

“
I promise not to run
around picking fights with demons, werewolves and other things that
go bump in the night. How’s that?” LaShaun snuggled even closer to
his body.

“
I feel so much better,”
Chase murmured. He kissed her long and passionately, his hands
rubbing her back.

When they stopped he started to speak,
but LaShaun put a forefinger on his lips. “No, we’re going to be
late for your niece’s birthday party as it is.”

Chase let out a mock groan of
frustration when LaShaun pulled free. “Another hour and a half
won’t matter.”

“
Put on your coat and grab
that box. I didn’t spend hours making pecan candy and baking
cupcakes so we can walk in late after everyone is too stuffed to
eat them.”

“
Alright, but you owe me
big time,” Chase said pointing at her.

“
I always pay my debts,
Mister,” she tossed back.

Ten minutes later they were on the
highway travelling to Chase’s parents’ home. Since Jessi’s birthday
was on Halloween, every year since she’d turned five the family
threw a birthday party with costumes. Over the years it had become
quite a production, a social event not to be missed. LaShaun wasn’t
scared of ghosts and goblins. She feared facing more of the
Broussard extended family and long time friends.

“
Drive carefully so the
cupcakes won’t get all messy. I hope the candy isn’t too brittle
and ends up in pieces. Maybe I should check to make sure it’s
wrapped well.” LaShaun twisted in her seat to check on the treats
she’d made.

“
I’m sure the food will be
fine, and you look beautiful. Those jeans don’t make your butt look
big, and your hair looks great.” Chase nodded. “That should cover
all your nervous questions.”

LaShaun laughed and slapped his arm.
“Look who’s psychic now.”

They rode on through the velvet
darkness that existed in rural Louisiana. There were no bright
street lights to pierce the veil of night. Chase positioned her
hand on his thigh, and then went back to driving and humming a
song. LaShaun felt a flood of warmth. No matter what his family
might say or do, at least she had him by her side.

Chapter 21

They arrived at four thirty, and
Jessi’s party was in full swing. In harvest style, pumpkins, hay
bales and festive golden, dark green and orange streamers were
wrapped around the porch posts. A few friendly smiling “ghosts”
made of sheets bobbed on strings. A scarecrow sat in one of the
rocking chairs. As Chase pulled into the crowded driveway they
could hear squeals of delight from children and a few
adults.

“
See? Just good old Cajun
country fun,” Chase said and rubbed his hands together. “Us
grown-ups have as much of a good time as the kids.”

“
You really do enjoy being
with your family,” LaShaun replied, a little prick of guilt and
sadness going through her.

“
We have our moments, and
don’t you worry. My mother will behave. She hates scenes.” Chase
put an arm around LaShaun.

“
How encouraging,” LaShaun
said.

“
We have to know what we’re
facing as a team, right?” Chase kissed her on the cheek. “I’ll bet
the grown folks are hoping you’ll bring that legendary Rousselle
family magic to the party.”

“
I plan to disappoint them
for sure. Nothing but small talk and serving goodies to the
children, that’s all I plan for tonight.”

“
Well at least I know
you’re up for fighting off any kind of supernatural hobgoblin that
decides to show up. I hope your brought you silver knife, garlic
and some of that special dust you ghost busters use.” Chase laughed
as he opened the driver side door and got out.

“
I’m prepared, and so are
you,” LaShaun tossed back. She slid across the seat after him and
brushed back her hair. Before she could finish explaining the front
door flew open. Seconds later they were surrounded by a group of
kids, led by one of Chase’s nephews, Bruce Broussard,
III.

“
Here he is,” Bruce
announced. At fourteen he had yet to reach his growth spurt. “Hey,
Uncle Chase. We’re glad to see you two. Now we can hear some real
stories, not that baby stuff Aunt Elaine has been telling the
little kids.”

“
Yeah, we wanna hear about
that serial killer they were talkin’ about on Ghost Team USA. Is it
true he made sausage out of his victims and put ‘em in gumbo?” One
lanky pre-teen made ghostly noises and guffawed with the rest of
the boys.

“
Hey guys, no talk of
killing or other stuff that will scare your little brothers and
sisters.” Chase ruffled Bruce’s auburn hair with a laugh then
grabbed the container of pralines. “Where are you manners? Say good
evening to Miss LaShaun.”

“
Evenin’, ma’am,” Bruce
replied and nodded to her. His greeting was accompanied by a chorus
of boyish voices shouting hello.

“
Hello,” LaShaun replied
with a smile.

“
Right, no scaring the
babies,” another boy with curly black hair replied and gave a
snort. “My little brother will be up all night shaking in his
jammies and swearing monsters are in his closet.”

“
Shoot, the kids won’t be
the only ones. My mama had the creeps for days after we watched old
zombie movies,” another kid said. “I’d knock on stuff and she’d
jump three feet in the air.”

“
Shame on you, T-Ray,”
Chase said, barely able to conceal his grin.

The boys surrounded Chase and LaShaun
like a group of lively jumping beans as they walked up the front
steps and into the house. Decorations made the entrance just as
inviting. Children dressed like popular cartoon characters played
games and bounced around. There were at least three versions of
Snow White, one Princess Jasmine and a tiny mermaid. The smaller
boys were the usual variety of superheroes. One child dressed as a
skeleton enjoyed creeping up behind other kids and dropping rubber
spiders on their shoulders. He was rewarded with exuberant screams
of fear, mostly in good fun.

“
Hi you two.” Adrianna
waved at from across the large family, and other adults waved as
well.

“
Don’t drop the cupcakes,”
LaShaun said as they managed to navigate the room full of kids
going full blast to reach the group.

Chase smiled at them. “Hello
everybody, this is LaShaun. Honey, these are my cousins Vanessa,
Chuck, Bubba...”

“
Don’t start that, man.
Hello, LaShaun. My name is Phil,” the pudgy man said with a grin
for LaShaun and a mock scowl at Chase.

“
Nice to meet you,” LaShaun
said, and glanced at Chase.

“
Family joke. Philip has a
MBA no less, but he likes to be thought of as a good old country
boy. Ahem, he has political aspirations,” Chase said in a loud
whisper as though telling her a secret.

“
But we call him ‘Bubba’ so
everyone will forget he’s one of them educated, big city fellas,” a
second male cousin added with a grin and stuck out his hand. “I’m
the real thing, Ray Grenier.”

LaShaun shook his hand. “Nice to meet
you.”

“
Give me those cupcakes.
LaShaun and I will take these delightful treats to the kitchen.
Hmm, I’m thinking one of those will get lost on the way,” Adrianna
said with a laugh.

“
Couldn’t we put them on
the table?” LaShaun wasn’t eager to face Queen Elizabeth despite
her attempts to make amends since the brunch.

“
No room. Don’t worry
though. At the rate food is disappearing your hard work won’t be
wasted. We rarely have leftovers.” Adrianna held the handle of the
large square container and looped the other arm through LaShaun’s.
“Come on. Might as well face The Queen early and get it over
with.”

“
Is that how you coped?”
LaShaun said with a laugh.

“
Living miles away in
Alexandria helps,
a lot
.” Adrianna leaned closer as they got to the long hallway
leading to the kitchen. “I learned one trick fairly fast though
when we lived here. If I invited my family over for dinner along
with the in-laws, Queen Bee would always find some other pressing
engagement.”

“
Didn’t she ever catch on?”
LaShaun warmed to the fun. She would be sure to sit next to
Adrianna at family gatherings.

“
Nah. Then when we had the
kids she sucked it up. One thing about her, she loves her grand
kids,” Adrianna replied.