by Rose Pressey
“How do you know?” she asked as I stepped through the door.
“I asked the man at the hotel front desk and he said he saw Jack leave with a woman. The woman’s description fit Sophie. She’s the vampire from my parents’ house and she was looking for Jack yesterday. I guess she found him. I can’t believe they didn’t shoot me with a silver bullet in my sleep. I saw blood on the floor in the hotel room.”
“What are you doing to do?”
“I’m going to find him. What else?”
Chapter Twenty
How to Date a Vampire, Rule #20:
Keep at least one bag of chilled blood in the fridge in case of an emergency.
I hugged Jennifer. “If vampires come looking for me, tell them I moved. Wait. On second thought, maybe you shouldn’t stay here for a few days until all of this is settled.”
She didn’t look at me. I followed her gaze to the suitcases by the door. “Were you going to tell me you were moving out?”
“I’m not moving out.” She finally looked at me. “It wasn’t going to be permanent. I was just going to stay with Stephen for a few days. He insisted.”
I bet he did. But I couldn’t be mad at her. I wanted what was best for her. And what was best was being as far away from me as possible.
“You’ll keep in touch, right? You’ll call me? I’m going to miss you.”
“I’ll miss you and I love, Rylie, but it’ll just be for a few days. Never would I not call you. I’m worried about you.”
“I love you too, and I’ll be fine. I promise. I’ll find Jack and we’ll get this settled.”
“I’ll come back as soon as it is.” Jennifer gave a half-hearted smile.
Would she? I wouldn’t blame her if she didn’t.
Jennifer gestured to one of her bags. “I’m just going to take this to the car. Stephen’s here.” She pointed down the hall at her bedroom.
I looked over my shoulder. “Oh, okay. I’ll call you as soon as I find out anything.”
“I’ll be waiting.” She nodded.
I watched as Jennifer made her way out the door and down the stairs. When she was halfway down, my phone rang and she paused.
Jennifer turned to me. “Maybe it’s Jack.”
“I hope so, oh, how I hope so.”
If it was Mama calling one more time to tell me to have a drink… then again, now that I was paranoid about vampires popping out of every shadow, maybe a drink was a good idea. Did I really want to live my life in fear? Was that any way to live? I needed to suck it up, I was a werewolf, for Pete’s sake.
“Hello?” I picked up. “Ms. Cruz. This is Isabella Blackthorne again.”
“Yes, Ms. Blackthorne.” I couldn’t keep the disdain out of my voice. Plus, I hadn’t expected her to call again so soon. Then again, was it all that surprising? This whole scenario kept getting weirder and weirder. At least with the werewolves I knew what I was getting, but the vamps had to be so mysterious. ‘Oh, look at me. I'm dark and dangerous.’ Did she know where Jack was? Had she taken him? No, the man said Jack left with a blonde-haired woman. That wouldn’t be Isabella. Should I tell her Jack was missing? Was Jack missing? Maybe he’d gone with Sophie of his own free will.
“I know you haven't had time to mate me yet. You're good, but not that good. What I'm calling about is I think I can help you.”
So she did know where Jack was. There was no way I trusted her. But I'd go along with her little game to see what she had to say.
“You can help me with what?” I asked.
“Your little boyfriend problem. I can get him the help he needs, and the vampire leader doesn't even have to know about it. Jack can just ignore him. I had some time to think about it, and I figure he shouldn't get involved with this vampire bureaucratic crap. The more he can stay on the outskirts of the paranormal world, the better off he'll be.”
She was telling me? That was what I'd been saying all along. But there was more to it than that. Besides, it was too late now. They had him. Whether he went on his own or they took him.
“No offense, but what do you care? Why not just let us deal with this? Why do you want to get involved?”
“What can I say? I’m Isabella the softie. I stick my fangs, er, nose in a lot of situations they shouldn't be. I can't help myself. I guess I just like to help people. I'm kind-hearted that way. Just like you like to help people find their soulmate.”
Hm. Well, I couldn’t argue with that, although I didn't believe her. Not one bit. “I guess this is why you dropped in for a little visit with him then, right?”
She paused. “Um, yeah, right.”
She wasn’t very convincing. “So, tell me what you want to do?”
“I can take you to someone who can answer all your questions. Shall I come by tonight and pick up both of you? I can take you there and within a matter of an hour, this can all be settled.”
Why hadn’t she offered this earlier? Pick up both of us? Did she honestly not know that Jack was missing? I decided not to mention his status. I’d go along with her and see just how much she knew. Maybe with any luck, she’d lead me to Jack.
“All that can be settled is that Jack's a vampire now.” I leaned against the wall. The hopelessness had taken a strong hold on me.
“Well, yeah, I can't change that. I don't have a magic wand or anything. What did you expect?”
Um. I expected people not to be smart asses, but I guessed that was too much to ask.
“Okay. Be here at seven. Is that okay?”
More than likely, I couldn’t keep this appointment. I’d be looking for Jack. I wasn’t about to give up the search until I found him. I wouldn’t tell Isabella about my search plans, just in case I decided to meet her and find out what she had up her sleeve. If I hadn’t found Jack by seven, I’d suffer through a meeting with her.
“Look at you telling me when to be there. I go by my time. I'll be there at seven-fifteen.”
Sometimes I just wanted to pull my hair out. And considering how much unruly hair I had, that was pretty bad. “Okay, fine.” I let out a deep breath. “Seven-fifteen it is.”
When I hung up the phone, Jennifer asked. “Is everything all right?”
I nodded. “Yeah, another customer in a hurry.”
She frowned. “Oh, okay…” Jennifer let out a soft sigh. “Do you have a plan for trying to find Jack?”
“A plan? Don’t I always have a plan?” I smiled. Okay, I didn’t always have a plan. And when I did have a plan it didn’t usually turn out according to said plan, but at least I tried. No one could fault me for that.
She moved up a couple steps closer to me. “No, you don’t always have a plan.”
“Okay, I don’t have a plan per se, but I have some idea. They wanted him at the French Market, so maybe I’ll go there with the map and see if I can find him.”
“You do realize how big the French Market is? There’s a lot of ground to travel.”
“It’s not that much. I enjoy walking.”
Jennifer arched her brow. “Uh-huh. You complain about walking at the mall.”
“That’s just because you shop too long,” I said.
“Just make sure to wear comfortable shoes.”
“Yes, ma’am,” I said. I let the sarcasm ooze. Jennifer was worse than my mother.
“It’s just because I love you, that’s all, and I worry.”
“Now you really sound like my mother. I’ll be fine. I promise.” I crossed my heart with my index finger.
“Why do you think they want Jack at the French Market?” Jennifer bit on her lower lip.
“I’ve thought about that several times and, to be honest, I have no idea.”
“What do they want to buy vegetables? Maybe sit at Café Du Monde?” Jennifer asked.
“I don’t know what kind of connection there could possibly be. I’d think they’d want to go somewhere with less people,” I said.
“Perhaps with more people there’s more of a distraction.”
&
nbsp; “Maybe.” I shrugged.
“I’m sorry, Rylie, but your plan doesn’t sound like a great one. You can’t just walk around and hope to find him.”
“I plan on asking people if they saw him. I don’t have any other options. It’s what everyone does when someone is missing. They go around to the places they think the person may be and ask others about them.”
“I wish there was a better way. I shouldn’t let you go alone.”
“No, I don’t want you to come. Honest. I’m not trying to be mean, but I’ve involved you enough.”
She waved her arms. “But that’s what friends are for? I can’t just leave you alone.”
“You don’t have a choice because I won’t let you come.”
She frowned.
“Besides, I know Stephen wouldn’t let you come, either.”
Her eyes fixed on mine. “I wouldn’t tell him.”
“He’d probably follow you. All stalker like.”
“Hey, maybe that wouldn’t be a bad idea, then we’d have a police escort.”
“No, he’d probably kidnap you and tell you to stay away from the crazy werewolf.”
“He really is a nice guy, Rylie. I know you two didn’t get off to a great start, but I hope you’ll give him a chance.”
I sighed. “I’ll give him a chance. For you, of course. But just one chance.” I held up my finger.
She smiled.
“You really like him, huh?” I asked.
“I think he’s hot,” she said.
“All right then. I kind of guessed that by the way you two were doing the tongue tango within the first five minutes of meeting each other.”
She blushed. “Yeah, I’m still a little embarrassed by that. I guess we just got a little carried away.”
“It’s okay. I guess he is kind of hot. But he’d better not be a jerk.”
She beamed. “He’s not a jerk. Honest. So do you want to walk with me down to my car? I left something in there. We can chat while Stephen finishes.”
“What’s Stephen doing? Is he sleeping?” I looked down the hallway.
“He’s in the bathroom taking a shower. He came by to see me after work. Our place was closer than if he went all the way home and took a shower first. We may go to a movie, and then who knows what.” She gave an evil grin.
“Who knows what, huh? I think I can guess what. So things are done with Todd?” Jennifer had dated Todd for years and he hadn’t been ready to truly commit. I wouldn’t blame Jen if she finally dumped him.
“Yes, I told him we needed time apart. He didn't seem too heartbroken over the prospect. So good riddance, right?”
“You don't need him.” Not that she needed this other guy, but who was I to make that decision? Just a little ol' matchmaker who thought he was the wrong guy for her. Far be it from me to get involved.
“That’s exactly what I told myself.”
“Sure, I’ll walk downstairs with you.” I was anxious and wanted to start my search for Jack, but I didn’t want to scare Jennifer by being overly panicky. She’d insist on coming with me then, and she didn’t need to be involved in this mess. As we made our way down the stairs, I asked. “Are you sure you’re ready to live with Stephen? You haven’t known him very long.”
“It’s not permanent, remember? If it doesn’t work out, well, nothing lost.”
I nodded. “Fair enough.”
As we made our way around the corner to Jennifer’s car, movement caught my attention and I looked up. Lily was on creepy neighbor guy’s balcony. They were all hands. Did they really enjoy the whole world witnessing their make-out sessions? I didn’t need to see it—no matter if they were in love.
“Rylie.” She waved and I couldn’t find any place to duck away to—I was trapped and had no choice but talk to her.
“What now?” I snapped. Now was not the time to hassle me again.
“Are you still messing around with the vampires? You’re going to get your ass kicked and make us all look stupid. Then I’ll have to kick your ass.”
I knew I should ignore her, but she made it so difficult. I wanted to climb up on that balcony and wring her little neck. I’d show her an ass-kicking that she wouldn’t soon forget. But my mama had taught me manners, so I smiled through gritted teeth.
Jennifer grabbed a bag from her car and slammed the door. “I’ve never met anyone so annoying in all my life. And what does she see in Phil? He has a terrible personality and he is so ugly he looks like he’s dead but refuses to lie down.”
I snorted. “Where do you come up with these things, Jen?”
She giggled. “Lily is pretty, but I guess the nastiness inside doesn’t make up for that, huh?”
Jennifer glanced back at Lily. Lily growled at her.
“Lily, why don’t you mind your own business? I’m not messing with vampires. Now have a nice day.” I turned and started to walk away.
She snorted. “I had better not have to come save your ass. Do you understand?”
I didn't turn around. Not giving her the satisfaction was the best revenge.
“Oh, wait,” Jennifer said. “I forgot something else.” She hurried back to her car.
“Hurry up so we can get away from that mangy mutt and her ogre boyfriend.”
When Jennifer reached in her car and got a small cosmetics bag out, she pulled a piece of paper and held it up. “Rylie, look at this. It’s a map of the French Quarter. It looks just like the one Isabella brought for you.”
“Let me see that.” I moved over beside her and she handed me the paper. “It is just like it. The same paper and everything. It doesn’t look like a photocopy, though. Maybe it was printed from the same file?”
“Well, what the heck is it doing in my car?” Jennifer looked around.
“I don’t know. Did you lock your car?” I stepped closer to the car and peered in.
“Yes, I always lock it. I don’t know how anyone could have gotten in.”
“I don’t know, Jen. It’s really strange. Why would it be there? You’re right. It is just like the one that Isabella gave me.”
“Do you think she put it there?”
“I don’t know. How could she? And why doesn’t it say anything?”
“Maybe it was an extra that they made.”
“I guess it could have been.”
“Have they been handing out these things all over town?” she asked.
Another piece adding to the puzzle and I was no closer to solving it. None of the pieces seemed to fit. Nothing made sense. The only thing that made sense was that my life was cursed and no amount of voodoo would chance that.
Jennifer frowned as she studied the paper. I felt Lily’s eyes on us. Soon she’d be down there messing in our business. At least she had kept her trap shut for the moment.
“I am so sorry,” I said.
“I don’t know what to say other than this really freaks me out. I don’t like the idea that someone was messing around my car. Maybe I should tell Stephen about this?” Jennifer waved the paper in the air.
“I’m not so sure you should. He’s already protective. How much more protective can he be without completely smothering you? You know you don’t like that.”
She nodded. “You are right, I don’t like it.”
“If anything else happens you should definitely tell him, but let’s just keep this quiet. After all, it is just a piece of paper.”
Albeit a paper just like the one I got wanting me to bring Jack to the vampire’s trap, but whatever.
“Are there any signs on the paper? Maybe some kind of clue?” she asked.
“There’s no writing on it.” I flipped the page over. “Nothing on the back.”
“Maybe there’s something else in the car. We should look.”
Jennifer moved over to the driver’s side, so I made my way to the passenger side. I opened the door and looked on the floor, then checked under the seat, running my hand up under it to make sure I didn’t miss anything.
; I pulled out a hamburger wrapper and a box of half-eaten French fries. “Are you saving this for a rainy day?” I asked.
Jennifer laughed. “I need to clean my car.”
“Did you find anything?” I asked, looking up from the car.
She shook her head. “No, nothing. It doesn’t look as if anything has been touched in here.”
I peered into the back seat. There was nothing back there but an umbrella. I stood and looked at the car, blowing out a deep breath. “This is one of the strangest things I’ve ever encountered and I’ve seen a lot of strange things in my life.”
“You should call Isabella and ask her if she left the paper in my car.”
“That’s a good idea, although I’m sure she’ll just say no. But at least I’ll probably be able to sense if she’s lying. I’ll hear it in her voice. I have her number inside in the office. I’ll call her now. Maybe this map will give us a clue as to where Jack is.”
“I’ll check the trunk. Why don’t you go get her number?”
“Okay, I’ll be right back,” I said as I made my way back toward the building. Once inside, I grabbed the file and punched her number into my cell phone.
While it was ringing, I went back outside to check on Jennifer. I covered the bottom of my phone with my hand and asked, “Did you find anything else?”
She shook her head. “Nothing.”
“She’s not answering, by the way,” I said. “I’ll leave a message.”
“She’s probably guilty, that’s why she’s not answering,” Jennifer whispered.
I nodded. “Isabella, this is Rylie Cruz from Get a Mate. Could you please call be as soon as possible? I have a question for you.”
Isabella would think I had a question about her match up. That was probably the only way she’d call back.
“I can’t believe she wants you to find her a mate. She’s another version of Lily.”
“Yes, just what I need.” I stuffed my phone in my pocket. “Did you look under the car?” I asked, as I crotched down beside the door.
“I didn’t think of that.” Jennifer hurried around to the other side.
“I don’t see anything,” I said, as I looked along the bottom of the car.
“What did you lose, Jennifer? Your personality?” Lily yelled from the balcony.