BooksBarbecue
Back Dead in the Family
Chapters (18)
  1. Title Page
  2. Copyright Page
  3. Dedication
  4. Acknowledgements
  5. Chapter 1 - APRIL
  6. Chapter 2
  7. Chapter 3
  8. Chapter 4
  9. Chapter 5
  10. Chapter 6
  11. Chapter 7
  12. Chapter 8
  13. Chapter 9
  14. Chapter 10
  15. Chapter 11
  16. Chapter 12
  17. Chapter 13
  18. Chapter 14

I could feel my mouth pinching together in a really unpleasant expression as I thought about that silence. But I had to pay attention to my own little problem right now, and I scooted out of the house, relocked the door, and hoped Bill wouldn’t pick up on my scent in the air.

I went through the cemetery as quickly as if it had been daytime. When I was in my own kitchen, I looked around for a good hiding place. I finally fi xed on the linen closet in the hall bathroom as a good spot, and I put the CD under the stack of clean towels. I didn’t think even Claude could use five towels before I got up the next day.

I checked my answering machine; I checked my cell phone, which I hadn’t taken to the service. No messages. I undressed slowly, trying to imagine what could have happened to Eric. I’d decided I wouldn’t call him, no matter what. He knew where I was and how to reach me. I hung my black dress in the closet, put my black heels on the shoe rack, and then pulled on my Tweety Bird nightshirt, an old favorite. Then I went to bed, mad as a wet hen.

And scared.

Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Claude hadn’t come home the night before. His car wasn’t by the back door. I was glad someone had gotten lucky. Then I told myself not to be so pitiful.

“You’re doing okay,” I said, looking in the mirror so I’d believe it. “Look at you! Great tan, Sook!” I had to be in for the lunch shift, so I got dressed right after I’d eaten breakfast. I retrieved the purloined CD from under the towels. I’d either pay Bill for it or return it, I told myself virtuously. I hadn’t really stolen it if I planned to pay for it. Someday. I looked at the clear plastic case in my hands. I wondered how much the FBI would pay for it. Despite all Bill’s attempts to make sure only vampires bought the CD, it would be truly amazing if no one else had it.

So I opened it and popped it into my computer. After a preliminary whir, the screen popped up. “The Vampire Directory,” it said in Gothic lettering, red on a black screen. Stereotype, anyone?

“Enter your code number,” prompted the screen.

Uh-oh.