Sapphire Nights (Crystal Magic Book 1)(25)
“What makes you ask that?”
“Answering a question with a question is evasive. If that driver sets the mountain on fire with his cigarette, does that make tobacco evil? Or the driver?”
“I guess it’s the concept of evil that needs defining. Do I believe in the devil? No. Do I believe some people completely lack moral fiber and soul? Yes. And fire in these woods is a natural occurrence. Forests require fire to start new trees. You should know that.”
“I do, but I worry about all the people here. They could lose everything.”
“And again, I ask what prompted this conversation?”
“You won’t appreciate the answer.” Telling him a spirit and tarot cards warned of evil and fire would only make him question her sanity more. “So should we search for a free clinic?”
She got up and dusted off her jeans as Mrs. Kennedy emerged from the tomb, tucking something into her purse. “Did she just take something from a grave?”
“Don’t rush to judgment. It might just be her flashlight. Or maybe she uses it as a vault for her jewels. Anything in there is hers anyway.” Walker stood and checked his phone. “Time for me to get back to work. I’ll let you know when I find a clinic.”
“And anything else you uncover about me?”
“Of course, if you’ll begin those discreet inquiries into who’s lived here for the past twenty years and who might be related to people from that time.”
“I can be a detective,” she said teasingly. “I have a notion that environmental science is a waste up here.”
The car below pulled away, and they strolled down the hill.
“Not a complete waste. If the Kennedys keep buying up property to build condos and a spa, the town might need you for an environmental impact study.”
He said it with a laugh, But Sam felt a cold chill down her spine. Was this the reason she’d been steered up here?
Chapter 9
As Walker drove his route, he used his radio and Bluetooth to make calls. Just because he was 99% positive he’d proved his father had died on this mountain didn’t mean he could shirk his official duties to investigate his personal concerns. He made his usual stops, talked to the people along the route he was there to protect, and drew satisfaction from the basic task. These past years, he’d distanced himself too much from his original purpose in pursuing a career in justice. This job was a good reminder, although it offered a few too many opportunities to brood about what he’d lost and how he would move forward. Having Sam’s case to work on was a relief.
Once he was off duty, Walker pulled into the sheriff’s office in Baskerville. He checked his desk for the coroner’s report, but it still wasn’t ready.
Sheriff Brown came in and caught Walker’s scowl. “The body’s been up there for twenty years or so. Coroner figures another few days won’t hold us up. He’s got a fresh victim to work on.”
“I’d be good with that except this skeleton is stirring up the locals. They’re only at the finger-pointing stage now, but you know how quickly that escalates.” Especially with the Lucys chanting and beating the bushes.
“That’s what we have you for, de-escalation. Don’t see how your amnesia victim fits in, though.” Brown threw a stack of papers on his desk.
“You’d have to understand how superstition and gossip work in a place like Hillvale. Half the town believes in ghosts. Some of them are trying to hold exorcisms. And the Kennedys are out to sweep the whole scene out of sight. And for reasons beyond my understanding, Miss Moon is in the thick of it.”
“Well Jennifer has the clinic lined up, like you asked. And she’s done some basic research on the family. We can’t place them in Hillvale, but the Moons are originally from ’Frisco, not Utah. You might be onto something.”
“That’s a start, thanks. I’m going to treat Miss Moon as a missing person and run her through the database, along with Cassandra Tolliver. Two people in town have filed a missing persons report on her too.” —After he’d persuaded Harvey and Dinah that he couldn’t search without one. Legalities tended to elude the village inhabitants. “Weird to have two essentially missing persons in one small town.”
“Plus the skeleton, if he’s your father as you suspect. He went missing too. Not that any of this connects as far as I see.”
The sheriff hurried off, leaving Walker to commune with his computer. It wasn’t as if he had a life after work. Once upon a time he thought he had—but that illusion had ended badly. He straightened his aching leg, kneading the muscle as he typed one-handed.
He dug into Samantha’s history first, since it would be the shortest and easiest. As he’d told her, she was pristine clean. She didn’t even have traffic tickets. Her driver’s license photo matched her appearance, so she was definitely the Samantha Moon in her textbook. Amazingly, she’d sought a TSA Pre-check recently, so she had fingerprints on file. Had she planned on doing a lot of traveling? On what money?
The address she’d given to the TSA was different from the one on her license. He looked it up—just graduate student housing. He sent a message to the Provo police department asking them to question the residents, but unless she was in danger or a murder suspect, they wouldn’t act quickly.