Chapter 17

Alphonso had made chicken cassoulet and corn bread, a meal Darryl seemed eager to dig into. Wasn't like he could do anything else. She'd asked him not to conduct his security check until Alphonso had gone. She didn't want the man worrying unnecessarily.

As soon as they were seated at the table, Alphonso set the dishes in front of them. He went back to the kitchen, returning with a skillet of corn bread sliced into wedges, then paused by Leonie's side. "Anything else I can do for you?"

"No, thank you, Alphonso. This looks perfect. You have a good night."

"You, too, Ms. Moreau. Don't forget, there's vanilla pound cake with bourbon sauce if you get a sweet tooth."

Darryl grinned, knife and fork in his hands already. "I don't think we'll forget that."

Alphonso gave Darryl a happy nod, then went back to the kitchen. He'd leave out the side door, like he usually did.

Leonie picked up her fork but waited until she heard the side door close before she spoke. "Enough suspense. What did your team find out?"

Darryl had already taken a bite of chicken. He swallowed. "One bug in your office."

She stopped eating. "Where?"

"Under one of the bookcase shelves closest to your desk."

"Can you trace where it's sending to?"

"Not without removing the bug, which you asked me not to do."

"You understand why, don't you? Because it'll tip Turner off that I'm on to him. And I don't think that's a good idea. Not yet." Being able to get information to Turner, the information she wanted him to believe, could work in her favor.

Sharing his news hadn't done anything to lessen Darryl's appetite, apparently. He kept eating. "I understand that, but if you forget it's there and slip up, if you say something he shouldn't know about, then what?"

"I'll be careful. I'm thinking about faking a phone call to Ephie and leading him to believe she's in Mississippi." She shrugged. "We have some distant family there. It would be plausible."

"You going to give that family a heads-up? Let them know what's going on? What if Turner sends men out there?"

She didn't like the idea of doing that. "Don't you think he's already stretched thin if he's surveilling me?"

Darryl dabbed his mouth with the napkin next to his plate. "Leonie, the man has more resources and more people than we've been able to count. Don't underestimate him. He wouldn't even necessarily need humans to do his surveilling."

She knew that, but she hadn't seen any strange animals around, either. "I'm not underestimating him. But I refuse to live my life like he's got me scared." To her, that would be giving him a victory, albeit a small one.

"Nothing wrong with being scared. Fear serves a purpose. Keeps us sharp. Makes us alert. Don't be worried about being scared. Be worried about being dumb."

She frowned at him. "Darryl Jerome Tyson. Did you just call me dumb?"

He laughed. "Wouldn't dream of it. But you've got to be smart about this. Turner is crafty. And he's done things we can't explain."

"You telling me you believe in his voodoo powers now?" Darryl had long maintained that Tyson's special abilities were nonsense. That voodoo was just another tool he used to intimidate those around him into doing his will. Another way he frightened people into obedience. Real or not, it worked.

Darryl also had no real idea what the women of her family were capable of. Sure, he knew her mother made love potions and other assorted spells, but so did most of the women in the bayous.

"You know that feather in the letter?"

She nodded.

"One of the techs in the lab, a young man who specializes in the occult, had a hunch about it. He ran a few tests and found it was coated with a powdery substance that contained several toxins, including one from a plant called datura. Do you know what they call datura in Haiti?"

She shook her head, almost afraid to find out.

"Zombie cucumber. They dry the plant and use the powder for zombie rituals." His eyes burned with a hard, angry light. "The powder on that feather also contained tetrodotoxin. Puffer fish venom. It's a paralytic that can lead to death."

Her food forgotten, she stared at him in horror.

"Turner meant for you to touch that feather and for harm to come to you. This isn't something you can brush off, Leonie. If you don't testify on his behalf at the parole hearing, he's going to attempt to kill you and your daughter. Have no doubt."

She swallowed, her stomach churning. "I don't doubt it," she said softly. "But you know I cannot allow him to go free."

Darryl's voice softened. "I know you can't. I wouldn't expect that of you. But we have to protect you and Ephie. You need to let the friend she's with know about all of this. They need to keep their eyes open." He sighed. "Truth is, she's probably in more danger than you are. Killing her would be a good way for Turner to prove how serious he is."

A sob escaped Leonie's throat before she could stop it. "That cannot happen, Darryl."

He reached across the table and took her hand. "Nothing's going to happen to you, Leonie. Not as long as I have anything to do with it."

She nodded. The feeling of his big strong hand gave her some comfort. "What about Ephie?"

"You said the friend she's with is in law enforcement?"

"Yes. He's a deputy for the sheriff's department."

"Then he's armed. That's a good thing. But you need to let him know everything you can about Turner. That he might be using unexpected means to get to Ephie."

"You really think he knows where she is?"

Darryl shook his head. "I don't know, but just like I told you, I don't want to underestimate him. Better to be overprepared and have nothing happen than … you know."

"Yes." She let go of his hand and pushed her chair back, making herself give him a quick, reassuring smile. "Excuse me a moment. I won't be long. You eat while your food's still hot. And then, before dessert, you can do your security check, all right?"

He nodded and made a face, but she wasn't in the mood for more explanation. She dashed upstairs to her bedroom and went to the jewelry box on her dresser. She opened one of the small drawers along the bottom and lifted out a necklace her mother had given her years ago, when she'd first become a judge.

It was a long, thin silver chain with a pierced dime dangling from it. The dime had been spelled with rites of protection and blessed by the local priest. Leonie had never put much stock in such things, despite the powers that ran in her maternal bloodline.

She slipped the chain over her head, tucking it and the dime under her clothing. The cool metal warmed quickly against her skin. Now was not the time for skepticism. Any advantage was a good one.

She would text Remy later and tell him they needed to talk privately. There was too much to explain by text. Besides that, she needed to hear his voice so she knew he was taking this seriously.

If anything happened to Ephie, she would hold Remy responsible. And if it came to that, the vampire council would be the least of his worries.