“Well, that doesn’t sound like a serious threat, Detective,” Maddie whined.
“A death threat is a death threat when you are talking about a murder case. The sword was verified as the Sword of Moartea, which means it is a sword of death.”
“Used for human sacrifice?” Wolfe inquired.
“Yes and no. It’s a Gothic sword used to kill— no real meaning on how or why a person is killed with it, but it supposedly gives the user power when used to kill. Now, to be honest, the rest of the vampire items in the cave around the victim were not related to human sacrifice, so there is a slant in his favor.”
“Weren’t those kids released from jail?”
“Yes, this morning, Dimitri posted bond.”
“Great. Well, I hope they are innocent for society’s sake,” Maddie added abruptly, slamming her hand on the conference room table.
“Next is Victoria Newsted. She’s linked to Gerald Smith via pink envelopes,” Detective Chase reported.
“Were the letters from Victoria?” Maddie asked hastily.
“No letters were found. He must have taken them or disposed of them prior to escaping. Dimitri came forth with information that the victim, Jody James, was the early childhood babysitter of Victoria—before she was taken away and put into a foster home at the age of five.”
“Really? Wow!” Willow shrieked.
“Jody James was supposedly the one who was abusing Victoria and was ultimately the reason she was taken away from her mother, Melanie Newsted. Records reflect it was her mother that was accused of beating Victoria with wooden spoons on her hands. We asked Victoria about it while she was in jail, and she didn’t want to comment. She claimed she didn’t remember anything. We spoke to Melanie Newsted about it, and she said she had no idea who was beating Victoria, but she had always told the police it wasn’t her. She claims nobody would listen to her because she was poor. She’s glad to have Victoria home; she said she doesn’t care to open any old wounds,” he said.
Lauren sat upright in her chair, lightly tapping her index and middle finger on the table to get everybody’s attention.
“Well, I think Victoria did it. She’s working with Gerald Smith on something, and she killed Jody James out of vengeance for beating her as a young child. She is lying about not being in the cave, even though the blood evidence from her jeans clearly places her there. We just have to figure out if she is seeing Gerald Smith romantically or maybe just leading him along so she could use him for something.”
Detective Chase nodded affirmatively as if he agreed with Lauren. Ms. Spinks crept in the conference room with a box of donuts, placing them in the middle of the table and pointed at the bar at the end of the room where the coffee was—as if we drank the stuff. The detective nodded, rushing over to the bar to grab a cup. We attacked the donuts simultaneously; I went for a chocolate glaze with sprinkles.
“Don’t forget about Emily Vance. We just found out this morning she doesn’t have any teeth. And, the full set of teeth that we found in Love’s Truck Stop was found to be a direct match to the bite marks on the victim. We are trying to find dental records on her, but it seems as though she has never been to a dentist in town. We are tracking down where she grew up, so we can go see the local dentists—wherever that may be,” he said, walking back to his seat as he stirred his coffee.
“Of course, she doesn’t have any dental records. Didn’t you see her teeth when she had them? Definition of yuck mouth,” Lauren scoffed in a raspy voice, before taking a bite of her jelly donut.
Willow nodded and smiled at Lauren. She was still contemplating the donuts left in the box. She was so tiny; I figured she ate as much as a mouse. I could see why she pondered if she should even have a donut—she watched her weight. I, on the other hand, figured life wasn’t living without food. I surely didn’t stress over a donut.
“Why didn’t you guys take a dental impression on everybody when the bite marks were discovered at the autopsy?” Wolfe asked warily, not wanting to offend the detective.
“We did, Wolfe. On nearly everybody besides Emily Vance. She wasn’t a suspect at the time. We have now taken one of everybody else involved—Dimitri, Melanie, and Alex Drumley from Hartford.”
“Any word on Alex and if they can prove he was there during the time of the murder?” I added.
“I have a couple of folks working on Alex Drumley’s timeline. We should hear something back very soon.”
“Well, if Dimitri is the leader of the Order of the Black Moon, and he has the rule of cutting out tongues if you want to quit being a vampire, doesn’t that speak for itself? I mean, he is prone to violence, and he condones and promotes heinous crimes. Isn’t he an obvious suspect? Where was he during the murder?” I scoffed, leaning back into my chair, awaiting the responses to my comments.
Detective Chase took the lead. “He stated he was running late for the cult meeting, and he had been at the Gondola Bar. He arrived, saw the victim, and left the cave seconds prior to the police’s arrival. Emily Vance stated she saw him leave the cave right before the police arrived.”
“So there was a scheduled cult meeting at that time?” I propounded.
“Yes, it seems so—according to him and Sydney Sergeant.”
Lauren shook her head vehemently, her bouncy curly locks followed suit. Willow nodded to Lauren in agreement, taking a bite of a modest glazed donut that she had split into two pieces, giving the remaining half to Lauren on a napkin.
“Fishy story. It could be him,” Lauren said boldly. “Now, Wolfe, what do you think about Camber Johnson? She was a member; the evidence places her there with Damien. Do you think, from talking to her, that she knows what happened?” she stared coldly into his eyes.
I didn’t care for her bringing up Camber to Wolfe. It was still a sensitive subject with me.
“To be completely honest, I do not believe she had anything to do with it,” he shrugged flippantly, grabbing another chocolate éclair from the box.
My adrenaline surged at his words; I became irritated, and he had defended Camber. I got out of my seat to get a glass of water over at the bar.
“Sydney Sergeant told the police she was late to the meeting and walked in on Damien holding the bloody knife with Camber and Victoria standing by his side. Kind of obvious Camber had something to do with it,” Willow sneered in her quirky voice, giving a cold smirk to Wolfe as Lauren nodded, giving her support. She continued, “If you want to look at it with an unbiased eye, it could have been Sydney’s initiation into the group. With all of that awakening stuff they talk about, maybe this is an initiation gone wrong, and Sydney is trying to blame them to cover herself because she changed her mind about being a vampire?”
“Willow, that’s a viable line of thinking. I hadn’t thought of that scenario. That is possible. If she were guilty, it would make sense she’d throw them under the bus to save herself. Maybe Sydney was the only one in the cave and set up the others?” he added bluntly, jotting notes on his notepad.
I pounded a fist on the table, glancing at Wolfe for a second before I continued.
“Has everybody forgotten about the one with the huge motive, here? Parker Thomas, III—our trusty ole’ math teacher at school who inherited a ton of money after his grandfather’s death,” I added sharply, surveying the expressions around the table.
Carden raised his hand, and I pointed at him to speak.
“Well, yeah, I mean, he has the biggest, most obvious motive, but we’d have to place him in the cave during the time of the murder,” he said softly.
Wolfe nodded at Carden in agreement.
“Detective, have you guys followed the lead with Parker Thomas, III? Jody James was the only other heir, and within twenty-four hours of their rich grandfather’s death—Jody gets the axe, and Parker doesn’t have to share,” Wolfe said, shrugging a massive shoulder.
“I haven’t personally spoken to Mr. Thomas, but my team looked into him. I’ll check on where we stand,” the detective coun
tered, jotting notes on his pad before taking a swig of coffee. “Well, that’s enough for today. Hopefully, we can uncover some good dirt tomorrow,” he shut his notepad holder, gesturing for us to exit the conference room.
14 LIBERATED
Back in the pink palace, I hurled my brain inside of the case for the remainder of the evening. I posted notes on my corkboard under each suspect, trying to keep each piece of evidence—separate and distinct. I was frustrated, I couldn’t get my mind pointed to one suspect—they all seemed to have strong and weak points.
Wolfe called to check in on me, and that was the last and final thing that I accomplished, talking to him about nothing until midnight. I fell asleep on the phone, and my battery ran out of juice. My phone alarm never went off the next morning. I could have been late to school if it weren’t for Janice waking me up with barely enough time to pull myself together.
I rushed towards Agent Bronson’s car—he already had it running. I opened the car door as Haley stormed out onto the driveway with a hand on her hip and fury in her blue eyes.
“S’cuse me,” she grabbed the car door, glaring into my eyes. “I donno who the hell you think you are by accusin’ me of bein’ with Carden Doyle!”
“Sorry, it was a misunderstanding,” I said coldly, lowering into the passenger’s seat.
“Whaddya not understand in your nerdy little skull? I set ya straight, so why’d you call Carden and make up lies?”
I reached for the seatbelt and swiped it across my chest, arranging my backpack by my feet on the floorboard, trying to remain calm.
“I talked to him before I talked to you. I said I was sorry, this conversation is over.”
“Well, now his brother Duncan doesn’t want anything t’do with me. You’ve ruined everything. I hate you so much, payback’s gonna hurt,” she screamed, slamming the car door, almost catching my hand.
Shaking from anger, I rolled the window down.
“Why do you have to be so hateful? I said it was a misunderstanding, and that’s that.”
She twisted around, face flushed with ferocity.
“You don’t think about anything besides yourself. You told Carden I was tellin’ people I was going out with him, he told Duncan, and now Duncan thinks I was goin’ out with both of ‘em. Or at least that I was tryin’ to. You made a mess!” she shouted as loud as her vocal cords could muster.
My blood boiled as I instinctively clenched my fist, my jaws tightening. She had invaded my home, my school, and my family. She had done nothing but insult us and cause harm to me personally. This demon seed was angry with me? At that moment, I did everything I could to stay buckled in my seat and be the better person, but I couldn’t suppress the words that blurted out of my mouth.
“Why don’t you just go to New Zealand and get out of our lives forever? You are nothing but an ungrateful menace and a thief,” I said coldly as I rolled up the window.
Agent Bronson, seeing this wasn’t a positive altercation and needed to end, slowly pulled out of the driveway. I shook my head in disgust as Haley stared me down as we pulled onto the street.
“Wow, that was something,” Agent Bronson said.
I raised a shoulder and tilted my head to the side as I held up a bent wrist, palm in the air, fingers spread in a gesture of indifference.
“Sorry. She is from New Jersey, didn’t grow up with her or anything, and my aunt and uncle cast the demon upon us last summer. Joy, huh?” I scoffed, clearing my throat.
I was surprised to see my black suit wearing a brown ensemble with a pink tie—again, squashing my theory that black suits were government-issued.
Taking a deep breath to calm my nerves, my senses bathed in the aroma of spicy pine, relaxing me, allowing me to purge the anxiety from my soul as I became one with Beethoven sounding softly from the speakers.
After I had calmed down, he filled me in on the news of the teen’s release from jail the previous evening. He detailed how Melanie Newsted rallied some Southern Vampire Alliance members to greet her daughter, Victoria Newsted, and cheer her on as she exited the jail. Following her release, there was a welcome home party for Victoria at the civic center where over a hundred vampires gathered in support of her. We assumed that Damien, being her boyfriend and fellow released prisoner, also attended the soiree. Agent Bronson said there were undercover agents working the event, looking for Gerald Smith, but he wasn’t spotted.
“Did you know Sydney Sergeant requested police protection from the cult upon release but was denied? She claimed by her giving information about the others, her life was in danger. The police chief didn’t feel as though there was any evidence of imminent danger, since they hadn’t disclosed to the other suspects what her involvement was in the information they had about their connection with the crime,” Agent Bronson reported as he turned the corner onto Rubium Way.
“Are you joking? They wouldn’t give her protection after she told them the whole story? Wow!”
Staring out the window at the few lonely clouds in the sky, I pressed the back of my hand to the window and it was cold—probably in the fifties.
“The teens were interviewed separately, and the protocol is not to divulge what the other detainees disclose. It was the divide and conquer strategy of interrogation. After her bail had been posted by Dimitri, Sydney’s parents sent a taxi to pick her up from jail, and it’s assumed she made it home.”
“That’s crazy, so her parents didn’t even pick her up from jail. So sad! I would figure that her parents would be more cautious given that Dimitri LeMorte is such a nut job,” I said, gathering my backpack from the floorboard.
“I know, it’s kind of shocking. You should know that Gerald Smith has been missing since the Silver Springs Marina spotting. We are not taking it as a sign he left Godley Grove, but rather that he is aware he’s been spotted. He’s probably being more cautious. We know his primary motive for the escape was to get even with your father. Not to alarm you, but you should know he’s a dangerous man, calculated. The most effective way to harm a man is not to harm him directly, but to go for his family. Just because he says he’s after your dad doesn’t mean you’re safe.”
“I know, Agent B. You’re doing your job and letting me know to take it seriously. Wolfe is the best criminal profiler in our group, and he agrees with what you are saying, he said the same thing to me. I’ll remain diligent and stay aware of my surroundings at all times, no worries!”
We pulled up to the front of the school; I jumped out of the car and sprinted towards the school to make it to class. I didn’t have special privileges on tardiness. As I approached the school’s entrance, two police officers exited, escorting Camber Johnson. I reasoned she must have scored the police protection that Sydney Sergeant had attempted to get. Money might have had something to do with it, and her parents probably paid off-duty police officers to act as her bodyguards because she had been threatened by the vampire cult. For the first time, I felt sorry for her. She seemed like a nice girl, albeit a tad rebellious with her appearance and a horrible decision maker.
The classes buzzed by, and I walked into calculus with a smile on my face, taking my seat.
“Wolfe,” I whispered loudly from across the aisle.
He grabbed his phone and thumbed on the screen for a moment before my phone vibrated in my pocket. I grabbed it quickly. He had texted me.
I can’t look at you because I will be too distracted. I’m here to learn math ;-) and you are far prettier than Mrs. Garcia and her crazy equations.
I sighed, stifling laughter. I sent a text back to him immediately.
I’ll give you a kiss on the cheek after class if you look at me.
He checked his messages a second after I hit send. He read the text, jerked his head to look at me, and winked. My heart fluttered wildly, and I floated on top of a white, puffy cloud in my head as Mrs. Garcia’s voice turned into a barely audible lion’s roar, and the dry erase board looked like kindergarten drawings. I sat there for the rest of c
lass with my hand propping up my head, eyes closed, dreaming of kissing Wolfe on the cheek after class, imagining he might hug me tightly after I did it. The close friend deal wasn’t going to work for us.
The bell rang as Detective Chase’s face popped on my phone screen. It was odd timing. I answered.
“Hello, Detective. The bell just rang, do you have telepathy?” I said as I gathered my things and walked slowly towards the exit. I stepped aside, allowing students to exit before me, delaying my entrance into the noisy hallway so I could hear.
“Great, I’m sorry to bother you during the day, but I have some news, and I need you to do some surveillance at school today if you can.”
“Great, what do you need for me to do?” I said as Wolfe waited for me in the hallway. Mrs. Garcia stared at me from her desk with a curious expression.
“We confiscated Damien Lee’s backpack upon his arrest, and a lab tech just realized there is a pink envelope with Damien’s name on it, matching the blank envelopes in Victoria Newsted’s room and in Gerald Smith’s prison cell. What we need you to do is keep your eyes out for any activity by Victoria and Damien today at school. We need to know if Victoria and Damien are still acting as a couple to see if this envelope is new or old—it’s not postmarked.”
“Will do, and I’ll ask the other club members to keep their eyes open,” I added before ending the call and sending a blast text message to the team regarding our new surveillance duties.
By the time I got off the phone, Wolfe was down the hallway and pointed at the clock on the wall. There was only a minute left for me to get to my next class. As I jogged down the hall, I received a text message from Wolfe.
Fiona Frost: Order of the Black Moon Page 15