Fiona Frost: Order of the Black Moon (11 page)

“That’s fine.
I understand. Sure, what’s on your mind?”

It took everything I had to sound normal.
His tone of voice was different
.
Strained, h
e was trying to sound professional
.
I didn’t like this.
I wanted the old Wolfe back
, hoped
our friendship wasn’t ruined.

I scanned
the other customers in the diner.
A few tables away were a group of teenagers, probably a year or two younger than
us—l
aughing
,
playing with their
food, acting like normal teens, talking about concerts and fun things.
Our group was
discussing a murder case.
Even worse,
my
heart
was
break
ing in a covert manner
over a boy.
It didn’t seem fair
.

“I don’t think it was the vampire kids.
I think they were set up.
It’s too obvious
,
and
Camber Johnson
told me—
”

“Wolfe, you shouldn’t talk to the suspects without us all there as witnesses,” I interrupted, frustration pouring
into my tone
, the sting of betrayal forcing the words out of my mouth
.
“There is evidence placing her in the cave the night of the murder
,
and she is lying to the police.”

“I
only
talked to her at school.
She knew I was in the club and working on the investigatio
n and wanted to be heard.
She has no clue why Syd
ney
Sergeant
said they did it
.
She is very scared right now.
”

Doing my best to fight my
jealous-driven
annoyance
,
I hesitated before responding
, trying to choose my words more carefully so I didn’t sound irrational.
I
was taken aback that
he
wasn’t with
us at the meeting, and
he
had spoken
to a suspect
without us there
—
and was defending her.

“Okay, Wolfe.
Just don’t talk to her anymore without
us being present
,
”
I said coldly.

A second,
secret
motive
willed me to tell him to stay
away from Camber
.
Jealousy.
She was a beautiful girl from
an
immensely
wealthy family
.
She
had full
lips
—
probably
injected with filler
as h
er mother was the plastic surgery queen of Godley Grove.
Above them, a Madonna piercing,
most likely a
real diamond
—it certainly sparkled like one
.
She was
intriguing with one hazel
eye
and
the other, a
brilliant blue
, and long blonde hair with bright-blue highlights, matching her one eye
.
Her figure
defined the word
voluptuous.
W
hen she entered a room—
girls, boys, teachers, parents
, pets
—
it didn’t matter
—
heads turned
.
And I, on the other hand, was plain, certainly not
a head
-
turner, but I wasn’
t trying to be one
, either
.
The thought of her and Wolfe getting together as a couple nauseated
me
.

“
I’m never wrong with
a profile
, Fiona
.
I’m saying these kids had nothing to do with this murder.
Talk to you later.”

“Bye.
I
’ll
l
et everybody know what you said,
”
I
said with a
frown,
ending the call and
glaring
at Maddie for a moment
as
I tried to compartmentalize my irri
t
ation about
him
speaking to Camber
.

“Well, what did he have to say and why
’s
he not here
?
”
she
sneered before
sipping
her Dr. Pepper
through a pink straw.

“He didn’t say why he couldn’t
make it,
” I sighed before continuing, “and he said in his opinion, the vampire cult members
weren’t involved with the murder
.
He said they were set up
,
and
Camber Johnson
pleaded innocent with him.”

“Why is he interrogating
her
without us, Fiona
?
”
Lauren said bluntly.
“I suppose Wolfe is trying to get the hookup, huh?
I mean, every dude
at school
wants to get with
her
.
”

“And every girl wants to get with Wolfe,” Willow giggled, shrugging her tiny shoulder and smiling at Lauren.
“What a perfect couple!”

I hesitated, collecting my thoughts to prevent
my mouth from divulging
my true feelings.
I channeled my extra energy through bouncing my heel on the floor where nobody could see.

“
I told him not
to interview suspects without us there,
”
I
said, choking down the lump in my throat. “But we all know he’s
remarkably
skilled
at profiling
cases
, so if he doesn’t think they did it, we should at least consider other options
.
”

“Good afternoon, ladies.
Sorry I’m late,” Detective Chase boomed
as he rounded
the corner.
“Have you
ordered yet
?
They’ve got awesome burgers, by the way.”

“No, just sodas
, no lunch
, but here she comes,” Lauren said
as she pointed to the
pretty
waitress who was bustling from around the corner.

He
couldn’t help but smile after
she scurried off
with our lunch order.
I smirked, realizing he had noticed her.
For the first time, I
felt
Detective Chase was human.

He
opened a file
, spread
ing
out some documents on the glittery table,
starting
our meeting.

“We’ve uncovered a
ton
of information
,
and I’ll try to summarize for you
,
but I’ll leave a copy of the full report so you can analyze the case as a group later,”
he
said
, shuffling
through
his papers.
“Your group has been more than helpful to our police department in the
past;
we appreciate you
, and
what you contribute to our investigations.
Young minds
.
There
’s definitely
something to be
cherished
about untainted, innovative, youthful minds,” he chuckled.

“
Thank you, and we
’re glad to help
! We
appreciate you for your dedication to training us!
”
I
encouraged.

He
paused
, surveying
each one of our faces.

“
W
e have five suspects,
four have been formally charged, and three remain
in
the county
jail because they are unable to post bond.
The formally charged suspects are the
four cult members
,
and
then we have
the transient Emily Vance
—
who still holds she only discovered the victim.”

“
So,
one of the vampire cult members po
sted bond immediately,” I
inquired
ruefully.

“Yes, the
blonde
one that lives
in th
e gray stone
mansion
on Aragon
Avenue
,” Detective Chase said.

“Next door to Willow
’s mansion
and down the street from Wolfe
,” Lauren added
abruptly.

“We have the story behind Damien Lee’s girlfriend
, V
ictoria Newsted, a
fellow cult member
.
She
’s
a junior at the high school, runs a paper route, was abused by her mother
as a small child
,
lived in a foster home for a period
,
but is back home with her mother and
a
roommate.
She became a member of the House of the Nightmare Army soon after she moved back with her mother at
ten
-
years
-
old.”

“A vampire cult accepts
ten
-
year
-
olds?
Are you kidding me
?
”
Lauren jeered.

“Unfortunately, that is
true
.
It
appears
she
introduced
her boyfriend Damien
to
the cult when they started dating at 13
-
years
-
old.
The House of the Nightmare Army, at that time, had many members, all older.
Over time, it has lost members for various reasons.
”

“I’ve seen that girl around the halls at school.
She is quite the freak, I must say,” Maddie said bluntly
, shrugging an apologetic shoulder
.

“Me too,” Lauren muttered in disgust
.

“She was in my Spanish class last yea
r—
acts as weird as she looks.
She’s
tiny
,
pretty behind the pink hair, black lips
. She
wears
weird
black retro
clothes
, looking like Gothic sixties or something
,
”
Maddie said, her voice
matter-of-fact
.

“Oh my gosh, have you seen her neck tattoo
?
”
Willow inquired brightly.

“Yes, she got it last year
.
It’s a bleeding vampire bite
,
”
Maddie answered.

“
Yes, t
hat’s the suspect as
I remember from
last night.
She lives with her mother, Melanie Newsted, and her mother’s
roommate
, Dimitri LeMorte.
I
’m headed to pay them a visit
this afternoon.
Victoria
told the police
she
can’t stand
Dimitri.
I’ll see what that’s all about,
”
his
tone was brusque.

“Where do they live, Detective,” I asked.

We froze our conversation
as the waitress delivered our hamburgers.
The buttered buns puffy
,
the French fries
t
hick and crisp
—far more appetizing of a plate
than
my daily
cafeteria pizza
.
I inhaled the greasy aroma
,
and it
elevated
my
mood
.
My hunger returned.