His face flushed. “If you can’t see what’s wrong here, there’s nothing I can do for you, ma’am. You can teach manners, but you can’t teach morals.”
I raised my eyebrows. “I’m not sure what you’re referring to. I’ve been keeping Alba company. Seems to me like she needed it.”
As I’d hoped, Alba’s name sparked her awareness. She glanced up and smiled wanly. “Hi, Riley.”
“Is this woman bothering you?” Officer Montgomery asked again, pointing at me.
“No, not at all,” Alba said, shocked. “She’s been wonderful company. I’ve never met a better listener. I just can’t believe that—” Alba covered her mouth, and her throat made horrible squealing noises as she tried and failed not to cry.
He placed his hand on her shoulder and squeezed. “I’m sure Ms. DiRocco is the best listener,” Officer Montgomery said, glaring at me. “We’re just finishing up at the scene. I’ll stay with Alba, if you don’t mind.”
“I don’t mind at all,” I said, ignoring the implication that I should leave.
“I’m not askin’ your permission,” Officer Montgomery said, his twang sharpening. “I’m tellin’ you, ma’am. You’ve outstayed your welcome.”
His tone penetrated through Alba fog. She frowned. “You’re being rude, Riley. Why should Cassidy leave? She’s Walker’s friend, and she’s been wonderful company.”
“She’s a reporter, Al.” Officer Montgomery said, as if he were unveiling the man behind the curtain.
Alba nodded. “I know.”
Officer Montgomery frowned. “What do you mean, you know?”
“She told me. She works for The Sun Accord in New York City. Walker brought her here to write a story on crime comparison between country and city life, and she asked if she could sit with me. And that’s what she’s done, just sit with me.”
Officer Montgomery looked back and forth between us, and whatever he saw, he obviously didn’t like. His face flushed a dark crimson in mottled patches across his cheeks. He stepped in close and tipped his voice to a whisper, but in stepping closer to me, he was closer to Alba as well. “I know your type.”
I raised my eyebrows. “My type? I’m not sure you know me well enough to know—“
“I don’t need to know you to know where you’re from. You city hot shots think you’re better than us. You’d do anything for a story. You’re taking advantage of a woman’s grief, but I ain’t gonna let that happen.”
Anger, like hissing steam, flashed through me and heated my face. I opened my mouth to to say something I’d regret when a glint behind Officer Montgomery caught my eye. I hesitated. A glowing orb blinked a few yards into the woods, like a mirror reflecting the moonlight. I knew that glint almost better than I knew my own reflection.
I glanced around to see if anyone else had noticed the vampire watching us from the woods, and another movement caught my gaze. Walker was shaking his head at me. He had joined the conversation between Sheriff Pitston and Berry, but my argument with Officer Montgomery hadn’t been as private as I would have hoped. A few other officers were staring at us, most of their expressions disapproving and aggravated. Walker, however, looked furious.
He was shaking his head at my argument with Officer Montgomery. He hadn’t seen the vampire. No one had.
“You’ve worn out your welcome, Ms. DiRocco,” Officer Montgomery said. “I’m telling, not asking, you to leave Miss Dunbar alone.”
Alba’s mouth dropped open. “Riley! That’s completely uncalled for!”
“It’s all right, Miss Dunbar.” I patted her knee and then held out my hand for Officer Montgomery to help me stand. “He’s right. I’ve worn out my welcome.”
Montgomery hesitated a moment before taking my hand and helping me to my feet. He didn’t trust my easy acquiescence, but he wanted me gone badly enough to accept it without question.
“Before I leave, would you mind giving me a statement?”
Officer Montgomery’s face pinched. “You’ll have to speak with Sheriff Pitston about statements.”
I nodded. “I certainly will. Thank you for your help.”
He returned my nod but eyed me carefully as I walked away. I could feel the heat of his gaze as I walked toward Walker’s truck. Had he been Greta or Officer Harroway or nearly any city cop, I would have cajoled my way into squeezing more information about the case, but I didn’t have the clout or notoriety here that I had in the city. In fact, if Officer Montgomery’s treatment was any indication, I was starting from the very bottom of the totem pole, lower even than when I’d started in the city simply because I was from the city. But if I could write a book about anything, I could fill page after page about how to claw my way back from the bottom.
Walker had rejoined his conversation with Sheriff Pitston and Berry. I waited until Officer Montgomery turned back to Alba. He knelt in front of her, giving her his undivided sympathy and affection. While everyone else was distracted by other conversations, I ducked behind Walker’s truck and into the shadowed overpass toward the police tape. I squinted into the darkness beyond the police parameter, scanned the surrounding trees, and waited.
After a minute, my gaze caught the glint again. My eyes were drawn to it, and I could feel the deep, wrenching pull of its mind connecting with mine. Its strength couldn’t compete with anything I’d experienced with Jillian or Dominic, but nevertheless, it rooted deep inside me, shaping my will. It wanted me to step toward it. I could feel the force of its desire stimulating the synapses in my brain to move my legs, one foot in front of the other, to walk toward it.
The force of its command was light and coaxing. I could resist if I wanted, but if I resisted now, I wouldn’t have the advantage of surprising it with the depth of my own strength. From experience, that slight advantage could make the difference between bleeding and surviving.
Vampires were willing to sacrifice anything, even their own anonymity, to get what they wanted, and at the moment, with dozens of police officers and emergency personnel to choose from, this vampire wanted me. As prejudiced as Officer Montgomery and the rest of Sheriff Pitston’s team might be, they didn’t know the dark like I did. I could talk a good talk to Walker about being here to report the facts, not to save lives, but when faced with the reflective double glint of a vampire’s eyes staring at me, staring into me, I was glad that mine was the life on the line. I didn’t want anyone else getting caught in the kill zone between me and the vampires.
I took one halting step and then another into the woods, away from the illusion of protection that the police provided, and toward the vampire.
* * * *
A heavier, denser darkness lived in the woods compared to the train overpass. Its thickness was like trying to see underwater; just when I thought I’d approached what looked like a boulder or tree branch, I’d reach out to catch my bearings and touch nothing but shadows. The reflective glint was only a dozen yards away now. I stumbled uncertainly, and my heart leapt to pound on my eardrums.
The musk of damp dirt, leaves, and pine thickened the air, and for a moment, I inevitably thought of Dominic. As frightened as I was of his power, influence, strength, and intentions, I realized that his presence in the city had also given me a measure of security. Not one vampire had attacked me in three weeks, and I knew it wasn’t because of my own muscle. Dominic’s loyal protection—albeit motivated by his own selfish desires to control me—ensured that I survived the night. Now that I was facing the creatures that bump in the night alone, I appreciated his ability to bump back. I could feel the void of his protection like a tightrope walker performing without her net.
The