Haven of Nightmares (Littlemoon Investigations Book 5) (22 page)

Roman didn’t even flinch.

“Are you okay, son?” Julian asked.

“No. She can’t be near me. I’ll hurt her. I’m a Remington, and I’m cursed.”

Beau patted him on the back.

They sympathized with him.

“You don’t have a choice. If this is your mother, and she’s angry, she already thinks Devora is alive. Who the hell knows what happens when you die? It must twist you up. Your mother is confused. By walking away, you’re risking her.”

“She got hurt.
Again
. I can’t keep doing this to her. I can’t risk her. I didn’t keep her sister safe, but I can keep her safe.”

“Not like this.”

Julian knew he was talking to a wall. He needed to calm the man down before they could go any further. “We have a job to do. Are you up for it, or do you want to head home?”

“Just keep her away from me so I don’t get her hurt. I’ll do the job, but then I’m gone. I’m going away where no one knows me. I can’t do this anymore. I just can’t. I thought I finally escaped my past. I believed I was free, and now I’m sucked back in. This place will be the death of me.”

Julian knew it was time to play this more like a father than a boss.

“Okay. I understand. How about we interview your groundskeeper today? We’ll leave the women and Beau to play investigators here.”

He nodded. “Okay.”

It was for the best, even if it hurt. The further from Mattie he was, the better.

“I saw your groundskeeper as we were creeping onto the grounds. He was out and about early.”

Roman looked up. “He doesn’t work today. He wouldn’t be here.”

Julian glanced over at his brother-in-law. “You didn’t happen to get a good look, did you?”

He shook his head. “No, but it was a man. He was creeping around in the shadows.”

“Tell Tori. You guys need to investigate that area.”

“Okay, boss.”

“Come on, Roman. Let’s get you changed and take a little trip out of here. It’ll do you good.”

Roman didn’t believe that.

Nothing would do him good.

Only Mattie could heal what was broken in him, and he couldn’t be near her.

The price was too high—
her life
.

Chapter Twelve

Thursday Morning

Town—Haven

After Roman had gotten changed, they headed out. He wasn’t saying much, and Julian couldn’t blame him. While he really believed that this relationship mire wasn’t his business, he knew that Tori wanted him to dig into it.

Great
.

The things he did for love.

Once you got married, you gave up the right to make your own decisions. His wife was driving the bus, and he wanted her to be happy.

As they drove through the gate, the reporters went wild. Julian had been seen, and now it was going to be a free for all. It wouldn’t take long for the world to know where he and Tori were. He couldn’t wait to see what the news said about this one in the morning.

The rumor mill was going to be full steam ahead.

“Want some coffee?” Julian asked, as they were headed into town. His navigational system was chirping out the directions to Elbert Barber’s home.

“No, thank you.”

“Okay.”

Roman glanced over. “I’m sorry that I’m leaving the job after this. I never flake on a career, but I can’t do it. My heart is conflicted and not fully into it. You deserve better from an employee.”

Julian shrugged.

It was apparent that Roman didn’t realize that he was far more than someone they paid.

He was family.

“We care about you, and we want you to be happy. If it’s not as an investigator, then you shouldn’t do it. You probably weren’t cut out for this anyway.”

“What?” Roman said, glancing over at him. “Why do you say that?”

“You’re too easy going. Plus, let’s call a spade a spade, Roman. You’re quitting. Next to police work, investigating is hard. You have very little to go on, and you have to get your client the answers they’re paying for. You should go back to reporting. It’s an easier gig.”

Julian hoped this worked.

Roman closed his mouth and didn’t say anything.

“Since this is your last case with us, if you need to talk it out, I’ll listen. For the record, we’ll miss you, Roman.”

His heart skipped.

He was losing everything.

“Why do you care?”

“Because you’re family. We protect our own.”

That struck a chord in him.

“The second I saw her ten years ago, I was in love. I fell for Matilda so hard, and I hurt her. I was so obsessed with dating this hot girl, that I never realized that Devora had taken her place. I broke her heart and abandoned her.”

Julian wanted to point out that he was doing that again, but he had to let Roman work through this on his own. He’d figure it out.

He had faith.

“Yeah, that was misfortunate.”

“What are you thinking, Julian?”

“You don’t want to know.”

“I think I do.”

“Okay, but don’t say I didn’t warn you. You unknowingly ditched her before, but now you’re doing it on purpose. Back then, fate screwed with you. This stunt makes you more of an asshole than anything else.”

“You know that you’re kicking me when I’m down, right?”

“Just like you did to her? When you were out cold, you didn’t hear her begging you to save her. She put it all on the line and trusted you. To find that kind of trust…it’s a blessing. She crawled to you and wept. You didn’t see her fear. We did. You’re throwing it away, and that makes you an asshole.”

He didn’t say anything.

“You wanted to know. This one is on you.”

“The job is just a job, but you’ve made the choice to hurt not only you, but her. You’re throwing away love, and you don’t get many second chances in life.”

“I can’t see her hurt.”

“Roman, she’s in danger. That’s the truth. We might not be able to stop it, but you can protect her. You can fight by her side instead of being a giant chicken and running.”

“Ouch.”

Hey!

He wanted the truth.

“I ran once. Tori hurt me and I walked away. I let my stubbornness nearly destroy us both. Think about it. If this ghost takes her out, do you want her last moments to be you hurting her? Or do you want them to be of you fighting with all you have to save her?”

He closed his eyes.

“I feel so broken inside. I feel…empty.”

“Let her fill you up. It’s the way to heal.”

They pulled into a driveway of a tiny old house. “We’re here. It’s time for me to do my job. I have to protect my wife, our child, and the rest of the team.”

“Julian.”

“No, Roman, I’m not going to take it easy on you. I put it all on the line for you when I hired you. I believed you were a standup guy, and now I look like an asshole too.”

Julian got out of his vehicle and heard Roman do the same. He couldn’t help but smile. He was getting through to him. He still had faith in the man.

Tough love always worked.

It just took time.

Once Roman saw past the meltdown, he’d be fine.

He had to believe it.

       
         
* * *
  L   i   t   t   l  e  m  o  o  n  * * *

Remington Academy

When they finally calmed Mattie down, she had some coffee and was ready to go. The woman was a fighter. She was tough, scrappy, and she didn’t give up.

Tori had to give her credit.

Oh, she was hurting, but she wasn’t running. For that, Tori had to give her props. It wasn’t easy to focus on the mess when your own life was hanging in the balance.

As they got ready to start working, there was a voice calling from downstairs. Detective Rose had arrived, and he was bearing gifts.

Tori yelled down to him. When he appeared in the doorway, Tori offered him some coffee.

“Where’s the rest of your team?” he asked, and then he pointed at the two new people.

“This is my brother Beau, and his fiancée, Nyx Nightingale. They work for us.”

He shook their hands. “It’s a pleasure.”

“What happened to the big chandelier downstairs?” he asked.

Tori wasn’t surprised. It was hard to miss it embedded in the floor. So, she told him.

Hart whistled. “I’m glad you’re okay, ma’am.”

Mattie wasn’t. She hurt so badly that she almost wished the light took her out. She missed Roman in the worst way.

“Julian and Roman are interviewing the groundskeeper. We had some issues last night and this morning.”

“Care to share? I am a cop.”

If that’s what he really wanted, Tori was good with it. The more the merrier in this mess.

She told him about the person creeping around before dawn, and the ghost they suspected to be Roman’s mother, Betty.

“This is completely insane for me. Are you okay, Matilda?” he asked.

She nodded.

It was a lie.

Everything about this sucked, but she had to find out who killed her sister. Roman or not, when life handed you lemons, you made lemonade.

Right?

She wasn’t a quitter like her mother. She would stick. Then, when it was over, she’d leave. Roman would never find her—not that he’d ever come looking.

He’d made that crystal clear to everyone in the room.

“Well, I have the ME reports on the bones. The ID’s are confirmed, and they were the three women. Please convey to Mr. Remington that I’m sorry for his loss,” he offered, knowing this had to be hard.

“We will,” Tori replied. “What killed them?”

He expected her to ask that.

“Here’s the issue. There’s no tissue, so no toxicology, and they weren’t strangled. The ME found one nick to the bone in the spine right where the carotid artery falls. He’s thinking they had their throats sliced.”

She thought about it. “Three bound women, at once, and they were bled out? That’s very ritualistic.”

He was aware.

“That’s interesting you said that, because when I heard three and bound, I thought the same thing. In fact, I had the ME’s team check. They found herbs in the dirt with the bodies, which means they may have been sprinkled on them.”

Nyx was curious. “What kind?”

“Bayberry, sweet pea, and Bay.”

Nyx thought about it.

“What’s going on up there?” asked Tori, pointing at Nyx’s head.

“Those are the top three things used in a love spell.”

The detective looked at her. “Are you a witch?”

She laughed. “No, I own a psychic shop, but I used to have a few customers who were Wiccan. They would talk, and I would listen.”

He looked relieved.

“So we have nine dead women, five years apart going back ten years, and herbs used in a love spell. This is getting weirder and weirder,” stated Tori.

“You aren’t kidding,” Detective Rose stated. “I’ve stalled my boss, trying to keep as much of this buried, but I won’t have long, Tori. If you’re going to do your hoodoo, you best get going with it.”

She laughed. “It’s not quite like that. My spirits are roaming around trying to get the dead to talk. Then they come back to me.”

“So weird,” he said, laughing.

“I am well aware. What we need are suspects. So far, we may have a lock on the angry spirit that’s keeping the dead trapped here, but that’s not the main case. We need to find the killer to stop this soul sucking vacuum.”

He agreed.

Tori pulled out her phone. As she dialed Beckett’s number, she knew he might be asleep.

When he answered, he sounded wide-awake. “What do you have?” she asked, referring to the search she asked him and Claire to handle.

“Well, using social media, the local school’s website, and the information that Roman sent us on the past teachers, we found a few that might interest you.”

She put it on speaker. “Shoot.”

“The first name that popped is Benzian Hansen. He was a gym teacher at Remington, and the other school, but only for a little while. He now owns a gym in town and caters to adults.”

She made notes. “Next?”

“August Barnes taught lit at Remington, and then he was a teacher at the local school. Was being the operative word.”

“What happened?” Tori asked.

“It seems word got out that he was having a little dalliance with a student who was eighteen. Even though he ended up marrying her, once he was found out, the new school didn’t renew his tenure.”

“They fired him?”

“Pretty much. He wasn’t really happy, especially since he’s been married to the ex-Remington student for nine years.”

“Where is he now?”

“Oh, he’s right there in Haven. He works as a private tutor to students. In fact, he has a house less than a mile from your location. Fun fact, huh?”

She laughed. “For us, but I’m thinking it won’t be for him when we interrogate him and his child bride.”

Beckett knew that Tori loathed when women, or children, in this case, were hurt by older men.

“Anyone else?”

“No more men, but I did find a woman who was a teacher at Remington, and she is currently employed at the new school.”

“Who?” she asked.

“Alexis O’Connell.” He rattled off her information so Tori could make notes.

“Thank you for some excellent research,” Tori said. “You give Christina a run for her money. Speaking of the woman, do we have a baby yet?”

He laughed. “I don’t believe so. I talked to Kane last night and he said she was having contractions.”

“Was he freaked out?”

“That’s an understatement. I think he’s collecting shoelaces and clean towels in case the baby has to be delivered at home.”

Tori snorted. “That sounds about right.”

“Is there anything else I can do?” Beckett asked. “We’re heading into the office in a bit.”

Tori thought about it. “Roman mentioned there was an online school yearbook. I remember having my picture in mine, and a cute little paragraph dedicated to all my friends. Dig around online and see if you can find anything out about the three girls, and who they hung with.”

“Can do, boss. Talk to you later!”

He hung up.

“Wow, it must be nice to have people to do your research when you make a call. I have to do my own.”

“Then you need to quit your job and work as a PI. We have all the perks,” she teased.

He wasn’t sure if she was kidding, or not.

“Where are we starting first?” Beau asked.

“I’m concerned about that person creeping around the campus before dawn. Can you take us back out there and show me where you were?”