The Whispering Room

A woman opened the screen door and came out on the porch to meet her. It was the same woman she’d seen in J.D.’s nursery. Rebecca Lemay.

She was dressed much the way she had been that night—long skirt, tennis shoes and shapeless sweater, which she pulled tightly around her even though the day was scorching hot.

Evangeline lifted the gun. “Where is he? Where’s my baby?”

“You don’t need to worry. He’s safe now.”

Evangeline’s heart dropped to her stomach as terror clawed at her heart. She started to run. “Where is he?” she screamed. Her finger pressed against the trigger. The rage that mushroomed inside her was hard to control. “Tell me where he is or I swear to God, I’ll kill you.”

“Evangeline, no!”

Lena Saunders—Ruth—was suddenly running across the yard toward her. Evangeline had no idea where she’d been hiding. She came forward now with her arms outstretched. “Please don’t hurt her.”

“I don’t want to hurt anyone.” Evangeline kept the gun leveled on Rebecca. “I just want my baby back. Tell me where he is.”

“I told you,” Rebecca said. “He’s safe.”

“Where is he, damn you!”

“Evangeline…” Lena came slowly toward her. “Please…just put the gun down before someone gets hurt.”

“She took him,” Rebecca said, pointing down the steps toward her sister.

Evangeline swung the gun toward Lena. “Stop right there. I’ll kill you both if I have to.”

Lena’s blue eyes widened in alarm. “Evangeline, listen to me. Rebecca’s sick. She needs help.” She turned to her sister. “Please, just tell us where you put the baby.”

Rebecca took a step back. “No.”

“We just want to help you,” Lena said.

“You’ll send me away again.”

“I never sent you away. It wasn’t my fault what happened. It wasn’t your fault, either. You didn’t know any better. You just wanted to help Mama, didn’t you?”

“You were her helper,” Rebecca said. “You were her favorite.”

“I was the oldest. She depended on me. You can depend on me, too. I’ll get you help. Whatever you need. All you have to do is tell me what you did with the baby.”

At that moment, Evangeline heard J.D.’s cry. It was coming from somewhere inside the house.

She and Lena moved at the same time. Before she reached the steps, something hit her hard between her shoulder blades. The force of the blow catapulted her forward and she fell with a hard thud to the ground. The gun flew from her hand as she lay dazed and shocked in the dirt. With an effort, she lifted her head and glanced behind her, saw the man with the scarred face standing over her. He had a club in one hand and a burlap sack in the other.

“I’ve got her,” he said and laughed.

Evangeline lunged for the gun, grabbed it, but he was just as quick. Straddling her, he rolled her over and tried to pin her left arm to her side while he grappled for the gun in her right hand.

A shot went wild and she heard one of the sisters scream. She couldn’t worry about that now, though.

She had to get free. She had to find J.D. No matter what, she had to find her son and save him from these lunatics.

She fought viciously. With her free hand, she raked her nails across the tender skin of his scar. She clawed at his eyes, dug her knee into his groin. Nothing seemed to faze him.

One hand was at her throat, squeezing, squeezing while his other hand pried loose the gun in her hand. He flung it aside and then, his fingers tightening around her neck, he reached for the burlap bag.

As he upended it, a black, ropey body tumbled to the ground. As quick as lightning, his hand flicked out and he snatched the snake behind the head. He brought it close to Evangeline’s face, and when he poked the snout with his club, the mouth widened, revealing the cottony interior and the long, razorlike fangs.

The swampy stench of the snake filled her nostrils as a cold, black terror dropped over her. Was this what he had in store for J.D.?

Adrenaline surged through her veins as her hand scrabbled across the dirt, searching for the gun. Her fingers closed around a stick, and when he lifted the snake high over his head, mumbling words she could not understand, Evangeline reared up and drove the makeshift weapon into his eye with all the strength she could muster.

He screamed and dropped the snake.

The thick body fell hard against Evangeline’s chest, then sprang forward in a blur. The fangs sunk into the man’s neck and hung for the longest time as he fell backward to the ground, writhing in pain.

Evangeline grabbed the club and scrambled to her feet. Flinging the snake aside, the man, on hands and knees now, tried to get up, too, but Evangeline was ruthless now. She swung the club and connected with his temple, then the back of his neck. He fell face forward into the dirt and did not move again.

Dropping the club, Evangeline turned. Rebecca lay on the ground at the foot of the porch steps, blood gushing from a wound in her chest. Her sister was on her knees beside her.