Thicker Than Water (The Briar Creek Vampires Book #2) by Jayme Morse & Jody Morse (12 page)

“What doctor is treating him?” Lexi asked,
ignoring the last thing that her aunt had just said. As long as
Lexi thought that her uncle was plotting against her, there was no
way that she could appreciate her time with him.

“Dr. Stevens is Briar Creek’s only on-call
doctor,” Violet replied before getting out of the car and going
into the house.

Lexi got out of the car and sat on the front
porch, thinking about the plan that she had just come up with. She
was going to confront Dr. Stevens tonight. She just wasn’t sure how
she was going to do it without Violet and Tommy knowing that she
had remembered enough when she was in the hospital morgue to look
for her mom’s file.

*

Dr. Stevens came by after Lexi and Violet ate
dinner together. Neither of them said a word at the dinner table,
and Lexi was happy that she hadn’t yet gotten the lecture that she
knew was coming. Tommy wasn’t feeling well enough to come out of
his room. As much as Lexi wanted to feel sorry for him, she
couldn’t after everything that had happened since she had moved to
Briar Creek.

The doctor brought a briefcase, which Lexi
assumed was full of his medical equipment. Violet took him into the
bedroom that Tommy was lying in and closed the door behind
her.

Lexi tiptoed over to the room. She crouched
down and put her ear against the door.

“Hey, Doc,” Tommy said in between coughs. “I’ve
got a fever and some swelling in my legs.”

“No other symptoms?” Dr. Stevens
asked.

“No, just those. Sometimes I get the chills,
but not often. Oh, and I’ve lost more hair in this week alone than
in the past few years.”

There was a moment of silence. Lexi guessed
that Dr. Stevens was probably listening to his heartbeat or taking
his blood pressure. Finally, the doctor said, “Well, I’ve got to be
honest, Tom. Things aren’t looking too good for you right
now.”

“What does that mean?” Violet asked. Lexi noted
a tone of worry in her voice. She might be a psycho-aunt, but she
definitely cared about her husband.

“It means that if Tom doesn’t get a
treatment
for his illness, he won’t live past November,” Dr.
Stevens replied.

“That can’t be! You said that we had more time
than this,” Violet said.

“I know I did. Unfortunately, Tom’s illness is
progressing much more quickly than we previously expected. I think
that the damage which has been done to his bloodstream was just too
significant. If he had given it up when we told him to, he probably
would have lasted a little longer, but it wasn’t until May when he
quit cold turkey.”

Quit cold turkey? Lexi figured that the doctor
must be talking about smoking. She didn’t know a whole lot about
emphysema, but she knew it wasn’t good to smoke cigarettes when you
had lung problems. Lexi was a bit surprised to learn that Tom had
quit the month Austin died, but it was probably not a coincidence.
His son’s death probably made him realize the important things in
life.

“So, what do we do now?” Violet
asked.

“My best advice is for him to start treatment
as soon as possible,” Dr. Stevens replied. “I know we’ve already
been over the details about this, but if you have any more
questions about it, feel free to call me at any time.”

Lexi stood up and backed away from the door.
She tiptoed into the living room, picked up a magazine, sat on the
sofa, and pretended that she had been reading the whole time the
doctor was there. When Dr. Stevens came out a moment later, Violet
stayed in the bedroom. Realizing that this was the perfect time to
confront him, Lexi followed after him.

“Dr. Stevens,” Lexi hissed when she was
outside, trying to talk loud enough for him to hear her, but low
enough that Violet wouldn’t. “I need to ask you a
question.”

The doctor’s back stiffened and he turned
around. “What is it, Lexi?”

“You told me that my mom died from E. Coli
poisoning from beef,” Lexi said.

Dr. Stevens stared at her blankly, obviously
not understanding what she was about to insinuate. “Yes, I remember
that. And what, exactly, is your question?”

“My mom was a vegetarian. She was a vegetarian
since I was seven years old. I don’t think it’s possible that she
became a meat eater overnight, so how do you explain her dying from
E. Coli poisoning from beef unless someone shoved it down her
throat, which I assume didn’t happen?”

“Well, autopsies aren’t always one hundred
percent accurate, so there is a chance that the results may be
–”

“Oh, save it,” Lexi interrupted him. “I know
that there’s something fishy going on around here, but I don’t know
what it is. My mom didn’t die from food poisoning. Someone killed
her, and someone is trying to keep it covered up. This isn’t the
first time someone in Briar Creek was killed and the murder was
made to look like an accident.”

“I must say that you’re wise beyond your
years,” Dr. Stevens replied, staring at her intently.
“Unfortunately, I cannot tell you how Eileen Hunter died. I was not
present at the scene of the accident. I also was not the coroner
who performed the autopsy. I can tell you one thing, though: you’re
thinking in the right direction. However, if you know what’s good
for you, you’ll get as far away from Briar Creek as possible before
someone else realizes that you’re onto what’s been happening in
this town.”

“Why are you telling me this? You’re a part of
this town. Isn’t telling me going against whoever is killing
people?” Getting away from Briar Creek was the first thing that she
wanted to do, especially now that she had verbal proof from Dr.
Stevens that her mom had been murdered. On the other hand, she
would never be able to get justice for her mom, Austin, or Justin
if she didn’t survive long enough to tell anyone.

“I must remind you that I am a doctor. I care
about the wellbeing of everyone, and while some may not like the
advice that I’m giving you right now, it’s what I believe. I also
believe that we should just let nature run its own course. That’s
why I’m advising you to get out now before it’s too late,” Dr.
Stevens said before climbing into his Toyota Highlander, slamming
the door, and speeding away.

Lexi sat down on the step and slumped against
the porch railing. Nothing that Dr. Stevens had just said really
made sense to her, except for the fact that he had hinted that he
was aware that her mom had been murdered. Ever since Mary-Kate had
told her that Mayor Lawrence had asked her to bring bleach on the
night of her mom’s death, Lexi couldn’t get the idea out of her
head that he was somehow involved with whatever had been going on,
whether he was the one who had committed the crime or he was
covering it up for someone else, just like he had done for
Austin.

What did nature running its course have
anything to do with what was happening in Briar Creek, though? Lexi
didn’t understand what Dr. Stevens had been talking about, and just
thinking about it was beginning to make her head hurt.

Lexi gazed longingly at Gabe’s house. The front
door to his house opened and slammed shut. Lexi noticed for the
first time since she had been outside that there was an unfamiliar
car parked in the driveway. It looked like a light colored car that
she was pretty sure she had never seen there before, but she wasn’t
too sure because it was so dark out.

The motion detector light attached to the
garage turned on as a person strode over to the car.

The black hair and tall frame belonged to Gabe.
Lexi gasped louder than she had intended to. Gabe stopped dead in
his tracks, looked up and glanced across the street. She realized
that he had heard her.

Lexi tried to sink back behind the porch rail,
but she knew that he had already seen her.

Gabe walked across the street. Reluctantly,
Lexi stood up and met him halfway. Even though she had wanted to
see him so that she could ask him all of the questions that were
circling around in her head, she hadn’t actually thought that the
time would come anytime soon. She wasn’t sure what she was going to
say to him.

“Lexi? You’re alive,” Gabe said quietly. His
steel blue eyes sparkled in the moonlight, and Lexi found herself
instantly drawn to him. It had been so long since he had been away
that she had forgotten how strong the magnetic force between them
was. Just being in his presence made her feel like a teeny bopper
who was feet away from a celebrity teen heartthrob. As much as she
wanted to run up to him and wrap him in her arms, she knew that she
couldn’t. Not after what he had done to her.

“Yes, I’m alive,” Lexi snapped at him, trying
to make her voice sound cold and angry. “No thanks to
you.”

“Lex, it’s not what it seems like –”Gabe
began.

“Gabe, don’t make excuses. And don’t you dare
call me Lex. You don’t have that right anymore…not after the way
you left me. How could you do that to me?” Lexi felt the tears
building up behind her eyes and tried to hold them back. She didn’t
want him to see her cry. Gabe didn’t need to know how weak she felt
around him if it wasn’t obvious already.

“I did what I thought was best for you, Lexi,”
Gabe said, staring at the ground.

“To leave me in a car that I’m convinced you
crashed on purpose? How could that possibly benefit me?”

Gabe glanced up at her, his eyes staring right
through her. Lexi noticed a look wash over him. It seemed like
sadness, but she wasn’t one hundred percent certain what it was.
Seconds later, the look was gone, and Gabe just looked sad. “You
might not understand it right now, but I did what I did because I’m
in love with you.”

Before Lexi could open her mouth to ask him
what he was talking about and to tell him that it made no sense
whatsoever, the door behind her cracked open.

“Gabriel,” Violet whispered. “You’re back in
Briar Creek.”

Gabe nodded and stared Lexi’s aunt hard in the
face. The two remained quiet for a few minutes, and Lexi couldn’t
help but think that they were having some sort of creepy exchange
with their eyes.

“I’m not leaving Briar Creek any time soon. I’m
sorry if that disappoints you, but I have unfinished business to
attend to,” Gabe said. Lexi thought that he was talking to Violet,
even though he was staring at her. “I’ll see you around, Lexi,”
Gabe added. He nodded at her and walked away.

Violet scoffed. “That boy is—”

“Not good enough for me and I’m forbidden to
see him. Right?” Lexi asked sarcastically, cutting her off. “Don’t
even say anything else. I don’t want to hear it.”

Her aunt nodded sympathetically. “I’m sorry
Lexi. We’ve been so worried about you, Tommy and I. I hope you know
that we mean well. We really do.”

Lexi tried her hardest not to scream at her
aunt. She knew that it wasn’t going to help anything and, after
hearing that Tommy was going to die, she felt a twinge of pity for
Violet. She also knew that she had to see Gabe again, though. She
had to know what he meant when he said that he had done what he did
because he loved her.

As much as Lexi wanted to believe that Gabe was
lying to her after everything that had happened, she believed him.
He really did love her. She could see it in his eyes.

“Go to your room, Lexi. You’re
grounded.”

“What? Why?!” Lexi shrieked. “That’s not fair!
I didn’t do anything wrong.”

“Yes, you did. You ran away. I told you we were
going to talk about this later. Now, we’re talking about it and I
made my decision. You are grounded.”

Scoffing at the quick change in her aunt’s
demeanor, Lexi stomped her feet as she went upstairs to her room.
She slammed her bedroom door loud enough so that her aunt could
hear her, and flopped down on her bed. This wasn’t the first time
Violet had grounded her since she had been in Briar Creek. The last
time, she had let her off of her punishment as long as she agreed
to go on a date with Dan. That wasn’t going to happen this time,
though. Even if Violet made the offer, Lexi refused to go out with
that monster again.

Being grounded didn’t even mean much now that
Lexi was living here. She didn’t have a TV in her room, Violet
still hadn’t had their Internet connection reinstalled, and Lexi
barely went anywhere besides school and work.

If only Mayor Lawrence hadn’t spotted her while
she was trying to run away. Lexi would have been to another town by
now, starting her new life under a new name. She would have chosen
something exotic that no one would have been able to identify her
by, like Angelique Monaro or Cassandra Lorenzo. Lexi would have
chopped all of her hair off and dyed it a funky shade of red or
pink so that no one would have recognized her.

None of that would ever happen now.

But if it had happened, she never would have
seen Gabe again. She wouldn’t know that he really loved her, and
she might never have found out why he did what he did that
night.

Then again, she still might not find out the
last part.

Lexi heard footsteps outside her room and a
jangling sound at the doorknob. She waited for the door to open,
but it didn’t. She heard the footsteps again, this time moving away
from her room. Lexi got up and turned the doorknob.