Bill Lloyd
It took Harry Cornell two years to figure out that his wife, Karen Payne, did not die in the World Trade Center on nine-eleven. He discovers that his wife had been obsessed with finding an historic African artifact, a carved statue of a Bantu warrior, brought to America on a slave ship in the late eighteenth century. Convinced that finding the artifact will lead to his wife, Cornell travels to the Sea Islands off the coast of South Carolina. The trail narrows to the five star resort of Hilton Head Island. His first discovery is the murder of his wife's former lover who also was reported as a casualty of nine-eleven.The brutal murder draws him deep into the low country and the world of the Gullah and root doctors. Cornell discovers that these medicine men of years past still work voodoo magic. He finds others are intensely interested in locating the artifact as well. Rebecca Kane claims that the carved statue is an heirloom of her family and she knows her fellow native islanders will help her find it. Clinton Cooper, the unscrupulous and disgraced former CEO, is convinced the artifact will lead to a hoard of diamonds and gold bullion, a treasure he desperately needs.The root doctor unleashes his terrible magic to help Rebecca Kane locate the artifact but the costs are high. In the end the legendary curse that accompanied the Gullah Prince works it evil one final time.
