Chapter Five
Sensors were triggering the night security lights positioned around the truck stop as John pulled into the large lot. The place was a beehive of activity. What appeared to be a steady stream of truckers and travelers were pulling in for fuel, a shower or late dinner, and another cup of coffee to go.
Though he’d been driving fast and keeping their stops brief, John didn’t have much hope as he carefully surveyed the vehicles at each fueling station. He did a double take. Yes. It was Sabriento’s dark green Ferrari sitting in the last bay of pumps. John figured he’d chosen that spot for the small cushion of privacy it provided.
Even though it had been an extremely long day, he couldn’t believe he’d found them so fast. Pulling around the sloping asphalt lot, John parked three rows away from the Ferrari before shutting off the engine. Twisting around in his seat, he checked on Cody. Sometime in the last hour, the tot had given up his valiant fight against sleep. Thumb crammed between rosebud lips, his little mouth worked in time to his delta waves while a trail of contented slobber slid down his chin.
John, however, wasn’t deceived. Sleeping kids might look cute and innocent, but now he knew differently. All they were doing was recharging their mayhem batteries. He smelled the sour milk soaking Cody’s top and the urine filling his diaper. Good grief, he was wet again. Each stop for gas, he’d change the kid, feed the kid, and let the kid stretch his legs. Children were disgusting and behaved like little drunks. And just like a drunk, they could suddenly pass out and slumber peacefully in puke and piss-soaked clothing.
John had discovered that feeding was the key to poopy diapers. About twenty to thirty minutes after eating, the kid would get strangely quiet. Another few minutes and the interior of his vehicle would start to reek. He supposed he ought to be grateful that none of the succeeding messes had come close to that first massive dump.
There had been some amusing parts during the long day. John had kept himself awake by endeavoring to pick the real words out of the boy’s jabbering. The kid was smart, he thought—as smug and proud as any parent. Not yet three and Cody could rattle off several phrases and did so constantly.
The majority of these mostly discernable two to four-word sentences had mama inserted into them. Currently “Want Mama” was running neck and neck with his new favorite word “Thit.” After hearing him squeal it for the umpteenth time, John started to feel guilty.
“Better get that word out of your system”—he’d advised earlier as he sped around a slow-moving travel trailer—“because I don’t think your Mom would approve.”
Cody jabbered something that ended with, “Thit.”
John fervently hoped he wouldn’t be called upon to explain to an irate mother how that particular term had entered her child’s lexicon. “She’ll probably kick my ass for teaching you the word in the first place.”
After prattling some more, Cody plainly added, “Ass.”
John gripped the wheel tighter. “Forget I said that. Honestly. Why out of everything I said, is that the only word you repeat?”
“Ass.”
“Worse than a damn parakeet,” John muttered. This time, though, he remembered to keep his voice pitched too low for the kid to hear.
Other than that, he had to admit, he’d gotten a kick out of playing with the pint-sized cowboy. He’d enjoyed watching him run around on chubby little legs during their various pit stops. The diaper changes, it went without saying, were still enough to make him quake. That was one chore he couldn’t wait to hand back to the boy’s mother.
Finding Sabriento while the kid slept made him feel as if luck had finally landed in his corner. Crossing his fingers, that Cody would snooze until he got back with his mom, John quietly slipped out of his SUV.
The Ferrari looked empty. That was his first thought as he cautiously approached. Scanning the area, all he saw were tired travelers fueling their vehicles. Those visible through the station’s plate glass window were busy selecting their purchases or lining up to pay.
The slight snick of a releasing latch got his full attention. Turning back toward Sabriento’s car, he watched the dark green door on the low-slung car open with agonizing slowness. Moving one inch at a time, the crack finally widened to expose the bottoms of a pair of small feminine feet with rope binding the ankles.
Clarkson.
Quickly, John surveyed the area again for any sign of Sabriento. The last thing he needed was for the traitor to sneak up on him before he got the woman. While he wanted to find the bastard and deal with him once and for all, he knew it would have to wait. First, he needed to get Cody and his mom to safety.
John glanced back at the Ferrari and saw she’d made a little progress. Now there was a woman that didn’t wait for rescue, and she’d been faced with an uphill battle. Due to her constraints, it was likely she’d been forced to wiggle her bound body out of the cramped backseat, over the gearshift, and into the front. Only after passing that difficult hurdle could she inchworm her body the rest of the way out of the little car. She was smart, and it seemed, coherent enough to exit feet first. Otherwise, tied up how she was, she might have fallen on her head.
Evidently, she was so intent on getting free that she’d lost awareness of her surroundings. Not once had she looked around for Sabriento. Neither had she called out for help. John frowned. More than likely every ounce of her energy was being expended to keep moving. Poor kid, he thought as he hurried forward to help her.
As he neared, he began to notice more things about her condition. Her torn and dirty clothing suggested she’d fought against her kidnapper. And while only the side of her face was exposed to him, it was enough to see the fine sheen of sweat layering her features.
He’d about reached her when her creeping movements stopped, she turned her head, and their eyes met. Hers rounded but John wasn’t sure she saw him. At least he doubted she could distinguish him as a means of rescue. He suspected he was nothing more to her than a dark shadow. A specter of Sabriento.
He knew he’d been right when terror sent those glassy, but lovely orbs rolling back in her head, and her body went limp.
John managed to catch her right before her head bounced off the doorframe. It was then he saw the ripped and ragged skin around the twin puncture wounds in her neck. He cursed under his breath. A clean bite would already be healing, but these fang marks were sluggishly oozing.
He couldn’t begin to comprehend why the bastard found it necessary to bite with such unnecessary cruelty.
However, his self-righteous disgust didn’t prevent the instinctive way his nostrils flared or the glide of his fangs lowering as he got a whiff of her essential life-force. Of course, any vampire would react to the intoxicatingly heady scent. It took a little integrity to resist temptation. Something the weasily Vincent Sabriento lacked.
Being jostled in his arms brought her partially back around, and Joann violently thrashed out. Bound fists, forming a single battering ram, she put all she had in one final attempt to free herself, and slammed them right into his nose.
That she was operating on survival instinct and blindly lashing out, helped him take the punch with resignation. As his nose bled over both of them, he couldn’t help but reflect that he’d now suffered abuse by both members of the Clarkson family.
“Hey now,” he protested a moment later when she took another whack at his face. He’d given her a free pass over the first hit, but this time she’d managed to get her fingernails into his skin. “Stop hurting me.”
It was risky, putting his head back within striking distance, but he bent his neck and placed his mouth close to her ear. “I’ve got you.” He crooned the words much as he had to her son. “Let me help. I’ll take you away from him so he can’t hurt you anymore. I’m taking you to Cody. Cody’s waiting on you. Let me take you to him.”
At the sound of her son’s name, she quieted. So he repeated everything, still foolishly speaking in what he considered an emasculating sing-song way, “That’s right. You’re safe now. You’ve been so strong. So brave. But it’s over now. I’ve got you. You’re safe, and I’m taking you to Cody.”
As he murmured, he also kept a sharp eye out to make sure they weren’t attracting any undue attention. The last thing he needed was for some patron to spot them and decide he was abducting Joann. The resulting ruckus might bring Sabriento running before John could safely extricate them.
Luckily no one seemed to be paying any heed, and the traitor was nowhere in sight. Opening the back passenger door, John went to place Joann inside on the seat next to the still napping Cody. Only to find himself thwarted when she clamped her arms around his neck tighter than a python.
That got to him. For some reason, he was absurdly touched by how both mother and son had clung to him in similar situations. Might be wishful thinking on his part, but, maybe, in their subconscious, they knew he was safe, a home base or a buoy in choppy seas. His brain stuttered to a stop. Whoa. It wasn’t like him to think about things in such quixotic terms.
The thought of belonging, of having a family again, struck a chord deep inside him to resonate loudly. It made him think about, want, things he’d lost long ago.
“Joann? Sweetheart?” He repeated with calm patience, “I’ve got you. I’m getting you away from here. You and Cody. He’s here in the car. Let me put you next to him.” Her hold remained rock solid. Pressing a fleeting kiss to the top of her hair, John said fervently, “I swear to you. On my life. I’ll do everything I can to keep both you and Cody safe.”
Then the words he’d so fervently promised hit him. Even though he’d been thinking about family, he was taken back by the tremendous burden he’d just placed on his own shoulders. Nevertheless, an Alden always kept his word. He now considered himself responsible for Joann Clarkson and her son. No matter the cost.
His reward came when some of the rigidity left Joann’s body as the fight or flight adrenaline left her system. This time she allowed him to loosen her arms from around his neck and to lower her onto the seat. As gently as he could, he removed the rope from her wrists and ankles before tugging the seatbelt around her. Before shutting the door, he stopped long enough to take her hand. The sight of broken fingernails and the bruising along her arms and around each wrist made him scowl.
Knowing she needed the comfort of touch, he set her palm on Cody’s leg.
Then he swept the newly purchased, soft-as-hell, blanket off the floorboard and tucked it around them. They made a picture. Mother and child back together, their bodies already instinctively shifting closer to each other.
Self-consciously, he stroked a finger down Cody’s baby smooth cheek. Then he ran the same fingertip over Joann’s deathly pale one. Equally soft, he thought, and for some reason that baffled the hell out him.
Maybe, just maybe, after all this was over, he’d find a way to convince Joann she should let him stick around. If not, he’d fulfill the promise he’d made by protecting them from afar.
Driving through the darkening night, he was aware that lack of sleep was getting to him. Not only had he worked the entire night before but he’d put in an all dayer dealing with an active toddler and chasing down Sabriento. Scrubbing a hand over his mouth and chin, he knew rest would have to wait until he’d found a safe place. They needed somewhere Joann could be tended to while recuperating.
She would need to take it easy for a bit. Earlier, while checking her pulse, John had found it fast and thready. He was afraid her blood loss might be clinically significant. However, he was fairly confident she hadn’t reached a fatal level. A few days of rest and increased fluid intake should have her back on her feet.
Her mental well-being was another deal entirely. From what sweet little Cailey had said about her life-changing interaction with Sabriento, the slimy bastard took great pleasure in terrorizing his victims and got off on hearing them scream as he fed.
Heading back down the highway, John pondered what it would take to have such a total disregard for the well-being of another living thing, and couldn’t. It was totally and utterly incomprehensible to him.
It was a fact that being bitten unprepared usually scarred a human for life. Even mesmerized to forget, some people retained the unconscious memory which would later present itself through paranoia. For instance, a victim could develop an unaccountable fear of strangers or sharp objects. According to John’s understanding, phobias were better than the alternative.
It was difficult for even the most open-minded to cope with the knowledge vampires existed. If she couldn’t handle it and without mesmerizing, this sweet-looking woman might go crazy. To save Joann the panic attacks and other side effects caused by severe emotional trauma, he’d willingly enthrall her. The only thing holding him back was one pesky little detail. He sucked at mind adjustments.
Born vampires were so much better at the mind control thing than those turned later in life.
Since he was now responsible for Joann’s aftercare, John didn’t want to compound things by screwing up.
At any other time, he’d take her straight to one of the Blautsaugers, but that family had enough on their plate. John suddenly brightened. Lustinus. Fate, it seemed, had fortuitously stepped in as he’d never have considered his old mentor if Commander Leto hadn’t mentioned him earlier.