Dark of kNight (11 page)

“Yes!” I heard him shout. “Just now. No. He always has his radar gun on and this time he did not. I did not see anyone in the car. Yes, we will wait.”

Pulling my cell phone out, I called Thomas. Daniel opened the passenger door and climbed into my car. When I had Thomas on the phone, I handed it over to him.

“You know the policeman that usually has the radar on down on East Fifty-four? Well, I just passed him doing ninety. His radar was not on. I turned around to see if he was okay. ” He paused and looked to me. The horrified expression on Daniel’s face terrified me.

“I found him behind the car. He has been attacked.” He paused. “No, he is dead. His body is, well, torn apart.”

I gasped. My breath came in quick spurts. Closing my eyes, I inhaled slowly. “The police are on their way. Okay, we will be here. She is fine.” He slapped the phone together and handed it back to me. “I am truly sorry you have to be here for this.” His face was grim.

“He was
attacked
?” The words seemed to come out in a breath.

“Daniel? What is going on? Was it a… .”

He nodded. “This is not good.”

“What happened?”

“Apparently, it must have pulled him through the driver’s side window. There is glass inside the car. It dragged his body behind the car and killed him.” His eyes stared forward through the windshield.

The tone in Daniel’s voice told me there wasn’t any need to take a look at the body.
Then there was the reality check. A werewolf had attacked a police officer sometime last night. It didn’t take long for my thoughts to drift back to Charlotte’s words about strange animals. My next thought abruptly ended when three police cars pulled up behind us.

The ambulance followed close behind and then pulled onto the opposite side of the road.

A couple of minutes later, the police began their investigation with Daniel and me. They questioned each of us separately. Not long after the questioning began, Thomas showed up in his black Mercedes. Another officer greeted him promptly, passing a few words back and forth. Thomas climbed out the car. The officer who questioned me looked up to see Thomas and the other officer while they walked toward the cruiser.

“Karl, this is Thomas Maxwell. He’s the father of the guy in Ted’s car. He says the two left the house a few minutes ago. His son, Daniel Maxwell was helping move her to the house down the road. She’d been staying there with them for about a week. She’s Martin Knight’s daughter,” the police officer whispered the last few words.

“Well, Miss Knight, I have your phone number and if there is anything else, we’ll give you a call. I’m sorry you had to be here. Just be careful tonight. We’ll do everything we can to find who or what did this.”

“Thank you, Officer.” I climbed out of the cruiser to find Thomas talking with the other police officer. Daniel climbed out of the other police car and immediately walked toward me. The anxious look on his face remained when his arm slid around my waist. He walked me back to my car without hesitation.

“It is going to be okay,” he whispered in my ear.

I looked past Daniel to see Thomas walking toward us. Thomas’s horrid expression matched Daniel’s.

“Julie, this is not a good time for you to be in the house by yourself. Honey, I know you want your independence.” he paused. “I know you are not comfortable with a lot of people around you. But… ”

“Thomas, you know I love you and Charlotte. I consider you my second family. But I need this.” My pleading sounded more like begging. I just wanted to be home.

“Okay then, but at least maybe Daniel could stay with you.” His voice was firm as if he had already won his argument.

“Not a problem. I will follow her to the house, and then help her settle in. Afterwards, I will return home and pick up a few things. I think it would be a good idea if I just stayed with her until this is over.” Daniel agreed with Thomas.

“Well, it looks as though I have a bodyguard.” My voice was controlled and showed no emotion. Here I will be alone in a house with a man that sends me into a rush of molten lava. I was positively sure that neither of them knew that I was hoping to have plenty of cold water available.

A monster werewolf remained on the loose. For some reason, I felt safe just knowing Daniel would be with me tonight. Now there was another danger to face, myself and this new attraction toward him.

Thomas climbed into his Mercedes and headed back to his home. I managed to turn my car around after having every single police car moved out of my way. Daniel followed behind me toward my house. Once we arrived, I pulled the car up to the front door where unloading my things would be easier to handle. He followed me inside the house and then quickly moved past me, setting the luggage down on the floor
.

“Stay here.”
He whispered as he walked through the bottom half of the house. Quickly he moved up the stairs and covered the entire house. Running back down the stairs, he grabbed my suitcase and the bags again. “Which way?”

We dropped off the bags in my bedroom and returned down the stairs to the great room. I walked toward the kitchen.

“Tea?”

“Please.”

“You know there is supposed to be a tropical storm heading this way tonight.” My words were more conversational. I reached for two glasses and filled them with ice.

“Yes, I guess we are going to need a few candles just in case we lose power. Do you have any flashlights, batteries, etc.?”

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure they’re around here somewhere. My Dad should have plenty of camping supplies in the garage. I’ll get everything together.” Handing him the glass his fingers touched mine slightly. He smiled and then took a sip. His eyebrows drew together.

“What’s wrong?” I raised the glass to my lips and tasted. The frown on my face matched his. “Sorry.” The tea had gone sour. I reached for the glass and poured both out in the sink. “I’ll have fresh tea when you return, promise.”

“Okay, I will run back to the house to pick up my stuff. I should be back in within an hour or less. Lock the door and do not let any strangers inside. Okay?” Daniel’s usual smooth voice turned firm and commanding.

“Yes sir!”

“Julie, I mean it!” He retorted with a frown.

“I know. I will. Don’t worry I’ll be fine.” I pushed him forward into the great room.

My skin crawled with the thought that a killer werewolf ran loose. The legends were right concerning the werewolves. Where were the Lycans in all this? They were the ones that were supposed to be the
protectors of man.
Locking the door behind him, I decided to head to the garage to see what my father had stored for storm supplies.

Opening the door to the garage, I flipped on the light switch. No lights. For reasons that I couldn’t explain, I thought if I tried again the lights would mysteriously turn on.

Nothing. The light bulb must have blown. My fingers trailed past the light switch to the garage opener. I pressed the button and the garage doors opened. Light from the sun illuminated the whole garage. Neatly stacked in the corner of the garage, my father’s camping equipment remained untouched.

Walking down the stairs, I glanced around the garage for anything else that would be beneficial. Rummaging through the equipment, I found two good working flashlights and a Coleman lantern. I headed back up the stairs and pushed the button to close the garage doors. Closing the door, I locked it and headed back to the kitchen. There had to be candles around here somewhere. Then it occurred to me as I walked back to the great room and glanced over toward the coffee table. There were decorative candles all over the house. Stepping back until I could see the dining room table with several candles in the center. A smile crossed my lips when I realized something very important.

Last year during a bad storm, one of the trees fell on the power lines. Dad waited for two weeks for the power company to fix the damage. Shortly after, he purchased a whole house generator. However, the thought of sitting alone in the dark with Daniel would be nice. Maybe the storm wouldn’t be that bad, after all.

Heading back to the kitchen, I ignored the television as I walked by. Walking to the counter I grabbed the container marked TEA. After I started brewing the tea, I left the kitchen to take care of another urgent matter.

I certainly had enough time to do the laundry. Most of my laundry accumulated at my stay with the Maxwell’s. Heading back up the stairs, I gathered my laundry and returned downstairs to the laundry room. After I set the load and grabbed a glass of tea, I went to prepare for the storm.

≈≈≈

My heart jumped when the sound of the doorbell chimed. The first thought I had that it was probably the police officers again. I hurried around the kitchen to the front door. It was Daniel. He stood in front of the glass door with a suitcase in one hand and a backpack in the other hand. I unlocked the door and let him in.

“What’s this?” I motioned toward the backpack.

“Well, I figured we would need a few things if we lose electricity.”

“Um, Daniel,” I paused. “Dad had a whole house generator installed last year.” I winced.

“Well, just in case.”

“Okay, well, pick out a bedroom upstairs. I have to check the laundry.” Turning I headed back to check on the last load in the dryer.

We spent the good part of two hours outside picking up any items that might become dangerous projectiles in a strong wind. Living in a house with huge glass walls, one considered all possibilities of danger. The wind gusts picked up as we moved the last of the patio furniture into the storage building. Our next difficult measure came when we tried to secure the pool cover. Dark clouds moved in and a burst of rain fell; we gave up. We made a dash through the patio and into the house.

“Well that was… ” I paused a little breathlessly. “Interesting.”

He nodded.

“So what’s for dinner?” His lips broadened into a smile.

A quick glance at my watch told me it was already five-thirty. With my limited skill in the kitchen, cooking dinner was a funny thought. The old saying is “the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach”. If this statement was true, I would never win my way to Daniel’s heart. I remained motionless with a blank stare on my face.

“Okay. We shall see what waits in the refrigerator to be cooked.” He cheerfully announced.

My heart fell into the pit of my stomach when he opened the refrigerator. His right eyebrow rose when he opened the freezer side. With a soft sigh he turned toward me. “I wonder.” He contemplated. “How long can a person survive without food?”

“A few weeks?” My eyes drifted upwards toward the ceiling.

“Hmmm. Well, I did see two steaks. I think I can manage to fix a suitable dinner until we go grocery shopping tomorrow.” A smile crossed his face.

Seated at the counter I watched while he prepared a culinary masterpiece with sautéed potatoes, onions and broiled steak. We ate our dinner at the kitchen counter while the wind and rain hurled around us outside.

“Let me guess. Charlotte taught you how to cook,” I said between bites.

“Actually, I was taught how to cook by a chef. I spent a lot of time in the kitchen.” He smiled a little.

“So you like to cook?”

“Sometimes.”

“Sometimes?”

“Sometimes I like to enjoy another person’s skill in the culinary arts.” His smile broadened.

He had to be joking, I thought shifting in my chair. “Culinary skill, huh? Well, good luck with that, because I’m not very skilled in the kitchen.”

After dinner, I cleaned up the kitchen, but apparently I didn’t move fast enough so he joined in to help. With a spotless kitchen, we walked into the living room to wait out the rest of the storm. I stopped and looked out the window. The storm was in its full fury now. The wind howled and hurled through the tops of the pine trees, bending them to their sides. I nearly jumped out my skin when a large branch slapped hard against the glass window.

“I have a great idea,” Daniel spoke distracting my fear.

Walking past me, he went to the sofa and reached for the remote controls. Looking at each of them carefully, he clicked one and the fireplace started. He then chose another remote and pressed another button. We were now in the dark. After a few seconds, my eyes adjusted and I could see him sitting on the sofa.

“Come here,” he whispered.

My heart beat a thousand beats to one breath. I walked toward him and sat down on the sofa. He moved slowly and reached for me. I could feel his hands around my arms as he turned me and pulled me back to him. His arms went around me, pulling me closer to his hard chest. I nestled my head against his chest where I heard the steady rhythm of his strong heart.

“Better?” he asked.

“Better,” I replied.

“We should be safe. The storm is not that bad,” his soft and velvety voice cooed.

“Tell me more about the Lycans,” I whispered.

His hand adjusted the pillow under his head and then rested on my arm. Slowly he rubbed his hand up and down my arm.

“Did you know that the Lycans mate for life?” I shook my head. “There are very few Lycans. They usually stay with their own kind. Not mixing with humans. On rare occasions, a Lycan will take a human as a mate. The connection and bond is so strong it is never broken. Not even in death. If one should die, the other would never take another mate.”

“That sounds like a lonely life.”

“Not really. You see the bond between Lycan mates is incredible. They become one with each other. Their thoughts, their emotions, their minds and even their heartbeats.

They begin to hear each other’s thoughts. The emotions are awakened to a height that is beyond human conception. Each one feels what the other feels, the pain, love, and passion. Their heartbeats begin beating to the same rhythm. I guess when you are truly one together, why would you look for another that could never replace what you had to begin with?” He paused for another moment. I dared not speak.

“The separation is not lonely. You still
feel
the presence of your mate with you. It never leaves you no matter how long you may live. It is not a feeling of grieving. It is a satisfied feeling.” His voice was so soothing and warm. I snuggled closer to him.