Voodoo Love (And the Curse of Jean Lafitte’s Treasure) (16 page)

             
I saw doubt in both Lafitte and Euralie's face.

             
"Listen, if I'm going to do this, set everything right and get you off the Deadman's Ferry, then I have a few conditions of my own." I took a deep breath, trying to gather the jumble of thoughts bouncing around in my head. "I want my memory back. All of it."

             
"Done," Jean said. His eyes glowed an eerie yellow and energy shot from him straight at my head. I fell to the ground, gasping for air as a sharp headache began.

             
The past flooded back into me. My time with Juan, everything that happened after we'd left the hotel room where my friends were murdered, the bullets I dodged from Diego Martes, our trip to the bayou, finding the treasure--everything. It was like watching a movie in fast forward.

             
"Oh my god," I whispered. "I see it all now."

             
"Let's finish this tonight." Jean's voice came from far away. "The dawn is coming. Our power will be stronger at midnight. Gather your tools Euralie. Prepare her for the ritual."

             
I sensed rather than saw Jean and his ghostly crew fade away.

             
"Damn!" Euralie's curse cut through the air. "Damn!"

             
"Euralie," I called to her. "Is there any more vodka left? I need a drink."

             
She tossed the empty bottle at a tree in front of me. It shattered, sending shards of glass flying everywhere.

             
"I guess that's a no." I made myself stand up.  My head pounded. "What about aspirin? You got any of that?"

             
"Don't bring your petty aches to me," Euralie said. "You may have your memories back, you may have a way to save your precious Juan and get rid of Diego, but it doesn't change the fact that my love is dead."

             
Eddie. My aching memory was showing me a few things about him. Things that weren't good, and only increased the headache. While I didn't want to say anything to Euralie just yet, maybe it was good that he was out of the picture.

             
"Don't we need to worry about other things right now?" I asked. "Like Diego? Now that Jean has taken his bodyguards away, how will we stop Diego from getting to us?"

             
"We leave." Euralie began walking towards the house.

             
"Leave? What are we going to do? Hide out in the bayou all day?"

             
"Yes."

             
Great. A whole day in the bayou with a woman who clearly hated me. What more could a girl ask for?

*****

             
Euralie was kind enough to toss me an apple for breakfast, but that's where her hospitality ended. She spent the next hour in a weird packing frenzy, gathering all kinds of things from her shelves and stuffing them into a large brown bag which she slung over her shoulder. It was much easier for me since all I had to do was put on my clothes, grab my purse, and wait.

             
Of course, that gave my mind all kinds of time to process everything that had happened in the last twenty four hours. Heck, the last two years actually! One minute my memory had a huge blank spot in it, and now--well, everything about my time with Juan came rushing back. It was a lot to take in. And even though I knew everything now, questions popped into my head about who our enemies really were.

             
Juan's warning about Eddie not being who he seemed made a little more sense now.

             
I closed my eyes and thought about the conversation I'd overheard a few years ago.

             
"What are you doing?" The man's voice came from outside of the car. Diego had managed to kidnap me from Juan Carlos and had stashed me in the trunk of his car. As I lay there bound and gagged, heart pounding, sweat beading on my forehead, I could hear Diego talking in angry tones with another person. His partner, maybe?

             
"What are you so worried about?" Diego sneered. "She's a woman that no one will miss. I already had my people look into her as soon as I got her name off the hotel registry. She's some teacher in
Texas
with no family. Hell, we could probably sell her to our friends in
Mexico
."

             
"Don't be stupid, Diego," the man said. "You are only complicating things. We were supposed to get the damn treasure so we could get out from underneath the Gulf Cartel's thumb. Every time you go changing the plan, you call more attention to us. People are watching. And what happened to Montoya, the man chasing you?"

             
"You worry too much," Diego said. He tapped lightly on the trunk. "I've got everything under control. Montoya is going to come to us willingly. I've got something he wants. He'll make a trade. The last piece of the map for the girl."

             
"How do you know he cares about her at all?"

             
"Why would he have bothered to save her if he didn't? His reputation as a cold blooded thief is well known in our world. He doesn't give a damn about anything, but the fact that he saved this woman…well, that means he likes her. And that, my friend, is something we can use to our advantage."

             
I blinked. Did Juan really care about me? I wanted to believe he did. Especially after last night…oh, who was I kidding? Men like Juan didn't waste time on cowards like me. For all I knew, he'd taken off into the bayou, in search of the cursed treasure of Jean Lafitte. I would have to figure a way out of this one on my own.

             
Still I couldn't help but hold out hope that maybe, just maybe that Juan had a spark of feeling for me somewhere in that gorgeous body of his.

             
I pressed my eye to a small hole in the trunk, trying to see the two men. Diego stood directly in my line of vision, but then he moved, revealing the other man. This guy was blonde, very blonde in fact, the kind of fair skinned individual who should never go outside without at least SPF 50 on. However, he didn't look like a cold blooded killer. I saw him glance at the trunk and I moved back, hoping he hadn't seen me.

             
"Fine," the man said to Diego. "Fine. Let's just get this thing going. I'll meet up with you at the rendezvous point later."

             
"Good. Keep your
US
Marshall
buddies off our trail," Diego said.

             
After a moment, I heard a car engine start up and then drive away. Diego popped the trunk of the car and the sudden light blinded me. I felt a hand on my arm.

             
"Time to get out,
Elizabeth
," Diego said.

             
He jerked me up to a sitting position and cut the ropes that had tied my hands together, unafraid that I would try and make a break for it. With a grin that made my stomach turn, he ran a hand down my leg. I shuddered, but the reaction only pleased him. He set about cutting the ropes from my feet, too.

             
My hand brushed against a wine bottle in the trunk. Juan had stolen this car to get us into the bayou early yesterday afternoon. Apparently, the previous owner had just bought groceries because there were all sorts of food rolling around in the trunk with me--lettuce, a carton of melted ice cream, noodles, and wine. I'd never really thought about using food as a weapon, but I was desperate to get away from Diego. I grabbed the wine bottle and slammed it over his head. Red wine gushed out, covering my kidnapper who staggered back.

             
I hopped out of the trunk, brandishing the broken wine bottle. Dimly I saw that the label read Cassagnoles of
Spain
. As he came at me, blood or wine dripping down his face, I kneed him in the groin, and took off running into the bayou.

             
"What are you smiling at?" Euralie's voice brought me back to the present. She frowned and I quickly stood up.

             
"Nothing," I said. "You ready?"

             
With a nod, she headed down to her dock. The small pirogue Juan and I had used was still attached to it. Euralie heaved her bag into the boat and I carefully stepped in. Even in the early morning light, the little boat didn't feel any safer. I had the feeling that Euralie would have gladly capsized it and let an alligator chew on me for breakfast.

             
"Where's your lover boy at?" Euralie asked, maneuvering the boat with the long pole. "I see there is still no sign of him. Maybe you weren't that great and bed."

             
"I don't know," I admitted. "He sort of comes and goes."

             
"Don't they all?" She gave me a grim smile. "That's the way of a spirit, even one like your boy. Being in our world requires a lot of energy. Satisfying your needs must have completely drained him."

             
"Look, I don't know why you think I'm the whore of
Babylon
, but none of this is really my fault," I said. "You're the one who gave me that piece of the map. You're the one who couldn't guard the family treasure. Give me a break."

             
"You're the one who got Eddie killed."

             
I was silent a moment, not sure how to defend that one. My feelings for Eddie were complicated. I realized he'd been the man outside the trunk talking to Diego. He'd been some sort of co-conspirator. But Jean Lafitte had taken my memory of that away, and for the last few years, I'd nurtured a deep trust in Eddie. He'd been the one who rescued me from the water. Why? He could have just let me drown. I didn't know what his intentions really were, but I wanted to find out.

             
"Euralie, you knew Eddie before this whole thing happened," I said. "How did you meet?"

             
She was silent a moment and I almost thought she wasn't going to answer me.

             
"By accident. I was dealing cards in the French Quarter. Sometimes folks don't like what they hear. A customer started to tear up my table. Eddie happened to be nearby and stopped the man before he could hurt me." Euralie's eye took on a far off gaze. "We just struck a chord with one another, I guess."

             
"How long had he been working with Diego Martes?"