Diana Racine 02 - Goddess of the Moon

d he was on the take, but a cloud hung over him from that point on. He never ran for re-election and died shortly after of a heart attack.”
    “What about Compton’s children with Eliza Fannon?”
    “Maia and Dione were originally named Susan and Meredith.
    “Why would Compton change their names?”
    “That would take more talent than I have to find out. However, the current names are from mythology, if that means anything.”
    “It might, if I knew anything about mythology. The name changes are one more bizarre aspect of this case.” What case? Lucier thought. There was no case, only suspicion. “What else?”
    “A son, Crane, followed a year after the birth of Dione . Interesting name, don’t you think?” Jason didn’t wait for an answer. “He was severely retarded. Eliza Compton shut herself off from everything to stay with the boy. H is nanny wasn’t paying attention one day, and he drowned in the swimming pool. A year later, depressed by the death of her son, Mrs. Compton jumped out a hotel window. A few sensational days in the media and the story faded into oblivion , until an unauthorized biography of Silas Compton dredged it up again. The author claimed Compton cheated on his wife with Selene Cra ne , in addition to a few other assertions that paint ed an ugly picture of the man . Shortly a fter the book came out, the author, Donald Stanton, was killed in a hit and run accident. They never found the driver.”
    Lucier wrote everything down. The information piqued his curiosity. Fannon and then Stanton, both dead.
    “ So Selene Crane enter ed the picture before Eliza Compton’s death . ”
    “ So buzzed the g ossip rags. The son named after Phillip Crane gives you an idea.”
    Mega-r ich company presidents, senators on the take, beautiful women, adultery, back-door deals. The story teemed with elements of a potboiler movie script. But n othing co nnect ed these people to the occult, except the word of two losers with a far-out tale no one in his right mind would believe , along with a n always-questionable vision by a psychic .
    “What about Crane’s offspring ? Who besides Selene?”
    “Thought you’d never ask. The Cranes had five other children. I mentioned the oldest son who runs Crane Corporation. He’s equally as private as Cran e. Selene has a younger brother Seth and three sisters. Guess who they are.”
    “You’re kidding.”
    “Nope. Sophia, Anastasia, and Reah . Those are their birth names too. ”
    Lucier exhaled a long breath . “Jesus . ” Now that he thought about it, he saw the resemblances .
    “I already mentioned I couldn’t find any record of Compton and Selene ’s children, but I did for the other second marriage liaisons. Interestingly, all their kids were home schooled, all took the state tests and passed with exceptionally high grades, and all went to a small private college in Pennsylvania, Middlebridge .
    “The oldest offspring of the first wives head up divisions in Crane and Compton’s businesses, like Maia and Dione Compton, and are groomed to take over the top spots in the company.”
    Lucier detected a pattern evolving, but he didn’t know what it meant. “Tell me about the college. Is it a religious school? Who funds it, and where do the kids go when they graduate ?”
    “That’s what I’m working on, but so far they might as well be on a different planet. Except for the ones employed by their fathers ’ companies, the others are gone for months at a time, sometimes longer, to either represent the Crane/Compton i nternational business es or to do humanitarian work for one of their foundations . The latter sends them all over the place. I’d have to break into the Treasury Department and pull up their passports to find out where .”
    “Can you do that?”
    Jason’s nervous laugh echoed over the phone line. “Man, that’s tricky. If I got caught, they’d haul me off to someplace like Gitmo, and no one would ever hear from me again.” He cleared his throat. “Unless it’s a matter of national security and someone higher up on the food chain is asking ― no offense, Lieutenant ― I’d rather not. I have a feeling this doesn’t meet the requirement .”
    “No offense taken,” Lucier said. “Forget I asked. I’m over the line with this as it is. I’d hate to get you in trouble, and I’d hate to explain what I’m doing , e specially since I ’m not sure I know.
    Jason’s laugh came across full-throated. “I’ll call you