Page 20 of Their Haunted Hearts (Detectives Kane and Alton #27)
Nineteen
He sat in his truck, his fingers cold as they circled the milkshake.
He sucked on the straw, one arm leaning nonchalantly on the open window as he watched the people climbing down from the bus and collecting their luggage from the underneath compartment.
He wondered if the vampires he sought understood how easy it was to pick them out of a crowd.
When people arrived in town, they usually had purpose.
They scanned the vehicles as they waited for a ride or had made plans to move to the next stage of their journey and, ticket clutched in their hands, moved off toward a line of waiting buses.
The vampires kept their heads down, likely trying to hide the red glow in their eyes.
They always started that way. They honestly believed that people are stupid, and that everyone would fall for their poor little girl act.
Most times the crowd would scatter and they’d be standing all alone with maybe a small bag or a backpack.
It was as if they were testing the location by tasting the air to see if anyone would take the bait.
They expected people to feel sorry for them and offer help—and oh, how they played on people’s feelings, drinking down their good nature as if it were nectar.
He’d witnessed it so many times. He could play the game, and although they often acted coy, very few refused his help in the end.
If they were reluctant to follow him to his truck, he’d pretend to leave as if he didn’t care and they’d run after him or call him back.
By then it was too late for them. He always drugged their drinks and they’d either fall asleep in the truck or at the table in the diner with no memory of him.
The drug he used made certain of that and by morning it had left their system without a trace.
The straw made a slurping sound at the bottom of the to-go cup and he tossed the empty container into the garbage can beside the truck.
By the time he looked back at the bus, the crowd had thinned and there she was.
This one was younger than the others, maybe eighteen, with long blonde hair falling to her waist. Pale skin and those big round frightened eyes.
He wondered how many poor souls she’d drained the blood from and over how many centuries.
She’d hide her fangs, keeping them tucked away until she had someone in her sights.
The evil coming from her spilled across the blacktop and mixed with the puff of exhaust from the bus as it drove away.
He pulled out his field glasses and peered at her, noticing she had a bruise under one eye, hastily covered with makeup.
He shook his head, disappointed. Most of his selections were perfect, but she had all the other attributes he needed.
She looked like an angel but the innocent look didn’t fool him.
He would bide his time and wait for her to need him.
A young blonde in the Triple Z Roadhouse alone after dark was a recipe for disaster, and he could play the knight in shining armor again.
He smiled as two pickups screamed into the parking lot and hunters, still wearing their bright orange vests, spilled out.
From the lack of kills in their truck beds, they hadn’t had any luck and were heading to the roadhouse for a meal.
They all noticed the lone girl, whistled, and offered her their company.
He smiled. Some days, others did his work for him.
One man, she could feed on safely, but not a bunch of yahoos.
He glanced in his rearview mirror. He’d changed his appearance.
He’d chosen worn jeans, a T-shirt under a sheepskin jacket, and a dark brown Stetson, his dusty cowboy boots were worn down at the heels and turned up at the toes.
He blended in with the locals as just another ranch hand.
His attention moved back to the girl. She checked her purse and chewed on her bottom lip, no doubt working out if she had enough to buy a meal.
As she pushed through the doors of the roadhouse, he took the wedding band out of his inside pocket and slipped it on.
Believing he had a wife at home sweetened the pot.
The girl would feel safe and the vampire would have two sleepy victims to hunt.
He checked his watch. It was five after ten as he walked toward her.
Excitement shivered through him and he breathed it in, enjoying the rush.
It was almost as good as when he drove the stake into their rotting hearts.