Part 11 (2/2)
”Just follow your normal routine. I'll see you after your interview.”
”Ooow. I can't wait.”
He hung up, resisting the urge to slam the receiver down.
One side of Tuxbridge's mouth twisted down. ”I don't think you made a fan, boss.”
”I'm not here to start a fan club. We're going to need a vehicle for our wait in the parking lot. The sheriff knows my SUV, and she knows both your truck and your Plymouth. Any ideas?”
”I'm sure Dory will be only too happy to lend us his wheels for a few hours.”
”Let me guess. It's not a coupe, is it?”
Tux smiled for the first time all evening. ”No, it's a van, actually. Front doors, sliding panel doors, a rear door, and a moon roof.”
”Excellent. Let's go.”
Forty-five minutes later Ric and Tux were comfortably ensconced in Dory's van in the county building's parking lot. The full-size van was almost as big as Dory's house, and featured almost as many doors. There was also a bed in the rear, as well as two TV screens and a premium sound system. The windows were all tinted and adorned with both blinds and curtains of the room- darkening type. Dory had been gracious in lending his van, but he had begged to be allowed to come along on the outing. Ric would have let him come except for the fact that he didn't think he could stand several hours of Dory's nonstop fawning and chattering.
Tux, on the other hand, wasn't one to babble. Ric would have enjoyed several hours of quiet, but felt it was an opportunity to glean information from his adjutant that shouldn't be wasted. ”Tux, tell me more about the group. Why do they live here? Surely it would be easier for them in the anonymity of a big city.”
”It would. Especially for Eva, who can be, shall we say, precocious. You know, I think this is the first time you've asked me about your new children in any context other than as suspects in your little murder investigation.”
Once again Ric felt a subtle but definite challenge in Tux's att.i.tude. When this whole affair was over, he'd have to have a face-to- face with Tuxbridge that involved more than mild words. This wasn't the time or place, though.
”It's hard to find time for social pleasantries when murder hits this close to home. But you didn't answer my question,” Ric said softly. ”What are they doing here?”
”They're not a litter of newborns you can generalize about. Each has his own reasons for being here. Dory has family ties in the area that date back two centuries. Lyle and Zada are wanderers. They share a trailer home and keep a low profile. They've only been here a year, and by this time next year I suspect they'll be gone.”
”And Eva?”
”Ah, darling Eva. You may think her behavior outrageous, but considering the setting and job in which she works, her manners and actions fit right in.” Tux shrugged. ”And you have to remember that with the exception of yours truly, all the vamps in the council come out only at night. In a community like this not a lot of people are out after the sun goes down. So, in a way, the vamps are safer here than they'd be in a big city that has a lively night life and more opportunities for human contact.”
Ric could appreciate Tux's position. As adjutant, Tux had to try to please both the Overlord and the members of the group. It was often a game in itself, playing both sides against the middle. Ric wondered how many of Tux's words just now were merely moves in the game.
Two hours later Ric saw Shelby exit the county building and head for her vehicle. She carried her duty bag on her right shoulder, and her left hand was ma.s.saging her neck. Her walk was slow, almost as if she were dragging herself across the parking lot. She tilted her head to the side, flung her loose hair behind her shoulder, and rubbed her neck again. Reason told Ric she was just tired, but the movements were so innocently seductive that he felt his own desire manifest itself in both his thoughts and his body's physical reaction. He wanted nothing more than to forget Tux and Eva and follow Shelby home. A vision of everything he could do to relieve her stress, cramped muscles, and any other problem she had was so sudden and so vivid that he had his hand on the van's door handle before his control doused the image and stayed his hand.
No. He musn't make a critical error now. His top priority was Eva, not Shelby, and Tux was eyeing him with a piercing stare that would miss nothing.
”You know, Ric, there are some in the group who say you're as cold as your namesake, Doctor Death, but I see that when it comes to certain mortals, you're not cold at all.”
Ric reined in his beast, but a soft growl was nonetheless evident in the undertone of his measured words. ”Be very careful, my friend. That's a vein you don't want to open.”
Tux only smiled and s.h.i.+fted his gaze to the scene out the window, quiet now following Shelby's departure.
Fifteen minutes later Eva swept out of the building's entrance, her long legs as pale as her blond hair in the glare of the overhead lights. Ric opened the van's door and signaled to her. She tossed her head in acknowledgment, but took her time parading across the lot to the van. She feathered her fingers through her hair, ran her hands down the front of her skintight tank top, and even halted once to adjust the strap on one high-heeled shoe. Ric wasn't sure if the movements were designed to irritate him, or simply a natural reaction of being freed from the confines of an odious human facility. A building with bars was no more popular with the Undead than with anyone else.
Eva made it to the van at last, and with a graceful leap settled into the rear of the vehicle in spite of her tight miniskirt.
Ric held on to his patience. ”Tux, drive us to my place. You can return the van to Dory after that. I'll drive Eva home when I'm finished with her.” He turned back to Eva. ”Everything went all right?”
Eva smiled and smoothed her skirt, which was already stretched tight and needed no attending. Eva's hands didn't stop with the material, though, but continued up and down her thighs. ”Of course, Chief. I told you it was child's play. They don't know any more now than they did a couple hours ago, but they're all going to go home with big smiles on their faces. All but the sheriff, that is. She's nothing but a...”
”Eva.” There was enough warning wrapped around the single word that even the most obtuse vamp couldn't miss it.
Eva froze for a second, then slid her gaze towards Tux. ”Sorry. I forgot that you ... like her.” Eva's smile widened, showing straight white teeth and dainty pointed fangs.
Ric felt like grinding his own teeth, but he restrained himself, turning his attention instead to the road. He would wait for the privacy of his home to question Eva further. Moments later, Tux pulled the van in front of the Chicken Palace, and Ric told Eva to wait for him by his front door.
He waited until she was at his door, then turned to Tux. ”I'll talk to you later.”
”Listen, Ric, I don't want to tell you how to do your job, but make sure you know where your allegiance lies. Defending the sheriff in front of one of the group isn't going to sit well. And don't underestimate Eva. She's no fool. None of us are.”
”Don't worry, my friend. I don't underestimate any of you.” He stepped from the van, closed the door, and slapped it, indicating Tux should take off.
Ric sighed, glided to the porch, and invited Eva inside.
An hour later Ric was alone again. He had questioned Eva, taken her home, and was now, for the first time all night, able to relax.
He would a.n.a.lyze the interview with Eva more thoroughly in the days to come. For now it was enough to know that she was not a suspect in the eyes of the police. He took a shower, and as his body loosened up under the pelting of the warm water, his mind relaxed as well, letting go of his thoughts of the none-too-enchanting Eva Hazard. No female vampire had ever appealed to him, and Eva, with her primping and strutting, downright disgusted him. Coming to Shelby's defense in front of her had been a mistake, though-Tux had been right about that. Eva, repellent as she was, was one of his kind. He was accountable for her welfare. He had no responsibility to Shelby.
Still, he couldn't deny the feelings that had prompted him to silence Eva's attack on Shelby. Nor could he deny what he felt at this moment-an insane desire to surround himself with the one thing he had shunned throughout his existence. Life. He craved the stuff of life-blood-but it was more than that. He hungered for life itself, with all the hope and promise of each new day. It was G.o.d-given strength he yearned for, not unholy powers granted by some Devil. He ached for the kind of pleasure a man felt, not the carnal delight that fed the beast.
He wanted nothing more than to have Shelby's body encase his in an explosion of heat. The image was as seductive as any power his kind possessed, and he couldn't shake it. He wanted to be born again into the world of the living, where everything was peaceful and right-where he wasn't a d.a.m.ned creature robbed of his soul. Where his sister's smile still beamed at him from the center of a cloud of golden curls.
He exited the shower, dressed quickly in jeans and a clean s.h.i.+rt, and glanced at the clock. It was after one in the morning. Too late for her to still be up. He didn't care. Not bothering to tie his hair back or don his gla.s.ses, he left the house, mounted his bike, and headed for Shelby's.
Shelby was floating, not dreaming, but not awake, either. It was a pleasant halfway point to deep sleep, a place of blessed nothingness. Except for that annoying chime. She waited for it to go away, but it sounded again and again, pulling her into wakefulness.
The doorbell. She groaned, turning to stare at the glowing numbers on her bedside clock. One-fifteen. She groaned again. She had only been in bed an hour. What emergency demanded her attention now?
She rolled out of bed, reached for the light switch by touch, and squinted at her reflection in the mirror. She wore a brushed cotton tank and shorts set. This better be good, whatever it is. She grabbed a robe from the foot of her bed and struggled to find the arm holes. The bell ding-donged again.
”I'm coming, I'm coming,” she muttered, turning on more lights on her way to the front door. She peered through the peephole. It was Ric. And he didn't look his usual self.
She unlocked the door and pulled it open. ”Ric! What are you doing here? It's after one.”
”I know. I couldn't sleep. I saw the light and thought you were still up.”
Something wasn't right. He wasn't wearing his gla.s.ses, and his hair, normally so neat, was loose and wind-whipped. She shook her head. ”Umm, no. The light over the sink in the kitchen is always on. What's wrong?”
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