Haven of Nightmares (Littlemoon Investigations Book 5) (36 page)

Tori laughed. “I can’t escape the kiss-y face. It’s everywhere.”

“Do I want to know?” Julian asked.

“Trust me, you don’t. The things going on in my head would freak you right out.”

“More than I am now?”

“Hell yeah. You wouldn’t have one ulcer. You’d have twenty of them.”

Yeah, in that case, he didn’t want to know.

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

He was watching the news.

Reading the paper.

Scanning online.

It was all over the reports. The body he’d left in the citadel had been found, and they were distracted. He fully expected the Littlemoons and Roman Remington to bail by the end of the day. It was only a matter of time before they ran.

He would.

Who could blame them?

As he sat there, planning what he was going to do next, he heard a noise from upstairs.

“Baby, is that you?”

There was no reply.

Getting up, he headed toward their bedroom. She was probably still asleep. They’d both had one hell of a long night, and he didn’t blame her for trying to catch up.

He wanted to join her too.

As he stood in the bedroom doorway, he watched her snuggled up in the bed. He couldn’t help himself. He was going to risk waking her.

He simply had to give her a kiss.

“I love you,” he whispered, leaving a gentle peck on the forehead. “The spell you gave me is going to work. We’ll get rid of them, and we can live happily ever after.”

When she didn’t stir, he tucked the blanket around her even tighter.

With that, he headed out to do some up close and personal spying.

Town gossip was always the best.

He was going to use it to his advantage.

Chapter Twenty

Thursday Mid-Morning

They were about to head out when Julian heard his name being called. Glancing toward the front gate, there stood Richard Wellbury. While he wanted to blow the man off, he knew they’d made a deal.

“I have to talk to him,” stated Julian.

Heading his way, Julian could see the gleam of joy on his face. Yeah, the man was enjoying this a little too much.

His wife was definitely going to kick his ass for dealing with the devil. While she may have known about that, she didn’t know that he’d promised two more stories to pay the debt.

Yeah, he was in so much trouble.

To make it even worse, it looked like the cat was out of the bag. He could feel her eyes, Roman’s, and even Mattie’s on his back.

“What did you find?” he asked the man through the fence.

“Just a lead.”

Julian waited for it. “Well?”

“I’d really like for you to tell my reporter friends here that I’m helping you.”

He really wanted to punch the man in the face, but unfortunately, they were desperately fighting for Roman’s freedom. Now wasn’t the time to get angry.

Julian would save that for later.

Then he’d make Richard Wellbury pay. If anything, for making him play nice with the media. That pissed him off the most. The Littlemoons didn’t kowtow to the pressure.

“Fine.”

He had no choice.

“Yes, Richard Wellbury is helping us.”

The media went nuts.

“Now?” he asked.

Richard Wellbury passed him a piece of paper, and then lowered his voice. “The explanation is on the paper. See you later.”

With that, he headed out.

Julian ignored the rest of the questions from the reporters, who were hanging out at the gate. Granted, there weren’t many, but still…

As he unfolded the paper, he read what Richard had written.

‘Littlemoon,

Look for a man by the name of Marshal Paul. He tried to buy this business from the Remington’s for the land a few times. He’s been hounding Roman too. They’re best buddies. Ask him.

RW.’

Julian still hated the man, even if he gave them a good lead. He was definitely trying to make Roman look bad, and that didn’t fly with him.

They trusted their employee.

As he approached the car, Tori was waiting. The look on her face said it all. “What the hell does he want?”

Roman almost wanted to watch Tori kick his ass.

“He gave us a lead.”

“What’s that going to cost us? Our immortal souls? I know you said he was helping, but he’s like a vampire waiting to suck the blood out of us when we’re not looking. I know he wasn’t helping us out of the goodness of his heart. He doesn’t have one.”

They loaded into their ride with Mattie following in her vehicle behind them.

“I made an executive call, and we’re doing a deal.”

She stared at him.

Then she started laughing.

“Oh, okay, boss man. You made this one, so I’ll obey like an employee and not your wife—who, by the way, owns a portion of this business and the clusterfuck that’s coming.”

Roman knew this was going to get ugly.

Julian was a dead man.

Tori didn’t curse all that much. More often than not, she simply stayed quiet.

She was flushing red—much like her hair.

He didn’t want to be in the vehicle for the bloodshed. So, like a fellow man, who knew Julian was close to losing his balls to a pregnant woman, he intervened.

“Uh, we don’t have much time. Who did he find?”

Julian headed down the drive and to the gate. “Who is Marshal Paul?”

That surprised him.

“That’s some land developer who wants this land to build condos.”

“Our friend Dick thinks he’s involved.”

“Well, he can have the place.”

“That’s neither here nor there. Maybe you should have told us about him sooner?” Julian stated. “Right, Tori?”

“You’re the boss. I’m not getting involved in this. I’m a minion—not your partner.”

He glared at her. “Really? Now you decide to let me run this mess?”

She wanted to laugh, but she managed to keep a straight face.

“Yes, boss man.”

There was a time to cave, and there was a time to make her husband pay for being an ass.

This was that time.

Julian sighed. “Fine. Roman, when did this guy first approach your father?”

He thought about it, all the while glancing back to make sure Mattie had cleared the crazies surrounding the gate. “I think it was right around when Rylee and the other girls went missing. I might be wrong.”

They were definitely going to check up on it. This late in the game, they couldn’t leave anything to chance.

“We’re going to drop you off,” stated Julian, as he watched almost all of the tails following them and not Mattie as she headed in the opposite direction.

“Tell me I’m not going in there to never come out,” Roman said, out of the blue.

Tori wouldn’t let that happen. “You’ll have a guardian angel. Don’t stress it.”

He lifted a brow.

“Who?”

The radio popped to life.

“Ready. To. Raise. Hell?”

“Is that a good idea?” Roman asked. “We don’t need chains rattling and chairs moving.”

Tori laughed. “He’ll behave. You’ll just know that if they try to lock you up, he’ll pop the lock and help you escape.”

“Escape. From. Alcatraz. On. The. Lam.”

“Tori!” Julian objected.

“What? He’s only kidding. We all know that Trey can only manifest on a radio. As long as there’s none there, he should be good.”

“I. Can. Move. Small. Things.”

The keys dangling from the ignition rattled.

“Trey, you’re not helping,” she stated.

Julian had to let it go. If he didn’t, he’d lose his mind. It was better to hope and pray for the best.

“We’re here.”

“Hang in there, Roman. Hop a ride back with Mattie. You’re both going to need to decompress.”

He hoped that was the case.

Orange wasn’t his favorite color.

The thought nearly made him freak out.

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

Yes, they felt horrible for dumping him there and heading out without him. If they had stayed, the police station would have been a circus, and that would have made it far worse for Roman.

That was the last thing they wanted to do.

At this point, they were forced to trust Detective Rose. He said he had their backs, and now it was time to prove it.

So, as they headed away from the precinct, they lost all their remaining tails.

It looked like Roman was the one they were focused on at the moment.

“We should call the school.”

He agreed.

“Are you really angry with me?”

“Yes.”

He glanced over. “Tori, it was a split second decision. It wasn’t to offend or hurt you.”

“We’re a team, Julian. We need to behave like one. You made the deal, but you should have told me. You mentioned the bare minimum for a reason. I didn’t like that he was helping, but I really hate that we’re in his debt. He’s a worm. You know I support your decisions, but that’s no reason to leave me out of it.”

She was right.

“I’m sorry.”

Tori let it go. “I just needed you to know how I feel about it. We’re done discussing it.”

Well, now he did.

“I won’t do it again, partner.”

She took his hand in hers. “I’ll call the school and see if we can see Alexis O’Connell.”

He listened as she called, working her magic. Tori was damn good at playing official investigator from years of being a Fed. She had whoever was on the phone eating out of the palm of her hand.

When she hung up, she smiled. “We have an hour, and that’s all. We lucked out.”

It was about time. “Why?”

“She’s the vice principal, and the second she heard about us looking for the killer, she was more than willing to help.”

Great.

Their luck was looking up.

Pulling into the school, they were met by a security guard. He led them through the halls to the principal’s office.

“Wait here,” he stated before disappearing through the door.

“This brings back memories,” Tori stated.

He glanced over. “Really?”

“Trey and I went to ten different schools over the years. We didn’t fit in. He was the redheaded boy, and I was the tomboy sister. We got into a lot of trouble. You know how it is.”

He didn’t.

Julian slid under the radar, avoiding all conflict. Justin was the same. They didn’t mesh well with the outsiders, but that didn’t mean they wanted to provoke them either. It was tough enough being Native in an all-white school. They had bussed the Rez kids all over the place to force integration.

He hoped that didn’t happen to his kids.

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay. I’m happy I have him back, even if it’s like this.”

He was about to comment when the door opened and the security guard left, leaving a small older woman standing there.

“Mr. and Mrs. Littlemoon, please come in and have a seat.”

Yeah, she looked like so many of the principals she’d encountered over the years.

“Thank you for seeing us, ma’am.”

“It’s my pleasure. If I can help solve this, I want nothing more. It’s a travesty,” she said, sitting behind the desk. “Now, what can I do?”

They both knew the woman really didn’t have a choice. Her school was in the spotlight, and she had to keep it positive.

“We need to ask you some questions about a few of the teachers you worked with at Remington,” Julian stated.

“Oh, ask away.”

“What can you tell us about Benzian Hansen?”

“He was a tough man. He came here after the school closed, and then he opted to retire for a new career. I can’t blame him. He has this wonderfully sweet wife and family to support. Lisa Hansen is a doll. They were made for each other.”

Tori made notes.

“What was his interaction with the students, particularly the ones who had gone missing?”

“He was tough on everyone. Think of him like a drill sergeant in gym shorts. It was like boot camp most days. You can’t imagine.”

“Actually, I was a soldier. I recall boot camp like it was yesterday. You don’t forget people screaming at you as you carry a forty pound ruck sack uphill in a monsoon.”

“Oh dear. He wasn’t that bad.”

She figured.

Tori wanted to put it in perspective so they didn’t get the wrong idea. “Did he yell a lot?”

“Only if a student wasn’t pulling his or her weight. As for seeing the six girls who you found, he had all of them in his class. Right before Remington closed, he married his wife, settled in, and they’re happy.”

Tori made notes. “Did he ever act inappropriately toward anyone?”

“Oh, no he didn’t. He was a good teacher. He cared, maybe a little too much. That’s why he gave up teaching. It burned him out. When he quit, the world lost a good teacher. God knows there are not enough of them out there.”

Julian thought back to his anger at the gym.

“Did he ever explode in a rage?”

“Never. He was always happy, smiling, and doing his job. He loved his students.”

“Who didn’t do a good job?” Tori asked, sensing the
‘but’
coming in the woman’s answer.

“I hate to talk bad about people.”

Julian and Tori glanced at each other. Whenever someone said that, it meant the opposite. They had a gossiper, and they knew it.

Tori was going to use this to their advantage.

“We heard August Barnes was another good teacher. Remington got lucky when they hired him.” A little reverse psychology could work to their advantage.

Her face said it all.

It looked like she had sucked on a lemon, seeds, and all.

“He was anything but.”