Shadow Moon, page 7
I leaned forward and rested my chin on the back of the front seat. Kizzy almost never closed the window between the front and back seats of the limo.
“Hey, Charlie,” I said.
“Hmmm?”
“I don’t trust that Krieger guy. Would you keep an eye on him?”
Charlie winked at me in the rearview mirror. “Got it covered.”
Kizzy said, “Yes, indeed. I’ve already asked Charlie to stay with me until Carmel leaves.”
“Good,” I said, breathing a little easier. Charlie would protect Kizzy with his life. Still, I hoped and prayed I’d made the right decision about not revealing what I knew about Krieger. We pulled into the diner’s parking lot and my thoughts turned to Faye and her new boyfriend. Having Kizzy and Charlie along for backup made me feel better about meeting Andy McPherson.
“So, look for a truck with chicken poop and feathers stuck to the tires,” I said. “Or, it may have El Pollo Riendo on the door. It means The Laughing Chicken.”
Kizzy didn’t get it. Her forehead wrinkled in a frown. “Why are the chickens laughing?”
“Because they get to run around a chicken pasture instead of being locked in cages.”
Kizzy nodded slowly. “Apparently they don’t know they’ll eventually have their heads chopped off.”
Charlie let out a whoop of laughter.
I scanned the parking lot. None of the trucks fit my description.
Inside, the diner was packed. I guess a lot of people didn’t like eating dinner with their relatives. Faye looked over at us and tipped her head toward a big round table in the corner. It was empty except for one guy. Had to be Andy. I blinked at her and waggled my eyebrows. I waited, knowing she’d figure it out. Finally, she nodded. My eyebrow waggle meant, “If you think I’m trotting over to that table to meet and greet a complete stranger all by myself, you’re crazy!”
Faye offloaded a tray, then sashayed over to the table. I followed, trailed by the rest of my group. Faye grabbed my hand. “Andy, this is my daughter, Allie.”
Andy McPherson stood and I gave him a quick once-over. Clean fingernails. No disfiguring tattoos or gold chains. No visible chest hair. Amazing. Dressed in neatly pressed khakis and a black polo shirt, Andy was tall and lean with twinkling blue eyes and neatly combed light brown hair. He was so unlike Faye’s former boyfriends, I was barely able to stammer, “Pleased to meet you.”
He offered a work-roughened hand for me to shake. “Same here. I’ve heard a lot about you from your mom. She’s real proud of you.”
I glanced over at Faye. She was looking back and forth between Andy and me with a dazzling smile. I couldn’t help but smile back. Geez, why did Andy have to be so darned nice? Totally threw me off my game, since I usually despised Faye’s boyfriends.
I introduced Andy to Kizzy and Charlie and we settled in around the table.
Faye said, “My break’s coming up. I’ll join you then. Bea will take your order.” She blew Andy a kiss and bustled away. Andy turned red and stared at his dinner plate.
Because it was Thanksgiving, Bea, one of the diner’s owners, had to help out with the waitress duties. Usually, she just sat behind the cash register and took in the money. She was good at making change but hated waiting tables because she couldn’t spell. Her husband, Harold, was in the kitchen, dishing up food and calling out, “Order up!”
When Bea appeared at our table, order pad in hand, I could hardly believe my eyes. In keeping with the Thanksgiving theme, she’d gone all Native American. She wore a XXL beaded buckskin dress that hung to her ankles. White pigeon feathers sprouted from her towering, flaming-red beehive hairdo. Her accessories included fake eyelashes, sturdy white waitress shoes and fluorescent pink lipstick. Yeah, Bea had it goin’ on.
Much to her obvious relief, we all ordered the special. “Good choice, my friends. Don’t have to write down a thing.”
“You look very authentic,” Kizzy said. “I like it when people remember the origins of a holiday.”
Bea beamed at the compliment. “Shoulda seen me when I was wearin’ my moccasins. Had to take ’em off, though. Damn things were killing me. Might have well been walkin’ barefoot on concrete.”
Kizzy murmured something sympathetic. Bea bustled over to the counter and bawled out our order, “Five specials, Harold, and make it snappy.”
We’d just dug into our turkey dinner when Faye showed up, carrying a plate of food. Andy jumped up and pulled out the chair next to his. They gazed at each other like they were the only two people in the world.
Kizzy looked at me and winked. I executed a huge eye-roll, witnessed, unfortunately, by my mother.
Faye glared at me. “What’s your problem, Allie?”
The last thing I wanted was to cause a big fuss on Thanksgiving. I lifted my palms and shrugged. “No problem. Nothing at all.”
When Faye’s eyes narrowed in suspicion, Kizzy said, “Tell us about your chicken ranch, Andy,” and disaster was averted.
While Andy told us about his operation, Faye gazed up at him, hanging on every word, as if free-range chickens were the most important thing in her life. I tucked into my food, trying not to gag with embarrassment. After the pie was served, Faye went back to work, much to my relief.
We were getting ready to leave when Faye waved me over to the counter. “Your dad’s on the phone. You can take the call in Harold’s office.”
I hesitated, not wanting to make everybody wait.
Kizzy patted my shoulder. “Go ahead, dear. We’ll wait in the car.”
I walked through the kitchen on dragging feet. A phone call from my dad was never a good thing. Almost always, the purpose of his call was to warn me of imminent danger, like some new badass wanting to kill me and take the moonstone. Stuff like that. Geez, didn’t my father realize it was a major holiday? Couldn’t I take at least one day off for good behavior? I guess what Kizzy says is true. “Crime never sleeps.”
I sat at Harold’s cluttered desk and picked up the phone. “Hi, Mike. Happy Thanksgiving.”
“Yeah, same to you. What are you doing tomorrow?”
“Nothing special. Why?”
“Dennis and I are coming over to see you. We’ll be there around noon.”
“What’s up?”
“It’s a long story.”
“Must be important if you’re coming all the way over here,” I hinted, hoping to extract more information.
“It is.” His words were clipped. A long silence followed.
The longer I waited, the more irritated I became. Maybe it was all the fat and sugar coursing through my veins. Or, maybe I was just fed up with being jerked around when I was the one with the moonstone pendant. I was the one in danger. Not him. Not Dennis McCarty. Me.
“Maybe you should just tell me now.”
Mike breathed into the phone and thought it over. Finally, he said, “Okay, fair enough. I can’t go into all the details, but, a while ago, we got an undercover guy into a Trimark clan. He came out with brand new information. Crucial information that involves all of us, especially you.”
“Such as?”
“Something big is in the works. It looks like the Trimarks are planning a rise to power during the summer solstice. The words ‘next June’ and ‘crystal of light’ keep cropping up, so we know it involves the moonstone. I wish I could tell you more. We need to get our heads together and see what we can come up with.”
I swallowed hard, took a deep breath and said, “Here’s some new info for you. I just met a guy pretending to be a revival preacher. He’s Carmel Lovell’s new boyfriend. I’m one hundred percent sure he’s dark fae. His fake mission is to wipe out all things paranormal and he has a real hate-thing going for me. Says he’s going to kill my whole family. First Faye, then you and me.”
Mike swore under his breath. “My God, you must be scared to death. I can drive over tonight if you want me to.”
His words surprised the heck out of me. “Thanks, I appreciate the offer. I’m okay. Tomorrow’s fine. I’ll see you then.”
“Are you sure?
“Yeah.”
Before we disconnected, Mike said, “Hey, Allie, try not to worry. Okay?”
My bark of laughter tasted bitter. “Who, me? Worry?”
I am such a liar. For the rest of the evening, I heard the words, Your mother will be the first. Then your father. After you watch them die, you will be next..
And yes, I did. Worry. All night long.
Chapter Eleven
Sadly, all that worry did not affect my appetite. After Thanksgiving dinner, I’d vowed to never eat again. Yet, there I was the very next day, seated across from Dennis McCarty and Mike Purdy at the Red Robin in Vista Valley, scarfing down nachos like I hadn’t seen food for a month. I was too busy eating to be embarrassed by my pathetic lack of will power.
Dennis had asked to be seated away from the other customers. When the hostess had raised an eyebrow, he’d lapsed into a coughing fit and said he didn’t want to drive people out of the restaurant. It had worked like a charm.
Now, in between bites, the guys filled me in.
Dennis said, “You heard we’ve infiltrated a Trimark clan.”
I chewed and swallowed, then wiped the cheese off my chin with a napkin and tried to frame a semi-intelligent question. “Is the undercover guy a Trimark you flipped?”
“No. One of our people already had part of the mark on his palm. Our fingerprint experts figured out a way to make it into an inverted triangle. Apparently, it’s good enough to fool the Trimarks.”
“So, what has he found out so far?”
“Some of the info’s a little murky, since our guy has to be careful not to ask too many questions. From what we’ve been able to figure out, it looks like the Trimarks are connected to the faery world,” Dennis said.
I leaned forward in my seat.
“Our best guess is that the Trimarks are some sort of mutation. Maybe part human, part fae.”
“Dark fae,” I said with an involuntary shiver. The memory of my encounter with Krieger stole my appetite and I pushed the nachos away.
“Dark fae,” Mike echoed, shooting me a worried glance.
Dennis said, “There’s something big in the works. The Trimarks are talking about a rise to power.”
My hand flew to the moonstone.
He nodded. “The moonstone is a huge threat to them. We believe you and the moonstone are the only barrier between the Trimarks and their power grab.”
I looked at Mike. “Did you tell Dennis about Jessie Krieger?”
“Yes.”
“What I can’t figure out is why he showed up now. Why did he let me see his real face? What’s his agenda other than scaring me spitless? Is he after the moonstone?”
Dennis leaned across the table and lowered his voice. “None of the Trimarks have made a run at the moonstone for quite a while, right?”
“Right.”
“And you always wear it next to the silver cross?”
“Absolutely. Touch it and get knocked on your butt.”
“Excellent.” Dennis leaned back. “Now, here’s my theory. I think the Trimarks sent Krieger to scare you, hoping you’ll scurry home and hide under the bed.”
“He scared me all right, but I won’t be hiding any time soon,” I said.
“That’s my girl,” Mike said.
Dennis continued. “What it really tells me, though, is they are afraid of you. You have the power to screw up their plan and they want you as far away as possible.”
“What’s their plan?”
Mike said, “The summer solstice is on June 20th seven months from now. That’s the day the sun reaches its most northern point before beginning its journey south.”
“The term nineteen times nineteen keeps popping up in Trimark lore,” Dennis added. “Luckily for us, the last clan meeting included a little astrology lesson, so now we know why. Picture the configuration of the stars and moon over a fixed position, for example your trailer house.”
“Okay.” I wondered where he was going with this
“It takes nineteen years before that exact same configuration occurs again.”
“And this is important to the Trimarks?”
“Nineteen times nineteen is 361. Three-hundred sixty-one years ago, Trimarks began coming through the portal into our world, a few at a time. According to their oral history, when the nineteenth cycle of nineteen years occurs, in other words, next year, the portal will open wide, allowing an unlimited number of dark fae to pour through.”
When our day arrives and the killing begins, your mother will be the first . . .
My mouth went dry and I reached for my water glass. My hand was shaking so hard the water slopped onto the table. I took a sip and set the glass down, mopping at the water with my napkin.
Mike placed his hand over mine. “You okay, Allie?”
“Just thinking about Jessie Krieger. Sounds like he’s really looking forward to June 20th” I tried to smile but my mouth wouldn’t go along with the plan.
Dennis said, “There’s more. You tell her, Mike.”
Mike released my hand and settled back in his chair. “When you said you had a twin sister, things began to add up. Remember O’Malley? The guy I met in Ireland, the one who got killed by a Trimark?”
I nodded.
“I told him about you and the moonstone, but he kept jabbering about two girls . . . two girls joined by the moonstone. How it was up to them to save the world from a terrible disaster. I didn’t believe him at the time. He was old and, I thought, senile. But now, it all makes sense.”
“The letter you found from your dad didn’t say anything about two girls,” I said. “Only one.”
“I said as much to O’Malley, but he insisted he was right. He said it came to him in a dream and that his dreams were never wrong.”
“Two girls joined by the moonstone,” I said. “Anna Starr and me.”
Dennis cautioned, “We don’t know that for sure, but that’s a reasonable assumption.”
My mind was reeling from information overload, not to mention I was still pretty freaked out from my encounter with Krieger. If his job was to scare the heck out of me, he was doing a good job of it. I folded my hands together, placed them on the table and tried to keep panic at bay. Maybe if I acted calm, I’d actually be calm. Worth a try.
“Okay,” I said. “Let’s make sure I’ve got this straight. Next June 20th, a big hole will open up and a bunch of bad ass faeries, aka, Trimarks will come pouring through. Am I right so far?”
Nods from Dennis and Mike.
“Unless me and some other girl—we’re not sure who—use the moonstone to stop them. Also right?”
“Yes.”
“Do you have any idea where this is going to happen?” I asked.
Dennis said, “Our undercover guy is hoping to find that out.”
“So, this other girl and I are supposed to keep all this from happening, even though we don’t know where?” My voice was sounding a bit shrieky, no big surprise considering the circumstances.
Dennis looked grim. “We’re working on it.”
I took a couple of deep breaths. Once more in control of my emotions, I said, “I think I found her. Anna Starr.”
Dennis’s mouth fell open. Mike said, “No way!”
“Actually, it wasn’t me who found her. A friend of mine did.” Taking care not to mention Gilbert’s name, I told them what I knew.
Dennis jotted down a few notes and then rubbed a hand across his chin. “I’ll follow up and see what I can find out.”
“About the other thing,” I began.
Dennis looked up from his note pad. “What other thing?”
“Remember when I called you about those federal agents?”
“Oh yeah, those two. I talked to a guy who owes me a favor. Looks like the good old U.S. government believes paranormal abilities are worth a look-see. He said it’s all very hush-hush, but he’ll see what he can find out.”
“When?”
Dennis sighed heavily. “We can’t risk drawing too much attention by asking questions. I can’t say when we’ll hear exactly, but as soon as I hear something, I’ll let you know.”
Before I could question him further, his cell phone rang. He checked the display and stood. “I gotta take this. Meet you in the car.”
When he tried to toss some money on the table, Mike waved him off. “I’ve got it.”
Dennis stepped outside and Mike flagged down our server, Lindy, to ask for the bill. I must have looked as stunned as I felt because, once again, Mike reached across the table and took my hand. He said, “Allie, I know I can’t make up for all the years I wasn’t in your life, but I promise I’ll do everything in my power to help you handle this situation.”
I nodded and gave him a shaky smile.
Our bill fluttered down to the table followed by the odor of fresh mint. “Would you be havin’ dessert then?” The voice seemed to come out of nowhere.
My head snapped up. Mike gripped the edge of the table and looked up slowly, the color draining from his face.
I gasped.
Mike whispered, “Teagan!”
Chapter Twelve
The jagged-toothed faery sketched a little bow. The crow perched on his shoulder pushed off and fluttered to the table, staring at me through beady black eyes.
Startled, I flapped my hands. “Shoo! Birds aren’t allowed in restaurants.”
Teagan narrowed his eyes at me. “Oh, is that right?”
Before I could answer, he pointed at the bird and snapped his fingers. “Didja hear the little miss, Jack?”
The bird flapped his wings and vanished, leaving a tiny black kitten in its place.
My lips curved into an unwilling smile. I was no longer afraid. Teagan’s silly antics had seen to that. I rolled my eyes at him. “You’re playing with us now. Why are you here?”
Mike, still looking apprehensive, repeated, “Yeah, why are you here?”
Teagan scooped the kitten off the table and placed it on his shoulder. It dug in its claws and mewed loudly.
