Haven of Nightmares (Littlemoon Investigations Book 5) (39 page)

Tori wasn’t shocked.

Her mother was crazy.

Beau had chosen sides, and Shelby wouldn’t like being pushed out of the spotlight in her son’s life—even if she deserved it. In fact, their biological mother was a train wreck when it came to making shitty choices that hurt her kids.

“Hire someone to clean the place, and we’ll cover the bill,” Julian offered. “I don’t want Nyx stressed over this. Not now. She has her own issues to worry about.” And she did. She’d lost her gift, and she didn’t need this shitty behavior.

“Well, that’s the other part of this. I’m afraid it’s about to get worse.”

Julian closed his eyes. It was funny how this started to be the turning point, and all of a sudden, it was going downhill, and fast.

“What?”

“The police had to notify the landlord of the break in.”

“And?”

“They’re out at the end of this month. He doesn’t want
‘troublemakers’
on his property. They’ve got a couple days to find a new place.”

It was getting worse and worse.

“Can he do that? Call our attorney…”

“I did, Jules. They don’t have a lease. It’s some old couple, and they don’t want trouble. Shelby is trouble with a capital T.”

Tori wanted to hurt her.

No, she wanted to go to the hotel her mother was hiding in and drag her into the streets by her red hair. There, she wanted to kick the shit out of her for hurting them.

All she ever did was hurt her kids.

Enough was enough.

Before she could say anything, they heard Vivian in the background.

“My wife wants to suggest something,” Justin stated. “I think it’s a good idea.”

They were up for anything at that point.

“Hey, guys,” she said. “I have something in mind, but I wanted to run it by you first.”

“What?”

“Justin and I have his place, so we don’t need my brownstone. It seems silly to keep both places running. It’s not a secured building, but I’m the owner, and I don’t care if you put in security or anything else.”

“I’m sure my brother would be happy to rent from you,” Tori stated.

“You’ve misunderstood me, Tor, I want to give it to them. We can call it a wedding gift. The place never felt right after I got married. I feel better in Justin’s place. That’s our home.”

“Oh, Viv, I love you. When I get home, I’m kissing you. It’s going to be one hell of one too!”

Justin began laughing. “I’ll have the camera ready, Army. You better use ton…”

Then he sucked in a breath.

Apparently, his wife hit him.

“Thank you,” Tori said, laughing at her brother-in-law. “I appreciate that you both are doing this.”

“You’re our sister,” Justin hissed. “Who, might I add, taught my wife to abuse me. That’s not fair, or right.”

“Okay, so while Justin tries to find his spleen, what else is going on?”

Vivian laughed. “Other than that mess, it’s normal business crap. We have that under control. That’s the good news.”

“And the bad?”

“We’re behind on your searches. Beckett and Claire are out in the field. We had a fornicator hooking up with his mistress at the last moment. Kane is out, and Lena is down with the flu. I think it’s the bar kind, but she was puking and we sent her home. I don’t need that, and we didn’t think you wanted potential clients greeted with it when they walked in.”

No, they didn’t.

“We do have information on one of your names. We started running him through the IRS, and only had one Gene Gentry pop up.”

“That’s the guy who helped Roman’s mom run the place.”

“Yep, and he lives just outside of town. Maybe twenty five minutes away.”

Great.

They could start there.

“We’ll keep working on the rest, but don’t expect them in the next hour.”

As if on cue, the phone rang in the office. They could hear Justin handling it.

“We need more people,” stated Vivian. “Unless you’re opening a daycare here, we’re going to have Chrissy out on maternity, and as she’s coming back, you’re going out.”

“I have that covered,” Tori stated.

“You do?”

“I already hired and planned it out,” Tori stated, much to her surprised husband.

“What?” asked Vivian. “You did? What are you planning on doing?”

“I’m hiring Clarissa to babysit.”

Julian stared at her. “She lives over two hours away. That’s one hell of a drive to drop off and pick up our kids.”

“Yeah, about that, Jules. Surprise, babe, we’re buying the building across the street, and she’s moving in.”

Julian stared at his wife. “Victoria! No, we’re really not! Having my mother that close is going to be…”

“To be what?” she asked. “Beneficial? Opportune?”

“Hell!” Julian and Justin said at the same time.

Tori laughed.

It was too damn bad. Who better than a grandmother to watch their kids? All of them. She was safe, loved babies, and they all trusted her.

Besides…

This was his payback for making the deal with the reporter, and he knew it.

Tori wasn’t above retaliation.

He should learn that.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Haven Police

Station

He knew he was screwed.

When he came back to his desk, everyone was talking, and it was all about him. To them, he’d dropped the ball. In actuality, he was being a damn good cop.

Everhart wouldn’t toss an innocent man to the wolves when it was clear he didn’t do the deed.

He couldn’t do it.

His conscious wouldn’t let him.

No matter what the boss did to him, threatening to fire him, or throwing him back on patrol, he wouldn’t tarnish his shield. He’d earned it, and that mattered.

He had people who looked up to him.

Hart had responsibilities.

Everhart couldn’t go home at night, look into the face of the one he loved, and pretend it was all in a day’s work.

Integrity mattered.

His integrity mattered more than closing a case.

As he sat there, he could hear the approach of his boss. His gut reacted to it.

This was bad.

His hand was shaking.

“Detective Rose, in my office.”

Everhart was making a stand.

Here.

Now.

For every innocent person framed and tried in the media, he was going to make it right.

Or at least he was trying.

“If you have something to say to me, respectfully, sir, you can do it right here. You can tear me down in front of every suspect, detective, and cop in this room. I’m not going into your office so you can say things where there are no witnesses to what goes down.”

The man turned red.

Hart wasn’t done.

“I asked Roman Remington every single thing I could think of, and you know what, Captain? He has an alibi. He came back here to make it right, and we can’t prove otherwise. I’m not going to bend, break, or darken the law so you can have some media off your ass. We’re cops. We don’t make the rules, we uphold them.”

Detective Lewis was staring at him as if he’d lost his mind, and maybe he had.

Hart was getting angry.

Enough was enough.

If he was going down, it was by his own choices. He was the master of his destiny. There was nothing worse in life than having someone else throw you a curveball and control how you had to handle it.

“If you want to fire me, do it. I’ll have a lawsuit so huge that this town will need to borrow from China to pay it off. I’m a good cop with an exemplary record, and I won’t throw an innocent man in jail.”

“I didn’t ask you to do that.”

“Yes, you did. You told me to end this or my job was over. You didn’t have to imply, you said it. I’m doing my best. I’m working six homicides that date back ten years, plus the three missing and suspected dead girls too. I’m sorry if the parent of one of them has you so tied up in knots that you’re buckling under the pressure.”

“Excuse me, Detective?”

“This case will be solved, and it will be on the right timeline. I’m not doing a shitty job because you’re pissed that a reporter called you incompetent. You’re not. You’re weak. I’ll face the media and my record will stand. Now, if you don’t mind, I’m going to get back to work. Feel free to review my interrogation and create a list of questions that you think I should have asked. I’ll be more than happy to do so. Legally.”

With that, Hart grabbed his blazer, clipped his gun back onto his hip, and walked away.

“Where the hell are you going?” his boss shouted. “Get back here and into my office!”

“I’m going to go do my damn job, like you told me,” he said back, refusing to look at the man.

His job was over.

His career was tanked.

He had a family to support, and he’d thrown it away. Hart prayed it was worth it.

He prayed it was the right thing to do.

He really needed fate to intervene.

And fast.

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

Across Town

Roman needed to think.

He couldn’t believe what had happened. A part of him wanted to laugh, and the other half wanted to cry.

Why?

It was all moving too fast.

Yes, he loved Mattie. He knew she was the one, but he had a terrible track record. Everyone he loved had died in some horrible way, and he wasn’t quite ready to risk her. If he lost her, he was as good as gone too.

His father.

His mother.

His sister.

Devora.

They were all gone.

If he married Mattie, was he going to wake up one day and find her missing too?

Could he live with that?

Could he face the day without her now that he’d found her again? Yes, he wanted to marry her.

Only, he was scared.

This was moving so fast.

As he walked through the main part of town, he simply needed to clear his head. Roman hated that he’d walked away from her again. Correction—he’d stolen her car and took off.

Even better.

There was no way she’d forgive him.

Could he blame her?

As he approached a park, he remembered going there with Devora when they were teens. They’d jump the gates and sneak out. They would swing on the swings, and then make out until he thought he’d die inside.

She’d been aloof.

A tease.

She’d made him work for it, but Mattie never did. She loved him enough to stand in front of him and ask the most important question in the world.

She was brave.

So much braver than he was, and the fact that he was there at that moment was the proof. She didn’t run.

He did.

As he was sitting there, a shadow fell across him on the old bench.

When he glanced up, he saw a familiar face. He’d asked about this man earlier, and here he was.

“Roman?”

“Chase?”

Well, this was one hell of a coincidence.

“Hey! It’s good to see you, buddy!”

The men embraced.

“This is my wife, Suzie. We live over there,” he said, pointing at the house across the street. “While I was in med school, Suzie and I bought it, and we’re finally settling in.”

“Chase, I didn’t expect to see you! I’m glad I did, but wow! Talk about ESP!”

“Were you looking for me?”

He shook his head. “I just asked your brother about you less than an hour ago. This is just one hell of a coincidence! I needed to clear my head and took a walk.”

The man sat down. “Want to talk about it?”

Roman laughed. This whole thing was insane. This man, now a doctor, had been the biggest reprobate they knew. He was the bad boy, and he didn’t ‘talk’. He simply acted.

“I don’t know.”

“I’m a good listener.”

Roman glanced over at the man’s wife. “It’s about women.”

Suzie took that as her cue. “I’ll head back. See you there, baby,” she said, kissing her husband. “Don’t be late. We have to figure out what we’re doing tonight.” Then, she focused on Roman. “It was a pleasure to meet you. I’m sorry about what’s going on in town.”

Yeah, so was he.

When Suzie was gone, Roman figured he should start the conversation. It felt weird talking about his problems with someone he hadn’t seen in over ten years.

Small talk would be less difficult.

“Did you go to med school far from here?”

“No. I did my undergraduate here, and then I went to the next town over for med school. I was able to commute, and that worked for me.”

“Harry said you’re a podiatrist,” Roman stated.

“Yes, I am.”

Roman stared at him. “I would have thought gynecologist was more up your alley.”

Chase patted him on the back. “You know, I did that rotation, and it felt weird. I was married by then, and a happy man doesn’t stare at vaginas if he wants to remain married. It makes the wife crazy.”

“Good point.”

“How’d you meet your wife?” Roman asked. “She looks crazy about you.”

He grinned. “It was this magical moment. I walked into the coffee shop, and there she was. I liked that she wasn’t from the school. The women there were…”

“Vain? Shallow? Devora-like?” he offered.

“Yeah, exactly. Now, you look like hell. Want to talk about it?”

He shrugged.

“Okay, well, let me say this.”

Roman waited for it.

“If it’s about women, you’re screwed. We never do the right thing because we think too much or too little. So, which is it in your case?”

Roman knew that he was right. “Too much.”

“Yeah, that sounds like you. There was never a moment where you could just jump in.”

“I did with Devora.”

Chase laughed. “Yeah, see how that worked out?”

He patted him on the back.

“Honestly, she just asked me to marry her.”

“And?”

“I want to, but look at my life.” Why he was telling Chase Weber, reformed troublemaker this, he had no idea.

“Your life isn’t so bad. It could be worse.”

“Could it?”

“Heck yeah! At least you have a girl. That’s the hard part of this. Find the girl, fall in love, and then get married.”

“It’s Devora’s sister.”

He started laughing.

It said it all.

“Oh, Roman, you always did like making things hard. You followed Devora around like a puppy. She had you on a short leash. You are a masochist, my friend. Seriously.”

Yeah, he knew it.

Then, he wanted pussy.

Now…he wanted Mattie. Somehow, he believed he deserved this.

At one point, he was a horny teen, enjoying the spoils of that time of his life. Had he known what was coming in the future, he would have chosen better.

Now he wanted more.

“If she makes you happy, marry her. Look at my life. I was a mess, and your father helped put me on the right path. I got my education, I got my trust fund, and I became me.”

“You aren’t the killer, are you?”

He stared laughing. “Wow, that was right to the point and a very awkward question.”

Roman stared at him.

“You’re going to have to trust your gut, bro. I think you know that.”

He wished he could.

This whole thing had him upside down.

“We were close growing up. You were the only family Harrison and I had. We were like brothers.”

He recalled.

“If you need to talk, you know where I live. I know it’s the same with Harrison.” He rattled off his and his brother’s address. “We’re here for you.”

Roman hugged him.

“Thanks. I think I know what I’m going to do.”

“Great, man. Keep in touch.”

Roman was glad his old friend had found him. It helped him work through it. If someone like Chase Weber could turn his life around, so could he.

He had a plan.

Now it was time to work on it.

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

Tori and Julian were almost there.

It was a pleasant drive.

They grabbed some fast food, and that was more than okay with Tori. Veronica liked French fries.

She couldn’t blame her.

Who didn’t love potatoes?

Better yet, deep fried ones were a treat she didn’t often splurge on every week. Tori had to keep in shape. There was no way she wanted to be killing herself to get her body back. That would suck.

“I really wish you wouldn’t do this séance tonight,” Julian stated out of the blue. “I have this bad feeling.”

She glanced over at him.

“I have to do it. If Nyx was here, she’d be handling it, but now I have to run this crazy circus.”