Chapter Thirty-Four

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Chapter Thirty-Four

Monday

New Roads, LA

Jhonnette Deveaux sat in an uncomfortable blue bucket seat in the waiting area of the hospital Emergency Room. She read the news on her laptop and bit her left pinky compulsively. The taste of acetone assaulted her taste buds. She’d forgotten about the nail solution she coated her nails with to break the bad childhood habit.

Jhonnette glanced at the TV in the corner. The ten o’clock news was on. The anchorman had interrupted the interminable hurricane coverage for a breaking news story.

Although set to low volume, she could make out the anchorman stating, “Well, we’ve got another Fox 29 News superstory for you. Exclusive footage from the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola, where Lincoln Baker, the man convicted ten years ago for the Simmons Park Massacre, was released earlier this morning. You’re not going to believe your eyes…”

As this was the second time she’d seen this report, Jhonnette only gave it half her attention. She’d already heard the ridiculous explanation from the warden about how someone had opened fire on Lincoln from the crowd and the guards had returned fire to protect him. The only part she agreed with was just how lucky Lincoln had been.

After getting shot multiple times, Lincoln somehow managed to make it out of the prison, only to later fall off the bow of the Angola ferry. They’d fished him out of the Mississippi River a few hours ago and rushed him to the hospital.

This was definitely not how Jhonnette had foreseen events transpiring. Both Snake and Lincoln should be dead as a result of her meeting with Randy Lafitte. Instead, Lincoln had miraculously survived. Because she believed everything happened for a reason, Lincoln must be alive because he was supposed to live, just as Randy Lafitte had survived his bout with brain cancer due to her involuntary assistance. There was something greater at work here, and the only thing she could do was work with it, not against it.

Besides, keeping Lincoln among the living presented several interesting opportunities for her to capitalize on.

Another intriguing story getting a lot of coverage was how one of the four civilians injured during the commotion was Lincoln’s adopted father, Moses Mouton. He was in critical condition receiving care in the prison infirmary, the R.E. Barrow Treatment Center.

 Jhonnette knew she could use this news to get Lincoln on her side.

“Miss Deveaux?”

Jhonnette jerked her attention from the television and looked over her shoulder toward the triage station. The charge nurse waved her inside the double doors that led to the ER. Jhonnette was anxious to confirm her theory that Lincoln was still breathing because he was somehow a part of the Lafitte curse, too. Lafitte hadn’t exactly taken the bait when she teased him with the possibility, so she couldn’t be sure, but it was the only explanation that made sense.

By now Lafitte was probably waking up to the fact that he’d been duped, but it was far too late for him to change the course of events she’d set in motion. Jhonnette had amplified Amir’s spiritual capacity so much that the baka he’d unleashed would be far too powerful for anyone to control. And if the baka didn’t finish Lafitte off, Lincoln would. It was his destiny. Jhonnette understood that now.

The charge nurse pointed to room number 243. “He just came out of surgery. You’ve got an hour, not a minute more.” The nurse looked her up and down. “What news station did you say you were from again?”

“Channel Nine News in Lake City,” Jhonnette replied, suppressing her disappointment. Lincoln was no good to her if he wasn’t conscious, and she was running out of time. “Just try not to aggravate him too much, okay?”

Jhonnette thanked the nurse with a fifty dollar bill and paused in front of the door. She longed to bite her nails again but remembered the acetone polish.

“Not a minute more,” the nurse reminded her as she walked back to the nurse’s station.

Jhonnette took a deep breath and gave two short knocks on the door before entering.

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