by Margaret Carter, Crystal Green, Erica Orloff, Patricia Rosemor
Back at the motel, they off-loaded the supplies, then gathered in the double room. Jodie sketched the floor plan of Nola’s house on a sheet of motel stationery, which Linnet tucked into her purse for safekeeping.
“Now, here is what we’re doing,” said Max. “I’ll drive. Young woman, as soon as we reach a landmark you recognize, such as the tree you mentioned, I’ll stop the car, and you’ll explain the rest of the route in detail.”
Linnet said, “And then we come back here for the night.”
“Yes. Tomorrow morning, Jodie, we’ll take your key and go to the house, leaving you here at the motel.”
“There’s an alarm system. I’ll have to give you the security code,” she said.
“Very well,” Max continued. “You will stay here until we return, no matter how long it takes. After we’ve settled our score with Nola, and only then, I’ll make arrangements for your flight to Denver. Understand?”
Jodie nodded.
Out front, Max drew Linnet aside for a second after Jodie got into the car. “I didn’t expect our earlier conversation back in the motel room to be cut short so abruptly. I would like to spend more time with you, alone, after we’ve finished with our young…friend.”
“Time for what?” she murmured, conscious of Jodie watching them from the back seat. “I thought you didn’t want to get addicted.”
“I said nothing about physical intimacy.” His eyes flashed crimson. He exhaled, as if forcing himself to calm down. “Oddly enough, I’ve discovered I value your good opinion. I’d like to give you a further chance to understand our species, to ask whatever questions you have in mind. As for addiction, I don’t want to leave you with the idea that Anthony didn’t care for your niece as genuinely as any human lover could.”
Linnet blinked away tears. “This is no time to talk about that stuff. Let’s get going.”
They reentered the car and cruised in search of landmarks Jodie could recognize. Linnet wished she’d come to the area for an innocent purpose. The pine-scented air felt cool compared to the muggy heat of Maryland in summer, cool enough that she almost envied the girl’s leather jacket. She’d glimpsed interesting shops during their drive through downtown in search of the strip mall. Steinbeck’s Cannery Row beckoned only a few miles away, as did Carmel, a short ride down the coast. She could tour the aquarium or watch sea otters from the wharf. She would have enjoyed visiting as a tourist instead of an amateur vampire-hunter. In the moonlight that sparkled on the bay as they drove along the shoreline to Pacific Grove, the whole adventure struck her as bizarre. Maybe she’d lost her mind, listening to Max’s claims and Jodie’s story.
Was it too late to abort the whole mission and go home? Or first she could spend a couple of nights in one of those bed-and-breakfasts in Carmel Valley advertised in illustrated color brochures in the motel lobby. One glance at Max’s face, jaws clenched in concentration, shattered the fantasy. Jodie’s low voice, murmuring an occasional “left” or “right,” reinforced the truth that Linnet had fallen too deep into this nightmare to pull out.
They passed rows of Victorian houses on the inland side of the road, gnarled cypress trees shaped by ocean winds on the bay side. “There’s the butterfly tree,” Jodie piped up at one curve, pointing to a large specimen that grew on a promontory jutting into the water. “Now I know where we are.”
A couple of minutes later, she told Max to pull over. “I’m afraid to get any closer.”
He turned the car into a park across the street from the gabled, 1890s-style houses. Benches and picnic tables were scattered among the pines and cypresses. Paths wound over the grass to a gravel-surfaced playground consisting of a swing set and two slides. Other paths led down to the beach. Max found a parking space as far as possible from the single light that illuminated the small lot.
“Do you feel Nola’s presence at all?” he asked, opening his door.
“Not yet,” Jodie said. “I guess it’s okay.”
He opened her door and ushered her out of the car. “We should be safe. Nevertheless, I’d rather we get away from the light.” Holding on to Jodie’s elbow, he guided her toward the water. Linnet followed, wondering why Max still didn’t trust the girl out of arm’s reach. Sure, she acted nervous, but who wouldn’t? If she’d meant to betray them into a trap, she could have taken them the whole way to Nola’s place.
“Now, Jodie, tell us the address,” he said in the shadow of a spreading pine tree near the verge of the rocky strip of beach.
“I don’t remember the street name, just the house number.” She recited it.
He released her arm. Linnet noticed the red gleam in his eyes. “Describe the rest of the route.”
“It’s easy.” Jodie rubbed her elbow where Max’s hand had squeezed. “Keep going on this road and turn left two corners down. Follow that street until it makes a T, then turn right. Make the first right after that. It’s a dead-end street, and her house is by itself at the end. You can’t miss it.”
“Excellent. That’s all we need from you. The sooner we get you well out of Nola’s range, the better. Both of you need a decent night’s sleep, anyway.”
Jodie scooted away from him and headed for the car at a brisk walk. Linnet couldn’t blame her for not wanting to stay anywhere near the vampire woman’s home, even if it meant hurrying back to a stuffy motel room. With the girl pulling ahead, Linnet found herself walking side by side with Max. “Have you considered my earlier proposal?” he said, too softly for Jodie to hear.
“Don’t you mean proposition?” Linnet whispered. “After this is over, I want to go home and forget the entire trip.” Not that she truly wanted to forget Max, a fact that must be obvious to a man who could read emotions, but she knew she ought to. She quickened her pace to get away from his side.
A few yards ahead of them, Jodie stopped, turned, and fumbled inside her jacket. From her waistband, under the hem of her oversize T-shirt, she pulled out a pistol.
Linnet froze, her heart hammering.
“Move over!” Jodie said in a shrill tone. “I don’t want to shoot you, just him.”
“Why?” Linnet felt Max behind her, his breath on her hair. Her vision went gray. Don’t faint, for God’s sake! she ordered herself.
“I have to!” Jodie’s whole body trembled, making the gun shake in her hand. “I don’t want to, but I can’t help it!”
Max’s low voice rumbled in Linnet’s ear. “Jodie, put that down. If you don’t want to shoot us, you do not have to.”
“Yes, I do, she told me to!” Sobs blurred the words. “Linnet, move, please!”
Her wail was blotted out by a crack of thunder. Linnet’s ears rang. At the same instant, she saw Max appear in front of her, then collapse to the ground. She darted around his fallen body and charged at Jodie.
The girl swung the gun at Linnet, but the blow didn’t connect. Linnet dived for her knees. The gun fired again. Her head spinning, Linnet knocked Jodie to the ground with a thud. Her own breath jarred out of her, she lay on top of the girl for a second, unable to move. Only when Jodie started to struggle did she manage to strike again. She pushed herself up and punched the girl in the jaw.
Linnet scrambled to her feet, ears still buzzing from the two shots. Jodie lay flat on her back on the grass. Stomping on her wrist and wrenching the pistol away from her, Linnet brandished it at the girl. A few feet away, Max knelt, one hand pressed to a dark stain on the front of his shirt.
Chapter 11
Max’s eyes blazed. Over the ringing in her ears, Linnet heard a growl rumble in his chest. “Bring her here.”
“Max, you won’t…?”
“Here, I said!” His voice rasped so hoarsely she had trouble understanding the words.
Still squeezing the gun in her right fist, though she wasn’t sure she would know how to use it, Linnet hauled Jodie to her feet. “You heard him. Move!”
The girl staggered forward. Max’s hand lashed out to grab her wrist and jerk her to the ground in front of
him.
A cry burst from Jodie.
“Quiet!”
“Please don’t—”
“Quiet, I said.” The girl’s whimpering trailed off. Max’s eyes drilled into hers.
Hovering over them, with Jodie’s panting and Max’s harsh breathing loud in her ears, Linnet decided she didn’t need the gun anymore. She tucked it into her purse. “Max, you claimed you were sure she really wanted to help us.”
“I was.” He forced out the words between painful gasps. “I still believe it.” He grabbed Jodie with both hands, shifting his grip to hold her upper arms. She stared into his glowing eyes. After a few seconds, she swayed, her eyelids drooping. “Enough. You have questions to answer, girl.”
Jodie nodded. Still kneeling on the grass, she hung rag-doll limp in his grasp, all resistance melted away.
Surprised at the sudden firmness of Max’s voice, Linnet said, “What did you do to her?”
“Borrowed some of her energy to suppress the pain and bleeding.” She shivered at the thought that he could drain someone’s life force through his hypnotic stare alone. “Now, Jodie,” he continued. “Why did you try to shoot us?”
“Not Linnet, just you. I didn’t want to hurt her.”
Max glanced at Linnet. “Which explains why you disarmed her so easily. She felt conflicted. Her heart wasn’t in it.”
Easy, huh? Linnet grumbled to herself, with her knees and elbows bruised from the scuffle.
To Jodie, he said, “Why me, then? Nola ordered you to kill me?”
“Not kill. She knew—” the girl’s breath hitched “—knew I wouldn’t be able to, anyway. Just knock you out for a while.”
“Yes, and then?” he prompted, giving her a brisk shake.
“Then I was supposed to go get her. Don’t know exactly what she planned to do with you after that.”
“But when I questioned you earlier, I sensed you meant us no harm.”
“That’s right,” came the reply in a thready whisper. “I didn’t remember until just now. Then it came back to me, and I had to shoot you. But I didn’t want to.”
“Wait a second,” Linnet said. “This is the weirdest part yet. Is she saying Nola planted some kind of posthypnotic suggestion for Jodie to shoot you and then made her forget about it?”
“Is that what happened?” Max said.
Jodie nodded. “I meant it when I asked you to help me. For real, I swear.”
Linnet wrapped her arms around herself to keep from trembling. “Nola can do that?”
“With the blood bond between them, she could make the girl do or think almost anything,” said Max. “Jodie, listen to me. Are you in mental contact with Nola at this moment?”
Jodie shook her head, her pale blue hair tangled around her face.
“Have you communicated with her in any way since you first met us?”
“Noooo.” The moan trailed off into a sigh.
Max hauled her to her feet. “We’d better get away from here before someone comes along to investigate the disturbance.”
Until that moment, it hadn’t crossed Linnet’s mind that somebody might have heard the shots. If they had, they must have mistaken the noise for a car backfiring or a neighbor’s TV. “Max, you need to get to a doctor.”
“No!” When she flinched, he continued more quietly. “Have you forgotten what I am? What your doctors would find if they examined me? I could mesmerize one at a time into ignoring my differences. Handling a whole emergency-room staff would take more energy than I can spare.”
“But the bullet—isn’t it still in your chest?”
“It didn’t penetrate any vital organs. It will work itself out within the next few weeks. Uncomfortable, but not a real problem. And I’ve temporarily suppressed the pain, as I said.” He silenced her attempted protest with, “We have more important things to worry about at the moment.”
At the car, Max shoved Jodie into the back seat and joined her there, leaving Linnet to drive. When they got to the motel, he instructed her to park at the edge of the lot away from any direct light. Instead of getting out, he turned Jodie to face him. “Nola gave you the gun?”
“Yeah, when she sent me to meet you. She told me to forget about it until I needed it.”
Linnet still had trouble with that concept. Wincing at the soreness in her side from landing on the ground, she twisted around in the driver’s seat to watch them. “How could you forget you were carrying a gun?”
“I don’t know. It was in my backpack all the time, but it’s like I didn’t even see it.”
“And when we left the motel this evening,” said Max, “did you recall your mission then?”
“No way. I wanted to lead you to Nola so you’d help me get away, that’s all. I remember now that I hid the gun under my jacket back in my room, but at the time it was like I didn’t even know I was doing it.”
Linnet studied her wide-eyed expression. “Max, is that possible? Are you sure she’s not making this up so you won’t punish her?”
“Considering the power Nola has over her through the bond, it’s quite plausible. It explains why I felt no hostility in her until the moment she pulled out the weapon. The situation triggered the command Nola had lodged in her unconscious mind.”
“So what now?”
Max said to Jodie, “Does Nola expect you to report to her tonight?”
“Not really. She told me to wait for the best chance, that I’d know it when I saw it. And I did. That was my chance, and I blew it. Linnet being there screwed everything up. I thought maybe I could fix it by bringing you, too.” She glanced at Linnet. “Kind of an offering, like. Then maybe Nola would get interested in you, so I could still escape. My head was totally messed up.” Linnet hardly knew whether to believe the pleading tone or not. “So anyway, Nola shouldn’t get too suspicious if I don’t contact her right away.” Her eyes turned away from Max’s, then drifted back as if magnetically compelled. “Are you going to kill me now?”
“Perhaps I should.” He bared his teeth, and the girl cringed. “But I am not like your mistress.”
“So what are you going to do?” Linnet asked. “Not wipe her mind like Fred’s?”
“No. Aside from your probable objections, that would alert Nola that I’ve exposed her plot.” He heaved a long sigh, making Linnet wonder whether his pain-suppression technique was wearing thin. “Jodie, do you still want to flee to Denver?”
A quick nod.
“Then you shall.” He leaned closer, looming over her. “Your transportation will be arranged. I’ll supply you with funds. You will not contact Nola in any way. You will never come near her, myself or Linnet’s family again. Understand?”
“Yes,” she breathed.
He pulled out his wallet and passed a credit card to Linnet. “Take Jodie up to the room to collect her belongings. Call the airport and use my card to book a flight. If there’s no direct flight to Denver, get her somewhere, then book her on the first connection, which may not be until morning.” He gave Jodie a handful of cash. “This should cover cab fare and incidentals. Linnet, you call the taxi and wait with her until she’s been picked up. No, on second thought, you’d better ride with her to the airport. I believe it isn’t far.”
“Okay, I’m on it.” She felt almost as dazed by the flurry of commands as Jodie looked.
“Young woman, go with Linnet and don’t give her any trouble. Do whatever she says. This is your only chance to escape without your deserved punishment. Is that clear?”
“Right,” Jodie whispered.
He squeezed her wrist and bored into her eyes with his own. “You will wait quietly for your flight. Then you will go to your grandmother’s home in Denver and stay there. You will begin that new life you spoke of. Understand?”
“Yes.” Jodie nodded, her eyes wide.
“Good. Now get moving.” He let go of her arm.
“Aren’t you going in?” Linnet asked him.
“Looking like this?” He touched the bloodst
ain on his chest. “Deflecting observers would take too much effort in my present condition. Bring me a clean shirt, please.” He leaned back and closed his eyes.
Just in time she remembered to turn off the car’s dome light before getting out. She nudged the girl across the quiet parking lot to the main entrance. At this late hour the lobby was deserted except for the desk clerk. Half-afraid Jodie would bolt as soon as they got out of Max’s sight, despite his hypnotic coercion, Linnet held on to her elbow while they walked to the elevator. Jodie trudged along with her eyes downcast, though with no sign of rebellion. In the room she stuffed her personal items into her backpack, working sluggishly, fumbling and dropping things. Linnet almost screamed when a metal deodorant can bounced onto the bathroom tile. Soon enough, though, Jodie finished packing, and they moved over to Max and Linnet’s room.
Linnet waved Jodie to the bed. “Wait there.”
Jodie sank onto the bed, her head drooping. How much energy had Max drained from her with a mere touch, anyway?
“Where’s the key to Nola’s house?”
Jodie listlessly fished the key out of her backpack, then returned to her inert position on the bed. Linnet shoved a pen and notepad into her hands. “Here, write down the security code.” After Jodie scribbled the numbers, Linnet tucked the slip of paper in her purse and opened the phone book to the Yellow Pages.
She phoned several airlines, tapping the desk with impatience while minutes dragged by on hold, until she found a seat on a direct flight to Denver. Luckily, it was the last one departing that night. She wouldn’t be stuck with Jodie for hours longer. After that she called a cab, and finally they were ready to leave. On the way out, she snagged a towel and damp washcloth from the bathroom, and a sport shirt from Max’s bag.
Out front, she watched Jodie standing at the curb, weighed down by the backpack dangling from one shoulder. The light from the front of the motel revealed a gleam of tears on the girl’s face.