Mark, however, was certain that the gun was there.
“Your home?” he inquired.
Canady nodded. He didn’t look particularly angry. He was more wary. And speculative.
“Hello,” the woman said. “I’m Maggie.”
“Maggie…Canady.”
“Yes.”
“I’d thank you for having me in, but…”
“What are you up to here in town,” Canady asked.
Mark lowered his head for a moment, stunned to find a half-smile on his lips. He felt almost as if he had walked into an old Western, and the sheriff was about to tell him to be on his horse, skedaddling, by sunset.
“I went to see you, if you recall,” Mark said.
“To tell me there are vampires in New Orleans,” Canady replied.
“I know who your murderer is. Trust me, if he’s not doing the killing himself, he’s responsible for it,” Mark told him.
His hands were almost free.
“This man, Stephan,” Canady said.
“Yes,” Mark agreed.
“So you’re saying there are real vampires in New Orleans,” Canady said.
“Sean,” Maggie murmured.
“Maggie, let him spell it out.”
Mark shook his head and stared at the two of them. He let out a sigh. “Yes, I’m saying there are real vampires in New Orleans. There’s real danger out there. And I’m not it.”
Mark frowned. Maggie Canady was staring at him as if she believed every word he was saying, even if her husband remained skeptical.
“You’ve got to let me go,” Mark said. “I went to you to warn you.”
“Where were you last night?” Canady asked skeptically.
Mark let out a sigh. “Battling a vampire.” He decided to lay all his cards on the table. “Stephan is here. He’s after Lauren Crow. I’m not sure if it’s because he wants to torment me, or if he has some deep-seated psychological need to find Katie again.”
“Katie?” Canady repeated.
“She was a woman he and I once knew,” Mark said quietly. “I didn’t know anything about vampires then. I would have laughed at the very suggestion—until I went to Kiev with Katie. I met her here in New Orleans, but she was from Kiev, and she wanted to be married in one of the castles there. She had known Stephan…before. I believe he followed her here, and then back to Kiev. He tried to lure her away from me, but she came back.”
“Where is this Katie now?” Sean asked.
“Dead.”
Maggie and her husband exchanged looks.
“I’ve been trailing Stephan since I got here, but I know he’s been close ever since. I ran into Lauren Crow in a bar. I thought I’d seen a ghost, she’s so much like Katie,” he told them.
“Deanna’s the one who was attacked,” Canady said.
Mark frowned, and a new sense of urgency raced through his veins. He was free of the ropes, but he didn’t want to fight if he didn’t have to.
“I’m telling you…” He hesitated, taking in a deep breath, then letting it go. “Vampires exist, and Stephan is one of the most evil of them. Not only that, I believe he has a small army with him. I’ve tangled with a few of them. If you don’t listen to me, if you don’t help me, we’re in for a serious slaughter.”
“Let him go, Sean,” Maggie said softly.
“You believe me?” he asked.
“Of course we believe you. Don’t we, Sean?”
He stared at the woman. It was a miracle.
“You…you’re willing to believe in vampires?”
She tossed back a length of deep auburn hair. “Of course I believe in them. I once was one. And we have several friends who are vampires right now. There are ways to survive with killing and turning innocents….” She sighed. “Sean has convinced your friends to move to Montresse House, by the way. It’s owned by a vampire named Jessica, but she and some of the others have gone overseas to deal with a situation in Africa. Sean, please let him go.” She gently touched her husband’s arm. “We know he’s telling the truth.”
Lauren felt sorry and a little bit guilty checking out of their bed and breakfast, and she didn’t say that they were moving on; she let their hostess think they had simply decided to go home early.
And it
