“Don’t give up on hope. I think you and Luke are perfect together. All you guys need to do is to talk things out. Be clear with one another,” she said as she slowed down to pull into the long driveway onto my family’s land.
“You’re right,” I said, a new idea taking hold. Grabbing Azalea’s knee, I startled her. “Would you mind driving a little farther down the road?”
“Sure.” My friend turned on her blinker and pulled back into traffic. “Where am I taking you?”
“The garage.” Emboldened by my decision and the alcohol still coursing through my body, I became more secure in my plan. “I’m gonna go in there and make him pay attention to me and not some car. I’ll refuse to leave until he answers all my questions and tells me everything. Which might be a lot since he’s lived so long. But still…no more mysteries. No more secrets.”
The sign outside the garage Luke worked for loomed up ahead. Even in my inebriated state, I could tell that all the lights were off inside the customer service area. Azalea’s car dipped as she turned into the parking lot.
“Maybe he’s done for the night,” she suggested, slowly driving past the darkened office area.
“When he gets working on cars after hours, he’s usually there all night. And if he got done early, why didn’t he come out to the Tiki?” I held my hand over my churning stomach. “Drive down there and we’ll see if he’s using one of the extra bays.”
Luke’s boss Walter let my boyfriend take on private contracts for work on his own time for a small cut of his fee. And sometimes, Luke liked to work on one of his personal vintage cars that he kept secret in a custom garage on his property.
We rolled past each bay with the garage doors all down and secured. “He’s not here,” I admitted in defeat.
Azalea stopped the car and turned to face me. “What do you want to do? Should I take you home?”
I bit my lip while thinking. Confronting Luke and talking things out remained a good idea, but maybe not while alcohol still fueled my decisions.
“Yeah, take me back to my place and I’ll sleep it off. Sober Ruby Mae will be much better at having a rational conversation than me right now.” I sighed and stared out the window as we headed back.
We approached the turnoff for Luke’s house, and I wondered if maybe I should at least see if he was home. A strange sight caught my eye, and I grabbed onto Azalea’s sleeve. “Turn here. Down this driveway.”
My friend took the turn a little fast, and we bumped over a little of the curb as her tires squealed onto the paved road that led up to Luke’s place. Azalea navigated towards the lights of the house, but as we approached the cement pad next to the walkway to the front door, I spotted what had alarmed me.
Azalea pulled up behind a strange and very expensive car and rolled to a stop. “Do you know who owns that?”
Anger burned through the remains of the alcohol and cleared my head. “Nope.”
After waiting a few tense seconds, Azalea turned off the radio and asked, “Do you want me to go in there with you?”
“Nope.”
I had suggested my fiancé join us tonight because it had been over a week since we’d spent any quality time together. Even though I’d been hanging with the girls, he would have amused himself like always, shooting the breeze with Harrison and Wes. But tonight, he’d blown me off for a very specific reason. A suspicious reason that drove a newer-model Ferrari.
Gathering my purse from the floor, I stuffed my spell phone inside it. “Thanks for the ride,” I uttered, opening the door.
As I walked around the car and stepped onto the brick walkway, Azalea rolled her window down. “What are you planning on doing?”
I stopped in my tracks and clenched my fists. The only solid plan I had so far was to storm in. “First, I’m gonna take your advice and talk to him.”
“And after that?” she pressed.
My stomach clenched with uncertainty and a little fear. A little wave of nausea crashed over me, and I closed my eyes, willing myself not to hurl through deep breaths.
“Rue, you okay?” Azalea shouted, unbuckling her seat belt. “Maybe this isn’t such a good idea.”
I drew in one last, long breath and straightened my shoulders. “I’ll be fine.” With careful deliberate steps, I made my way to the front door and dug out my keys from my purse.
Azalea waited until I managed, after a few attempts, to unlock the door. I waved my hand at her in goodbye and pushed my way inside.
Whatever Luke was up to, it was high time I pulled up my big-girl britches and confronted the truth. As far as I was concerned, that vampire was in a whole heap of trouble.
Chapter Three
Standing in the small entrance of my boyfriend’s seemingly simple house, I lost a little of my nerve as silence met my presence. Moving from room to room, I found them dark, and when I flicked on the lights to double-check, I couldn’t see any signs of anybody having been in them. With cautious steps, I stalked down the hallway toward the bedrooms, afraid of what I might find.
The floor creaked under my feet as I crept closer to Luke’s bedroom. My heart beat so hard I could hear it in my ears. Each second seemed more tortuous than the last as I got closer. Possible options of what I might find and what I might do to him if I did see what I truly hoped I wouldn’t mixed in my head.
With one final step, I came upon an open
