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The light turned green and Andre made a right, then worked through the traffic until he was driving north on Dixie Highway. He turned onto Northeast Sixth and pointed ahead. “The address is in that neighborhood, across the road from Pompano Beach Middle School.”
The house didn’t stand out from the others and appeared to be a residence like any other suburban home in the neighborhood. Andre parked a block away. “Let’s watch for a while.”
Hunter was itching to do something after thirty minutes, but waited a full hour before saying, “If he’s not here, we aren’t doing anyone any good in this car.”
Andre pulled into the driveway and Hunter said, “I’ll go to the back.”
“Watch for dogs.”
Hunter went to the gate on the privacy-fenced back yard and found it locked. She looked around, then used the corner where the brick house wall and the six-foot cedar fence met to climb up and over, landing on her feet on thick grass.
No dogs, thank goodness. Working her way along the brick wall, Hunter made it to a covered patio that showed a sliding glass door into the home. Moving slow and careful, she reached it and peered through a gap where the two interior curtains didn’t meet.
“God-o-mighty,” she breathed.
A black, wooden table was against the far wall, and two boar’s skulls showing curved tusks as long as her index finger was underneath on the floor. Coiled on top of both skulls and draped over the sides was a thick snake skeleton that Hunter guessed at around six feet long. The snake skull rested on top of the coils and the open mouth showed two-inch long fangs. Hunter remembered reading about African Gaboon Vipers, with their thick bodies and the longest fangs in the snake world. Had to be.
Crude white symbols and markings covered the table legs and wall behind it. Goat skulls, painted dark red, lined the front of the tabletop, and one other, with long, twisting twin horns was mounted on the wall three feet above the table.
Below it were other items on shelves: multiple candles of different sizes in glass jars, rodent skulls, feathered chicken wings of both white and multicolored chickens, strings of beads, several simple bowls, two of them carved from dark wood and the other three formed from clay and all painted with white symbols. Bottles of cheap rum were at the edge of the table.
Centered on the table under the wall-mounted goat skull was a human skull with the top cut off above the eye sockets. That portion was upside down beside the skull, like a cup. Hunter’s pulse quickened when she noticed rust-colored stains inside the lip.
Hunter jumped when she heard the front doorbell, and then realized Andre was checking to see if anyone was home. She waited, but saw no movement. He rang it again, and nothing stirred. She didn’t know if it would take, but she put her iPhone against the glass door and snapped a dozen pictures, adjusting the zoom as she went.
Checking the rest of the house showed nothing else, so Hunter again scaled the fence and walked to the front to join Andre.
Andre said, “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
“Let’s go and I’ll tell you, maybe show you.”
They drove for several minutes before Hunter checked her phone images. Some of them didn’t show because of the flash reflection on the glass, but several were okay, and two were clear. She handed the phone to Andre and held the steering wheel as he looked.
When he finished and handed the phone to Hunter, his eyes were huge. He said, “That’s creepy. I’ve got goosebumps.” He put out his arm to show her.
“Is that like witchcraft or Santeria?”
“Not Santeria; I don’t know about witchcraft. Santeria is not so dark feeling. This is some bad ju-ju.”
“Bad ju-ju, huh?”
“I don’t know what else to call it. I think you need to call your detective buddy and set up a meeting with the expert.”
“I’ll see him tonight and set it up. Maybe tomorrow, if we’re lucky.”
“Good.” Andre drove a few more miles and said, “Did seeing that back there spoil your appetite, or are you hungry?”
“Not much makes me lose my appetite.”
“I’ve got just the place.”
“What is it?”
“A small restaurant off the main drag a couple miles ahead; makes the best mahi-mahi sandwiches and fried plantains you’ve ever seen. Cheap, too.”
“Drive on.”
After the meal, they returned to the office, made calls to the other agencies and ran checks on the information they had. Hours passed and before Hunter realized, her shift was over.
