Haven of Nightmares (Littlemoon Investigations Book 5) (24 page)

She thought back to the names Roman had given her with the missing on it.

“Are we standing on Marlene, Ola, and Rivka?” she asked, right before there were screams from the departed. They sounded like they were coming from the ground.

Bethany nodded.

“Great. I’ll go back and the Detective and I can dig them up. Maybe if we notify their loved ones, they’ll cross in peace.”

Bethany was quiet.

That was odd.

“What’s wrong?” Tori asked.

“Do I look okay?” she asked.

Tori checked her out. “You look sexy. Is there some dead pageant on this side of my brain that I’m not aware of? I feel grotesquely underdressed.”

“I have a date.”

“With?” she asked.

“There’s this hot and sexy bachelor, who has caught my eye, and I think I’m finally ready to move on after that whole
‘murdered by my lover’
thing.”

Tori laughed.

Then she stopped.

“Wait. Who’s the bachelor?”

Bethany simply smiled.

“You’re cozying up to my dead brother, Trey?”

She nodded. “In my defense, he’s hot.”

“Oh, good Lord. I think I’m going to have a stroke,” she said, rubbing her eyes.

“Hey! The dead have to have fun too! Would you rather me raising hell over here or raising him?”

Tori stared at her.

“Oh, that’s so wrong and now I’m stuck picturing it.”

Bethany giggled like a little kid.

“Let me throw this out there right now. I don’t want to know about it. Under no circumstance are you to tell Julian either. He’ll lose his mind. What you and Trey do in the privacy of your world is your business. I don’t want to be privy to it.”

“No girl talk?”

“No! I get grossed out when Nyx tells me sexy things about Beau. He’s my damn brother, and whether dead, or not, so is Trey.”

Bethany pouted.

“Come on! Don’t pull the girl card on me, Bethany.”

“You’re my only friend.”

This was an odd predicament. “Fine! But no sex details, and you still don’t tell Julian. Deal?”

Bethany gave her a kiss on the cheek. “Deal.”

“Now, I think I’ll go deal with the dead, so keep your ears open for the spirits.”

“I will. Bye!”

Tori slipped away, and could feel herself floating upward through the awareness and back to reality.

She was on her back and Hart was staring down at her. He looked a little more than freaked out.

“What the hell was that?” he asked.

“My spirit guide needed a pow wow. She can pull me under if she wants. It doesn’t happen often, since I’ve gotten stronger, but she needed to talk to me.”

He helped her up.

“I was going to call an ambulance.”

Tori laughed. “I am so glad you didn’t. Julian would have heard about it and flipped out. He gets worried,” she said, placing her hand over her belly.

“What did your spirit guide want?” he asked.

Tori could hear the skepticism in his voice. “She told me where the next three women are.”

He looked shocked. “Where?”

Tori pointed down. “We’re right on top of them.”

“Holy shit!” he blurted, right before jumping away from the spot where he had been standing.

“Yeah, not only that, but we have another problem. We have a killer who was wandering around the campus. He wasn’t taking a stroll in the moonlight for shits and giggles.”

He thought about it.

“He was checking on his dead.”

“Yeah, he was.”

Shit!

That was never a good sign.

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

As they stayed outside, and away from anything that could hurt them, Nyx, Beau, and Mattie got comfortable on the grass. They were going to begin digging into the papers, and hopefully, they’d find something they could use.

“I’ll take the letter,” Mattie stated.

That was good for Nyx. She and Beau would sit close and flip through the journal together. Any time they could cuddle up, she was good with that.

Who wouldn’t be?

As Mattie unfolded the letter, her eyes went big as she skimmed it.

“Oh God!”

“What is it?” Nyx asked, glancing up from the journal.

“It’s a suicide note. It’s Clifford Remington’s letter. How did his mother get it?”

No one had a clue.

“Read it,” Nyx stated.

My dearest family,

I can’t take it any longer. I’ve done something so horrible that I can’t bear to keep it silent. I’ve had an affair, and with one of the students. If that wasn’t bad enough, she’s been blackmailing me—or she had been. Once this gets out, the police will believe I’ve killed her.

I didn’t.

I would never destroy the school I’ve built.

I don’t know what happened to her, but she didn’t disappear at my hands. Once this gets out, and it will, my life, family, and happiness will be over. I’ve done a terrible thing, and I only hope that one day—my family will forgive me.

Clifford Remington’

They stared at the letter and no one said a word. They were all thinking the same thing. This was going to hurt Roman in so many ways. When he read this, his heart would be further broken.

“Geez! The poor guy,” Nyx said. “He keeps taking hits to his heart on this one.”

Mattie hurt for him.

“Whose journal is that?” she asked, needing to know more. She was going to protect Roman, even if he never wanted to see her again.

She still cared about him.

Hell!

She loved him.

Nyx opened the black leather cover. Inside, it was crystal clear who it belonged to, since the signature was scrawled in scroll-y black writing.

            
 
           ‘Devora Boyd’

Immediately, Mattie got that sick feeling in the pit of her stomach.

As Nyx began flipping, she found dates written in the back. Beside them were descriptions of the locations.

“The principal’s office?” Beau asked. “Almost all of the dates list that location.”

Mattie stared at them. “That’s what we used to call Clifford Remington’s office, even though his wife was more the
‘principal’
, and he was the fun one. He dealt with student relations.”

They kept flipping and found more dates.

It was making her sick. “What else is in that book?”

Nyx flipped ahead. When she came to the last entry, she stopped. “Are you sure you want me to read this?” she asked.

“Yes. I want the truth to come out. I want my life back.” She knew it was going to hurt, and she knew Roman would be wounded too. Her instincts were warning her to brace for it.

Nyx began reading.

‘I can’t believe no one has figured it out. From my flighty sister or that pathetic loser I’m pretending to date. He has no clue that the only reason I’m with him was to get closer to his father.

In life, you have to take chances, and I’m going to take a huge one. Clifford Remington is loaded, and when I’m done, he’s going to pay my way through life. Everyone is making plans for college, but not I. No, I’m making plans for easy street.

You know what? I deserve it. I’ve had to play love struck with his geeky son, and I’ve earned every penny his father is paying me. I don’t feel sorry. No, that’s not true. I feel horrible that I didn’t do it sooner.

I’ve been having sex with both men, and let me tell you…it’s better when you know you’re getting rich. His son doesn’t impress, but all I have to do is hang in there until he graduates.

Then I’m free.

When my stupid sister told me she was crazy about him and had run into him, I knew that this was my way to the top. She fell for it too. She never even noticed. It’s sad how she let me take him right out from beneath her.

She’ll never get a man.

Who’d have the sad little mouse?

Anyway, I need to get ready for my school day. I’m meeting that twit today to walk to class. When I hold his hand, I’m thinking ‘one more day’.

Yeah, until I’m free.’

Beau stared at the woman. “I’m so sorry, Mattie. That’s horrible.” Beau didn’t get that cold callousness. He’d never betray his sister to anyone, let alone for some money. Then again, why was he surprised that it happened. Look at their mother. Shelby had turned on her blood too.

Mattie was shocked. She didn’t know what to say. She struggled to string a sentence together. “Thanks. This day completely sucks.”

“It’s dated the day before she went missing. It’s the final correspondence in the journal.”

She was glad.

It was horrible and honestly, she didn’t want to read any more.

“What are you going to do?”

This was hard.

She wanted to run.

She wanted to weep.

Mattie wanted to head out of there and never come back, just so she’d never have to see his face when he read that journal. Only, she knew she couldn’t do that.

If she ran, even when he told her to stay away, Roman would crumble. Her sister had done enough in his life to cause pain, and she was going to try her best to protect him.

The truth was coming out.

It all made sense.

This was why the ghost wanted her dead.

Hell!

She’d feel the same way too had she stumbled upon this. Betty’s spirit was obviously tormented.

“What are you going to do?”

She thought about it.

“I need Roman’s number, your phone, and some help.”

Beau stared at her. “What are you planning to do, or what is it that I’m planning to do?”

“I need to take him somewhere quiet and tell him about this. I can’t drop this bomb here. Will you help me?” she asked. “Please? I know your allegiance lies with him, and I’m no one to you both, but I need you to believe that I care about him. I don’t want him to hurt, and this is going to sting.”

Nyx glanced over at her fiancé. It was his call. Beau knew them all far better than she did.

“Please. I love him. I have from the day I met him all those years ago, and I can’t give up. I can’t let what Devora did destroy us both.”

“Okay, what do you need?” Beau asked.

“I need a ride to my house, and I need you to text him to meet you there. I’ll handle the rest.”

“I hope this works,” Beau stated. “If not, Roman, Julian, and Tori are going to kick my ass. I was supposed to keep you safe, not let you wander off on your own.”

“It’ll work. Just give me a little help getting him there.”

“What about the video?”

“We both know nothing good is going to come from that. Watch it, but I think I’ll opt out.”

They could do that.

“Come on, I’ll give you a lift. We’re going to have to sneak across campus, over a fence, and to the rental car.”

She didn’t care.

Mattie would do anything for him. She’d save him, since the woman who was her twin did the exact opposite.

She destroyed his family and heart.

Mattie had a debt to pay.

She owed him.

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

Julian was driving them toward campus when Roman got a text. As he read it, he was confused.

“Can you drop me off somewhere?”

In all actuality, he was more than happy not to be heading back to that school. Mattie was there, and when he saw her, he was going to die even more inside.

Instead, he’d go on a wild goose chase with Beau any day. It was a far better option—considering the hurt he’d instilled on the woman.