Desire After Dark

Page 17

  She slid a glance in his direction. "What are you implying?"

  "How do you know he didn't attack me?"

  "Antonio? Why on earth would he do that?"

  "He's new in town. I did some checking around. You told the police you saw him leave the diner with two of the murdered women. You do the math. "

  "He doesn't have yellow eyes. "

  "That could be a trick of the light, or he might wear contacts. "

  "Yellow contacts?" she asked skeptically.

  Duncan shrugged. "I've seen stranger things. "

  "Are you suggesting that Antonio is a murderer who… " She forced the words past her lips. "Who kills women and drains them of their blood?" She stared at him in shock when he didn't answer. "You don't think he's a vampire? You do, don't you?" she demanded when he didn't deny it. She thought of Antonio's potent kisses and her reaction to them and shook her head vigorously. "That's impossible! He was at my house the same night as Falco. "

  "They could be the same man," Duncan remarked, his voice thoughtful.

  Vicki shook her head again. "Antonio doesn't have blond hair. "

  "Vampires can change their appearance. "

  "But they were both here at the same time," she reminded him. "Antonio chased Falco away and saved your life. "

  "I didn't see who hit me. It could have been Battista. "

  "Then why did he pretend to save you? It doesn't make any sense. "

  "You're right. " Duncan rested his head against the back of the seat and closed his eyes.

  The hit on the head must have affected his thinking. If Battista were the killer, Vicki would be dead by now, Tom thought, and so would he. Unless Battista was playing some sort of insane game, but that didn't make sense, either. All of the vampire's kills had been quick and clean. He had stalked his prey, taken their blood and a lock of hair, and vanished.

  But what if Falco had changed his M. O. ? What if he was looking for a diversion from his usual method of killing? Thinking himself smarter than any mere mortal, the vampire could have decided to change the rules, make things a little more exciting…

  Tom scrubbed his hands over his face. He hadn't gotten much sleep last night. Now, with his head throbbing, he couldn't think straight, couldn't shake off the feeling that he had seen Battista somewhere before.

  He opened his eyes when Vicki switched off the engine. She glanced at the hotel, then looked over at him. "Are you going to be all right here?"

  "Sure. "

  "If you need anything, call me. I'll be home most of the day. "

  "I will, thanks. " He frowned when she handed him the keys. "How are you going to get home?"

  "I can walk. It's not that far. "

  "Are you sure? I can drive you, if you want. "

  "No, I can use the exercise. Take care of yourself. "

  On the sidewalk, she waved good-bye to Tom, then started down the street. She waved at old Mrs. Kent, who was sweeping the walkway in front of her son's florist shop, smiled at Toby Benjamin, who was mowing the grass in front of the library. Ordinary people doing ordinary things.

  She paused in front of every shop to look at the displays. She told herself she was window-shopping, but she was really hoping to run across Antonio. She had quite a few questions she wanted to ask him, like what he was doing in town and where he came from, and what he did for a living, and why he never seemed to eat or drink anything and why she only saw him at night. .

  Vicki frowned, annoyed with Tom for planting the ridiculous notion that Antonio might be a vampire in her mind. Antonio was no more a vampire than she was!

  Crossing the street, she paused to look in the window of Cliff's Department Store, thinking it was time she bought herself some new jeans and sweatshirts, and maybe a dress or two, like the pretty green and white dress in the window.

  Her mind made up, she went inside. There was nothing like shopping to take a woman's mind off her troubles.

  Half an hour later, she emerged from the store carrying two large shopping bags. Inside were three pairs of jeans, two sweaters, two sweatshirts, a long black wool skirt, the green and white dress, a pair of black heels, and a matching handbag.

  She hadn't bought any new clothes in, well, in forever. She told herself that the fact that she was doing so now had nothing whatsoever to do with Antonio Battista, though she had to admit she couldn't wait for him to see her in the other new dress she had bought, a slinky black jersey with a low back and a come-hither slit up one side. Of course, she had no idea when she'd have an excuse to wear such a thing but, as her mother always said, it was a smart girl who was prepared for any occasion.

  She was about to turn downFifth Street toward home when Mrs. Heath waved at her.

  Smiling, Vicki crossed the street.

  "Good morning, Mrs. Heath," Vicki said. "Isn't it a lovely day?"

  "Yes, indeed. " Mrs. Heath turned the hose on her flower bed. "How was your date with your young man?"

  "It was very nice. And you know what? He is related to the Thomas Duncan that you knew. "

  "You must be careful, dear. I'm sure your Mr. Duncan told you there's a vampire in town.

  I don't want him to get you. "

  "The man with yellow eyes," Vicki said.

  "Yes, I should have told you before, but I didn't want to frighten you. " Mrs. Heath made a tsking sound "That was foolish of me. "

  "How do you know about him?"

  "Why, he's the one who tried to kill me all those years ago," Mrs. Heath said, her voice as calm as if they were discussing the color of her daisies. She patted her hair. "It's white now, but it used to be as red as yours. "

  Vicki stared at Mrs. Heath, unable to believe she could talk about it so calmly.

  "Are you all right, dear?" the older woman asked. "You look a little pale. "

  Vicki shook her head, certain she would never be all right again.

  Chapter 14

  When she got home, Vicki hung her new jeans, skirt and dress on hangers and put them in the closet, along with her heels and handbag. She folded the sweaters and sweatshirts and put them in her dresser drawer, carefully concentrating on each task so she wouldn't have to think about what Ramona Heath had told her.

  In the kitchen, she opened a can of soda, then sat down to read. After the first few pages, she put the book aside. She thumbed through a magazine, then went into the kitchen to get an apple. She washed it, then put it back in the fridge. Too restless to sit still, she went outside and started raking the leaves in the front yard.

  It was a beautiful afternoon. The sun was shining. The birds were singing. The air was cool and crisp but not cold. The autumn leaves rustled beneath her feet as she raked them into a pile.

  But all she could think of was yellow eyes and bodies drained of blood.

  She shivered, suddenly chilled as she glanced over her shoulder. There was no one there, of course. It was broad daylight. Everyone knew vampires were active only after dark…

  Tossing the rake aside, she went into the den and fired up her computer. She brought up Google in her browser, then typed "vampires" in the search window. The first page that came up read, "Web results 1-10 of about 2,310,000 for vampires. "

  It was going to be a long day.

  Settling back in her chair, she began to read. She found a wealth of information in the first ten sites alone!

  One site claimed that everyone knew about vampires and also knew that there were no such things, at least not as portrayed in Hollywood. But there were vampires; however, they didn't suck the blood of humans, instead, they drained them of energy. According to one site, those who were thought to be vampires could have been merely people suffering from a variety of diseases, including acute anemia, which would leave a person looking pale, and catalepsy, which caused temporary paralysis so that
the sufferer appeared dead. A person with catalepsy could see and hear but couldn't move.

  Vicki shuddered, imagining the horror of a relative who laid a loved one suffering from this condition in a coffin for burial, thinking they were dead, and then saw that loved one trying to rise from the coffin.

  Another site suggested that many things that could not be explained in any other way were attributed to vampires. One of the most astonishing was the fact that some unlearned people believed that in the 1300s, vampires had caused the Black Death, which was, of course, bubonic fever.

  In ancient times, it was believed that a baby born with a caul, teeth, or a tail was doomed to become a vampire, as was the seventh son of a seventh son, and anyone unfortunate enough to be bitten by a vampire. It was also believed that a child born out of wedlock would become one of the Undead. She had to laugh at that. If every child born out of wedlock in this day and age became a vampire, the world would be crawling with them.

  She could only shake her head as she read about the various ways people had used to destroy vampires. Some believed in burying the body face down so that if it tried to escape, it would only dig itself deeper into the earth. Sometimes wooden stakes were placed above the grave so that if the vampire tried to leave, it would stab itself, hopefully through the heart. Other methods of ensuring that a vampire did not rise again were wrapping the body in cloth or a carpet, or tying its arms and legs together.

  Another site, which she found fascinating, stated that vampires were not supernatural or immortal, but that the vampire trait was part of their DNA, and this trait was likened to a viral imperfection. Some believed this trait could be passed on, some said it could only be inherited. There was another theory that vampires were beings who could not accept their own death, and when their body died, their soul invaded the body of an infant at birth, thereby providing the vampire with a new body and a new life. It was believed that these vampires went through many bodies, and for this reason they thought of themselves as old souls. It was believed that these creatures were hardier than humans, healed faster when hurt or sick, had heightened senses, and were extremely sensitive to sunlight.