Chapter Six
Later that night, Mickey was lying in his bed with his arm thrown over his head. He stared at the ceiling while his own mind was working overtime. He couldn’t believe what he learned tonight about his extended family. Granted, it wasn’t his immediate family but still... his family.
Then he heard his name whispered from the window, “Mickey...”
“What?” he called out from his bed, “Who’s out there?”
Then her voice came again, “You and yours need to check out Leroy’s house. But be careful, there is trouble living there these days. Bad trouble. Could be dangerous.”
Then...silence.
Mickey got up and walked to the window, but there was no one there anymore.
In fact, he heard no sound at all. Which told him something.
There were always night sounds outside under the moonlight but at the moment he heard nothing.
The silence was almost loud enough to take note of.
He just stood there for a long time and finally the sounds of the night came back.
The feeling made him shiver and he closed his window again.
Then he slid down to the floor and sat there for a long time.
He had a feeling the woman was the ghost he’d met earlier in the day.
He had to wonder how the hell she came to him in the middle of the night.
How did she find him in a house filled with people?
He sat there until the nighttime changed into daytime and he heard his brothers getting ready to start the day. He got up and groaned. The damn floor had grown cold while he sat there. He also felt surprised when he finally got to his feet and noticed how cold the whole room seemed to be.
He pulled his clothes on and left the room.
When he came into the kitchen, his brother Tiege noticed him first. “What the hell is wrong with you?” he exclaimed.
“What are you talking about?” Mickey asked.
“You look a little wrecked this morning. You okay?”
Mickey hesitated then nodded. “I didn’t get much sleep last night, that’s all.”
Colt nodded. “I can relate to that. I have to say I think Grace was just plain wrong. People can’t help what they are born like.”
Mickey looked at his brothers and admitted, “The reason I didn’t sleep was because I had a visitor. She didn’t knock on my door or anything but she did whisper a warning. She told me we had to check out ole Leroy’s house. There’s danger there and we need to be careful.”
Teige looked stunned and confused. “What the hell are you talking about, Mick?”
Mickey took a long drink from his coffee mug. Then swiping his mouth, his jaw tightened and he said, “I think everyone in the family needs to know about this and so does King. I only want to say this once, so let’s go.”
Colt looked back and forth at them and nodded.
The Hogan brothers all piled into their trucks and took off for Maudie’s place. When they arrived they saw that Clive, Sonny and Harry were already there.
After they entered Maudie’s house, they found them all at the breakfast table. Boomer was there too as he hadn’t left for St. Charles yet.
Maudie nodded and motioned at some empty plates. “Come on and fill your bellies before you tell us about your visitor last night.”
Boomer looked over at her and asked, “A visitor?”
Nodding, she told him, “Just wait and we will hear about it.”
Teige stared at her then he looked over at Mickey, finally he sat down and put food on his plate.
Mickey paused...How the hell did Maudie know about the visitor? Then he remembered Maudie talking about her dreams yesterday and she got a feeling about bad people entering the swamp.
When breakfast was done and the dirty dishes were washed then put away, Teige sat back nursing a cup of coffee. “Ok Mick, tell us all about this visit that kept you awake last night.”
Tannin nodded his head at him too.
Mickey pushed his cup away and looked around the table then he spoke, “Ever since we came home someone has been watching me.” Shaking his head he admitted, “In fact, she’s been watching everything that’s been going on around here for a long time.
When I was washing my hands at the creek yesterday, I could feel eyes on me...
so I called them out. I asked if anyone was there and she finally broke her silence..
She mentioned something about getting rid of the bad seeds around here.
That Dale and his boys liked to cause trouble and they were very good at it.
Then she mentioned Leroy and how he would finally pay for his sins too.
When I asked her for her name...she told me that did not matter as she was nobody, a ghost. Then she came to my window last night and gave me a warning, she said we had to check out Leroy’s house but that we had to be really careful because there was danger there. But the funny thing is I believe her.”
Maudie nodded slowly.
King took her hand in his and asked her, “What do you know about this, bae?”
Maudie raised her free hand and rubbed her chest like it pained her.
“I woke up last night and my heart was racing. I could almost feel evil in the air. It took my breath away, it sure enough did. I got up and turned around. I could feel it pulsing in the air. When I turned north, I got the strongest feeling.”
“That’s the same feeling you got when we found Bethy, right?” Tannin asked. “You sent us north to check things out and we found Bethy and my son. You think this evil feeling has something to do with Leroy?”
Maudie shrugged. “Leroy be in jail, how could it have anything to do with him?”
Mickey looked around the table. “Not Leroy personally but maybe there is someone staying at his house.”
“But who would even know where he lived all these years?” Teige wanted to know.
Maudie turned to her husband and admitted, “I felt this evil only one other time, cher. In New Orleans when we met that couple on the streets, remember?”
King nodded his head then looked around the table. “That couple was Leroy’s own brother Jude and his wife Jasmine. They would be Louise Matteo’s parents.”
“I remember you telling us about that. You got real spooked,” Boomer added.
“But what do they have to do with Bethy?” Tannin asked.
Maudie shook her head. “This might not have anything to do with Bethy at all.”
“What are you thinking, Maudie?” King asked his wife.
“If Leroy’s been making bombs all these years and who’s to say we found them all?” She put this idea out there. “I mean we found a good number of them already but what if there’s more hidden somewhere that we didn’t find?”
King looked disgusted as he snapped, “What would a man like Jude Matteo want with that many bombs anyway? It just doesn’t make any sense. Jude isn’t a regular guy. He’s got a public position.”
Maudie raised a brow at him. “But he could be a public man on the outside and still be a dangerous man behind the scenes. I mean there are a lot of men that will look you square in the face and lie to you while they set you up for a hard fall. Maybe Jude be one of those two faced men.”