Just part of it.
4
Rosemary’s Diner wasn’t as busy as I’d thought it would be, but that was probably because it was between shifts. At ten in the morning, the tail end of breakfast was happening, which meant there was more cleanup than anything. Customers were finishing their meals and ordering more coffee. They didn’t need much and the place was quiet.
It was the only time I enjoyed being here.
I crept to the punch clock and reached for my card. My gaze flickered to Leon as I lined the thick paper up with the slot on the machine. He was cleaning his area, oblivious to me. Maybe I’d get lucky and he wouldn’t notice I’d come in late.
My teeth sank into my bottom lip as I held my breath, hoping he remained focused on cleaning and missed the sound of my time being stamped. When the machine made its noise, Leon spun around to glare at me.
For being human, he sure did have impeccable hearing.
“You’re late,” he growled.
I tucked my time card back into place and reached for the coffee filters someone had left on the counter.
“Just by a few minutes,” I said. “It won’t happen again. I’m sorry.”
“See that it doesn’t, or you’ll be looking for a new job.”
I nodded and started toward the swinging door that led to the dining area, eager to place distance between us.
“Don’t pay him any mind this mornin’,” Pamela said as she wiped down the front counter. “He’s been in a pissy mood.”
I moved to the coffee machines. “What from this time?”
Leon was always in a bad mood. It was something I was quickly learning, but he generally had a reason for being this pissy.
Pamela’s purple painted lips twitched into a wide grin. “Some young punks thought it would be fun to go cow tippin’ last night.”
My eyes grew wide as a grin crept onto my face. “No!”
Leon owned ten cows. They were his prized possession, considering his cows were how he was able to offset his meat money a few times a year for the diner.
“Yup. They knocked over a couple before he was able to grab his gun and scare them off. Said he stayed up half the night on the porch with his shotgun in hand, waitin’ on them to come back.”
“That is hilarious,” I said as I removed the old coffee filters from the machines and replaced them with new ones.
“Needless to say, even if you’d been on time, he would have still found a reason to threaten to fire you. He’s already done it to everyone else.”
“I guess so.” I smirked.
“Miss? Excuse me, miss,” one of the customers called to Pamela from a few tables over. “Can I get another refill?”
“Sure, one second,” she said sweetly. When her back was to him, she rolled her eyes. “That guy is about to get on my last nerve.”
I glanced at him. He didn’t look familiar. An out-of-towner, I supposed. My gaze skimmed over him. Something about him caused me to stare.
What was it?
His dark hair fell to his shoulders in silky waves, and he had a baby smooth face, but that wasn’t it. A laptop rested on his table next to a stack of leather-bound notebooks, but that didn’t have anything to do with why I couldn’t look away either.
Was he a writer? If so, why was he in Mirror Lake? How did he even find our tiny town? I always wondered that when new people came here. It wasn’t as if we were well-known for anything.
“I think he’s following the whole Midnight Reaper thing,” Pamela said as she reached for one of the nearly empty coffee pots. “He’s writing a book or something about it. Been here since we opened.”
“Interesting,” I said, even though I didn’t think it was.
Why would anyone want to write about the Midnight Reaper? Why glorify the demented mind behind it all?
“There’s something creepy about him. He gives me the heebie-jeebies.” Pamela shivered when she spoke.
My gaze narrowed on him again. There was something creepy about him. I couldn’t put my finger on what, but I knew it was part of the reason I felt so compelled to stare.
“One more cup,” he said as he held his coffee mug up and flashed a white smile.
Pamela returned his smile and held up her index finger. “One second,” she said before shifting around to face me. “He’s had four. How much caffeine does this guy need? And you know he’s not going to leave me a damn tip. No one does for coffee.”
“Maybe this will be his last cup.”
“Here’s to hoping.” She lifted the coffee pot in the air.
“I bet I could get him to leave,” I said as a bit of a challenge.
“I have no doubt, honey. You seem to ooze the sort of charm that drives people away when you want to, and I mean that in the nicest way.” She winked as she passed me the coffee pot. “Work your magic, sugar.”
I headed over to the guy’s table, coffee pot in hand. There wasn’t much left in it, which meant it was bound to taste stale. Maybe that would be enough to give him reason to leave.
Most people couldn’t tolerate bad coffee.
“Thank you.” He flashed me an unsettling smirk as he pushed his mug to the edge of the table.
I poured it half full. “If you want more, you’ll have to wait a little while. We’re about to brew a fresh pot.”
“This will be fine.” He leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table, and shifted his eyes to glance at my name tag. “Mina.”
My name fell from his lips in a weird way, one that made my wolf pace. She’d zoned in on his odd vibes and was itching to be set free.
“Hi, there. My name is Arturo. Arturo Albas.”
“Umm, interesting name,” I said. Why was he introducing himself to me? “Okay. Well, there’s your coffee.”
“Is your last name Ryan?” His eyes locked with mine. They were a blue so light they bordered on being gray. It was an odd color.
For anyone human at least.
My wolf homed in on him. Was there something supernatural about Arturo Albas? He seemed like a typical human. One who was overly caffeinated and slightly odd but still good-looking and human-seeming nonetheless.
“Yeah.” I narrowed my eyes. “How did you know my last name?”
He reached for the leather-bound notebook on the top of his stack and flipped through a couple pages until he reached a blank one. Next, he reached for a pen, and then directed his attention to me again.
“I’ve been waiting for you to come in. I was told you worked here. You also live in Mirror Lake Trailer Park, correct?”
My wolf went on high alert. He had already been making her nervous, but now he was putting her on high alert.
“How do you know so much about me?” I asked. My tone was firm.
His lips spread into a wide smile. It seemed a bit wicked. “I’ve done my research.”
My grip on the coffee pot tightened. “What kind of research might that be?”
“It’s of no importance. Listen, I’m tracking down the Midnight Reaper. Following his path. Documenting everything I learn and find along the way. Well,” he said as he flashed me another evil grin. My skin crawled. Something was not right about this guy. “Everything the police are willing to keep me informed of.”
“Why?”
What could possess someone to want to document such a thing? How morbid did you have to be to follow a killer across the U.S. as he murdered people?
What was wrong with this guy? Didn’t he understand glorifying a serial killer only fed into the guy’s sick ego? He was giving the murderer what he wanted—time in the limelight. Also, he was tracking vampires. He needed to stop.
“Why not? The Midnight Reaper has one of the longest lists of victims in our time.” Something about the way he said it made me think he was jealous. No. Not jealous—irritated. He shifted his attention to another leather-bound notebook, allowing himself to focus on something besides whatever he’d been thinking just then. “The last one was almost a hundred years ag
o. At least the last one with this high of a body count. There are a couple in between. One about thirty-five years ago and another somewhere around sixty-seven years ago. This one is the biggest in the last hundred years, though. I think that alone makes it worthy of documentation, don’t you?”
Anger rippled off him. I could smell it. The scent caused my wolf to growl. What was with him? His words and expressions clashed with his feelings.
“No, I don’t,” I said without hesitation.
Arturo leaned back in his chair. His oddly colored eyes fixed on me. “No?”
“No. I don’t think things like this should be placed in the limelight. That’s exactly what the killer wants. You’re feeding his ego.” I started to walk away.
Arturo’s hand shot out, and his long fingers wrapped around my wrist, rooting me in place. His touch was cold and his grip was tight. My wolf went crazy.
Who the hell did this guy think he was putting his hands on me?
“You know something, don’t you?” His eerie eyes bored into mine. “You should tell me what that something is.” His tone had gone rigid, making me think he wasn’t out to document the killer—instead, he was hoping to find him.
I shook his grip off. “Even if I did know anything, I wouldn’t tell you. I want no part of what you’re doing.”
“Even though this killer happened to ruin your birthday?” A smug look stretched across his face. It was clear he thought him knowing this tidbit of information would surprise me. It didn’t.
“You act like knowing what happened at my birthday party is any sort of a secret. It’s not. I live in a small town, Mr. Albus. Everyone knows what happened,” I said.
“Don’t you want any type of revenge on the Midnight Reaper for ruining it? Aren’t you curious about who it is doing such awful things?”
“Revenge isn’t something I’m interested in. Not over a ruined birthday party.” How vain did he think I was? He obviously hadn’t done enough research on me. If he had, then he would know I wouldn’t care about something like that.
I cared about Jane.
“No. You’re right. Not over a ruined birthday party. You’re not the type who’d be bitter about something like that,” he said as he sipped his coffee. “You’re the type who seeks justice or revenge for the victim. Jane Hawker, wasn’t that her name?”
Jane’s name coming from his mouth sounded wrong. He held no sympathy for her. There was something evil about him.
It had my wolf wanting me as far away from him as possible. Every inch of me wanted to oblige her, but something in Arturo’s eyes held me in place.
“Why don’t you tell me her story? What you know is most likely a different version than what the police have stated,” he said. I found his persuasive tone hard to shake. “Or we could start with Wesley Vargus.”
I blinked. Eli’s dad’s death wasn’t a secret any more than Jane’s was, but I still didn’t like the sound of my previous alpha’s name dripping from the mouth of this guy anymore than I did hers.
“Mina, can I get that coffee pot from you? I’d like to start the machine,” Pamela said from behind the counter. I knew she was trying to end the conversation Arturo and I were having. She was trying to save me.
I blinked, snapping myself free from whatever weird hold Arturo had on me.
“Yeah, sure.” I glanced at her from over my shoulder before shifting to look at Arturo again. “I don’t know Jane’s story. I don’t know what happened to her. All I know is that the Midnight Reaper claimed her as one of his victims the night of my birthday party. She died in the trailer park I live in, just outside where my party was being held. That’s it.”
I walked away before I could get sucked into his crazy eyes again. His gaze was on me though; I could feel the intensity of it.
“What was that about?” Pamela asked as she took the pot from me. “Was he giving you crap?”
“No. Not really. He’s working on a documentary about the Midnight Reaper like you said. He knows my name. Where I live. Where I work, obviously. Apparently, he’s been waiting for me to come in. He knows Eli’s dad and Jane Hawker died the night of my birthday party, and he wanted to talk with me about it for his story.”
“Oh, honey,” Pamela said. She sat the coffee pot down and reached for me. I allowed her to pull me into a hug. Her cheap perfume tickled my nose, but her hug felt good. “I’m so sorry. If I’d known that’s what he was here for, I would’ve never sent you over to him.”
“I know. It’s fine. I’m okay.”
“You sure?”
I nodded. “Yeah. Positive.”
It was a lie. I wasn’t okay. There was something strange about Arturo Albas. What was he really doing here? Was he hunting the Midnight Reaper? Did that mean he knew what it truly was?
My gaze drifted to him. His eyes were still on me, even as he sipped his coffee. When he set his mug down, the same wicked grin from before twisted his lips.
Arturo Albas was definitely here for the Midnight Reaper, and I had a feeling he thought I could lead him to it.
5
By the time 3:30 rolled around, I was eager to get out of Rosemary’s. Arturo had sat around for another hour before Pamela said something to Leon. Since he was already in an ill mood, he had no qualms about kicking someone out of his diner.
I’d never been happier to see Leon’s mean streak put to use. Although, I had been expecting Arturo to be waiting for me in the parking lot after my shift.
Thank goodness he wasn’t.
Still, it didn’t keep me from checking my rearview mirror every few seconds during the drive home. I couldn’t shake the feeling someone was watching me. My wolf felt it too. She was more restless than I was.
I wasn’t sure why Arturo creeped me out so much, but there was no denying he did. The weird vibe I got from him made my skin crawl.
I tried to pinpoint what had felt so off about him while I drove. Maybe he wasn’t who he said he was. Maybe, like I’d thought before, he was here for a different reason than he claimed. Maybe he was hunting the Midnight Reaper. I knew looks could be deceiving—so could people. That was what being part of the supernatural world had taught me over the years.
When I pulled up to the trailer, I noticed Eli’s truck was missing. He had the day off so chances were he’d decided to search for the killer in a different section of town.
I reached for the bag of food I’d brought home and climbed out of my car. As I started up the steps to the front door, I could hear Moonshine barking.
“I’m home,” I said to her as I swung the front door open. “I’ll get you in one second, girl. Let me set this stuff down first.”
She couldn’t understand me, I knew this, but it still didn’t keep me from speaking to her as though she could. It helped ease the awkward tension clinging to me from work, making me feel less alone. My wolf brushed up against me, reminding me she was with me as well.
I set the bag of food on the counter along with my drink and reached for my cell. I sent a text to Eli.
Just got home. Noticed you weren’t here. Hope you’re okay. Call me when you can. — Mina
I waited, hoping for a quick response from him but nothing came. With a sigh I headed to Moonshine’s crate and let her out. She bolted the instant the door opened, making me wonder how long she’d been locked inside. Since I’d left for work?
Surely Eli hadn’t been gone that long.
After I took her out for a walk, I headed inside to eat. I ate in silence, worrying about Eli and also replaying the conversation with Arturo in my head. What was I missing about him, if anything? Why couldn’t I get him out of my head?
As I finished my turkey club and cleaned up my mess, my eyes dipped to my cell. There was still no response from Eli. Where was he? My gaze drifted to the clock above the stove. I’d been home nearly twenty minutes. Why hadn’t he replied yet?
I reached for my cell and checked to make sure the text had gone through. It said it had. So then why hadn’t he
responded?
I ran my fingers through my hair and let out a long sigh. He was okay. Wherever he was, he was okay. I couldn’t go down this road. I couldn’t think of all the horrible things that might have happened to him since the last time I spoke with him. It would only make me sick. Instead, I locked Moonshine in her crate and headed to Taryn and Glenn’s place to dye her hair.
Their place was tiny, but I’d come to love it. There was something simplistic about the way they lived. While I still wasn’t sure what they planned to do when the baby was born, I guessed it didn’t matter. After all, babies were small. They didn’t take up much space. It was all the stuff needed to take care of them that did, but a parent could still be minimalistic.
Yeah, they were okay for now, I thought to myself as I walked toward their front door, but a year or two from now would be a different story. There wasn’t room for expansion when it came to their trailer or the trailer park in general. As it was, only two trailers were available in the park. Both of them had more room than this, but one was being held onto by greedy hands.
Dorian had moved in with Sheila forever ago but still kept his trailer. I wasn’t sure why. It was clear he and Sheila were never going to part. They were like two lovesick puppies glued at the hip.
The door to Taryn and Glenn’s trailer shot open before I reached their gravel driveway. Her head poked out the door, and a wide smile stretched across her glowing face.
“There you are!” she shouted. Had she been staring out the window, waiting for me? “I was wondering when you’d get here. You said you got off between three and four, but I was hoping it would be closer to three than four. Glenn’s taking me to dinner tonight, and I want to make sure I have plenty of time to get ready between now and then.”
I stepped to the front door and started up the metal steps. My shoes made a clunking noise against them, and the trailer seemed to shift and sway with my added weight. Every thought I had before about their trailer being cute and simplistic went out the window. I was glad Eli hadn’t moved into one similar to this.
Moon Revealed Page 3