by Ruby Raine
“I don’t think I can do space,” Michael admitted. “I can give her all the time she needs. But letting her out of my sight is more than I can handle.”
“I get you’re afraid to let her out of your sight, but is this more about you, or her?” pointed out Melinda.
“Um. Both. As I see it. We’re better together right now. I’m scared to death something’s going to happen to her whenever she’s out of my sight. Even for a few minutes. She doesn’t have her ring any longer, so she could get attacked by spirits. And she’s made a few steps forward in the whole mourning process, but she’s still got a ways to go.”
Melinda frowned. “Sounds like you might need to give her some space, Michael.” She patted his arm kindly. “I know it’s not easy. But everyone has to suffer and recover in their own way. Preferably not my way,” she tried to make light.
Michael nodded. He heard what they were saying, but... “I get that Emily needs space, but I’m struggling to let her have it.”
“It’s been barely over a week,” reminded Charlie. “She buried her father yesterday.”
“Which is why she shouldn’t be at work today,” Michael argued.
“Look, you know Emily better than anyone. You’ll do the right thing,” encouraged Melinda.
Michael cast his gaze between his siblings and the front door. The right thing, and the thing he needed, and thought Emily needed, were all one and the same in his mind.
Melinda shook her head. “You fill him in before he chases after her.”
Charlie smirked, but obliged. Melinda snuck past her brothers to grab a sweater and shoes before heading out with Charlie while he explained the two bodies that had been found, suspected cause of death, vampire bite.
“Look,” he started once he’d finished explaining. “Go take care of Emily. Do what you got to do. Melinda and I can check this out on our own.”
“No. I should go with you. I could do a death reading and possibly luck out and see the face of our killer. But remember, I don’t always see the who, only the how.”
“And if it’s William?”
Michael opened his mouth and let it slap shut.
“It’s like that,” acknowledged Charlie. “None of us can add that load to what we’re already dealing with. It’s too heavy. And it doesn’t make the problem go away. Hunting for a vampire is hunting for a vampire. I’d rather not give him a name. So let’s hold off with a reading until we don’t have a choice.”
Michael agreed. He was in no hurry to condemn William. And his brother was right, knowing didn’t give the situation an auto fix.
“Holler if you need me,” called out Michael. He raced upstairs to finish getting dressed and a minute later was out of the mansion to catch up with Emily.
Charlie disappeared into the kitchen to grab a coffee to go, thinking there was more of it in his veins than blood at this point.
Perhaps having Michael do a reading would have been the smart choice. Perhaps it would prove better to find out it was William now, rather than later. Get through the misery all at once.
But the thought of finding out their dearest friend, and family protector, was guilty of killing anyone was too much to ask right now. He’d keep trying to disprove it was William, and if they could not, he’d let Michael do a reading.
Without realizing it, he’d stopped down the hall, staring at a closed door. His parent’s bedroom. He’d been trying to open the door for days but hadn’t been able to do it. Today was no different. His arm wouldn’t even lift to try to open it. They’d left the room in exactly the same condition it was in after their parents had died over four years ago. Could not bring themselves to clean it out or remove anything. Because they hoped it wasn’t true. And in the case of their father, had not been true.
But it was real now.
And yet his hand refused his brain’s order to lift and twist the knob.
“You ready?” Melinda shouted from the front of the house.
He gave the door one last stare, shook his head in disappointment, and joined his sister.
They headed to meet Mack at the morgue. The town was its usual mix of hustle and bustle as tourists milled about, eating and shopping their way across the Isle. However, it was difficult to let the revelry catch them today.
A block before the morgue there was a commotion down an alleyway. A few tourists staggered, startled, suddenly pushed aside; a familiar face popped out of the alley.
“Lucas!” called out Melinda, shocked to see it was him. They had seen each other at the funeral the day before, but only briefly. She’d been busy playing hostess and dealing with the funeral home employees on behalf of Emily. Charlie tried to help, but was mostly bombarded by locals who wanted to pay final respects to their father, Jack.
Lucas wore a bewildered look on his face and did not reply, almost like he didn’t quite see them standing a short few feet away.
Melinda approached him, tapping his shoulder. “You okay?”
He released a breath he’d been holding and twisted his neck, seeing her.
“Oh. Hi.”
Charlie brushed up against Melinda’s side, letting the bumped into tourists pass by them.
“Sorry,” Lucas aimed at them. The tourists shrugged it off and went about their day.
Melinda asked him if he was okay again.
“Um,” he glanced into the alley and back at them. “Fine.”
“You sure? You look a bit like you’ve seen a ghost or something,” she razzed gently.
His eyes widened a bit and he frowned. “All good. Just um, lost my way for a second.”
“How’s your head?” Melinda changed the subject. He’d been hit and knocked out by the Feyk, same as she had.
“Healed up. Yours?”
“Same. Big bump, all gone now.”
“Sorry I didn’t really get the chance to talk with you guys yesterday.”
“It was a tad chaotic,” Charlie understated, with a lifted brow.
“Yes, didn’t expect such a large turnout of people.”
“The locals wanted to pay their respects. They are good people, for the most part,” said Charlie.
Lucas wanted to believe that, but both he and Lizzy, as Deane’s, had their share of glares and stares. They hadn’t stayed too long, leaving the Howard’s to deal with the locals. It was all Lucas could do to keep Lizzy from causing a scene. One, because she was over the whole mistrust of Deane’s thing, and two, she was pissed at Charlie but trying to play nice since it was a funeral.
“How are you all doing?” Lucas put up his hand. “Never mind. Stupid question of the day.”
Charlie chuckled darkly. He still didn’t have a good answer for that question. Melinda changed the subject again.
“Have you heard from... your brother?” Melinda stalled, unable to say his name out loud.
“No. No word from Riley.”
She nodded, clueless as to what she’d say, or how she’d react if Lucas told her Riley was coming back to the Isle.
“I should get home, let you two get on with whatever you’re doing.” He gave a quick wave and made to stride around them when he stopped, and eyed Charlie. “It seems only fair to warn you, that my sister is a wee bit pissed at you right now. And not only because you ignored her at every turn yesterday.”
Melinda held back a laugh.
Lucas shrugged, as if to say, you dug your own grave, good luck with that.
Charlie held back a groan.
Why hadn’t he kept his mouth shut? Lizzy had been trying to call him off and on for the last week, and he’d been ignoring her calls. And after his abhorrent behavior yesterday he was surprised she hadn’t stormed into the mansion to confront him. Although she’d been cordial enough at the funeral even though Charlie swore there was a layer of steam simmering under her skin waiting to erupt at the right moment. Yesterday was not that day. But he was running out of excuses.
Lucas waved a hasty goodbye and strode off, but not without casting a wary gla
nce down the alley he’d rushed out of.
“Huh,” grunted Melinda.
“What? Other than, I am in a world of trouble.”
“A world of Lizzy trouble,” she returned. “But I was thinking Lucas was acting odd. A bit off, for him.”
“I wouldn’t really know.”
“Maybe me neither, but he seemed off. Anyway, not our problem today.”
“Yeah, let’s not add to it.”
They made their way to the morgue. Mack greeted them at the door and showed them inside. Her normal easygoing nature subdued.
“You look good,” she told Melinda.
“Thanks, Mack.” The sheriff reached out and grasped her shoulder.
“Dang, this isn’t going to be an easy one for you guys, bein’ that William is a suspect and all.” Melinda winced at that. “Sorry. It’s not easy for me either. But I have to do my job.”
“And so do we,” agreed Charlie. “What do you got?”
Without further explanation, she lifted a bloodied sheet.
Melinda held her breath. Charlie let out a whistle.
Mack pointed to the two fang marks on the woman’s neck. It was an unmistakable injury. No doubt, caused by a vampire. However...
“This kill is messy,” Charlie mumbled. “Blood everywhere.”
“You can say that again,” said Mack.
“No, I mean, this kill is messy.”
“Meanin’?”
“A new vampire, possibly. One who isn’t practiced. Has little to no control. Or an old vampire with no value for human life or fear of getting caught. William would not be messy.” It was the best Charlie could explain it. But he still did not think this was William’s doing.
“Playin’ devil’s advocate,” challenged Mack. “If William was on an uncontrollable rampage and had gone wild with bloodlust...”
Melinda put out a silent plea. William. If you can hear me. Please come home. Please don’t let this be you. I really wish you could hear me.
“When was the last time you saw William?” questioned Mack.
“After we came out of the woods at White Pines,” answered Charlie. “We took Melinda and Emily to the hospital and William said he was going home, and would come as soon as he could.”
“But he never showed?”
“No,” confirmed Melinda. “He didn’t. But Mack, this isn’t him. He might have gone wild but it was to save us, and kill Eva Jordan. He was fine when... when he left White Pines to go home.”
“But later? A day or two after when the blood cravings kicked in?” It was Charlie who said it, and Melinda had no argument. “I don’t think it’s William either, Sis. But we do have to consider the possibility.”
“God dang it this sucks.” Mack replaced the sheet over the bloodied body. “If it is William, he’s killed two people. You know I can’t allow that to continue. As to what that means, and what else happens...” she tossed her hands into the air in a hopeless gesture.
“And if it’s not William, it means there’s another vampire on the loose,” said Charlie. “Making himself, or herself, far too comfortable on the Isle. And no one is safe, either way.”
“We haven’t had any vampire deaths on this island since before William came here. You guys know I’ll do my best to cover it up, but if the press gets hold of it...” she eyed them both, but they already knew how bad it would be if that happened. “We don’t need tourists comin’ here thinkin’ vampires are real.”
“And then finding out they really are.” Charlie could only imagine that nightmare come to life.
“And find out they are not like William, or the sparkly kind who don’t drink human blood and get written about in novels,” added Melinda. “Good thing that new D.E.S.I. Reporter, Courtney Jessup, has been laying low.”
“We can’t count on that to last though,” noted Charlie. “And there’s more reporters out there just waiting for a scoop like this.”
“Actually, that gung-ho reporter chick up and quit a few days ago,” informed Mack. “You guys have been busy so you missed the news.”
“She quit?” reeled Charlie. “Huh.”
“Isn’t that a good thing?” asked Melinda.
“I guess. Timing seems kind of strange. She was so eager and had that blog, and was on the air like it was her life mission to out the truth or something.”
“Guess island life just wasn’t for her,” jeered Mack.
“More like she couldn’t keep wearing her favorite shoes,” said Melinda, recalling the woman’s ridiculously spiked heels wobbling across the cobblestones that lined downtown.
Charlie got a laugh out of that. “Probably best for all around if she leaves because she was getting a little too close to the Feyk. Who knows what else she would have uncovered given more time.”
They all agreed.
Melinda took a last glance at the bloodied sheet and let out an empty sigh.
Charlie understood exactly what she meant without her saying a word.
So did Mack. She eyed each of them, no less worried now than a week ago when they were battling the Feyk.
“I sure am sorry to put this vampire bularkey on you guys. William responsible or not, you deserve a nice, long break.”
“Deserving or not, the job goes on,” said Charlie. “You know us, Mack. We’ll get it done. Somehow.”
She got quiet. Her tone hushed when she spoke a tense few seconds later.
“Are you guys all okay? This last thing was... beyond brutal.”
“We’re still kicking,” vowed Charlie. Although it was a constant struggle to stay present and in the moment. Or willing to face the future, or hell, sometimes the upcoming hours or minutes.
Melinda added, “A little broken in places, but alive to fight another day.”
Mack attempted a warm smile, but inside, it was upside down and frigid.
The Howards may have prevented dark magic from consuming the Isle, but another sort of darkness settled over them that didn’t feel as though it would lift, anytime soon.
She showed them out.
“Keep me posted.”
“As always,” said Charlie. “We’ll contact you as soon as we find anything.”
“Oh, I almost forgot. The cleaners finished emptying out the Jordan house. There’s a few things I’ve asked Josh to deliver directly to you guys.”
“Like what?” Charlie wondered stiffly.
“You’ll see when it gets there. Nothing that needs to be dealt with immediately. But potentially eye-opening.”
“Sounds fun,” Melinda retorted with a testy groan.
“Let’s leave it as they were a couple of interesting people.”
“That’s not the word I’d use,” muttered Charlie.
They left the sheriff’s office and headed toward home.
“Any thoughts on how to track a vampire?” asked Melinda quietly.
“No. We’ve never had to before.”
“Really bad timing for William to disappear. He could be of great help on this one,” she stated, no less determined to prove his innocence.
“We will figure it out,” assured Charlie. “I’m just not sure where to start.”
“If William were here, he’d start with...”
“Research,” finished Charlie.
“Books and stuff. Can you handle it?” she needled her brother, trying not to crack a grin.
Charlie wasn’t known to have opened a book, possibly ever. He rolled his eyes, already bored and irritated at the idea.
“Don’t worry, I won’t tell Lizzy you read a book. I hate to bring it up, but we could ask Lizzy and Lucas to help,” Melinda suggested.
“Um, no. Let’s not. Yet.”
“You’re going to have to face her, Charlie.”
“But it doesn’t have to be today,” he insisted tersely.
Melinda gave a start and stopped her brother. “Take it from someone who’s used that line more than once, the outcome is never the one you want.”
He glowere
d and grumbled all the way back to the mansion.
Melinda followed him into William’s study.
So many books. No idea where to begin.
William had always done the text selection. She often read and researched with him, but rarely ever picked out the books herself. Pathetic really, she thought now. She grazed her hand along the spines like a caress. Touching these books was almost like touching William. He’d read every single page in this library. Held each of these volumes in his hands, cool fingers shuffling through the pages. He’d assisted them with their jobs and saved their asses time after time because of his knowledge and countless hours spent researching.
A thankless task.
They never properly even thanked him, did they?
William might not be standing in the study, but his presence covered everything. This space was William Wakefield. His being, such a stable, comforting sight in this room. His strength like a powerful aura. Too bad not powerful enough to magically take her to the book she needed.
“What are we even looking for?” Melinda queried her brother.
“Let’s see, books about vampires, I guess. What we really need is a way to track or hunt a vampire. Books written by vampire hunters... is there such a thing?”
How utterly ridiculous. Neither of them had enough knowledge about what their own damn library included. Or how the books were cataloged on the shelves.
“Hey, maybe we should hire one of those?” Melinda was thinking aloud.
“What? A vampire hunter?”
“Yeah. They exist don’t they?”
“Yeah, but, I don’t know. I mean, if it does happen to be William we’re hunting for, we don’t need a crazy one-minded vampire killer on the Isle.”
“Ugh. Yeah. Good point.”
“We’ll keep it mind as a plan Z,” decided Charlie. “If all else fails. Besides, we’re already capable of subduing a vampire once we find one.”
“It’s just the finding part. Why does it always come down to the tracking and the hunting part?”
Charlie sighed. “We do need a better way to do that. More things to add to our list of things to get done,” he grumbled. “So how the hell do we find anything in here?”
