Midnight Lover. Rosemary Laurey

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      The man blinked. “Right. I don’t need her to accompany me. She’s the victim.” He blinked again. “I’ll see you later,” he said and turned toward the front door.

      Toby made sure it was wide open for him and watched as he drove away down the dusty road. The antagonistic law disposed of, he returned to the kitchen, where Adela sat, wide-eyed with shock.

      “I’ve heard about vampire hypnotism,” she said, her voice definitely wobbling, “but never imagined…”

      “I did not hypnotize him!” Drat her and her superstition and half-knowledge. “I merely suggested an alternative course of action.” Shocked she might be, but still…“You didn’t want to go with him, did you?”

      “Hell, no!” She caught a breath. “Please don’t get me wrong. I am utterly appreciative of your intervention, just astounded and amazed.” She shuddered. “I didn’t fancy a night in the local jail with just Deputy Johnson for company.”

      “There’s something not right here.” Even a mortal could have worked that out. “You need to get away fast, in case my suggestion fades and that sweaty oaf of an apology for law enforcement returns.” He reached into his pocket for his keys. “Take my car and go to Devil’s Elbow. The sooner you’re out of here the better.”

      She actually looked ready to argue but closed her mouth and nodded. “What about you?”

      “I don’t need a car to get back and I want to look around and see if I can find this mythical creature of yours. If he—it—is what’s causing this, he’d best be taken care of.”

      “I’m not even sure he exists. I haven’t seen it.”

      “I smelled it. There’s something there. I’ll try to find its trail.”

      “It’s going to be dark in less than an hour.”

      “I can see in the dark, Adela.”

      Had to be a mark of her exhaustion and stress that she merely nodded. “I need to pack something.”

      “Skip it! I think time is of the essence here. Whatever you need we can find or send someone out to buy.”

      “At least I’m packing a toothbrush.” And, he noticed, the bowls and candles from the mantelpiece. Her sacred vessels, no doubt. Oh well, if Tom Kyd could take a witch as his partner, he, Toby, could at least give one shelter. He’d concede she was fast. Fifteen minutes later, she had a zip bag packed and his car keys in her hand.

      “Sure you’ll be okay?” she asked.

      He had to smile. “I imagine I will be. Just be certain that you leave Piet’s old study window wide open. I’ll fly back through there.”

      “I see.” He hoped she didn’t. He much preferred transmogrifying in private. “I’ll call the night nurse and tell her you’re coming. You know your way around the house. If I have news, I’ll tell you in the morning.” He followed her to the door. “Just one more thing, a favor if you would.” He reached into his pocket for his wallet. “Mind taking this with you? Just leave it on my desk.”

      She stared. “Okay, but why?”

      Some things just had to be spelled out to mortals. “I don’t mind leaving clothes behind when I shift, but I don’t want to leave my credit cards and license, and if you’d also take my watch”—he pulled the metal band over his hand—“I’d be most obliged.”

      She shoved both into her handbag and nodded. “Sure you’ll be okay?”

      “Of course. You need to get away safely. You don’t want to be here if that officer decides to come back.”

      She didn’t hang around to disagree.

      Once she was gone, he called Laura Fox, the night nurse. He asked her, as a favor, to make sure the largest guest room was ready, adding that he was unlikely to be back much before morning.

      That done, Toby went out through the back porch and sniffed the air around the very dead dog.

      Laura could not believe her luck. An unexpected overnight visitor was a complication, but the guest rooms were at the other end of the house from her patient’s suite and if Mr. Wise was going to be gone all night, she’d be able to have a good snoop around. Assuming she could stifle her conscience.

      Why did Dad always put her on the spot? Okay, like any good newspaper man, he was on the lookout for a good story, but really he and his new partner, Axel Radcliffe, were getting obsessed about Piet Connor and his company. First she had to get a job working in the house, then report about Mr. Connor. She soon told them the old man barely knew what day of the week it was half the time. And they’d taken some convincing.

      Now it was poke through the desk and pry in the computer for business records. She’d refused outright when her father first broached the idea but found herself agreeing after spooky Axel insisted. She still didn’t know why the hell she’d said yes. Whatever Dad thought about the man, Axel gave her the creeps. Yes, he’d bought into the failing local paper and put it back on its feet, but really, the way he persisted about wanting a big scoop about Connor Inc., you’d think he’d bought into the Washington Post, not the Dark Falls Weekly News.

      Still, dammit, she’d agreed. She’d wait until all was quiet and then she’d have a quick sneak and go back home, tell them she’d found nothing at all and hope to heaven they’d shelve the whole ridiculous obsession.

      The front door opening an hour or so later yanked Laura from the prickings of her conscience. Damn! If Mr. Wise was back, that put an end to her sneaking tonight, which was an immense relief.

      It wasn’t her employer.

      “Hello?” a very female voice called.

      The visitor. And with her own key. Interesting. Not that it really surprised Laura; a man as attractive as Mr. Wise no doubt had a string of women at his beck and call. Funny, he hadn’t come back with this one, though.

      “Good evening.” Laura stepped into the wide entrance hall, where the woman stood, a bulging overnight bag in her hand. “You must be Adela Whyte. Mr. Wise mentioned you were coming.”

      “I am. Is Piet asleep? I won’t wake him but haven’t seen him for a couple of weeks.”

      Who was she? Old friend of the family? She looked to be forty, maybe even fifty, and seemed stressed. “There’s not much change, never is.” Would have been easier to insist he was out for the night, but she was planning enough sneakiness for one night. She wasn’t adding telling lies to someone’s face.

      A shadow of anxiety crossed the woman’s face. She set her bag on the slate-tiled floor. “Let me go in now; I’d hate to disturb him later. He’s still in the little sitting room?”

      Laura nodded. “Yes. He likes being moved out to the terrace during the day.”

      “He always loved the ocean.” She held out her hand. “I’m Adela Whyte, Piet’s ex-wife—or rather, one of them.”

      Interesting. “Laura Fox, one СКАЧАТЬ