“Of course. Whatever it takes,” Penny confirmed.
“Helena?” Silas leaned forward, his strange colored eyes piercing in their intensity.
“Yes. With one condition.” Helena jutted her chin out.
“Ask.”
“Nothing illegal. I want your word that you are not going to ask us to go murder someone for you, or traffic drugs, or whatever bad things vampires get up to.”
Silas leaned back, tilted his head to the ceiling, and laughed. It was not a pleasant sound. “I should do this for free. This is the best entertainment I have had for years.”
“Promise.” Helena jabbed her finger into his chest.
The vampire stilled, all humor gone as he placed his hand over the spot where Helena’s finger had prodded him. His entire focus rested on Helena’s face, but she didn’t blink as she held his cool gaze. “Nothing illegal.”
“Then we all promise.” She trembled under Silas’s gaze, but she stood her ground.
“Then shall we begin?” He placed his hands on either side of Penny’s head. She instinctively jerked back but he held her firm. “This is what you want. You have to surrender yourself to me entirely.”
Penny rolled her shoulders and relaxed. “Do it.”
Silas’s eyes were intense as he stared at Penny. “Do you remember me, Penny?”
She nodded. “I do.”
“Do you remember what I asked you to do when you were a small child?”
“You asked me to forget my father and to forget I ever lived in Wishing Moon Bay.”
“That’s right,” the vampire purred. “Do you remember what we did with those thoughts?”
“We put them away in a locked room.”
“And now it’s time to unlock the door and let those memories back in. Can you do that for me?”
“Yes.”
“Then do it now.” He held her gaze for a long, long time and then he let Penny go. “It’s done.”
Chapter Twenty-Five – Helena
Helena leaned on Dario as her head swam, filled with memories of her past. Memories that had been locked away for nearly forty years. Her father’s smile, his arms holding her tightly and carrying her upstairs to bed. His warm voice as he told her a bedtime story.
Everything she ever dreamed her father would be and more.
Were these memories real? Could she trust them? They seemed too perfect.
Mom. She watched from the table as her mom kneaded bread. She looked so happy and serene, there was no sign of the torment that possessed the mom an older Helena knew.
The sound of the front door opening brought a smile to her mom’s face. She left the bread and went to the kitchen door, hugging Helena’s father as he entered the room. He bent his head and kissed her lips, the look they exchanged filled with so much love.
“They were happy.” She smiled sadly. These were the memories she wanted to cling to, also. She would gladly forget her mom’s sorrow and sadness and live with only these memories.
“They were.” Penny reached for Helena’s hand as the world around her darkened.
Her mind darkened and shadows closed in. A sense of dread consumed her, and she closed her eyes, squeezing them shut, not wanting to look. But this was a memory, and she couldn’t shut it out and was powerless to unthink it.
“Daddy.” Her father was behind the counter. A man was talking to him. Her dad was scared, she could hear it in his voice.
“I’ll just go and see if I have those in the storeroom.” Her father walked around the counter, he strode toward Helena, his fingers on his lips, telling her to be quiet, like when they played hide and seek. She had to stay quiet.
Mutely, she allowed her father to put his hands on her shoulders and push her into a small cupboard that smelled of peppermint and sugar. She’d played in here before with Penny, but something told her this was not a game. Terror crept over her as her father walked back into the store, to the man waiting at the counter.
She shouldn’t look, she didn’t want to look. “Barry!”
“Helena!” Dario’s hands on her shoulder shook her out of the memory.
“Barry. It was Barry.” She clutched at Dario.
“What was Barry?” Penny asked.
“Barry was the man in the store. Barry was the one who killed Dad!” Her stomach roiled and she put her hand to her mouth as nausea built.
“It can’t be Barry,” Dario told her gently. “He’s not old enough.”
“He looked exactly the same,” Helena explained.
“Give yourself some time for the memories to settle,” Dario stroked her back soothingly. “They are bound to be jumbled up.”
“I know what I saw.” Tears stung her eyes as she pulled away from Dario. “I need to talk to Detective Renshaw.”
She ran out of the room, where Silas had left them after he’d unlocked their memories.
“Helena.” Dario was right behind her as she stopped and listened.
“Where are they?” She turned to face Dario, needing him to use his shifter senses to find them.
“Just take a moment to calm down,” Dario crooned.
“I know what I saw, Dario.” She wiped her hand across her cheek, wiping away her tears. “I saw what happened. I have to tell Detective Renshaw.”
“Are you sure it was Barry? It wasn’t someone who looked like him?” Dario asked.
“I’m sure. I know him. I went to dinner with him and I danced with him. I know.” She inhaled deeply, needing to stay calm. “It all makes sense now. The way he looked at me the first day we met. He expected me to recognize him. When he realized I didn’t, he toyed with me, he asked me about my family, the family he destroyed.”
“Colton.” Dario took hold of her hand and she absorbed the comforting warmth. “Colton.”
“I was bringing you some coffee,” the elderly man said.
“We need to see the detective, is he still here?” Helena asked.
“He is.” Colton glanced at Dario. “Follow your nose and you’ll find him.”
“Come on.” Dario slipped his arm around Helena’s shoulders. “This way.”
Helena followed, trusting her mate as they headed down a narrow hallway and then took a right turn. The air cooled as if someone had left a door open. Did vampires need heat and warmth or was the house heated for Colton’s sake who was definitely human?
“Helena?” Silas appeared in the doorway of a large opulent room filled with pictures and portraits. “I heard you shout.”
“I remember the murder. I saw who did it.” She gasped, her eyes drawn to a photo on the wall. “That’s my mom and dad. And you.”
“I knew them well, they were my friends.” Silas’s sadness was profound. “These are all the people I have known and loved. It’s where I come to remember. Not many faces when you consider how long I have lived.”
“You truly were their friend.” Helena went to the photo and stared at it. This was how she wanted to remember her father. Not the bloody... Her head jerked up. “Detective Renshaw.”
“I’m no longer a detective,” Oscar reminded her.
“You are to me. You know the case inside and out.” She tapped the side of her head. “I need to know if what I am remembering is a mixed-up memory or a true memory.”
“I’ll do what I can to help you, Helena. But when you were a child, your memories were too hazy. You said that you never saw his face.” Detective Renshaw came toward them and stood looking at the photograph of their parents. “They were good people. You were such a happy family. It broke my heart to see your mom after it happened. It has broken my heart ever since.”
“Then help me solve the murder.” She entwined her fingers with his. “I saw his face when he came into the store. For a split second, I saw him. Then, as I hid, I saw the back of his head, I heard his voice. A voice I know.”
“You knew the attacker?” Detective Renshaw asked.
“No. Not then. I didn’t know him when I was a child, but I do know him
now. The man who killed my father is the same man who broke into my apartment, the man who met me on the street outside of my office building. It might have been a chance encounter, but I believe that’s why he tried to get to know me so that he could find out if I had any idea who he was.”
“Helena said the man she saw, Barry, looked exactly the same as he does now,” Dario added.
“So he knows magic,” Silas rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “That makes him more dangerous.”
“Will the local police open the case now that they have this new information?” All Helena wanted was to bring her father’s murderer to justice and then move on with her life.
“There’s no way the police will reopen the case.” Detective Renshaw shook his head. “I’m sorry. They need something more. Something concrete. Even for a supernatural police department, this stretches the imagination.”
“Not to mention the murderer is outside of Wishing Moon Bay and can’t find his way back. That’s as good as being in prison for the authorities here. If he’s trapped outside of town, he is not their problem.” Silas mulled over the information. “Maybe it’s time he did come home.”
“No!” Detective Renshaw turned to face Silas. “That’s not a good idea and you know it. Now that Helena and Penny have their memories back, they are targets. He probably already knows one of them saw him. That information was open knowledge at the time. If he spoke to Helena and ruled her out as the witness, there’s a chance he lay in wait at Helena’s apartment to...”
“Deal with Penny. He thinks Penny is the one who saw his face.” It all made sense now. Barry had gone to Helena’s apartment knowing that Penny was coming to town. What his plans were for that day they might never know.
“I didn’t see anything, I wasn’t even there.” Penny and Logan had entered the room, with Colton and his tray of coffee trailing behind them. “Was I?”
“You were with your mom,” Detective Renshaw confirmed. “We have eyewitnesses that put you both inside the grocery store when the murder happened.”
“So what do we do now?” Helena asked. “I am not going to live my life looking over my shoulder for Barry. And I don’t want to live in fear for Penny and Milo.”
“We lure him back here and get him to confess.” Dario took Helena’s hands. “Or I can go out there and drag him back here by his throat.”
“Hell, we could go find him and hogtie him and you can literally drag him back here,” Logan ground out.
“If he has magic, he might be extremely dangerous when cornered,” Silas warned.
“He’s desperate to get back here. He’ll take the bait if we go back to my apartment and then lead him here. We can do this,” Helena was convinced they could do it without raising Barry’s suspicions.
“And I’ll be waiting for him when he does get here,” Silas replied.
“No, if you get anywhere near him, the authorities will believe that you have tampered with his memories to get him to confess. This needs to be done cleanly and by the book,” Detective Renshaw warned.
“Wait.” Penny held up her hands. “What will happen to him if he comes back here and gets arrested?”
“He’ll spend the rest of his days in prison,” Dario replied confidently, then his voice dropped. “If he gets convicted.” He glanced at Silas. “If Barry’s lawyers find out we have been here, they will accuse you of tampering with Helena’s memories.”
“And they would be right.” Helena nodded. “Tell me, do vampires ever venture outside of Wishing Moon Bay?”
“Only in very exceptional circumstances.” A smile spread across his face and his eyes glowed with pleasure. “And this might just be one of those circumstances.”
“What are you thinking?” Detective Renshaw asked.
“Why should Barry ever get the pleasure of crossing back into town ever again? Wishing Moon Bay doesn’t want him. So why not wipe the memory of the place from his mind, but leave him with the idea that he’s searching for something but can’t remember what?” Silas rubbed his hands together. “I can ensure he lives in eternal torment for what he did that day.”
The vampire’s eyes fixed on the photograph of Oscar and Amanda.
“I’m beginning to like you, Silas.” Helena put her hand to her head and then closed her eyes, screwing them tightly shut but she couldn’t stem the tears as the vision of Barry killing her father flashed into her brain hot and sharp, as if she were watching events unfold in real-time.
“And afterward. When it’s done...” Silas took her warm hands in his cold ones. “Will you let me take that piece of your memory and lock it away forever? You deserve to only remember the best of your father.”
Helena nodded. “Yes. I’d like that.”
For a vampire with such cold hands, Silas had a warm heart.
Chapter Twenty-Six – Dario
“Thank you, Detective Renshaw.” Dario extended his hand to the old detective.
“Don’t thank me yet. This whole thing could blow up in our faces.” The detective unlocked his car and slid into the driver’s seat. “But if we get this guy, if it really is the person responsible for the murder of Oscar Olsen, then I’m going to enjoy watching him squirm.”
“You’re coming, too?” Helena asked.
“Of course. I’m driving. Silas will sleep in the trunk while I drive us to your car.” He cracked a grin at their shocked faces. “Never driven with a vampire in the trunk?”
“Can’t say that I have,” Dario replied.
“We need to get you back to your car. And I’m not willing to wait a couple of days for you to trot on over there. Every day we delay is a day too long. If this Barry guy wants to find his way here, sooner or later he’s going to find someone willing to show him the way.” Detective Renshaw pushed his key into the ignition. “I don’t want him to get the luxury of seeing his hometown again.”
“The farther away from Wishing Moon Bay we can keep Barry, the better. If Silas can make him forget the place exists, that sounds like a win to me.” He glanced sideways at Helena. “The only thing that would be better than that would be if we can bring him to justice and make the murder conviction stick.”
“I’m going to go home and go over the case files again. I want to see if there’s any chance we missed something now that we know exactly what Helena saw.” The detective nodded to Dario and Helena. “I’ll see you tomorrow. We leave at nine. I’ll pick you up at the hotel.”
“See you tomorrow.” Dario raised his hand as the detective closed his car door and started the engine. “Are you sure you’re okay about all of this? We can always change our minds and bring Barry back here to face a court of law.”
“Innocent until proven guilty?” Helena wrapped her arms around herself, her face was pale in the moonlight. “But there’s no way to prove his guilt. There’s no forensic evidence and if I’m the only eyewitness, then it’s not going to stick.”
“Are you okay about him walking around free?” Dario slipped his arm around his mate’s shoulders and guided her toward Penny’s car. Penny and Logan were inside with the engine running and the heater on full. They were probably having the same conversation.
“I’d rather he was in jail. There’s always going to be a part of me that worries he’ll find a way to get his memories back and will one day wind up here.” She looked up at the moon hanging over the bay. “But Silas did a great job on me and Penny. We had no memories of the town. And I know we eventually found our way back here, but that was because of you and Logan, not because we got our memories back.”
Dario opened the car door for his mate, and she slid inside. “The only thing we can’t explain is why Penny recognized some of the buildings when she first arrived in town.”
“I have the answer to that.” Penny turned in her seat. “I spoke to Colton while you were talking to Silas. He said that Mom came back here with me a couple of years after we left.”
“She did?” Helena shook her head. “I wasn’t with you?”
&
nbsp; “No, it was when you went on a camping trip with the school. You had been having those nightmares and she came to see Silas to ask him if there was a chance that your memories were bleeding through.” Penny reached out for Helena’s hand. “I don’t really remember coming here. I think Mom just told me we were going on a day trip.”
“What did Silas tell her about my memories?” Helena asked. “Is that the reason I had nightmares?” She covered her mouth and shook her head. “Or maybe they were a punishment. Maybe I was the monster in the closet.”
“Why would you say that?” Penny’s fingers tightened around her sister’s hand.
“Because I was in the closet when Dad was murdered. If I’d called out, if I’d run for help...”
Penny shook her head. “There was nothing you could do to stop Barry. If you’d called out, he would have hurt you. The man was crazy. Don’t ever forget that.”
“So why the dreams?” Helena asked. “Why did Mom put up a talisman to ward off the monsters?”
“I don’t know. Maybe she was scared in case there was a monster, in case something had followed us out of Wishing Moon Bay.” Penny shrugged. “Or maybe they were just normal childhood dreams, but the wards and talismans just made Mom feel closer to this town and her life here.”
“I wish I could talk to her. I wish I could tell her I’m sorry for the way I treated her and for not believing in her monsters.” Helena wiped her free hand across her face. “It’s all such a mess.”
“So let’s bring the person responsible for that mess to justice. The only justice he is likely to get.” Penny let go of Helena’s hand and started the engine.
“There’s something I’d like to do first,” Helena said. “If nobody else minds. I know you want to get home for Milo, but could we do a small detour on the way?”
“Sure, where are we going?” Penny started the engine as Helena nestled against Dario, welcoming the warmth of his arms around her.
“The beach. I’d like to make a wish.” She put her hand in her pocket and drew out the wishing stone.
“In the dark?” Penny glanced in her rearview mirror.
The Horse Shifter's Mate: A Wishing Moon Bay Shifter Romance (The Bond of Brothers Book 2) Page 19