Secrets in the Moon (Crescent City Werewolves #1)

Chapter Two

"Three weeks ago exactly, Father told me over breakfast that he was going into New Obsidian on business and would be back home the next morning. He often did that—stay overnight if he knew he'd be working late in another city. No one likes driving through the forest after dark. Imagine a deer flying out in front of your car and crashing through the windshield."

"Did he give any details on what he'd be doing or who he'd see?"

"No, but that was normal as well. Father had no intentions of grooming me to take his place at the banking firm. He always made that very clear. I know it sounds like another motive for killing him, but the truth is that I completely agreed with the decision. Not a peep of protest from these lips."

Detective Hayes raised an eyebrow. "Too much responsibility?"

She gave him a shining smile. "Exactly. I would run the business into the ground within a year."

"I bet you could do a good job if you tried. You have the brains for it."

That drew a laugh out of her. "The only other time I've been called smart was when a man thought he needed flattery to get a dance with me. What's your reason, Detective?"

He shrugged. "It's just what I've observed since meeting you. Half the time you play stupid because it's easier to get away with it. The cops think the same. A mere pretty face couldn't scheme up a murder like your father's."

"A murder that I didn't commit."

He acknowledged the words with a nod and then said, "What happened after he told you about going into New Obsidian?"

"Not another word passed between us. He finished his toast and coffee and then left. It was all completely normal." It was frankly embarrassing, how little she knew.

"Did the driver check over the car before they took off?"

"Oh yes, Tierney always did that since Bugs can be so temperamental. But it looked and sounded fine when they pulled out of the driveway. And that's all I know firsthand. Everything else is what I read about later on, and I can hardly believe newspapers to be accurate about anything when they always lie about me." Then she shot him a significant glance, hoping he would let her in on details from the police files.

He did. "The car was found on the road through Corpsewood, about three miles in. The terrain there is hilly, and parts of the road are cut through the earth, leaving high sides of exposed rock. Somehow, that huge car had been flung halfway up a ridge of limestone and was burning so hot that it melted down into a hunk of metal. The flames set the surrounding trees and brush alight. By the time it was all put out, the crime scene was a muddy, compromised mess."

It sounded ghastly, and for a moment Cora remained quiet. "Why didn't they find any remains in the car? They never told me they didn't, but if they had, I would have been pulled down to the station to identify my father. And if there wasn't anything recognizable, then one of the police necromancers would have scried the bodies to confirm who they were."

That drew a wry grin from the detective. "See? Brains. The fire was so damn hot that everything burned down to ash and charcoal. There was no way to recover any remains."

"Or maybe the bodies weren't in there."

"The cops don't like to think about complicated scenarios when there's a simpler explanation to grab at. A car as large as a Royale could have only been tossed like that by a bomb planted inside it. Nothing else would be powerful enough."

Cora stared straight ahead, feeling like her blood might boil. "And no one else has as good a motive as I do."

She kept calm for a heartbeat before her next breath exploded out in a huff. "What a bunch of faff."