Cry Havoc (9 page)

Darcy picked up an empty Dr Pepper can. He squirted a thin stream of tobacco juice into it before answering, “Hoodoo’s basically folk medicine. Surprisingly effective medicine. It’s based on Old World healing principles and incorporates a large botanical pharmacopoeia while working on the same principles as faith healing. The root doctors—that’s what we called them in Louisiana— they have some repute for wizardry, but they’re not true mambos or priests like you’ll find in voodoo. They can make concoctions and juju’s for practically every domestic malaise you can think of: How to keep a husband from straying, how to get him to leave, how to come into money, how to get pregnant. You name the problem and I guarantee there’s a root doctor somewhere that will know the right combination of herbs and powders to produce satisfaction.”

Darcy’s audience was attentive, so he continued.

“Now voodoo, that’s actually a religion. I guess I should say an American bastardization of a religion. It developed in this country when Haitian slaves were introduced into Louisiana. It was based on the vodun religion that the slaves practiced back in Africa. Haiti was a Catholic island and the slaves there were all ostensibly converted to Catholicism. What actually happened, was that they syncretized their African gods with the Catholic saints. When the slaves were praying in front of an altar to Saint Barbara they were actually worshipping one of their old gods that had a lot of Saint Barbara’s attributes. The Catholic masters looked on approvingly and the slaves practiced idolatry right under their noses.

“American slaves didn’t have that opportunity. Except for French Louisiana, most slave owners practiced some variation of Protestantism, so the slaves didn’t have the opportunity to co-opt their gods to the dominant religion. American slaves were forced to take their religious practices underground, and as they splintered off among the various slave holders, they lost touch with their priests and priestesses. They practiced secretly—what they could remember—but as their old beliefs faded they were be replaced by the prevailing religion of the area. The use of the traditional herbs and medicines—and their faith in them—that remained. That’s what we call hoodoo.”

“How the fuck do you know all this shit?” Johnnie interrupted. “They teach you this in Coon-Ass 101?”

Darcy ignored him and Frank appreciated that that was how he had decided to deal with Johnnie’s juvenile animosity.

“You know anything about a Saint Barbara’s Spiritual Church of the Seven Powers?” Frank asked.

Stroking his longer-than-regulation moustache, he mused, “I’m not sure. Spiritual churches are big in the South. They’re hard to define. Kind of an amalgamation of southern Baptist, Pentecostal, and spiritism, all rolled into one complicated ball. They use seances to call down the dead, all in the name of Jesus. And the Church of the Seven Powers. To the best of my knowledge it’s an offshoot of the Church of the Lukumi. That was the first officially recognized church of
santeria
in the United States.”

“Santeria,”
Lewis interjected. “That’s Cuban, right? That’s what those sickos in Matamoros believed in.”

Darcy said, “Yes, they were sickos all right, but they weren’t practicing true
santeria
any more than Timothy McVeigh was practicing true Christianity. They took a basically benign theology and ran riot with it. They twisted it to their own sick ends. And yes, it’s an island religion. Remember how I said Haiti was predominantly Catholic so the slaves were allowed to syncretize their African gods? The same thing happened in Cuba and throughout the Caribbean. Brazil too. That’s how
santeria
and
palo mayombe, candomble,
all the Afro/Latino religions came into existence.”

“So Mother Love-Jones is practicing
santeria?”

“Well, I couldn’t say for sure,” Darcy drawled. “I’d say with a ‘spiritual’ in the name of her church she’s probably incorporating some form of ancestor worship in her services, and with the Seven Powers and Saint Barbara tacked on, it sounds like some derivative of
santeria,
yes.”

Jill spoke as if she’d tasted something bad. “Don’t they sacrifice animals?”

Darcy nodded, “That was one of the obstacles in legalizing their church, yes.”

“What kind of animals?” Lewis asked.

“Usually fowl. Sometimes a pig or a goat if they need to make a particularly potent offering.”

“Larger the sacrifice, the greater their power?” Frank asked.

“Something like that, yes. The animals are usually drawn over the supplicant’s body to draw out whatever sickness or problem is plaguing him. The theory is the animal will absorb the trouble and then it’s killed and offered to whichever god they’re propitiating. And different gods have different preferences.”

“What about people?” Noah asked. “They ever sacrifice people?”

Darcy spit into his can and shook his head.

“Only in Hollywood.”

“And Matamoros,” Jill added.

Following Noah’s line of thought, Frank asked, “How do they kill the animals?”

All the detectives were silent while Darcy considered Frank’s question. Holding her blue eyes with his own, he finally answered, “They slit their throats and bleed them. Then they offer the blood to the gods.”

The squad was silent until Jill said, “That’s it. I’m going home.”

Jerking the sports coat off the back of his chair, Johnnie said, “I’m right behind you.”

Frank looked at Lewis. The rookie hung her head and muttered, “Shit.”

Noah cackled and clapped her on the back. “Better get some garlic and wooden stakes, partner.”

“No, you need silver bullets,” Johnnie said. “Or maybe a priest, like in
The Exorcist.”

Frank shot her rumpled detective a look. He was blithely ignorant, but the skin on Frank’s arms rose as she pictured Father Merrin in front of his stone demon.

Johnnie went on, “Isn’t that right, Swamp Boy? Isn’t that what she needs? Or maybe one of those powders
ya’ll
concoct out of snake skin and gator teeth.”

Darcy didn’t even bother looking up. Johnnie bent his big frame over the smaller detective.

“I’m talkin’ to you, boy.”

Darcy put his pen down, considering the face inches above his.

Frank said, “Johnnie. Go home.”

“I’m talkin’ to Swamp Boy here. Just tryin’ to have a friendly conversation only he’s not being so friendly. Where’s that southern hospitality, boy?”

“Conversation’s over,” Frank said. “Go home.”

“Since when can’t I talk to my colleagues after work?” Johnnie argued.

Frank’s eyes iced up and she said, “Don’t make me say it again.”

“Fuck.”

“Come on,” Noah said, putting his arm around Johnnie. “I’ll buy you a beer.”

“Fuck off,” Johnnie answered.

Frank stayed where she was until he left the squad room, then withdrew to her office. Darcy followed.

“I don’t need you to defend me,” he complained.

Frank checked a sigh.

“And I don’t you need you losing your temper and pulling a Sandman on him.”

Darcy had been demoted from Venice Division to Figueroa for planting his supervisor’s face into the beach, through which action he’d become known as the Sandman.

“I wasn’t going to do that.”

“Good. Johnnie’s got a short fuse at the end of the day and I was tired of it. Do you have a problem with that?”

Darcy chewed the inside of his lip.

“No,” he mumbled before turning around, squeezing past a flustered Jill outside Frank’s door.

Now what?

Frank wondered if she’d run into Johnnie on the way out.

“I thought you left.”

“I did. Can I talk to you for a minute?”

“Sure.”

Jill closed the door and Frank waited while she dragged a chair closer to the desk. Maternity may have suited Jill, but working a full case load didn’t. She looked pale and tired. Big circles under her eyes were vainly covered with make-up and her hair looked dull and brittle. Frank remembered it being thick and deep red. They used to call her the Fire Truck because of her flaming hair and quick response to a hot man.

“I need to ask you a favor.”

Jill twisted her hands in her lap and Frank braced herself for the resignation speech.

“I know it sounds silly, but I want off this Duncan case.”

“How come?” Frank asked, relieved.

“I’m just not comfortable with it. I know it sounds ridiculous. I can go into a roach-infested tenement and have maggots crawl out of a two-week-old corpse and up my leg, but I don’t want to deal with this devil worship shit. Not now. Not with a baby to look after.”

“What devil worship shit are we talking about?”

“What Johnnie said. For once he’s right. People don’t want to talk about Love-Jones. They’re scared of her. You can see it. One man I talked to yesterday, he’s retired from Caltrans, a straight up fellow, and he went
off,
telling me not to mess with her if I knew what was good for me, that she was a witch, she could make things happen. He almost slammed the door in my face!

“Then one of my CIs—I didn’t even call her, she called me, she lives near Love-Jones’ place on Slauson—she told me about some really bizarre things that go on there. Granted she’s not the most reputable source, but for her to call me out of the blue and tell me she’s seen lightning flashing over that place without a cloud in the sky, and red lights on at all hours of the morning?”

Jill’s voice climbed as she added, “And her boyfriend? She says he fights pit bulls and none of them will walk by that building. She said they start peeing and whimpering like puppies whenever they get near it. And to top it all off, she tells me the dumpster in front of their place is always filled with dead chickens and pigeons. There are even goats sometimes! I just don’t want anything to do with it. I’m asking you to take me off, Frank. Please.”

“No problem. I was going to put everybody back on regular duty anyway.”

Jill was visibly relieved and Frank leaned forward.

“Let me ask you something. Personal. I don’t mean any disrespect, I just don’t know. If you believe in God, and have a strong faith like you seem to, then wouldn’t you feel protected from evil? From characters like Mother Love?”

Jill’s head shook vehemently.

“Oh, no. Evil’s everywhere, and it’s insidious. I have tremendous faith but I’m not perfect. The thing about the devil is he uses any chink in your armor, any weakness in your belief as a foothold to claim your soul. It might start out innocently enough, but Satan’s persistent. He digs in and has all eternity to undermine your faith, until you finally, without even knowing it, have crossed to the dark side. He’s patient and clever. And he’s dangerous. Don’t underestimate him, Frank.”

“No. I won’t,” Frank reassured. She’d never seen this evangelical side to Jill and was slightly unnerved.

Jill stood, all tired pride and defiance. “Anything else?”

When Frank shook her head no, Jill smiled weakly.

“I know I probably sound like some crack-pot zealot, but I’d rather be safe than sorry. This just feels all wrong to me.”

She seemed to consider an idea, then added, “Be careful, Frank. And take care of Cheryl. She’s so green. Don’t let her get hurt.”

“I won’t,” Frank promised.

Jill left Frank stinging with the memory of Kennedy bleeding out in her arms. That had been Frank’s fault. No. She wouldn’t let anything happen to Lewis.

The Slauson exit was coming up. Frank was on her way home, but she wasn’t in a hurry. The only thing waiting for her tonight was the impassive steel in her weight room. She swung onto the off ramp, crossing back under the Ten, not at all curious about why she was going to the Mother’s headquarters. It was close to 5:00 PM and traffic was heavy on the east-west artery. That was good. Frank parked across the street from the brick complex, her old Honda indiscernible amidst all the other cars.

For an hour she watched, and waited, for what she didn’t know. Frank was enjoying her secret proximity to the Mother. She’d always liked surveillance and thought she would have made a great spy. She had a fine view of the entrance fronting Slauson and noted three people go inside, stay a few minutes, then leave. The first was an old black woman, followed by a well-dressed Hispanic woman, then a nervous middle-aged black woman. A thin blonde woman came out fanning herself. None of them looked like cluckheads and Frank guessed they were some of the Mother’s hoodoo clients.

Debating whether she should go in or not, she saw a ragged figure shuffling towards the building. Despite the heat, a wooly gray head poked from layers of uniformly tattered and dirty old blankets. Frank couldn’t tell if it was a man or a woman. She got the uneasy feeling it was the same beggar she’d seen when she’d been riding with Lewis.

Frank watched the figure inch its way toward the door of the slaughterhouse. It wavered about twenty feet short, seemingly unable to travel any farther. The grimy bundle settled against the warm brick wall and sank to the sidewalk. Its blankets puffed around it like a toadstool. The figure remained still for a long moment, then slowly lifted its head.

The face was leathery, the eyes clouded and sightless. The gray head pivoted, noting its surroundings like some ancient, lumbering reptile. Satisfied, it stopped, its face square to Frank’s. Through the rush of cars and trucks, Frank saw the pink mouth widen into a grin. The dead eyes were straight on her.

Frank stared at the ruined visage. It was impossible, she told herself. Just coincidence. A trick of the light.

She held the relic’s leer. There was no way it could see through the thick film over its eyes, yet it stared. Right at her. Despite the broiling sun, Frank shivered.

The relic grinned. Suddenly its chin dropped to the blankets, like someone had yanked the plug on it. Frank watched a minute longer, half tempted to roust the old fuck and find out what its story was. But she didn’t. Instead, she started the car, expecting the relic’s eyes to fly open and fix on her. It didn’t move. Frank eased into traffic, careful not to look back.

After work the next day, like a kid determined to walk by a haunted house to prove she’s not afraid, Frank cruised by the impassive brick building. No one loitered out front and the thing in rags was nowhere in sight.