Fiona Frost: Order of the Black Moon (34 page)

“No, we never did.
I had to help my parents paint the guest room.
He’s going to my soccer game, though, and maybe we’ll get to hang out after that.
Well, I was
actually
coming by to tell you I did receive your text message
,
and I did not see Damien today at school
,
but I did see
Miss Pink Hair,
Victoria.
She was alone.”

“
Alright
, well, let’s keep our eyes out.
We need to get surveillance of those two together.
We’re looking for any signs they are in a romantic relationship.”

Maddie raised her hand in a stop motion, face twisted into a mask of curiosity.

“I thought they were
in a serious relationship, like for years
?”

“Well, if Victoria is writing Gerald love letters in prison, we’re
trying to figure out her
motive
.
If she is in a relationship with Damien, maybe she is working Gerald over to get him to do something for her.
If she is not in a
relationship
with Damien anymore, maybe she is really in love with Gerald
.
Either way, we’re just gathering evidence tha
t may or may not mean anything,” I responded, putting my feet on my antique coffee table.

“You girls need anything?
Can I get you a milkshake or maybe a smoothie?
”
Janice sang from the kitchen.

I paused to survey
Maddie’s
face and she shook her head no,
smiling,
pointing to the tray of cookies.

“No ma’am, Miss Janice,” I shouted lovingly.

Maddie continued, picking up a cookie,
“Got it.
And how gross is it for a seventeen
-
year
-
old to be interested in a forty
something
.
Nasty!”

“Uh, yes, disgusting!”

“
Detective Chase uses all resources, doesn’t he
?
”
Maddie smiled, taking a
n
enormous
bite out of
her
cookie.
“Well, you aren’t having a lab meeting tomorrow, right?”

“I was going to
,
but now I don’t have my evidence board, I need time to get everything back to where it was before
so
I can make
updated
case reports
for the meeting.
I will probably wait until Saturday, why?”

Maddie took another bite of a cookie, chewing hastily, followed by a long drink of milk.

“I can’t miss soccer practice tomorrow morning
.
We have a game on Friday night
—the one Carden’s coming to!
”

Changing my mind, I grabbed a cookie off the plate and nibbled on the edge of it.

“Got it.
Well, I’m going to get to work on my history project.
I have to do a stupid mural about the Industrial Age
. T
otally doesn’t make se
nse to me why we are studying it
and
what making a mural will do
for me
,
but whatever.
It’s all dumb busy work
.
I’m
thrilled
you
’re
happy about Carden.
But
remember,
it’s like dating a co-worker
—
Detective Chase won’t like it
;
keep it quiet
.”

Maddie’s eyes
narrowed
and she curled a side of her lip at me in a
good-natured
snarl.

“Better than dating your employee.
Coworkers hook up all the time
,
and it’s just looked down upon.
A b
oss to
an
employee
…uh hmm, you and Wolfe…well, that’s another level
,” Maddie
said
,
skipping
to the
front door
.
“Plus,
Carden
doesn’t
actually
work in the field with us.
I mean, it’s not
as if
we’d start mugging down at a crime scene or anything while we’re supposed to be collecting evidence
.
”
She put her hands on her hips and stared
at me in silence with widened eyes.
“Sound familiar?”

“I didn’t
mug down
with anybody, whatever that means, Maddie!
And Wolfe and I are just friends, you freak!
”

We both
laughed,
and I waved her off with
a flick of a
hand, turning to fold the blanket on the arm of the couch.
My mood had lightened tremendously
.
It was time
to immerse my
brain
in
schoolwork
.

“See you tomorrow at lunch!
”
I mumbled, shaking my head.

I
snatche
d my phone off the coffee table and sent a text message to Wolfe.

M
y crazy co
usin
totally
trashed my bedroom.
I’m so angry right
now;
I’m just going to do my project for school and try not to think about it.
I’ll talk to you later.

Eventually, Janice reported she had most of my room put back together,
minus the damaged items
.
She said she would hi
t the stores in the morning to purchase
a new comforter
,
corkboard
,
pillows, and chair
.
She asked me
if
I
still
preferred
pink, as everything in my room had always been pink.
I couldn’t imagine sleeping
or sitting
on another color
in
the pink palace
.
I
couldn’t look at my
room
without getting upset
, so I slep
t
on the
living room
couch
for the night.
After
completing my project and eating dinner with my family, sans Haley, I drifted off to sleep earlier than usual, missing a call from Wolfe.

I was dreaming a
bout working in the lab on a burglary case
as
I stirred in the early morning
. It w
as the most
vivid
dream I had ever remembered.
D
reams are supposed to
be fantasy, fun and intriguing
—not work
.
I felt cheated
.

M
y phone rang
, snapping
me
out of
a
sleepy haze
.

“Hello,” my voice
cracked;
there was no hiding the call
had woken me up
.

“Fiona, there’s been another murder.
We received an anonymous call from a witness
who
says she saw the murder take place, but doesn’t want to come forth because she is scared for her life.
It seems like we might have a serial killer, but it’s too early to say
.
We are at the same place,
Dracul’s Den
in the Arles Cave
—
if you want to come with your group.”

“Be there shortly, Detective.”

Heart pounding,
I jumped off the couch and rushed into my room,
sending a mass text
message
to my team to meet me at the cave
.
Within seconds, I received a text message response.

I’m jumping on my longboard, be there in a minute.
Wait for me.

I texted
him
back
saying I would pick him up
and rushed
to my bedroom to get ready, peering out my window to see if Maddie’s Mini Cooper was there.
Remembering she had early morning soccer practice, I realized she was already on her way to school or at practice.

Seeing my bedroom bare and drastically altered gave me a sick feeling in my stomach.
I instantly
regretted
that
Janice had to
clean such a massive disaster
.
I was so upset that I didn’t think about helping her clean up the mess; I felt horrible.
Sometimes, I
wished
I was a
better person and always d
id
the right thing
,
but silly human emotions
clouded my judgment at times.
I vowed to work on it.

My case
corkboard
was on my
bare mattress
, the evidence notes stacked next to a pile of
pushpins
.
Janice could do
many
things, but putting a case back together wasn’t in
the
scope of
her
abilities.
I walked
towards
Haley’s room
,
and as I approached,
I couldn’t stop myself from
hastily
opening her door.
I’m not sure what I would have done
if I saw her
, but at a minimum, she was going to have a very rude
awakening
.
I was not surprised when I saw her
bed was made.
Obviously, she hadn’t come home
,
and this gave me a feeling of satisfaction
—
at least she kn
ew she was in big trouble.

Checking my text messages as I reached the threshold of my front door, I didn’t see a response from Lauren, Willow or Maddie, so it was going to be Wolfe and me going to the crime scene to meet with Detective
Chase.
I was fine with that.

I dashed out
side
o
nto the moonlit
circle
driveway
a
nd discovered
an
agent with his
head back on his headrest, sleeping in his Town Car.
It wasn’t Agent Bronson, but I figured
he
had the day shift that hadn’t started yet
.
I looked at my phone and
his shift wouldn’t have started for
forty-five
minutes
.
I
jogged
back inside, left a note on the kitchen counter and fumbled in the drawer for my keys
to
my car, figuring
I was picking up Wolfe
,
and
he
’d be all t
he protection I’d need.

From Nickale Street, I sped down Warren Way, turning on
to
Aragon
Avenue
.
I passed
by
Willow Walker’s house and couldn’t help but snarl as
I
drove
by
the house of Wolfe
’s
new confidante
—
Camber Johnson.
Further down the street, I pulled in front of Wolfe’s house
and sent a text message that I was waiting in front.
I was exhilarated
I
would
spend time alone on the way
to the crime scene.
We hadn’t
worked unaccompanied
before—there
were always other members
of the team with us.

Through the darkness of the morning, I
pulled up to
Wolfe’s
Mediterranean
-
style house
. The front door opened and a
tall
, bulky
silhouette
exited
, causing a
wicked
smile to invade my face.
Opening the door and surveying the legroom, he
partially
climbed into the passenger’s
side
, reaching for the lever to
push
the seat back to give his
massive
legs
enough
room.
A
stimulating blend of
citrus
and woody aromatics
filled the car
. I inhaled slowly to
cherish
the moment
before
my senses became immune to the exquisite scent.