Top Secret Vampire (Monsters, PI #4)

29. Reese

Chapter 29

Reese

W e settled in the living room, snuggling together on the sofa. I cradled a glass of wine, the crimson liquid swirling under the lights, feeling its warmth as I took the first sip. Wolf held his own glass filled with the rich ruby of his version of fine dining.

Despite everything, being here with him made me feel almost normal. Safe.

A relative thing after being credibly accused of theft.

“I can’t fathom any of this.” My voice broke the silence. The wine suddenly tasted bitter. “The footage, the impersonation. Someone’s gone to great lengths to make me look guilty, and I still can’t understand why they're after me. And my aunt! I can’t believe she came to the station, that she was determined to defend me, though that’s the one good thing in all this.”

“Maybe she’s always carried a soft spot for you in her heart, but she hadn’t known how to express it. Give her a call. Go to lunch with her sometime. You might be surprised by what you have to talk about with each other.”

I gave him a smile. “I think I will.” My smile soon fell when I thought about my situation.

Wolf scanned the room like he was trying to pull clues from the air. His dark hair caught the light, shining like the wings of a raven. “Let's go through the suspects and possible motives again.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. “Maybe we’ll think of something new.”

“Good idea.” I leaned further back into the couch, the cushion swallowing me. “Who first?”

“Beverly.” He said my aunt’s name quickly, like he didn’t expect her to be the right call, but I guessed we had to be thorough. “Your aunt fits, at least personality-wise. She doesn't like sharing your mom with you.”

I sighed. “She wasn’t thrilled when I moved back, that's for sure. On more than one occasion, she's subtly tried to push me to return to New York. But would she frame me and then slam into the police station hell-bent on freeing me? Besides, she doesn’t look like me, and she can’t do magic.”

“I think we can move her to the bottom of the list.” He stared forward, frowning. “I still believe all this is connected. Has anyone in your family ever hinted they could do witchcraft? You know what I mean. A person who had uncanny precognition. Someone who could almost make something come true because they wished for it. It might appear as a healthy dose of luck.”

I paused. “I don't think so. My mom never mentioned anyone like that, not even in my dad's family, and she's talked about him quite a bit as well.”

“Which doesn't mean your family is devoid of magic but does draw suspicion away from your aunt.”

We fell silent again before Wolf swiped his fingers over the screen. “Wilber Blight. Any odd occurrences from him or his family that you're aware of?”

I shrugged. “After what happened, I avoided him.”

“You reported him to the principal.” Wolf’s hands clenched, though his voice remained calm. “Men like him don’t forget things like that.”

I remembered how Wilber had eyed me when he stopped here to campaign. “He’s got a reputation to protect. I wouldn’t put it past him to try to discredit me. If I was ruined but spoke up, no one would believe me.”

“That's motive right there. If he's without magical abilities himself, he could've hired someone from out of town to create the video and plan the other incidents.”

I nodded, the thought chilling me. “I hate thinking that he’s capable of something so elaborate, but he’s slimy enough to try anything if he thought I was a threat to his reputation in this community.”

“He's still on the short list.” Wolf marked something on his phone and then swiped us to the next person. “Tracy.”

The moment her name left his lips, my fingers tightened on my wine glass. To think I used to trust that woman. “Where do I even start?”

He didn’t respond, just nodded as if to say, go on .

“You saw it for yourself. She hated that I moved back to Mystic Harbor and planted roots with people who know me. Even when she was my assistant, there was always this weird vibe like she thought I only needed her because I was isolated, working alone in my New York apartment.”

“And now?”

I bit my lip. “I saw her for who she truly is the day we visited Monsters, PI. She never supported me moving back. Now, I don’t think she ever believed in me. I didn’t realize—” My voice trembled, my bitterness bleeding through. “She hacked my accounts. Or I believe she did. Maybe she's responsible for everything else. Like you suggested with Wilber, if she can't do magic herself, she could hire someone to do it for her. Why didn't I see who she really was? I trusted her for years.”

“She saw her chance,” Wolf said. “She must feel entitled to your success. Perhaps she thought it was dependent on you relying on her. Anything that threatened that narrative . . . well, here we are.”

“She hated that I was finally at a place in my life where I didn’t consult her about everything.”

Wolf raised an eyebrow. “Someone so focused on control, on sabotaging the instant she’s no longer involved, could easily escalate their behavior.”

I swallowed and nodded. Tracy as a suspect made perfect sense. “She’s definitely high on the list.”

We continued through the others, Wolf quickly running a finger down the last few names. “Flint Prospect, an old mentor of yours. Now a rival?”

A humorless laugh scraped its way up my throat. “Something like that. He liked taking credit for my early success; that’s for sure.”

“And now that he’s struggling to hold onto that when he must realize that your success today is due to your own efforts.”

“He works with birds, so he could've sent a trained seagull to attack me.”

“People like Flint with fragile egos will sometimes lash out when they feel threatened. Your return to town could be enough to spark jealousy. What would he gain from driving you away?”

I drew in a slow breath and released it. “I'll be guest lecturing at the college. From what I heard, he hopes to be chosen as dean of the department. That could be why he wanted the endorsement. Maybe he’s worried he’ll lose his standing if I’m around. My books are quite popular. I'm not interested in competing with him for the position, but he might believe I am.”

“Because of all this, he'll remain on the short list as well. What about Charmaine?”

“Charmaine.” I rubbed my forehead. “We were best friends once. We had a huge argument about her older brother.”

A soft growl rumbled from Wolf’s chest. “She could also be jealous of your success.”

I set my wineglass down on the coffee table, sinking into thought. “I haven’t been back long enough to spark this level of anger, but Charmaine was always intense about loyalty between friends. If she felt abandoned . . .”

“We’ll keep her on the list. And before you ask, I crossed off your mom. She loves you.”

“I know,” I said with a sad laugh. “I just hate that I’m sitting here, thinking about all these people who could be behind this, people I used to know and trusted at some point. Well, other than Wilber.”

Wolf’s arm came around my shoulders, the warmth of his presence sinking into my bones. “We’ll get to the bottom of this. Whoever’s behind it will pay for hurting you.”

I closed my eyes and leaned into him, holding onto that promise.

We went to bed and surprisingly, I slept.

But I woke sometime before dawn and lay in the dark, thinking. Worrying. Who was trying so hard to hurt me?

I slid from the bed, taking care not to wake Wolf, though the odds of that were slim. Unlike the mythical vampire, he was able to sleep at night versus all day, but like mythical vampires, when he dropped off to sleep, it seemed to suck him deeper into its embrace than a human. I’d chuckled at how difficult it was to wake him, and I’d teased him about it one time. He’d scooped me up, spun around with me in his arms, and then kissed me silly.

The hardwood floor was cool under my feet as I padded into the bathroom. After using the facilities, I washed my hands and smoothed my hair, catching my pale reflection in the mirror. The bags under my eyes reflected the weight of all I'd dealt with recently.

I tiptoed back to the bedroom, careful not to wake Wolf, who lay on his back, one muscular arm slung over his abs, the other resting behind his head. He looked far too peaceful for someone neck-deep in mystery and mayhem. His cape lay crumpled on the floor, tossed there when we feverishly removed each other's clothing earlier.

His lips parted, and he sighed. If I poked him, I wondered how long it would take before he’d stir. Probably too long. I held back a grin, already framing ways I could tease him about it tomorrow.

Spying his messy hair, I couldn't resist rolling my eyes. For someone who liked his appearance structured, from his starched shirt to his cute little red bowties, sleep sure knocked him down a rung on the ladder. Gorgeous, though.

I lifted the edge of the covers and was about to slide between the sheets when I heard a soft sound, so faint I almost convinced myself I'd imagined it.

But no, there it was again. Subtle, like the slow shift of something on the floor or a door easing open. Unease fluttered in my chest and settled like a stone in the pit of my stomach.

Was someone inside the house? My heart smacked against my ribcage as I stood frozen beside the bed, torn between shaking Wolf awake or checking it out myself.

I bit my tongue, my pulse pounding in my ears. Maybe it was nothing. Wolf had set the booby traps outside, and the cameras were ready to gather any evidence. We were safe inside our fortress.

The sound came again, not loud, not aggressive, but distinct. Something subtle, like a soft clink or a shift of a floorboard under pressure. It sounded intrusive, and it was coming from somewhere on the first floor.

Fear slithered up my spine, but I swore I was determined not to be scared anymore. This had to end. Now.

After watching the steady rise and fall of Wolf's chest, I shook my head. He’d been through enough, and I'd feel pretty stupid if I woke him only to make him mistify through the house and find nothing.

I grabbed the bear spray from my bedside table. It's fine. You can do this.

With a silent exhale, I slipped from the room, tiny cylinder in hand. In the hallway, I stopped, listening.

Nothing.

I should go back to bed. Join Wolfie in his vampire-ish slumber. Guys in general could sleep like they were half-dead, but vampires topped them all.

Then I heard a sound below me.

With my heart clawing its way up my throat, I tiptoed toward the stairs and stopped again, listening.

I heard it again, coming from my office if I wasn't mistaken.

Maybe I should wake Wolf. Maybe it was nothing. Maybe . . .

No.

I was done with this. Done with dancing to the strings of whoever was stalking me, manipulating me. Enough was enough. Time to take them down and put an end to this.

Steeling my nerves, I ghost-walked down the staircase, taking each step lightly, my heart drumming in my ears. I paused at the bottom. The air felt charged, like something was about to break. I listened, and there it was again, subtle but unmistakable movement coming from inside my office.

Anger flared in my chest, burning away the last of my fear.

I crept across the foyer to my open office door. Tension whipped back and forth inside me.

Someone was in there, moving, quietly shuffling through my things. My office , the place where I wrote, where I felt most myself.

Whoever this was had crossed a line.

With the bear spray cocked and my teeth clenched, I peered inside.

I froze.

Charmaine.

She didn’t hear me creep up behind her because she was too absorbed in rifling through papers, drawers, and even my laptop bag. A silver jewelry box sat open beside her. In her right hand, she held something shiny—a penlight, flicking the small beam over one of my recent manuscripts. Charmaine, frickin’ Charmaine. Her presence was a sucker punch to the gut.

My shock melted in milliseconds, replaced by a wash of ice-cold anger.

“Looking for something?” I snarled, stepping across the room, the bear spray clenched tight in my hand. “Or are you planting something else to frame me?”

That jewelry box.

She snapped upright and spun around, the penlight slipping from her hand, clattering when it hit the floor. “Reese?”

“Why are you doing this?”

Her eyes darted between the bear spray and me. She tried to force a smile, but it came out a wince. “I was just—” A flick of her hand and the can was wrenched from my grip. It went flying, smacking into the wall and dropping to the floor with a loud bang. With a snarl, she pointed her index finger right at me.

I froze. I couldn't move, though I could breathe—for now.

“Witch,” I hissed, my voice only a whisper.

She huffed and advanced toward me. “Yes. You finally figured it out.”

We’d shared everything in the past. Silly me for using the same passwords I had back in college. “You hacked into my social media accounts.”

“You really need to change those passwords.”

I had but it was too late now. “You messed with my blender. Cast a spell on the seagull that attacked me. Wrote on my mirror.”

“If only it had worked.”

“I don’t get it. You also slashed my tires and snuck into my house to plant the statue in my attic.” My gaze fell on the jewelry box. “Where did that come from, the local jewelry store?”

Her slick smile grew.

“You framed me.”

“Such a clever girl, aren’t you? Although, it took you a long time to figure it out.”

“Why?” I snarled.

“I imagine you’d love an answer. All I’ll say is that with you out of the way, the path will be clear for me.”

“For what?”

“For Wolfram’s delightful vampire bite, of course.” She stroked her neck. “Immortality will soon be mine.”