The Vampire (THE VAMPIRE Book 1) (71 page)

She had saved up her own money! Well, it couldn’t be helped. He would pay her fare back, at least. She was really going to be mad. Worse—she just wouldn’t understand. She would think he had something to hide. Which he did.

If I send her home, I’ll never hear the end of it
. That tenacity of hers—she would become more determined than ever to find out what was going on—and she just couldn’t find out.

Think…think! What are my options? Maybe I could just run somewhere and—hide…no. She knows my address. And she would come to the door—and guess who might answer the doorbell—oh, no. That cannot happen. No
.

If she comes here she will want to stay with me. Well of course, where else. And that would be a total disaster
. He was so absorbed in those thoughts he forgot he had decided to forego the shower, but now having gotten in he distractedly turned the cold water on himself, and then jumped out a moment later, his wet hair dripping in his eyes, gasping from the shock. He tried to pull clothes on over his wet skin at the same time he was fumbling with his laptop.
I could find a hotel; keep her there until I can get her on a flight—or just have her stay there!—or…maybe I could check myself into a hospital—claim some mysterious malady—check myself in? It’s not like a hotel…
He sat down, half dressed, staring at his computer screen. “Okay. Look. You have to calm down. Think of something.”

He took a deep breath.
Okay. Hotel. Maybe I should do that…find a hotel; we can both stay there. She never has to see the house. I could take her around, show her a fun time in Boston, and then get her on the plane home…Okay…okay. Maybe
.

He started checking hotels in downtown Boston.
What the heck is going on in town this weekend?
The rooms available were quite expensive. He could afford it, but really, was it necessary to pay several hundred per night? He started looking a little farther out of town.

She wasn’t going to be happy with this arrangement. She would want to see where he lived. Check out the house and the neighborhood. It was a shame really. He had such a nice place; he really would like to show it off. The beautiful house in one of the best neighborhoods in a great city.
It’s too bad she can’t see it…I wonder if I could leave her alone at the hotel? Would it be safe?
Well, no; he’d have to stay with her, of course. Not that she would really be afraid. But it just wouldn’t be right. Hopefully he would not have to go back and forth much, if at all. He had wanted to avoid Augere anyway—well, this would do it. He would have his cell phone, in case he was needed. This might actually work. Of course, he was going to have to rent a car now.

He was still having trouble finding a hotel, even twenty miles out of town. He glanced at the clock. He really had to get moving with this.

He would have to rent a car at the airport…
that crazy kid!
He did admire her fortitude, pulling a stunt like this. It was so Carrie. He laughed. Yeah, well, he would prefer to admire those brazen qualities under different circumstances just now.

He got cash and his credit cards ready and then went back to his computer.
I would have found some way for her to come and visit,
he thought to himself, feeling a little guilty now. There wasn’t likely to actually be a convenient time, not ever though. Not unless Augere happened to be out of town for a while, alone, someday.

He really needed coffee right now. No time to make some. He would have to get some on the way.

Who would have thought it would be so difficult? Some hotels could only book one or two nights; some only had king sized bedrooms available. He finally found something nearly twenty-five miles out of town. He would definitely need a car. Time was running out. There wasn’t more time to think things through. Would he be able to get a car at the airport without a reservation? Maybe, but should he chance it? He might have to take a taxi from the airport, to the hotel, then go back later to get a rental car…or—maybe…he could borrow Augere’s car. Jason didn’t abuse the privilege and Augere had never said no. But why did it have to be now that he had to make this request, of all times? Just when things were a little tense between them. Just when Jason needed to avoid him. But there was no more time to waste. He had to do it.

I’ll just call him on his cell phone
. He didn’t know the number by heart yet. They had both gotten new numbers since the London incident. But the number was programmed into his phone.

I’ll just say I need the car for a few hours, if it’s okay, and then I’ll be on my way. Figure out the rest later
.

The call went to Augere’s voice mail. Which Jason suspected Augere rarely checked. Deep sigh. He was going to have to speak to him in person. Right now.

He went to Augere’s door and stood outside of it for a few minutes. He didn’t want to do this. He had not once ever needed to ring the bell outside of Augere’s door before. He stepped forward and rang it now, hesitantly. He waited. And then waited some more. He was conscious of time pressing. He had to get going. Then he pressed the doorbell again, a little more insistently. The door opened quickly. Augere stood in the doorway, silently intimidating. His expression was nearly as dark as the view of the room behind him, with the door opened barely ajar. He looked at Jason without saying a word.

“I’m sorry—to bother you—something has come up and I was wondering if I could borrow the car for a few hours?”

Augere’s inscrutable gaze looked him over. Then, very slowly and deliberately, Augere turned his head to the hall table outside his door. Jason’s gaze slowly followed his.

Now Jason saw a note on the table. He hadn’t even thought to look for one before. Today was Thursday, their normal meeting day.
Oh, fuck. Were we supposed to have a meeting now?

A note usually meant no meeting. Or instructions for Jason to perform some task. Jason walked over to the table and picked up the piece of ivory note paper and read: “No meeting today. Take the car for scheduled maintenance.” The car did need an oil change. Damn. He hadn’t had to bother him at all. Jason nodded in Augere’s direction and looked up in time to see the door closing with a little more force than seemed necessary. Jason winced.

He checked the time on his cell phone. It was now 10:30.
If only I had thought to check first. If I was trying hard to be a terrible assistant, I couldn’t be doing a better job of it
.

Jason got the car and left for the airport, getting coffee as he pulled into a McDonald’s parking lot and used his laptop to continue searching for a hotel. Finally he had success, and made the reservation. He got to the airport and parked barely in time for the arrival of Carrie’s flight.

After the hugs, some half-hearted scolding, and more hugs and laughter they went to collect her luggage. She had one large suitcase and a large carry on.
This is only for the weekend, right?
He wondered. “Wait, there’s one more,” she said. Then he recognized it as his own; he had left some of his luggage and stuff in Minnesota before taking off for New Orleans. He was glad she had thought to bring it for him.

“Yeah, well you left in kind of a hurry there.” She was already eyeing him suspiciously.

“I was going to ask Dad to ship it to me.”

“Oh, so you really weren’t planning to come home for Christmas then?”

“Why do you say that?”

“You mean—you are coming home for Christmas?”

“Well, I was thinking about it.”

“So you still might be coming home?”

“Well, I wanted to…”

Carrie sighed. “Well, are you or aren’t you? Because you left all of us with the impression that you weren’t.”

He had no recollection of that. If anything, he would have had to end up back in Minnesota, and would be there now in fact, if things hadn’t gone the way they did in New Orleans.

“What do you mean?”

“When Mom and Dad kept dropping those hints about your Christmas plans…hmmm?”

“They did?” He asked with surprise.

She nodded. “And you kept saying ‘I’m not sure’ or ‘Maybe…’ or ‘I don’t know yet.’”

“I did?”

Carrie’s facial expression was one of exasperation. “That’s why I came to see you. Because it looked like you weren’t coming home for Christmas, and maybe you just didn’t want to come out and say it. Besides, I wanted to see Boston.”

“So—are Mom and Dad upset?” They had started moving toward the short term parking lot with luggage in tow.

“Well, they were discussing it over dinner one night. Then Evan said that if you weren’t coming home—he wanted to go to with his girlfriend’s family to their winter cabin, and well, then Mom started crying. Because ‘nobody’ was going to be home for Christmas.”

“Oh, no.”

“Yeah. Then Dad said well, maybe, just this one year, if we won’t all be together, we could do something different, and then all get together again next year.

“And then Mom said ‘like what?’ She wasn’t happy, I can tell you. And, well, to get to the point—Mom and Dad and I are going on a cruise over Christmas and New Year’s.”

“What? So no one is even going to be home? I can’t believe you all made plans without me.”

Carrie stopped walking and stared at him. “Because you wouldn’t commit to coming home!”

They continued walking. “Well, I have to go to New Orleans with my boss anyway.”

“So then what difference would it—wait, didn’t you just go there to meet him—?”

They were in front of the car now, and Carrie paused to express her approval. “Nice ride, Jason! Is this yours?”

“No. I just get to drive it.”

“Pretty, pretty good. Totally cool.”

As they drove away from the airport, he told her he had to stop to get the oil changed. They dropped the car off, and then walked to a restaurant next door to get lunch. He broke the news to her about needing to stay at a hotel and the pouting began immediately.

“But I want to SEE where YOU live! That’s the whole point! I want to hang out with you at your place; cook for the two of us. I promised Mom and Dad I would take lots of photos of your place. YOUR place. I don’t need to take photos and have memories of my stay at some Day’s Inn.”

“I understand that. But it is a really nice hotel. Big screen TV; an indoor pool; breakfast is included—”

“None of that is important!” She pouted. “I pictured the two of us in your place—whatever it looks like.”

“But the thing is—it is really my boss’s house. And you didn’t even give me time to bring up the idea to him. I can’t just invite people into his home.”

“People? I’m family. And I thought you had your own, you know, your own place. So how would he even know?”

“He just—would.”

“What kind of doofus jerk won’t even allow you to have your family come and stay with you for a few days?”

Jason had never been a whiner. He totally despised people who were whiners. But he suddenly felt a whine coming on. He considered just giving it a go. Try it out. He gazed out at the busy traffic rushing past on Route 1A and imagined himself whining.

“It’s not like that—”

“Is that the reason, really? Or is there some reason you don’t want me to see where you live…? Is it, you know, a little less, like maybe kind of disappointing—to you?—because you know you never have to worry about stuff like that with me—”

“No. That is not it. Not at all. My boss is one of those people who really just likes and needs his privacy. He just would not be comfortable with people he doesn’t know staying at his house.”

She pulled the dreaded cold shoulder/pout combo out of her arsenal. A cold breeze blew over him and he shivered a little suddenly. She was already growing sullen. He knew that look all too well. She’d lived before, he suspected, and in previous lifetimes armies of fierce men had been ambushed, struck down, and lay crumpled at her feet, with just that one look.

“Look—” he began with forced cheerfulness, “we can still have a really great time. I’ll show you around, take you to some great places; we can eat out every day.” He prattled on, trying to put a positive spin on the bad situation. It wasn’t going over well.

“Am I even going to see where you live?” she asked with a sullen look.

Jason imagined doing a quick drive by, pointing out the place as he sped off, and almost laughed out loud. He stopped himself when he knew Carrie would fail to see any humor there. He wanted to shake his head no. It seemed like such a normal, simple request but it was just impossible. Was he overreacting? Seeing problems where there were none? He didn’t think so. After all, this was Carrie sitting in front of him. She couldn’t get a look at Augere. If that were to happen, he would be done for. Game over. She would know something was up with him.

“Sure, maybe. I would just need time to arrange some things first…”

“So—what you’re saying is—not today?”

“Right.” He nodded.
Not ever,
he meant.

The dark cloud returned, settling over her features. He really did not like the look of this.

“And it’s all because of this
boss
of yours?” She didn’t wait for a reply. “He must really be a freakin’ monster,” she said with a sneer. “I’d love to tell him a few things—”

“Okay, well, shall we get going? Car’s ready by now.”

Carrie waited in the car while Jason registered at the hotel. Then she walked around their hotel room surveying the pleasant but predictable décor; a table and two chairs; a small sofa. A very pleasant room actually. She switched the TV on and sat on the bed with a heavy sigh. She looked at him with a sad and fixed sullen expression.

“Uhm, okay. I’m going to let you get settled in while I take the car back, in case my boss needs to use it, and then I’ll rent us a car for the weekend. I’ll get some of my things and I’ll be right back. Then we can go out.” He gave her a smile. Then his expression became serious and concerned. “Be sure to keep the door locked.”

He was upset and guilty but tried not to show it as he left her sitting there on the bed looking miserable and forlorn.

He drove back home in a pensive mood. Maybe he could find one of those car rentals that came and picked you up. He had completely forgotten to check into rentals at the airport, caught up in the moment with Carrie’s arrival.