Chapter Eleven
Littlemoon Investigations
Saturday Morning
Eight A.M
On The Dot
As they all began filtering in, Julian was taking in his team and thinking about all they’d been through here in Salem over the years. Some of it good, and some of it…well, let’s just say questionable.
Honestly, if he was going to call a spade a spade, he was still contemplating a move, even if they loved it here.
A lot hinged on this case.
And the outcome.
The bottom line was he was twitchy over all of this because of issues they’d encountered in their past.
All he could hope was they were smart enough, strong enough, and wily enough to pull this off.
While they were accustomed to working cases, by getting help from the dead, their hands were tied, and they were running solo.
Hopefully, that didn’t damn this case right to the deepest pits of Hell. They couldn’t afford to lose anyone, or to risk saving Salem from this darkness.
This was do or die.
Possibly quite literally too.
Now, it all came down to investigating, and they weren’t able to use their gifts. That was a bad place to be. While his wife had been a Fed, and so had Nate Carter, he wasn’t. What he was, well, that was a tracker.
Now, he felt helpless since this was out of his realm.
Tori was jazzed, and ready to go, but he had that feeling of dread brewing in the pit of his stomach.
There were so many questions.
Like what if their protections didn’t hold?
Like what if someone else died?
Already, the media was all over their building after the ‘assault’ at their home last night. Clearly, they didn’t think he’d get lawyers involved.
Well, he would.
Lucian was his pitbull when it came to legal matters, and if they moved on this office, heads would roll.
Bet on it.
As they all waited to get there, so they could start digging into this mess, Julian was twitchy.
No matter how much he tried to hide it, it was clear he was doing a shit job of it.
Tori was staring at him.
“You need to calm down,” his wife said, hoping he’d do just that.
Truth be told, he was making her edgy, and that wasn’t good. They were all worried, but she was trying to make the best of this.
While they could.
“What is wrong?” she asked, whispering to him.
He was honest.
“I just feel off.”
Well, if he didn’t feel off, she would have questioned everything.
Gently, she held his hand.
“We’ll be okay,” she reassured. “You have to believe in your team.”
Yeah, but would ALL of them be okay? Because he wasn’t one to like collateral damage on things like this.
The facts were the facts.
Wynter was dead, and now, they had a complete stranger at the helm. While he respected Avalon, and understood she had a job, he liked to drive the bus—especially if it was going off of a cliff.
“I am trying, Victoria, but this is our business, and our responsibility. She can go home. We ARE home.”
She knew that, and she also knew that her husband didn’t do well with being out of control.
He’d barely slept all night, tossing and turning, as he kept her awake too.
It was a sad day when you missed your house being haunted.
But they did.
Now with the kids at the daycare, safely tucked away until their babysitter could pick them up later, they had to focus on the task at hand.
“I wish Trey was here,” he muttered. “I might feel less off balance. He’s a pain in my ass, but he’s my pain in the ass.”
She laughed.
“Oh, you’re down bad if you’re asking for Trey at eight in the morning.”
Yeah, tell him about it.
As Oracle walked in, Nate beside her, and Raven following, they noticed Bex wasn’t with him, and they weren’t shocked.
Not.
At.
All.
He saw their questioning looks and went there as if reading their minds.
“I moved them to the store,” he stated. “She’s working there and helping from the safety of my charms. It’s not that I don’t trust you, but Avalon suggested it,” he said.
And Julian didn’t like that either.
Again, he was being asked to put his faith in a complete stranger, and his gut wasn’t good with that. For some reason, he felt like she was the all-powerful Oz, and pulling the levers behind the curtain.
Only, everyone knew how that turned out.
What did you know…?
They had witches, too.
When he was silent, Tori elbowed him. The woman was blind, but she could read a room. If her hand was in her husband’s, she could see his face.
Mental note.
Don’t let Julian play poker.
At her hit to the side, he went there.
“We’re just waiting on your people, the Marines, and also the last of our team, Genesis and Josh.”
Avalon took a seat, and she could feel the tension in the room. Outside of the building, Salem felt like it, too, was on the cusp of exploding.
That worried her.
So, she told them where they were, and that caught them all off guard.
“They’re getting married.”
When she said that, Tori nearly fell out of her seat.
“Wait! What? Did you say they are getting married?” she asked, not sure she heard that correctly.
She shrugged.
What she wasn’t saying was she was behind the scenes, tugging the threads. There was urgency to protect Genesis, and her cop could do that.
It was the same with Lucian and Ridge. She’d suggested they participate in sex magick, knowing it would cross into this realm.
She had to give Ridge a reason to live, and his lover was it. The three of them were only safe thanks to the added protection of the people they chose.
The men they chose.
“Well, they are on their way here. They are already married.”
Oh, boy.
“How did you know…?” Julian asked.
She was to the point.
“It’s like I know what Lucian is thinking about. He’s focused on his wife’s ass, but also thinking about Ridge.”
When she said that, Bishop had been looking at her husband, and that made her laugh.
“I mean, you could have guessed that one,” she said, winking at her husband.
Lucian shrugged.
“I’m predictable,” he admitted.
And horny.
It wasn’t lost on him that he went from lots of sex to no sex that morning.
Jesus.
The tension he was feeling was enough to make him twitchy. He’d been thinking about his wife and if she’d let him sexually harass her in a closet for a quickie.
Sue him.
He was a man.
Since Julian had mentioned multiple people that they were waiting on, she felt it was best to clue them in.
Yeah, Avalon wasn’t done.
“The Marines are out handling some things for me. They won’t be here for a bit. They worked all night.”
That made the cops twitchy.
Well, one cop in particular.
Honor was curious about that, and this woman. Booth had told her about this particular psychic, since she’d had limited interaction with her.
Basically, Honor was skeptical.
“And we’re supposed to just…let them wander around doing what? Exactly?”
Avalon focused on the woman, using Nate’s vision to see her. She was tough-looking, and that emotionless stare told her everything.
This was a cop that didn’t like shit like this.
While Bishop would tolerate it, this woman would not.
“I mean, I’ve found that they are grown-ups and can manage themselves without me giving them instructions. As for what they are doing, they are scouting out places where your killer liked to hang out.”
She didn’t mention they were looking for this person. If they got lucky, they would find them BEFORE this went bad. Then, this person was…dead.
Honor opened her mouth, and Booth went there.
“Baby, we’re all tired. Don’t poke the psychic. She’s legit, and we don’t need to test her,” Booth admitted.
Avalon smiled.
“You are wearing a rosary. It’s black and clear beads, and it was lost this morning. Your husband found it on his altar. Mary Ann left it there for safekeeping. She likes him,” she said, pointing at Booth. “Despite him being a witch, your soul is going to burn in Hell.”
Honor opened her mouth and then closed it.
“Well, she nailed that one,” she said. “Carry on. I have nothing more to say.”
Booth laughed.
Oh, his wife…she was funny.
Since she had her ‘permission’, Avalon went there.
“We should probably begin,” Avalon admitted. “It’s going to be a long day, and the sooner we each start our parts of this, the sooner we might have a strong leverage against this person.”
Yeah, everyone kept saying it was going to be a long day, and it didn’t bode well.
For the two cops, Bishop knew she and Honor had shit to do, so Avalon had nailed that too.
“We’re going to be doing interviews all day,” she admitted. “First, I need to go to the morgue. I need to get this phone open and go from there.”
Honor added to that.
“Then, I want to talk to the doctor. I put a call in, and he’s agreed to meet us at his office.
I didn’t mention why, but I know he’ll likely know.
The media has put Wynter’s death all over the news.
Unless he doesn’t own a TV, or read the news on his phone, even Boston is reporting it. Apparently, it’s big news.”
As soon as she said that, she looked at Ridge.
He was silently sitting there, white-knuckling Lucian’s hand.
That said it all.
Gently, she went there.
“Hey, Ridge, Honey, do me a favor and don’t watch the news,” Honor said.
When he looked up, his eyes were red, and he looked like he’d been crying.
A lot.
Honestly, that the man was sitting there was a testament to his tenacity. They all would have stayed in bed.
Then again, he was bound to Lucian, and that might have something to do with it.
At her request, he simply nodded.
When everyone looked at Lucian for some guidance, he nodded too.
There was no doubt that they were all in that awkward phase of not knowing how to deal with this. If they were like him and Bishop, they would want to hug the man, not only to make him feel better, but themselves too.
“We’ll keep an eye on him,” Lucian admitted.
Yeah, Tori thought that was for the best.
Someone was seconds from breaking all over again.
Call it a hunch.
Bishop continued, but no one missed how she placed her hand on Ridge’s thigh to give him some support.
“We’re fully expecting a shitshow from the shrink,” she admitted. “Plus, if he wouldn’t play ball with us the other day, he’s likely going to make us jump through hoops.”
They knew that was a distinct possibility.
Tori volunteered.