Sapphire Nights (Crystal Magic Book 1)(72)

“Would the farm be in that direction?” Sam pointed to the south, away from the lodge and Mendoza land, in the direction Harvey was taking.

Monty narrowed his eyes at her. “Yes, on the other side of that ridge was the farm house. Most of the land we’re standing on right now was part of the farm.”

“Still is,” she asserted, without really knowing the facts. She just felt it. This was reportedly her land. It was an extremely odd feeling.

He didn’t respond. She had a feeling he was a man who didn’t waste time arguing.

“Our staffs are tugging us that way,” she said as boldly as she dared, even though it was an insane declaration. “Walker, can you put me in the same part of the grid as Harvey?”

Harvey was already half way down the hill.

“Your staff is tugging you?” Walker asked skeptically, but he was wearing his shades again, so she couldn’t read his expression. When she merely waited for agreement, he nodded. “Fine, then, you, Harvey, and Monty head that way. I’ll divide up the rest of us. Keep each other in sight and hearing at all times. It will be dark before long, so if you don’t have a flashlight, make sure you’re partnering with someone who does.”

Monty waved his flashlight. Taking a deep breath of resolve, Sam followed her weirdly twitching staff and set off in the direction it led, which seemed to be a rutted lane of sorts.

Harvey was veering off of it, scrambling down a hillside.

“You don’t really believe that stick business, do you?” the mayor asked cynically when they were out of hearing range. “You just wanted to see the farm.”

“Maybe my subconscious guides it, you think?” Sam asked with interest. “Ideomotion? It’s one theory.”

“You’ve already researched Lucy weirdness?” he asked in surprise.

“I’m a scientist. I do not accept anything on faith and looked up divining rods. Google doesn’t explain what I feel. You’ll have to take my word that I had no idea where the farm was. It’s not as if there are directional signs, and I’ve only been here a few days. So the jury is still out on what this stick can do as far as I’m concerned.” She walked along, unconcerned, studying how the fire had skipped patches of scrub and trees, depending on how the wind blew. The firemen had almost had the flames under control by the time it reached this area. The stench of wet ash and smoke was overpowering.

“I understand from Kurt that I’m supposed to welcome you to the family,” her half-uncle said gruffly. “I should have done so sooner.”

“But you had me investigated first,” Sam said in amusement. “I can understand that. I’m still investigating me too.”

Harvey had disappeared. Walker had said they were supposed to keep each other in view, but he’d also said that Harvey was a vampire who walked these hills at night. She had to assume Harvey knew what he was doing.

“Walker says you’re the real deal, but he’s not telling me everything.” That sounded almost like a mayoral grumble.

“Walker considers everything is on a need-to-know basis,” Sam acknowledged. “I didn’t know all that about Aaron, either. And he probably knows a lot about you that he’s not telling. Walker is a font of undisclosed information, but I trust him.” And she did, even though her circumstances were so weird, she shouldn’t trust anyone. Jade had taught her to be suspicious of other people’s motives, so she wasn’t na?ve. There was just something about Hillvale. . .

She crouched down to examine a pine seedling that had survived behind a boulder. The mountain would recover in a few seasons. She wasn’t certain about the lodge or tourism.

“Walker is a professional,” Monty admitted grudgingly. “I don’t want to believe we have a killer in town, but Juan didn’t shoot himself in the back.”

“The police haven’t told you if they found anything?” Sam asked. “I thought for certain all that finger printing would help.”

Monty shrugged. “They searched the family vault and found a gun, but there are multiple sets of prints on it. They’re still testing ballistics to see if it’s the gun that shot Juan. The sheriff seems to think Juan was shot in the security office, but the entire staff has access to it. Even Uncle Lance has been in there to get keys to his studio when he lost his. My mother keeps spare sets of keys there. There are fingerprints all over. With no motive, they have nothing.”

“What about opportunity?”

Monty shrugged. “Shots were reported before midnight. I won’t go into the condition of the body, but the cops figure the time line is about right, a few hours before or after if there were any unreported shots. A lot of people were still up and around, but who goes back to the security area at that hour?”

“That’s about the time we heard the howling ghost. Surely they can make a list of people up and around then. I saw Harvey walking toward the cemetery right about that time.”

Monty frowned. “The cemetery is a couple of miles from the lodge. There were a lot of people closer. Walker reported several of the Lucys, including Valdis, out and about within half an hour of the shots-fired report. He said my uncle was in his studio then. That’s close to the security office, but Lance claims to have seen nothing, which isn’t unusual for him. Alonzo and Bernard were working the night shift and saw my mother’s Escalade go out, although no one saw who was driving. My mother said she was asleep and Francois claimed no knowledge of it. Kurt and I had just had a meeting with Xavier and Gump. And then there’s half the lodge staff and the guests who could have come and gone without anyone really noticing. Everyone had an opportunity.”