Hard Times (A Sam Harlan Novel Book 2) (13 page)

“They just want to help,” Mary Kate said. “Can you just give us a few minutes?”

The woman started to speak, then sighed heavily and opened the door, inviting us in. “I’ll get him.”

We entered their living room and she left, returning shortly with Colden.

He eyed us hopefully. “Did you find her?”

Colden’s left eye was swollen and puffy, with a dark line under it. Mary Kate stared at him and asked, “What happened?”

Colden glanced from his mom to Mary Kate. “Nothing,” he said.

“Someone hit you,” Mary Kate said. “You went to the Mendozas’ restaurant.”

“He went to ask them about Elena,” Lori said. “I don’t know why he can’t just let it go. Clearly she’s not good enough for him, and if she doesn’t want to see him—”

“Franco did this,” I said. “Didn’t he?”

Everyone turned to look, Callie with interest, Mary Kate with surprise, and Lori Glick with barely subdued anger.

“I just wanted to know why they weren’t
worried
,” Colden said. “Then Franco started yelling at me, telling me to get out. Mrs. Mendoza tried to make him stop.” His hand went to his cheek, cradling it. “Then he punched me.”

His eyes were watering, only seconds away from crying. I didn’t blame him. He just wanted to find out what had happened to his fiancée, but wherever he turned, he found no help. He was just a young man trying his best, with no understanding of what he was up against,

The only problem was, his best wasn’t going to be good enough. “We need to talk,” I said. I turned to his mother. “Can we speak to Colden alone?”

His mother’s expression darkened, the crow’s-feet around her eyes tightening. She was a mother torn between concern for her son and a desire for the sudden hassle of two strangers to go away. “I know you’re trying to help, Mary Kate, but that Mendoza girl is trouble.”

She turned to me, her frown deepening. “I don’t know you.” She glanced between me and Callie. “I don’t know
either
of you. My son’s problem with his girlfriend is a family matter. I would prefer if you’d leave.”

Mary Kate started to speak and I put my hand on her shoulder to stop her. She gave me a questioning look and I said, “Let me handle this. Mrs. Glick, you’re in danger. Colden is in danger. Your whole family is in danger. Elena has been abducted.”

“What do you mean, danger?” Lori asked. “What kind of
danger
?”

Colden spoke up. “What do you mean, Elena’s been
abducted
?”

I caught Callie shaking her head but ignored her. “Sit down, both of you. It’s time you know what is happening.”

Lori started to protest, but I glared at her and she shrank back, her eyes wide.

Alarmed, Mary Kate said, “Sam—”

I had made my decision. “They need to know,” I said. “If everyone keeps on stumbling about like a pack of idiots, they are going to get hurt. Or worse.”

Lori stumbled back, her leg catching the edge of the coffee table, and she sat down heavily on the couch. Colden’s face had gone white, and he took a seat in the chair next to his mother.

They were scared of me. I didn’t blame them. When I got done, they were going to be terrified. “Where’s your husband, Lori? Duane, isn’t it?”

Lori hunched forward on the couch, her white-socked feet thumping nervously against the bottom edge. “He’ll be home any minute,” she said.

I felt Mary Kate’s hand on my shoulder. “Duane works at Lennox, on the north side of town,” she said. “He’s working overtime today, or he would already be here.”

Lori’s eyes darted to her sister-in-law. “What’s wrong with you? Why would you tell him that?”

“What about your daughter?” I asked.

She shook her head defiantly. “I’m not telling you anything. You better go before Duane gets home.”

“Sam is here to help,” Mary Kate said. “He might be the
only
one who can. Where is Carrie?”

Colden spoke up, avoiding looking at his mother. “She’s in her room.”

Lori turned her glare to her son, her eyes practically shooting daggers. “You shouldn’t have told him.”

“Get her,” I said to Mary Kate. “We’re running on borrowed time.” The sky was darkening, the last of the sunlight disappearing beneath the horizon, and I could feel it like a physical presence in my head. “The sun is almost set.”

Mary Kate left and I took the opportunity to take the seat across from the couch. Lori watched me, her pale round face never leaving mine. Colden kept glancing from his mother to me.

“I’m going to tell you the truth,” I finally said to Lori. “The honest-to-God, capital-T truth. You probably won’t like it and you certainly won’t believe it. Not at first.”

There was a cough and I turned to find Callie standing behind me, her face grim. “You think this is wise?” she asked.

I turned my attention back to Lori, just as Mary Kate led Carrie into the front room. Carrie was dressed as I remembered from our first meeting, her black shirt emblazoned with a band’s name that I didn’t recognize, her hair now sporting dark purple streaks, her sweatpants cut short, exposing too much of her pasty white legs.

She glared at everyone. “What did he do now?” she asked, pointing at her brother with a fingernail painted black.

I turned to smile bitterly at Callie. “It may not be wise, but we’re going to do it anyway.”

Carrie turned to her mother. “What’s going on?” she asked. “What’s he talking about?”

Before Lori could speak, I said, “Sit down next to your mother. This is going to take a while.”

She started to speak, her mouth opening to offer some wisecrack, but I fixed her with a stare. She dropped the rebellious Gothic teen act and I saw the scared young girl underneath as she sank down on the couch, next to her mother, who wrapped a protective arm around her.

I spoke. I told them about my diner, about Silas and Jack, about vampires, about chasing my wife and killing her and my daughter. I told them about burning my house to ash, changing my name, and about how I was a Harlan.

I told them about Katie Calahane, and Callie grimaced when I described how she died. I told them about the Church, about the fight against vampires, about Callie’s pledge to help me kill them where I could.

I told them the truth, God forgive me.

They gaped at
me like I was a lunatic. Carrie Glick held her mother’s hand so tightly I thought she might draw blood. Lori Glick looked like she wanted to bolt from the room, if she wasn’t busy making a show of bravery for her children.

Colden, though, watched Mary Kate intently, his eyes occasionally roaming to Callie, then back to his aunt. His face was puzzled as he tried to make sense of my story.

They had remained quiet while I spoke, never asking questions. I wondered if they believed me.
I
wouldn’t have believed me, not before encountering Silas at my kitchen table, Lilly sprawled limply in front of him, the bloody smear across the linoleum from where Stacie had attempted to crawl to safety.

If only they had been there. If only they had smelled the coppery scent of blood in the air and the urine where her bladder had emptied when she died.

But still I told my story, because sometimes the truth was the only way to make people understand.

Lori stared at me like she was about to speak, but Colden beat her to it. “Is this true?” he asked his aunt. He searched her face, seeking an answer.

“How could
any
of that be true?” Lori spat out. “He belongs in an asylum.”

Mary Kate shook her head sadly. “It’s all true.”

Lori turned to her in shock. “What’s gotten into you? Why did you bring this crazy man into my house?” She huddled with her daughter on the couch, pressing herself against it for safety. “When Duane gets home—”

Callie had listened while I told my story, but she spoke up and her voice was as sharp as steel. “Everything that Sam told you is true. I swear before God that he speaks the truth.”

Lori turned to her, mouth open, but Callie wasn’t finished and silenced her with a raised finger. “Katie was my sister, and those things killed her. I’ve pledged my life to the Lord, and I swear to you now that Sam speaks true. He’s seen terrible things. He told you so you would understand. Elena has been taken by one of them.”

Carrie hugged her mother tightly. “It can’t be real, Mom. Can it?”

“No,” Lori said, her voice rising, “it’s not. Mary Kate is just playing some prank.
That’s
what it is. A prank.”

“It’s not a prank,” Mary Kate said softly. “I wish it were.”

Colden shook his head. “If what you’re saying is true, then Elena has been taken by a vampire.”

“Colden!” Lori shouted. “It’s just nonsense.”

Colden stared down at the floor, but he raised his head and caught my eye. “If it’s
not
just nonsense, what can we do? How do I get Elena back?”

I started to speak but was interrupted by a knock at the door. I turned to Lori and her dark blue eyes were locking on mine. “You expecting someone?” I asked.

She shook her head. “No.”

“Mrs. Glick,” I said. “Lori. No matter what you may think of me, I swear I’m telling the truth. Elena has been taken. Your son is in danger. I know you don’t believe me, but Mary Kate does.” I hitched my thumb over my shoulder at Callie standing behind me. “Sister Callie swears to God it’s the truth. Pretend for a moment that it’s all real.”

Her eyes widened, her face uncertain. “O—okay.”

“If it’s real,” I continued, “then I might be the only person who can help you and your family. Understand?”

She blinked, then nodded.

“Good,” I said. “Answer the door, but make sure you stay to the side, just in case.”

She nodded again, hesitantly, and stood to answer the door. I steadied myself, trying to ignore the pounding in my head that wouldn’t go away. I didn’t feel the greasy blackness against my soul the way I normally did around vampires, but given the beating I had taken, I wasn’t sure I was in any shape to detect them.

She opened the door and Tommy Mueller entered before Lori had even finished saying hello.

“Where’s Colden?” Mueller demanded, his eyes scanning the room until they came to rest upon the young man. “We need to talk.”

I took it all in. The deputy was sweating profusely, even though the evening chill had set in. His eyes were just a little too wide, his face just a little too red. He was still in uniform, the number 64-27 gleaming in bright gold on his chest.

He advanced into the room and I spoke up. “What’s the problem, Deputy?”

Mueller froze in his tracks, his head spinning, and he glared at me. “You again.” His eyes flickered around the room, resting momentarily on each person, before coming back to me. “I’m here to speak to Colden, Mrs. Glick. Outside.”

“I’m right here, Tommy,” Lori said from behind him, “and I don’t remember telling you that you could come in.”

Mueller never took his eyes from mine. “Ma’am, this isn’t a personal call. I need to talk to your boy.”

I kept my face as neutral as possible. “Do you have a warrant, Deputy? I don’t think you’re allowed to enter a house without permission. Unless you have a warrant?”

Mueller casually dropped his hand and rested it upon the gun in his holster. “That’s twice I’ve seen you. You’re not family. I doubt you’re a friend. What’s your business here?”

Colden watched the exchange with panic. Every time Mueller spoke, Colden winced. Clearly there was no love lost between the two.

For all his bluster, Mueller remembered our first encounter in Mary Kate’s pawnshop and the second in the restaurant. He wasn’t just a dumb kid pretending to be a cop.

I bit down my rising anger and tried to remain polite. “Mary Kate asked for my help,” I said. Callie frowned and I smiled and nodded in her direction. “Sorry,
our
help.”

His eyes narrowed. “What kind of help?”

Maybe it was the pounding in my head, or maybe the knifelike stabbing in my ribs, or maybe, just maybe, I was getting sick of Mueller’s attitude. “The private kind, Deputy. The kind that you better quit sticking
your
nose into.”

Everyone in the room gasped. Mueller’s face went hard and he practically spat the words out. “What did you just say?”

I remained calm, still sitting in my chair, taking in the whole room. “I
said
, maybe you better quit sticking your nose into private matters. Before you get hurt. Or killed.”

Mueller’s hand twitched on his holster, but before he could speak, before anyone else could react, I continued, “You’re not a bad man, Deputy, although you’re a bit of a jerk. You liked Elena, maybe a high school crush, but she’s with Colden. Olivia, though, was different. She liked you. Then she disappeared. You’re anxious. Frightened.”

“Sam,” Callie said sharply, “I don’t think—”

“Sister,” I said, “it’s time everyone learned the truth. It might keep them alive.” I stood slowly and turned to Mueller. “Olivia and Elena are together, Deputy. The man that took them? He’s not a man at all. He’s a monster.”

Mueller blanched, taking a step back. “What do you know about it?”

I took a step forward, and the deputy shrank back. “I know that if we don’t do something, those girls won’t be long for this world. You need to decide, Deputy, are you going to be a jerk and get yourself and those girls killed? Or are you going to man up and save them?”

Mueller was standing only inches in front of Lori Glick, a puzzled look on his face. “I have no idea what you’re jabbering about, but you’re interfering with police business.” His eyes swept the room, and a gamut of emotions cross his face. Fear. Uncertainty. Confusion. His hand fumbled on his holster and he started to speak.

It was at that moment that the vampire made its presence known. A wave of disgust boiled up from my stomach and my heart started hammering away in my chest. The greasy feeling of wrongness caught in the back of my throat.

Mueller felt it, too. I saw it in his eyes, the way they narrowed, his pupils dilating. A wave of panic washed over his face as he glanced around, frantically trying to identify the danger.

I heard Callie murmuring and a spill of light blazed from her crucifix, a light so heavenly pure it drew everyone’s attention.