Fiona Frost: Order of the Black Moon (2 page)

I
steered
the meeting back on track.

“Detective Chase listed three suspects from our school
who
are part of a group called the Order of the Black Moon.
The
ir
names are Victoria Newsted, Damien Lee, and
Camber Johnson
,” I
reported.

“
Camber
’s
a member of th
e
cult
?
Are you
joking
?
”
Willow shouted
, jumping
off her
lab stool
.
“She
’s
my neighbor!
Her family is
very wealthy
!
She might be
a little
rebel
lious
, but
one of the
G
oths
?
A vampire
?
No
, you
’re
mistaken, Fiona!
I have known her for years!”

I
clenched
my teeth in irritation, composing
my response.

“I’m only reporting what
the detective
told me
.
And when is the l
ast time you spoke to her?
”

“Well…it’s been a couple of years, but—
”

Maddie cleared her throat, “
Willow, you’re wrong about her
.
Lately, she’s
been dressing
differently,
real
dark
.
She
wore
gold fangs on her
teeth
one day in history class
and was studying
a small
black book, looked like a Bible, and
had
Old World
writing on
the cover
.
She
highlighted
things
all period
instead of paying attention
!
I can only assume it ha
d
something to do with t
h
e
cult…I mean,
group
.”

Willow
scowled in Maddie’s general direction
.

“
We’re losing time
,
and we need to get out of here before school starts.
Detective Chase
just texted me and asked us to
come out and
observe
the crime lab
c
ollect the rest of the evidence
on site
.
They’ve
been out there since
after
2 AM
.
O
nce they clear the scene, we can investigate
the cave
for practice
,” I
said
in a hard voice
, gathering up my backpack and car keys.

“So, you’re
skipping classes, Fiona
?
”
Lauren countered with a smirk.

She
always
knew how to get under my skin.

“Yes.
My teachers will understand.
I will
notify them
tomorrow
where I was
and will make up my assignments
.
The
y
know
the
deal
with my
training
p
rogram
,” I
defended, shaking
my head, annoyed
, “
so—is
everybody in?
Let’s
get going
if we want to
see
anything worthwhile.”

“I’m
in
;
w
ant me to grab a
kit?
”
Wolfe
said, pointing
towards
a
wall
with
forensic
field
kits arranged on a shelf.

“
There’s one
in my trunk
—
should be enough for us,
but
thanks,” I
said
, smiling.

“
I
wouldn’t miss it,” Maddie
said
, hopping
off h
er lab stool
, collecting her belongings
.

The inseparable duo engaged in a quiet conversation before turning to face me.

“
There’s a
test in
our
physics
class
f
irst period
–
no way we can miss it because
Mr. Coleman won’t allow makeup exams
.
Also, W
illow’s mother gets
angry
with her
missing
school for
your
program
.
Doc’s gonna
see
live patients, not dead bodies in her future,
”
Lauren
said with a giggle before pausing to take a short breath.
“
Since
I’m majoring in paranormal studies
at
Hartford next fall, my parents don’t support
me skipping school
for crime scenes
, either.
Can we
meet after school and catch up?”

The word
paranormal
was enough to
put me in a bad mood.

“
I understand
most of what you said besides the
paranormal
career choice, but
it s
ounds like a plan, Lauren
,” I
said
sarcastically
.
“
You guys do
well
on your exam
,
and
Maddie, Wolfe and I will head out to Arles Cave.
Hopefully
,
we will get lucky and find something they missed.” I remembered quiet Carden and stood on my toes to catch eyes with him. “
S
ince you’re only a recruit,
you have to
go to class
—
only the five official members are cleared to go on site.
”

“Not a problem, I understand. I have a test in bio, anyway. Good luck to you guys,”
he
said, his cheeks blushing.

We started moving towards the door.

“Seems like we just went through
this, Fiona,” Maddie whimpered, pushing up her sleeves
to her elbows.
“Twenty-four hours hasn’t even passed since we solved
the Foster
murder.”

“Well,
you can’t choose
when crimes happen, Maddie.”

“Good point.
I’m
just
mentally exhausted, but I’ll be fine.”

Maddie, Wolfe and I aspire
d to
be forensic investigators after college
, and we took
it
seriously
.
Able to gain
valuable experience
nobody else our
age could
have
obtain
ed
, we
were in training
—
a
real life
preparation
—all possible
from a grant I wrote
my junior year
with Hartford University and the police department for a forensic education program.
Now a senior, I
ran
a f
ully functional
crime lab at
our high school,
and
Detective Chase from the police crime lab was our liaison along with contacts at Hartford and the Biology Department
at our school
.
T
he
chaotic
life
style
of crime scene investigator
s
was
hastily
becoming
a reality for us
.

After locking the lab, we
headed out to th
e parking
.
Students
were pulling into their spots and climbing out of their cars
—all with sullen, too-early-in-the-morning grimaces swiped across their faces.

We
rush
ed
to
my
car
, trying not to be seen as we were leaving.
M
y teachers
all approved of
my absence
s for crime scene investigation
, but I didn’t like
the
outward
appearance of
breaking
s
chool rules
—especi
ally since most
of my fellow students
couldn’t stand
me
because I couldn’t allow them to join my program—my grant only allowed for five members.

“Taking the black
bug, Fiona
?
”
Wolfe asked
playfully
, trailing
my footsteps.

“
Duh! Th
ere’s no way you
’d
fit into Maddie’s Mini Cooper
,
and we’re not riding your
long
board
.
I just got
the car out
of the shop, so it’s all good
!
”

We piled into my shiny black
Volkswagen
Beetle in our usual arrangement
—
Maddie in the front and the sizeab
le Wolfe filling up every inch
of the back.

I fired up the engine as
I tipped my rearview mirror upward
s
to avoid a
connection with his
mesmerizing
eyes
.
He
was built like a linebacker, so he blocked
my view
and rendered the mirror useless,
nevertheless.

As I started the car, the song
White Christmas by Frank Sinatra
blasted from my
speakers. I
n a panic,
s
crambling for the
knob,
I
lowered
it to a
manageable volume
, switching to
FM
radio
and
making a silent wish to get
away with it
.
C
hristmas
was
long
over, but
I loved
to listen to holiday music all year long
. S
o
me things
were
better left as secrets.

I pulled out of the lot, exhilarated.
With one homicide case
already
under my belt, th
e
thrill of murder investigation
s
was
becoming devilishly
addictive
.

Maddie
broke the silence.

“Victoria Newsted was in my Spanish class last year.
S
he was kinda wacko then
,
and now, it doesn’t surprise me she
’s
a murder suspect, to be
honest,”
she
said
bluntly.

“
D
on’t be quick to judge
—h
ave you ever had a conversation with her
?
”
I stated
in a flat tone
, slowing
to a stop at the corner.

“
Not really,
just in the exercises we had to do
in class
.
She was always quiet
. It seemed she
always
had something better to do—or at least that’s the vibe I got from her.
”