Strange Neighbors

by Ashlyn Chase

  She continued blathering on to give her love to all the other family members while Chad yawned and drummed his virtual fingers on the desktop. He was just about to blast her with a gust of cold breath when she finally, finally hung up.

  "I'm sorry to make you wait, dear," she said to Morgaine. "But I think we have what we need." She waved the telephone number as if it were a clue to her own mystery. "I've been dying to talk to him anyway."

  "Ah ha, just as I thought. The woman couldn't resist sticking her nose into it, could she?"

  Morgaine put on her nicest smile and said, "I don't suppose you could invite the detective to come here? Perhaps that way, Chad could speak to him through me?"

  "Oh." Dottie straightened, looking somewhat offended. "You're a medium too, I suppose." Then she glanced around the apartment and whispered, "Is he still here?"

  "I think so. I can't see him. I can only hear him, since I'm clairaudient, not clairvoyant. I'm still just learning to be a medium." Morgaine cocked her head. "Chad, are you still here?"

  "Tell her I'm so fucking here that I'll kick her through the ass if she thinks for one minute she's going to take away my right to participate in my own cold case and let her try to manage it."

  Morgaine nodded. "Yes, ma'am. He's here."

  "Okay, I'll call the detective and we'll see what we can arrange that will be convenient for all of us." She paused with the receiver in her hand. "I don't suppose he has any appointments I should work around, does he?" She laughed.

  "That does it." Chad blew a big gust of cold air right in Dottie's face and she shivered, casting her eyes nervously around the room. "Finally, an appropriate expression of fear. It's about time! I was ready to sing my rendition of R-E-S-P-E-C-T."

  Chapter 8

  MERRY COULDN'T BELIEVE HOW MUCH SHE MISSED Jason. Had they only been together for a few weeks? It didn't seem possible, although she had to admit that certain fine details of his face were fuzzy in her memory.

  When she opened her door and threw her arms around him, every nuance came rushing back. His subtle scent, how his stubble softly scratched her cheek, his dimples when he smiled. She wanted to drink in his essence and etch every single detail into her memory. The straightness of his nose, except for the slight bump from when it had been broken, the clarity of his blue eyes…

  "God, I missed you," he whispered into her hair. "You were all I could talk about while I was home. My family really wants to meet you."

  "I missed you too!" How and when did his presence disarm her so completely? She'd always felt a strong pull, but now the yearning seemed overwhelming. If she had been a spy and he James Bond, she'd hand over the art, cash, and/or passwords. Anything he asked for. All she wanted was to be in his arms.

  And to her relief and delight, the feeling seemed mutual. He hugged her close against his hard chest as if he needed to fit her against him so tight a gust of wind couldn't come between them.

  "I'm sorry. I should have asked about your father before getting so carried away."

  "He's going to be fine. And now that I'm here, so am I."

  Merry raised her eyebrows. "Did anything happen to make you feel otherwise?"

  "No, not really. Well, nothing specific. You know what it's like to go home after you've been away for quite a while and your life is…"

  He trailed off. She must have been wearing a puzzled look because, no, she didn't know what it was like. She had barely flown the nest. Her little wings hadn't carried her far away for very long.

  "Well, you know what they say. You can never go home again…"

  "Why? What happened to make you feel that way?"

  "Nothing traumatic, like having my posters of Britney Spears ripped down and thrown out or anything…"

  He poked her with his elbow. It took a moment, but she finally identified his remark as a joke and tried to laugh. Not very convincingly, though.

  "I'm sorry. I was trying to be funny. Actually, my old bedroom is now my mother's quilting room. She left a daybed in there for guests, but the décor is drastically different.

  "No, that's not what I'm talking about at all. It's just that—things change while you're gone. You think everything is right where you left it and then you're shocked that the movie theatre moved from downtown to a multiplex on the outskirts and the wild piece of land you thought of as 'your favorite view' gets developed into a condominium community. I guess you'll know what I mean in a few years."

  Merry's shoulders slumped. Just because she didn't move out of her father's house as soon as she turned eighteen didn't mean she was… Damn, she couldn't even think of a word for it. Unworldly, that was it. She had stayed home in Schooner, Rhode Island, taking care of her family. She'd seen the theatre close and reopen in a bigger and better venue, but it hadn't fazed her at all. And the available land had been developed too. She simply didn't feel nostalgic or care that much. Or maybe nostalgia hadn't had a chance to set in.

  It was time to let go of her defensiveness. She tamped down her feelings as well as her issues. They were hers alone and didn't need to become a burden to Jason. He was in a different place and to recognize it would be the wise thing to do.

  "I understand," she said.

  He swept her into his arms and kissed her hair. "You do? Because I wanted you with me so badly. I wanted to show you all my old haunts, and I wanted to share you with my family to show them the part of my life that's better now than they remembered. I really want to take you home with me for Christmas and already told them to expect you."

  Merry tensed.

  "Uh-oh." He slapped his forehead. "I know you're close to your family. The words came out before I had a chance to think them through. But seriously, think about it. All I could talk about was you. My family wants to know you. It's only natural."

  Silence seemed to dare either of them to speak. At last, he simply picked her up off the floor and left her apartment, yanking the door closed with a slam. Too stunned to speak, Merry wrapped her legs around his waist and held onto his neck as he carried her into the elevator.

  "Now, I need to get one thing straight between us, Miss MacKenzie…"

  "What?" she asked, breathless.

  "Do you love me?" He gazed into her eyes. She noted an expectant lift of his eyebrows and something else. Something she'd never imagine a man like Jason Falco would show. Was it fear? Doubt? Did her answer matter enough to make him insecure?

  She pulled him to her tighter and held him as close as she could without smothering him. A confession of love followed by CPR wasn't very romantic.

  At last she whispered furiously, "Jason, I love you so much, I can't see straight."

  Somehow, the two of them wound up on the elevator's new carpet, feverishly kissing, stroking, sucking, and nipping. Reality disappeared. The only thing that existed was this moment, the touch of his skin; the taste of his mouth; how dizzy she felt and yet how grounded and right everything seemed when he held her and she inhaled his scent.

  They lay side by side. His long legs protruded from the elevator. He didn't seem to notice the door trying to close, brushing his blue jeans and opening again. Closing and sliding open. Closing and sliding open.

  Merry climbed on top of him. Glad she had gone braless that morning, she leaned over and rubbed her hardened nipples back and forth across his chest. An unquenchable fire sprang up and she moaned.

  With his abdomen flat against her, his arousal prodded her belly. She scooched lower until seated flush with his hard-on. He didn't know she wasn't wearing panties, but he soon would. She ground down in circles on top of his erection.

  Jason groaned, but in a good way. "I want you so much. God, I can't stand to wait another minute."

  The doors stayed open and a strange voice said, "Apparently not."

  Oops.

  Whipping her head around, Merry spotted Sly. Wearing his usual all-black attire, he stood just outside the elevator. His hand blocked the door and prevented it from closing again.

  "Really, Allis
on. I'd like to say I raised you better than that, but the truth is I never raised you at all."

  "Um… What do you mean?"

  Jason tried to sit up. Merry scrambled off his lap and stood. She smoothed the wrinkles out of her skirt.

  Jason levered himself uncomfortably off the floor and stood beside her. "Merry, why did he call you 'Allison'?"

  "I—um… need to ask him some stuff."

  "It's a long story," Sly said. Then he focused his gaze on Merry. "I understand you wanted to see me?"

  "Yeah. I guess Konrad finally gave you the message."

  "No, he told me right away, but I had to wait until your evening off."

  "Oh—yeah. I guess you would, if what I was told is true."

  Jason scratched the back of his neck. "Does someone want to tell me what's going on here?"

  Sly lowered his voice and breathed heavily a couple of times. "Luke, I am her father."

  "Funny."

  "No, really," Merry said, wide-eyed. "It might be true." Jason raised his eyebrows and glanced at one, then the other, then back again. "Damn. I can see the resemblance, but…"

  Merry cast a hopeful gaze at Sly. "So how…? Um, why…? Oh my, I have so many questions!"

  Jason kissed the top of Merry's head. "Why don't you two talk?" He pulled a key card from his pocket and handed it to her. "I had an extra one made for you."

  Merry's mouth dropped open. "My own key?"

  "I'll be upstairs when you're, um… ready."

  "I bet you will," Sly said.

  "Thanks, Jason. And you…" Merry pointed an accusing finger at Sly. "You don't get to have an opinion on the matter. I have an overprotective father already, and one's enough."

  Sly lifted his hands in a "don't shoot" gesture and took a step back.

  "I will see you later," Merry said and kissed Jason on the lips—hard.

  "Mmm-hmmmph."

  When she broke the kiss, Jason retreated into the elevator and Sly let go of the doors so they could slide shut.

  ***

  "So, you're telling me it's true? You're a… a vampire?" Sly pulled his long, dark hair off his neck and fastened it behind his head with a silver elastic. Then he leaned against the back of Merry's leather sofa and crossed his ankle over his knee. "If I weren't, you wouldn't be alive."

  "Oh, you mean that super-human strength thing?

  That's true too? I guess it must be. I wasn't sure how you managed to toss that assailant off of me like he was a sock monkey."

  "Strength, speed, heightened senses. All of it. But that's not the first time I rescued you. I was turned right before you were born. It was the only way I could get your mother to the hospital fast enough."

  "Wait a minute, are you telling me that because you couldn't hail a cab you had yourself turned into a vampire?"

  Sly smirked. "Not exactly. Your mother was attacked by a vampire. She fought, but by the time he let go of her, she had lost so much blood… I was afraid she'd die and take you with her. I begged the vampire to help me and he said there was only one thing he could do."

  "But that's a lie. He could have rushed her to the hospital…"

  Sly gave her a sidelong glance and lowered his head. "He was a vampire, Allison. He didn't care about your mother or me or you. He selfishly offered to turn me, probably for his own amusement. He acted like a cat playing with a mouse. But I didn't have much of a choice."

  "Oh."

  An uncomfortable silence followed. At last, Sly followed up with, "I didn't believe vampires existed until I saw one with my own eyes."

  "I'm with you there." Merry shook her head as if clearing it. "So what happened? To my mother, I mean?"

  "It was too late to save her. They took you by C-section—and just in time. You were going into distress. As it was, you were a month early. You had to spend a couple of weeks in the hospital in an incubator. It gave me time to think about what kind of father I'd be."

  "You thought about keeping me?" I wasn't rejected.

  "I wanted to, believe me. I wrestled with the decision. You were all I had left of your mother, and I loved her dearly."

  "You must have! You were willing to become a vampire to try to save her."

  He nodded. "When I realized I'd never be able to drive you to school on a sunny day or attend any of your daytime events—and you'd have to grow up in a dark home with a father who might be tempted to snack on you in desperate times…"

  She snapped to attention. "You wouldn't!"

  "No, I wouldn't. But I didn't know what to expect back then. I didn't know what I was destined to become. Some vampires are pure evil, and who knows why?"

  Merry settled back into her chair. "I'm so sorry. I mean, about what happened to you and what you had to go through all these years because of a selfish, uncaring… Well, you know."

  "Yes, I know. As it turns out, vampirism doesn't make a man an undead asshole. It's the illusion of power and omnipotence that does. Very small people, when they get a taste of power, seem to abuse it."

  Merry nodded. "That makes sense. But you're not an asshole. Um… are you?"

  Sly laughed. "Depends on who you ask."

  "You sound well-educated. What did you do, before the, uh… incident?"

  "I had an engineering background and founded a small company. Without me there to run it every day, my partner took over and kicked me out on my butt."

  "But that's awful!" Merry realized she had already formed an alliance with Sly. Here she was, taking his side in an argument that had nothing to do with her and happened long ago. Uh-oh. Don't be gullible, Merry. His story might be horse shit.

  "Look, Allison…"

  "Call me Merry."

  "Do I have to?"

  She sighed. "I know, it's kind of a weird name—especially if I'm in a shitty mood. People who don't know better will use it as a reason why I should be cheerful absolutely all of the time."

  "What about the people who do know better? What do they do?"

  "They stay out of choking reach."

  Sly laughed with a hearty resonance that warmed her. "I can see a lot of your mother in you."

  "Really? What was she like?"

  "She was a spitfire. Full of piss and vinegar, as they say."

  "Ewww. Who says that?"

  He shrugged. "It's just a saying. It means she spoke her mind, and nobody used her for a doormat. She was passionate about everything she did. She stood for good causes. She believed in doing the right thing, even if it wasn't the easiest thing."

  "You mean she was some kind of an agitator? Or zealot?"

  "No. She wasn't the militant type. Far from it. She was a social worker—more of an advocate. If there was an underdog who needed her help, she was there. If there was a cause that needed a sign to be carried, your mother was there, waving it."

  "I advocate for my patients and their families all the time."

  Sly nodded. "It doesn't surprise me."

  "And something else makes sense now. I've always been able to smell blood, like a mile away."

  Sly nodded. "In my desperation, I tried to turn your mother as I felt her life slipping away. You may have received a drop of my vampiric blood."

  Merry was stunned by all these revelations, yet she had to know more. "What was her name?"

  "Alice."

  A stab suddenly hit Merry in the chest. "You named me after her?"

  "Yes. There was no kinder, purer heart on the planet. She deserved someone to carry on her name, if not her legacy."

  Merry hushed, temporarily. "No wonder you want to call me by that name. But just so you know… my mother called me Merry, because I was such a happy baby."

  Sly smiled. "I'm glad. Your biological mother and I were thrilled to learn you were on the way. Perhaps you picked up on our vibes and knew how much you were loved." He adjusted uncomfortably. "I hope you didn't grow up thinking you were unwanted."

  "I never knew why I was given up, but at least I knew I was wanted very much by my family—the family
who raised me."

  "They knew you were special. I made sure you were in good hands."

  "Made sure? How?"

  "Let's just say I kept tabs on you. I saw your adoptive parents take you home. I watched the Schooner newspapers. If I'd heard anything negative, I'd have taken action against whomever didn't treat you right."

  "How did we wind up in the same place? Was that some kind of crazy coincidence?"