Wings In The Night - Blue Twilight Part 14

He nodded. "Look, I know you haven't known her that long. But she's your birth mother, Max. She's nuts about you. And she's a good friend of mine, has been for years. Believe me, it wouldn't be overstepping the bounds of your brand-new relations.h.i.+p with her. It really wouldn't." He shrugged. "I tend to think she'd move up there with you if you asked her."

"Really?"

He nodded. "She loves you, Max." And d.a.m.n, he thought, what was not to love?

She nodded slowly. "Short of calling Morgan back from her honeymoon, I guess I don't have anyone else I can ask."

"I'll call her on the way back, before we lose cell reception again."

"Thanks, Lou. You always know what to do" She slipped her arms around his neck, pulled his body close and brushed her lips over his jaw. Then she lowered herself and hurried over to Jason's Jeep.

He watched her go, wondering why he was such a confused mess where she was concerned. At least she didn't seem angry at him anymore. But just when he thought their friends.h.i.+p was safe, she went and pushed it a little further, leaving him turned on and ready to run, all at once.

He turned and started for the Bug. Stormy caught up before he reached it. "Looks like you're finallyfalling for her, huh?"

"For who?"

"Max. That hug you gave her before she left-" She broke off, probably because he winced a little when she said it. He'd only hugged her so he could whisper his warning without Jason Beck overhearing it. He supposed that quick kiss she'd given him in return was her idea of payback.

"Don't tell me, " she said. "It wasn't a real hug."

"It was real enough." Even though he hadn't meant it to be, it had certainly felt real. A little too real, he thought.

"Don't play with her, Lou. Not unless you mean it. She couldn't take it."

He frowned at Stormy, but she only turned and opened the pa.s.senger door to get into the car. What the h.e.l.l was she talking about? Maxie was the toughest female he'd ever met. He couldn't think of anything she couldn't take. Besides, she'd given up on trying to seduce him despite that little display a moment ago. She was glad he was around. He understood that, because the feeling was mutual. No big deal.

A little voice inside reminded him that he'd been starting to doubt that was all there was to it. Ever since her pa.s.sionate claim that she had never seen him as too old or worn-out to respond to her teasing, he'd been wondering, what if it wasn't teasing at all? What if it was for real?

h.e.l.l, he couldn't deal with that possibility, because he didn't know how. Truth was, he was afraid of her.

Imagine that. A veteran cop who'd seen just about everything there was to see, afraid of a pretty, s.p.u.n.ky sprite like Maxie.

Well, stranger things had happened.

Max was still warm all over from Lou's embrace-and still stinging with disappointment that it hadn't meant a d.a.m.n thing. Not that she'd thought for one instant that it had. Okay, maybe just for one brief instant-that moment when he pulled her hard against him, and her heart reared up on its hind legs and took off at a full gallop.

G.o.d, if she closed her eyes she could still feel him, holding her to him, hard and tight, as if "So the research lab in White Plains wasn't really a research lab, " Jason said. "I got that much."

His voice reined her ecstasy to a halt, and she forced herself to pay attention to him as he drove.

"Actually, it was. Just not for cancer. It was the headquarters of a government organization called the Division of Paranormal Investigations."

"DPI, " he said, nodding. "And they researched... vampires?"

She nodded. "Sounds insane. But it's not. It's real, Jay. When you and Stormy and I sneaked in there to check out the place, right after the fire, I found a CD. It was full of information, case histories of vampires. How old they were, who sired them, where they'd last been seen. Some had been captives in that place, used as guinea pigs for their research." He shook his head. "You know, when I got that flyer, saw that you were investigating supernatural-type stuff, I thought-h.e.l.l, I don't know what I thought. Goth kids playing dress-up and drinking blood for kicks, I guess. Maybe a little ghost-busting on the side." He sent her a brief, probing look. "But this stuff can't be real, Max. I mean... vampires?"

"I've met them. I've seen them. h.e.l.l, some of them are my friends." She didn't tell him one of them was her own sister. She might want to trust Jason, but wanting to trust wasn't trust itself, and she knew Lou had a point in advising caution.

"It's hard to believe. What are they...what are they like?"

She sent him a look, sensing more to his question than what rested on the surface. "Just like anyone else, I guess. Some are good, some are bad. Some are freaking insane."

He licked his lips. "But not just like anyone else. Not really. I mean, they're different. Physically, right?"

She tipped her head to one side. "They can't go out in the daylight. They need blood to survive."

"What do they look like?"

She fixed him with a steady gaze. "Why? You think you've seen one?"

He laughed at that, but it was a nervous laugh. "No way. But I'd like to know if I did."

Max shrugged. "Paler than we are. Otherwise, not much different."

He nodded. "What about...powers?"

"What about them?" She was none too comfortable discussing this with him, all of a sudden.

"You know, the stuff you see in the movies. Changing into bats. Talking to people inside their heads" He sent her a sideways glance. "Any of that for real?"

She nodded slowly. "They're pretty good at the mental conversations. I've heard some can shape-s.h.i.+ft, but I've never seen it happen."

"Unbelievable, " he said, shaking his head slowly. "So how do you kill them?"

Max didn't gasp, but it was close. She didn't know how to answer, and while she was searching her mind, he went on.

"Crucifixes? A wooden stake?"

"It's, um...it's never come up."

"Do you think-" He stopped himself. "No. It's crazy."

"Do I think what's going on in this town is connected to the undead? That's what you were going to ask, isn't it, Jay?" He thinned his lips, nodded once.

"I don't know. I didn't think so, but now...h.e.l.l, whoever broke into the house was after those files.

That's my gut feeling, anyway. And if they knew I was away, it might be because they knew I was here"

She paused, drew a breath, decided to plunge ahead. "I might be able to figure this out, Jason, if you would tell me everything."

He swung his head toward her fast. "What do you mean?"

"Why all the questions about vampires? Do you have some reason to think one is involved in this?"

"No. Of course not. I was curious. h.e.l.l, Max, it's not every day you talk to someone who claims to have personal experience with something like that."

She sighed. "I think you're holding something back, Jason. I think you know more than you're saying."

He faced front again, his jawline seeming to harden.

"I've told you everything I know."

"Including how you got those bruises?"

He said nothing.

"It wasn't from a fall. Those came from a beating, Jay. Someone attacked you."

He licked his lips, nervous, trying hard not to appear to be. "All right. I was upset. I was in a bar asking the locals if they'd seen Delia, and I had a few too many. Ended up in a brawl. It was nothing."

"So why did you lie about it?"

"I got my a.s.s kicked. I was embarra.s.sed, okay?" "And that's all? There's nothing else?"

"There's nothing else."

"Chief Fieldner had skinned-up knuckles, Jay. How do you explain that?"

He slanted her a quick look. Barely missing a beat, he said, "He landed a few blows when he came to break up the fight. That's all."

She sighed, certain she would get no more out of him, hoping that was because there was nothing more to get. Jason cleared his throat. "He's strong, Max" "Who is?" She frowned at him. "Chief Fieldner?" He nodded. "He looks scrawny. Like a scarecrow.

But he's strong. Almost...unnaturally strong."

It was a warning. She didn't mistake it for anything else. "I'll keep that in mind, " she told him.

"Take a look at your cell phone, " he said. "See if there's a signal. We're getting close to Endover."

She took out the phone. "Three bars." Then she watched the signal bars vanish, one by one. "Two, " shesaid. "One. Nothing. d.a.m.n."

"The motel's a mile ahead. At least we know how far we have to drive to get a signal."

He had changed the subject, she realized, and wondered if it had been deliberate. "I'll plug it in tonight, charge it up just in case."

He nodded. "So what do we do next?"

"Research, " she said. "I want to know if anything like this has ever happened before. Maybe missing girls aren't an unusual occurrence in Endover, New Hamps.h.i.+re ."

It was close to midnight when someone pounded on her door. Max came awake with a start that set her heart hammering in her chest. Her first glance was at the clock. Her heart jumped, and fear sang in her veins. Then she heard Lou on the other side. "Open up, Maxie, it's me."

Sighing in relief, she flipped on the light and slid out of bed, then padded to the door and undid the chain.

When she flung it open, Lou looked at her. His eyes betrayed him, lowering to take her in from her bare toes up, and she smiled to herself, glad she was wearing nothing more than a baby-doll T-s.h.i.+rt that didn't even cover her waist, and a pair of bikini panties.

"You want to put on a robe or something?"

"I didn't bring a robe or something."

He closed his eyes, as if that were the only way he could stop looking at her, and when he opened them again and came the rest of the way inside, his gaze shot straight to the empty bed on the far side of the room. "Where's Stormy?"

"The couple next door left while we were gone. She took their room. Said she needed some s.p.a.ce." The truth, Max suspected, was that Stormy had only moved out to give Max some s.p.a.ce just in case things heated up with Lou. But she wasn't about to tell Lou that.

"I'm not altogether comfortable with her being alone."

"Neither was I, " Max said. But she pointed to the door in the wall, opposite the twin beds. "There's a connecting door. I told her to leave it unlocked so I could check on her at will. It's not even closed all the way, so I can hear her. She's fine."

Lou nodded. "Good."

"So what's up?"

"Put on some pants, Max."

She rolled her eyes. "I can't believe any man finds the sight of a half-dressed female as upsetting as you do."

"Who said I found it upsetting?" he asked. "We're going for a walk, and it's chilly outside."

She frowned at him, then shrugged and turned to the suitcase that was sitting open on the dresser,tugged out a pair of jeans and pulled them on. She noticed that Lou didn't turn away as she did. Well, that was progress, wasn't it? She pulled the jeans up slowly, not slowly enough so he'd know it was deliberate, but slowly enough to turn him on-she hoped. It was cruel to tease him, but dammit, old habits were hard to break.

She zipped, snapped, then stepped into her scuffy slippers. "Ready."

"Jacket, " he said.

"Nah. I like to feel the night air on my skin."

He sighed but didn't argue, just stood there in the open doorway waiting for her to join him outside.

"Where are we going?"

"Out here." He walked her across the parking lot, toward the place where the motel's gra.s.sy lawn met the pavement. There were a couple of picnic tables there, and he walked right up to one of them, took something out of his pocket and dropped it onto the redwood-stained surface.

Max took a seat atop the table, picked the thing up. "What is it?"

"It's a bug."

Max looked up fast.

"I found it in the phone in my room. Ten to one there's one in yours, too."

"Jesus." She reached out for the tiny electronic b.u.t.ton, turned it in her fingers, then shot a look at Lou.

"Is it still-"

"No. It's dead. But near as I could tell, it was working right up until I found it."

"G.o.d, Lou, how did you even know to check?"