Black Moon Rising

by Ann Simas

  Chapter 29

  . . .

  Luca woke with a start. He’d been dreaming. In the beginning, it had been him and Sunny, doing what comes natural to two people who love each other, but then….

  He tossed back the covers and threw his legs over the side of the bed, glancing at his clock radio. The green numerals that cast a vague glow over his bedroom told him it was 3:36.

  Something was wrong. He knew it. He stalked to the window and lifted the blind to peer out between the slats. Nothing looked amiss.

  Back at the bedside table, he fumbled for the lamp switch so he could find his phone. He hit speed dial for Davis, the patrol officer on night shift outside Sunny’s house. The call rang eight times, then Davis Trapp’s voicemail picked up.

  “Shit, shit, shit,” Luca ground out, reaching for his pants. That’s when he realized he was pulling on his shorts, which brought back every minute he’d spent with Sunny on that quilt in the back yard.

  For a moment, he remained immobile. Not because he was basking in the aftermath of their encounter, but because he honestly didn’t know what he’d do if she wasn’t in his life for however long they both had left on this Earth. Jesus, he couldn’t live without her!

  Davis wasn’t responding.

  Something had happened.

  Fully in cop mode, he stormed to his closet and pulled out a pair of jeans and a clean polo.

  He dialed Angie next. She didn’t answer either. He tried Trey after that. His partner did answer, but his greeting was more of a growl than a proper hello. As soon as Luca explained the situation, Trey said, “I’ll meet you there,” and disconnected.

  Luca strapped on his gun and his badge, grabbed his keys, and was out the door. He slapped the blue-light flasher on the top of his car before he took off, just in case he encountered any traffic. The thought made him roll his eyes. It wasn’t even four a.m. yet. Who the hell would be out on the streets at this hour?

  He pulled into Sunny’s street from one end of the block at the same time Trey turned it at the other end. He didn’t bother to shut off the engine before he ran to the patrol vehicle. He pulled open the door, but Davis didn’t move.

  “Is he alive?” Trey asked, opening the door on the other side.

  Luca felt for a pulse. “Yeah, but he’s out cold.”

  Trey reached for the radio mike and requested backup and an EMT unit.

  Knowing he shouldn’t leave a running vehicle on the street, Luca bolted over to turn off his car and remove the key.

  “I don’t see any lights on,” Trey said.

  “Me, either.”

  Glocks drawn, they approached the house with stealth. Luca raised a fist and pounded on the door. To his own ears, it sounded loud enough to wake the entire neighborhood. A minute or so later, the porch light came on and Libby called through the door, “Who’s there?”

  “Luca and Trey,” Luca said. “Open up!”

  It seemed like forever before the deadbolt slid over.

  “What’s going on?” Libby asked. Though clearly still half-asleep, her expression registered fear.

  “Angie didn’t answer when I called and the officer at the curb apparently has been drugged.”

  Libby’s hand flew to her mouth. “Oh, no!” She turned and ran toward the bedroom end of the house, throwing Angie’s door open. “She’s here!”

  She flew out of the room and ran to the end of the hall toward Sunny’s room. She pushed the door open so hard, it crashed against the wall. Luca reached in and flipped on the light.

  They stared in shock at the bed, which obviously hadn’t been slept in.

  “The kids!” Libby cried, pushing past the two men to rush to the bedroom Carson and Maisie shared. She threw that door open and hit the light switch. “Oh, my God, where are they?” she screamed. She turned to face Luca and Trey, who stared at the neatly made twin beds.

  Luca went back to Angie’s room, feeling for her pulse. Like Davis’s, it was strong. She’d been drugged, too.

  Luca returned to Sunny’s room. What the hell was going on?

  Before he could even begin to comprehend the enormity of the situation, or try to fathom what had taken place, the backup units arrived, followed by the EMTs.

  . . .

  Sunny pulled the SUV around to the back of the cabin, since there was a rear door she could use to carry the kids and the supplies inside. First though, she had some things to do.

  She covered all the interior windows that might be visible from the roadway with black mat board affixed with duct tape. After that, she plugged in her laptop in hopes that she might be able to link to the two remote security cameras Zach had purchased and activated on their last trip to the cabin. She brought up a Word document that had the instructions on how to do that, and within minutes, the images were up on the screen. Satisfied, she moved on to test the alarms at the two doors.

  The kids came next. She made their beds with fresh sheets she’d brought from home and tucked them in without either of them waking. Next, she made her own bed because she knew she’d be falling into it dead tired as soon as she unloaded the SUV.

  An hour later, exhaustion began to take a toll on her. As long as the supplies were inside, she could deal with storing them later. Right now, she had to grab a few hours sleep, because she sure as hell couldn’t risk nodding off when she had two energetic children to take care of.

  . . .

  “Do you think the Vale Lunatics have them?” Libby asked, her eyes wet with unshed tears.

  “I don’t know,” Luca said, shoving a hand through his hair. He’d experienced frustration at various points throughout his life, but he’d never felt its debilitating power like he did right now.

  Trey said, “Look, let’s examine this a little more closely. Angie and Davis were drugged, but not Libby. What does that tell us?”

  Luca and Libby stared at him with blank looks.

  Trey tried again. “If the Vale Luna crowd were responsible for taking them, don’t you think they would have put Angie and Davis and Libby out of commission? Permanently?”

  Luca felt as if a two-ton weight had been lifted from his shoulders. “You’re right.”

  Libby flashed Trey a doubtful look. “Are you saying that Sunny is responsible for her and the kids being gone?”

  Trey grabbed her hand, but his eyes were on Luca. “Let’s do what we’re trained to do. Investigate.” He glanced back at Libby. “Lib, we’ll need you to tell us what’s missing.”

  “Missing? You mean like clothes?”

  Trey nodded. “And food and other essentials.”

  Libby’s eyes rounded. “Ohmygod, she had another vision, didn’t she? It must have affected all of us, so she took off! What the hell was she thinking?”

  Luca ground his teeth together. “She was thinking she was saving us, but what she also did was put herself and the kids deeper in jeopardy.”

  “I need to call my parents,” Libby said, wringing her hands.

  “After we do an inventory and take cursory look around,” Trey said.

  Luca agreed. “Trey’s right. We need to have something substantial to tell them.”

  The started with the room the children shared.

  Libby went to the dresser and opened drawers, then checked the closet. “I’ve only been here a few weeks, so you need to understand, I may not have it completely right regarding what’s missing and what’s not.”

  Trey approached her and put his hand on her shoulder, capturing her neck, giving her an affectionate rub. “You’re doing great, babe.”

  Libby glanced around the room. “Both their blankies are gone, along with the stuffed animals they sleep with. Some PJs are missing, as well as play clothes, underwear, and their shoes.” She looked around one more time. “Some of the other stuffed animals are missing from the shelf.” She glanced around again. “That’s it for this room.”

  The went next to Sunny’s bedroom. “Same here as the kid’s room, except for the blankies and stuff
ed animals.” She moved into the bathroom. “Basic sundries and other girl stuff, gone.”

  They peeked into the kid’s bathroom. “Same here, plus Maisie’s potty seat.”

  The kitchen still smelled of brewed coffee. Libby ripped open the cupboard above the pot and grabbed a pill bottle from the shelf.

  “What’s that?” Trey asked.

  “Ambien. The doctor prescribed it for Sunny before she left the hospital.” She read the label, then dumped the contents out onto the counter. “Four pills are missing.” She lifted her head. “I know Sunny never took any of these.”

  “Dammit,” Luca said. “She took Davis a cup of coffee, spiked with sleeping pills. Did Angie have anything to drink before she went to bed?”

  Libby nodded. “Sunny made her one of those International Coffees. Angie says they help her nod off faster.”

  Trey and Luca exchanged a look. “Your girlfriend is going to have a lot to answer for when we find her,” Trey said.

  Luca, his expression grim, said, “In more ways than one.”

  . . .

  “Mommy! Mommy! We’re on our big adventure,” Carson yelled, bouncing up and down on Sunny’s bed, shaking her awake at the same time.

  “Big ’ven-cha,” Maisie screamed. “Wake up, Mommy, wake up!”

  Sunny managed to get her eyes open, though they must have been filled with a bucket of sand. God, could the sun get any brighter?

  That thought jerked her completely awake. Why was it so bright? She’d put black mat board on the windows!

  The two small bodies wriggling on top of the covers seemed to read her mind. They jumped off the bed, doing some kind of kid mambo. Still half asleep, she realized the window in her room faced east and she hadn’t covered it or pulled the window shade before she’d collapsed into her bed.

  She desperately wanted a shower, but Carson and Maisie were demanding breakfast. They trailed Sunny into the kitchen, begging for teddy bear pancakes. Her children were thrilled with the end result, even though on this particular morning, the bears turned out looking more like Mickey Mouse.

  When their tummies were full, she settled them in front of the TV and shoved one of the new DVDs into the player. That ought to keep them occupied long enough for her to take a shower. Ten minutes later, she wandered back, toweling her hair, only to discover the kids weren’t glued to the movie.

  For a moment, her mind went blank, then she screamed, “Carson! Maisie! Where are you?”

  That’s when she noticed the back door was open. Sunny nearly had a meltdown. She dropped the towel and bolted out the door, yelling their names.

  She heard the giggles first, and followed the sound. When she entered the clearing, she froze. Carson and Maisie were sitting on a large rock watching a mother moose and two calves. Mom munched with seeming contentment on an quaking aspen while the babies nursed at her teats.

  Sunny had never seen a moose before, but she’d read about them as part of her research when she’d considered writing a book with a moose family as the characters. Once she had new babies, a new mother moose became ferociously protective of them, to the exclusion of any older offspring. If this particular mother had a yearling nearby, and it came close to her and the calves, all hell was going to break loose, and the creature wouldn’t cut her children any slack for being tiny humans.

  “What is it, Mommy?” Carson asked in a whisper.

  “A moose, baby. Sit really still so you don’t startle her, okay? You, too, Maisie.”

  Maisie nodded as if were under some kind of spell, and no wonder. A moose must look enormous to a two-year-old, especially one as big as this one, which had to weigh around eight hundred pounds.

  Sunny debated what to do. Right now, the mama moose seemed content enough, gnawing away at the aspen. Once her babies finished feeding, would she wander away, or scrutinize her and the children more thoroughly? If any sudden movement or sound riled her, she’d be on them in a nano second. Was it better to wait and see what she’d do, or tempt fate by grabbing Carson and Maisie and making a run for it?

  Sunny flat out didn’t know which was the right choice. Good grief, they hadn’t been on the lam for even eight hours yet, and already they were in a pickle. Would their entire time here be like this?

  The moose moved over to the next aspen, having cleaned the branches she could reach on the other one. Her calves made no effort to release her teats and followed along in nature-choreographed synchronicity.

  Sunny slowly sidled closer to her children.

  Mama moose noted the movement out of the corner of her huge brown eye. For just a moment, she ceased her chomping on the branch and turned her head toward them.

  “We’re not here to hurt your or your babies,” Sunny said, in what she hoped was an assuring tone. “And I don’t want you hurting my babies.”

  The moose gave her what seemed to be the eagle eye, then went back to munching aspen leaves.

  Sunny slid her hands around Maisie’s belly and lifted her slowly from the rock. She settled her daughter on her hip, then said to Carson. “Scoot yourself backward really, really slow, buddy. Try not to make any noise.”

  Carson looked over his shoulder at her. Sunny sucked in a breath of frustration. Her poor little boy was suddenly scared to death, as if he’d finally realized the danger a mama moose with two brand new babies presented to him.

  “Can I jump off and run back to the cabin?” he asked. “The moose won’t get me if I run really fast.”

  Sunny didn’t bother to correct his erroneous assumption that he could outrun a furious wild animal. What she did do, though, was consider the distance to the cabin and the number of rocks and trees that would be an obstacle for both the two-legged and four-legged creatures in the general vicinity.

  “Turn over real easy on your tummy, baby, then slide down the back side of the rock nice and slow.”

  Her son did as instructed and when his feet hit the ground, he reached for his mother’s hand.

  “We’re going to walk away now, nice and slow and no talking.”

  Maisie stuck her thumb in her mouth and laid her head on Sunny’s shoulder. Carson, his eyes round, nodded.

  One step at a time, they backed away.

  Mama moose gave them another hostile look, but made no move to charge. One of the babies stopped nursing and watched their departure with apparent interest. When they were a good twenty feet away from the clearing, Sunny said, “Run now, Carson. Don’t stop and don’t look back.”

  Her son did as he was told. Maisie clung to Sunny’s neck for dear life. They made it back to the cabin unscathed and panting, more from fear than exertion. Sunny slammed the door shut and locked it before she put Maisie down on her own two feet.

  Both children stared up at her, silent.

  She dropped down to her knees, so she’d be on eye level with them. “We’re on our big adventure,” she said, “but that doesn’t mean you two can go exploring on your own, understand?”

  They nodded.

  “If you ever do that again, we’re going to have a serious problem.”

  “How serious?” Carson asked.

  Maisie nodded, as if she wanted to know, too.

  “Serious enough that you’ll have a time out, at the very least, and you’ll lose some toys and privileges, too.”

  “Does that mean no TV?” Carson asked.

  “No TV?” Maisie repeated, her lower lip out and trembling.

  “No TV,” Sunny confirmed. “And no cookies.”

  “No cookies!” the two of them cried out together, obviously distressed by the prospect.

  “No cookies.”

  “Sorry we were bad, Mommy,” Carson said.

  “You weren’t bad,” she said, “but you were naughty. You’re not even allowed to go outside alone when we’re at home, are you?”

  “No.”

  “No,” his sister echoed.

  “Promise me, you won’t ever do that again.”

  “I promise,” Carson said.


  “I pwomise, too,” Maisie said.

  “Thank you,” Sunny said, opening her arms to them. They hurled their little bodies at her, strangling her with affection.

  . . .

  Luca pushed away from his desk and went to lurk over the IT guy’s shoulder. “What have we got so far?”

  Jimmy Lee looked up at him and said, “Not much more than I had five minutes ago.”

  “So, you did find something.”

  Jimmy smirked at him. “She made a cash withdrawal of five thousand from her bank three days ago. The same day, she purchased a twenty-two rifle, a night scope, night-vision goggles, and a boatload of ammo from the gun store in the mall.”

  “Oh, Jesus,” Luca said, his dread mounting. “Anything else?”

  “Over the past week, her credit card was used at the grocery store, the pharmacy, the toy store, and the outfitter’s store to the tune of over a thousand bucks.”

  “Find something?” Trey asked, joining the conversation late.

  Jimmy reiterated what he’d learned so far.

  Trey looked at Luca, frowning. “Holy shit.”

  “My thoughts exactly,” Luca said. “Anything more, Jimmy?”

  “No, but I know how to find you when, and if, there is.”

  “Let’s go grab a coffee,” Trey said.

  Luca opened his mouth to say he didn’t want a freaking coffee, but something in Trey’s expression stopped him.

  They cleared the building without further comment and by silent agreement, walked two blocks from the station to have their coffee where other law enforcement people wouldn’t overhear their conversation. It was early yet, so they had the place virtually to themselves. They grabbed a table near the window, but toward the back, where no one else sat.

  “What’s up?” Luca asked. He was so on edge, his skin felt like he was being pricked by a thousand needles.

  “The LT just got a call from the courthouse.”

  Luca’s gut clenched so tight, he thought he might hurl.

  “Somehow, Boyson got away from the transport team on his way into court for his sentencing hearing this morning.”

  “You have got to be shitting me! Who the hell let that happen?”