As I hung up, Nathan walked out of the kitchen with some garlic and told me to try and find the cross necklace that my father had given me.
“I lost it,” I said with a grim smile, “last summer.”
He sighed. “You know, I never thought I’d meet someone more dangerous to us than our dad.”
“We don’t know for sure if Ethan killed our neighbor or those girls.”
Nathan scowled. “Don’t start making excuses for this…thing.”
“He has friends. Maybe one of them killed Abigail?”
“Just stop, okay? Ethan is no good for you. If he has killed people, then you have to stay away from him.”
“I know,” I said.
“Rub some of this garlic on your wrists,” he said, holding it out.
I backed away. “Yeah, right. I’m not going to walk around smelling like pizza, especially walking through crowds of people.”
He shrugged. “Fine then, let’s just go.”
Twenty minutes later, we arrived in town and parked at the marina. Duncan was waiting for us in the shop.
“Hey, Duncan,” said Nathan.
“Hey, Nathan.”
Duncan walked over and put his arms around me. “Are you okay?”
I nodded.
He tilted my chin up and stared into my eyes. “I’m not leaving your side anymore. Not until this guy is behind bars. Or… whatever the hell he is.”
I nodded.
“Wow, you look… beautiful,” he said. “I’d better keep my eyes on you.” Then he brushed my lips with his.
“Let’s get going, I’m starving,” interrupted Nathan.
Duncan smiled and put his arm around my shoulders as we started walking towards the town festival.
“Wow, they really go all out,” said Nathan.
Large tents and carnival rides were set up in the park and the smell of succulent barbequed meat and corndogs drifted through the air. Crowds of people were already stuffing their faces, standing in line for the rides, or chasing after their kids.
Nathan groaned. “I’m starving, lead me to the chow.”
A half hour later we were sitting at a picnic table watching Nathan devour his second helping of ribs and listening to some band play old time rock-n-roll songs. Nathan’s cell phone began to ring. He licked his fingers and answered the phone.
“Mom’s on her way,” he said after hanging up.
“Nikki!”
I looked up and saw Susan walking over. I introduced her to Nathan and Duncan.
“I thought you had to work today?” I asked her.
“No. They closed down for the day because of the festival, thank goodness,” she answered.
“Did you eat yet?” asked Nathan, sliding over to make room for her at the picnic table.
She shook her head. “No, but that’s okay. I’m going to get something later.”
“You can sit down with us. I don’t bite,” he said, his lips curling up. “Unless you want me to.”
Susan blushed and sat down next to him.
I smiled in amusement as Nathan began teasing her some more. Susan looked totally different out of uniform and reminded me a little of a younger Jennifer Aniston. My brother must have liked what he saw, because he was totally laying on the charm.
“So, do you know this Ethan character?” asked Nathan after a while.
“I only know that he pursued Amy and she had this notion he was a vampire.”
“Did she say why she thought he was a vampire?” asked Duncan.
She shrugged. “Just that he only came out at night and had this power to make her do whatever he wanted. It freaked the hell out of her.”
“So, did he ever try hitting on you?” asked Nathan.
She stared at her clasped fingers. “No, but I went out with one of his friends a couple of times.”
My eyes widened. “You went out with one of the guys he comes in with at night?”
“Not one of them. I went out with Drake, who was more of a loner. Then, he kind of just fell off of the face of the earth. He used to come in at night alone and we’d go out after my shift. Then one night, he just never came back. I tried calling him but he never even returned my calls.”
“Did you really think he was a vampire?” I asked.
She shook her head. “No. I mean he was kind of intense and kept weird hours, but of course he wasn’t a vampire. There’s no such thing, right?”
Nathan and I stared at each other, but didn’t respond.
“Did you ever go to his house?” asked Duncan.
“We stopped by once, but he made me wait outside. He lived with Ethan and the others; they rent this house on the edge of town.”
“You didn’t think it was weird that he made you wait outside?” I asked.