Under the Moon's Shadow (2 page)

“Okay. Thanks, Marshall.”

His willingness to let his reporters follow leads that might not result in anything more than an anecdotal story to share over drinks was one of the qualities Beth respected most about Marshall. It made her job as one of the newspaper’s senior reporters that much easier.

As she reached her desk, she was surprised to find a large bouquet of fully-bloomed red roses sitting on its surface. When she removed the card, she bent to sniff the velvety petals, despite knowing their perfume was probably gone after exposure to the florist’s coolers. The card was blank, but the flowers had come from Annie’s Arbor, the local flower shop owned by one of Beth’s best friends, Annie Jameson Tucker.

“Who’re they from?” Alicia asked. The newsroom assistant came over to smell the arrangement much as Beth had.

 “I don’t know.” She turned the card around and showed Alicia the blank interior. “They’re from Annie’s shop, but the card isn’t signed.”

“Ooh, a secret admirer. How romantic,” she teased. Beth stuck her tongue out at the young woman and smiled back.  When Alicia’s phone rang and she excused herself to answer it, Beth sat down, picked up her own phone and dialed.

“Annie’s Arbor,” her friend answered, sounding distracted.

“It’s me.  Who sent these roses? The card’s blank.”

“Oh, hey,” Annie said. “I don’t know. The order came in last night over the website, and it was paid through an anonymous Internet account. Don’t you know who sent them?”

“Well, no. Not really.” She frowned, puzzled. There were at least two dozen blooms in the arrangement, so it hadn’t been cheap.

“What about Dr. Smooth?” Annie asked. Chad Ormsby, one of Leroy’s newest doctors, had been pursuing Beth somewhat relentlessly in recent weeks. “Think they could be from him?”

“I doubt it,” she replied dryly. “His style is more direct, more ‘let me drag you off to my elegant and expensive penthouse cave.’”

Annie snorted, not bothering to hide her laughter, and Beth found herself laughing, as well. “Anyhow, I suppose I’ll find out eventually who sent them. Shoot, I wouldn’t put it past Jason to have done it just for kicks and giggles.”

Her friend sobered. “I don’t know, Beth. That’s an expensive bouquet for a prank. Besides, your brother would be more likely to send beheaded daisies or horse weed. Think maybe Ethan sent them?”

“Not even on a bet.  I’ll figure it out sooner or later, I suppose.” Changing the subject, she asked if there were any loose ends they needed to tie up before the bridal shower that evening. Their best friend, Lauren Grant, was getting married to Annie’s half-brother, Charlie Clark, on Saturday.

“As far as I know, everything is on schedule. We’re supposed to be at Molly and Win’s by five thirty, so make sure you watch the time.”

“I’ll be there, don’t worry. I wouldn’t miss this for anything.” After going over a few last-minute details, she finished the call and hung up, but not before Annie asked her one last time about the flowers.

“You going to keep them?”

She hesitated, eyeing the arrangement. “They are awfully pretty, but I don’t know. They just creep me out for some reason. I think I’ll take them up to Vanessa and let everyone enjoy them.”

Once she hung up, Alicia came back over. She reached out and gently touched a petal. “So who sent the roses?”

“I have no idea, and neither does Annie. To tell you the truth, they give me the heebie jeebies. Would you mind taking them? They’re too pretty to just throw out, but I swear I don’t think I can stand to keep them on my desk.”

“Seriously?” Alicia asked, her eyes widening. Beth nodded and waved her hand toward the arrangement. The other woman’s face lit up as she picked up the vase and cradled it close. “Thank you. I love flowers,” the girl told her as she headed back to her own desk.

The phone rang and Beth answered it. It was the school board source she had been waiting to hear from. She gave the roses another brief thought as she reached for her notebook, and then put them out of her mind. There would be plenty time later to ponder the mysterious flower delivery, but right now she had work to get to.

Chapter Two

 When she went through the door into the sheriff’s department on Thursday afternoon, Beth was feeling somewhat wilted. The temperatures had heated up to nearly unbearable levels, along with the humidity, and the whole town was suffering from the heat wave. She greeted the older woman seated at the reception desk.

“Neva, how are you?”

“I’m doing just fine, young lady. You? Is it still miserably hot out there?”

Neva Brewer had been a fixture in the department for over forty years, working through more than four administrations. Wyatt Dixon, the current sheriff, swore that if Neva ever left, the department would come to a screeching halt. Though different men had worn the badge of sheriff through the years, Neva was really the one in charge and they all knew it.

“It’s awful. If it gets much hotter, I’m running away from home for a while. Thank God summer is almost over,” Beth said, using the paper she held in her hand as a fan.

“I hear you, honey. Our poor deputies have really suffered this year. So are you here to see your brother?”

“No, I’m meeting Stacy. Do you mind letting her know I’m here?”

“Of course not.” She picked up her phone and relayed the message. “She’ll be right out,” she told Beth.

Within a few seconds, the door to the bullpen opened and Stacy came out, followed by Detective Ethan Moore. When the tall, dark-haired man saw Beth standing beside Neva’s desk, he frowned.

“What are you doing here?”

Her chin lifted. “I’m here to see Stacy. Is that a problem, Detective?”

Ethan moved to stand in front of her, not stopping until less than one foot of space separated their bodies. “Well, you’ll forgive me for wondering, since I seem to trip over you every time I turn around lately.”

Hands on hips, Beth moved even closer. “Then maybe you should watch where you’re stepping.”

Outraged, he laughed. “Me? I’m not the one who -.”

Neva quickly stood and came to push them apart, not letting him finish. “Let’s give each other some room, now,” she said, facing Ethan. “And not say something we’re going to regret later, when common sense kicks in.”

With a low growl, he gave Beth another dirty look and brushed past her on his way out the door. “I’ll be out at Frazier’s Grove if anyone needs me.”

Beth snorted. Hearing that, he turned to come back in, causing Neva to have to step between them again.

“Neva, we might have to make them kiss and make up,” Stacy said. “Isn’t that what you do with children who won’t behave?”

Ethan shot the other detective an appalled look. “What? Hell, no. Are you crazy? I’m not kissing her.”

Beth gasped, hurt and more than angry enough to draw blood, but before she could respond, Ethan stalked out the door. He narrowly avoided a collision with Jason Hudson as he went. Jason stood staring after his friend for a minute and shook his head.

“What was that all about?” Seeing his sister’s fierce scowl, he sighed. “You really have to stop baiting him. He’s getting downright intolerable these days. I had to go out on a run with him yesterday, and he just about bit my head off when your name came up in conversation.”

“Why do you always assume I’m the one who upset him?” Beth demanded, fighting tears as her anger faded into hurt.

Jason held his hands up in a conciliatory manner. “I’m sorry. You’re right. So what set him off this time?”

“He jumped all over me because I happened to be standing here when he came out with Stacy.”

Stacy sighed. “That last bit was my fault, and I’m sorry,” she told Beth, the regret obvious on her face. “I didn’t think he’d go over the top like that because I joked that we might have to make you kiss and make up.”

Jason grimaced. “Yeah, that probably wasn’t the best way to defuse his temper. Okay, then. On that note, I’ll leave you ladies to it.” He headed down the hall, and once he was gone, Stacy apologized again.

“I really am sorry, Beth. I didn’t realize things had gotten so tense between the two of you. I’ll be more mindful of that in the future.”

Beth shook her head, waving away the apology. “It’s not a big deal. You didn’t know.”

“Still, I feel bad. Come on back, and we’ll go over the latest on these altars.” Once inside the bullpen, Stacy offered her a bottle of water.

“Thanks. I know you all have to be going crazy right now, with the weather being what it is.”

“You could say that. Calls are up at least twenty percent. If this heat doesn’t break soon, I’m cashing in my vacation days and heading to Canada. Want to go with me?” the detective asked as they sat down at her desk.

Beth laughed, most of the tension from her confrontation with Ethan finally easing. “I’d love to. When do we leave?”

Stacy's face was animated as she responded.. “I’ll call Wyatt right now and let him know we’re leaving. How fast can you pack?”

The bantering over, they got down to business. “So these latest reports – who called it in?”

“Joe Pace. He and Avery Seaton were out walking their properties and found the destruction.” She grabbed a folder from her desk, and handed Beth a stack of photos. “They’re just like the others.”

The photos showed scorched circles of earth, a pentagram in the middle, with remnants of melted candles placed at the points of the star. In the middle of the altar sat the burnt head of a goat.

Beth frowned. “Oh, my. The goat head is new. Who in the world could be doing this, Stacy?”

“I don’t know. But it’s got a lot of us worried, I’ll tell you that.”

“What does Wyatt think?”

The detective shrugged. “He’s afraid it’s kids experimenting with the occult, and that they’re escalating. That whoever it is doing this is using animals now? It makes us all nervous that they might graduate to humans. He’s talked to some people down in Louisville at the FBI. And that’s off the record, by the way.”

“No problem,” Beth assured her. “I appreciate your candor – you know that.”

Stacy smiled in return. “And I appreciate that I can talk to you openly, not have to guard what I say. You’re one of the few reporters I’ve encountered who doesn’t see law enforcement as the enemy.”

Touched, Beth cleared her throat and asked the question that had been on her mind for weeks now. “You’ve heard about the ‘visitors’ Cullen Jarvis keeps seeing?”

“Of course. You think this is connected to what he’s been experiencing?” Stacy tapped the folder in front of her.

Beth nodded. “I do. It’s just too much of a coincidence.”

“Even though there’s no evidence he’s really seeing something?”

“Yes.”

Stacy sat back in her chair. “It is an awfully convenient time for him to be hallucinating midnight visitors. I’ll look into his reports, see if I can find anything. Okay?”

Beth was relieved that someone, finally, was listening. “Oh, Stacy, that would be wonderful.”

After a few more minutes of discussion, they wrapped up the interview. As they stood, a large clap of thunder sounded through the building, followed by the sound of pounding rain against the windows.

“Maybe now it will cool down some, and people can go back to being normal crazy instead of heat-driven crazy,” Beth said.

Stacy laughed as they walked back to the reception area. “Please, God. So what’s your next step?”

“I’m going to go take a look at the maps the county recorder maintains. I want to get a bird’s eye view of this whole thing, see if that helps trigger some neurons into firing.”

“Mind if I tag along?” Stacy asked.

“Not at all.” Neither of them spoke again until they’d started up the stairs.

“I really am sorry about setting Ethan off on you. I should have known better, given the way he’s acted around you lately.”

Beth stopped on the stairs and Stacy drew level with her. “I just wish I knew what he was so angry about. We used to be friends, you know? I’ve known him since Chase brought him home when they were sixteen. Lately, though, it’s almost like he hates me.”

The detective’s expression was kind as they started walking again. “Honey, I think he’s attracted to you.”

“No. If he was, he’d act on it. Ethan’s not shy.”

“Maybe he doesn’t think you’d reciprocate. He does have hang-ups, Beth.”

“You mean because his dad was Mexican?”

Stacy nodded. “That’s exactly what I mean.”

Beth shook her head. “No. He knows I don’t care about that. I never have.”

“Are you sure he knows?”

“I guess so. I mean, we’ve never discussed it. It’s just always been – he’s just Ethan. He isn’t his ethnicity, if that makes sense.”

To her surprise, Stacy laughed. “I like you, you and your family. None of you judge people the way most of the rest of the world does. That being said, not everyone sees Ethan the way you do, and that tends to leave scars. You might keep that in mind.”

As they went in the county recorder’s office, Beth was pensive as she thought about what Stacy had said. It was a lot to consider, and it just might explain a few things.

Chapter Three

It was pitch black and quiet in the meadow where he hunted. There was no moon, and the night was slightly overcast, with stars occasionally peeking through the cloud cover above. All the creatures of the night were silent, having felt the danger in the air. They’d responded by hiding in their dens, nests, and warrens.

He reached into the passenger seat for his night-vision goggles, slid them onto his face and adjusted the band for comfort. It was a new pair, and he had yet to get them broken in just the way he wanted. The old ones had been damaged during his last hunting expedition. Just thinking about that farce made him angry, how his prey had almost turned the tables on him. He had made the mistake of underestimating the strung-out addict’s ability to run, but he wouldn’t do that again.