“Black arts,” he corrected. “There are many oils, but I prefer this one. It brings back memories of childhood.”

“And you actually believe in voodoo?”

“Sometimes. When I wish. I rule it, it doesn’t rule me. Those memories were very exciting. My bitch of a mother liked to frighten me at those voodoo ceremonies when I was a child, but I learned to beat her at her own game. Occasionally, I feel a tug of nostalgia, and I have to go back to my roots.” He set the cage down on the dirt floor and opened it. “Come out, Mama, we’re home.”

Eve stiffened. “You’re letting the snake out?”

“If she chooses. I like to give her freedom before she’s confined again. I take very good care of her. I feed her, I stroke her down with special oil to protect her.” His gaze was narrowed on her face. “You don’t like snakes?”

“It depends. What kind of snake?”

A rattle came from the cage.

“Does that answer you?” He smiled. “Yes, I thought so. As a boy, I used coral and water moccasins, but rattlers are easier in the desert. This one is very aggressive.”

Eve couldn’t keep her gaze off the door to the cage. Why wasn’t the snake coming out? She moistened her lips. “Where is this coffin you were bragging about?”

“It’s near the grave I dug out back in the trees. Do you think I wouldn’t be prepared for you?”

“I don’t think about you at all. You’re not worth—” She inhaled sharply. The rattlesnake had slid out of the cage and was coiled in the middle of the floor. Stop freezing, she told herself. Think about how she could kill the snake before it killed her.

Or Beth.

The snake was sliding across the room toward her sister.

“No!” Without thinking, she grabbed the oil lamp and hurled it at the snake. It struck the rattler but then glanced off and broke on the floor. “Get out of the way, Beth.”

Beth shook her head, as if to clear it, and was staring at the burning puddle of oil and the snake that was undulating away from it. “What—”

Opportunity. Move.

Drogan was cursing as Eve leaped for him.

But his gun instantly swung to cover Beth. “Back. Or I’ll put a bullet in exactly the same spot between the eyes as I did to her father.”

Eve froze. “I’m not moving.”

“You bet you’re not. And it’s time I put you in the ground.”

“No, you can’t do that,” Beth said, her gaze on the snake. “I won’t let you hurt her.”

“As if you could do anything about it. You’re nothing, a weakling. I knew it was a fluke that you got away from me in that hospital room.” He turned away, keeping the gun ready and on Eve. “Now be still while I put Mama Zela back in her cage to take her with us.” He was moving swiftly, catching and handling the snake with an amazing deftness. In a matter of minutes, the snake was back in the cage, and he was closing the cage door. “There you are, Mama. You didn’t like her doing that to you, did you? Don’t worry, you’ll be able to teach her a lesson soon. It will be a pleasure that—”

He screamed.

Beth had picked up a jagged shard of glass from the broken lamp on the floor and thrown it at his face. Blood spurted from his left eye.

“Bitch.” Drogan leaped forward and hit Beth with the barrel of his gun. He hit her again as she was falling to the floor. “I’ll break your head, you—” He whirled back to face Eve as she took a step toward him. “Out that back door.” He grabbed the snake cage. “Now.”

She didn’t argue. At least she had managed to distract him from Beth. Though she wasn’t sure that the intervention wasn’t too late. Beth was lying very still; the blows had been vicious.

“Move.” Drogan was wiping the blood from the corner of his eye. “I’ve had enough of you. Let’s see how you deal with Mama.”

*   *   *

THE WHITE HOUSE WHERE Nancy Geronimo lived was small but neat. The baskets of fake geraniums hanging from the posts on the long porch were the only spots of color.

“It doesn’t look like the house of a woman who makes voodoo oil,” Newell murmured. “Maybe cookies for the PTA.”

“You can’t label people.” Kendra was knocking on the door. “Maybe she does both.”

“No answer,” Joe said tightly. “But there’s a car in the driveway. Wake her up, dammit.”

“I’ll do my best. But she may be taking some of her own potions.” She banged harder on the door. “But one way or the other, we’ll—”

“Get away from my door.” The front door had swung open to reveal a tall, thin, elderly woman, dark hair pulled back from her face. She was dressed in a pink flowered robe that was completely incongruous to both her grim expression and the shotgun she was leveling at them. “And then get in your car and take off before I blow you away.”

Kendra held up her hands and backed away. “We’re no threat to you. We just want information.”

“That is a threat to me,” she said grimly. “In my business, you can get your throat cut for giving out information. Go away.”

“This is a police investigation.” Joe stepped forward and showed her his badge. “A kidnapping. Trust me. You don’t want to get involved, Ms. Geronimo.”

She glanced at his credentials. “This is an Atlanta badge. You can’t have authority out here.”

Sharp. And probably very familiar with police procedure.

“I could still get a court order. It would just take me time. I don’t have time. And if the kidnap victims are murdered in the meantime, you’ll be in a world of trouble.”

She moistened her lips. “I’m not involved in any kidnapping. I just sell herbs.”

“And black arts oil.”

“Which doesn’t hurt anyone. It’s just a game some of my clients play.”

“We’re looking for a man who bought your oil.”

“I sell a lot of oil. I wouldn’t remember. I have clients who come to me from four other states. Sometimes on weekends, my front yard is bumper-to-bumper with cars and trucks.”

“This would be a truck,” Kendra said. “A tall man, large feet, probably usually wears Timberland hiking boots. The footprint I saw had an imprint of cross-pattern lugs sole. That’s pretty distinctive of Timberland.”

Nancy Geronimo was gazing blankly at her. “I don’t pay much attention to boots.”

Kendra shrugged. “Not many people do. Sometimes it strikes a bell.” She turned to Joe. “Wait, do you have a photo?”

“I thought you’d never ask,” Joe said dryly. He pulled up a photo on his phone. “This is Drogan.”

The woman looked at the photo. “Maybe I’ve seen him.”

“Yes or no?” Joe added softly, “If you lie, I’ll make your life hell.”

“I’ve seen hell before. But I’m not going to stick my neck out for someone who doesn’t mean a damn to me.” She looked again at the photo. “Yeah, I’ve sold oil to him. Several canisters in the last month. Surly son of a bitch.”

“Does he live near here? Or does he drive in from another state?”

“He’s local, I think. I was driving out in the desert gathering supplies a few weeks ago, and I saw his truck. It was near a beat-up old shack with a broken door.”

He straightened. “What color was the truck? Where? Which direction?”

“Red truck. Sort of rust red. The shack is … East.” She waved a vague hand. “And I don’t know where. I told you, I was driving around, trying to locate some of my ingredients.”

“Eye of newt?” Newell murmured.

The woman gave him an ugly glance. “I think maybe it was southeast. That’s all I can tell you.” She started to close the door, then stopped. “He’s … kind of creepy. He carries a snake around with him. I’ve heard it rattle in the cage.”

“And you’re not accustomed to creepy clients?” Kendra asked her, as Joe turned and headed back to the car.

“Yeah, but he’s in a class by himself. Don’t tell him I told you where to find him.”

She slammed the door.

“But she didn’t tell us,” Joe said tightly. “It’s going to be like looking for a needle in a haystack.” He started the car. “Southeast. Dammit, but where?”