1 Dead Girl's Guide to Style (5 page)

I’d only been back at the shop for a few minutes when Caitlin walked in. She wore a cream sweater with black leggings and an awesome pair of brown leather boots I’d helped her pick out from Saks. She’d accessorized with a red scarf and assorted bangle bracelets.

I must have had guilt written all over my face because she said, “What have you done?”

I stacked papers on my desk. “What do you mean?”

“You look funny,” she said,
waving her finger in the direction of my face.

“Thanks,” I said with a frown.

“You’ve seen that guy again. Your date from the other night. What happened?” She tapped her fingers against the counter impatiently.

I sighed. “Okay, I did see him. He came into my shop and wanted my help with his style.”

She flashed a wide smile. “Yeah, I don’t think that’s all he wanted.”

I shook my head. “I think he
’s in a lot of trouble.”

“Oh, great. That
’s all you need. Trouble.” She rested her head in her hands, then finally looked up at me.

“Have you seen his sad brown eyes? How can I not help him?” I asked.

“What are you going to do?” Caitlin asked as she twirled a strand of brown hair around her finger.

“I think I need to help him.” I met her stare.

“Are you sure that’s such a good idea?” she asked.

“I really don
’t think I have any other option. He doesn’t have anyone to help him. He’s all alone.” I moved a stack of fashion magazines to the other side of the counter.

Caitlin straightened the scarf around her neck. “How do you know that? Maybe he is just telling you that.”

I frowned. “Well, I suppose that’s possible, but I don’t know why he would do that.”

“Maybe he just wants to see you,” she offered with a crooked grin.

I shook my head. “I don’t think so. He could just come in and let me help him with his new style if that’s all he wanted.”

Caitlin picked up one of the magazines and started flipping the pages. “Okay, so what else did he say?”

“Well, he owns that old house on Abercorn, the big white one, but he says someone else is living there. For some reason he doesn’t want to tell me who turned him. I think that’s a little weird, don’t you?” I asked.

She shrugged. “I guess so. It depends on how he acts when he
’s talking to you.”

I sighed and said, “He just avoids the topic.”

Caitlin looked up from the magazine. “Well, you know some people don’t like to talk about it,” she said.

“Yeah, I don
’t think that’s the case this time. I think there’s something more to it,” I said.

“And I get the feeling you are going to find out,” Caitlin said.

I smiled. “Yeah, I think you’re right. I just have to know the details. The more mysterious he acts the more I want to know.”

She walked across the floor and touched a couple dresses I had hanging on the rack. After a couple seconds, she turned toward me.

“Since you never got a chance to meet Clark’s friend, I was wondering if you still wanted to go out with him. I mean, I know he’s not some mysterious man who owns a company, but I still think you’d like him.”

I wished there was a way I could escape the question, but with Caitlin staring right at me, I knew I had to answer.

“I’m not so sure that’s a good idea,” I said.

“What do you mean? What have you got to lose? Unless of course it’s because you’re really into this Max guy,” she said.

I waved off her comment. “Of course I’m not into Max.”

“Good, then I’ll have Clark’s friend come into the shop. You all will have a great time.” She wiggled her eyebrows.

***

T
oday I wore a silk teal wrap blouse by Marc Jacobs and a pair of gray slacks from Target. I’d finished the outfit with a pair of leopard print heels from Nine West. I’d had them so long that they were almost considered vintage. They were still in great shape though. I was at work waiting for Mona to show up yet again. She was supposed to try on a couple outfits and I was helping her plan an outfit for an upcoming gala she was attending. I was definitely going to ask her about the weird exchange she’d had with Max the day before. I hoped she would answer me this time. I glanced at the clock and realized she was thirty minutes late. Just as I picked up the phone to call her it rang. Her number was displayed on the screen.

“I
’m sorry I’m late, but can you meet me somewhere? We can go from there.” Her voice was sugary sweet.

“I guess,” I said.

She had never asked me to meet her before, but making the client happy was the most important thing so I knew I had to go. I jotted down the address. Once I set out for the place, I realized that directions weren’t necessary because I knew exactly where the place was.

I made my way through town as quickly as possible to the address.
Tall trees canopied over the city. Moss drooped down as if trying to grab me. Azaleas and magnolia trees decorated the backdrop. My heart thumped in my chest—yes, it still was beating in spite of being technically dead. Finally, I reached the large white mansion—the one that Max claimed was his.

What was the connection and how did Mona know that Max and I had been at this address yesterday? Had she followed us? There was no way she could avoid telling me what she knew about Max now. I would confront her with what I knew and I expected an answer. This was too strange.

I finally made it to the front gate of the mansion that Max claimed had been his before he had been turned. The black ornate iron gate was wide open this time. A black wrought-iron fence surrounded the house. Oddly, it seemed as if the house watched me. Maybe in reality it was someone in the house who was watching me.

After making my way up the driveway, I paused and looked around, but didn’t see Mona anywhere.
The typical city noise surrounded me, but there was no sound from the house.

I wondered if she was inside. There was only one way to find out, so I walked up the path toward the front porch and knocked on the door. No one answered, so I rapped on the wood again. Had I been dreaming?
Hadn’t she called and ask me to meet her there? I glanced at the address I’d written down again. Yes, it was the same place. What was going on? I knocked on the door again and waited. Was she playing some kind of game with me because I had talked with Max?

I turned around to leave and stopped in my tracks when I saw her standing behind me.

“I was just leaving. I didn’t think you were showing up,” I said.

Mona
stared at me for a moment and then finally said, “Of course I was showing up. I wouldn’t miss an appointment with you for anything. You’ve really helped my style so much and I don’t know how I can ever repay you.”

Something seemed off about her words. They didn
’t seem sincere, but maybe I was just thinking of her differently now that she’d brought me to Max’s home. I was suspicious to say the least. Mona walked around me and stood in front of the door.

“Why are you at this house?” I asked, gesturing over my shoulder at the house.

She quirked a brow and then said, “So you have a new client.”

I knew of course who she meant.

“Why are you at Max’s house?” I peeked over her shoulder and tried to see into the house.

A nervous smile
curved her lips and she waved off my comment. “He told you this was his house? You shouldn’t believe a word that he says. He’s crazy, didn’t you know that? You really shouldn’t have anything to do with him.”

“So this isn
’t his house?” I asked.

She frowned. “No, I
’m afraid not. He is dangerous. You should definitely stay away from him.”

“Why do you say he is crazy? Is it because he is claiming this is his house?” I asked.

“Well, that is part of the reason,” she said casually. “You know, the person who turned him is looking for him. That can be a dangerous situation and you should definitely watch your back.”

“He said the person who turned him owned the house.”

She offered a pitying smile. “Another lie, I guess,” she said.

I
stared at her for a moment. I didn’t need confrontation and maybe she was right. If they were looking for him, then it was dangerous. Was that why the men from the company had been following him? But they wouldn’t need to look for him because they knew exactly where to find him.

“Do you know who turned him?” I asked. “He said the person who turned him now lives at this house.”

She chuckled nervously. “Another one of his fanciful tales, I suppose.”

I
stared at her for a moment, but didn’t quite know how to respond.

“Just be careful
, okay?” She glanced at her watch.

“What do you know about Max? Why didn
’t you tell me yesterday that you knew him?” I asked.

“It was an awkward situation.” She flashed a look of pity. “I didn
’t want to embarrass anyone.”

“How did you know that he told me he owned this place?” I asked.

“He tells everyone that. I just assumed that he told you too.” She shook her head. “He owned the Dupree Company when he was turned, but I’m not sure he can handle that now. I guess he just can’t come to grips with the fact that things have changed. They can’t stay the same.”

I
studied her perfect face for a moment. “No, I suppose they can’t.”

No matter what she said, I had to get both sides of the story. I wouldn
’t take her word for it. After all, I didn’t know her well either.

She glanced at her watch again. “I
’m sorry. I just realized I have somewhere else I need to be. Can we reschedule?”

I nodded. “Yeah, sure, I guess. Just give me a call.”

With that, Mona marched down the steps and away from the house. It was just as well that she had to leave. I wanted to find Max anyway. I had to tell him what she had said, although he would probably just tell me the opposite. How would I know who to believe? I was torn and didn’t know what to do.

And furthermore, how would I find Max? It wasn
’t like I could just go up to someone and ask, “Hey, have you seen this good-looking vampire?” I couldn’t ask Mona because I knew she wouldn’t tell me. I was beginning not to like her. Why was she being so mean about this guy? What did he ever do to her other than claim that he owned the house? What did she care anyway? He could be batshit crazy and as long as he hadn’t done anything to her it shouldn’t matter. Unless of course he was harassing her, then that was a different story.

That was when I remembered that Max had filled out a form at my shop. There
had been a space for his address and I hoped that he’d written it down. Sure, I could have called him, but dropping in on him would be much better.

I hurried back to my place and immediately went to my desk. The form wasn
’t on top where I thought he’d left it. I shuffled through a few papers, but still couldn’t find it. I placed my hands on my hips and blew the hair out of my eyes. What would I do now? That was when I spotted the form on the floor. It must have fallen. I reached down and picked it up, holding my breath. Lucky for me, he had written an address down.

Instead of taking off right away, I answered a call and scheduled an appointment with a new client for the next day. Then I returned a couple calls. I wanted to get to the address, but a part of me was hesitant. A lot of doubts whirled around in my mind. Like if I was doing the right thing by getting involved. This strange man had popped into my life and turned my world upside down. Finally, I couldn
’t put it off any longer and I decided to lock up the shop and head out to the address. I was anxious to find out if he’d given me the correct address.

As I left the shop, I wondered about Dean and Jared and if they had caught up with Max. I was glad they hadn’t noticed that I had followed them. I would have to ask Max once again if he knew why they had followed him. He had to if he knew that they had been behind him. He had to know why. He was being too secretive. I should have taken that as a clue and just minded my own business. Sometimes I didn’t make the best decisions.

I made my way across town to a small brick house on the edge of
Abercorn Street. It had a small sidewalk out front with a path leading to the front door. There were no signs that anyone was home and the shades were drawn. Of course I was nervous and contemplated turning around and going home. But I’d already made it this far, I couldn’t turn back now. What if Max had already seen me standing in front of his place? Did he live there alone? What if he had a female roommate who was more than just a roommate? That would be awkward.

As I stood in front of the door, I thought I heard movement from the other side. My stomach flipped as I waited for Max to open the door. At least I hoped it was him. After a few more seconds though, he still hadn
’t answered. What was going on in there? Another noise sounded and I waited, but still no one answered the door. I eased over to a window, but I couldn’t see through the pulled shades. A tiny spark whispered in my mind that something was wrong, but I pushed it away. I stepped back over to the door and knocked again. This time I didn’t hear any movement though.

When I glanced over my shoulder, I caught movement and looked to see who was walking down the sidewalk toward the house. Mona was headed this way, but she hadn
’t seen me yet. I intended on keeping it that way too. I hurried over and hid behind a bush. I peeked out and watched as she walked up the path toward Max’s door. Yes, she was definitely coming to Max’s address. But why? I thought she didn’t like him? Was she here to confront him about his claims that the other house was his? I wasn’t sure that I trusted her. I wanted to know what she was up to.

When Mona reached the front door she knocked, then looked around. I hoped that she didn
’t notice me. She seemed to be looking in my direction though. The door opened and she walked inside. Max had answered the door for her, but not for me? What was going on here? This just kept getting weirder by the minute and now I was hiding outside in the shrubs like some kind of crazy stalker. What was I doing? I waited for a moment to see if she would come back out. How long would she be in there and what were they talking about?

I waited for another few minutes and when she didn
’t emerge from the house I decided it was in my best interest to leave. I would just have to come back another time. Sure, I could have knocked on the door again, but since no one had answered the first time, what made me think that anyone would answer this time? Maybe I had looked at the wrong form? Maybe this wasn’t the address for Max after all? I would have to go back and check. In the meantime, there had to be some way to find out more info about Max.

Since I was going past the library, I decided to stop inside and see if I could find any info about Max. Since he had owned the Dupree Company when he was turned, then there had to be some mention of him in the papers back then. I stepped inside and went right to work looking for the info. I was in luck and it didn
’t take long until I found an article about Max with his picture. He looked the same except for the clothing. All that the article talked about was that he owned the company, nothing more than that.

So I had found mention of Max, but it didn
’t really tell me anything that would help with my current problem. However, it did mention that he had lived in the mansion. That would be proof that he had owned it, right? There was another article that caught my attention. It mentioned how the vampires had started being able to go out into the sun. The date had been the exact time when Max had said he’d been turned. I’d have to ask him if he remembered not being able to go out into the sunlight.

Now I was stuck. What else could I look for? I wondered if I could find out anything about the men who had escorted us to the party
. What was their role in the company? I mean, did they have some kind of connection with the company or did they work for the man who had run the company in Max’s absence? Max hadn’t said what his role would be in the company now. He’d never said anything much about what was happening since he’d come back.

I looked for a little while longer, but I found nothing else. Of course that was extremely disappointing. But I couldn
’t say that I was surprised.

As I left the library, my phone rang. I paused and answered the call.

After I explained to Caitlin about what had happened, she said, “I’ll call you back in just a minute.”

I had no idea what she was up to this time. After a minute, my phone rang again.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

“I had to make a call. I think I know someone who might be able to give you more information about Max.” She rushed her words.

“Oh, yeah? Who is that?” I asked.

“It
’s a friend of a friend who has been around for a long time,” she said.

“That sounds promising,” I said.

“There’s this little bar in town. It’s kind of a Talborn Tavern. Have you heard of it?” she asked.

I snorted. “Yeah, I
’ve heard that you can’t go in there without getting punched in the face.”

“Well, that
’s where you can meet this guy,” she said, pretending that she hadn’t heard my last comment.

“You act as if I just didn
’t tell you how dangerous that place can be. I really don’t feel like being punched in the face today. Thanks for offering though,” I said. “I don’t think I’d look good with a black eye.”

She sighed, and then said
, “I know it’s not a great place, but he owns the bar and it would be fine to go there in the middle of the day, as long as you’re out of there before sunset.”

“That’s not funny,” I said.

“Would it help if I went with you?” she asked.

I
blew hair from my eyes and then said, “Yes, that would help a little, I guess.”

“Okay then. Where are you?” I gave her my location and she said, “Wait right there and I
’ll be over in a second.”

I clicked off and sat on a bench in front of the library.
While I waited I watched the people walk by. The trolley rolled by and a woman on her cell phone almost ran into a garbage can. The sun beat down on me and I wished I had an umbrella.I could have sworn I saw Mona down the street, but when I looked again I didn’t see anyone who resembled her. It must have been my eyes playing tricks on me. After a few minutes, Caitlin showed up and we took off for the tavern. It was a few blocks away.

We reached the tavern and I had to say that it didn
’t look as bad as I’d thought. The place was inside an old brick building. Surprisingly, there were pots of flowers by the front door and they weren’t even completely dead. I’d passed by before, but I usually hadn’t looked over for fear that someone would want to fight me. Like I said, I tried to avoid drama as much as possible. I wasn’t afraid to stand up for myself, but why mess up my hair and nails when I didn’t have to?

“So this guy is a vampire who
’s been around the block a time or two, is that what you're telling me?” I asked.

Caitlin nodded. “Yeah, you could say that. I figure if anyone knows he
will.”

We sat at the bar and glanced around.
Wood tables with matching chairs still staked on top dotted the room. Even the bar’s counter was spotless. Pictures of the city over the years decorated the walls. There was no music which made every little noise amplified. Not another living or un-living soul was in the place as far as I could see. I tapped my fingers against the counter nervously.

Caitlin grabbed my hand. “You’re making me nervous.”

“Oh,
I’m
making you nervous, but this darkened cave where people are tortured doesn’t affect you?”

She shrugged. “Not so much, no.”

After a few minutes, the vampire in charge showed up. He had blond hair cut in a spiky style. His muscles were stuffed into a tiny white T-shirt and a pair of jeans covered his lower half.

“Hadley, this is Rick Rhodes. Rick, this is Hadley Wilds.” Caitlin gestured toward me.

“What can I do for you, ladies? Are you here for a drink already?” he asked.

“Do you know Max Dupree?” Caitlin asked, not wasting time getting to the point.

“Yeah, I’ve heard of the guy.” He turned his back on us as he placed a bottle of liquor on the shelf.

“What can you tell us about him?” Caitlin asked.

“I guess he just came back. I don’t know a lot about him, but I do think the vampire hunters may be after him.” He stacked a few glasses behind the bar.

My eyes widened
. That didn’t sound good at all.

“Who the heck are vampire hunters?” I asked.

Why hadn’t I been warned about these hunters before? I had been living in my own little world, unaware of the real vampire dangers out there.

He shrugged
. “I don’t know who they are, just that they exist.”

That didn’t even make sense.

“Why would they follow him? Does it have something to do with his house?” I asked.

He s
tudied me for a moment, then said, “Yeah, I guess so. How the heck am I supposed to know?”

“Well, you’re the one who suggested these hunters are after him. There has to be a reason why you said that,” I said.

He narrowed his eyes and stared at me. “They came in here asking about him.”

I leaned in closer. “Who are they? Did you get the
ir names?”

He frowned. “I just told you that I don’t know who they are.”

“So these vampire hunters stalk people?” I asked.

“Yeah, they go after vampires they have unfinished business with
.” He said this casually as if it was no big deal.

My eyes widened
. Unfinished business? That didn’t sound good, but with all that I’d seen so far, it kind of made sense. I wondered how Mona and the house fit into this scenario. Did Max know these so-called vampire hunters wanted him? I bet he did and I bet he knew why these vampire hunters were after him. He just didn’t want to tell me. How bad could it be? And what would they do to him? That was something I wasn’t sure I wanted to know. How would I find these vampire hunters? There were too many unanswered questions.

“So you don’t know who the vampire hunters are and what they want with him?” I asked again
, hoping to get a different answer. He had to have heard something around town about what was going on.

Rick wiped down the counter and shook his head.

“No, I told you that I don’t know who they are or what they want. They are not from around here, so I don’t know anything about them and to be honest, I don’t care to know either.” His voice grew louder.

Rick had asked if we were there for a drink and that didn’t sound like such a bad idea now. Too bad I was watching calories. He stared at us, probably wondering how much longer we would be around to annoy him.

“You said they usually are after a vampire because of unfinished business, so what kind of business is that? How can a house be unfinished business?” I asked.

He shrugged. “Whatever the vampire was doing wrong when they were turned.”

“You mean Max was doing something wrong when he was turned?” I asked.

“If they are following him, then I would say yes, he was into some bad things. But like I said, I don
’t know what that was,” he said.

I was disappointed that Rick hadn
’t given us more information. But I guessed this was better than nothing. At least I had an idea of who these men might be.

“Thanks for the help,” Caitlin said as we stood and walked toward the door.

“Wait, there was one thing…” Rick called out.

We spun around.

“I heard Max had some dealings with a witch. Some woman was in here and talked with the hunters. But that’s all I know, I swear.” He held his hands up.

“Do you know the woman?” Caitlin asked.

He fixed a stare on her. “No, I don’t know her and that’s the truth.”

“Thanks for the info,” Caitlin said as she grabbed my arm.

“No problem. Come back anytime, ladies,” he said with a wink.

Yeah, I doubted he’d see me back in there any time soon. Caitlin and I stepped out into the sunlight. My skin instantly tingled, a sensation that I hadn’t been used to, but that was becoming more and more common lately.

“Well, that wasn’t as much help as I’d hoped for,” I said as we stepped outside onto the sidewalk.

Caitlin released a deep breath and blew the bangs out of her eyes. “I thought for sure he would have more info for us.”

I shrugged. “Well, it was better than nothing. It’s a start at least.”

Maybe I could find out more about the vampire hunters and why they wanted Max. Maybe I was being naïve, but maybe it wasn
’t something bad that he’d done.