Dark Moon Magic

by Jerri Drennen

  “I’m looking for Ms. Moon. Have you seen her?”

  “Her and her friend are in the back trying on some dresses.”

  Trace’s anger dissipated. The two were in the store to shop, not to ask Carol questions. Now, he felt like a heel.

  He walked to the back, a sudden urge to see Regina overwhelming him. But was this yearning real or something she’d conjured?

  When he reached the changing area, Regina stepped from behind a dressing room in a skimpy little number that had Trace’s jaw dropping. The sexiest part about the sight was that he now knew what was beneath the dress, and the vision stirred his body to life.

  Her eyes widened when she saw him. “Trace.”

  “If you don’t buy that dress, it’d be a shame.” At the moment he could care less if this emotion he experienced was fabricated or not. He wanted her. Too hell with anything else.

  “You like it?” She studied her image in the three-panel mirror on the wall.

  “I like what it’s covering.”

  She gazed at him, the gray of her eyes turning to liquid pewter.

  “Thank you,” she said, turning when Tiah stepped from behind her curtain in something quite demure for her. Maybe she was trying to tone down for a certain agent. Trace wasn’t sure clothes would work to snag Nathan, not after her friend’s overzealousness the night before.

  “What do you think?” Tiah asked Regina, doing a double take at the sight of him. “Sheriff. Did you come by for a reason?” Tiah glanced at Regina.

  “I came by the shop, but you weren’t there. I stopped at Groves Daily and learned you’d been in asking questions about this Marley girl. You two are not detectives. You need to stay out of this investigation.”

  Regina placed her hands on her hips. “I have a vested interest in getting this case solved, since you seem to think I had something to do with it.”

  Trace stared at her. Her determination was clear. “I don’t think you killed Keith, Regina. However, I do think your arrival to Grove set something into motion.”

  She frowned. “What do you mean?”

  “I don’t know, but ever since you opened shop, this town hasn’t been the same. I mean, the dead birds, the rock thrown through your window, and the burnt doll in your sink. The most pressing thing I’d had before you moved here was a stolen bike that I found out later was taken by the boy’s best friend as a prank.”

  “I guess I didn’t know I had moved to Pleasant Town when I closed my eyes and pointed to Groves on the map.”

  Trace snorted. “I’m sorry you think this is amusing, Regina. A man is dead. A friend of mine, at that.”

  “I don’t …

  “Who was sheriff before you moved of Groves eight years ago? Tiah asked, cutting in. “How did you get the job here?”

  “I applied for it and got it.”

  “But how did you find out about the opening?”

  “The sheriff at the time was a friend of my ex-partner. He said he was leaving Groves, and the town was going to need a new sheriff. I wanted to get away from Chicago for personal reasons. It was the perfect fit.”

  “Do you know why the sheriff left?”

  Trace shrugged. “What’s the difference?”

  “I don’t know, Trace,” Regina said. “But I want to learn what the circumstances were surrounding this missing girl. They never found her. Don’t you think that’s strange?”

  “I’ll look into it if you promise not to ask around town. Can you do that?”

  “Okay. I’ll stay busy at the store. But you have to tell me what you find.”

  “Deal. Now both of you buy those dresses and then go home.”

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  Regina paced the length of the living room, too antsy to sit. It had been hours since she and Tiah had parted ways with Trace.

  “You’re so going to wear yourself out, Regina.” Tiah stood in the doorway with her hands on her hips. “Heck, you’re wearing me out just watching you.”

  “Why hasn’t he shown up, yet? I want to know what he found out about Kelly.”

  “You wearing out the carpet isn’t going to get him to come any sooner.”

  Tiah was right.

  Regina moved to the sofa and plopped onto the cushions. She needed to get her mind off this and on something more constructive.

  Isis jumped into her lap and looked up at her with eyes that melted her heart. She rubbed at the kitten’s head, feeling the tension leave her body. Since she’d had him, he’d always made her feel better. Perhaps that’s why he came to her door. Maybe he’d known she needed him.

  She brought the fuzzy ball to her face and nuzzled him. She loved his sweet smell—almost as much as Trace’s. Too bad Trace had never made her feel at ease. Just the opposite. He had her on edge every time he came within twenty feet of her. But she loved him, and there was no denying that. He’d worked his way into her heart, and she wasn’t sure how long it’d take to get over him. When he’d showed up at the department store and had ogled her in the dress he’d talked her into buying, she’d just about died. He’d almost acted as if nothing had happened between them, like he wanted to drag her into the dressing room and make love to her. At least that’s what his eyes had said, but then, maybe she’d imagined it.

  A knock at the door almost made her drop Isis. “Sorry, boy.”

  “I’ll get that.” Tiah graced her with a crooked smile.

  Her friend returned with Trace in tow.

  Regina stood. “Did you find out anything?”

  “I read the file Sheriff Hoag had on Kelly. From his notes, he thought the girl ran away from home. He didn’t note any signs of foul-play.”

  Regina sighed. “Did you talk to Carol’s daughter? They were friends.”

  “I spoke to her and Carol. Both were reluctant to talk. They seemed awful nervous about it. I did learn that Sharon, Carol’s daughter, was raped when she was sixteen but refused to say by who.”

  “Wait a minute,” Regina interrupted, a light going on in her brain. “Carol told me all the girls were scared to death of Rayland after something happened. She wouldn’t say why, but maybe he was the one who raped her daughter?”

  “I wouldn’t put anything past Rayland. I’m going to do a little more digging into this. Right now, though, I’m going home. Garrett will be sitting out in the cruiser tonight. You two stay out of trouble and away from Grimes. Understand?”

  “Of course, Sheriff.” Tiah winked at Regina.

  If she knew her friend, her mind was already working a plan to do just the opposite.

  He glanced at Regina. He was waiting for her to agree.

  “Grimes gives me the creeps. I’m not going anywhere near him.” That was the truth, too. If Tiah had any notions of visiting Rayland, she could think again. Regina felt as if he undressed her with his eyes when he was around, and now that she knew he could possibly be a rapist, it made things worse.

  “Good night, ladies.” Trace’s words drew her back to him.

  “Night.” Regina wished he was staying. She always felt safer with him around.

  When he was gone, Regina went to secure the locks on the door. Learning the news about Kelly didn’t relieve her mind at all. She thought the sheriff’s report was wrong. Could Rayland have possibly raped and killed Kelly, then hidden her body?

  “What is running around in that head of yours?” Tiah asked.

  “I’m thinking that Rayland Grimes just might be a killer. If not Keith, perhaps Kelly Marley.”

  “How do we find out.”

  “We don’t. This is best left to Trace and Nate. I don’t think it’s wise to stick our noses into this. It’s too dangerous.”

  “Come on, Reggie. You heard Trace. He’s going home. It’s not like he’d be watching us.”

  “Yes, but Garrett will be.”

  “No offense, but I don’t think the sheriff’s deputy is the sharpest knife in the drawer. I think we could give him the slip if we tried.”

  Regina shook he
r head. “I don’t want to sneak around, Tiah, especially anywhere near Rayland.”

  “But …

  Regina planned to stand her ground with her friend. “No buts. Trace said we have to stay out of this. We need to listen to him this time. What you are contemplating could get us killed, and I’m not ready to die. Now, let’s make some dinner. Something safe.”

  Tiah frowned. “All right. But I still think we shouldn’t sit around here when we could be out solving a murder instead.”

  * * *

  Trace stepped out of the shower when his cell went off. He tucked a towel around his waist and walked to the nightstand to grab the phone. “Sheriff Langston.”

  “Trace?” Garrett sounded strange to him.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “I got a call from Carol Evans. She’s frantic. She can’t find Sharon. She said she woke up and found her bed not slept in.”

  A feeling of dread washed over Trace. Here he’d just spoken to the woman, and now she was missing. Maybe dredging up the past wasn’t something that should have happened. Perhaps he just triggered another murder because someone wanted something to stay buried.

  “Garrett, I’ll go talk to Carol. You stay at Regina’s. This might bring with it some trouble, and I want you there just in case. I’ll call you when I can.”

  “Okay, Trace.”

  As fast as he could, he dressed and took off down the street to Carol’s home. No way would she open the store without knowing where her daughter was. Sharon was the woman’s only child, and Carol had lost her husband to cancer three years back. Sharon was the woman’s world, and Carol would be a mess.

  Trace took in a breath and knocked at Carol’s door. A panic-stricken woman wearing a white bathrobe answered.

  “Can I come in?”

  “This is all you and that Moon woman’s fault. You couldn’t leave the past alone. You had to dredge it all back up, and now my daughter is missing. Just like Kelly.”

  “We don’t know that, yet, Carol. You need to try and calm down. Could she be with someone right now? A boyfriend perhaps?”

  She shook her head. “No. Sharon is afraid of men since … Well, you know.”

  Trace had been in Groves for eight years. You’d have thought he would have heard about this. Then again, from the way Carol and Sharon acted when he’d talked to them yesterday, all this had been swept under the rug long ago, and that’s the way they’d wanted it.

  “So, maybe she went somewhere else to get away. Do you two have family she could have gone to visit?”

  The woman shook her head again. “No. Sharon wouldn’t have done that without telling me.”

  “You’re sure?”

  “Yes. I do have a sister in Davenport, Iowa, but she would have said something. Besides, nothing in her room is missing. I checked.”

  “Was there anything out of place. Signs of a struggle?”

  His suggestion brought tears to her eyes.

  “Sorry, but I have to ask these questions, Carol.”

  “If you wouldn’t have asked the questions you did yesterday, Sharon would still be here.”

  “Look, no one knew about our conversation besides you and I.” And Regina, but he knew she wouldn’t have said anything. Wait a minute. Lyle Vind knew he was looking into Kelly’s disappearance and had told Regina to talk to Carol. Could he have unwittingly told someone, and it had gotten back to Rayland? He’d need to look into that as soon as he left.

  “Can I see Sharon’s bedroom?”

  She nodded, and they walked down the hall into a very feminine room, done in some type of purplish color.

  Trace glanced around. Nothing suspicious jumped out at him.

  “So nothing is missing?”

  “No, nothing that I can tell.”

  “I’m going to walk around outside. See if there are any footprints around the window. If you find anything off in her room after I leave, call me.”

  “All right,” she said, walking him to the door.

  Trace took a left around the side of the house, his attention glued to the ground. When he reached the window to her room, he searched for anything, even blades of broken grass. Nothing. Not anything he could see, which said to him she hadn’t jumped out, nor had anyone come through the window.

  He retraced his steps to the front of the house.

  Once he got to the precinct, he’d call the State Police to keep an eye out for her. Then, he planned to visit Rayland. He was going to find out if the man was the one who raped Sharon seventeen years ago. The statute of limitations was up on that, but if Rayland had something to do with the woman’s disappearance, Trace was going to get him on it if it took every police agency from here to Timbucktoo to do so.

  * * *

  Regina flipped the closed sign to OPEN and sighed. How was she going to concentrate on business when all she could think about was what had happened some fifteen plus years ago?

  She glanced at her best friend, who was staring out the big picture window, glued to something outside. “What are you looking at?”

  “Nathan,” she said, then stared through Regina with a faraway look in her eye.

  The girl had it bad for him. Probably because he had no interest in her. Tiah Gallagher could pick and choose from men until now—and that didn’t sit well with her friend. But to Regina, if you didn’t have to work for something, it wasn’t worth having. That’s why she wasn’t going to give up on Trace. He’d see she was a good person and come back. At least that was her hope.

  What was the alternative? Letting him go? Regina wasn’t ready to do that, since she’d never felt this way about anyone before.

  “What do you think that man likes in a woman?” Tiah’s question drew her back to her.

  “I think a little less forwardness. He seems reserved. He might expect the women he dates to be the same.”

  Tiah frowned. “I can try, but you know that is so not my style.”

  “I know. Maybe you could just tone yourself down a little until he gets to know you. Once he does, he’ll be yours.”

  Tiah smiled. “I hope you’re right. He is so hot.”

  “Please, don’t tell him that. I think he’s about intelligence and integrity. Not to mention all about the job.”

  “Yeah, I like that. He’s not shallow like all the men I’ve dated up until now. He has substance.”

  The bell over the door jangled, and they turned to find Carol walking in, her face filled with rage. She saw them and scowled.

  Regina stepped back, almost afraid of the woman.

  “I wanted to come by and tell you what your meddling has done. My daughter is missing. If the sheriff doesn’t find her, I’ll make sure you’re run out of Groves.” With that, the woman spun around and left, slamming the door behind her.

  Regina gaped at Tiah. Could she blame the woman for being upset? She would be, too, if something triggered her child’s disappearance.

  What if she were never found? Regina would take the blame. After all, she’d uncovered this thing with Kelly Marley, something that everyone in Groves seemed to have wanted to forget.

  Did Rayland Grimes have Sharon Evans? She had to find out. If she could save the woman, then she had to.

  “We have to find her daughter,” she said to Tiah. “First thing we need to do is find out where Rayland lives, then stake out his place. If he has Sharon, we need to help her.”

  Tiah grinned from ear-to -ear. “That’s the Reggie I’ve come to admire.”

  “Let’s hurry and close the store. Then we have to find someone who knows Rayland and where he lives. If he isn’t around, maybe we can talk to his wife. Surely if the man has secrets, she’d know about them.”

  “Not always.” Tiah frowned. “Sometimes the wife is the last to know what the hell her husband is up to. Some guys are good at hiding things. I’d say from what I’ve heard about this man, he is.”

  “You know what’s strange? I never noticed an aura about him. I’d experienced that with Sylvia He
art. I believe hers was caused by an illness, but Rayland seems as healthy as a horse. So, why do you think he wouldn’t have one?”

  “Maybe he was blocking it from you. Perhaps he knows you can read them and he used some kind of power to stop you from seeing his. He could be some kind of dark force.”

  “I never thought of that. He could have been the one who killed all the ravens. Come on. Let’s go find out if we have a warlock in our midst.”

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  Trace parked his cruiser in front of Rayland and Sally Grimes’ house and killed the engine. He almost hoped Rayland wasn’t home, so he could talk to his wife. He wanted to know what time Rayland left her the night of Keith’s murder or if he’d been around earlier in the day.

  The county coroner had estimated time of death as late afternoon. If Rayland wasn’t at home or at work around that time, he’d seriously look into bringing the man back in for questioning.

  Trace slid from the driver’s seat, got out of the car, and walked up the stone walkway to the front door. He knew Rayland couldn’t afford a house like this on his salary. Sally’s money no doubt paid for the large, two-story home, along with all the fancy cars the man owned.

  Before knocking, he took in a breath. He needed to handle things carefully if Rayland were here.

  He rapped on the door, then stood back and waited. After a few moments, he knocked again, glancing in the side window to see if anyone was home.

  Frustrated and wishing he’d have called first, he started toward the patrol car when the doorknob rattled.

  Sally poked her head out, and Trace noticed an ugly bruise under her left eye.

  “Sheriff.” She looked uncomfortable.

  “You okay, Sally?”

  “I’m fine.”

  “How’d you get that shiner?”

  She shook her head and gave him a weak smile. “Teddy threw a football at me—caught me right in the eye.”

  Trace would almost believe that if it wasn’t Rayland’s wife. If he had to hazard a guess, he’d say the man walloped her. But he couldn’t do a thing about it unless she filed charges against him.