“Aw, that’s a real shame,” said Mars. “I never expected it of him.”
The streetlight shone brightly on a vanity license plate that left no doubt about the identity of the owner—HRTWIN. Everyone who lived on our block and jostled for parking spots knew Frank Hart’s license plate based on his name and store—Hart Wine. No wonder the person in Maggie’s house hid from me.
“Frank’s wife is lovely. What would possess him to leave her for Maggie, who appears to be a mess, and only lost her boyfriend yesterday?” I gasped as the obvious dawned on me. “You don’t think he murdered Patrick to get him out of the way?”
“Wouldn’t be the first time that had happened.”
“Would they be foolish enough to spend the night together so soon after Patrick’s death?”
“People do a lot of stupid things for love.”
I squinted at him, getting the feeling he wasn’t just talking about Frank and Maggie. Whatever he meant, it would have to wait. Finding Jen came first. “Mars, I’m worried. Three people saw Blake in our neighborhood the night Patrick was murdered. I think we have to call the cops.”
He turned and grasped my shoulders. “Not yet. Please, Soph. Once we start that ball rolling, we won’t be able to stop it, and it could have lifelong repercussions for Vegas.”
Repercussions worse than death?
“Let’s give it one more try,” he said. “Where would you go if you were a kid out on the town in the middle of the night?”
“The waterfront? The park? Market Square?”
If his expression was any indication, Mars was as concerned as I was. “We’ll start with the park.”
I dialed my home number while we walked, in the hope that Jen had returned. Nina reported that she hadn’t returned or called. At the park, the moon shimmered on the Potomac River, but we were the only people present. Under other circumstances, I’d have thought it romantic, but the pressure of finding Jen weighed on me. I faced Mars. “So much for the park.”
In one swift move, he wrapped his arms around me and kissed me with a fervor that made me melt. I should have pushed him away, should have protested, should have jumped aside. Instead, I lingered in the warmth of his embrace, excited by the unexpected, yet comfortable with the familiarity of his scent and body.
He released me, his fingers sliding down to caress mine. I had no idea what to do or say. This was the last thing in the world that I’d expected.
Correction. My reaction was the last thing I’d expected.
I thought I was content in my relationship with Wolf. I thought I was officially over Mars, and that we had settled into an easy friendship. Yet, now, under enormous pressure, when I should have been thinking about Jen, I yearned for more. How could this be happening? Maybe this was how people reacted in times of extreme stress—they sought comfort wherever they could find it.
Despite my consternation, Mars looked down at me, smiling like the happiest man in Virginia. “I could have lost you forever.” He ruffled the fur on Daisy’s neck. “I thank my lucky stars that Daisy protected you.”
Wordlessly, we turned and walked toward King Street. Mars still held one of my hands. Should I gently untwine my fingers? Should I yank my hand away? No, I would have done that instinctively; instead, I’d held on. What was wrong with me?
“We’re in luck,” whispered Mars. “There are kids hanging out near the fountains. Act casual. Maybe we can get close and see if Jen and Vegas are there.”
Act casual?
When my heart was pounding so hard I thought everyone could hear it, and I was worried about becoming the other woman for my ex-husband?
Focus on Jen.
That was the solution. Nothing else was important right now. I would have to sort out my feelings later.
Mars wrapped his arm around my waist, and there was little I could do except loop my arm around him. We paraded by the kids, who ignored us. Neither Jen nor Vegas was among them. Their conversation slowed me considerably, though, because I wanted to listen in when I realized they were talking about the haunted house.
“That vampire bedroom is so cool. You think my mother would let me sleep in a coffin?” The boy laughed under the streetlights, and I could see vampire fangs in his mouth. “She’d freak!”
“Eww.” A girl shifted away from him. “That would creep me out.”
A second boy snickered. “If you’re so scared of vampires, what are you doing out at night when they roam around looking for necks to bite?”
She clutched her throat with both hands. “I’m wearing a bulky turtleneck and garlic, and I borrowed my sister’s cross necklace. It’s sterling silver. I figure that ought to cover it.”
“You have to come with us tomorrow night.”
A girl responded. “As long as I don’t have to sleep there. I’m not as brave, or as stupid, as those girls. Why would you spend the night in a vampire’s bedroom when everyone knows two vampires are on the loose?”
Two vampires?
I felt the tension in Mars’s arm. “The haunted house,” he whispered.
We turned as a unit and his arm fell away when we raced in the direction of Bubble and Trouble. I’d had no idea it would prove to be such a fitting name.
Mars ran with Daisy on a regular basis, but it didn’t take long for me to get winded. He slowed to a walk, clearly for my benefit, but it annoyed me. Ex-husbands weren’t supposed to be so considerate.
A gaggle of kids clustered on the sidewalk outside Bubble and Trouble. Some sat cross-legged, and a couple of them smoked cigarettes. The house looked dark and quiet when we approached it. No lights shone in the windows.
“What are you doing here?” I asked the kids, hoping I would see Jen or Vegas among them.
“We’re waiting for the vampires,” said a gangly boy.
“They have to come home before dawn,” offered a girl with pumpkin orange streaks in her hair.
“Go home.” I said it in what I hoped was a firm, I’m-in-charge voice. “No vampires are coming.”
“How do you know?” asked the boy.
“Because there are no such things as vampires. Now scoot!”
They took their sweet time leaving and certainly grumbled about it. I could hardly wait to find out if Jen and Vegas were inside. Had the older kids outside frightened them? Mars was about to pound on the door. I grabbed his wrist to stop him. “Wait a second. If we knock on the door, they can run out through the gate in the backyard. For that matter, they could just hang out and pretend they’re not inside. They’ll fear it’s these kids trying to get in.”
“Good thinking. I’ll jog around and head them off the back way. Give me a couple minutes to get back there.” He handed me the leash and scanned the street. “If anyone appears, just shout, and I’ll come running back. I don’t like leaving you alone.”
Mars sped along the deserted sidewalk and disappeared around the corner.
I couldn’t say if it was the dead leaves rustling or the bare branches silhouetted against the night sky, but a chilling shiver rattled through me. I hoped Jen was inside, safe and sound. What could have possessed her to run around in the middle of the night?
I figured Mars had made it to the backyard, and, saying a little prayer, I pounded on the front door. No one answered. For absolutely no good reason, I tried the door handle. It was locked. Why hadn’t I brought the key? I thought I heard scuffling. “Jen?” I called.
The door handle shifted. I clutched my phone in my hand, ready to dial for help yet mindful that calling the police could result in dire consequences for Vegas.
Mars swung the door open from inside.
“How did you get in?”
He reached into his pocket and pulled a credit card out of his wallet. “I resorted to old tricks. Ray needs to put a better lock on that back door.” He switched on the foyer light. “Vegas?”
His call shook through the house. I reminded myself that it wasn’t haunted, nor was there any such thing as a vampire. So why was I nervous?
Gathering courage, I tried to laugh at myself and started up the stairs. Something swept over my head—a blast of air—and I screamed.
“What was that?” asked Mars.
“You felt it, too?” At least I hadn’t lost my mind. To make matters worse, the automated ghost swung in our direction.
Daisy didn’t care, though, and bounded past me. Her nose to the floor, she shot to the door leading to the vampire’s bedroom.
Mars tried the doorknob, but it was locked. Screams rose inside.
I pounded on the door. “Jen? Vegas? Are you in there?” Mars sounded as afraid as me when he barked, “Open this door right now!”
A timid voice came from inside. “Aunt Sophie?”
She was alive!
“Open the door, Jen!”
Mars and I could hear muddled whispering on the other side of the door. Half of me wanted to knock the door down and hug her, while the other half wanted to give Jen the worst scolding she’d ever had.
“Prove it’s you,” said Jen.
Prove?
I looked to Mars. “Daisy is here with us. Open up!”
“Ask Sophie something to which only she would know the answer, Jen,” said Mars.
More whispering ensued. Jen’s tender voice finally asked, “What are the names of my cats?”
“Your dad is George, your mom is Laci, your nana is Inga, and your Ragdoll cats are Jasper and Alice.”
The lock clanked, the door opened, and Jen hurled herself at me with the velocity of a tornado, thus dispelling any lingering intention to chew her out. Vegas launched at Mars in much the same way, leaving Jesse and Blake looking very uncomfortable.
Each of them wore a chain of garlic. “Is everyone okay?” I asked. Jen clung to me like she would never let go. I held her away just enough to see her cute little face. “Are you hurt?”
“No. But, Aunt Sophie, this house really is haunted.”
Mars winced and looked up at the ceiling.
“Oh, Jen.” My voice clearly reflected my disbelief, because the other three all started talking at once.
Mars whistled to get their attention. “Do you boys have your cell phones with you?”
Jesse looked a little bit sheepish when he said, “We turned them off so the vampires wouldn’t hear them if they rang.”
“Call your parents and tell them to pick you up at Sophie’s house in about ten minutes. Now—down the stairs!” He jerked a thumb over his shoulder.
The kids obeyed, and I could hear Jesse trying to explain to his mom why he was calling her in the middle of the night. I wasn’t sure Blake’s mom would understand. She had enough trouble driving when she
wasn’t
drugged. I caught up to Blake in the foyer. “I think you should call your dad, not Maggie.” Blake cringed a little when I said that, and I had a feeling I knew which of his parents he couldn’t manipulate.
I started for the kitchen to lock up when something crashed upstairs. I rushed back to the foyer. A quick head count verified that everyone was accounted for. Daisy galloped up the stairs, and Mars took them two at a time with the boys on his heels. Before they reached the landing on the second floor, footsteps slammed down the back stairs.
It didn’t help that the girls screamed like banshees and grabbed hold of me. I lunged from their grasp and shot to the kitchen, just in time to see a dark figure fleeing through the mock graveyard and out the gate.
SIXTEEN
Dear Sophie,
I’m having a few friends over for a Halloween dinner, but I’m stumped about a centerpiece. I don’t want anything too gross, like a tombstone or a coffin, and pumpkins just seem so juvenile. What can I do that’s creepy but elegant?
—Saucy Sorceress in Little Hell, Virginia
Dear Saucy Sorceress,
Haunt secondhand shops in search of one or two old candelabra. Even ugly or chipped ones will do. Spray paint them black and add candles. For an extra touch of bling, wrap them with crystal ice garlands or glue crystals on them. They’ll be an unexpected touch of gloomy glamour on a table or a sideboard.
—Sophie
Mars, Daisy, and the boys charged down the back stairs and met us in the kitchen.
Vegas screamed, “It was him. It was Viktor. He was here the whole time!”
Jesse looked at me earnestly. “Sunrise is at seven twenty-six. He’ll be back by then to get into the coffin. We should bring a wooden stake and a sledgehammer.”
I didn’t know whether to be horrified or to laugh. “Everyone listen to me.” I tried my best to sound rational, even though I’d been through some extremely troubling hours, and I still quivered from the knowledge that someone had been in the house with us. “Vampires do not exist. That was an ordinary person, just like you and me. There will be no stakes or sledgehammers.” On second thought, I added, “Or silver bullets. Mars, if you’ll lock the back door, I think we should make our way home.” I held a hand out to Jen. “I presume you have the key?”
I admit I was pleased to see remorse in her eyes when she handed it to me.
Mars returned and we doused the lights. When I secured the front door, I overheard Vegas mutter to Blake, “Stay close, okay? I can’t believe she’s going to make us walk home in the dark when she knows there’s a vampire on the loose.”
How was I ever going to convince them?
We marched silently to my house, Mars, Daisy, and me bringing up the rear so we would see if one of our charges strayed away. Mars glanced at me. “What a night.”
Dash Bennett waited by his car when we arrived. He leaned against the red SUV, his arms folded over his chest. Even bed head and a grumpy expression didn’t diminish his good looks. “I’m so sorry about this.”
Nina opened the front door for us, and I invited Dash into the house. Behind his back, Nina raised her eyebrows and mouthed “Wow,” which I interpreted as admiration for Dash.
Mars struck a fire in the kitchen fireplace as though he still lived there, and I put on hot chocolate, in the hope that the warm milk would help us all relax and get a little sleep. We needed to have a showdown with the kids first, though, which I dreaded.