Bayou Paradox Read Free Page A

amiss?”
    â€œNot really. But Tanty had left a burner on in her workhouse and loose papers about.”
    â€œThat’s not like her. Has she been acting daft?”
    â€œNo.”
    â€œMaybe she had a heart attack.” Grandmere’s hand fluttered to her chest, and her face paled. Probably remembering her own heart attack a little over a year ago.
    â€œNo, someone did this to her.”
    â€œWho? What?”
    â€œI don’t know, but I intend to find out.”
    â€œBut if she was unconscious, how do you know?” Her grandmother’s expression softened. “Sometimes health conditions aren’t easily detected, child.”
    â€œNo, I know someone did this to her.”
    â€œHow?”
    â€œI felt it, Grandmere. I sat on the floor where I found her, and I knew. The spirits told me.”
    Grandmere’s lips pressed into a straight line and her brow furrowed. “Tara Leigh LeBlanc, you listen to me. I was wrong to ever teach you such evil things. That I did is on my heart. You’re messin’ with some dangerous stuff, and you need to stop. Right now.”
    Tara felt as if her heart had been gripped in a vise. “No, you weren’t wrong. It’s working, Grandmere. I can hear them…feel them. They want to help me find out who did this to Tanty.”
    â€œThose spirits are not of God. You stop treading where—”
    Tara held up her hands. “Enough. I don’t want to hear about God for the umpteenth time. Fine. I get it. You’re all gaga over that stuff. Believe what you want, and I’ll do the same.”
    She spun to the sink and twisted the tap on high. How could her grandmother just ignore what she’d practiced for a lifetime?
    Water spurted into the porcelain sink, drowning out her grandmother’s words. Tara grabbed a glass with shaking hands and shoved it under the stream, then gulped down the cool water. Why couldn’t things have just stayed the same? And even though Grandmere had turned away from voodoo, she had to at least acknowledge the practice was real. Why wouldn’t she discuss what Tara knew the spirits had told her?
    Small beams of light outside the window grabbed her attention, and she turned the knob slowly to cut off the water. “Grandmere, someone’s in the bayou.”
    â€œOh, yes. A nice young man came by after you left and asked if he could gather a little foliage for some type of research his company is conducting.”
    That Yankee from the pharmaceutical company! Tara didn’t bother replying to her grandmother. She snatched a flashlight from the top of the icebox, shoved open the screen door and hurried across the uneven ground, littered with half-buried tree roots. Research, my foot. Hadn’t she made it clear he wasn’t welcome? She punctuated her steps with venomous thoughts. She so wasn’t in the mood to deal with such cooyons —stupid people—twice in one day.
    She pushed through the underbrush, ignoring the thorns and brambles scraping against her bare legs. The beam of her flashlight bounced off the parched and cracked ground. Idiotic people to be out in the bayou at night. Were they trying to get themselves killed? Her sister’s pet alligator, Moodoo, loved to hang around this part of the swampland. Didn’t these imbeciles understand that the bayou’s wildlife came alive at night? Most were reptiles, and not at all friendly.
    â€œHey!”
    Beams of light shot to her face, blinding her. She stopped and shielded her eyes with her hand. “Move your lights, will ya?”
    The rays fell to the ground. Tara continued stomping toward the group of four. “What’re y’all doing here?” She glared at the leader, whatever his name was. “Didn’t I tell you today you weren’t welcome on my land? Was I unclear?”
    He flashed his row of pearly whites. “We talked to your grandmother, I believe she is, and she gave