Dark Moon Magic (12 page)

“Why?”

Regina shrugged. “I’m just thinking worst case scenario here. Maybe he won’t. But if he does, you’re going to have to find out who killed Keith, so I don’t sit in jail forever.”

“You know I will.”

Regina hugged Tiah again. She could always count on her. Her best friend would stop at nothing to help her.

“So, instead of sitting around waiting for your lover to come arrest you, let’s find out who this gal was Keith went to prom with. See if we can’t locate her. Maybe she can tell us something about the man.”

“Do you remember what her name was?” Regina asked, because she couldn’t.

“Kelly something. Her last name started with an M.”

“Marley, wasn’t it?”

“That’s it. Kelly Marley.” Tiah grinned. “Let’s see if we can find something about her online. Maybe we’ll get lucky.”

They trudged into the store and turned on the computer. “What if we can’t find anything?”

“Then we ask around. Surely someone knew the woman. Maybe even tell us where we can find her,” Tiah reassured.

“I hope you’re right, because if we can’t, then what?”

“Let’s think positive, okay?”

“Sorry, but after this morning I’m not in a good frame of mind.”

“Yeah, I understand that, but you’re going to have to pull yourself together. We know you had nothing to do with Keith’s death. We also know Trace will find out what being Wiccan means and come crawling back. So try and relax.”

Regina frowned. “I wish I could be as sure as you about that.”

“Hope for the best,” Tiah said, typing in Kelly Marley’s name. Thousands of links were connected to the name.

“Maybe we should narrow the search to this area.” Regina glanced at her friend.

“Right.” Tiah typed in Grove, Arkansas. What came up on the search had both of their mouths dropping open.

* * *

Trace stalked into the office, still reeling from what he’d found at Regina’s. The symbol on that necklace matched the one on the wall at Keith’s. But did that mean Regina killed him? Highly unlikely, since she wasn’t strong enough to have done it. Besides, things were taken from her place. He seriously believed she was being set up.

Or was he wrong? Maybe she’d lied about the whole thing, staged the burned, red-headed doll in her sink. But then, how could she have known he’d stop by that day? The night the rock was thrown, there had been shoe prints and cigarette butts outside her place. Could she have planted that evidence, too?

Damn it.

Traced threaded his hands through his hair. He didn’t know what to believe. One thing he did know; he’d need to do some research on this Wiccan religion. She said it wasn’t dark. Was she telling him the truth or lying? That was the million dollar question.

“You okay?” Nathan asked from the doorway, the deep-set lines around his eyes showing concern.

“Not really. Hey, you know anything about Wiccan beliefs?”

Hall shrugged. “A little. They live and breathe the earth. They believe everything, everyone is connected. There has never been anything dark in the religion, as far as I can tell.”

“So what kind of things do they do?”

“They feel the energy of certain stones. They have rituals for protection and do spells.”

“What kind of spells?”

“I’ve heard they have a love spell.”

Trace’s jaw dropped. “Seriously?”

Nathan shrugged again.

“They think they can conjure up love with a spell?”

“Supposedly. I’ve never seen it done. But then, how would you know?”

Trace’s mind started to spin. The minute he’d met Regina, strange things had started to happen. He’d gone against everything he’d pledged in the past eight years. Could she have put some kind of spell over him? And if that were the case, could he break it?

“Why are you asking about Wiccans?” Nathan studied Trace closely.

“I was just wondering.” Trace wasn’t sure he should tell Horn about this, yet. Nathan might insist they have Regina brought in for questioning, and he wasn’t ready to see her right now.

Nathan continued to stare at him. Clearly he didn’t believe Trace, but he wasn’t going to pry.

“Let’s call Rayland and see why he was outside Keith’s house the night of the murder.” Trace thought changing the subject would be best.

“Dial his number and I’ll talk to him,” Nathan said.

Trace found the man’s home number and punched it into the office phone before handing it to Nathan.

He was glad to get a few moments of reprieve from Nathan’s inquires. He was hurting, yet, he didn’t want him or anyone else to know, and to think this feeling could have been conjured up in some way pained him even more. Could Regina have actually made him feel this way with some kind of witchcraft? Some kind of mumbo-jumbo?

The idea made him sick. If she had, he was going to be strong enough to fight it. No woman was going to make him feel things he didn’t.

“He’ll be by in an hour,” Nathan said, drawing Trace back to reality.

“Great. I want you to be prepared for evasion. Rayland Grimes is no dummy. He’s probably already drumming up ways to fool you into thinking you’re his best friend.”

“I’m no dummy, either. I can read people pretty well. That’s why I know you’re keeping something from me. But I’ll allow it for now, since I have to prepare for Grimes.”

Trace saw determination on Horn’s face and knew he’d be in for his own interrogation later. He might as well be resigned to that and try and do some research on being Wiccan. He was going to know what he was up against before he made another move.

He rose from his desk. “I’m going to run home and clean up. I’ll be back in an hour.”

“All right.”

Trace left the office, experiencing a realm of emotions. After last night, he’d come to the conclusion he loved Regina and wanted to explore their relationship further. Now, after learning this so-called love could all be fake, he didn’t know what he wanted.

Staying away from Regina was best, but how could he do that when he was worried someone in town would take it upon themselves to punish her for Keith’s murder? He was stuck between a rock and a hard place, and there was no way to avoid the woman. Not until he found Keith’s killer.

He turned left and practically collided with Becky on the street.

She screeched, then smiled when she realized it was him. “Morning, Trace. You’re just the man I wanted to see.”

Great
. This was the last thing he needed. Becky trying to get a date with him for the umpteen-millionth time.

“I’m in a hurry, Becky. What do you need?” The impatience in his voice was hard to miss, but she seemed to. Typical Becky. Living in her own fantasy world.

“I wanted to tell you I saw that Moon woman and her friend walking into the cemetery. We all know she couldn’t possibly have family there.”

Trace’s mind started working overtime. Why would the two go to Groves’ cemetery? Were they planning to conjure something else?

“Thanks, Becky. I’ll go take a look and find out what they’re up to.”

“Would you like me to come with you?” She gave him a sly smile.

“No. I’ll take care of this myself. Thanks, anyway.”

Again, she looked disappointed but nodded and took off, headed for the hardware store.

He shook his head. Couldn’t the woman hurry up and find someone, so he didn’t have to deal with her anymore?

Trace turned toward the cemetery on the edge of town. He had no idea why Regina and Tiah would want to visit the place, but he sure as hell planned to find out.

* * *

Regina stood next to Tiah. Both were staring down at a gravestone.

“How do we find out how she died?” Regina asked.

“I don’t know. Newspaper archives maybe.”

“Yeah but does Groves even have a newspaper?”

“Yes,” a deep baritone voice said from behind, making them jump.

Regina swirled around, and her heart stopped, then restarted. “Trace.”

“What are you ladies doing here?”

“We came to see Kelly Marley’s headstone. She was barely eighteen when she died.”

He frowned. “Who is Kelly Marley?”

“She was Keith’s girlfriend in high school. I guess they went to prom together, according to the women at the local hairdresser’s.”

“So. Why would you care who Keith dated in high school or at any other time.”

“Look at the date she died, Trace.” Regina pointed to the headstone. “She had just turned eighteen. What happened to her? Someone that young dying. Doesn’t it seem strange?”

His frown deepened. “Young people die all the time, Regina.”

“You were friends with Keith. Did he ever talk about her? I mean, this might have been his first love.”

He shook his head. “We didn’t talk about that kind of stuff.”

It was Regina’s turn to frown. Men that didn’t talk about women?
Bull
. Not unless they were gay. “Could you find out how she died? I want to know.”

“That could likely cause pain for the parents of this girl if I start asking questions about her.”

“Could you check the newspaper? Maybe they have an article about her. Look at everything after May of 1996.”

“Why?”

Regina sighed. “I just have a feeling it’s important.”

“I don’t have time to go looking for things you think are important. You two need to go home and stay out of this case. Understand?
I
will find who killed Keith.” He stared hard at Regina. “No matter who it is.”

Regina physically felt his cutting words. He was telling her if she’d killed the man, he’d get her. Well, to hell with that. She hadn’t done anything wrong, and she didn’t plan to stop looking into this Marley thing. She’d find the local paper and hope they had an archive. But she wouldn’t let Trace know. She and Tiah would head home and make a detour along the way. “Let’s do what the sheriff said, Tiah.”

Her friend gave her a scathing look, but Regina shook her head and shoved her toward the cemetery’s exit. Let him think she’d do as she was told. That way she wouldn’t have him breathing down her neck, making it much harder for her to find answers.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Trace walked into the station, not sure what to think about this Kelly Marley thing. Could Regina be on to something? Why hadn’t Keith ever told him about the girl?

He’d lied to Regina earlier. The two had talked. Keith knew the story behind Brianna and the woman he’d seen in Guthrie a time or two, but now he realized Keith had never revealed anything personal in all the time they’d been friends Why hadn’t he seen that in the last seven and a half years? Why had it taken Regina to point this out?

Trace turned when the door to the precinct opened. Muscle tension moved into his shoulders and neck at Rayland’s arrival.

“Sheriff,” the man said, his eyes filled with irritation.

“Rayland.”

“I guess I’m here to speak to Nathan Horn? Whoever the hell he is.”

“I’m a special investigator working the Walsh case,” the man in question said, walking up to both of them.

“I don’t know what I can do to help. Keith and I didn’t travel in the same circles.”

“Seriously?” Trace was already angry with the man. “You two went to school together. I believe you even graduated the same year, yet you hardly knew him?”

“But that was some fifteen years ago. I went off to college. I didn’t see him much after that.”

Trace snorted, loud enough for Rayland to get he didn’t buy what he was selling. “You want me to believe that in a town the size of Groves, you and Keith never crossed paths?”

“Not really. I married and started a family. Keith was single. We had nothing in common. I believe for the last seven or eight years, he’d hung out with you and Garrett, had he not?”

Nathan placed a hand on Trace’s shoulder. “I’ll take it from here, Sheriff.”

Trace knew that was the right thing to do since all he wanted to do was rip Rayland’s head off. “I’ll be in my office if you need me.”

“All right. Come with me, Mr. Grimes. I want to talk to you about the night Keith was killed.”

Trace smiled and headed for his desk. He trusted Nathan would do everything in his power to learn why Rayland had been there. But then, according to Regina, he was watching her. Not too farfetched considering the man’s interest in her at the dance that night. His eyes spoke volumes about what he wanted.
Asshole
.

While he waited for Nathan to interrogate Grimes, Trace would research what he had planned to before he got sidetracked by Regina in the cemetery. He booted up his computer and waited. If it took him all day, he was going to learn everything he could about this Wiccan thing.

An hour into his search, he was feeling a little less concerned about the religion itself, when someone knocked at the door. Trace looked up to find Nathan standing in the archway. “Come on in. Is Grimes gone?”

“Yeah. He just left.”

“You find out anything?”

“You were right about him. He’s no dummy. He evaded just about every question I asked.”

“What did he say about why he was outside Keith’s that night?”

“He said he was on his way home when he heard the sirens.”

“Do you believe him?”

“I don’t believe a word the man said in the whole time we talked. He’s hiding something.”

“Do you think he killed Keith?”

“That I couldn’t say. I just know he was keeping something from me.”

“How do we find out what?”

Nathan smiled. “We don’t. We wait to see what he does. Nervous people tend to make mistakes, and we hold out for him to make one.”

“What if he doesn’t do anything?”

“Then he’s not guilty, and we move on.”

“Rayland is guilty of something. I know it.”

“Then he’ll make a mistake, and we’ll catch him. Now, I want to know why you asked about this Wiccan thing.”

Trace shifted in his chair. “I heard something about the religion and was curious.”

Nathan stared hard at him. “Is Regina Moon Wiccan?”

Trace tensed at the question. The man was good, or Trace was as easy to read as a Dick & Jane primer.