Matthew nodded as if that made sense to him, lighting up another cigarette in the process. “That’s what I got from him, too. I told him I wasn’t going to arrest him for admitting to selling drugs as long as he stopped. I don’t know if he will forever, but right now he’s too emotional to do anything like that.”
“The kids here aren’t bad. They’re just rebelling. None of them would ever murder someone, least of all someone like Camilla. She was friends with everyone, including the outcasts.”
“Any other weird moments or interesting conversations you had?”
Hazel shook her head. It seemed like Matthew had had the same experience as her. Every single person she talked to had nothing weird or odd to say about the whole thing. Everyone was just so devastated that this had happened to Camilla, of all people. Everyone was more than willing to talk about Camilla, while also saying that she didn’t deserve what she got.
“Just the same shock and depression the whole town seems to have,” Hazel responded, sighing as she leaned back in her chair, utterly exhausted from the whole day. She wished she was back in Ethan’s arms, where the bad and evil of the world seemed to melt away with his touch. “I noticed that Hudson Schmidt wasn’t here today. Did he not show?”
Hudson Schmidt was the one person Hazel reminded herself to keep her eye on. She was more than interested in this supposed hidden relationship he had with Camilla. Hazel had never known Camilla to have a serious, older boyfriend, and she couldn’t believe that she had one with Hudson. He just so wasn’t her type. However, when Hudson didn’t show up, Hazel began to question where he was and why he wasn’t with the others being questioned.
“I didn’t call him in,” Matthew explained to her. “He’s coming tomorrow for questioning.”
Hazel nodded. That was better than him not showing. That would’ve raised some eyebrows, for sure.
“Have you obtained or found anything else out?” Hazel asked the detective, hoping that he had some type of clue to go off of. “Any new evidence or new things come to light?” She was feeling a little desperate. A little sad that it looked like this case was going to drag out.
“No,” Matthew sighed, taking a drag of his cigarette and causing Hazel’s hope to dim. “Quite simply, there’s nothing for us to go off of. No fingerprints, no DNA, absolutely nothing at the crime scene. Which is impossible. It makes no sense. This was very obviously a form of a crime of passion. No one stabs someone forty-five times if they’re not incredibly angry. Therefore, most crimes of passion are easily solved because they happen in the moment. DNA is found and the case is closed. That’s not the case this time, which makes it so odd.”
“And we’ve yet to have one suspect,” Hazel added, feeling that crushing realization that they had absolutely nothing to go off of. They were stuck. It was that plain and simple. And she hated that. Camilla deserved better than this. “Everyone is so upset and eager to give any information they have to us.”
“Exactly. Things aren’t adding up. That worries me.”
“Why?” Hazel perked up a bit as she glanced at Matthew, a bit worried about where his mind was taking him.
“A murder like this that has no explanation? That’s not good. And that’s really not good for Jerome. If we don’t find out who killed Camilla Phillips, the townspeople will riot and turn against each other. It’s already happening. People are locking their doors, which they never did before. People are less likely to stop and chat with just about everyone they meet. Everyone is thinking their neighbor is capable of killing a girl in the most despicable way, and the press is making matters much worse by trying to leak specifics of the case. It’s hell, and it’s only going to get worse if we don’t find the killer. Soon.”
“Well, then we’ll find the killer. And we’ll put that monster behind bars. And we’ll get justice for Camilla.” Hazel tried to sound optimistic and not at all how she really felt.
Because she really felt depressed. Down. Horrible. She felt like she wasn’t helping Camilla at all, and the real fear that Camilla’s brutal murderer would walk free became evident in her mind. Her bones shook within her skin as she faced the hypothetical future where Camilla would never get justice. Jerome would never be the same. Jerome was changed now, just with Camilla being gone. But if her murderer was never found?
Jerome would never recover.
“That’s easier said than done,” Matthew responded, his own doubt creeping in and mirroring her own. She needed to be the positive one of the two of them, though. She knew Matthew was never positive, even in his personal life. She needed to take one for the team and put on an optimistic face. That was the only way they would keep their hope. Their energy. Their sanity.
“It’ll happen, Matthew. I think you’re an annoying asshat, but you’re a damn good detective. That much I know. You’ll figure this out.”
When Hazel saw the slight smirk that landed on Matthew’s face as he took a long drag from his cigarette, she knew that there was still some fight left in him. She just had to keep that little form of hope alive within the detective, and everything would be okay.
If only she was as optimistic about the case and finding Camilla’s murderer as she sounded.
The last thing Hazel expected to get at four-thirty in the morning was a call from her best friend Lea asking if she was up. When Hazel replied that yes, she was indeed very much up, Lea told her to come over to her house.
Hazel drove to her friend’s house in confusion. Fear began to set in when she realized that something horrible could have happened. The last five minutes of the drive, Hazel sped around every corner until she haphazardly parked in front of Lea’s house, slamming the car door behind her as she raced up the front steps.
The worst scenarios possible were playing out in Hazel’s mind. She didn’t know if it was because there was a murderer on the loose or because she hadn’t slept in almost twenty-four hours, but she was on the verge of tears as she ran into Lea’s unlocked front door.
Only to find Lea there making coffee in her pajamas with an annoyed expression on her face.
“You’re okay?” Hazel managed to ask, forcing her adrenaline to calm down and realize the situation didn’t call for her to fight to the death or save Lea from some masked, crazy murderer.
“Yeah . . .?” Lea seemed to ask, holding her cup of coffee and staring at her best friend in confusion.
“Sorry,” Hazel said as she basically fell into Lea’s kitchen table chair. Exhaustion hit her like a car. “With everything that’s been going on lately, I just imagined the worst.”
Plus, it wasn’t that long ago that Lea actually was attacked by a crazy rogue on a lone wolf mission to destroy and bring havoc onto the Moonlight Maine community in whatever way he could. Lea managed to come out of the whole thing unscathed, thanks to her boyfriend Finn coming to her aid. That didn’t make Hazel feel any better, though, as there were still rogues that tried to bring murder to Maine.
And now, it seemed like humans in Jerome were murdering in brutal fashion, as well. It just didn’t sit well with Hazel.
“I have to talk to you,” Lea said as she sat down, an unreadable look on her face. She wasn’t smiling. Hazel thought that was bad. She should be smiling. Hazel hadn’t done anything to piss her off recently, had she?
For the life of her, she really couldn’t remember.
“Is everything okay?” Hazel finally managed to ask, looking into her best friend’s blue eyes that were now full of . . . anger? Hazel still couldn’t tell, which was weird. She was normally pretty observant. She blamed the exhaustion, once again.
“Why did I have to hear from Finn, of all people, that you were sleeping with Ethan?”
Hazel stared at her best friend, in total shock. So, that was this was about? A call at four in the morning–because Lea just found out about Hazel and Ethan? Hazel stared back, sighing as she realized just how dramatic this situation was. Lea wasn’t hurt, there were no rogues or angry humans trying to kill her.
“Are you serious?” Hazel stared at her best friend, beyond amazed. She couldn’t believe this was happening, really. The world was so dark for her recently, and it seemed that she was always on guard. Always questioning people, even humans, because of the life she was living. But to hear her best friend question her about her sleeping partner? Well, it was a weird feeling that Hazel had rolling around in her stomach.
She reminded herself that it could’ve been worse. She would much rather take an exaggerated, dramatic questioning from her best friend than an incident that involved a murderous human or rogue.
But, still. It was four in the morning, Hazel hadn’t slept at all, and she was annoyed.
“Yes,” Lea responded, folding her arms across her chest from where she now sat across the kitchen table from Hazel. “I am serious. I tell you about everything. And to hear this from my boyfriend instead of my best friend?”
Hazel narrowed her eyes as she saw the corner of Lea’s mouth twitch, as if she was trying to hide a huge smile behind her stony expression. A sense of relief cascaded down Hazel’s body. Thank God. She had thought Lea was being serious and was actually upset about the whole thing. Really, she was just giving Hazel a hard time and having a hell of a time doing it.
“You know, you’ve done the same thing to me,” Hazel reminded her. “I believe you waited a bit before you confessed all of your carnal delights to me about you and Finn. Remember, dear?”
Lea’s smirk became evident now, making Hazel smile.
Both of them began talking at the same time, in little enthusiastic bursts as they talked over each other in happiness and surprise. Hazel made sure to clarify that she didn’t mean to keep it from her best friend, she’d just been so busy with the whole human murder in pack territory thing. Lea then clarified that she wasn’t mad at Hazel. In fact, she was ecstatic, as was Finn. Both of them had been secretly trying to get Hazel and Ethan together for a while.
“Okay, all four of us have to go on a double date soon,” Lea exclaimed with a huge smile on her face. This left Hazel in a bit of a sour mood.
“I don’t know about that,” Hazel told her, shrugging.
“Why not?”
Hazel couldn’t blame her for not understanding. Hazel had just spent the last half an hour enthusing about Ethan and everything they’ve done in the past days.
But a date? Well, they hadn’t talked about dating yet, and Hazel honestly didn’t know if their relationship was up for that. She didn’t know if their relationship would ever be up for that. She hated thinking like this, but it was true. The most they’d ever done with each other was flirt and have great sex. She didn’t know if they’d ever had a truly serious talk, other than the conversation they had about the murder when Ethan asked her to find out information.
Hazel didn’t know if she ever wanted to actually date Ethan. Was she falling for him? Yes. Was she head over heels in something with him? Hell, yes. But that didn’t mean she wanted to have a serious relationship with him. And that sure as hell didn’t mean that they would be a good couple, regardless of how they felt about each other. Hazel knew that great sex didn’t necessarily mean a good, stable relationship. All she needed to do was think of Matthew and their relationship (which was great in bed and not so great out of the bedroom) for her to get cold feet regarding dating Ethan.
“I just don’t think we would be ready for something like that,” Hazel told her best friend, sighing as she played with her hands. “Not yet, at least.”
She would try to be positive about her relationship, if only for Lea’s sake.
“Well, when you guys are ready for something like that, I’d be really happy for us all to go out. Finn and Ethan have that weird bond, and I love you more than anyone else. We would be the best couples around Maine.”
Hazel shook her head. She didn’t know about that, but she couldn’t help but laugh as Lea got that gleam in her eyes. Her friend was a hopeless romantic. Hazel . . . wasn’t.
But she couldn’t stop how her heartbeat quickened every time she even thought about Ethan.
What did she know? Maybe there was something real between them.
Chapter 10
There was a break in the case. Not from the police department, though. An anonymous letter was delivered to Hann’s house one morning, about a week after the murder had taken place. And the letter held more evidence than the human police department had.
But it didn’t make Hann or anyone else feel any better. And now, as Ethan stood in Hann’s kitchen that morning, reading the letter that was on the kitchen table, Ethan understood the grave faces that everyone in the house had.
Hann looked like he wanted to punch something, but his eyes held a sadness that Ethan had never seen before.
Hazel was beside Ethan, reading the letter with him. Hann had told Ethan to make sure he brought Hazel around so that she stayed involved in what was happening. As the only person that had a relationship with the human police department, Hazel was the most important person in that room. She could help both the shifters and the police find the killer.
But that letter definitely changed the game. And Hazel and Ethan both knew it.
“‘To the best alpha in the world,’” Ethan read aloud to the room, his voice quiet as the mood in the kitchen darkened exponentially. “‘I realize that you have all found the little present I have left you in the woods. A sacrifice of an innocent life, to you, Mr. Bellova. She wasn’t the plan, but when I stumbled upon her in the woods that fateful night, I knew that you would love the present I left you. I planned on attacking your lovely daughter, but I found the human to be so much more fun. After all, you’re the biggest human-lover around. I’m sure it just made you feel so delightful.
I do apologize, as I don’t want to give you my real identity. Just yet, that is. Am I one of your own, a bad seed hidden among you? Am I another shifter from around the world, coming to Maine and putting on a friendly face as I deceive you? Or am I just a rogue that came to destroy, only to find that playing games is so much more fun? I’m not sure–who am I, exactly? Do you know? And who will you tell? Your friendly humans over at that police department who are ready to execute you for the poor girl’s murder? What will you do with the knowledge that it was a shifter? Will you tell the police? Or will you hide this fact, letting the poor girl’s death never be solved? That lovely town of yours will just destroy itself from the inside out with grief. I can’t wait to see it.
Yours always and forever, when the moon is high or the sun is shining: A FRIEND.’”
Ethan stopped and looked around the room, chills running down his spine.
Yeah, this definitely changed things.
“It’s a shifter,” Ethan finally said as he stared at Ross and Hann in disbelief. “Or a rogue. All along, it’s been one of us.”
It seemed like no matter how hard he said it or thought about it, it was difficult to process. A shifter, a rogue, their species, had done this horrible act to Camilla Phillips. And now, that murderer was playing a game with them and getting off on the fact that Hann was in between a rock and a hard place.
Ethan’s blood boiled with rage and shame.
“Have there been any other clues that came with this?” Hazel interjected, referencing the letter that was still on the table, untouched. “Have you dusted it at all?”
“I checked it for fingerprints, or other DNA, when it first came in,” Ross told her, shaking his head. “Nothing was on it, other than Hann’s from when he first opened the letter. No other clues have come to light.”
Hazel nodded along with Ethan. Ross was the best detective and law and order shifter the pack had. As the lead bodyguard of Hann, he dealt with a lot of the crimes that happened with the pack. He was a pro and could find anything. If he couldn’t find a shred of a clue in that letter, no one could. Which just made the whole situation that much mo
re frustrating.
“Has the detective come across any weird clues that don’t make sense to his eyes?” Hann asked, staring at Hazel. His eyes were sad, though his voice was full of anger. Raw anger that scared the hell out of Ethan and Hazel.
“Not at all,” Hazel responded, her voice quiet as she avoided looking Hann in the face for fear that the raw anger he was putting out into the universe would somehow be directed at her.
“In fact, we have had absolutely nothing to go off of, which makes all the sense in the world now. I’m surprised I didn’t think of this earlier.”
“Shifters don’t do something like this,” Ethan interjected. “Rogues don’t either, for the most part. Killing humans, species that really can’t protect themselves from the strength and magic of a shifter, is considered the lowest thing a shifter or rogue could do. I don’t think any of us thought this could have happened.”
Ethan couldn’t understand it. He just couldn’t. This wasn’t something that shifters did–or rogues. He couldn’t wrap his head around how the situation had changed so drastically. So horribly.
Ethan saw Ross look over at Hann for just a quick second before turning back to the two. Ethan saw it, as did Hazel. What, exactly, was that look?
“Did you guys think this was at the hand of a shifter, or a rogue, before?” Hazel asked the two, confused.
“I mentioned it when we first found the body,” Ross confessed, sighing in regret and sadness. “It was just a theory, but both Hann and I quickly dismissed the idea because she was stabbed with a knife. We assumed that if a shifter did this, he or she wouldn’t have needed a weapon. All they needed was their claws or their teeth.”
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