(Moon 1) - Killing Moon

by Rebecca York

  "Maybe I'd see something that would give me a clue."

  "I went down there before I filed the missing person report. I didn't see anything."

  "You're not a trained police detective."

  She thought that over, then gave a small nod. After putting down the wand, she opened a desk drawer and extracted a key with a pink ribbon threaded through the key chain hole.

  She went back down the stairs to the vestibule.

  "Did you have the house converted into a duplex?" he asked, already knowing the answer, since he could tell that the work was more than twenty years old.

  "No. Grandma O'Shea did it after my grandfather died. She didn't need such a big place, and she needed the income."

  "So how did you end up with the property?"

  "My parents got divorced. Dad took off for parts unknown. Mom and I moved into the downstairs apartment. I was just starting college when she got a pulmonary embolism. She died."

  "I'm sorry."

  "It could have been worse. Grandma O'Shea and I were always close, and I moved in with her."

  "She died, too?"

  "In her sleep. Five years ago. A heart attack. She was ninety-two and able to take care of herself until the end. I guess that's the way to live—and the way to go."

  "Yes," he answered, wondering what his own chances were of dying in bed.

  They were still standing in the hallway. "I took the upstairs flat and rented out this one," she said, unlocking the other door. She stepped into an apartment that was similar to her own in layout. But the similarity ended there.

  Her abode had been quirky but orderly. DeYoung was—to put it politely—a slob. There were stacks of mail, newspapers, and other paper on every flat surface, including the floor. When he walked farther into the room and looked toward the kitchen, he saw dirty dishes in the sink and on the counter.

  "You say she didn't give you any trouble. It looks like you're going to have to blast this place out when she moves."

  "Okay, she's not so neat. But she's a good person. She likes children and animals."

  "Um hum," he said, thinking it was probably lucky she didn't have custody of either.

  He scanned the apartment. To his practiced eye, the owner had stepped out and intended to come back.

  He started with the answering machine, pressed the rewind button and listened to the messages. There were several—two from Ms. Reynolds—both asking DeYoung to call.

  And a message from the boyfriend, Swinton, two days ago. Which proved nothing. If he'd done something to her, he might have left the message to establish his innocence.

  The rest of the messages were at least four days old. One was apparently from the office that handled substitute teachers, asking if she was available to take a biology class at Wootton High School on Monday. Another was from her mother with some chatty news about various friends and relatives.

  "Did she go to work on Monday?" Jack asked.

  "I don't know."

  He nodded, then strode down the hall to the bedroom and opened the closet. The hanging rack was full of blouses and jackets, packed so tightly together that they had to come out wrinkled.

  "I'd ask if you thought anything was missing, but I imagine it's hard to tell," he said over his shoulder.

  "I looked in her storage closet. Her suitcases are there."

  "Did you check her dresser drawers?"

  She swiped back a lock of fiery hair. "I opened some, yes. But I felt like a sneak thief, so I gave it up."

  He opened a dresser drawer and found sweaters in a messy pile. Reaching underneath, he discovered nothing hidden. The next drawer held panty hose—and nothing else. The third drawer was a mass of women's underpants and bras. This time, when he slid his hand underneath, he felt several magazines and a book. When he pulled them out, he saw that they were pornography's and M oriented. One magazine cover showed an almost naked woman chained to a crossbar. A man was standing over her with a whip. The other magazines were similar. And the book looked like a dominance and submission how-to manual. He made a snorting sound. It seemed that a routine case had just gotten more interesting.

  Don't miss the other books in

  Rebecca York's

  romantic paranormal "thrillogy"

  Coming in August 2003…

  Edge of the Moon

  0-425-19125-7

  A police detective and a woman who files a missing

  persons report, become pawns of an unholy serial killer

  in a game of deadly attraction.

  And in October 2003…

  Witching Moon

  0-425-19278-4

  A Georgia swamp is the perfect place for forest ranger

  Adam Marshall to hide his werewolf nature.

  But when he finds himself irresistibly drawn to biologist

  Sara Weston, their future is threatened by a coven of

  witches with a score to settle with the locals.

  "Rebecca York delivers

  page-turning suspense,"

  —Nora Roberts

  Available wherever books are sold or to order call

  1-800-788-6262

  From

  USA Today and New York Times

  bestselling author

  SUSAN KRINARD

  The Forest Lord

  0-425-18686-5

  Deep in the forest of Regency England dwells the Forest Lord. A living legend, the powerful man has but one chance to escape his forest prison and one hope for love—the very woman he has vowed to destroy.

  Secret of the Wolf

  0-425-18199-5

  The story of a tortured man with werewolf blood, and the beautiful hypnotist who vows to heal his wounded soul.

  "Artful… heartfelt romance."

  —Booklist

  Available wherever books are sold or to order call 1-800-788-6262

  From

  CHRISTINE FEEHAN

  From New York Times and USA Today bestseller

  Dark Symphony

  A Carpathian Novel

  0-515-13521-6

  New blood from the author of the acclaimed vampire romances

  Dark Legend and Dark Prince.

  "A skillful blend of supernatural thrills and romance that is sure to entice readers."

  —Publishers Weekly

  "Will appeal to everyone regardless of gender… great creativity."

  —Examiner (Beaumont, TX)

  Rising wherever books are sold or to order call 1-800-788-6262

  Out of This World

  Four all-new spellbinding stories from

  J.D. Robb

  A Lieutenant Eve Dallas Story

  New York Times Bestselling Author

  Laurell K. Hamilton

  An Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter Tale

  USA Today Bestselling Authors

  Susan Krinard

  Maggie Shayne

  From a futuristic cop caught in a crisis of the heart to a smoldering vision of an unusual love triangle, from the hunger for a human touch on an alien planet to a witch's desperate search for the love of one man, these tales of paranormal romance will transport you to a time and a place you've never seen before.

  0-515-13109-1

  AVAILABLE WHEREVER BOOKS ARE SOLD OR

  TO ORDER

  PLEASE CALL

  1-800-788-6262

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  Ruth Glick has written more than seventy novels, most of them under the pseudonym Rebecca York.

  She and her husband live in Columbia, Maryland.

  Visit her on her website:

  www.rebeccayork com.