Total pages in book: 67
Estimated words: 64030 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 320(@200wpm)___ 256(@250wpm)___ 213(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 64030 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 320(@200wpm)___ 256(@250wpm)___ 213(@300wpm)
All I had to do was survive until the police got here. I just had to play along.
“Are you going to explain what this has to do with me?” I asked.
“Your scent is the same as hers.” He stared with an intense gaze. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say he had the look of a man coveting something. “And as impossible as I thought it to be, I’ve recently learned that some do find love again.”
“You mean…me?” I pointed at my chest.
He nodded.
No. No, no, no. “You said you wouldn’t bother me again after tonight.”
“I did.”
“But now you’re saying you think—”
“That you are my second chance,” he said. “If so, I could never walk away from such a rare gift.”
I squirmed on the couch, trying to think of something—anything—to discourage him from entertaining this insane idea. On the other hand, I didn’t want to rile the man up. He wasn’t right in the head, and I wanted to live.
With a sympathetic voice, I said, “I bet you miss her, your Anna, but I don’t know why you’d think I’m her replacement. Sounds like she was very special.”
“You understand me well, Masie. The chances of you being such a rare gem, one as special as Anna, are close to impossible. Which is why I must divine the truth: If I had not shown up last evening, what would you have done?”
“I don’t understand the question.” Suddenly, I heard sirens outside.
He pointed toward the front door. “Answer the question, Masie. They are but a minute away, and I will not be leaving until I have my answer. I will kill them all if I must, but you will answer me.” He walked over and bent down in front of me, putting us almost nose to nose.
I stared into his eyes. So beautiful… My mind drifted into a state of utter calmness, like a soft, warm blanket had been wrapped around my thoughts.
“What would you have done?” he repeated.
“Don’t know. Died, I guess.”
“You would’ve forfeited your life?” he hissed in my face, his pale eyes narrowing with disgust.
I suddenly snapped out of my momentary blip.
“This is what you were contemplating when I entered the bar?” he added.
I’d set him off. I needed to correct course if I wanted to make it through this. “I was…I was gonna kill him.”
His face relaxed, and he stood up straight, staring down his nose at me. “And if he had died by your hand, how would you have felt about it?”
He seemed calmer with my last answer, so I kept going. “I would’ve felt relieved. Safe. Alive.”
“And if you had to face his family, who would most certainly accuse you of taking their sweet angel from this world?”
Why was he asking me all this?
“I would’ve told them that their son was a piece of shit who murdered Deedee and therefore deserved what he got. I would’ve told them that he tried pushin’ his finger inside me while I was serving him suds, and he laughed about it. That was who their son was, and the world is better off without him.”
My captor’s face contorted into a hard mask, as if trying to hide his reaction. “He…penetrated you?”
“Tried. You were there. You saw it happen.” And why did my story surprise him? Didn’t he know who he’d murdered last night? Tall Guy was a monster.
“I did not. Very fortunate for me, I suppose. I would have been compelled to kill him in front of your patrons and then dispose of them, too.” He clicked his tongue. “Witnesses.”
I wasn’t sure if I should take him seriously, but I did wonder about his comment. “What do you mean you didn’t see? I saw you there.”
“When I arrived, I witnessed you hitting that man in the face with your tray. Later, I returned to speak with you and caught him lurking in the parking lot. He attacked your friend.”
“You watched him kill Deedee?” I snarled, forgetting whom I was talking to: a crazy person.
“You are wondering why I did not save her.”
Hell yes. I nodded.
“I was there for you. No one else.”
I looked down at the floor, rage building in my chest.
Suddenly, I heard a car rolling up just outside my door—the deputy must’ve pushed open the front gate.
“They are here, Masie. So now you must answer one final question before I go.”
“What?” I asked.
“Do you trust me?”
No. Absolutely not. Not in a million years. “You saved me last night. You haven’t laid a finger on me, and such a powerful vampire like yourself could’ve ended me minutes ago.”
He nodded his approval. “Be sure to tell the authorities that there was no one here. You were merely frightened after being attacked last night, and you heard a noise—a raccoon trying to get in. And when they come again tomorrow to question you, you will say you remember nothing about your attack.”