Read Online Submissive by Moonlight by Sindra van Yssel - Free Book Online Page B

want.” She was strong, and he wouldn’t have said it if she wasn’t. But there was nothing fake about her responses that night weeks ago.
    She opened her mouth, to protest he suspected, but he cut it off. “Anyway, I’m not here about that. I’m here on police business. May I come in?”
    “I don’t think that would be a good idea. I’m not inclined to let you do another search.”
    He remembered finding the toys in her drawer. He took a moment to look her over. If he’d stayed away, he might have been able to move on from her. As it was, a new determination was taking hold. He would have her in his arms again. He wasn’t sure she could help him find Jerry Mackey, but he wasn’t going to let this opportunity go to waste.
    “Let me know when you’re done with the visual,” she said. “I’m not letting you frisk me.”
    “Not even if I bring my handcuffs?”
    She gulped her next breath, and for a moment, she looked as if she was wavering. But he knew he wouldn’t win that way, and every time she said no, that only made her position more entrenched. “I’ll give you a rain check,” he said. “Right now, like I said, I’m here on police business. We’re looking for a boy named Jerry Mackey.”
    “I barely know him,” she said
    “I didn’t know you knew him at all.” He raised his eyebrows.
    “Did he do anything bad?”
    “Not as far as we know. He’s a missing person, and his dad wants us to find him.”
    Marisa nodded. “A couple of years ago, he came out here a few times. He was interested in witchcraft, and I loaned him some books. He wanted a teacher, and I didn’t want to get involved with someone underage in a way that might put me in a compromising position, so he didn’t get what he wanted. Then, one time, he came looking for a spell. And don’t start in on me.” She glared.
    Even more interesting . “I wasn’t going to. What kind of spell did he want? Did you…do whatever you do? Cast a spell for him?”
    “Not exactly.”
    “Care to clarify?”
    Marisa stepped outside, checked her jeans pocket, and closed the door behind her. “It’s not unusual for people to come to get me to cast spells for them. For the most part, I turn them down. They want things I can’t do, or shouldn’t do. They want me to hex someone for them. They want a love spell. But sometimes I can help, and do, and no, I don’t know for sure what good it does, but I do know that it gives them the ability to believe in an outcome. What you’d call the placebo effect, I suppose. I think there’s something else going on there, but I won’t try to convince you, unless you want to be convinced.”
    Nolan shrugged.
    “Anyway, yes, I cast a spell for Jerry, although not the one I was asked for. And I gave him one to cast for himself, because when we need change, that magic has to come from within. But it wasn’t what he wanted. He wanted power, and I suspect he wanted revenge, although he didn’t tell me as much. He wanted stuff magic can’t give.”
    He left that one alone, even though he suspected she was using the word magic deliberately to bait him. “Is that the last time you saw Jerry? Two years ago?”
    “Yes. But he called me a week ago and asked if I could help him cast a spell that would make him hard to find.”
    “So why did you insist you barely knew him when you knew something relevant?” Nolan was a little pissed, but it was information worth the drive. She hadn’t lied to him, maybe, but she’d definitely hedged.
    “Maybe he doesn’t want to be found. That’s his right, isn’t it?”
    “Absolutely. And if Jerry didn’t leave of his own power, he’s got a right to have people look for him. Which is where I come in.” He relaxed his jaw. People didn’t usually say everything they knew to the police, and he had to build trust with her all over again. He’d made her a suspect before. She probably feared he’d do it again.
    “Then why talk to me? I get the feeling you were