nothing, just grasping Toby’s hand, like a child scared of getting lost. Toby glanced sideways at Piet. Maybe he should have invited the FBI here and let them see once and for all that Piet Connor was no longer responsible for Connor Inc. or much else in this world. But there was the risk that the visit would distress him. When Elizabeth came over, they’d have to talk this out. Heck, he might as well call her now, except—he glanced at his watch—London was eight hours ahead. Tom would be home from hunting by now, and they’d be unlikely to welcome interruption just to talk. He’d call later.
Meanwhile, he should ponder the ramifications of today’s visit. What exactly did the FBI know, or suspect, about Laran Radcliffe’s activities? If they had any notion of the full extent, they’d have arrived with subpoenas, and search and arrest warrants—not that it would have done them much good. Seemed they had suspicions but no proof. It was his job to ensure that no possible proof remained. Laran was history, his activities over and done with for good. Connor Inc. was once more a legitimate business, and he, Toby Wise, was going to see to it.
“Dinner’s ready, Mr. Connor!”
How the woman stayed so cheerful intrigued Toby, but mortals were different, and cheerful was better than dour. “Why not bring it out here, Nurse? I’ll feed him and you can leave. He’ll be fine.”
She hesitated. She’d balk totally if she knew she was leaving her frail patient in the hands of a vampire. Toby smiled. “Honestly. We’ll be alright. Piet likes listening to the ocean. I’ll feed him, and Nurse Fox will be here in an hour or so and she’ll ready him for bed.”
She hesitated just long enough to satisfy her professional scruples. With three school-age children at home, she more than welcomed getting off early. “If you’re sure it’s okay. It really would help, and Nurse Fox is always punctual. I’ve warmed up some nice soup, and there’s the vanilla pudding Nurse Watson made yesterday.”
A few minutes later, the sound of her Toyota faded in the evening air as she drove down the drive toward the main road, and Toby eased his hand from Piet’s and reached for the tray she’d left on the table. He had a strong suspicion that steak and onions or a nice roast chicken was a better choice for a man’s dinner than soup and vanilla pap, but since he’d been a blacksmith, not a cook, in his mortal days, it would have to do.
It was sad to see a once-strong man dribble his dinner down his chin. The damage that blasted Laran had caused! Yes, he’d received his comeuppance at Elizabeth’s hands, but the harm he’d wrought still lingered. “What made you ally yourself with him, old man?” Toby whispered as he spooned up the pale yellow pudding. “Was it just lust for power, or did he gain sway by force of will?” It was doubtful they’d ever know.
And right now, he, Toby, had better press his energies to deflecting the damn FBI, and bury the riddles of the past. Laran’s origins and final motives were a mystery. A lone vampire was an anomaly in Toby’s experience. They tended to hang together for support.
Supper over, Toby left the tray in the kitchen and turned to rejoin Piet on the terrace when his mobile rang.
“Toby? I’m sorry to bother you. It’s Adela.” Piet’s ex-wife and Elizabeth’s stepmother. “I’m having a bit of trouble.”
Indeed. She was house swapping with another witch somewhere near Dark Falls, on the Umpaqua River. She had helped out with Piet, that Toby granted, but he preserved intact his instinctive unease about witches. Elizabeth had proved her honor and her loyalty to the coven; Adela was another matter entirely. “What can I do for you, Adela?”
“Things here are a bit awkward…. I need to get away for a few days until everything calms down.” She sounded scared, definitely out of character for a mortal who’d faced down Vlad Tepes.
“What happened?”
Her hesitation no doubt underscored her reluctance to ask help from a vampire. “It’s the people here,” she replied at last. “Gertrude did mention difficulty, but honestly, I’ve never in my life encountered anything on this scale. First it was flower pots smashed and a rosebush hacked down. Then it was nasty notes on the front door blaming me for dead farm animals. As if I’d go around ripping the throats out of sheep and cows. Ridiculous!” Yes, but frightening too—at least to a lone female mortal in an unfamiliar place. “This was supposed to be a quiet summer and it’s turning out vile. I could take the mutterings, the nasty notes and the crossing fingers behind my back, but this afternoon…” Her voice tightened in terror. This was not the woman he knew.
“What happened, Adela?”
“I know I’m probably overreacting, but this morning I found all four tires slashed. I’ve called both service stations in the place and none have replacements. That alone wouldn’t have bothered me so much—hell, it’s a small town and I doubt they get much call for Italian import tires—but this afternoon I found a note under a rock on the back step: ‘Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.’ Quite honestly, Toby, I’m scared.”
He didn’t blame her. She had to be at her wits’ end to apply to a vampire for succor. “The night nurse is due in half an hour or so. I’ll come over as soon as she arrives. You can stay here.” He just hoped it wouldn’t be for long. But a witch hunt in this day and age? Ridiculous!
The minute Laura Fox arrived, Toby was out the door and heading his red Mercedes toward Dark Falls.
Chapter 2
It was heavy dusk by the time Toby reached the outskirts of the small town. Quiet and peaceful, a knot of tourists sitting out on the front porch of the Kountry Kitchen, the town looked like something out of a tourist brochure, until he drove through the town and saw Adela’s vandalized car parked beside the little house. She hadn’t told the half of it: The slashed tires were just the beginning. The windshield had been smashed and some noxious substance poured all over the bonnet. Someone wanted Adela grounded.
As he parked and walked over to inspect the damage, Toby glimpsed a shadow at the window and a flicker of a curtain. He didn’t blame her being cautious. Down at the end of a dirt road, a good hundred meters or more from the nearest neighbor, she should have been safe and unbothered. Instead…
“Toby?” She called from the half-open door. “Thank the goddess!”
At the panic in her voice, he crossed the front lawn in seconds and was inside the house, pulling the door closed behind him. “I’m here and you’re going to be gone in a jiffy.” The change in her was shocking. Gone was the confident, almost defiant woman he’d met a month or so earlier.
She backed away from him and slumped down on a chair. “I feel foolish calling you like an idiot, but afterward, I was so glad I did. This last thing freaked me out.”
“The car being vandalized? I saw what they’d done. Tires was just the beginning.”
She shook her head. “No, worse than that. I almost upchucked when I saw it on the back porch.” She looked pale enough to do just that, right here and now.
“What the hell happened, Adela?” Witch she might be, but she was a terrified woman and needed help.
She shook her head. “Just fifteen minutes ago. I went out to fill up the bird feeders before I left and…” She swallowed, and a shudder shook her shoulders. “It was horrible, and heck, they think I’m doing that sort of thing!”
“Doing what, Adela?”
She
