Vicki looked up to find him watching her, his expression impassive.

She sat back on her heels while her mind tried to make sense of what she was seeing.

She tried to tell herself it was nothing out of the ordinary, that some people just healed faster than others. But cuts as deep as the one in his forearm didn't heal in a matter of minutes.

She clasped her hands in her lap, willing them to stop trembling. "What?" she asked in a voice that sounded nothing like her own. "What are you?"

Chapter 17

"I'm a vampire hunter."

Bobbie Sue stared at Tom Duncan, then rolled her eyes. "If you don't want to tell me what you do for a living, that's fine," she said coolly. "You don't have to make up some outrageous lie."

"It's not a lie," Duncan said.

"But there's no such thing as vampires," Bobbie Sue said. "Everyone knows that."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course. They're just make believe, like Frankenstein's monster and werewolves and aliens from outer space."

Duncan lifted his wineglass and took a long drink, wondering if he had just ruined his chances of seeing Bobbie Sue again. They were sitting at a cozy table in a dark corner of the Wayside Grill, getting to know each other over dinner. Bobbie Sue had told him about her life. She was twenty-two, the youngest of three children. She had been born and raised in Pear Blossom Creek. After graduation, she had moved to Nashville, where she had fallen in love with a Marine. When he was killed in a plane crash, she had returned home. She worked at Ozzie's Diner at night and went to beauty school during the day.

She stared at him over the rim of her glass. "Aren't they? Just make believe?"

"I wish they were."

Her eyes widened. "Is that why you're here? You're looking for a vampire?"

He nodded.

"I don't believe you."

Putting his glass aside, he leaned across the table. "I'm telling you the truth."

"No. No, there's no such thing."

He reached for her hand when he saw the panic rising in her eyes. If she couldn't handle the truth, he would only tell her a part of it, for now.

"Bobbie Sue, listen, I'm after the man who killed those women and drained them of blood. He thinks he's a vampire." His hand tightened on hers. "You're not in any danger.

He only kills women with red hair— "

Her eyes widened in alarm. "Vicki has red hair."

"I've warned her to be on the lookout for a man with yellow eyes— "

"Yellow eyes! She saw him. At the Blue Horse!"

"I know. She told me." He regarded her thoughtfully. "Are you all right? You're not gonna run screaming into the night, are you?"

"No, silly."

"Do you still feel like a movie?"

"Are you sure Vicki's all right? Shouldn't you be watching her house or something?"

"I've been keeping an eye on her."

"But not tonight." She glanced out the window at the rain. If there really were vampires, this looked like the kind of night when they would be out. "I think we should go and check on her."

"All right."

Duncan finished his wine and paid the check. Hand in hand, they dashed across the parking lot to his car. He unlocked the door and helped her in, slid behind the wheel, and thrust the key into the ignition.

Bobbie Sue's nervousness transmitted itself to him and he gunned the engine. He had no business being out on a date when Dimitri Falco was on the loose and there were three redheaded women in town, anyone of whom could be Falco's next victim. Still, they all seemed like smart women. He had warned them there was a serial killer on the loose, admonished them to keep their doors and windows locked, not to go out alone after dark, not to invite any strangers, however charming they might be, into their homes. There hadn't been any killings in the last few days and Tom couldn't help hoping that the bastard had left town.

They drove straight to the diner. Duncan found a parking place by the front door and hurried into the diner with Bobbie Sue on his heels.

"She's not here!" Bobbie Sue exclaimed.

Duncan grunted softly. "Maybe she called in sick."

"I'll ask Gus."

When questioned, Gus shook his head. "I haven't heard from her. I called a few minutes ago, but she didn't answer the phone. I was about to call Ned and ask him and Arnie to go out to her place and look around."

"My date and I will go," Bobbie Sue said.

"Call me when you get there and let me know what's going on. It isn't like her not to call if she isn't coming in."

With a nod, Bobbie Sue left the kitchen and went back into the diner.

"What did you find out?" Duncan asked.

"Let's do it."

"She must be home," Bobbie Sue said when they pulled into Vicki's driveway a few minutes later. "Her car's here and the lights are on."

Duncan parked his car beside Vicki's and turned off the ignition and the lights. Rounding the car, he opened Bobbie Sue's door, and they ran up the stairs to the porch.

Duncan rang the doorbell once, twice.

He saw Vicki peering through the window beside the door, then the door swung open and she was standing there.

"Hey," he said. "Are you all right?"

"Yes, why?"

"Gus was worried about you," Bobbie Sue said. "You didn't call in."

"Oh. I guess I forgot."

Bobbie Sue tilted her head to one side. "You forgot?"

Vicki glanced over her shoulder, then looked back at Bobbie Sue. "I'll call Gus. Is there anything else?"

"Vicki, is something wrong?"

"Wrong? No, of course not. Why do you ask?"

"You're just acting kind of, you know, weird."

"Is there anything we can do?" Duncan asked.

"I don't think so. I— "

"I need to use the restroom," Bobbie Sue said, and before Vicki could stop her, she swept into the house. "Oh," she said, "I didn't know you had company."

Duncan looked at Vicki, wondering if he and Bobbie Sue had interrupted something best left uninterrupted. "Who's here?"

"Antonio stopped by," Vicki replied, her voice tight.

"And he's bleeding," Bobbie Sue said, her voice shrill. "What happened?"

Duncan moved past Vicki, admonishing her to close and lock the door. Going into the living room, he stood in front of the sofa, his gaze narrowing as he took in Battista's appearance.

Duncan swore under his breath, his hand reaching up to curl around the heavy gold cross at his throat.

"I should have known," he said, his voice hard. "You're one of them."

"One of what?" Bobbie Sue asked.

"He's a dirty, no-good, blood-sucking vampire."

Bobbie Sue looked at Duncan and shook her head. "You said there was no such thing."

"I lied."

"So he's really a… a… " She uttered a wordless cry, then her eyes rolled back in her head and she fainted.

Duncan caught her before she hit the floor, but his eyes remained locked on Antonio's.

"I knew you looked familiar."

Antonio lifted one brow but said nothing.

Duncan 's eyes narrowed. "It is you, isn't it?"

Vicki stared at Antonio in stunned disbelief. "Tell me it isn't true."

"I was going to tell you," he said, rising. "It is one of the reasons I came here tonight."

She covered her mouth with her fingertips, remembering the passionate kisses they had shared, horrified beyond words to think that she had kissed a man who wasn't even a man. A man who wasn't even alive, who drank blood to survive! Feeling suddenly light-headed, she thought that she, too, might faint. She sank down on the sofa, too stunned to speak, too numb to think.

Duncan stared at Battista over Bobbie Sue's inert form, then swore a vile oath. Here he was, in the same room with a vampire, and all his gear was outside in the trunk of his car. Of course, even if it were close at hand he couldn't reach it, not with his arms full of soft feminine flesh.

Battista looked at Victoria. "Forgive me," he murmured, and then, to her astonishment, he vanished from her sight.

Muttering a curse, Duncan sat down on one of the chairs and cradled Bobbie Sue to his chest. "Dammit, I should have recognized him sooner."

Vicki crossed her arms over her breasts. This couldn't be real. She had to be dreaming again. "Where did you meet Antonio?"

"We didn't 'meet,' exactly. I was on my way back to my hotel one night, minding my own business, when I decided to take a shortcut through a vacant lot. He was there, bent over some poor kid. I pulled my.38 from my coat pocket and held it down at my side. I don't know why. I knew the gun wouldn't save me if he decided to attack. Something passed between us that night. I'm not sure what it was. I stood there, watching, while he finished drinking that kid's blood. When he was through, he whispered something to the boy and the boy walked away, looking none the worse for wear. Battista stared at me for what seemed like an eternity. I've no doubt he could have killed me that night.

Instead, he bowed in my direction and then he vanished."

When he finished speaking, the silence in the room was complete save for the sound of the raindrops dripping from the eaves.

Vicki stared at the spot where Battista had stood only moments before. Duncan had told her that vampires were real, and she had believed him. She had read about the bodies being drained of blood. She had seen the creature with the yellow eyes. And still, in some deep corner of her mind, she had not truly believed such creatures existed.

She knew now why she had never seen Antonio during the day.

She knew now why she had never seen him eat or drink anything.