Cal tapped the hood of the lamp closest to him. “This warehouse, it’s dark. Plants need sunshine to grow. Got them set on an automatic timer on account of all my napping. Gets pretty boring, sitting here all night watching plants.”
My mouth dropped open as I understood. “UV lamps. Of course.”
“These lamps aren’t like the ones they’ve got at tanning salons. Those would dry out the plants real quick,” he carried on casually, as if we hadn’t just escaped death and witnessed a vampire burn to death. What must Cal’s day-to-day life be like, I wondered, if what had happened was no big deal to him? “But they do the same kind of job.”
“I see.”
“So, your boy over there must have been seriously allergic to the sun,” he said, clearly not believing a word of his propaganda. He winked, making it clear that he wanted to remain in the dark about the whole situation. His illicit pot growing must have given him enough to worry about.
“Sun allergy. Right.”
“Are you alright?” he asked with sincere concern. “I’m sorry I couldn’t get to you sooner. I must have been knocked out for a minute after that asshole tossed me. Did he biteyou?”
I fingered the throbbing spot on my neck, locating two puncture wounds. The bleeding had slowed to a tiny dribble, not much worse than a paper cut. What hurt more was the inside of my throat. It was like choking down glass each time I swallowed. “Yep. The guy was insane.”
“Loco,” he agreed.
I tilted my head toward the smoldering mound. “What do you want to do about that?”
He flicked a hand toward a hose coiled against the wall. “I’ll rinse him. Nobody will ever know the bastard was here.” I hadn’t noticed them earlier, but there were gutters set along the floor intermittently. Drainage for the watered the plants.
“You need any help?” I offered.
“Nah. Will only take a sec.”
36
“I’m so sorry, Olivia!”Michael apologized for what was probably the tenth time. “I just don’t understand why he did it.”
“Isthere a rationalization for crazy?” I replied dryly.
My bosses had already been informed that my days of decoying were over. I’d only gone to Dignitary because Michael had a check for me, a kind of “workman’s compensation” for what had happened at the warehouse. I’d told him it wasn’t necessary, but he’d insisted.
As the one who’d vouched for James, Michael felt partially responsible for the incident, and his regret was playing on loop. We’d finally get around to changing the subject, then he’d bring us back to it with a new round of apologies. Now it seemed he was trying keep the conversation rolling by applying a different angle, James’s motivation behind killing women. I was getting sick of talking about it.
Michael had sent a car to pick me up, otherwise I would have made a polite excuse to leave long ago. I wasn’t feeling too social as of late. Guess nearly being choked to death will do that to a girl. I hadn’t told Michael about the nightmares I’d had, or how I’d awakened screaming every night since the attack with my hands clamped over my neck.
I looked at the check as a distraction, my eyes bugging when I saw the amount. Looked as if my old boss wanted to compensate me forallof James’s murders and not just the one he’d attempted on me. If you think I told Michael it was too much, you are mistaken. My life, after all, had almost ended.
Marlena hadn’t personally offered any reparation, of course, so at least I didn’t have her relentless apologizing to deal with. Robert and Liz had been fretting over me constantly, so the last thing I wanted or needed was more mollycoddling. Not that Marlena had gone out of her way to make things right with me, anyhow. In the week that had passed since the incident with James, the closest thing to a sorry I’d gotten from her was, “Michael and I are happy to hear that you were not murdered. I cannot tell you how many problems that would have created for Dignitary.”
“Maybe James suffered from multiple personality disorder,” I said to Michael, just to give him something. The sooner he felt that we’d exhausted the topic, the sooner he’d take me home. I hoped.
He scratched his head. “Why do you say that?”
“It seemed so weird, the way it went down. The way James attacked me, it didn’t seem personalto him.”
“I don’t understand. Murder seems pretty damn personal to me.”
I sighed.Read the room, Michael. I don’t want to talk about it. “It’s difficult to put into words. James obviously intended to kill me, but I didn’t get the feeling that hehatedme—not until I skewered his eye with a bamboo stake, anyway. So, what was his motivation to hurt me? It was like he wanted to get it over with, like it was a chore.”
“Hmm.”
I shrugged. “Anyway, I’m happy it’s in the past. I know this is going to sound awful, but I’m glad he’s dead. He turned Liz into a vampire, and the way he’d bragged about killing women . . .” I shivered.
Michael started wringing his hands. I knew what was coming next. “Oh, Olivia! I’m so sorry about—”
“Really, Michael,” I cut in. “There’s no way you could have known. No way whatsoever.” I planted a kiss on his cheek. “So, no more apologizing, okay?”
