Diana Racine 02 - Goddess of the Moon

better in a few hours. You have a low-grade fever and you ’ r e slightly dehydrat ed from v omiting. I ’ll send the samples I took to the lab as soon as I get back to the office and let you know if there’s anything to worry about. I doubt there is . ”
    “Thanks, Reggie,” Lucier said. “I appreciate you coming over so fast.”
    “Nothing I wouldn’t do for the son of Remy Lucier. Your father was a fine doctor and a great man. I wish he were still around.”
    “So do I .”
    Lucier accompanied Haley to the door and returned to Diana’s bedside. She looked pale and confused. “I’m going to make you a cup of tea.”
    “No, I don’t think I could hold it down.”
    He took her hand. “Okay then, do you want to tell me what happened?”
    She skipped the part about Lucier keeping her on a short leash. Compton had played her perfectly. “That’s just it, Ernie. I don’t know. I remember getting into Silas Compton’s limo at the Sunrise Mission, and that’s all I remember. I’m sure I gave him a reading, but I don’t remember that either.”
    “Did you drink anything? Anything at all.”
    “A Coke. He snapped open the can and poured the cola into a glass from the bar in back of the limo.”
    “Do you remember arriving at his house?”
    “I told you, everything’s a black hole .” She pinched the bridge of her nose and looked up as sad-eyed as a sick child . “How is that possible?”
    “Have you ever heard of date rape drugs?”
    “Yes, of course. You don’t believe Silas Compton drugged me, do you?”
    “The three biggies, Rohypnol, GHB, and Ketamine, are virtually undetectable: tasteless, odorless, and colorless. The lab would have to run a special test to detect them. You’d be rendered unconscious but responsive. And guess what?” He touched his lips to Diana’s forehead . “ Most likely, y ou wouldn’t remember a thing.”
    “I don’t understand.”
    “Nor do I .” Lucier called Reginald Haley on his cell and told him to run a test for any of the known date rape drugs and fast. He also asked him to return with a rape kit.
    “You think Compton would be so stupid to drug and rape me?”
    “I don’t know what to think any more. Men like Compton think they’re above the law , t hat they can do anything they want and get away with it. I sure as hell don’t want to find out you were violated, but if you test positive for one of those drugs or if you’ve been sexually penetrated, I’ll get a warrant to search Compton ’s house so fast, he won’t know what planet he’s on.”
    E ven as he spoke the words, getting a judge to issue a warrant to search the house of a multi-billionaire wouldn’t be easy. And searching for what? Compton wouldn’t have anything incriminating in his house, e specially on the word of a woman who didn’t know where she was the day before or who she was with.
    Diana rubbed her temples. “There’s something else, Ernie . ” She looked almost apologetic. “I had a dream. At least I think it was a dream. It might have be en a memory.”
    She told him about the red room, the eyes in black faces, the chanting, and the hands running the length of her body. “ A fter I woke up, I got sick.”
    Lucier pulled her into him. It sounded like stories he’d heard of satanic rituals, and the thought scared the hell out of him. Now he was more worried than ever.
    “You’re not going anywhere alone from now on, do you hear me? And stay away from Edward Slater.”
    “I’m sure Edward’s not involved. If Compton did what you think, he did it without Edward ’s knowledge .”
    “You’re sure?”
    “Yes. I’m going to tell you a story, but you have to promise not to break my confidence.”
    “Depends.”
    “Promise or I won’t tell you.”
    When he promised, Diana told Lucier the story of Edward Slater. She left nothing out except his oblique reference to his interest in her.
    “Jesus,” Lucier said when she finished.

Chapter Twenty
    Back into the Lion’s Den

    “A nd how are our little ones today,” Silas Compton asked.
    “They’re so beautiful and hungry, but Persephone is the hungriest of all, I think, don’t you, Nona?”
    “Oh, yes. Look how plump she is.”
    Wrapped in a p ink blanket, the infant suckled at Brigid’s breast . Nona did the same to another baby, months older. Both women’s long hair fell over their bare shoulders. Neither wore blouses or bras and their breasts protruded full over slim midriffs.
    Compton stroked