Fiona Frost: Order of the Black Moon (53 page)

“Come in!
”
Dimitr
i LeMorte shouted from inside.

We cautiously entered the house and
stepped
into the living area to find
him
in the same spot
on the bat couch with
boxes of
empty
tissues
piled up around him and
an empty bottle of Nyquil
on the floor.

“I see you are not feeling any better, Dimitri,”
the detective
said, taking a seat on the
adjacent
loveseat.

“No, it’s all part of the process, Detective.
I’ll get better soon and be even more powerful than before,”
he
sparked with
a
p
seudo accent in a nasal tone from his
respiratory infection.

“We’d like to ask you a few questions, are you up to it?”

“I’m not sure if I can help
as
you’ve asked me ev
ery possible question thus far,”
he
sneered, struggling to
sit upright on a
pillow, straightening his blanket around his legs.

“Well, I can place you at the Gondola Bar
at a quarter past two in the morning
,
right around the time
of the murder.
We have your receipt where you checked out for the night
,
and you’re spotted on the surveillance camera at the marina at
exactly
twenty past two
, headed
towards Arles
Cave.
Your alibi checks out Dimitri.
You’re in the clear.”

“Told you all along, Detective,” he snarled, grabbing a tissue to wipe his nose.
“So, get out then.”

“But you’re not in the clear for the blood bank
burglary
.
There was a hidden camera and we have the footage—we’re
prepared to press charges for the burglary.
You’ll do probably five to ten years at Huntville, but
be able to get
off for good behavior after three to four years,”
he
said
candidly
, covertly winking in my direction as Dimitri blew his nose.

Detective Chase was bluffing about the camera footage. Dimitri
paused for a moment
,
a
tissue held to his face
, glaring
at him with
narrowed
, black
eyes.

“What do you want?”

“I want you to tell me what you know, Dimitri.
We’ve got it narrowed down to two suspects
—
your roommates.
What’s going on with
them
and what can you tell us?”

He
struggled to
prop himself up with a
nother
pillow
that he grabbed from the opposing end of the couch.
He glowered
at
the detective
for a long moment, mulling over his thoughts, deciding if he wanted to give
any
information.

“You will offer me immunity for the blood bank case
and
for the Jody James case?”

“Deal
.
I will speak
on behalf of
the district attorney, I know him
very
well.
Plus, Fiona can speak for her father too,” he said boldly.

“That’s right, Mr. LeMorte.
I know
he
will work with you if y
ou help us solve a murder case
.
He is a very reasonable man.”

After a long hesitat
ion, Dimitri cleared his throat, wincing from the pain.

“
On your word, then.
Mel
’s
seeing my cousin Gerald.
She’s kind of gone a l
ittle nuts
for him
,
lately
”
he
said before pausing
to endure a coughing fit.
“
She’s the one w
ho broke him out of prison.
I
warned her, told her it
was a bad idea
and
that she’d end up on the other side of
the iron bars
,
but she didn’t care.”

“
Yes, she even visited him while she was at work
,” Detective Chase
added, writing in his notepad.

“
She
and Gerald
tried to stage that
murder in the cave.
I
said i
t was a dumb idea, but they did it anyway.
As I was walking home from my friend’
s house that night
, I
saw t
h
ose
idiots
standing in
front of the
cave
and we started arguing about what they had done. That’s when your witness saw us, but they didn’t see
M
el
—she
was changing out
of
the
bloody clothes
. She had
brought a set to change into, and they
put the
bloody ones
in a bag—
”

“We’ve got
the ba
g
, Dimitri
.
We can make an easy match to her
,
b
ut why’d they
do
i
t?”

He
shrugged his tattooed shoulder
—
the rounded portion was the inside of a dragon’s mouth, fire pouring down his arm.

“
T
hey were trying to frame the kids.
They staged
it,
trying to make it look like
they
had done
it again, tim
ing
it with their release
from jail
.
”

“Damien, Victoria
,
and Camber?
But
Victoria’s her daughter?
Is there something that we should know about their relationship?”

He
grabbed a water bottle from the coffee table
, downed
half of it, reaching for a cough drop from a bag on the ground.
He untwisted
the wrapper
,
and popped
it into his mouth like candy
and
sucked on it
a few seconds before he responded.

“Vic and Mel’s relationship has been strained ever since Vic
came home
from foster
care.
They pretty much hate each other. Vic still
blames Mel for not
rescuin
g her
from the
Thomas house.”

Detective Chase repeated, “Rescuing her from the Thomas house?”

“
Parker
Thomas is J
ody James
brother
, and
Jody
went over there for holidays and got to see Vic—she’d
pick up where she left off with the abuse
.
I told you
Jody was Vic’s babysitter when she was
little
and lived with Mel
.
Jody’s
the one who
abused Vic
and blamed it on
Mel
when the school started asking questions
—claiming s
he
turned
over
Mel
to CPS
because it was the right thing to do
,”
he
expla
ined, his
hand pressed against his mouth
to suppress a cough.

“Then, why didn’t Victoria just tell the truth
—
that it was Jody James that was beating her and not her mother?”

“
S
he did tell
people, but they didn’t listen, she was young.
The psychologists said it was a defense mechanism for a child to protect their parent.
And
I
think that seeing Jody James on a regular basis once she was in foster
care was intimidating,
and after telling on Jody didn’t work, she probably got scared and didn’t try it again.
Who knows, Jody probably threatened Vic for all we know
,” Dimitri said.

Detective Chase and I locked into a gaze for a moment, trying to figure out what else we could get
him
to confess to
. The detective
went for it.

“Do you think Melanie or Victoria killed Jody James?”

“Yes
.
I do.
But
I think it was deserved.
Mel lost her
kid
,
and you can’t get those years back
, things aren’t the same.
Jody cost
her a lot of cash
,
shamed her.
Then, Mel lost the promotion at the prison
not too long ago
because of this
BS
charge; she’s got a criminal record
.
Jody
deserved
what she got
, every drop of blood that
spewed
from her body was just
ified
,”
he said
, pulling his blanket up to his chin.

“Thank you, Dimitri.
You’ve been a great help.
I think you should see a doctor, by the way,”
he
said
, strolling
towards the
front door.

“Nah,
to be honest,
it’s a curse.
Comes back times three.
I should have known not to mess with it,”
he
bewailed.

“Mess with what,”
he
inquired cautiously.

“The Rinden bowls
.
They’re cursed, black magic.
I used them to get even with you, Detective.
Now I pay the price.
Never took that crap serious
ly
, but it is real.
I’m sorry I messed with it,”
he
said in a
false
Mexican accent, before blowing his nose like a horn.

“Well, Dimitri, I guess
I accept your apology
.
”

The detective gazed at me,
a smirk
plastered on his face.

“
By the way, Detective,
I think Mel’s lost her mind.
She said something this morning about doing another copycat to throw the scent off
her trail
.
I’ve been too sick to get off the couch, but I could have sworn that I heard somebody crying
in the other room. It was
muffled
like the person was
gagged.
I don’t think it was Vic, though, she
left; she was angry with Damien and said she was going to a
friend
’s house
in Silver Springs.
She also got in a fight with Mel and stormed out of the house saying she was never coming back.
”

“
Melanie’s
got Maddie!
”
I screamed
in terror.

I
blasted
a
mass
text to the
team.

Detective Chase and I are on our way to Arles Cave.
We believe Maddie was kidnapped by Melanie Newsted
,
and her life is in danger.
Get there when you can
.

Detective Chase and I
sped at top speed to
Arles Cave.
He
fired
a report on his CB radio about
Melanie
,
explaining
we were on our way to the
cave and needed backup. My world became a blur until he
pulled the car next to the cave
. W
ithout delay, we ran
towards the
cave, flashlights in hand
. We sprinted
into the
darkened corridor
.

“Hold on, Fiona
.”

He
paused,
viewing the screen of his phone
, panting
.
He shook his head in disgust.

“We have a link to Melanie
in the cave
, thanks to
Maddie’s
data, Fiona.
The team recovered a ring, made from recycled cans
—
the exact type that
she
sells at the markets for extra cash.”

“Wow.
But if your team was in the cave earlier today,
wouldn’t they have
seen
Maddie
here
?”

“Not necessarily.
We don’t know
if she’s here at all
, and the team
had no reaso
n to search Dracul’s Den today—just the river in the Open Council Room.”

We carefully pointed
our flashlights
at
every crevice of the cave, stopping in the crystal room, the orb room, bat room and survey
ing
the
main
area
of the cave
.
Detective Chase received a radio call
.
A static shrouded message said b
ackup
officers were on their way.
He made a sly comment about hoping
this all
wasn’t just a hunch.

We
approached the
tunnel
, hearing muffled voices from down in
Dracul’s Den.
He
pulled
his gun
from the holster
,
climb
ing
into the
passageway
,
whisper
ing
for m
e
to
turn
off my flashlight
.
We allowed our eyes to adjust for a
few seconds
before
climbing into
the tunnel
, t
he darkness intensi
fying
as we crawled through
.
As we rounded the curve,
a
dim candlelight
flickered from down below.

He stopped, curling
around as much as he could muster in the confines of the
tunnel
,
whisper
ing
for me to
remain in the shadows behind him.

He
climbed out ever so slowly
and descended the stairs
, the blackness of the cave hiding us from view.
I followed his lead
, feeling each step with my heel as I couldn’t see anything besides
the center of the room.
Maddie
was laying face-up on
top of the altar, ominous candles surrounding her.
She was strapped to the
slab
with
duct tape.
Her
long, black
hair was
soaked
,
her mouth
was
bound.

Melanie
was
lighting matches and holding them to the candlewicks,
taunting
Maddie about
how she was
a perfect student
with a perfect, loving
family that cared about her.
She
ranted
in a maniacal voice
about how
Victoria
had
left her
to move
in with a friend from Silver Springs
. She raged about Victoria promising
to file for
emancipation
and claiming she would never see her again
.

Detective Chase
cautiously entered
the
range of the candlelight
. M
addie
spotted him, locking
widened
eyes
with him.
As instructed,
I remained in the
blackened shadows and hoped
the backup officers would flood from the tunnel at any moment.

“Melanie
Newsted,”
he
roared from the darkness
.
“
Detective Chase, Godley Grove Police.
Y
ou are under arrest for the murder of Jody James
and
the kidnapping of Madison Christie.
Step away from Miss Christie
,
and p
ut your hands up
.
Drop to your knees
,”
he
boomed, turning on his flashlight and pointing it at Melanie
’s face
, her short brown hair
wet from perspiration
.
She
yanked
a straight razor
from her pocket, lunging towards
Maddie.

Instinct drove me to turn on my
flashlight and point it directly into
Melanie’s
eyes
as
Detective Chase unhinge
d
the safety of his gun.
I had never
witnessed
him pull his
gun
. Baffled, I
was standing
behind a r
espected
forensic
scientist, a doctor, using lethal
force.
Maddie’s eyes were
riddled
with
pure fright
, her breaths rapid
as she
kept an eye on
Melanie
’s every move while
struggling to get free
of
the duct tape
.

“I am going to give you three seconds to put the
weapon
down
,
and do exactly what I say.
Put your hands in the air
.
L
ie flat on the ground, right here,” he pointed his flashlight on the ground next to
the altar
.

“I can cut her throat right now and end her.
Why don’t you do what I say
and
toss me your gun so
I can get out of
here?
I’ll give you two seconds before I open
Miss Perfect’s
throat,”
she
snarled
, sliding the razor across Maddie’s neck
, her thick-rimmed eyeglasses and rhinestone piercings
in her face catching
the
flames
just right, sparkling in the dim light
.
She
was tall, muscular
. I imagined her dragging
Jody
James
’ tiny body
into
Dracul
’s Den
the morning she killed her
.

I gasped as a
red line
surface
d across
Maddie’s neck, a drop of blood form
ing
in the center
and trailing
towards the
altar
.
My heart pounded with a thunderous rage, slamming
against my rib
cage. I fought to keep up with the
swiftness
of my breaths as
Maddie
turned her
head
to find me, her
forehead wrinkled in
dreadful
furrows
of panic, her eyes
had become
portals
of
sheer terror.

“Detective, shouldn’t you give her the gun
?
”
I cautioned with an unsteady
voice
, trembling.

“Didn’t they teach you in the police academy that you always do everything possible to save the poor victim?
”
sh
e taunted, waving her razor
an inch above Maddie’s
neck
.
“I could stab her in the heart in a millisecond
,
and it will be your fault that you didn’t do anything to stop me!”

Melanie feigned a stabbing above Maddie’s chest
, stopping right as it made contact with her
.
I gasped for air
, helpless, feeling as though I would lose consciousness. I was unable to save my
best friend.

“
S
he’s going to kill Maddie!
”
I whispered in a
fit of
hysteria
.

“Fiona, I’ve got this, calm down,”
h
e said under his breath, aiming at Melanie
with a cool hand
,
rais
ing
the
gun level with his shoulder.

I twisted around, hoping to see officers behind me. Nothing. Nobody. It was dead silent.
Where are they? Where is backup?

“I wi
ll kill this girl
;
you will live the rest of your life in regret
,”
she
warned, raising the razor
once again.

“This
is your
final
warning,” he bellowed
,
keeping a steady aim
.
“
One, two
—
”

I
screamed
as the gunshot fired
.
It was
piercing, intense, the loudest sound I had ever experienced—even more than Gerald Smith’s
blast in my living room
.
As the bullet reached Melanie, her
shoulder kick
ed
backw
ard, tossing her towards the Devil’s Throne
, her razor
spinning
into the darkness of the cave.

A high-pitched
tone rang inside of my
head
, screaming inside of my brain as I cupped my ears, pressing as hard as I could
to ease the discomfort
.
A f
uzzy stati
c filled my ear canals, a
loud, painful humming
vibrated
inside of me
as Melanie crumble
d
to the ground, moaning.
I
charged
towards
Maddie, removing
the duct tape
as fast as I could
, strand by strand
. I
nspecting the cut on her neck
, I sighed as I examined only a
surface wound
,
it had already stopped bleeding
, leaving her with a clotted line
.
She whimpered as I pulled off the
piece of
duct tape from her mouth
, tears streaming down both of our faces
.

“Fiona
!
Oh my gosh, you don’t even know what I’ve been through!”
s
he screamed, her voice coming through as if she were at the end of a tunnel.

I grabbed my phone and att
empted to call her mother
.
Straining to hear, I had no
reception.
S
he squeezed my neck
,
as I glanced at
the detective
standing over Melanie
with a
bleeding wound
in
her right
shoulder.
I
helped Maddie get down from the
altar
.