Fiona Frost: Order of the Black Moon (28 page)

“Well,
over three
million dollars is a pretty big motive for murder,” Maddie exclaimed, shaking her head.

“Detective Chase always says the one with the biggest motive is typi
cally the one whodunit,” I said in a hard voice
.

We ended the meeting by discussing the results of the sediment, water, cave wall and cave
sludge
analysis
we had collected and analyzed
.
We identified the scorpion that Wolfe had found in our initial investigation of the crime scene
and
mapped out the changes and composition of the
represented
areas of the cave.

We
sent over a
copy of our
sediment and sludge
map
,
so when they needed to track somebody’s route in the cave using Locard’s Principle,
they could use it to find exactly where they had been.
Detective Chase would have this information
for hi
s lab’s meetings about the case and hopefully, it would become useful.

The
bell rang
,
signaling
the beginning of the
school day
.
I was energized for the first time in a long time.
Even
seeing Wolfe in ca
lculus
,
sitting
at the front of the room, I was still
happy.

Janice
was healthy
, growing stronger by the minute,
and the case was coming together like pieces of a puzzle.
Time
sped
up throughout the day
and soon, I was entering my assigned black suit’s car.
We both snapped on our seatbelts
as
he
drove away
, classical music resonating from the car speakers.

“Fiona, we spotted Gerald Smith over by the Silver Springs Marina this morning.
We didn’t need to bother you with it because we felt you were safe at school, but just so you know, he is still in Godley Grove.
We believe he might be staying with someone in the Lakeside Trailer Park
,
and
we have
the whole place under
surveillance right now.
I hope
we can catch this guy
,
and your family can get back to norm
al.
I know you’re tired of me,” he smiled a crooked smile.

“Nah, I’ve kinda grown to love you, Agent B.
You’re like a brother to me now.
Or I suppose more like
an uncle,” I said happily, laughing.

“Hey, Fiona
!
I’m only twenty-five,”
he
chuckled as he shook his head.

After receiving another strange phone call of breathing followed by silence, it h
it me it could be Wolfe calling from a different phone
,
not
knowing what to say to me.
I realized
h
e had called out to me the day I stormed away
from him.
He might have thought I was angry with him
.
And in ways I wasn’t proud of, I was angry with him for being with Camber.

I decided to call
him
on his phone
to see if he was trying to get a hold of me.
Dialing his number,
I started to
tremble;
the pits of my stomach
grew
deeper.
I raised the phone to my ear
,
my face
flushing.
I scooted in my seat
towards
the car window as if doing that would prevent Agent Bronson from knowing what I was doing
.
I hung up after the third ring in a panic.
I couldn’t allow
the agent
to see me react this way to someone I was calling.

Moments later, my phone rang and
Wolfe’s
picture splashed across my screen
.
Gasping, I was elated he had called—
even if
only
calling me back to see what I
had
wanted.

“Hello,
”
I said cautiously, turning to look outside of the car window.

“Fiona, this is Wolfe
.
I missed your call.”

“Well,” I had to swallow the lump in my throat.
“Um, I was calling you to see if you had been trying to get a hold of me.
I mean, I’ve had a few calls I was unable to answer
,
or I think maybe whoever it was couldn’t hear me or something,” I was rambling.
I had to get to the point.
“Were you trying to call me?”

“I didn’t think you would want me to call you
.
No, I haven’t called you.”

The pits of my stomach
flattened, feeling as though they
filled
up with pellets of lead
.
A wave of nausea
devoured
my stability.
I
was a fool. Not only to Wolfe
, but I was certain that Agent Bronson was listening in
to
what I was saying
.
Of course he was, what else was there to do while driving?

“Sorry about that.
I won’t bother you
—
”

“Wait, Fiona.
Is it
alright
if I come over for a minute?
I really want to talk.”

The lead
in my stomach
disappeared
, morphing
into a million butterflies
.
Gasping in silence, I paused to allow my mind to unscramble.

“Uh…yes, I’m
almost
home.
C
ome on over whenever,
”
I agreed dryly, starting to sweat for no apparent reason.

“Will you tell Janice I’m coming?”

How did he know Janice was home?
Or did he ever know she had been gone
?
I was puzzled for a moment before I realized he wouldn’t have known she had been sick, much less that she
had a stay in the
hospital.

“Yes
.
S
ure.
See you in a few,” I trailed off, hanging up the phone and restraining a celebratory scream.

“Who is coming over, Fiona
?
”
Agent Bronson inquired with a smile.
“You seem very happy with the outcome of that phone call.
Not that I meant to eavesdrop.
”

“Uh, a boy named Wolfe Nero,” I said softly.

“Boyfriend?”

“No
.
Nothing like that
.”

“Are you his tutor?”

I shot an astounded glance to
my black suit
.
Why was
he
so nosy?
I couldn’t help but smile.
I sighed, shrugging my shoulders playfully.

“He’s a boy in my forensic club.
He missed the last meeting
,
and I’m sure he wants to catch up with the case,” I became more animated as I spoke.

“Hmm
. S
eems as though you perked up the moment you heard his voice on the other end of the line
.
I’ve been around a few more years than you.
Seen more, done more and heard more
.
I’m
saying whoever that guy is to you, he certainly makes you a happy girl,”
he
said;
chin raising a fraction as he sported a firm grin.

I was amazed he could detect
my elation
from a few words
I had spoken.

Nearly too humiliated to speak, I responded in a timid manner, “Well, maybe you are right.”

“I am in the FBI for a reason, Fiona.
I might be young for an agent, but I was the best profiler in my class during training
at
Quantico.
I know people’s motives.
I can read people like a book,”
he
laughed, pulling into
my front
circle driveway.

“Great, good to know,” I countered with a grin.

Wolfe was a
fearsome
profiler too.
Now I realized it must have been a requirement for a profiler to be drop dead gorgeous.

Wanting to hide
, I rushed out of the car and into the house.
Sprinting to the kitchen, I found Janice,
mentioned
Wolfe was coming over,
and
darted
to
the pink palace
where
I changed clothes into something a little cuter, more colorful, and checked my makeup a
nd hair.

After doing a few touchups, I picked up my room a bit and paced nervously.
I tried to recall the last time Wolfe had come over to talk to me.
I reasoned it
had been
never.
He had only come over with a group of friends or to get cookies from Janice.

Thoughts poured through my mind of what he would want to talk about.
Was he was dating Camber
,
and wanted
my blessing
?
Was it to elicit my help with her imminent tongue removal by Dimitri LeMorte
?
Maybe he
wanted
back in the club?
Was he going to request to permanently
split from the club
?
I didn’t l
ike the last option, it made me nervous.

The doorbell rang and I
purposely
stalled for a few seconds before
taking off for a full run
towards
the front door.
I grabbed the doorknob
, trying
to remain
nonchalant
about his arrival even though I felt more than awkward about the entire situation
, yet entirely elated
.
I envisioned
Camber Johnson standing
beside
him as I swung open the door, but I was
ecstatic
I
was wrong.
He was alone.

His eyes instantly melted me, and all I wanted to do was stand there awkwardly
and gawk
at him.
I could tell he had recently
showered,
as his hair was still slightly wet
.
He was wearing a neatly pressed, light blue polo oxford, jeans, and brown leather vans.
I was unsure of why he was so dressed up, but he looked
phenomenal
.
He placed his
longboard
at the side of my porch
,
and I snapped out of my trance quickly.

“Hi Wolfe, come on in,” I said
as
I
swung open
the door, taking a step backward.

He
immediately looked down at the ground and behind me.
I assumed he
had searched
for
Luminal,
as typically, he’d be the first to greet visitors.
I realized
he
wouldn’t have known about what happened.

“Hi
,
Fiona,”
his
deep voice echoed in the foyer.

I paused as I basked in the sound I hadn’t heard for a time.
He continued to look around
the floor of my house
with a puzzled face.

“Hello Wolfie!
Getting your cookies together, love,” Janice sang from the kitchen
.

I gestured for
him
to follow me to the main hallway.
Making my way to my
foam chair
in a daze,
he settled
down on my
bed across the room
.
We sat in
a
clumsy silence for about a minute as we stared at each other
. It felt as though we’d been apart for a year.

“Well, what
did you
want to talk about
?
”
I blurted to break the tension.