There was no sign of Justin's dad or the bikers. In fact, it was very quiet in Morganville, despite my fears. Travis Lowe and Joe Hess dropped by early the next morning to deliver no news is good news party line to Eve and the house in general; they were polite and kind, and generally seemed okay for cops, but they made me feel scared and paranoid. I supposed all cops were like that, when they were on official business.
It didn't seem to bother Eve at all; she was up, bleary eyed and yawning, fresh out of the shower and still wrapped in a hello kitty bathrobe, free of the goth make up. Justin was, predictably, asleep, and who knew where Micheal was? Watching, I thought. Always watching. I supposed that could be creepy, except in Micheal's case it was comforting.
"Hey, guys" Eve said after wandering down the stairs into the living room. She plopped on the couch, bounced, and yawned again. "Coffee. Need coffee"
"I made some" I said, and went into the kitchen to get it. Travis Lowe followed me silently and carried the cups back out. He and his partner drank it black; I could barely even stand it with milk and sugar in. Eve was cream only, no sugar, she sucked it down like Gatorade after a hard workout, then collapsed against the couch again.
"Morning, officers" she said, and closed her eyes. "It's too early for this"
"Heard you got a job on campus" Hess said. "Congratulations, Eve"
"Yeah, me" she made a lazy woo-hoo gesture. "You come all this way to say that?"
"Not a long way in Morganville" Hess shrugged. "But no. Like I told Anastasia, there's no sign of your intruders. So I think you're in the clear on that. Hope that makes your day better"
"Sure" she said. "Um..about..the other thing..?"
"You want to talk in private?" I asked, and stood up with the coffee in my hand. "Cause I can go on to scho-"
"Sit" Hess said. "You're not going anywhere yet. And you're not going anywhere by yourself"
"I'm...what?" I ask.
"We're giving you girls a ride to school" Lowe said, and sipped his coffee. "And a ride home when you're done. Consider us your Thin Blue Line Taxi Service"
"No!" I blurted, appalled. "I mean, you can't..you shouldn't...why?"
"Eve knows why," Hess said. "Don't you, Eve?"
Eve put her coffee cup in the side stable and crossed her arms against her chest. "Jason"
"Yeah, Jason" Hess cleared his throat, glanced at me, and continued. "We found Karla Gast late last night. Well, actually, some of our more night inclined colleagues found her. Dumped in a vacant lot about six blocks from here behind some piled up lumber"
In a flash, I remember walking past the empty lot on the way to my visit with Amelie. I'd event smelt decay. I put my coffee cup down, my hands coming over my mouth.
"You think-" Eve looked tense and pale. "You think Jason was involved"
"Yeah" Hess said softly. "We think. No proof, though. No witnesses, no forensic evidence, but she was definitely not killed by a vampire. Look, Jason's been spotted in the area, so I don't want you out there by yourself for now, okay? Either one of you"
"He's my brother!" Eve sounded angry now, voice shaking. "How could he do this? What kind of..of-"
"It's not your fault" Lowe said. "You tried to get him help. He just got sicker"
"It is my fault!" She shouted. "I'm the one who turned him in! I'm the one who didn't stop Brandon from-"
"From what?" Lowe asked, very quietly.
Eve didn't answer. She looked down at her black-painted finger nails, and picked at them.
"From moving on to an easier target" she said. "Once I made sure he couldn't get to me"
"Christ" Lowe muttered in weary disgust. "Someday, that goddamn vamps going to get his-"
"Trav" Hess said. "It ain't laundry day. Let's not air it in public"
"Yeah, I know, that Jesus Christ, Joe, it ain't like this is the first time..."
It took me a few seconds to work out what they were all talking about, but then I remembered Eve's poetry that I'd looked through. The aren't vampires great stuff, until she was fifteen, and no more romance. Brandon. Brandon tried to mess with her when she was fifteen. And Jason was her younger brother.
"What did he do to him?" I asked in a very small voice. "Brandon, I mean. Did...bite him?"
Eve didn't look up, but her cheeks were pink to match her robe. "Sometimes" she said. "And sometimes worse than that. We're just toys to him, you know. Dolls. We're not real. People aren't real at all"
"I'm afraid the same goes for Jason now" Hess said. "Can't really blame the kid. He didn't have much of a chance. But I repeat, Eve, you can't blame yourself, either. You saved yourself, and that's important"
"Yeah, I saved myself by screwing over my brother. What a hero"
"You be careful with all the guilt" Lowe said. "It'll pound you down. Your parents were the ones who should have stepped in, and you know it. Anybody willing to let their kids become toys, just to get ahead.."
I reached out and took hold of Eve's hand. Eve, surprised, looked up. Her eyes were angry.
"Why do you think I left?" She asked. "As soon as I could. Between my parents and what Brandon made out of Jason.."
I didn't know what to say, I'd never been through any of that. I'd grown up in a warm safe house where my parents loved me. In a town where there were no such things as vampires, where child abuse and molestation were something that happened on evening news. It was too much to take in.
"It's going to be okay" I finally said. Eve smiled and looked at me sadly.
"No" she said. "Don't think so, Ana. But thanks"
She took a deep breath, let go of my hand, and turned back to the two cops. "Right. You guys hang out here while I get dressed"
"Oh, sure" Hess said, and raised an eyebrow. "Not like we're protecting or serving anything"
"You're not even on duty" Eve said.
"Busted" Lowe said, smiling.
Eve padded up the stairs, one hand on the railing, and I let out a slow careful breath. Eve was kind of like an unexploded bomb at the moment. I ached to make it all better, but there was no way I could do that, no way Eve would let me try.
I wished Justin would wake up. I needed..well, something. A hug, maybe. Or one of those deliciously warm kisses. Or just to look at him, all rumpled and grumpy with his hair sticking up at odd angles, sheet creases on his face, his bare feet looking so cute and soft.
I'd never thought of a guys feet as sexy before. Not even on a movie star. But Justin...there was no part of him that wasn't sizzle hot.
"More coffee?" Hess asked, and waggled his empty mug. I sighed and took his and Lowe's to the kitchen for refills.
I had just set the two ceramic cups down on the counter, and was reaching for the coffee pot, when a big, thick, sweaty hand closed over my mouth, and irresistibly strong arms yanked me backwards. I tried to scream, but whoever had me, really had me. I squirmed, but it didn't do any good.
"Quiet" a rough male voice whispered in my ear. "Shut up, or this gets ugly"
It was already ugly, at least from my terrified side of things. I went still, and the man holding me lowered me down enough to let me sneakered toes touch the floor. Didn't let me go, though.
I'd already figured out who it was, before Justin's dad stepped out into my view and learn forward, scary close. "Where's my son?" He asked. His breath was nasty, and stank of booze. "Just nod. Is he in the house?" I nodded slowly. "Upstairs?" I nodded again. "Those cops in the living room?" I nodded vigorously, and tried to think what I could do to get Hess's attention.
"My kid likes you" Justin's Dad said. "That's all that keeps you alive right now, you get me? So don't push your luck. I could always change my mind, and you could get buried out back with your little friend Micheal. Now, my buddy here is going to let go of your mouth, and you'd better not scream, because if you do, we're just going to have to do some killing, starting with you and ending with the cops. And that vampire wannabe girlfriend of yours. You get me? My son is all that matters to me"
I swallowed hard and nodded again. The hand pulled slowly away from my mouth. I didn't scream. I pressed my lips together to hold in the urge.
"Good girl" Justin's dad said. "Now tell me what are the cops doing here. They looking for us?"
I shook my head. "They think you're gone" I said. "They're here to take me and Eve to school"
"School" He poured contempt into the word. "That's not a school. It's a holding pen for cattle"
"You need to go. Right now" I said.
"Or?" He raised his eyebrow.
"You can't do what you're here to do if everybody's still looking for you" I said. I was making it up, but suddenly it made sense to me. "If you have to kill me, and everybody here, they'll turn the town upside down until they find you. And they'll put Justin in jail, or worse. If you let me go and take Justin, I'll just tell them everything anyway, and they turn the town upside down-"
"Are you trying to scare me, little girl?" He asked.
"No" I whispered. "I'm trying to tell you what will happen. They've kind of given up looking for you, but if you kill me, you lose. And if you let me go, I'm going to tell them everything"
"Then why shouldn't I kill you?" He asked.
"Because I'll keep my mouth shut if you promise to leave Justin alone"
"Boss" said the man holding me. "Bitch got no reason to keep her word"
"What makes you think I like the vamps anymore than you do?" I shot back. "Did Justin tell you about Brandon? I saw you in the Common Grounds. Were you looking for him? Because if you weren't, you should be"
"You telling me which vamps to kill now?" He asked.
"No" I swallowed again. "Just a suggestion. Because as far as I can tell, he's just about the worst one. But you're going to do what you want, I know that. I just want me and my friends out of it"
Justin's dad smiled at me. And it seemed, for the first time, the most genuine expression. "You're tougher than you look, kid. That's good. You're going to need to be, you stick around here" He looked past at the biker. "Let her down, man. She's okay"
The biker released me. "You need to go" I said. "Right now. And don't come back here, or I swear, I'll tell them everything"
"Girl, you don't know my son at all, do you?" He asked. "I don't have to come back here. He'll come to me. Eventually"
He made a lets go gesture to his bodyguard, and together went back out of the side door in the kitchen. I ran up to it, pulled it shut and locked it.
I took deep breaths, and picked up the coffee cups. My hands were shaking badly, there was no way I could carry anything liquid. I put them back down and went back to the door to call through, "Making some fresh!" I shouted.
I poured out the rest of the pot, loaded it again, and, by the time the machine finished, I had mostly gotten myself under control.
Mostly.