“How?” Paul asked.
Colby shrugged. “All he had to do was wait for her to start for the spring and somehow get her to switch directions. Once she was out of sight, he got rid of her tracks on that side and any evidence that she’d passed that way. He left her tracks leading in this direction, covered them with his own, and smashed bushes to make it look like she struggled.”
“And he used the sack of oats to make his prints deeper in the dirt so we’d think he was carrying Ginny,” Paul said.
She nodded. “I should have figured it out right then. It would have saved us a lot of grief.”
“Why, Colby?” Paul asked plaintively. “Why is the vampire doing this to us? Where did he come from and what does he want?”
Colby looked up at Rafael. “That’s a good question, Paul, and I don’t have the answer. It makes no sense.”
Rafael sighed. “The vampire has effectively destroyed the man’s brain. He’s rotting from the inside out. To him, what he is doing may make perfect sense, although to us it is elaborate and vile. He cannot think clearly anymore. He tries to obey his master’s bidding. More than likely his master did not say to kill the child so he is concentrating on drawing out his target.”
As much as she wanted Rafael there, he was swaying with weariness and she could see blisters rising on his skin. She touched his mind, as soft and delicate a probe as she could make it. Instantly she was driven to her knees, the pain so excruciating her heart stuttered.
Rafael’s hands were gentle as he lifted her to him, but his eyes were stern. “Do not do that again.”
She blinked back tears. Tears wouldn’t find Ginny and they wouldn’t stop the pain for Rafael. “Paul, I need my rifle. Take the mare and go back to the house and bring me my gun and extra ammo and a canteen.”
“You’ll find Ginny?”
“Absolutely I’ll find Ginny.”
Paul hesitated. “But what are you going to do with the rifle?”
“I don’t know yet,” Colby replied honestly, “but this is going to stop. Now go.”
He turned away, took two steps, and turned back. “What if you’re both wrong, Colby? What if he has her?”
“I’m not wrong, Paulo,” she told him. Colby had been reading tracks most of her life; she was certain she could find her sister.
“You know what we are through your link to Nicolas,” Rafael pointed out. “I am telling you, Ginny is not with the vampire’s servant and for that we can all be grateful. I sense his presence in one direction and hers in another. Colby hopes to send me away because I am not at full strength, but I won’t leave her until everyone is safe. You have my word of honor.”
Paul hugged Colby, needing to, needing her strength, deriving comfort and reassurance from her the way he’d done most of his life.
Colby watched Paul scramble out of the canyon and begin to make his way back toward the ranch house before she turned back to Rafael. “You look like you’re going to fall over.
I’m a good shot, Rafael. If it isn’t the vampire, I can take care of it.”
“They eat human flesh, Colby,” he said, gesturing toward the direction they thought Ginny had taken. “You find your sister and I will destroy the vampire’s evil creation.”
“What are you going to do?”
“Let him think you are alone. He will come after you. I do not like using you as bait, but it is the only way when I am so weak,
meu amor.
”
“I don’t mind being bait to get Ginny back. Are you certain Ginny’s alive?”
He took a deep breath, scenting the air. “She’s alive.” Rafael’s large frame shimmered. “It will be easier for me to endure the light in the form of mist. I will be close, Colby.”
She knew he would be. Rafael was in excruciating pain, yet he had still come to her when she needed him.
He is taking a terrible risk.
Nicolas’s voice was harsh in her mind.
Soon the lethargy will overtake him and he will be unable to move, and without cover, he will die.
I won’t let him.
She couldn’t change Rafael’s mind once it was made up. She could only try to locate Ginny quickly and get them all out of the climbing sun.
Colby began a slow, methodical search of the ground. She kept her eyes glued to the dirt, moving in an ever-widening circle. In a shallow depression behind the boulders she discovered a partial print, the worn left heel, an old rusty shovel. It was one she recognized. She and Paul had discarded it months earlier after the handle had broken.
It took twenty precious minutes to find where the man had lain in wait, his elbows making twin impressions in the grass on the knoll. He had watched the trail long enough to smoke three cigarettes. Conscious of the sun’s position, she carefully examined the ground, sure that the vampire’s puppet had some method of transportation. Again she used up precious time she knew Rafael didn’t have unraveling the trail as she backtracked him. A few hundred yards from his vantage point she found where he had left his horse.
Rafael. I’ve seen these tracks before. They belong to a man working for Clinton Daniels
—
his name is Ernie Carter. I ran into him near where I found Pete’s body. His eyes were red and swollen and he felt evil. Could he have killed Pete?
The idea that this man had been anywhere near Ginny terrified her.
It is likely.
Colby examined the trampled grass, found where the horse had grazed and its droppings, and knew that Ernie had been there for some time. She could see a clear impression where the heavy grain sack had rested against rocks, the weight crushing the grass beneath it. She bit her lip reading the story easily, the short strides taken away from the horse, obviously burdened. Ernie had laid out the scene and had gone back to the knoll to observe his handiwork. She found the telltale tracks, his distinctive heel mark where he’d spotted her tracking him and he’d whirled around, the longer strides indicating he had run to his horse.
He’s somewhere close by. He definitely spotted me and could be stalking me now.
For a moment her shoulder blades itched, expecting an impact any moment.
He is to your north, on foot now, moving through the brush. Neither Juan nor Julio has a clear shot at him.
Colby flung up her head, an unfamiliar coldness sweeping through her, an iron resolve. The vampire had not only done this to her, he had put Paul through something no one, let alone a child, should have to go through.
I can’t think about him, Rafael, I have to find Ginny. Please don’t let anything happen to Paul. Promise me.
Querida, Paul will not be harmed by this evil creature. I have him now, and I will destroy him. Paul comes now with your rifle.
At once her heart stilled. Rafael was determined to go into battle. He was mortally injured. By all rights he should be dead, not running around hunting for a servant of the undead.
She held out her hand for the rifle and Paul tossed it to her. He dropped the mare’s reins and swung down, handing her the box of ammunition. “Have you picked up her trail yet?” he asked.
Colby shook her head. “This man’s a skilled tracker. He’s brushed out her tracks for a good quarter mile through the brush. I want you to work out the trail, Paul, but it will be dangerous. You’ll have to pretend you’re me and you’ll be the
bait. I’ll work my way through the brush to get a bead on him. Rafael’s hunting him, but he’s badly injured and the sun is already up. I can feel how tired he is and how difficult moving is becoming for him.”
“What if she’s . . .” Paul trailed off.
Colby shook her head as she thumbed shells into the rifle. “She isn’t, Paul. Rafael says he’s certain she’s alive. What about you?” She paused, her gaze meeting his solidly. “Can you resist anything the vampire might have programmed into you?”
I am with him.
It was all Nicolas said, but it was enough to reassure her.
Paul nodded. “I won’t hurt Ginny. Nothing could make me hurt her.” He put the canteen strap around his neck. “And Nicolas De La Cruz is in my mind. He’s awake, so I guess it will be all right.”
“Take my hat and my long-sleeved shirt. Stay in the brush so he thinks you’re me. He has to believe that, Paul, can you do that?”
Paul took the hat and shirt, frowning as he did so. “You’re already burned.”
Colby ignored his comment. “I’m counting on you, then.” She took off running, her body low to the ground, using as much available ground cover as she could, working her way north. She knew Ernie was working his way toward her in the hopes of killing or capturing her. He was good, but he made mistakes and one of them was his continual need for nicotine. She could smell the cigarette burning as he smoked it somewhere ahead of her.
Without long sleeves to protect her arms, branches scratched her skin and, even with the cloud cover overhead, she could feel blisters forming. Her eyes burned, tearing continuously, and she knew Rafael was suffering even worse. She flattened her body in the midst of brush, crawling along an animal trail through the branches.
What do you think you are doing?
There was a distinct snap to Rafael’s voice, as if he had bared his teeth.
I’m protecting you. Paul is playing me and he’s nearly as good a tracker as I am. This man isn’t going to get close to either one of you.
I forbid this.
“Forbid away,” she muttered aloud. He was weak, nearly the walking dead, his body so ravaged and torn, but he was too stubborn to admit it. He needed help whether he knew it or not. She crawled closer to where her quarry had settled into the rocks, waiting for her. Waiting to kill her. A chill went down her spine as she realized that was the man’s single goal—to get to her.
Colby
. . . There was a warning note in Rafael’s voice, a promise of retaliation.
Just do your thing and let me do mine. This is who I am, Rafael, so if you’re thinking about hooking up with me for any length of time, get used to it.
This is who I am, Colby. You put yourself in danger at any time and I will wrap you up in an impenetrable barrier where nothing can touch you. It will take a great deal of my strength when I need it elsewhere.
She muttered an imprecation under her breath, calling him several names, none of which were complimentary. The man was impossible, even when he was on the verge of death.
She had pushed through the bushes a little farther and saw the vampire’s puppet. It was definitely the same man who had been with Tony Harris on her property near the mines. Her stomach lurched as the thought came unbidden that he had tried to feed on Pete’s body, that he must have been the one to kill him. Ernie Carter looked enormously strong, but disheveled, his clothes torn and rumpled. He was drooling and one eyelid drooped over his eye. He watched Paul through a pair of binoculars, but continually wiped at his streaming eyes.
Colby felt sick that she had to do the same. She was somehow related to the man. Once, he’d been just like Paul, innocent, until the vampire had taken a hold of him.
Not so innocent,
Rafael denied.
His mind and memories are rotten. Stay still, he is suspicious. Paul does not move as you do and he is noticing something is not right.
Ernie suddenly cursed aloud, tossed the cigarette to one side, and lifted the rifle to his shoulder, aiming at Paul.
Colby tucked her rifle into position, finger on the trigger. She was an excellent shot, but she’d never killed anyone before. With a sinking feeling, her finger began to tighten. She knew she didn’t have a choice. The sun blinded her, coming
out from behind the cloud and striking her in the face. It was all she could do not to cry out in pain as thousands of needles seemed to penetrate her eyes. She blinked rapidly to clear her vision, desperate to get off a shot before the stalker could hurt Paul.
“Paul! Get down!” She screamed the warning, knowing she was giving away her position, but uncaring.
Ernie immediately turned toward the sound of her voice and fired off several shots. The bullets whined through the air, thudding into the dirt feet from her. Colby squeezed the trigger, half blinded by the sun but determined to lay down covering fire for her brother.
Simultaneously, she heard the rifle fire from two other guns and knew Julio and Juan were doing the same. The vampire’s servant slipped back into the trees, crawling on his belly through the brush toward his horse. Colby caught glimpses of him, but couldn’t get a clear shot. Her heart nearly stopped when Rafael stepped into her line of fire, his back to her. Fresh blood was a giant pool on the back of his shirt.
No! No, Rafael.
He was too weak. She could feel the terrible drain of energy.
Nicolas! Oh, please, tell me what to do!
She screamed for his brother in her mind. Colby got her feet under her and ran, clutching her weapon, determined to help Rafael. She could see Juan and Julio sprinting down the slope, converging from two directions, trying to get to him. She hit something solid and fell backward, finding herself seated on the ground, a barrier blocking her. She could touch it, but she couldn’t see it.
Ernie lumbered to his feet, his red-rimmed eyes swollen nearly shut, but his head snapped around as he located his target. He brought the gun to his shoulder, although Rafael was only an arm’s distance from him. Rafael caught the barrel and twisted the weapon from the man’s grasp, tossing it away.
The vampire’s puppet screamed, a ghastly sound of rage and hatred, and rushed Rafael like a linebacker. He managed to wrap his arms around Rafael, sinking his teeth into the hunter’s chest and his fists into the wound in his back. He tore a chunk of flesh from over Rafael’s heart and spit it out.
Colby tried the rifle, shooting at the barrier, hoping to shatter it, but it remained in place. She could only watch in horror as the mutated human tore at Rafael a second time.
Rafael didn’t flinch away, but rather caught the man’s head in his hands and wrenched hard. The sound of Ernie’s neck snapping was loud in the early morning air. Colby drew air into her lungs in relief, but to her horror, Ernie didn’t fall. Rafael shoved him backward. The zombielike creature lurched forward, his head twisted at a peculiar angle. He roared, spewing spittle as he attacked.