“Thanks. You, too.” At the door, Olivia turned and waved before stepping out on the sidewalk.
Sara stared after her. Why had Olivia asked about Carl? Was everyone in town speculating about the two of them?
Sara mentioned her conversation with Olivia to Travis when he came over that night. “Does it seem odd to you?”
Travis shrugged. “It’s a small town. Maybe she’s just curious,” he said, his expression thoughtful. “Or maybe someone asked her to find out who he is.”
“Someone like who? Her husband?”
“I don’t know. Maybe.”
“I saw them out walking last night after you went home. It’s the first time I’ve seen so many people outside. It seemed odd, somehow. Do you think they all come out late at night?” Like bats, she thought. Or vampires.
“The night belongs to my kind,” he said dryly. “Did you see Overstreet today?”
“No.” She frowned. “Do you think he left town?”
“I doubt it.”
“Maybe you should go look for him? He might be in trouble.”
Travis grunted softly. If there was any trouble around, Overstreet was sure to be hip-deep in it. “All right. I’ll go have a look. But I’d rather stay here with you.”
“I’ll still be here when you get back,” she said with a wink.
Outside, Travis glanced up and down the street. All was quiet. No whisper of wind stirred the trees. He turned right and started walking. Most of the houses had lights showing behind closed curtains. He detected vampires inside all but one. Farther down the street, a man and woman sat out on the porch. The man tensed when he saw Travis, and then he nodded as he recognized a fellow vampire.
Travis nodded back, then turned right at the corner.
He found Overstreet’s old Dodge truck parked four blocks away, in the lot behind the hospital. The cab was empty. There were no other cars in the lot.
Opening his preternatural powers, Travis followed Overstreet’s scent into the hospital. He found the writer in one of the private rooms, sitting on a hospital bed, pillows propped behind his back as he scribbled in a notebook.
He looked up, startled, when Travis stepped into the room. “Dammit, man, you scared the crap out of me.”
“Sorry.” Travis glanced around., noting the empty potato chip bag and three cans of diet soda on the tray table. Several crumpled notebook pages were scattered on the floor. “Looks like you’re making yourself at home.”
Overstreet shrugged. “There’s no one else here. No doctors, nurses, patients. Nobody.”
“Why not stay at the hotel? It’s probably more comfortable than this.”
“Probably. But this isn’t costing me anything.”
Travis pushed an old newspaper off of the hard, plastic chair next to the bed and sat down. “Do you think you’re safe here?”
The journalist lifted a corner of the sheet, revealing a sharp wooden stake.
Travis snorted derisively. “You think that one little stick is gonna protect you from a whole town?”
“I doubt if the hotel would be any safer. Besides, no one’s bothered me so far.”
“That’s because they don’t know who you are. Yet. Or what you’re doing here.”
“And you know?”
“I can guess.”
Overstreet arched one bushy brow.
“There’s got to be a story involved,” Travis remarked. “I’m just not sure what your angle is.”
Carl tapped his pencil against his notebook. “Did you ever hear of Joey Cannon?”
“No. Why?”
“I met him in a seedy bar in New Jersey a while back. He’d been drinking heavily but he wasn’t drunk. He told me he passed through here a few months ago. Said a couple of vampires imprisoned him in a basement and fed off him for a couple of weeks before he managed to escape. The guy’s only thirty but after what they did to him, he looks all used up. Deflated, like.”
“So you’re writing another exclusive on vampires in America?”
Overstreet shrugged one shoulder. “It’s what I do. I tried the retirement route. When I started watching soap operas every day …” He shook his head ruefully. “Joey Cannon’s story lit a fire under me. It was just what I needed to get my butt off the couch.”
“Yeah, well, I hope you don’t get burned. I would have thought you’d have wised up after the last time.”
“I’m not the one who went after Ronan.”
“Good point.”
“So, what are you doing here?” Carl asked. “Don’t tell me you’re worried about me.”
“Me? Hell, no. But Sara is.”
“Ah. She’s a sweet girl. If I was twenty-five years younger, I’d give you a run for your money.”
“You’d never catch me, old man. Not these days.”
Overstreet nodded. “I guess you do have an edge—what with all that mystical vampire mojo. Tell Sara I appreciate her concern.”
With a wave of acknowledgement, Travis left the hospital.
Sara met him at the door. “Did you find him?” she asked.
“Yeah. He’s holed up in the hospital.”
“The hospital!” she exclaimed. “Is that safe?” Looking worried, she went into the living room and sank down on the sofa.
“No.” Travis sat beside her. “But neither is anyplace else.”
Sara chewed on her thumbnail. “Maybe I should ask him to stay here,” she remarked, and then grinned, thinking that would really give Olivia Bowman something to gossip about.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Travis said.
“No?”
He shook his head, then, rather tentatively, slipped his arm around her shoulders. When she didn’t pull away, he said, “Do you think we could start over?” Travis asked. “No secrets between us this time?”
“I honestly don’t know.” Why did it feel so right, so natural, to have his arm around her? When he was this close, it didn’t seem to matter that he was a vampire. All she saw was a man with sad brown eyes who made her feel loved and needed.
“I didn’t want to lie to you,” he said quietly. “But you must understand why I had to.”
“Travis, I just don’t know how it could work. I don’t want to fall in love with a vampire. What kind of life could we have together? You were a hunter. You know
