“Oh hell. Hell, Mack, I didn’t think of that. I just thought I hadn’t done it proper.”
“Could be that’s the case, but if you did it correctly in your room, and it’s working? And you did it the same way on both rooms?”
She made an assenting noise.
“Yeah, odds are something in that room is bad juju. We’ll figure it out when we get down there. Can you text me your address? We’ll come straight to you.”
“I’ll text you now.”
There was another muffled sob, and I knew she was scared then as she never had been, because the Edmée I knew didn’t cry easily. I wanted to say something to help her. I just didn’t know what else I could add that I hadn’t already said. “You breathe easy, cuz. Between me and Brandon, we’ll sort it out.”
“I’ll cook jambalaya for you, have it ready for when you get here.”
I was glad to hear her rallying. “Aww, how’d you know I was craving that? Just make a lot. Brandon eats like a bear coming out of hibernation.”
She giggled, and it sounded watery, but there was mirth in it. “I’ve heard tales of him. We’re all dying to meet him, you know. I don’t have a lot of room in the new place, but I can open up a spot in the living room for you to bed down.”
“We’ll bring sleeping bags, sort ourselves,” I promised her. “You don’t worry about that. We’ll be there before you know it. And if something happens, at any time, you call me. I’ll walk you through what to do.”
“Okay. Bless you and that man of yours, Mack. I was beside myself with worry. You drive safe, text me as you get close.”
“Will do. Re-salt the room before you sleep tonight, okay?”
“I will. See you soon.”
I hung up and swore roundly, wanting to punch something.
Brandon turned in his seat again, mouth flat in anger. “I overheard parts of that. Something’s scratching the little girl?”
“Caliste,” I answered, giving her proper name. “We all call her Cali. Yeah, nightly scratches and her screaming in terror because, in her own words, a bad man was trying to drag her out of the bed.”
Donovan twitched in a full body shudder. “God, that’s horrifying even for an adult, much less a child.”
I nodded grimly. “Yeah, not too happy about that. Edmée says she’s got her room blocked off good, and Cali’s okay while sleeping with her. They’re going to re-salt the room tonight before sleeping. Brandon, cher, we got to get there quick. If this thing is strong enough and mad enough to be scratching someone nightly? I can’t let it get hold.”
He nodded, expression a match for mine. “We’ll speed the whole way. Let’s stop by a sports store on the way back, buy sleeping bags.”
“You can just use mine and Jon’s,” Donovan offered. “We’re not going camping in this weather, and it’s all stuffed in a closet. Mine will fit you, Brandon.”
“Yeah? That’ll save us time. Thanks, we’ll do that.”
I thought of the implications of Jon in a campground. “Does Jon like camping?”
“Adores it. Favorite vacation for him.” Donovan chuckled, low and long. “We do it as a stress reliever in good weather. I think he’d go hermit if he didn’t have to earn a living. Anyway, too cold to do it right now. You might as well use them.”
We pulled into the Chevrolet dealer’s lot and Don let us out at that point. I belatedly remembered the thing I hadn’t done and popped my head back in. “Don, I forgot that I have a load in the wash.”
Understanding dawned. “I’ll transfer it for you.”
“Merci.” I really did like him. He had the patience of Job, that one. How had I ever been afraid of or intimidated by him?
The dealership was on the verge of closing but Sylvia had done all the right paperwork for us in advance. We’d planned to get the SUV tomorrow, but needs must. The keys and such were handed over to us, and we drove away in the 2020 model with that lovely new car smell.
Brandon, of course, had it adjusted so he could fit comfortably, and he did look well situated. Finally, a vehicle big enough that he didn’t look like a giant trying to squeeze into a Mini. The seats were nice and plush and I appreciated that fact, as we’d be stuck in them for at least ten hours tomorrow.
“Mack, you’ve told me stories and stuff about home,” my boyfriend started with a wary glance at me. “Anything else you need to tell me about before we get down there?”
“It’s only fair to warn you,” I admitted with a grimace. “Most of the city won’t be hospitable, for one of three reasons. One, we ain’t straight.”
That got a snort.
“Two, we dabble in something that’s not God’s business. They’re mighty superstitious down there and anything to do with spirits is in voodoo territory. Not many are going to take me being a medium well.”
“Really starting to understand why you don’t want to go home,” he remarked, a sort of rhetorical statement. “Alright, what’s three?”
“Some history on three. Not many remember this outside of the South, but the government got it in their heads to eradicate the Cajun culture. From about 1930 to 1990 they did their best to destroy it. From about 1980 to 1995, they actively took Cajun kids and put them in foster care, adopting them into different families.”
Brandon had a mite of a temper, and I saw it flare now as his hands tightened around the steering wheel, hard enough to make the leather creak in protest. “Are you fucking serious?”
“It wasn’t good, cher. Even if you were half Cajun, you were taken. The parents had a real fight to get them back. Some of them never managed it. So the sight of Feds down there isn’t looked upon with any kindness.”
“That is completely and totally understandable, and in their shoes, I’d not be happy about it either. Damn, that’s only twenty years or so ago. Did this affect your family at all?”
“A branch of it, yes. It’s partially why Mama was so…slow, I think, to get me tested.”
“Ah. Okay, I’ll try to keep the Fed thing low-key.”
“Lay low with the fidgets, we should be fine,” I advised. “We’re only there for two jobs, we might be able to get in and out quick.”
Brandon shot me a look of horror. “Don’t jinx us that way!”
I crossed my fingers to ward off the bad luck. “Now, whether or not you can avoid meeting my family is the question.”
“I don’t actually mind meeting them,” he said with a benign smile I didn’t trust for one second. “I’m just going to have a little chat with anyone who isn’t kind to you.”
I knew him well enough at this point to ask him pointedly, “And will they survive this little chat?”
“That’s totally on them.”
My goodness lordie, what was I to do with this man?
2
We got on the road at barely five in the morning, for more than one reason. First of all, if you wanted to escape the early morning commute, you had to get out of Nashville early. Before six o’clock, as that was when the madness started. Second, Mack was very anxious to get to our destination as quickly as he could. In fact, he was so anxious that if I hadn’t hidden the keys, he might have left without me.