“I was rude to you the other day,” she said, not quite meeting Sara’s eyes. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t give it another thought.” She hesitated a moment, then asked, “Is something wrong?”
“Wrong?” Deanne blinked several times. “I guess I’m just lonely. My husband was kill … er, died a few months back. I miss him.”
“Of course you do. I’m so sorry.”
“We were together for twenty years,” she said with a sigh. “Are you married?”
“I’m trying to avoid it,” Sara said.
“Oh?”
“My father has someone in mind for me. But I’m not in love with him.”
Deanne nodded. “You should always marry for love,” she said wistfully. “Even if everyone you know is against it. After all, the real thing only comes along once in a lifetime. And life is short. So short.” She blinked rapidly. “I should go before … I should go.” Turning on her heel, she hurried out the door.
“Well, that was odd,” Sara murmured. “I wonder what she was going to say.”
Carl Overstreet spent the early part of the day re-reading his notes and wondering what he would have done if given the same choice as Hewitt. Would he have chosen life? Unlike Hewitt, who was still a young man, his life was more than half over unless he lived to be a hundred. And given his weight and his health, that was highly improbable. Like a lot of people, death scared him. And it got scarier with ever passing year. Maybe he should talk to Hewitt about becoming a vampire, he mused, because life was always the answer.
At five, he went to the café for lunch. A few minutes later, he saw Sara step through the door. When she met his gaze, he waved her over.
“We’ve got to stop meeting like this,” she remarked with a grin as she slid into the booth across from him. “People will start to talk.”
“Let ’em,” he said, waggling his eyebrows. “Be good for my image, being seen with a pretty young thing. But seriously, how are you doing, Sara?”
“I’m not sure. I just don’t know what to think. I can understand why Travis didn’t tell me what he is, but why did he lie to me about his name?”
“That’s easy. Think about it. He used to be a hunter. Now he’s the hunted. People on both sides of the line would be more than happy to drive a stake through his heart. Better if he just slips off the radar altogether.”
“I guess so. I talked to a couple of kids earlier today. They were very secretive about their dad. Do you think he’s a …” She bit down on her lower lip when Winona shuffled up to their table.
Overstreet ordered a pastrami sandwich and fries.
Sara had intended to just stop by for a malt but decided on an early dinner instead. “I’ll have the turkey club and a side salad,” she told Winona. “And a chocolate shake.”
Overstreet waited until the waitress went back into kitchen, then whispered, “I wouldn’t use that word around here. It’s not safe.”
Sara stared at him. “What do you mean?”
“I don’t think Hewitt’s the only one of those in town. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if most of the residents of Susandale were, shall we say, far from ordinary.”
“How is that possible? You said they didn’t like to share territory.”
“That’s true. But they aren’t hunting here, so there’s no competition.”
“Am I in danger?”
“I don’t think so.”
“You don’t think so?”
“Most of them don’t hunt where they live. Too much danger of being caught. And they need some regular people around to run the businesses if they want to keep up the charade that this is just an ordinary town.”
“What about the women who live here? None of the ones I’ve met seem … different.”
“The ones who are normal are likely married to the ones who aren’t.”
“But…Olivia Bowman has kids. How is that possible?”
“Maybe from a previous marriage. Maybe born before he was turned.”
Sara sat back in her chair, mind reeling with possibilities. Maybe nothing in this place was as it seemed.
Winona sent Sara a curious look when she brought their lunch. “Everything all right?” she asked. “You look a little pale.”
“I’m fine, thank you,” Sara murmured. And wondered if she would ever be fine again. When Winona returned to the kitchen, Sara leaned forward. “Are you sure about all this?”
“Not a hundred percent,” Carl admitted. “But in cases like this, it’s always best to err on the side of caution.”
“Do you think that’s why Travis came here?” She couldn’t think of him as Jim.
“I’d say it’s a pretty good bet.”
Sara took a bite of her sandwich. If Carl was right, she was living in a den of vampires. A bubble of hysteria rose up within her. Maybe she should change the name of her shop to Vamps R Us and start selling bottled blood and custom caskets!
After Sara went back to work, Carl pulled a new notebook out of his coat pocket. He stared out the window for a moment, and then he began to write.
Joey Cannon was just an ordinary guy. Recently divorced, he drove a truck across country for a living. Late one night, he pulled into a little town to grab a few hours sleep. He parked his truck on a quiet side street and woke up in a nightmare.
Chapter 10
Travis woke as soon as the sun began to set. He had learned that one of the so-called “perks” of being turned by an old vampire was the ability to rise a little before full dark. He couldn’t go outside as long as the sun was in the sky, but it still gave him a chance to get a glimpse of daylight before it was gone.
Trapped inside, he prowled from room to room, his thoughts churning. What was Sara doing—thinking? He had the ability to read her thoughts but that was like raping her mind,
