Part 19 (1/2)

”I have to go check in with the FBI and the local police, get the details on the arrests. They should have Job in custody by now and I'd like to be present for the interrogation. It'll probably take most of the rest of the day.”

Rowan checked the display on her cell phone, which he'd given back to her once they'd landed. ”It's already after four, so I'd say that's a pretty good bet. Do you know where my dad is?”

He nodded. ”He's back at the house, or should be by now.”

”I'm going to get cleaned up, grab a quick bite and go see my dad.” A flash of unease lit Jack's features for a moment and she sighed. ”Jack, it'll be fine. Stop worrying.”

He shrugged, sheepish. ”I can't help it. Something isn't feeling quite right. Which is why you've got a couple of sentries posted, just in case.”

She swung around, scanning the front of the house. ”What? Where are they?”

”They wouldn't be any good if you could see them. Trust me, they're there.”

”Regular human guards or special vampire ones?”

”Regular human ones,” he said. ”There aren't too many of us special vampire ones. In any case, they'll be checking in with me every hour and I'll have one of them drive you to your dad's house and back.”

She patted his cheek. ”You're so cute when you worry. Like a little mama hen, fussing over all her little baby chicks.”

He glowered as she'd meant him to. ”I am not a mama hen and for the record, you're my only little baby chick.”

”I better be,” she warned, and kissed his cheek when he chuckled. ”Come back over when you're done with the cops, okay?”

”It might be really late,” he warned, and she laughed as she tugged the overnight bag from the backseat.

”I've been keeping vampire hours for weeks now. Anyway, by then maybe my delicate human body will have healed sufficiently for you to have your way with me again.”

He grinned. ”It's a date.”

Rowan leaned over for one last kiss then got out and walked up the steps to the front door. She opened the door, giving a little wave over her shoulder as he drove off.

”Home,” she sighed.

She realized Marvin must have been in regularly while she was gone. There wasn't a speck of dust and all her plants looked healthy and watered. In fact, they looked healthier than when she took care of them. ”Maybe he talks to them the way he talks to his pasta sauce,” she muttered.

She picked up the phone on her way through the house, dialing Marvin's number. His machine picked up and she frowned. He was usually home by now but maybe he had another hot date. At the beep, she said, ”Hi, Marvy, it's me. Just wanted to let you know I'm home, safe and sound, and yes, I will give you the details. And I'd also like a few from you, Mr. I'll Pack An Overnight Bag For The Kidnappers. I'm going to head to my dad's in a little while, but if it's not too late when I get back I'll pop over. Bye.”

She clicked off and laid the handset on the edge of the bathroom sink. She turned the water on in the tub, flipping the switch to plug the drain. She dumped in a handful of foaming bath salts and shed her clothes, dropping them where she stood. After pinning her hair up, not wanting to deal with drying it, she stepped into the tub.

”Oh that's the stuff,” she sighed, sinking chin deep into the fragrant water. She used her feet to turn off the taps, hit the b.u.t.ton for the jets and just lay back while the water swirled around her.

She eventually roused enough to grab a loofah and a bottle of body wash and lazily soaped her limbs. Her mind was as relaxed as her body, the relief of not worrying about her father's safetya”or her own, for that mattera”finally sinking in. And now that those worries were gone, an entire fresh set had moved in to take their place.

”Namely, how do I have a relations.h.i.+p with a vampire?” she wondered out loud. She soaped her arm thoughtfully. She didn't imagine it was much different than having a relations.h.i.+p with a human, except for the obvious quirks. ”Probably won't be able to take him sailing,” she mused, ”unless it's at night. But who cares?”

She set the loofah down and lay back in the tub. There would be some changes to make, that much was obvious. She'd probably have to adjust her schedule a bit but that didn't pose too big of a problem. She taught during the day and that wouldn't change. She could hardly convince the school board to change cla.s.sroom hours from eight to three to three to ten, but that was okay. It just meant that when she was coming home from work, he'd be waking up. It wasn't the most convenient arrangement, but they'd figure out a way around it.

”And now I'm getting mired down in the details,” she decided, and toed the switch to open the drain. She stood, dragging a towel off the hook and briskly rubbing her skin dry before stepping out of the tub. She tossed the towel aside, wrapped herself in a robe and stared at her reflection in the mirror.

”I will not overthink this,” she vowed to herself. ”What happens, happens, and we'll deal with things as they come.” Including, she thought, the possibility of her becoming a vampire as well.

She wondered if he'd thought of it. ”He must have,” she mused as she slathered on skin cream. At least, she hoped he had. It had occurred to her somewhere between New York and L.A. that he was going to seriously outlive her if he didn't turn her, an idea she didn't like at all. Still, it was a big decision, deciding to be practically immortal and drinking blood for the rest of her life, and she wasn't quite ready to talk to him about it yet.

There was also the terrifying possibility he hadn't thought of it. Which would mean he wasn't thinking Long Term Relations.h.i.+p, or LTR as Marvin always called them. It had been a while since her last onea”five years? Six? In any case, it had been a long time since she'd been with anyone who made her think of the future in terms of years rather than months or weeks.

”Years, h.e.l.l,” she muttered as she wiped her hands dry of cream. ”I'm thinking decades. Maybe he put some kind of vampire mojo on me.”

If he did, she'd somehow managed to put the same mojo on him because he was gone over her. She smiled at her reflection. Regardless of whether he'd thought over the possibility of turning her, she knew he was in love with her. He'd told her, but even more telling, he'd shown her.

Like when he'd freaked out about going back home because he was afraid of losing her. He'd been so cute, she thought, worrying she'd start giving him the cold shoulder again when they were back in the real world.

”Silly man,” she said softly, her smile turning dreamy as she capped the jar of body cream. ”I couldn't even if I wanted to.”

Suddenly full of energya”the bath had been both soothing and rejuvenatinga”she decided to forage for something to eat. Anything she'd had in her refrigerator before her kidnapping was way beyond its expiration date by now but she had peanut b.u.t.ter and bread and was hungry enough to settle for a simple sandwich. Or maybe Marvin's home by now and I can bribe him into feeding me with stories of my abduction by vampires. Picturing his face when she told him that, she was laughing as she opened the bathroom door.

The laugh froze in her throat when she saw the figure sitting on her bed. ”h.e.l.lo, Rowan,” he said, and before she could scream, something hit her on the back of the head and after a sharp burst of white-hot pain, everything went black.

Chapter Thirteen.

”Ms. Evans, are you with us?”

Rowan frowned. The voice was unfamiliar and sounded far away. And her head hurta”why did her head hurt?

”Ms. Evans?”

This time the voice was closer and really shrill. She turned her head away with a whimper. G.o.d, her head was splitting in two.

”I think Ms. Evans needs a bit of incentive to join our little party, gentlemen. Isaac, please encourage her.”

The cold water hit her face like a closed fist, stealing her breath as her eyes flew open with shock. She began coughing reflexively.

”There, there,” the voice said, a hand patting her shoulder gently and she turned to look. And recoiled in horror.

The man standing next to her was tall, over six feet and pudgy. His face was round and ruddy, his dirty blond hair in a sad little comba”one that barely covered his scalp. He was dressed like a banker, in a dark suit and tie over a s.h.i.+rt so white it was almost blinding. He was smiling, a deceptively gentle curve of the lips, but when she looked in his eyes, it was like looking into a bottomless pit.

”Stephen Job,” she breathed, and the smile widened.

”I'm so pleased to know you've heard of me,” he crooned, lifting his hand to stroke her hair. Not wanting him to touch her, she tried to move away and couldn't.

”What the h.e.l.l?” She swiveled her head around, biting back a moan at the pain that shot through her skull at the motion. She stared at the ropes holding her hands and feet down, realizing in horror that she was staked out on the floor, arms and legs spread-eagle, still wearing her bathrobe.

She looked back at Job and struggled to hide her fear. ”What's going on?”

”Well, dear, as you may be aware, I'm having a bit of a philosophical difference with your father.” He sighed and shrugged as though the weight of the world rested on his shoulders. ”It distresses me it's come to this but I see no other way of getting his attention.”

”You should try email,” she suggested in a voice that barely shook at all. ”He's real good at answering his messages.”