Crossroads

My face must betray the uneasiness that washes over me.

Like catching your kid with her hand in the candy dish, David pounces. “You remember Judith Wiliams, right? Wife of the police chief who died last month? Wel, I didn’t. I didn’t think I even knew her. Then I ran into her this morning and her face looked so familiar. She caught me looking at her and guess what she said to me? That I looked pretty good with clothes on. Too. Then she asked if I remembered the good time we had at that doctor’s house in La Jol a. And if I’d kept in touch with the twins.”

His scowl deepens. “Twins?” He shakes his head. “And al the time she’s talking, she’s laughing because she knows I haven’t a fucking clue what she’s talking about. Then she says, ‘You didn’t real y buy that stupid story Anna told you about having an accident, did you? She knows what real y happened. Ask her.’ ”

David draws a breath, lets it out with an angry hiss. “So, I’m asking. What happened to me? And what did Judith Wiliams have to do with it and who are the fucking twins?”

If I weren’t so busy trying to come up with a logical answer, David’s referral to the “fucking twins” would have made me laugh out loud. That happens to be exactly what they were.

Judith Wiliams drugged David and kept him for three days during which time he not only had sex with a set of twins she was kind enough to provide for his enjoyment but with Judith herself and god only knows who else. It was certainly a novel way to handle a kidnap victim. But it worked. When I found David, he was having so much fun I had to bring the twins with us to get him to leave.

He didn’t remember any of it, which is why I came up with the accident story. That and the fact that Judith Wiliams is a vampire and took David to ensure I’d show up to play my part in a ritual she thought would kil me.

Didn’t quite work out the way she’d planned.

But she also told him that she was a vampire.

And that I was one, too. David’s amnesia was a blessing.

Was a blessing.

Judith must be laughing her ass off now.

David takes a step closer. “Anna. I want an answer. I’ve had some crazy dreams since that ‘accident.’ Now I’m beginning to think they weren’t dreams at al.”

For the first time, his expression is more concerned than angry. “Was she saying that I had sex with her? And those two girls? Why would I do that? Why can’t I remember?”

The reason for his reaction hits me. I should have guessed it sooner.

David is a Boy Scout.

David has a girlfriend.

If he knew he had sex with those women, his conscience would force him to tel his girlfriend. If he suspected he’d had unprotected sex with those women, as is probable considering his condition when I found him, he’d want to kil me for knowing and not tel ing him and risking his health as wel as that of his girlfriend.

Frankly, it isn’t something I’d thought about before now.

Judith is a vampire, no problem there. But the girls are human.

What the hel do I tel him?

I pul out two chairs from the kitchen table, motion David into one of them, sit facing him in the other.

“Okay, David. I’m going to tel you what happened. First though, you have to know I didn’t think of the consequences of keeping the truth from you until now.”

His body tenses, his expression freezes as he watches me. “Go on.”

The words tumble out. A sanitized semi-factual version of what real y took place.

“You were drugged. Somebody took you and brought you to a house where you partied. Al weekend. You must have had sex with Judith and those twins and maybe others. It took me two days to find you and when I did, you didn’t want to leave. I did what I thought was best. Brought you home, let you sleep it off. When I went back to the place, to alert the police, everyone was gone. The place was clean. I’m guessing it was some kind of rave. Anyway, I should have told you the truth. I was afraid you’d go looking for the people responsible and do something stupid. And honestly, I didn’t see Judith Wiliams or anyone I recognized so I haven’t a clue who might have been there.”

Silence. Is he buying it?

David leans toward me. “None of this makes sense. How did they get me? Why did they take me?”

“Maybe you stopped in a bar somewhere. Someone recognized you, thought a local celebrity would be fun to party with. They must have slipped something in your drink.

Shit. I don’t know.”

I stop. David isn’t listening. He’s hardly breathing. He’s so stil, I wonder for an instant if he heard what I said. Does he realize the flaw in my story? Is he going to ask how I found him? Shit. What do I say to that?

There’s a shift in the set of his jaw, a flicker of light in his eyes. He’s remembering something. I know it in the way he’s looking at me and I know what it is.

He’s remembering what Judith Wiliams told him about me.

I jump up so fast, it makes David jump, too. My brain is twirling like a dervish, trying to formulate a response to what I suspect David is about to say.

He stands up, too. Looks me square in the eyes. “Those twins. They were students at SDSU. I remember that. And they gave me their phone numbers. Do you know what I did with them?”

“That’s what you want to know?”

Part of me is so relieved, my knees are weak. The other part can’t believe what he just asked.

“I tel you that you were drugged and brought to a stranger’s house where you partied for two days and al you want to know is if I kept the telephone numbers of who you were partying with?”

He rubs a hand over his face. “No. I have plenty of other questions. Maybe the twins can provide answers. But first I have to find a way to break what I did to Miranda. We have to get tested for god only knows what.”

Whoa. So not a good idea. “Why would you tel Miranda?”

That earns me an “are you crazy?” look. “Why do you think? Evidently, I had multiple sex partners during a weekend she thought I was recuperating from an accident. I have to tel her we should get tested for STDs and worse because if I was drugged up enough to have sex with strangers, it’s a safe bet I was too drugged up to use protection. She’s not going to understand. Fuck, I don’t understand.”

The Boy Scout is back. Just as I predicted. Luckily, I’m not a den mother. “Wait a minute. Get tested yourself first. There might be nothing to tel.”

His expression tel s me that argument is not going to fly.

So I go with, “Think about it. If you tel her, she’s most likely to break up with you. Or kil you. Or both. What’s the worst that can happen if you wait?”

“And what excuses do I use for not having sex with her while I wait for test results?”

“Ever hear of using a condom?” It pops out. He’s giving me the look again. “Then don’t see her for a little while. Go to a private doctor or clinic and request a rush. Shouldn’t take too long.”

The hard look evaporates into one of desperation. “Shit, Anna. How could I have let this happen?”

“You didn’t do anything. It was done to you. The best thing now is to do damage control. Take care of the things you can.”

“No.” David’s hands curl into fists. “The best thing I can do now is find those twins and see what they can tel me about that night — or nights if what you tel me is true. Then I’l go after Judith Wiliams. If she’s behind what happened, I’l press charges.”

Another bad idea. “Do you think anyone wil believe the wife of the former police chief — the recently murdered former police chief — is involved in drugs and sex parties? Shit.

David, I have a hard time believing it and I dragged you out of that house.”

“Then we’l go back to the house. You know where it is.

There’s bound to be evidence. And she admitted to me that she was there. That should count for something.”

He’s got the locked-jaw look of somebody hel — bent on action. “What about those telephone