Goddess of the Moon

Polly Iyer

Description

Psychic Diana Racine and her boyfriend, Lieutenant Ernie Lucier of the New Orleans Police Department, are drawn into a baby kidnapping case. Clues lead first to a hospital worker, then to Brother Osiris, the head of a homeless shelter, and finally to some of the richest men in the state. A combination of mysticism, mythology, and the black arts lures Diana and Ernie even deeper into a plot that puts both their lives in danger.

Sujets

• Thriller

Informations

• Publié par: Parkwood Press
• Date de parution: 27 octobre 2012
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781611879681
• Langue: English

Extrait

Table of Contents
Title Page
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chapter Thirty-Five
Chapter Thirty-Six
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Chapter Forty
Chapter Forty-One
Chapter Forty-Two
Chapter Forty-Three
Chapter Forty-Four
Chapter Forty-Five
Chapter Forty-Six
Chapter Forty-Seven
Chapter Forty-Eight
Chapter Forty-Nine
Chapter Fifty
Chapter Fifty-One
Chapter Fifty-Two
Chapter Fifty-Three
Chapter Fifty-Four
Chapter Fifty-Five
Chapter Fifty-Six
Chapter Fifty-Seven
Chapter Fifty-Eight
Chapter Fifty-Nine
Chapter One
By


Polly Iyer



This book is a work of fiction. All names of characters and events are the product of the author’s imagination, including some references to New Orleans and surrounding areas. Any resemblance to persons either living or dead is purely coincidental and beyond the intent of the author.
I’ve also taken liberties with the New Orleans Police Department. Any detective working homicide would be part of the CID, Criminal Investigations Department, and work out of the main headquarters on South Broad Street. However, I wanted Lieutenant Lucier in the French Quarter, District 8. So I put him there because it suited my purpose, and after all, this is fiction. I hope no one is offended by these liberties I’ve taken under artistic license.

Cover design by Polly Iyer


Goddess of the Moon
Copyright © 2012 by Polly Iyer
ISBN: 978-1-61187-968-1


Table of Contents
Chapter One
The Snatch
Chapter Two
The Call
Chapter Three
The Bassinet
Chapter Four
Clarity in All the Confusion
Chapter Five
The Star and the Crescent Moon
Chapter Six
The Offering
Chapter Seven
Into the Mythological Realm
Chapter Eight
A Magnetic Attraction
Chapter Nine
The Pink Room in the Pink House
Chapter Ten
The Devil’s Room
Chapter Eleven
A Mixture of Purity and Evil
Chapter Twelve
Transformation
Chapter Thirteen
A Truth Stranger than Fiction
Chapter Fourteen
The Descent into Hell
Chapter Fifteen
Hacker Extraordinaire
Chapter Sixteen
The Invitation
Chapter Seventeen
A Question of Genes
Chapter Eighteen
Ascent from Hell
Chapter Nineteen
To Sleep, Perchance to Dream
Chapter Twenty
Back into the Lion’s Den
Chapter Twenty-One
A Game of One-Upmanship
Chapter Twenty-Two
Break-up or Make-up
Chapter Twenty-Three
The Never Retractable Word
Chapter Twenty-Four
When Dreams Become Reality
Chapter Twenty-Five
The Age of Defiance
Chapter Twenty-Six
A Little Twist of the Knife
Chapter Twenty-Seven
A Tangled Web
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Hidden Meaning
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Irresistible Magnetism
Chapter Thirty
Gods and Goddesses
Chapter Thirty-One
Temptation
Chapter Thirty-Two
The Agenda
Chapter Thirty-Three
A Tearful Reunion
Chapter Thirty-Four
An Unthinkable Conclusion
Chapter Thirty-Five
A Little Background Music
Chapter Thirty-Six
The Seed of a Plan
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Who’s Watching the Children
Chapter Thirty-Eight
The Night of the Crescent Moon
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Fear, the Consequence of Truth
Chapter Forty
Return to the Comfort Zone
Chapter Forty-One
To Act the Part
Chapter Forty-Two
Into the Lioness’s Den
Chapter Forty-Three
Who’s the Boss?
Chapter Forty-Four
A Rude Awakening
Chapter Forty-Five
The Disciple
Chapter Forty-Six
Chameleon
Chapter Forty-Seven
A Pie in the Eye
Chapter Forty-Eight
The Truth Will Set You Free
Chapter Forty-Nine
Breaking the Weak Link
Chapter Fifty
Welcome to Paradise
Chapter Fifty-One
Last Try, Do or Die
Chapter Fifty-Two
Out of the Mouths of Babes
Chapter Fifty-Three
The Ticket to Ride
Chapter Fifty-Four
Beat the Dawn
Chapter Fifty-Five
Silent Confession
Chapter Fifty-Six
Escape
Chapter Fifty-Seven
The Long-Awaited Reading
Chapter Fifty-Eight
Amid the Confusion
Chapter Fifty-Nine
Introspection
Chapter One
The Helen Keller Connection
Chapter One
The Snatch

Kidnapping babies used to be easier . He’d check the charts to be sure he had the right baby and wait for the perfect moment. Then a snip of the plastic bracelet, slide the baby into the satchel in the cleaning cart, and out the employees’ door. No one paid attention to a hospital janitor.
Now, impossible-to-remove bar coding and electronic devices on the babies ignited a firestorm of alarms that rivaled warnings of an enemy attack on the homeland.
He’d been careful breaking into the houses. One reported kidnapping wasn’t even his. The propitious theft kept the police from determining a pattern.
After the mother and child left the hospital, he’d watched the house for days, safely out of sight. This evening, the parents had shown off the infant to their guests, then put her down in the nursery. He saw no activity at the house next door.
Another perfect moment.
Bushes hid the low window. He donned latex gloves, pushed up the screen, and inserted a pry bar into the sliver between the window sash and the outer sill on the right, then on the left. Alternating sides, he pried upward until he’d exerted enough force to break the latch. He raised the window and hoisted himself inside.
The little treasure slept soundly, making those sweet baby noises he loved. He plucked a small plastic bag from the padded satchel slung over his shoulder, unzipped it, and extracted a square of gauze soaked with sweet wine. He touched it to the baby’s lips, and she drew on her natural instincts to suck. Not too much, he cautioned himself―just enough to act as an anesthesia, a technique rabbis used during a Jewish boy’s circumcision. He gingerly placed her inside the satchel and cooed, “Sleep, beautiful one.”
So far so good.
As if he were carrying a package of fine porcelain, he carefully let himself out the window, closing it and the screen after he hit the ground.
And he was gone.
Chapter Two
The Call

Diana Racine spent three weeks bronzing in the South Texas sun without one vision of a dead body or potential victim. Today, lying on a chaise with the ocean sounds as background music, she opened one eye, then the other, and settled her gaze on Ernie Lucier. He sat under the patio umbrella reading, his caramel-colored skin safe from the sun’s rays. He caught her looking, and his smile crinkled the corners of his gold-flecked hazel eyes.
“This has been the best vacation ever,” she said. “Do we have to go home tomorrow?”
“Some people have to work.” He rose and was halfway to her when his cell rang. “Damn. I’d forgotten what that nasty thing sounded like.” With an apologetic shrug, he returned to his seat and answered.
Diana watched a vee of brown pelicans soar above the palm trees fluttering in the warm breeze off the ocean. She pried herself from her chair and lazily strolled to nestle in Lucier’s lap, hoping to distract him from whatever the disruptive call had in store.
“What, Sam? I didn’t hear you.” Then, sotto voce, Lucier said, “Diana, hold on. Something’s happened.” He raised his voice, switching the phone to her side of his head so she could listen. “Did you say a baby’s been kidnapped?”
Diana pressed her ear next to Lucier’s. On the other end, Detective Sam Beecher reported that someone had kidnapped a newborn from a New Orleans home by climbing in the nursery window while the parents were entertaining guests.
“Anything to go on?” Lucier asked.
“Nothing,” Beecher said. “No prints other than footprints outside the window, but CSU says nothing unusual in the shoe.”
“Where was the baby?” Diana asked, moving into Lucier’s phone.
“In a bassinet,” Beecher said. “We dusted for prints, but nothing. The kidnapper wore gloves.”
“Don’t let anyone else near it until I get there,” Diana said. “The fewer hands messing up the vibes the better.”
Lucier signed off with a promise to return to New Orleans as soon as possible. He rubbed Diana’s neck. “Are you sure you want to get back into the psychic business so soon?”
“Darling, I’ve been doing this since I was a kid. One more time isn’t going to send me over the edge. Now, let’s pack and get an early plane back. We’ve no time to lose. You know as well as I that every minute counts in a kidnapping.”
“That I do.” He pulled her close. “I never wanted this vacation to end, but what do they say about all good things?”
“Settled then.” She planted a kiss on his lips and within ten minutes had folded all their belongings into two suitcases while he made plane reservations.
Was it too soon? They’d spent the last three weeks at an oceanfront house on South Padre Island. Sun, salt water, and a man’s loving attention did wonders to erase the memory of the serial killer who almost made her his last victim. Tanned and relaxed, she felt almost normal.
But in the eyes of the world, Diana Racine wasn’t normal. Not since, as a six-year old, her telepathic gifts led police to the body of a missing child. Remembering that day and the many that followed sent a familiar icy shiver through her. Entertaining the crowds that filled venues all over the world had saved her sanity. Even so, she’d never be considered normal―except in the eyes of New Orleans police lieutenant Ernie Lucier.
Yeah, she was ready.
Lucier stuck his head in the bedroom door. “Gotta go. It’s over twenty miles to the airport, and our plane l