Haven of Nightmares (Littlemoon Investigations Book 5) (15 page)

Yeah, he really HATED that.

“Can’t we just ask Trey or Bethany?” he asked. “I hate when you risk yourself.”

And their baby.

Somehow, he kept that in. That perpetual fear filled his every waking hour.

Tori wished it were that easy. Only, she was on her own. “After the run in with the darkness and Felicity, they’re empty. I’m driving this bus.”

Great
.

The look on his face said it all.

Crossing toward him, she went against his body. They stood toe to toe, and her baby bump was against his abs. Tori stared into his gold-flecked eyes.

“I need you to trust me. I need you to believe in me as your wife, mother of our daughter, and as your partner in this.”

He could see the need in her eyes. Tori had a lot to prove, not only to herself, but to him too. She was carrying the weight of their team on her shoulders.

“Okay. Go for it.”

She kissed him softly on the lips, and he took a second just to hold her. As they stood there, forehead to forehead, they regained their focus.

If his wife needed this, then he could support her, much like she always did him.

“Be careful.”

She stepped away. This was going to be hard, but she knew she could do it. Clearing her mind, she tried to focus on the motion around her.

There were whispers.

Voices.

Flashes of spirits flying by.

It was chaos.

Tori focused on the stones beneath her feet and called to them in her mind. The mayhem slowed, until she could see where they were buried.

There was a trail left by the dead.

Their energy was visible.

“Over there.”

They all glanced toward where she was pointing.

“Are you sure?” Julian asked. “How do you know that’s the place?”

Tori laughed.

“There are hands coming up through the concrete. I can see them reaching up for me when I called for them.”

“Great. First, my business was haunted, and now my wife caught it too. I hope it’s not contagious.”

That made her laugh. “Gee, Jules, how do you really feel? You realize I’m not a possession, right?”

He didn’t answer, and it was probably a good thing. Honestly, Tori didn’t want to know.

The look on his face said it all. It looked like at some point they were going to be having a conversation.

About her.

“Let’s get this over with.”

Yeah, that was for the best.

When Roman went to pick up a shovel, Julian stopped him. “You need to take a walk back to the house, Roman.”

He looked surprised.

“Why?” he asked.

“We need to dig, and the chances are that both of your sisters are beneath that slab. No one should have to experience that. No one.”

Roman went silent.

As did Matilda.

Instead of speaking, Mattie took Roman’s hand in hers. They were a unified front on this.

They were taking a stand.

“We have to do this,” she said. “We have to dig them up to bury our pasts. We need to be here.”

Julian glanced over at Tori.

She simply shrugged. She already knew who was there waiting for them, and it was most definitely Rylee, Devora, and Felicity.

She could hear them begging for help.

“Please,” pleaded Roman, “let us do this. We need the closure.”

Tori trusted her employee. Roman was really level headed. If he wanted to stay, she believed he could handle it.

“Let them stay, Jules. They know themselves better than we do. Let them be part of this. Maybe, in the end, it will be healing and cathartic.”

It was three against one, and Julian knew when to choose his battles.

So, he gave in.

Together, they all knelt around the square of concrete.

Julian had a crowbar. His plan was to pull it up in one piece, and hopefully, they wouldn’t have to take a hammer to it. He was suddenly glad his sister wasn’t there. She’d done a number on the last couple of skeletons they’d found.

“Let’s do this.”

Tori helped lift, as did Roman.

As the two men carried it away, struggling beneath the weight, Tori stared at the dirt.

“Are they talking to you?” asked Matilda. “You really can hear them, can’t you?”

“Yes, only, it’s more like screaming for me to set them free. The dead are seldom calm when they’ve been killed.”

“Was she hurt badly?” she asked.

Tori glanced up. “She didn’t suffer for long, Mattie. I wish I could lie and tell you she didn’t know what happened, but the killer scared them, and that influences their death.”

Mattie hated that. “I feel sad for them, and not just because one of them is my sister. They didn’t deserve this.”

“I agree, and so does Julian. In fact, we all do. That’s why we try to help them. Now, let’s get to work.” Tori wanted to get this over with and free the victims.

She knew this was going to be hard for them.

How could it not be?

As Matilda went to reach for dirt, Tori quickly grabbed her hand.

“Don’t!”

She jumped. “I’m sorry. I didn’t…”

Tori handed her gloves. “We’re going to have to call the police if they’re under this dirt, and the last thing we need is for our DNA on their skeletons.”

She relaxed.

“Oh, I get it.”

Tori laughed. “I was a Fed. My boss would have killed us if we touched dirt that was even twenty feet from remains. Old habits, unfortunately, die hard.”

Matilda pulled on her gloves. “What do we do?” she asked. “This is my first set of remains. I can’t imagine doing this again. At least I really hope I don’t have to do this again.”

Tori wished she could say that.

This wasn’t her hundredth set of remains.

In fact, she’d lost count a long time ago.

“We’re going to get as much dirt away from the remains as possible. We want to uncover them, but we don’t want to harm them. Anything that happened to those women will be evident, if we’re lucky.”

Before continuing, Tori wanted to give her one more shot at backing out.

“Are you sure you can do this?” she asked. “There is no shame in turning around and heading back inside. Julian and I will take care of them for you.”

Mattie shook her head.

“I can do this. It’s for my sister. It’s for Roman.”

Tori glanced over her shoulder at the two men not far away. “You like him, don’t you?”

“Maybe.”

“I think you do.”

“You realize I’m not in high school anymore, right? I don’t usually talk about the men I’m interested in with other women.”

Tori shrugged. “Everyone needs a friend. I’ve learned that over the last couple years. I was trying to be one.”

Mattie felt bad. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to snap at you. I guess I’m a little freaked out by this.”

That was a lie.

She was sick over it.

“It’s okay. This isn’t easy. I get that,” Tori offered. “I happen to think you and Roman are cute together.”

“Again, not high school.”

“Uh huh,” she said, brushing away some of the dirt.

Mattie was confused, but then she got it.

“Wait, you’re trying to distract me. This isn’t about Roman, me, or a relationship. This is about them.”

Tori kept removing handfuls of dirt and placing them on the side of the body length hole. She didn’t have to look up. She was well aware of who the
‘them’
was.

“Maybe.”

“He is sexy, right? I’m not just stupid with lust, am I?”

Tori grinned. “He looks like some sexy professor. When I first saw him a few weeks ago, I thought he was really handsome.”

“Now?” she asked.

“I think he’s a really decent guy, and that comes through. We trusted him with our biggest secret. He hasn’t let us down—at all.”

Mattie blushed. “He hasn’t changed in ten years.”

Tori checked him out. “You like that geeky, sexified teacher thing, huh?”

“I’m a librarian. You better believe it. My hot fantasies involve a sexy man reading a book.”

Tori laughed.

“Uh, why are you laughing?” Julian asked as he approached them.

“No reason. It was just girl talk.”

He knew exactly what she was probably trying to get out of the woman. Poor Matilda didn’t have a chance.

“Find anything yet?”

Tori touched a bone with her fingers. She’d excavated for the FBI, and she knew the distinct feel.

“We have someone.”

Julian and Roman crouched down beside the women to get a better look as Tori’s hand paused over the dirt.

“Her head is there.”

“Who is it?”

Tori looked up, debating on telling them.

“I’m okay,” Roman stated. “Spill it.”

“It’s Devora.”

Julian wasn’t going to ask her how she knew. He wasn’t going to say a single word. In cases like these, it was best to let the victims’ families mourn.

They watched Matilda run her gloved fingers down the skeleton’s arm. “Can I hold her hand?”

Tori helped pull it from the dirt. She didn’t see the harm. In fact, it might help them both.

“Jules, let’s give them a minute.”

They moved away to give them both some privacy. One had loved the victim, and the other was her blood.

This had to hurt.

He gave them credit for being so strong. Had it been Justin in that hole, he wouldn’t have been able to be calm.

They kept their distance but listened.

“Devora, I’m sorry you were hurt,” Matilda said. “I don’t hate you for what you did to me. I loved you more than my own life, and I’m glad that before you died, you had some peace. I miss you. I hope you can find your way across whatever is on the other side.”

She wiped her tears with the back of her other hand as she held her sister’s bony fingers in hers.

Roman knew he was next. “Devora, I’m sorry you ended up here. I’m sorry you had to lie to find happiness. You were a sweet girl. You deserved so much more than this. I forgive you too. I forgive what you stole from us.”

He didn’t touch her.

He couldn’t. She was the twin to the woman he was beginning to redevelop feelings for, and he knew he had to let the dead woman go. She’d haunted his life for far too long. It was time to move on, starting right now.

Instead, he dropped a kiss to Mattie’s forehead, offering her some peace. The second he touched her, he knew it had been a mistake.

The wind picked up.

The trees around them angrily waved.

Yeah, someone wasn’t happy that they had found the first three victims.

Now it was only a matter of figuring out who.

Tori stood behind them, protectively putting her hands on their shoulders. As she looked around, there was a mist circling the quad.

Suddenly, Tori felt the icy kiss of Bethany’s lips touching her cheek. She could relax. Her spirit was there, and they would be okay.

The wind died down.

“What happened?” Julian asked.

“Bethany is here. She’s handling it. I say we make her life easier, and you call the police. We’re going to turn the victims over to them.”

Roman was surprised. “Should we do that?”

Tori pointed at him. “We don’t have a choice. You’re the issue.”

“Me?” he looked surprised.

“You were a suspect in their disappearance. The second we dug them up, with you standing here, you became a suspect again.”

Julian agreed. “We can’t say a ghost told us.”

“Oh.” Now he got it.

Yeah, he was beginning to see how tricky this might be after all.

“No cops will believe that we stumbled upon them after you arrived yesterday and let us start today. We’ve pointed this right back at you. By trying to be sneaky, tricky, or lie, we’re digging the hole. You won’t get out from beneath it.”

He didn’t want that.

He liked being outside of a jail.

Not inside.

“You make a very good point.”

She was glad he saw it that way. “From here on out, you’re going to have to trust me.”

Tori glanced at Julian. “You too.”

“Wait! Why me? What are you going to do, Victoria Rose?” he asked, his voice filled with panic.

“I’m going to call the cops and tell them the truth.”

“Which is?”

“That I found the bodies because I’m psychic.”

Oh, holy shit!