The priestess raised one beringed hand and an assistant materialized. She offered Yasmine a small crockery bowl. Yasmine scraped the human tissue and specks of dried blood from beneath her fingernails and carefully dropped the particles into the bowl. Next she removed the strands of Alister's hair that were still wrapped around the fingers of her left hand and added them to the bowl.

Then she lifted her gaze to the priestess. Flickering candlelight was reflected in her agate eyes, making them appear animalistic. Her lips barely moved, but her sibilant message was clear. "I want him to suffer badly."

Belle Petrie was waiting for Alister in the foyer when he arrived at their Greek revival home on the shore of Lake Ponchartrain. The children had been fed earlier and sent to bed. Before leaving for the day, the full-time housekeeper/cook had set the formal dining table with the best china and added fresh flowers to the centerpiece.

Belle was dressed in purple silk lounging pajamas that swished against her legs as she moved forward to greet her husband. "My God. Did she do that to you?" As she examined the scratches on his cheek, there was no sympathy in her voice, merely surprise.

"Satisfied, Belle? These scratches should prove that I did what I promised."

"You told her that it was over for good and warned her not to bother us anymore?"

"Precisely that. Then she charged me like a goddamn panther."

Belle's gleaming page boy barely rippled as she made a tsking sound and shook her head. "Go upstairs and swab those scratches with peroxide while I pour our dinner wine."

"I'm not hungry."

"Of course you are, darling," she said with a fixed smile. "Run along and tend to your face. I'll expect you back down shortly."

Alister recognized her suggestion for what it was-a test to see if he would obey. In her subtle way, she was stating the terms under which she would stay with him, financially support his campaign, and decline to expose him for the unfaithful, lying husband that he was. From here on, she was the writer, producer, and director of this charade. If he wanted to play, he must accept his role and carry it out to the letter.

What choice did he have but to accept her conditions, no matter how unpalatable? Sure, he'd go along for a while. It would behoove him to toe the line until after the election. Then, if he wanted to resume his affair with Yasmine, or start a new one with somebody else, he'd damned well do it. Just because he'd been caught once didn't mean he intended to live the rest of his life as Belle's neutered lapdog. For the time being, however, it was prudent to pretend.

"I'll be down in a minute."

Upstairs, he inspected his face in the bathroom mirror. The gashes were still fresh, raw and bleeding. How the hell would he explain them to his staff and campaign committee, much less the media and the voting public? Backlashing tree branches? A frisky new kitten? Who the hell would believe that?

On the other hand, in order to contradict him they'd have to accuse him of lying and prove it. So what was he worried about? They'd take his word for it because they'd have no alternative.

He wasn't even vaguely concerned that Yasmine would throw him out like a chunk of raw meat to the news hounds. True, he'd experienced a moment of trepidation when she'd looked at him in a way that had chilled his blood. But once she cooled down and her reason reasserted itself, she'd change her mind about seeking restitution. After all, she loved him. Her love had been a curse that might now turn out to be a blessing. She wouldn't do anything to destroy him politically because she probably still clung to the fantasy that one day she'd wind up being Mrs. Congressman Petrie.

Besides, she was proud to a fault. She couldn't publicize their affair without making herself look like a fool. She had a career to salvage, a business to protect, and creditors to pacify. The last thing Yasmine wanted or needed was a scandal.

But what if her desire for revenge was greater than her better judgment? What if she did squeal?

Alister shrugged at his reflection in the mirror. So what? The public outcry over such a notorious affair would work more against her than him. All he had to do was sit back, hold hands with Belle, and vehemently deny any allegations that Yasmine might make. Who'd believe a virtually bankrupt, morally depraved, hysterical woman from Harlem over an affluent, stable, happily married southern gentleman?

With all that resolved in his mind, his mood was almost buoyant as he went back downstairs. Belle kissed him gently and formed a moue concern over his injured cheek. "It's all behind us new," she said as she extended him a glass of perfectly chilled white wine. "Tell me about your day." She served him a light supper of crab salad on toast points, sliced cantaloupe, marinated cherry tomatoes, and raspberry sherbet.

They were lingering over their demitasse when something smashed against the dining-room window. It landed hard, making a horrific crash that caused the large pane of glass to vibrate.

"What the hell was that?" Alister whipped his head around.

Belle shot straight up from her chair, knocking it over backward.

Alister gaped in horror at the blood and gore splattered on the glass.

Belle covered her mouth with her hand to keep from gagging.

"Jesus," Alister wheezed. "Stay inside."

"Alister-"

"Stay inside!"

He had never been inordinately brave, so it wasn't so much courage as anger that propelled him through the front door of his house and out onto his carefully manicured lawn. Down the street, he heard the squeal of tires, but it was too far away and too dark for him to see the make of the car or to read the license plate.

He approached the dining-room window with caution and fear. Looking at the blood-splattered glass from this side, made it even spookier, more real. He could smell the blood. A Rorschach inkblot from hell.

He leaned across the flower bed to inspect it closer, lost his balance, fell into the shrubbery beneath the window, and landed on a dead chicken. Its throat had been slashed. The cut was fresh, wide, and gaping. The feathers were wet and shiny with dark blood.

The congressman screamed.

He scrambled to his feet, thrashed through the shrubbery, and stumbled up the front steps. Once safely inside, he slammed the front door and slid home the bolts. Frantically he punched in the security alarm code on the panel.

Belle, having recovered from her initial shock, demanded an explanation. "Who made that disgusting mess on our front window? Do you realize what a chore it will be to get that stuff off?"

He wanted to shake her until her perfectly straight, white teeth rattled. "Don't you understand what this means? She wants me dead."

"Who?"

"Her."

"Your former lover?"

He nodded, stuttering, "She ... she's put a curse on me."

"For heaven's sake, Alister, get a grip on yourself. You're being ridiculous."

He shook his head furiously.

"This is a matter for the police." Belle, ever cool, headed for the hall telephone.

"No!" He lunged for the phone and yanked the cord from the wall jack. "No."

"Alister, you're not behaving rationally. What's got you so scared?"

He croaked a single word. "Voodoo."

Chapter 20.

*Yasmine barged in on them a few minutes before six o'clock. She flung the bedroom door open, stomped in, then skidded to a halt when she saw Claire snuggled against Cassidy between the sheets of the twin bed.

"Oh, shit!"

The expletive woke Claire from a sound sleep. She sat up, shoved her hair out of her eyes, and groped for the corner of the sheet to raise against her breasts, which were rosy and tender from a night of lovemaking.

At her sudden movement, Cassidy rolled onto his back. "What's the matter?" He followed Claire's stunned stare to Yasmine, who looked down at them for several awkward seconds before turning on her heel and marching out, closing the door soundly behind her.

"Something's wrong." Claire reached for her chemise, which was draped over the footboard of the bed.

"What do you mean? What's wrong with what? What time is it?" Cassidy propped himself on his elbows and shook his head groggily.

"Something's wrong with Yasmine."

"Claire?"

She had pulled on a housecoat over her chemise. As she swept past the bed on her way to the door, his hand shot out and caught her arm. He gazed up at her from hooded eyes. She knew what the look meant, and it created flurries of delight in her tummy. "I can't," she whispered soulfully. "Yasmine needs me."

"I need you."

"You had me," she reminded him with a shy smile.

"Not nearly enough."

Torn between loyalty and desire, she glanced toward the door, then looked back at him. "I've got to check on her, Cassidy."

"Okay," he growled. "But I'm a sore loser." He raised her hand to his mouth and provocatively kissed the palm. "Hurry back."

"I promise."

The hallway was shrouded in the gray-violet light of dawn. She moved quickly to the staircase and tiptoed down, not wanting to rouse anyone. She gave the double parlors a swift glance but didn't see Yasmine. She was about to bypass the dining room when she noted movement near the wet bar. Reversing her direction, she joined Yasmine there.

The former model held up a decanter. "Want a drink?"

"Yasmine, what's the matter?"

"What do you care? By the looks of you, I'd say you had one hell of a night in your little twin bed. All cozied up nekkid with the detective, weren't you? Hmm-mmm. Imagine that."

"He's not a detective, and you're not being fair. Why should it matter to you if I sleep with Cassidy?"

She came around, holding a highball glass filled with vodka. "It doesn't. In fact, I don't give a fat rat's fart who you fuck."

"Whom I fuck," Claire corrected. "If you're going to insult me, at least be grammatically correct."

Yasmine set her drink on the bar with a hard thump. She tried to sustain her anger but couldn't. A smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. "Claire Louise Laurent. Always so bloody prim and proper." She grinned at Claire fleetingly, then her face crumpled like a souffle. Lowering her head, she covered her face with her hands and began to sob.

Claire placed an arm around her and guided her down to one of the padded barstools. "What's wrong, Yasmine?" she asked, smoothing back her hair. "For you to be so nasty, something dreadful must have happened."

"The asshole dumped me."

Claire had been afraid of this. The inevitable had finally happened. She had believed all along that it was only a matter of time before Yasmine was jilted by her married lover, and she had dreaded this day. She drew her friend's head to her shoulder and let her use it as a cushion while she cried.

"The son of a bitch has been lying to me from the start," Yasmine said, her voice congested with tears. "He never intended to leave his wife. He never planned to marry me, or for us to have a life together. I've been so stupid, Claire. So goddamn stupid." She pounded the edge of the bar with her fists. "How could I have been played for such a fool?"

"Love distorts our judgment. It makes us do things we know are bad for us. We do them anyway."

Yasmine sat up and wiped her nose on the hem of her blouse. "He even made love to me last night before he broke the news. Can you believe the gall? When I got there, he practically fell on me. He told me that I was beautiful, that the days he spent without me were pure hell. We screwed like rabbits, hard and quick." Twin tears spilled over her lower eyelids and trickled down her flawless cheeks. "I loved him, Claire."

"I know. I'm sorry."

"Looking back, I can't believe lever fell for his lies. Even though I fantasized about it, I can't see him actually flaunting me in Washington."

"Washington?"

Yasmine snorted a laugh. "This might cost him a vote, but what the hell. Why shouldn't you know now? My mystery man was Congressman Alister Petrie."

Claire exhaled slowly. "Alister Petrie."

"Do you know him?"

"No, I never met him. But I know his wife, Belle. I made some things for her trousseau when they got married. I was doing commission work then. One of her friends recommended me to her."

"What's she like?"

"Oh, Yasmine, forget-"

"For God's sake, Claire, indulge me. What's she like?"

"Pretty. Blond. Slen-"

"That's not what I meant. I know what she looks like."

"You've met her?"

"I've seen her." Claire's brows arched inquisitively. "Yes, I spied on them a couple of times," Yasmine admitted impatiently. "I did everything a nice little mistress isn't supposed to do. I whined. I made demands. I issued ultimatums. I pleaded. I threw tantrums. I called their house in the middle of the night just to hear his voice when he answered the phone. All that crap.

"Since he began campaigning for reelection, he's had less time to spend with me. The less time we had together, the more I hounded him. That's one reason Alister got pissed, I think. I was taking chances with us getting caught. He was afraid Belle would find out. Or maybe she did find out. Who knows? Now I wouldn't believe a word the lying prick says."

"I can see why he'd be attracted to you. You're so different from her."

"In what way?"

"Every way," Claire replied. "I didn't like her. She comes from aristocracy and makes certain everyone knows it. She's cool and aloof. Snotty. Bigoted. And, I would guess, passionless."