Murder in Vein (2010) (31 page)

"You might say," Dodie added with a slight smile, "that we can
now only eat with our noses."

Madison took a drink of soda, glad she could taste everything
on her plate. "Colin keeps oranges and lemons in his apartment
for the same reason."

After a few quiet moments, Madison looked from one Dedham to the other. "Are you guys okay? You seem a bit paler than
usual-and droopy."

"It's the sun, dear," Dodie explained. "It saps our strength."

Madison became alarmed. "Then we should go right now and
get you home."

"We're fine, Madison," Doug assured her. "Really. Once we're
home, we'll recharge good as new. It's actually quite nice being
out in the day for a change."

While she ate, Madison kept one eye on the Dedhams and
one eye on the group in the corner. The latter had finished eating
and were relaxing before paying their tab and going back to the
office. The obnoxious salad guy had not shown. She wiped her
mouth with a napkin and scooted out of the booth.

"It's a long shot," she told the Dedhams without explaining
her plan, "but it's worth a try."

Grabbing a pitcher of iced tea from the back counter, Madison glided over to the corner booth. "Anyone need a refill?" she
asked the group as she held out the pitcher. Two of them scooted
their glasses forward and thanked her.

As she filled the glasses, Madison asked as nonchalantly as
possible, "Where's your friend-the one who always orders the
Cobb salad?"

"Con called in sick today," a woman with purple-rimmed
glasses and short red hair answered. "At least he said he was sick."
Everyone laughed.

"Con?" Madison said, realizing her long shot had not come in
a winner. "I thought his name was Ben. My mistake."

"It is," one of the guys piped up. "Benjamin is his middle
name. Some people know him as Ben instead of Conrad, especially outside the office where no one knows his dad, who's a big
shot at the studio. At the office, he makes sure everyone knows
who he is."

"Conrad Benjamin Winthrop Jr.," said the red-haired woman,
drawing out the name with a nasal tone.

"Yeah, man," another of the men at the table said to Madison.
"We're really sorry he gives you folks in here such a hard time.
He's the same way at work"

"No problem," Madison told him with a smile. "People like
him are definitely in the minority here." She started to walk away.
"Have a nice day."

After putting the tea pitcher back, Madison rejoined the Dedhams. "Did you tune in to that?" she asked them.

"Sure did," answered Doug. "Sounds like he might be our guy
after all. That long hair is probably a wig."

hen they returned to the Dedham house, Doug and Dodie
retired immediately. Madison was also very tired. She'd
had only a couple of hours' sleep at Colin's and tonight
would be out very late again. She wasn't sure what Samuel meant
by "bring your toothbrush" but thought it a safe bet she wouldn't
be returning to the Dedhams' until daybreak. She was burning
the candle at both ends living both vampire hours and human
hours.

Madison tried to take a nap, but the events of the night before
and that morning were hard to ignore. She would have to spend
several days cleaning out her apartment, trying to sort out what
was salvageable and what wasn't, though much looked ready to
be junked. Maybe it was time she looked for a nicer apartment.
Seemed like now would be a good time, but that would depend
on the job situation. She could hardly spend more on an apartment if she didn't have a job to go back to next week. She never
talked to Kyle about it. With his own break-in on his mind, when
he did emerge from the back office, he was irritable and not focused on anything but the vandalism. And the last thing Madison wanted was to alert him that his break-in might have been
tied to her. Before leaving, she simply told him how sorry she was
about what had happened at the diner and promised she would
call him at the end of the week.

Realizing sleep was futile, Madison got up and went to her
computer and turned it on. The Dedhams had WiFi, so Madison connected to the Internet right from her room. They were
going to run a search on Conrad Benjamin Winthrop Jr. later,
after everyone was rested, but since tossing and turning was getting her nowhere, Madison decided now would be a good time.
Googling his name brought up some interesting items, especially
about his father. Winthrop Sr. was one of the founders of the studio where Ben worked. No wonder he used his full name at the
office; he was cashing in on Daddy's reputation and clout.

Madison sifted through the various articles that popped up.
Most were about Ben's father. Ben had a Facebook page, but only
his Facebook friends had access to it. The photo attached to the
account was not a close-up, so she couldn't tell much from it. She
moved on to the Google image search. There she found several
photos of Ben with his father and tried to picture the younger
man with long hair and sunglasses. There were none of Ben with
his mother or any siblings, just with his father. She still didn't
have any solid proof that he was the Ben from Dark Tidings, but
there just seemed to be too many coincidences.

When she couldn't find an address for Ben online, Madison
considered going back down for her nap. As she shut down her
computer, she heard the doorbell ring. A moment later, there was
a knock at her bedroom door. It was Pauline, bearing a large box.

"What's this?" she asked when Pauline brought the box in
and set it on the bed.

"Won't know until you open it."

The box was white and tied with a blue ribbon. The logo of
an expensive Beverly Hills clothing store was embossed into the
cardboard. Madison opened it to find several articles of clothing
separated by delicate tissue. She pulled out the top item. It was a
cashmere turtleneck sweater the color of fine gold. Under it was a
pair of copper-colored wool slacks. Another sweater and another
pair of slacks were beneath them. At the bottom of the deep
box was a fine-knit dress in deep green. Madison held the gold
sweater up to her and looked in the mirror. It complemented her
creamy complexion and brown hair and eyes perfectly.

"Did the Dedhams buy these?" she asked Pauline.

Pauline looked puzzled. "I don't think so. I think Mrs. D
would have had more fun shopping with you than shopping for
you." She fished around in the tissue until she found something.
"Look, there's a card." She handed it to Madison.

Madison read the card over several times, not believing its
contents.

"Well, what is it?" Pauline asked with impatience.

"It's from Samuel," Madison told her. "It's an apology for
ruining my top last night."

"He ruined your top?" Pauline cocked an eyebrow at
Madison.

"It was during the meeting here at the house. Just an accident." Madison had no intention of telling Pauline about the
marks on her neck and Samuel's reaction to them.

Pauline fingered the fine weave of the slacks. "You tell that
vampire if this is how he apologizes, he can ruin all my clothes if
he wants."

"These are very expensive, Pauline. I can't accept them."

"Why not? To Samuel La Croix, the cost of these duds is like
you and me going to Target. Enjoy them."

Madison flushed, thinking how Samuel had admitted that he
wanted her, and not just for her blood. The flush turned to real
heat remembering his fangs against her neck. The next mental
image was of Colin ravaging Miriam. With short, quick movements, she shook the thoughts from her head and dropped down
on the bed next to the elegant box.

"I'm so confused, Pauline. One minute Colin's turning me on,
the next it's Samuel. I've never been like this before. I like it and
hate it at the same time."

"It's the vampire charm," Pauline told her with sympathy.
"There's something alluring about them, no doubt. Both of those
men are handsome, rich, and mysterious-a perfect potion for
turning a girl to jelly. I saw it plenty with Mr. D before he met
and married Mrs. D. He had women following him around like
he was the pied piper. It's the same with the female vampires.
They're regular femme fatales when they want to be, especially
that Isabella."

"But you fall for it, too."

Pauline laughed. "I'm just an old married woman soaking up
the sweet talk like a kitten at a saucer. But you-you're different.
Samuel La Croix isn't just apologizing here, he's wooing you."

"All I want is my life back," Madison said with a sagging sigh.
"I want to go back to when I didn't know about vampires and
blood sucking and bloodlines."

"From what Mr. D told me when you guys got back, you don't
have much to go back to anymore."

Madison jutted her chin out. "Unless some crazy vampire
worshiper gets to me, I still have my life. My apartment was just
a box of things; I can replace those. And I can get another job if
Kyle cans me. I have no intention of being the mistress of a vampire-not Samuel's or Colin's, no matter how rich or handsome
they might be."

Pauline reached a hand out and touched the top of Madison's
head. "Good girl." And Madison knew she meant it.

Later, when Samuel came by to pick Madison up, he eyed her old
jeans, sweater, and sneakers with narrow eyes. "You didn't like the
things I sent over?"

Madison walked over to the dining table where the big white
box was waiting to be handed back to Samuel. "I can't accept
these. You'll have to return them."

Samuel didn't ask why. He knew why. "They were an apology
for the damaged blouse, nothing more."

"Then just replace the shirt you tore and we'll call it even."

Opening the box, Samuel looked inside. The clothing had
been carefully folded and placed between the tissues like they'd
just come from the store. "Instead of accepting them all, why
don't you just pick one of these as a replacement? That's it. Just
one.

"Just one?" Madison asked. "And only to replace my other
top?"

He nodded. "Pick your favorite, and I'll return the others."

It sounded reasonable to Madison. She knew immediately
which article she wanted-the gold sweater. Gently, she lifted it
from the box and draped it across the back of one of the chairs.
"There. You happy?"

Samuel grinned. "I'll be happier if you would put it on and
wear it tonight."

After a slight hesitation, Madison went upstairs and slipped
on the sweater. It fit her perfectly and felt as soft as an angel's
touch against her skin. When she came downstairs, both Samuel
and Pauline looked at her with approval.

Pauline left the house when they did. Samuel put the box
containing the other clothing in the trunk of his car and climbed
behind the steering wheel.

"No Gordon again tonight?" Madison noted.

"He's on a different assignment. Doug called and gave me
Ben's real name. I'm having Gordon track him down. If he does,
he'll stick to him like glue." He pulled out of the driveway. "With
Colin and Doug at Bloodlust, Dodie at Dark Tidings, and Gordon tracking down Ben's home address, if that bastard shows up
anywhere, we'll have him."