Part 15 (2/2)
Next she opened the front door and looked out. No SUV sat in the driveway. Had he spent the night with her, watching over her?
She had no way to know. Returning to Flash's cage, she bent her head to stare at the tiny beady eye directed her way.
”Hi, baby.”
Flash c.o.c.ked his head. ”h.e.l.lo, baby.”
”You see anything of a tall, rotten vampire around here last night?”
The little white head bobbed up and down. ”Pretty boy, pretty boy.”
”Is that a ten-four, Flash?”
”Ten-four, ten-four.”
She sighed and hit the play b.u.t.ton on the answering machine. There was a message from the neighbor who had first alerted her to the lights in the woods, a call from Seline wondering if the schedule had been changed, and one from Marc asking when she would be in. There were no messages from Ric.
She fingered the small white square on her neck. If not for the bandage, she could have believed that all of it had truly been some kind of wild dream. As it was, she started her damage control. She called Seline first and told the girl that she had felt sick last night and ended up oversleeping. She promised she'd be in after lunch. Next she called her neighbor and rea.s.sured the woman that the lights had been nothing but some teenagers playing in the woods. She hung up the phone, started a pot of coffee, and cleaned out Flash's cage. But the more she strove for normality, the more she realized how altered her life had become. She didn't know what to make of Ric's declarations and demonstrations. He was a doctor and had access to many different kinds of drugs. Perhaps she had been under the influence of something.
Whatever had really happened, Ric had betrayed her. She had been disappointed by men before, but never like this. She had given him her body, but it had been so much more than that. She had leaned on him for support, and he had not only let her topple, he had pulled the rug out from underneath her.
Ric woke after spending the afternoon sleeping. He ascended to the tower room and threw open the window. Perhaps it was the nearly three hundred and sixty degree view he had of his property, or perhaps it was the height that gave him a feeling of power, but the tiny room, for all its confinement, was quickly becoming his favorite spot to reflect.
He had been up all night and all morning in an attempt to safeguard Shelby from further harm. While she slept he had alternated between patrolling the outside grounds of her house and watching over her in her bedroom. He hadn't pondered all his new problems as much as he had simply wondered how he could have come to care so quickly for a human.
Now, though, as the events of last night moved farther away, they came into sharper focus, and the enormity of what he had done cut into him. He had killed a vampire. He had given a mortal information that could potentially be harmful to him and his kind. He had violated the trust of his position. It was a rocky path he had chosen last night, and if he stayed on it, it would get no smoother.
How could he possibly guard her twenty-four hours a day? He couldn't. He needed sleep, and he had a job and responsibilities.
And Shelby wasn't likely to make things easy for him.
Ric stood just outside of a shaft of late afternoon sun and felt the gentle breeze warm his skin. Guarding her implied there was a threat still out there, but he had no idea what form the threat would take. Had Branduff acted alone? If not, who else was part of the conspiracy to make Shelby disappear? Disaster control, even if he wanted to do it, would be hard. He could compel Shelby to forget the past eighteen hours, but that wouldn't remove the threat against her. And if what he had told her about someone wanting to strike out at him by hurting her was true, he would still be in danger.
Disaster. Ever since he moved to Shadow Bay and met Shelby Cort, disaster had filled his existence.
His cell phone rang. He reached for it, expecting it to be Shelby.
”De Chaux.”
It was Tux. ”Ric, I heard from some of the council members last night. This whole thing with Eva has them spooked. Have you heard any news of the investigation?” The words were stated matter-of-factly, as if the nasty confrontation between Ric and Tux had never happened.
Ric was careful to keep his words just as neutral. ”No. I haven't talked to the sheriff since yesterday. Eva's with Ormie, isn't she?”
”Yeah. Listen, Ric, the group wants a meeting. They're all edgy. They need rea.s.suring.”
”All right. Tomorrow night at my house. Set it up.”
”Okay.” There was a pause.
”Did you want anything else, Tux?”
”No. I'll see you tomorrow.”
Though there was nothing overt in Tux's words or voice, there was something about the conversation that worried Ric. If Tux was indeed a.s.sociated with Branduff, he was perfectly capable of making mischief during the day. Ric called Shelby's home number and got her answering machine.
”Shelby, pick up.” He paused and heard nothing but silence. ”Shelby, pick up the phone and let me know you're all right.” More silence. With a French oath he tapped in another phone number, hoping she had ignored his advice and gone in to work.
”Cristallia County Sheriff's Department. How can I help you?”
”This is Dr. De Chaux. Is Sheriff Cort in?”
”I'm sorry, Doctor. You just missed her. She's left for the day.”
”How long ago?”
”Just a minute ago.”
”Thanks.”
He was out of the tower and on his bike before another minute pa.s.sed. He pulled into Shelby's driveway just before she did.
Shelby exited her vehicle slowly, staring at him. ”What are you doing here? I was hoping you were nothing more than a bad dream.”
Glad as he was to see her in one piece, her unappreciative att.i.tude grated on him. He had saved her life, and even if she couldn't swallow anything else that had happened last night, she should at least be grateful for that. ”I'm flattered you don't consider me a full-blown nightmare.”
She didn't stop at his bike but continued marching toward her door. ”Don't feel flattered. That's exactly what you are.”
He followed her to the door. ”We need to talk.”
She turned to face him. She was wearing sungla.s.ses, but if the flinty lines around her mouth were any indication, her blue-green eyes would be throwing sparks. ”Are you going to answer my questions and be truthful with me?”
”You must know there are some things I can't tell you, and if I swore to be one hundred percent truthful, that itself would be a lie.”
”Then there's no point in talking, and we're certainly not doing anything else.”
He took her by the arm. She tried to shake him off, but he held her firmly. ”Listen, Shelby, you are still very much in danger, and ignoring the threat isn't going to make it go away. Talk to me. I can't make promises, but I can help you.”
She stopped struggling against his hold, but the tension in her arm served as silent opposition to his plea. ”Do I have a choice?”
”Not if you want to live.”
”Well, unless you plan on knocking down my door and dragging me inside, you can let go of me.”
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