Olivia had already filled her in on Marilyn Borque’s background. The poor woman had essentially been sold to Franklin Borque just before the Civil War by her father to seal a business deal. Franklin built the monstrosity, laMalediction, when no town existed within a hundred miles, effectively cutting his young wife off from civilization. The remote location made it easy for him to beat her without coming under question.
Franklin left for the war the following year and Marilyn sent for her lover. When Franklin returned, he was more crazed than before and had obtained a lion statue with giant emeralds for eyes. Marilyn was certain the acquisition was not legal, but Franklin’s obsession with the statue was a far bigger concern. Sissy sent Marilyn to her cousin, a voodoo priestess, for help and the two formed a plan to contain the evil that rested in the emerald eyes of the statue. When Franklin discovered that his prize possession was missing, he murdered Marilyn and was then struck by lightning the same night in the middle of the courtyard.
Justine opened a marked spot in one of the diaries to reread the entry Olivia had flagged.
June 15, 1863
I took the statue to Sissy’s cousin tonight. She had a violent reaction to the piece as soon as she saw the eyes. The emeralds, she said, are cursed. She removed the emeralds from the statue and placed them in a pouch for safekeeping, then performed a spell on the statue to separate it from the evil in the stones. We then broke the statue and crushed the pieces until they were dust. We collected the dust in a jar and will fling it far into the bayou, where the spirits that inhabit the water can prevent it from resurfacing. She will bind the emeralds in metal and cast a spell two nights from now when the moon is full. Then I will hide them in a safe place.
I know this is the only way, but I feel overwhelming guilt for the future I am creating for my descendants. The stones will not remain bound forever. One day, the emeralds will call on those of my lineage to fulfill the prophecy that I have set in motion.
Even if it costs their lives.
Justine set the journal to the side and opened a document file on her laptop. She began to make notes on possible avenues for research. Sissy’s cousin had lived in a Creole village with other descendants from Haiti who still practiced the old ways. Memories from her childhood gave Justine an understanding of the purpose behind binding an object in another the way the woman had bound the emeralds in metal to cut off the energy that emitted from them. But Sissy’s cousin would have insisted on a double binding if she thought the emeralds were cursed—the first binding by man, the second by nature.
Justine blew out a breath and leaned back in the chair. Olivia had been right. Her knowledge of the old ways would give her an edge, as much as she was loath to admit it. The most logical way to bind the stones with nature would be to bury them, but where? Certainly, Sissy’s cousin would have insisted the stones remain on the estate, as it was the family’s responsibility to watch over the evil they’d brought to this place. But the estate consisted of not only laMalediction but hundreds of acres of swamp.
There had to be a clue in the journals about where Marilyn had hidden the emeralds. That was the angle she’d start working on first. With any luck, her research of the journals would provide her the answers she was looking for in her personal quest—the real reason she’d taken the job. Even if the journals yielded nothing, she was still convinced the answers she sought lay somewhere in laMalediction. And she was going to find them.
“How’s it going?” Brian’s voice broke into her thoughts, causing her to jump.
“Sorry,” he said as he stepped into the library. “I didn’t mean to startle you.”
“It’s not your fault. When I’m lost in the work, I tend to filter out everything around me.” She gave him a rueful look. “Probably not the best trait, given the situation here, right?”
Brian shrugged. “You’re a researcher. If you couldn’t focus on your research to the exclusion of everything else, you probably wouldn’t be very good at your job. Let me worry about catching the bad guys—that’s what I do naturally.”
Justine leaned back in her chair, considering Brian’s words. “So you think the man upstairs had a master plan for all of us, and doled out talent accordingly? Then where do people like Franklin Borque fit into your theory? I assume you know the history.”
Brian nodded. “Olivia told me what she found. I don’t know what makes people like Franklin Borque, but I do believe I’ve stared evil in the face in Iraq.”
Justine sat upright in her chair. “What does it look like? Evil?”
“Sometimes beautiful and seductive, sometimes so normal that it never registers on your radar…until it’s too late.” He stared out the library window for a moment, then looked back at Justine. “But there’s always those moments…and if you’re paying attention, you can catch one of them. When the facade relaxes and just for an instant, you see it in their eyes. Then in a flash, it’s gone, leaving you wondering if you ever saw it in the first place.”
Justine crossed her arms across her chest, a sudden chill running through her body. “Do you still wonder when you see it now?”
“Not anymore. I would recognize it now.” He paused. “It’s funny, you know. Good can take on many appearances, many faces, but evil always looks the same.
“Anyway,” he said, “I came to tell you there’s a storm brewing. It’s almost three, so I figure we may as well head into town and get everything settled with the rental house. I’ve got to load a couple of boxes in my Jeep, so just meet me out front when you’ve wrapped up in here.”
Justine stared out the library window, watching Brian as he rolled up the soft top on the back of his Jeep. What kind of horrors had Brian Marcentel seen? And more importantly, would he see them again in Cypriere?
Chapter Five
Justine waited in front of laMalediction as Brian loaded the last box. He couldn’t help but notice how striking she was as she stood in front of the stained-glass windows, her long hair rippling in the breeze. She looked as if she fit here. He’d thought the same thing when he saw her deep in thought in the library. He’d like to think it was because the house was deep in a swamp and Justine was Creole, but there was something more to it than that. Something that he couldn’t quite place, and that bothered him.
“I put my suitcase in my car, but I can move it if I’m riding with you,” Justine said, breaking him out of his thoughts.
“I figured you could follow me in your car. The road should have dried from the rain yesterday. We have a better chance of getting in and out of here every day using my Jeep, so I figured we’d leave your car at the rental house, assuming you don’t have any objection. I’m not convinced it would be safe here at night.”
“No. That sounds perfectly reasonable.” Justine pulled her keys from her backpack and hopped in her car.
Brian climbed in his Jeep and waited until Justine gave him a wave before pulling away from laMalediction. He checked his rearview mirror to make sure Justine was behind him, then continued at a slow pace down the rough dirt path that led to Cypriere. In his mirrors, he could see laMalediction fading into the swamp, and with every foot he put between himself and the house, it was as if a weight lifted from him.
Surprised, he mulled that bit of revelation over in his mind. He hadn’t realized that being in the house cast that much of a shadow over him, and it was something he needed to carefully monitor. It was easy to take on the emotional energy of a place and the people. He’d learned that in Iraq. That level of intuition had saved his life on more than one occasion, but on the flip side, if he allowed himself to become mired in the energy surrounding him, it took the edge off his response time and dulled his critical thinking.
Feel, then analyze.