Moon Shadow (Vampire for Hire Book 11)

MOON SHADOW

by

J.R. RAIN

Vampire for Hire #11

Acclaim for the novels of J.R. Rain:

“Be prepared to lose sleep!”

—
James Rollins
, bestselling author of
Subterranean
and
The Sixth Extinction

“I love this!”

—
Piers Anthony
, bestselling author of
A Spell for Chameleon
and
Five Portraits

“
J.R. Rain delivers a blend of action and wit that always entertains. Quick with the one-liners, but his characters are fully fleshed out (even the undead ones) and you’ll come back again and again.
”

—
Scott Nicholson
, bestselling author of
The Red Church
and
After:Whiteout

“
Dark Horse
is the best book I’ve read in a long time!”

—
Gemma Halliday
, bestselling author of
Spying in High Heels
and
Lethal Bond

“
Moon Dance
is absolutely brilliant!”

—
Lisa Tenzin-Dolma
, bestselling author of
Understanding the Planetary Myths
and
The Heartbeat at Your Feet

“Powerful stuff!”

—
Aiden James
, bestselling author of
Plague of Coins
and
Welcome to Denmark

“
Moon Dance
is a must read. If you like Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum, bounty hunter, be prepared to love J.R. Rain’s Samantha Moon, vampire private investigator.”

—
Eve Paludan
, bestselling author of
Witchy Business
and
Bigfoot Island

Other Books by J.R. Rain

STANDALONE NOVELS

Robotica

Winter Wind

Silent Echo

The Body Departed

The Grail Quest

Elvis Has
Not
Left the Building

The Lost Ark

The Accidental Superheroine

The Worm Returns

Lavabull

Jack and the Giants

Dolfin Tayle

Dragon Assassin

Lost Eden

Judas Silver

The Vampire Club

Cursed

VAMPIRE FOR HIRE SERIES

Moon Dance

Vampire Moon

American Vampire

Moon Child

Christmas Moon

Vampire Dawn

Vampire Games

Moon Island

Moon River

Vampire Sun

Moon Dragon

Moon Shadow

Vampire Fire

SAMANTHA MOON CASE FILES

Moon Bayou

Blood Moon

Moon Magic

JIM KNIGHTHORSE SERIES

Dark Horse

The Mummy Case

Hail Mary

Clean Slate

Night Run

THE WITCHES SERIES

The Witch and the Gentleman

The Witch and the Englishman

The Witch and the Huntsman

The Witch and the Wolfman

OPEN HEART SERIES

The Dead Detective

Deadbeat Dad

NICK CAINE SERIES

Temple of the Jaguar

Treasure of the Deep

Pyramid of the Gods

THE SPINOZA TRILOGY

The Vampire With the Dragon Tattoo

The Vampire Who Played Dead

The Vampire in the Iron Mask

THE ALADDIN TRILOGY

Aladdin Relighted

Aladdin Sins Bad

Aladdin and the Flying Dutchman

THE WALKING PLAGUE TRILOGY

Zombie Patrol

Zombie Rage

Zombie Mountain

THE SPIDER TRILOGY

Bad Blood

Spider Web

Spider Bite

THE PSI TRILOGY

Hear No Evil

See No Evil

Speak No Evil

Flight 12: A PSI Novella

THE GHOST FILES

Ghost College

THE VAMPIRE DIARIES

Bound By Blood

THE ABNORM CHRONICLES

Glimmer

SHORT STORY SINGLES

Skeleton Jim

The Vampire on the Train

Vampire Requiem

Ghosts of Christmas Present

Easy Rider

Dark Side of the Moon

Blue Moon

Vampire Gold

Halloween Moon

Vampire Dreams

Vampire Blues

Vampire Nights

Teeth

Vampire Rain

The Santa Call

The Bleeder

For Young Readers

(Writing as J.K. Drew)

STANDALONE NOVELS

Spirit Mountain

Little Wolf

The Emerald River

The Angel and the Gift

Forever Silent

THE ROBOT TWINS MYSTERIES

The Mystery of the Walking Statue

The Secret of Stonehead Island

The Mystery of the Lightning Cave

THE KID QUEST ADVENTURES

The Secret of the Sphinx

The Gateway of the Sun

The Treasure of Oak Island

THE DISTANT WORLD TRILOGY

Dare to Enter a Distant World

Dare to Rule a Distant World

Dare to Escape a Distant World

YOUR CHOICES ADVENTURES

Deep Sea Danger

The Legend of Eagle Eye Mountain

Playoff Pressure

Moon Shadow

Published by J.R. Rain

Copyright © 2016 by J.R. Rain

All rights reserved.

Ebook Kindle Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Dedication

To Jason and Alberto.

You two clowns make life interesting.

Acknowledgment

A special thank you to Mariah! Welcome aboard!

Moon Shadow

Chapter One

I was missing
Judge Judy
, and I wasn’t happy about it.

Instead, I was being treated to a ninety-nine-cent cup of coffee at a McDonald’s in a city called Lake Elsinore, which boasts the biggest natural lake in Southern California. The problem with Lake Elsinore is that it’s in Lake Elsinore. One has to drive out of Orange County (where I happily live) through 60 miles of desert (where I had no business living), and there, shimmering like a mirage, is an honest-to-God lake. It sits at the foot of a mountain chain called, inexplicably, the Cleveland National Forest.

The city of Lake Elsinore is rough around the edges. It sports a downtown that feels forgotten and dismal. It also sports a lot of homes that have beautiful views of the lake, homes that look just as dismal and forgotten. Which is strange. In Southern California, any home with any sort of water view, be it a beach, lake, pond, inlet, outlet, river, stream or reservoir, is worth, exactly, ten million dollars. Give or take.

But not here. In Lake Elsinore, homes with a lake view seem to be an afterthought. In fact, one gets the impression that the residents of Lake Elsinore don’t fully appreciate the beauty of the lake—or the sheer unlikeliness that such a body of water would be out here anyway. Had this lake been in, say, Orange County, lakeside restaurants with shaded patios would abound, and so would storefronts boasting designer doggie treats. In no time flat, had this lake been in Orange County, few people would actually have access to the lake... unless they paid for it.

The man sitting across from me was Roy Azul. He was the owner and operator of a group of vacation cabins along the west side of the lake. He was also friends with Detective Sherbet. When I asked how he knew Sherbet, Roy explained that he and the detective were part of a model aircraft flying club. I made a mental note to ridicule Sherbet about that. Then added a follow-up note to make sure I did so to no end.

“Sherbet said you could help me.”

“Sherbet is paid to say that—in greasy pink donuts, no less.”

“He also said you could be sassy, and that you would mention the pink donuts.”

“Maybe Sherbet is a mentalist,” I said. “Whatever that is.”

Roy was dressed in cargo shorts and a black t-shirt, wearing one of those old-school paperboy, duck-billed caps that I think are actually cute. Roy looked good in the hat. Then again, most everyone did. In particular, Roy looked relaxed, calm, and excited to talk about whatever was on his mind. Sherbet wouldn’t tell me details. Sherbet had called yesterday and said he had a job for me, if I wanted it. He only told me that it wasn’t another cheating spouse case and that I should get a kick out of it. Sure, I could have plumbed Sherbet’s mind—even through a phone line—but I let him have his fun and his little secret.

So, here I was, in the back of beyond, sitting across from a lake no one seemed to care about. His “fun” had cost me my afternoon and a half-tank of gas. Not to mention, I had to make arrangements with Mary Lou to pick up my kids. That is, if Tammy even finished school today. These days, she missed more classes than she attended, and was proving to be a major pain in my ass.

“Thank you for meeting me,” he said. “I know you came from Orange County, but Sherbet thought it would be important for you to see the scene of the crime, so to speak.”

“Sherbet seems to have this all figured out.”

“Not exactly. When I told him about it, he only laughed. Most people laugh, which is why I quit talking about it. Except now, I’ve seen it twice—and both times after I’d seen it, someone in town went missing.”

“Okay,” I said. “This just got a little more interesting.”

“Sherbet says that you sort of specialize in the strange and the unusual. The Queen of Strange, he called you, actually.”

“Did he now?”

“I don’t think he meant any harm by it. He said it sort of, I dunno, endearingly.”

“Well, as long as it was said endearingly. So, how can I help you, Mr. Azul?”

“Please, call me Roy.”

Yes, I could have dipped into his mind, but I decided not to. At least, not yet. These days, I dip into minds when needed, and, in turn, kept mine mostly locked up. No more accidental telepathy for me, thank you very much. In fact, the less often I used my powers, and the more often I embraced my humanity, the more the demon within me lay dormant. No, she wasn’t really a demon—more of a highly evolved dark master who’d been banished from Earth by forces much greater than her. Or me. Except she—and others like her—had figured out a loophole back into Earth. The loophole? The possession of others. And possession by such powerful forces led to vampirism, lycanthropy, and other supernatural oddities.

And, yes, I was a supernatural oddity.

Anyway, she liked for me to read the thoughts of others; she liked for me to control others, to use my great strength, to hurt and kill and destroy. Mostly, she liked when I fed on others. Oh, yes. She really, really liked when I fed on others. Human blood gave her strength and boldness. It gave her, in fact, the ability to control me, too. But no more. Now, I’d learned to use my powers sparingly. To fly sparingly. To use my telepathy sparingly.

But most of all—which frustrated her to no end—I quit feeding on humans. Live humans, dead humans. Any human.

All of which had weakened her and reduced her to nothing more than a very bad memory. But she was still there, waiting in the shadows of my mind, waiting for me to screw things up, waiting for me to let her in through that cracked door. What happened once she got in, I didn’t know. But Samantha Moon, as I know her to be, as I know myself to be, might just cease to exist altogether.

“How can I help you, Roy?”

He looked at me. I looked at him. He seemed about to speak, thought better of it, then shut his mouth. I nearly gave him a telepathic prompt to start speaking, but I waited. Patience was good for the soul.

He nodded to himself, clearly conflicted, then steeled himself, looked at me, and said, “Do you believe in monsters, Ms. Moon?”