She nodded. “Hell, it can’t hurt.”
He reached for his cell phone, placed the call. Max sat down on top of one of the squat fence posts that held the barrier, watched the rolling waves below, the entire ocean seemed to undulate, to heave and relax again. Almost as if it were breathing. Then she spotted something and frowned.
“Lou?”
“Just a second, hon.”
She glanced at him because of the “hon” part of the sentence, though she was getting used to him dropping endearments he didn’t mean. Or maybe he did mean them—given that kiss this morning.
He finished his conversation and hit the power button, then turned his full attention to her. “I’m all yours.”
“Liar.”
“You know what I meant.”
“Unfortunately, I do. What did your friend say?”
“He checked. There’s no history of any contamination of the air or water in Endover. Nothing on the books that he could find. He can come out, but it will be a few days. He’s swamped.”
She listened, watching him, the way the sea breeze ruffled his hair and the sun hit his face. Finally, remembering her train of thought, she nodded toward the ocean. “What is that?”
“What is what?” He shielded his eyes and looked.
She pointed, her arm angling back toward the Endover coast. “That.”
Frowning, he looked, then looked some more. “I don’t know. An island?”
“Does it look to you like there’s a house on it?”
“Can’t tell from here. You have binoculars?”
“Not on me.”
“Hell of a P.I. you are. You aren’t supposed to leave home without ’em.”
“So yank my license.” She squinted harder but couldn’t see any better. “Why haven’t we noticed it from Endover?”
“Probably there’s a bend in the shoreline, maybe some woods or a hill that blocks it from view. Or something.”
“Yeah. It’s the ‘or something’ part that worries me.”
13
“Look over there,” Lou said when they pulled the VW into a parking space at the motel late that afternoon.
Max looked where he indicated. A little boy was stationed outside Lou’s motel room as if he were standing sentry duty.
“It’s Sid. Wonder why he’s outside?” She frowned. “You think Storm and Jay took off?”
“Jason’s Jeep is still here.”
They got out of the Bug and started across the parking lot. As they did, a car pulled in and moved in their direction, and suddenly Lou snapped his arm around Max’s waist and propelled her quickly off the pavement as he kept a wary eye on the vehicle.
They stopped on the sidewalk that ran past the room doors. She put a hand over his on her waist, so he wouldn’t take it away too soon, and looked up at him. “What was that about?”
“Just being careful.”
She smiled a little, her heart going warm and gooey. The car, meanwhile, pulled harmlessly into a parking spot. “I like you this way. All protective and watchful.”
“Someone made a try for you last night. We can’t be sure he won’t try again.”
“A vampire made a try for me last night,” she reminded him. “He won’t try again during broad daylight.”
Lou shrugged and averted his eyes. “I’m just making sure he doesn’t get the chance.”
“Because you care about me.”
“Of course I care, Max. You’re one of my best friends. Maybe the very best, you know?”
“I know.” She held his gaze, wishing he could see that there was a lot more than friendship flowing back and forth between them. But he knew that. He might deny it, but he knew. He had to know.
She could see the knowledge right now, in his eyes.
“Hey, mister.”
Lou jerked his gaze from hers, and Max felt lonely without it. But she turned with him to face the little boy who stood near Lou’s door.
“Hi, Sid.” Lou glanced at his watch. “Sorry I’m late.”
“It’s okay. I waited.”
“I see you did. Why didn’t you go inside?”
The boy frowned. “You said meet you here. At the door.”
Lou nodded, as if that made perfect sense. “That’s right, I did, didn’t I? Well, I’m here now, so you can come on inside.”
The boy looked a bit hesitant. Max said, “Normally, you shouldn’t talk to strangers, of course. But Mr. Malone is a policeman. A real one. So it’s okay this one time.”
Sid looked up at her and smiled his crooked-toothed smile. “It’s okay. I know who’s good and who’s not.”
“You do?”
“Uh-huh.”
“And how do you know that?”
“By the colors. You have orange, red and yellow. And you’re blue and green,” he told Lou.
Lou frowned, looking down at his clothes as if in search of the alleged colors.
“I think he’s talking about auras.”
“Nope. Jus’ colors,” the boy said.
She smiled at him and tapped on the door. Footsteps crossed the room, then Stormy tugged it open. “You’re back,” she said.
“And I’m beat. How about you?”
“Exhausted. Found some interesting stuff, though.” She smiled down at the boy. “Good to see you again, Sid. You want some junk food?”
He frowned.
“Chips, dip, soda, cheesy poofs?”
“Yeah!”
“Help yourself,” she said, stepping aside and pointing to the table, where open bags and crumbs reigned supreme. The boy raced inside and dug in.
Max sank into a chair and leaned her head back against it. Lou went straight to the bathroom and came back with a pair of tablets in his palm, grabbing a diet cola from the ice bucket as he passed. He handed both to Max. “For the head.”
“I’m fine.”
“Take ’em, anyway. Humor me, huh?”
She nodded and took the pain reliever, washing it down with the soft drink. She thanked him with her eyes, then turned to Stormy. “We talked to people and put posters up in the next towns in three directions, then plastered Endover with them. Funny thing is, around here, no one is the least bit interested in knowing what we’re doing or why. They don’t ask. And when you tell them, they really don’t seem to care.”
Stormy nodded thoughtfully.
“The ones who responded at all mostly said the same thing. ‘Stop poking around, go home and wait. They’ll turn up.’”
Stormy nodded again. “Makes sense.”
“How so?”
She reached for a stack of papers, and Max noticed the printer that sat on the table where none had been before. “You two have been busy,” she said.
“Yeah, Jason picked us up a printer, along with a full supply of snacks and Coke.” She handed the stack of pages to Max. Lou leaned close to read over her shoulder. “A lot of people seem to disappear while passing through or near this place. Every one I’ve been able to check up on turned up safe and sound within a few days to a week later.”
“I’ll tell you one thing, it was a huge load off my mind when Stormy told me that,” Jason said.
Max flipped through the printouts of news articles Stormy had apparently found online. “Where were they found?”
“Usually within a few miles of their homes. The odd thing is, none of them had any memory of where they’d been.”
Max frowned. “Break it down for me, Storm.”
“Women, between twenty-two and thirty-eight, not counting our two seventeen-year-olds. Attractive, as I said before. Those seem to be the only common denominators. Other than that, they’re all over the map. Married, single, professionals, blue-collar workers, some had kids, some didn’t, and they come from a wide range of locations.”
“But they were all passing through Endover?”
“Looks like.”
“Did you lose somebody, too?” Sid asked.
Max had nearly forgotten the boy was in the room. S
he turned to look at him, sitting on the foot of the bed, a bowl of cheese curls in his lap, his lips coated in orange powder. Beside him was one of the posters she and Lou had run off at a print shop this morning. It had a photo of Delia and Janie on it. She’d sprung for the extra bucks to have the posters done in color. Grainy black and white just wasn’t as effective.
Lou moved to the bed, sat down beside the boy. “That’s right, we did. Those girls there in the picture. This one is Delia,” he said, putting a finger on Delia’s face. “And that’s her friend Janie.”
The boy looked around the room, his gaze halting on Jason. “Don’t worry,” he said. “They’ll come back.”
“How do you know that, Sid?” Lou asked.
The boy shrugged. “I don’ know. I jus’ do.”
“Sid,” Max said, moving closer. “Have other people come here looking for people they’ve lost?”
“Sure,” he said with a nod. “But they don’t find ’em here.”
“They don’t?”
“Nope. They find ’em home.” He looked again at Jason. “You should go home. That’s where she’s gonna be.”
“I’m not so sure about that, kid,” Jason said.
“Is that why you’re so spotty?”
“Spotty?”
“Are you talking about his colors, Sid?” Maxie asked. Sid nodded, and she looked at Jason. “You know I can’t see them, like you can.”
“Nobody can.” He lowered his eyes, looking a little sad.
“What do Jason’s colors look like?”
“Not good,” he said. “Can’t even see the real colors—got a dark cloud over ’em. Like everybody else around here. An’ black spots, too.”
“Everybody in this town has a dark cloud over their colors?” Max asked.
He looked at her, then at Lou. “My mama says it’s all in my head. Same as the night man.”
“The night man?”
He nodded, his eyes big, searching, fearful. Until Lou said, “I think I saw the night man, too, Sid. I saw him last night.”
Sid blinked, looking as if he didn’t quite believe it. “Grown-ups never see him.”
“Maybe some grown-ups can,” Lou said. “I sure saw someone. Someone with long dark hair. And he was in dark colors.” Lou lifted his brows. “I mean, his clothes were dark-colored. I don’t know what his other colors were like.”
“He don’t have any. I thought maybe ’cause he wasn’t real, like Mama said.” Sid lifted his gaze to Lou’s. “But he does have long black hair and black clothes.”
“And you’re the only one who’s ever seen him?” Lou asked.
“I don’t know. Maybe.”
“Do you know where he lives?”
Sid averted his eyes quickly, swiping them with the back of his hand.
Lou leaned closer. “Hey, it’s okay. Don’t be afraid.”
“I’m not. It’s just—nobody ever believed me before.”
Max glimpsed a tenderness in Lou’s eyes she had never seen there. A moment later, he was hugging the boy close, patting his back.
“I believe you,” he said. “We all do. And I think your mama would, too, if the bad air wasn’t putting that dark cloud over her colors.”
The boy’s arms locked around Lou’s neck, and he held on tight. When he finally released his grip, he sat back and looked up into Lou’s eyes.
Lou blinked down at him, then averted his gaze. “Excuse me a minute. I, uh…left something in the car.” He got to his feet and left without a word or a glance back.
Stormy sent Max a questioning look. Max said, “Have some more snacks, Sid. I’ll be right back.” Then she went outside to find Lou.
God, it hurt to hold that little guy in his arms. Brought it all rushing back as if he’d only lost his precious Jimmy yesterday. He’d grown hard over the years. He’d locked the pain away in a dark corner of his mind and, for the most part, managed to keep it there. Incapacitated and impotent. But lately—Jesus, lately it was leaking out like battery acid. Burning through his veins at the most inexplicable moments.
Something was softening his hard shell, and he had a feeling he knew what it was. Max. Keeping that damn shell in place required not caring too much about anything. He’d managed to cultivate his “don’t care” attitude to perfection over the years. He was laid back, never got too wound up. Took life as it came to him and rolled with the punches. Nothing could hurt you if you didn’t care.
Maxie made him care. She’d grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and dragged him into her misadventures and her crazy life. And even though he thought all he wanted was peace and quiet, she made him want to stay right there, in the midst of her chaos.
She stepped up behind him then. He recognized the pattern of her footsteps. Felt the warmth of her presence, and then of her hand sliding up his back to his shoulder. She said, “I know it hurts, Lou. It must hurt like nothing I could even imagine.”
He thought about denying it, telling her he just needed some air, but hell, this was Maxie. She knew. “He’s nothing like Jimmy was. Not even the right age. Just…something about that hug back there…hit me like a sledgehammer.”
“I know.” She moved around in front of him. “You miss him.”
“Like I’d miss my limbs.”
She nodded. “I got a taste of that when I thought I was going to lose Stormy. And even that can’t really compare. Not with losing a child.” She slid her arms around his waist and hugged him. “I’m here for you, Lou. As your friend, if that’s all I can be, but I’m here. I always will be.”
Lou closed his eyes tight and wrapped his arms around her, held her to him for a moment. “I know you will. I know.”
They stood there like that for an extended moment. Then, finally, he gripped her shoulders and set her away from him. “We should get back inside. Storm probably thinks I’ve lost it by now.”
“You’ve got her wondering, that’s for sure.” She smiled gently at him. “Don’t worry, Lou, I’m not going to tell her about Jimmy. I wouldn’t do that to you.”
He knew she wouldn’t. It amazed him sometimes how much he trusted this crazy redhead. “You know something, Max?” he asked, taking her by the hand to lead her back to the door.
“Hmm?”
“I’m glad you’re around.”
“I know you are.” The mischievous grin she sent him then made him wish to hell he could be more than a friend to her. Made him wish he were capable of the kind of loving she deserved. There was a pang of longing in the region of his chest. He squelched it, and they walked back into the room together.
Sid looked up as soon as they entered. He said, “I know where the night man lives—but you better not go there.”
Lou went closer, hunkered down to put himself at the boy’s level. “Now, Sid, if I don’t know where he lives, how can I be sure I won’t go there? You know, by mistake.”
The boy frowned, considering that. Then he pressed his lips tight and nodded. “It’s on the island. Out in the water. You can’t see it except from the lighthouse.”
“Aah, right, the lighthouse. And the lighthouse is…?”
“You gotta walk. It’s down that dirt road out past town.”
Lou ruffled Sid’s hair. “Thank you, son. You’ve been a big help to us.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.” Lou dug out a twenty and gave it to him. “This is for you. You put it in your piggy bank, okay?”
“Okay.” Sid jumped off the bed and raced to the door, but paused there and came back to hug Lou once again. Then he was gone, off like a shot on his bike, sailing at light speed down the street.
Lou turned slowly.
“I think we need to get that kid out of this town,” Stormy said softly. “If any part of what he thinks he knows is true—”
“It’s ridiculous,” Jason said. “He can’t know anything. And what’s this crap about a ‘night man’? Sounds like he’s watched too many monster movies to me.”
Max sent a look at the o
thers, a question in her eyes. Lou nodded. Stormy did, too. “Jason,” she said slowly, “Sid is the only person in this town who isn’t acting…dull, almost tranquilized. And I think I know why.”
“You think someone’s doping the water or something?”
“No. I think this entire town is being held under a vampiric thrall.”
“A vam—are we back to vampires again, Max?” Jason started to smile, but it died when he saw the look in her eyes. “You…you think a vampire has taken my sister?”
“I didn’t say anything earlier, because I didn’t want to frighten you, Jason. But that man who came after me—he was a vamp.”
Jason’s eyes searched hers. He swallowed hard. “I…I don’t know what to say. I don’t think I believe you. I don’t think I want to.”
He paced away, looking shell-shocked.
“Sid’s in danger,” Max said. “Especially if someone realizes he’s immune to whatever kind of power this vampire has over everyone else here.”
Stormy lifted her brows. “You think this guy’s badass enough that he’d hurt a child?”
“Delia and Janie aren’t much older than children,” Max said.
Jason spun to face her. “But he hasn’t hurt them.” When everyone just stared at him, he went on. “I mean, that we know of. He never hurt any of the others. So it makes sense to think—if he were some kind of evil menace, then why were all those other women found unharmed?”
“I don’t know,” Max said. “But you’re right, it’s a good point. Hold on to it.”
“I agree with Jason, for what it’s worth,” Stormy said. “I don’t think he would hurt anyone.”
Lou searched her face. “What are you basing that on?”
Shrugging, Stormy said, “I don’t know. Gut feeling, maybe?”
“Sid said he was saving up to go to a private school,” Lou said. “How about if he gets an opportunity to visit one, all expenses paid? We fork over a couple hundred bucks for a room at a Holiday Inn, some traveling money, and hook him up.”
“If his mom would go for it, it just might work,” Max said.
“I can find the right school in a snap online,” Stormy said. “Set this whole thing up.”
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