Hidden Moon (Nightcreature 7)

"Did you hire him?" Grace asked.

"To sleep with me?"

"To disappear those guys. "

"What? No! Why would I do that?"

"You didn't want Josh to disappear?"

I opened my mouth, then shut it again. Had I said as much to Grace at one time? I couldn't recall.

"I wanted him to," Grace said.

"Then suspect yourself. I was handling things. I didn't need anyone to help me, and I especially didn't need anyone to kill for me. "

Her perfectly arched brows lifted. "Who said anything about killing?"

A half an hour later, all three of us walked into the sheriff's department. I'd insisted on coming along, and Grace hadn't argued. I had a feeling I was going to get a turn in the interrogation room as soon as she was done with Malachi.

I glanced at my watch. If she was ever done with Malachi.

I'd left a message for Joyce saying I was at the sheriff's department and she should contact me only in case of an emergency. So far, none had arisen, though I didn't hold out much hope for the rest of the day.

The door to the interrogation room opened at last, and Grace stepped out. She motioned to one of her officers, and he slipped in. Her gaze went straight to me. I knew immediately that something was wrong.

"What is it?" I asked.

"A body's been found. "

I'd expected her to say Malachi had confessed. And why had I expected that? I didn't believe he'd killed anyone.

Though while I'd been waiting I had gone over and over the expression on his face right before he'd popped Josh in the nose. Malachi had looked murderous. Then he'd followed Josh, and no one had seen the other man since.

As for Balthazar, he'd disappeared after their altercation, too. Sure, Balthazar had gone into the woods looking for Grace, or so his minion had said, but she had an alibi in the men of her hunting party. If Balthazar had annoyed her and she'd whacked him, someone would have noticed.

I kept hearing the things Mal had said to both men, threatening things when taken in a certain light. I also recalled Mal promising that no one would hurt me again. Wishful thinking, or had he known?

I shook my head to make all the frantic, unproductive thoughts go away.

"Who did they find?" I asked.

"We'll see. "

"We?"

"I've got three missing people. " Grace held up one finger. "Hiking tourist. " She put up a second. "Josh Logan. " Then a third. "Balthazar Monahan. "

"And?"

"Our emergency personnel would know Balthazar. Which leaves Josh and our bitten tourist, Ryan Freestone. My money's on the latter. But if it's the former, I want you there to identify him. "

"Swell," I muttered, and followed her through the parking lot to the funeral home.

The morgue at the hospital wasn't able to provide the type of isolation needed to preserve evidence, so the funeral home doubled as a forensics lab.

"Did you call Bradleyville?" I asked.

Lake Bluff shared a medical examiner with the next closest town. Neither one of us needed a full-time specialist of that magnitude.