B008IFNJZM EBOK (47 page)

             
“Who is Carl?”

             
“He was hired by my dad to be his driver, but since the loss of the staff, he is now both driver and head butler at the mansion.”

             
“What did he say?”

             
“He was in a bar near Corydon a day ago and heard some old man saying how he felt like a twenty year old since his accident.”

             
“What kind of accident?”

             
“He didn’t say but his neck was bandaged.  He did say he was illegally hunting at the Hoosier Natural forest.  If it hadn’t of been for Elizabeth, Carl would have never struck up a conversation with this guy.  At any rate, he drove him back to his trailer after the bar closed.  Carl was paid well for his services that evening and now spends most of his time helping our investigation.”

             
“Does Carl know about us and werewolves?”

             
“No, Elizabeth told him that there might be a man out there with a possible case of rabies.  So he wasn’t looking for werewolves.”

             
“Is all our stuff at the mansion?”

             
“Yes.  We have separate rooms for both of you and your caskets are there.”

             
“Wasn’t this Carl guy curious about all the women’s clothing and the caskets?”

             
“No, Elizabeth had sent him on an errand and locked those bedrooms after the movers put your stuff away.”

             
“So who else besides Elizabeth know about us and our mission?”

             
“Only the veterinarian, Doctor Deckard senior and Uncle Joe…  I don’t think our uncle believes us.  He is one of those you show me and then I will believe kind of people.”

             
“Why did your sister tell him if you both thought he wasn’t going to believe the story?”

             
“We had to.  Nathan has faxed drawings in to make us some fantastic equipment.  Uncle Joe runs the company and had to approve the funds needed.  I think he told his people that it was a special order for a movie company making a movie about werewolf hunting.  We told him to draw the funds out of our account to cover any company money used and we did reimburse him for the corporate jet expenditures for our Australian expedition.”

             
“Sounds like this uncle is going to be important to the hunt.”

             
“Yes he is.  We have financial resources at our disposal but he has the people with the talent to make what we need.”

             
Iolana leaned forward on the seat.

             
“Then let’s stop up on the way.”

             
Chelsea smiled from the back seat.

             
“Yeah, the two of us will put on a little show for your uncle.  I guarantee you that when we finish, he won’t have any more doubts.”

             
Tom smiled and looked over at Crosley.

             
“It is on the way.”

***

             
It was just after eleven when the rental car pulled up in front of the mansion home of Uncle Joe.  The lights were still on.  The maid answered the door and looked unhappy to see them.  Her shift ended at eleven-thirty and she was not looking forward to serving anyone.  Her work for the day was done and the kitchen in her mind was cleaned and closed.  She led them to his study.  Joe sat with his feet up on the desk reading with a flat screen on a news channel.  He smiled and came over and shook Tom’s hand.

             
“How are you feeling?”

             
“Good.”

             
“Then your sister is right, you are cured from whatever infection you had?”

             
“Yes uncle I am fine.”

             
“This is my friend Crosley from Australia and his fiancée Chelsea.”

             
Tom’s uncle warmly greeted the pair.

             
“And this is Iolana.  And if she will have me, I am going to marry her.”

             
Chelsea smiled at the shocked look on Iolana’s face to Tom’s words.  It was really happening!  She thought once again about that psychic.  She would definitely have to meet that woman!

             
Uncle Joe looked at Iolana and hugged her.

             
“It’s about time he settled down.  Congratulations to you both.”

             
Tom led his uncle back to his chair.

             
“You know the story we told you about me being infected and becoming a werewolf?’

             
“Yes, but you could just as well told me the truth about this woman.  I wouldn’t have objected to you finding romance and happiness this close to your father’s death.”

             
“But uncle the werewolf story was true and we did enlist the help of vampires to find my cure.  These two women are two of the vampires that helped us.”

             
The uncle smiled and looked at the women as they looked at each other.  With Uncle Joe smiling and looking on, both changed into bats and their clothes fell to the floor.  That took the smile off of Uncle Joe’s face and it became pale.  He stood up and could not comprehend what he was seeing.  The girls flew down below his desktop and changed back.  They had just put their panties on as Joe sat back down.  The maid looked into the study through the partially cracked door and saw the two women putting their panties back on while squatting down in front of the cherry wood desk.  She turned and began to walk back to the kitchen talking to herself.

             
“I am not staying over to clean up after their wild sex orgy!  I am going to leave whatever mess they make for Christina in the morning!  My shift is officially over!”

             
By the time the two couples left, Uncle Joe was convinced and for the first time, really believed and accepted the entire story.  Any designs Nathan sent would be worked up immediately.

             
The rental car pulled up in front of the late Mr. Hart’s home.  It was as predicted, close to midnight.  Elizabeth and Carl were at the door waiting for them.  Carl was introduced to the women and Crosley and then they were shown their rooms.  Elizabeth handed each a key.  Iolana and Chelsea went in to their rooms and came right back out.

             
Where are our clothes?”

             
Elizabeth pointed to the bedrooms across the hall.

             
“I had the men hang all the clothes in these three bedrooms.  I couldn’t tell which clothes belong to whom.  I figured you could each go through those closets and bring your portion back to your room.”

             
That made sense to the girls.  They had a ton of clothes and everything from night gowns to formal dresses.

             
“If you can, make two piles on the floor of everything you want cleaned or laundered.  I will have our new maid take care of them in the morning.  If you start that now, we can leave as soon as you are ready.”

             
“Where are we going?”

             
“We need to follow Carl in the Limo to Corydon Kentucky and check out this man he met at the bar and find out if he has been turned.”

             
Iolana looked at Chelsea.

             
“Let’s do that first.  If we have time when we get back, we will start in on the clothes.”

             
Elizabeth smiled.

             
“Alright, I’ll have Carl bring the limo up.”

             
Tom drove the rental car with Chelsea and Crosley in back.  Tom felt better about him driving rather than Crosley.  Crosley had one of the late Mr. Hart’s pistols.  He checked it over as they followed the limo.  In the limo Elizabeth and Iolana sat in back and Carl drove.

             
“Doctor Hart, I think your brother just asked me to marry him.”

             
She placed her hand on Iolana’s knee.  It was warm.  She had expected it to be colder.  She looked up at Iolana.

             
“My brother is a gentle man.  I am sure he will make you happy.”

             
“I will try hard to make him a good wife.”

             
“I am sure you will both be happy and call me Elizabeth or Liz.  We are all going to be family.”

             
Elizabeth glanced down at Iolana’s day roll.  She wondered if the cure she had heard about would really work.  She was trying to prepare herself mentally for the possibility that either way, her brother was for the first time in his life, happy.  She would not say or do anything to upset that.  She knew her brother was a good judge of character.

***

             
It was one in the morning when the limo’s lights shined on the old trailer.  It was a rundown place with cinder blocks and tires in the lawn and the hood of the rusted pickup truck was open near a small garage that leaned against the silver trailer.  The only thing that looked new were the trailer skirts that covered the area from the base of the trailer up to its frame.  Everyone came out of the vehicles and Carl saw the two women change into bats and begin flying around the area on their ‘recon’ mission.

             
“They really are vampires.”

             
Elizabeth leaned over.

             
“Yes and that is our secret.”

             
“Don’t worry.  No one would believe this anyhow!”

             
Crosley and Tom stood by the doors holding the girl’s clothes as they circled the area.  The breeze caused the screen door on the trailer to swing and bounce off the frame.  There were no lights on and the girls returned and knelt down to put their clothes back on behind the open car doors.
             

             
“There is nothing in the area, not even a dog or a cat.”

             
Crosley led the group up to the door and knocked on it.  The door swung open.  Carl yelled out the man’s name.

             
“Mr. Mackay, it’s me Carl from the other night?”

             
There was no answer.  The trailer had a foul odor as Carl flipped on the lights and continued to call the old man’s name.  There was no answer.  Crosley had the pistol ready to back up the driver if needed.  Carl walked to the end of the short home and back.

             
“Nothing...  He isn’t here.”

             
“Maybe he is still at the pub.”

             
“Maybe…”

             
Tom looked around and saw nothing that might indicate that the senior citizen had been changing into a werewolf.  There were old boxes of rotting food in the kitchen area and the men walked back outside.

             
Tom looked at the girls and his sister.

             
“He doesn’t seem to be here and there is nothing to indicate that he is transforming into a werewolf.”

             
Carl now realized for the first time, that this wasn’t a rabies investigation but after what he just saw the women do, he immediately believed in werewolves.

             
The group started back to the vehicles and Carl suggested that they cruise the bars and see if they could locate the elder.  Just then the cell phone Chelsea had rang.  She picked it up and the voice on the other end was a familiar one.

             
“He is home.  Go back to the trailer.  He is one of the creatures you are searching for.”

             
The phone went dead.

             
Crosley looked at Chelsea.

             
“Who was that?”

             
“The woman who is batting a thousand...”

             
“What did she say?”

             
“She said he is here and one of them.”

             
Tom was shocked.

             
“That’s impossible!  We were just in there and that trailer is so small, he couldn’t have been hiding.”

             
Crosley pulled out the pistol and turned.