Wicked Sunset (Sunset Vampire Series, Book 4) (29 page)

“What the hell have you been doing all day, mister?” she asked.

“Hey, you know I was doing research,” I told her.

“Well, you completely blew me off for your hand-to-hand training,” she said.

“Geez, what’s got you so spun up? Did Ethan’s visit wear off already?”

She gave me a really cross look. “Well, snarkety-snark-snark. Never mind that, sassy. Why haven’t you returned any of my texts this afternoon?” she demanded. “I had to call Roman just to get your attention.”

“God, what are you, my Mom now?” I shot back; removing my old cell phone from its holder and flipping open the lid.

As was the case so often recently, the battery was dead.

“Crap. And I only made one phone call this afternoon,” I said. “This thing’s been running dry faster and faster over the past few weeks.”

As she snatched the phone from my hand, I saw Roman making a discreet exit upstairs.

Lucky bastard.

“They probably don’t even make batteries for these anymore. Honestly, grandpa, how old is this stupid relic?” she asked. “I mean, I know you’re a history buff and all but there’s no reason to carry around a piece of junk like this.”

I gave her my best ‘go to hell’ look.

“And who still carries a flip phone around? I don’t think you can even get Internet access on this model,” she said. “You need a smartphone like mine, or at the very least something built in the past decade.”

“My iPad has Internet access through a provider,” I said. “Besides, smartphones are still kinda’ expensive. I only need a phone to make phone calls, and maybe a text now and again.”

Her resulting deadpan stare was slightly unnerving.

“What?” I asked.

She casually flipped open my cell phone and flicked at the screen with the tip of her finger. The ensuing cracking sound sent a shiver down my spine.

I grabbed the phone from her.

“What did you do!” I demanded, examining the shattered display.

“Looks like your old cell phone broke, kiddo,” she said in a matter-of-fact tone. “We’d better go get you a new one.”

“You broke my friggin’ phone!” I said. “You’re such an
ass
sometimes!”

I was furious as she zipped around the living room in a flurry of movement. The next thing I knew my leather jacket was draped over my head.

“C’mon, the sun just set. Let’s bring you into the twenty-first century, old timer,” she said.

We left Roman at home and she drove us to a nearby AT&T store in her new cherry red BMW convertible.

“Stop moping,” she said. “You’re gonna’ thank me for this later.”

“Whatever. And when do I get to drive the car?” I asked.

“Ha. Never,” she responded, pulling into the parking lot.

We browsed the selection of phones until a sales associate named Len assisted us.

“I just need the lowest end---” I started to say.

“He needs the latest Apple iPhone; whichever model has the most memory and preferably in black,” Paige interrupted. “Oh, and be sure to add the maximum text and data plan, unlimited, if possible.”

I tried to get a word in edgewise, but she interrupted me again.

“Let’s see…accessories…he’ll need two chargers, a belt carrier, and ear buds. Also, he’ll be closing his current account and merging onto his fiancée’s plan,” she said sweetly.

My eyes bugged out and I pulled at the sleeve of her leather jacket.

“Paige. Fiancée?”

“Red’ll be fine with it,” she told me.

She swatted at my hand and cast a movie star worthy smile at the associate, who pointedly ignored me. He appeared much happier at being the center of her attentions.

“I’m only too happy to help. I need to enter this into the system and I’ll be right back with you,” Len said, clearly smitten with her. “Would you like bottled water or maybe a soda while you wait?”

“Sure, I’d love one,” she said with a gleam in her eyes.

Len hurried away on his mission as I scanned the store and then stared at Paige.

“They give bottled water and soda away here?” I asked.

“Who knows,” she said with a slight shrug. “Nice staff here, though.”

“And what’s with putting me on Kat’s plan?” I asked.

“Aw, keep your shirt on,” she said. “She’ll be so flattered she won’t even think twice.”

Great; yet another facet of my independence absorbed into the vampire collective.

Bottled water was quickly provided to Paige by the young man, though I noticed I wasn’t asked about one.

Oh, brother, the effect she has on people sometimes…

We wandered around the store, and I paused to gaze outside through the storefront glass. Under the glow of a street lamp on the other side of the boulevard, I caught sight of one of the pasty-faced men I’d seen outside the bar the other night.

The man was exiting a small shop while talking on his cell phone, and he appeared agitated.

“There’s one of those guys,” I said.

I looked around, only to see Paige on the other side of the room.

“Paige,” I called.

She frowned and quickly made her way over to me, but once I looked back outside, the guy was nowhere to be seen.

“What?” she asked.

“It’s one of those guys Roman and I saw outside the bar last night,” I said. “He came out of that shop over there.”

“Did you see where he went?”

“No, I was
trying
to get your attention.”

We were interrupted by Len’s nervous-sounding voice over at the main counter. He was talking on the phone to someone.

“The manager? Oh, yes, ma’am. Wha---? Right away, ma’am,” he said in a concerned tone.

He immediately sought out the manager. “Mr. Spalding? This lady, Ms. Rawlings, asked to speak with you.”

“What’s the matter, Kevin?” the manager asked, taking the phone from him.

“Oh, this should be fun,” Paige murmured.

I frowned.

“Hello, Ms. Rawlings, I presume? I’m Glen Spalding, the manager, and we’re trying—” he said, glancing in our direction. “Why, yes, he’s standing directly across the room from me, along with a short, blonde-haired young lady… Oh, yes? Well, this is highly irregular; we typically require the account holder’s signature and—”

Glen’s eyes widened and he almost came to stand at quasi-attention as his grip visibly tightened around the handset. “Yes, ma’am, I understand entirely, but— No, there’s no need to contact the district office. Surely we can— Oh, yes, a fax request with a copy of your ID would be more than fine, I’m sure,” he stammered. “I do apologize for the inconvenience, Ms. Rawlings. We’ll have this ready for him immediately.”

“I knew I’d love this,” Paige said with snicker.

I jabbed her in the ribs with my index finger. “Troublemaker.”

“Stop poking me,” she said, swatting at my hand.

The manager’s facial expression appeared strained, as if he’d rather be anywhere else but on the phone at that moment.

“Ms. Rawlings, would you like to speak with your fiancé?” he asked. “Oh, no, I merely— Yes, ma’am, I’m right on it; this should take only a few minutes. Thank you, Ms. Rawlings.”

The man swallowed hard as he hung up the phone and sharply glanced in the direction of our associate.

“Len, gather the merchandise
right now
,” he snapped. “I’ll enter this myself.”

“Kat didn’t want to talk to me,” I said, feeling somewhat disappointed.

“Ah, she was probably just busy,” Paige said. “But did you see that guy’s face? Priceless!”

I gave her a withering look.

Less than twenty minutes later, I walked out with Apple’s newest smartphone and a bagful of accessories.

I sent my first text to Kat:
Luv U. Thanks bunches, Kat.

She quickly replied:
Anytime, my love :)

I felt somewhat better about the entire affair; that was, until I got home and had to manually program my phone with all my old contacts information. My phone had been too outdated for their transfer process.

It was a real pain, to say the least.

Chapter 24

Caleb

A few days passed before I heard back from Gregory Hess.

I was pleased that he thought my idea had merit, though the prospective costs of pursuing the project further were higher than I’d expected.

Unfortunately, I needed additional resources that were way outside the capacity of my personal savings account.

I didn’t dare call Kat; she’d ask too many questions, and might even try to talk me out of the venture. And there was no way I’d ask Paige for money.

However, there was the unexpected investment from my Slovenia trip that Alton invested.

I stepped out onto the front porch and dialed my new smartphone.

“Hello, dear boy,” Alton answered. “Is everything okay?”

“Oh, absolutely. Everything’s fine,” I said. “I’m calling to ask a favor of you, but first, I need to ask if we can keep this just between us for now.”

There was a silent pause.

“That’s a tall order, given how sensitive Katrina is regarding your activities,” he said in a guarded tone.

“Uh, yeah. Well, I’m concerned that, if my idea doesn’t work out, she might be disappointed in me.”

“Then perhaps you should reconsider your options,” he said.

I winced. “Alton,
to be brutally honest
, I really need your support for this to work. I need for you to liquidate some—well, most—of my funds that you’re managing.”

“Whatever for?” he asked. “Those funds are intended for securing your financial future.”

“Yes, I know, but I’m examining some potentially ground-breaking research on a subject of personal interest,” I said vaguely. “I’ve researched this, and I have it on very reliable authority that my venture has a high prospect for success.”

“Is this a profit-making venture of some sort?” he asked.

This is so much harder than I imagined it would be.

“I suppose there’s the potential for that,” I said. “However, this would actually be more of a beneficial step forward for me personally. It would mean a great deal to me to pursue this.”

Seconds passed as I waited with crossed fingers.

Why do I feel like I’m begging my dad for money?

Hell, my real rat-bastard of a father wouldn’t even have had a dime to offer me after spending it on booze.

Stop. Don’t think about him.

Just as I was ready to give up hope, Alton said, “Very well, Caleb. I trust your instincts on this, but I hope you’re approaching this carefully and with a high degree of scrutiny.”

“Thanks, uncle,” I said, enjoying the use of that word. “I am. And this means a lot to me.”

“You’re welcome,” he said. “I hope all goes well. Let me know where you’d like the funds transferred to, and I’ll see to it.”

“Oh, and about Kat?” I asked.

“For now, we’ll keep this between us,” he said.

I let out a breath I didn’t realize I’d been holding.

“Thanks, Alton,” I replied.

We visited a short time longer about my research into Oliver Simonson’s background, but he failed to reveal why it was so important for me to use him as the focus for my dissertation.

An unimaginable amount of work went into a dissertation, and I challenged how little information might be available on Simonson to justify the effort. However, rather than be deterred, his enthusiasm for everything seemed to increase slightly.

This fellow better be worth all my research efforts.

After I got off the phone, I scheduled a meeting with Professor Gowan for that Friday afternoon to discuss the matter further. However, I had a suspicious feeling that Alton had already laid the groundwork for the project.

Before I knew it, the week had passed and it was Friday. By the end of my meeting with Gowan that afternoon, he’d asked me to write up an official proposal for him.

Just great, that had to be the fastest dissertation subject selection in Yale’s history!

Throughout the weekend and the following week, I was a complete grouch. The weekend came and went without a call from Kat, though a text to Alton resulted in his assurances that all was well. He said that she was merely extremely busy.

Too busy for me?

By Tuesday, the brief fifteen-minute chat she and I had that afternoon seemed like little more than a token gesture.

At least I knew she was okay.

Meanwhile, my life was a boring repetition of exercising or training, reading, writing, attending classes, and generally drowning in my own self-pity.

Wednesday evening, after Roman went off duty and left the house for an evening out, I crashed on the couch with a bowl of popcorn to watch a horror movie festival on the super-sized television mounted on the wall.

Just as Freddy Krueger was about to nab another victim, Paige grabbed my shoulders from behind and I lurched forward, flinging popcorn everywhere.

“You turd!” I shouted.

I grabbed her by one arm and her upper body and pulled her over the back of the couch to land beside me.