She was watching the Mother over the table, the plants and the gloom thick upon her. She'd just asked the Mother a question. The Mother laughed, candlelight glinting off gleaming white teeth. She looked like an animal about to devour something warm and still moving. Frank watched, curiously repelled and fascinated.
The certainty of the scene, the sense that Frank had already lived this moment, was strong enough to make her dizzy. She forced herself to concentrate on the Mother's words, refusing to validate the odd sensation. The same went for the thin tentacle of dread reaching towards her heart.
"Those boys are my sons. Lucian and Marcus. They showed you in. They're very devoted to their religion." With the merest hint of menace, she added, "They're very devoted to me."
Nodding, Frank redirected the conversation.
"I guess that's how you missed your nephew. Do you have any idea what he might have been stopping by for? I mean, I'm surprised he didn't track you down at the church, seeing as he helped out there so much. What was it you think he might have been coming by for?"
"I'm sure I don't know, child."
Frank bobbed her head like it was an apple in a barrel. She stepped closer to the Mother, picking up a sweet, flowery scent. It was like the smell that came out of the bodega next to the station mixed with incense and herbs . . . and something else. Something indefinable, but old. Timeless. Again the hairs tingled along her flesh, and the tentacle of dread near her heart thickened.
"I hate to bring this up, but it's something you might be able to help us with. Your niece, Kim, she mentioned that Danny was getting involved with some Nicaraguans ..."
The candlelight was bright enough for Frank to see what she'd been looking for. She continued easily, "Boys' names were . . . ?"
Without taking her eyes off the Mother, Frank cocked her head to Lewis.
"Tito Carrillo, Alejandro Echevarria, and Porfiero Hernandez."
"That's right. Do you know them, Mrs. Jones?"
"Danny had a lot of young friends," she observed, her eyes steady on Frank's. "They don't sound familiar, but I might recognize them if I saw them."
Frank admired the effortless save.
"Seems like Danny was looking to hook up with them, get a little action going on the side."
The Mother waved a hand, dismissing the notion as nonsense.
"I don't know anything about that."
"Hm. That's funny. That's not what Kim said."
The Mother smiled tolerantly, as if at a foolish but endearing child.
"What else did my niece tell you, Lieutenant? Maybe I can straighten out these misunderstandings for you."
The Mother had volleyed smoothly, but Frank had what she wanted. For now.
"That's about it. Just that she was worried about the friends he was hanging around with, worried about what sort of trouble he might be getting into."
Frank made a show of reflecting inward, a subtle manipulation signaling she'd taken control of the conversation. Abruptly she said, "Look, we've taken enough of your time. I know you're very busy and I appreciate your seeing us."
Frank placed her card at the Mother's fingertips, careful not to touch the gory nails. She reeled off the standard request to call if she thought of anything, no matter how trivial it might seem. The Mother picked up the square of paper. She tapped it with a lacquered nail, smiled at it.
"Come back sometime for a reading, Lieutenant. You might be surprised how accurate I am."
"I bet I would be."
She turned to make her exit, but the Mother said, "Lieutenant?"
A hint of a smile curved the Mother's generous mouth. Her eyes reflected the yellow candle glow.
"Yes?"
"Look out for a red dog."
"A red dog?"
"Yes, child. A red dog."
9
Working their way back through the network of halls, Lewis mumbled, "I don't care for this place. It's kind of strange, don't you think?"
"Wouldn't put it high on my list of favorite vacation spots," Frank agreed. She paused at a T in the maze.
"Right or left?"
"Right," Lewis said without hesitating.
"You sure? I think it's left."
The rookie grumbled, "Then what are you asking me for if you're so sure?"
"Lewis, you're a bona fide pain in the ass, you know that?"
"I been told."
Frank twisted a door handle in passing. Locked. She tried another. It yielded. Frank peeked in.
"What are you doing?" Lewis complained.
"Just checking things out while we're here. We're lost, right?"
Light from the hall illuminated what looked like a collection of old appliances. A dank, moldering odor drifted out. Frank closed the door. The next one she checked was locked. And the one next to it. Moving into a new hall, Lewis said, "We should have left bread crumbs."
Frank tried another handle and it turned. She pushed on the door and the room erupted in shrieks and flapping noises. Frank swung the door shut, then slipped her hand through to feel for a switch plate. Finding it, she eased inside.
Hens in crowded cages squawked at the sudden light. A black rooster jumped on her leg. Frank swore and threw it by its neck. The bird landed near a crate of pigeons. They thrashed against the bars in a panic. Living birds trampled dead or dying ones.
The rooster shook itself off and raced back over to Frank. She kicked it away. It trotted back but maintained a wary distance.
"Damn hoodoo freaks," Lewis complained tightly, "we ought to call Animal Control on these nasty mothers."
Frank stepped carefully around a few loose animals, an eye on the rooster. Feathers lifted around her as she walked to a table piled with boxes. She pulled out a bottle.
"Palm oil," she read from the label. Pulling a jar from another box, she hefted it and said to Lewis, "It's honey. What the hell's all this for?"
"What? I'm supposed to know just cuz I'm black what all this crazy-ass shit's for? How am I supposed to know? I wasn't raised in no mucketty swamp mixing up little bottles of love potion number nine, mumbling spells under my breath. Damn! I don't truck with none of this back-woods bullshit."
Lewis had mounted her politically correct high horse for a ride up and down Frank's spine, but Frank said, "Just calm the fuck down. I thought maybe you were smarter than me, but now I see you're not."
Lewis huffed but kept her mouth shut. The birds settled down while Frank poked around in more boxes. Holding a bottle out to Lewis, she turned and saw Spic and Span looming in the doorway.
"Took a wrong turn," she explained quickly. "This is some interesting shit. What do you do with all these birds? Eat 'em?"
Frank held her ground as if she had every right to be snooping through the Mother's private property.
One of the genies growled, "I thought Mother Love told you to leave."
"We're trying, but you took us through so many doors we got lost. If you want us out of here you gotta show us the way."
He made an inarticulate rumbling sound at the twin glowering next to him. Lewis squeezed past and Frank followed. Again they walked for a long time between the big men. Frank thought they were deliberately leading them in circles and Frank said to Lewis, "You were right about the bread crumbs."
"Shut the fuck up," said the genie behind them. At length he paused at a door and opened it up to sunshine. The genie's massive torso blocked their exit but he stepped aside and Frank moved past him. He gave her a shove that made her neck snap but Frank ignored it and kept walking into freedom. When she was safely out, with Lewis beside her, she turned and lifted a hand.
"See ya around," she said cheerfully. Under her breath she muttered, "Magillas."
Getting into the Mercury, Lewis whispered, "Damn!” then, "What's a magilla?"