Mystique was in the bed, her hair a spill of rich darkness against the light pink pillowcase. She faced away from Angelique, who approached the side of the bed. “Mama?”
She reached out and lightly shook her mother’s shoulder. The action caused Mystique to roll over to her back. For a moment Angelique couldn’t make sense of what she saw.
Blood. Oh God, there was so much blood. It soaked the front of her mother’s pink nightgown and it came from a gaping wound in Mystique’s throat. Waves of shock kept Angelique rooted in place. Her mother’s throat had been cut from ear to ear.
Finally, her inertia snapped and she stumbled back from the bed, releasing a scream of horror and of deep, overwhelming grief.
Chapter One
The funeral for Mystique Santori was not only well attended by most of the people from the swamp, but also by a huge crowd of people who lived in town as well.
Angelique sat between her sisters as Preacher Drew Perry extolled the many virtues of her mother. Even though his booming voice filled the large church, Angelique could hear snatches of whispers of several women behind her.
“…a powerful voodoo queen.”
“…she used black magic,” another woman said.
“I heard she could raise the dead.”
Angelique knew the reputation her mother had. According to the people of Dark Waters, Mystique Santori had been a powerful woman, and it was said she got her power through black magic. Women and men came to her in the darkness of night, wanting a healing potion or a spell cast.
Angelique also knew her mother, and while Mystique could put on a good show for the clients who came to see her, she certainly had nothing to do with black magic or voodoo. She genuinely tried to help the people who came to her. More importantly, she had been a wonderful, loving mother and now she was gone…forever gone.
Tears burned at Angelique’s eyes. It had been a week since she’d discovered her mother dead…murdered. During that week she had tried to stay strong for her sisters while they had cried a million tears.
Yesterday morning, Mystique had been cremated. There was no way she would have wanted to be on display in death. Each of the sisters had bought silver necklaces with a charm that held some of their mother’s ashes.
Angelique had moved in with Dominique since the shanty had been declared a crime scene. But this morning, she’d been told she was free to go home tonight. Home…would it ever feel that way again without Mystique’s loving presence?
Dominique squeezed her hand as Preacher Drew came to the end of his eulogy. The three sisters rose and walked down the long aisle to the church’s front door.
The early June sun was hot overhead, and they continued down the walkway and then crossed the street to the community center. They had paid the café to cater food and for the next two hours friends would have a last chance to remember Mystique and tell her a final goodbye.
“I’m really dreading this,” Monique said as they hit the sidewalk to cross the street.
“That makes two of us,” Angelique admitted.
“It will be fine,” Dominique replied. She was definitely the more social of the sisters. “Mama had friends who will need this closure.”
They walked into the community center and Angelique looked around. The buffet was already set up on several long tables sporting white tablecloths. There was fried fish and baked chicken, macaroni and cheese and baked beans. There was also salad and fruit and slices of white cake for dessert. It was definitely a nice spread.
The rest of the room held four-top tables and chairs. They, too, were covered with white tablecloths. There was also a book on a pedestal for the guests to sign when they arrived.
The three stood by the front door as a small receiving line to the people who would come in. The first person through thedoor was Nola Fontenot, who had been a very close friend of Mystique’s.
She hugged each of them as she cried. “I still can’t believe this has happened,” she said and pulled a tissue from her purse. “I’m going to miss her so much.” She dabbed at her eyes. “If I can do anything for you all, just call me. Mystique would want you to come to me for anything you need.”
Angelique hugged the plump older woman. “Thanks, Nola.” Once Angelique released her, Nola signed the book and then moved on to sit at one of the nearby tables.
More people arrived, friends and acquaintances and the curious all greeted the sisters and then moved on inside. When the place was nearly full, the three of them sat at a table that had been reserved for them.
Angelique looked around, wondering if her mother’s murderer was in the room. Tension twisted in her stomach. More than anything she wanted her mother’s killer to be caught and sent straight to hell.
This thought had consumed her every waking hour since she had found her mother’s body. Thank goodness her sisters hadn’t seen their mother in death with her throat slashed open. That was a nightmarish image that would haunt Angelique for the rest of her life.
She was very unhappy with the lack of forward movement in the investigation into Mystique’s murder, and so she had begun to do a little investigating of her own.
Over the past few days, she’d been interviewing the people she knew her mother was seeing in her official capacity as voodoo queen.
