Heroes of Falledge Book One: Black Hellebore (13 page)

Looney Louie inhaled the food, sloshing down bread and crackers with orange juice, and cramming the hot rotisserie chicken in as fast as he could. When he finished eating a carton of yogurt using his fingers as a spoon, Nicholas said, "You could eat like that all the time if you get a job."

The man grunted and shoved another slice of bread into his mouth.

"I can help you get one." Nicholas's mind raced. Not with the construction, Looney Louie couldn't handle it. Maybe Julianna could help. Surely she would.

"Don't need." Looney Louie reached for the donut.

Nicholas held it out of reach. "I'm offering you a chance to turn your life around."

"My life? What do you know of my life? Leave me alone."

Nicholas's heart sank. He wanted to help Looney Louie, more than give him a full belly for one night, but he could only do so much. The next step wasn't his to take.

He pulled out a flower from his pocket, tucked it into Looney Louie's coat pocket, then jetted away.

Changing the lives of those in Falledge was going to be harder than he thought.

*****

The other workers talked and joked and ate, but Nicholas, like usual, worked through his lunch break. Every so often, he stood and stretched his back, more for show than due to actual muscle fatigue. During one such stretch, he spied a blond walking toward him.

He nodded toward her, but she made a beeline for his boss.

He couldn't stop his super hearing even if he wanted to, so he eavesdropped.

"Ya look lovely today, Miss Julianna."

"Thank you. How's everything going, Harry?"

"Mighty fine. Plannin' on givin' the president a report in a day or so. The plans are all set, and everything's goin' 'cordin' to schedule."

"Good, glad to hear it."

"Ya need anything?"

"No, just thought I would drop by, that's all."

"Ya know you're welcome an'time."

Nicholas returned his focus to his duties. Julianna spoke with a few of the other workers. Then he heard the crunch of her small heels against the pebbles and dirt as she walked toward him. He feigned surprise when he looked up to see her beside him. "Oh, Julianna. What are you doing here?"

Even a frown did not detract from her beauty. "The grocery store reported a theft last night."

"Oh?"

"A lot of food was stolen, but they don't know how or who."

"Interesting." Nicholas crossed his arms as he leaned on the top of his shovel.

"You stole the food, didn't you?" Her voice was soft, but her eyes remained hard. She already knew the answer.

"Do you have proof?"

"No... But there weren't any food thefts until after you came back."

He raised his eyebrows at her logic, and her cheeks colored. "Well then, if you'll excuse me, I have work to do." He made as if to shovel some more, but she didn't move.

"You fed Louie."

He clenched his jaw, trying not to reveal his surprise that she knew so much already.

"You're really taking this Night Caper thing too far. You can't help everyone."

Nicholas rolled his eyes. "I'm not the Night Caper."

"Yes, you are. Ginny, now Louie--"

"Black Hellebore."

"What?"

He retrieved a flower from his jeans pocket.

She caressed the petals as he held it. Her skin looked so soft, so smooth, he almost wished she was touching him. "The flower you put on her grave every year."

He nodded and shoved it back into his pocket, no longer wishing to share it with her.

Julianna touched his bare shoulder. He didn't work in the heat with a shirt on. Most of the other guys didn't either. Her hand felt cool against his hot skin, even softer than expected. "Such a dark sounding name for someone who's trying to do good."

"It's the name of a flower," he said curtly, and winced. Being friends with her made him feel as if Justina was still alive.

Although if this was friendship, he sure didn't want to be her enemy.

"You think I haven't reached out to Louie before? He doesn't want to have his life better, for whatever reason. It's his life. We can't change it for him. We can't live it for him."

"I know that." Nicholas resumed shoveling. Julianna stayed there, but he ignored her until he couldn't any more. "Did you come 'round to yell at me?"

"Actually, I wanted to see if there were any signs of sabotage. We still can't locate our suspect, so he might try to come after the laboratory again, even in its rough stages of construction."

"How goes the murder investigation?"

She had been staring at his shovel, the faintest shade of pink on her cheeks. Now she lifted her gaze to his face. "Can't talk about that."

"Of course not." Disappointment bled through his words.

"I just don't know..." She shook her head.

"Don't know what?"

"The murders... If the same person murdered them both, why didn't he kill her the first night?"

Nicholas choked on a breath of air. "She knew the mob guy?"

"Yeah, they were boyfriend and girlfriend. Lived together."

Nicholas dropped his shovel. It clanged against some rocks. He had made the wrong choice in trying to follow the guy that night. If he had followed the girl into her apartment, maybe she would still be alive. He might have seen the killer, maybe even caught him.

"What's wrong?"

Was that suspicion in her tone? He forced himself to look at her but only saw concern. "The heat," he mumbled.

"Get something to eat. You're working too hard. You don't have to kill yourself. Harry won't fire you. He told me you're his best worker. I'm proud of you."

They talked for a few more minutes before she had to leave. He stared at her retreating backside. It was almost as appealing as her front.

She was proud of him. For being a construction worker. Yet she was discouraging the part of him that he wanted to make work. He wanted to be a superhero. He wanted his life to have meaning again. To have purpose. To have joy and happiness.

He wanted love again.

Chapter Twenty-Three

Julianna rested her forehead on her crossed arms on top of her desk at the police station.

"What's wrong?"

She glanced up to see Sheriff Higgins sitting across from her and lowered her head again. "Nothing," she said, her voice muffled.

"I'm going to turn over the laboratory investigation to Lightmeadow."

She wasn't surprised, and yet it prickled her skin. It felt like failure, and she hated nothing more than failing.

"We have too much to worry about with the murders."

"But what if they're related somehow?" she challenged.

"Then we'll cooperate with Lightmeadow." He shoved the newspaper to her. "We have another issue to tend to as well."

She sat up and eyed the article he jabbed with his finger. Julianna smirked for a second before sighing. Seemed the reporter had identified Nick's tokens. Even in the press, his name had changed to Black Hellebore. "What's wrong?" she asked. "He's not committing any crimes."

Sheriff Higgins' bushy white eyebrows rose. "Do you know who it is?"

She shifted uncomfortably in her seat.

The lines on his forehead deepened. "He hasn't committed any crimes yet, no," he admitted. "But roughing up Dirk Roset could show that he's prone to violence."

The would-be purse snatcher. Julianna rubbed her neck. "He just wants to help people. There's nothing wrong with that."

"Still." The sheriff stood and groaned, holding his back. "If he crosses the line, we'll bring him in on charges. Understood?"

"Yes."

The sheriff walked away. He seemed a year older each time she saw him. The idea of the mob encroaching on their small town weighed heavily on him, and her. She had been nervous when Davey Boy had moved to Falledge a month ago. Despite keeping a close eye on him, he had committed no crimes during his stay here, at least none within Falledge.

As for the Black Hellebore... she had already warned Nick. Although she doubted he would listen. She wasn't his mother. She wouldn't harp. The sheriff made a good point, though -- Dirk had suffered at Nick's hand. His back had been black and blue when they had brought him in.

Yet, despite herself, she agreed with the sheriff. If Nick crossed the line, he needed to be brought in. She would do it herself.

Her phone rang, Ginny, inviting her over for dinner. Without hesitation, Julianna declined the offer. She needed to put some distance between herself and Nick. He was confusing too many things with her work, with her life. He made her feel things she never felt before, and that terrified her. She had no business falling for her twin's boyfriend. Her twin's death did not change that point of contention.

As much as she argued with him all the time, she found herself going out of her way to see him. She drove by the construction site more times than necessary just to catch a glimpse of him --  his glistening back, his bulging muscles rippling as he worked...

Her life felt empty after her sister died, as if something was missing and could never be filled again. Yet Nick seemed to fit within that hole in her heart. For some reason, he was burrowing his way back into her life. The last thing she needed right now was him as a distraction.

If the lab was no longer her concern, she needed to focus solely on the murders. Someone in their fair town was a murderer. Something in her gut told her the three events were related, but until she found a link, she could investigate only the murders.

Which meant yet another visit to that dump of an apartment. So far, none of the other tenants had mentioned seeing or hearing anything. She didn't think that was accurate and prayed someone would come forth. If not, the trail died there. No evidence had turned up at either crime scene. No skin cells, no blood, not even a clothing fiber.

The idea of going back there alone was not one she relished, but she wasn't about to ask the sheriff to go, and the only other deputy, Logan Zeb, was out on patrol. She could radio him but didn't see the point. There was plenty of daylight left. She had no reason to fear.

She grabbed her car keys and ten minutes later parked in the lot behind the apartment. Falledge was an old town, but most of it was well-kept. This building stuck out like an eyesore. If a building had to be destroyed, she wished it had been this one, not the laboratory. With no one inside, of course.

Her hand on the back doorknob, she hesitated. She was willing to bet her house Dr. Richards knew more than he was letting on as well. Maybe she should pay him another visit, although what else she could ask him, she wasn't sure yet. It was never fun to interrogate someone you couldn't trust to be honest. Then again, she hardly trusted anyone. Not since Justina's death had robbed her of her innocence and naivety.

"No fair! You didn't count to fifty!"

"Did too!"

"Ten, twenty, thirty, forty, fifty doesn't count!"

Julianna smiled and walked to the alley beside the apartment. Two small boys, with dirt covering their faces and grime smearing their ripped clothes, stopped what they were doing and stared at her. "Playing hide-and-seek?" she asked.

One of the boys nodded. The other darted away, and she watched him slam the apartment back door behind him. His parents must have taught him not to talk to strangers. Which was good, considering where he lived.

"Who are you?" the boy asked suspiciously.

She lifted her shirt to show her badge. "I'm Deputy Paige."

He smiled. "Momma says the police are good people."

Julianna smiled back.

"Most of the time, that is," he clarified.

Her smile faded slightly. "Is your momma home right now?"

He shook his head. "Nope. At work."

"Your father?"

"Never met him." He hopped from one foot to the other. Then he stopped and cocked his head to the side. "I have a secret. Wanna hear it?"

"Sure." She knelt down.

The boy ran over and cupped his hands around his mouth as he loudly whispered into her ear, "I saw him."

"Who?"

"The bad guy. He wore a hat. He was really scary."

"Anything else?" She couldn't be sure if she could trust such a young witness, he looked to be about five, but right now, anything was better than nothing.

"His face looked weird. He was wearing a lot of makeup. He looked like Momma on some nights."

She raised her eyebrows. "Okay... Was he muscular? Did he have a tattoo?"

"Nope. Actually, he looked kinda thin."

She frowned. The punch that had bashed in Davey Boy face had to have come from someone incredibly strong.

"But that's not all." The boy pulled back, and the fright in his eyes stole her breath. "He had no noise. He was a monster!"

Julianna pulled him in and hugged him. His body was trembling. "Shhh," she said soothingly. "Are you sure you weren't having a bad dream?"

He wiggled free. "I know what I saw! See? This is why I haven't told anyone! I knew no one would believe me." He ran away.

"Wait, please!"

The door slammed shut behind him.

All murderers were monsters, but this kid believed the murderer to be a literal monster. As much as Julianna wanted to write it off as a nightmare, she recalled the reports of a huge cat, like a tiger, lurking around lately. Mentally making a note to see where the cat had been spotted, she entered the building. Not many tenants lived there, and those willing to talk to her provided no new information.

A discouraged Julianna drove away. Ginny's lights were on. Right about now, Ginny and Nick would be eating. She pressed down on the gas and sped home. Tonight she had a date with Ben and Jerry's, and a long bubble bath. Maybe some relaxation was just what she'd need to see the case clearly.

She was overlooking something. But what?

Chapter Twenty-Four

Nicholas entered Ginny's house later than normal that night. Dinner was already on the table. Julianna wasn't there. He didn't know whether or not to be happy about it. He didn't wanted to be yelled at anymore, but he was so accustomed to her presence in his life, he felt her absence keenly.