The Recruit (Book Three) (21 page)

“Evening.”

The man sitting behind the corner was the
perfect stereotype of a small town gas attendant. From the
trucker’s cap perched on his head to the large beer belly pushing
out the dirty and stained white t-shirt he was wearing, Gary could
almost hear banjo music playing.

He forced himself to smile at the man.
“Hello.”

He hurried down the aisle toward Jill as the
man stood up from his stool and peered out the grimy window at
their car. “That your car out there?”

Considering they were the only two people in
the place, Gary thought it to be an extraordinarily stupid question
but he bit back his smartass reply and nodded briefly. “It is.”

“Pretty fancy.” The man scratched at the
stubble on his cheek. “You folks from the city?”

“We are.” Gary took Jill’s arm in a tight
grip and squeezed warningly.

She looked up from the cooler in front of her
and frowned. “What?”

“We should get going. We have a long
drive.”

“
Yes, I know. But maybe you could swallow
your pride first and find out how the hell to get back to the main
highway? What do you think, Gary?”

Anger flared inside of him and he tamped
it down grimly. Now was not the time to get into a screaming match
with his wife. It had been a mistake to take this road trip, a
mistake to think that some time alone would glue the fractured
pieces of their marriage back together. Although in all fairness,
up until tonight it had been working – sort of. They had been on
the road for nearly four days and everything was going smoothly.
Hell, they’d even had sex last night for the first time in eight
months – laughing and giggling when the cheap motel bed had groaned
and squealed in protest. Jill was putting effort into repairing the
damage she had done, and he could almost forget the affairs she had
first vehemently denied and then begged forgiveness for.
Almost.

Now, he gave her a grim smile and tugged on
her arm again. “Time to go, honey.”

He prayed she would take the hint, that she
would see past his polite exterior and pick up on his odd sense of
unease that was growing by the minute. Eight years ago she would
have known immediately but they had drifted apart over the years.
He supposed it was more his fault than hers. His need to prove to
his father that he wasn’t a failure had driven him into a career
that demanded every ounce of his attention, and a part of him
understood why Jill had found comfort in other men’s arms.

“
Go where?” She rubbed the tips of her
fingers over her eyebrows, a gesture he used to found endearing but
now irritated the shit out of him, and gave him a brittle smile.
“Going to try taking yet another shortcut,
honey
?”

The bell tinkled over the door and a man
walked into the store. He was wearing a plaid jacket and a cowboy
hat
, and Gary’s
apprehension grew when he strolled to the counter and leaned
against it. Ignoring Gary completely, he scanned Jill up and down,
a small grin crossing his face.

“You get the pump fixed, Judd?” The man
behind the counter asked.

Judd shook his head and scratched at his
chest. “Nah. The damn thing is fucked. We’re gonna have to buy a
new one.”

He continued to stare at Jill, the grin on
his face growing, and Gary took her arm in a firm grip and pulled
her toward the door.

“Gary? That hurts!” She squealed at him.

“Let’s go, Jill!” He muttered under his
breath. The fear was flowing through him now, hot and unpleasant
and utterly ridiculous, and he could no longer ignore its
relentless call.

As he nearly dragged his wife toward the
door, he uttered a harsh curse when she ripped free of his grip
and, rubbing her arm and giving him a petulant look, hurried to the
counter.

“
Excuse me? We’re wondering if you could
tell us how to get back to the main highway?” She smiled at the two
men standing at the counter as Gary moved to her side.

“You lost?”

“
We are. Obviously.” There was a note of
impatience in Jill’s voice and another pulse of fear flooded
through Gary’s chest when the man named Judd frowned at
her.

“We’re fine, actually.” Gary said hurriedly.
He wedged his body between Jill and Judd and nodded to the men.
“Thanks anyway.”

“We’re not fine!” Jill protested angrily. “We
have no idea where we are.”

She peered around Gary’s body. “Could you
help us?”

Judd gave her another slow perusal and Gary
watched as Jill’s look of anger faded and she gave him her own look
of apprehension. She had finally picked up on the weird vibe that
was emitting from the two men and she reached for Gary’s hand.

He held it tightly before smiling at the two
men. “Thanks but I think we’re good.”

“Now hold on,” the man behind the counter
said lazily, “you ain’t never gonna find your way back to the
highway without directions.”

“We’ve got it handled, thanks.” Gary started
toward the door and swallowed down his fear when Judd’s large hand
clamped down on his arm.

“You think we ain’t smart enough to help?” He
asked quietly.

“No, no. Of course not.” Gary said
hurriedly.

“
You know what the problem is with the city
folk, Billy?” Without releasing Gary’s arm, Judd turned to the man
behind the counter. “They think we’re stupid. They think we ain’t
nothing but a couple of lazy, uneducated hicks.”

“That’s not true.” Gary replied. “We’re just
in a bit of a hurry so – “

“They think they’re better than us.” Judd
continued softly. “And it pisses me off.”

Billy snorted laughter. “Everything pisses
you off, Judd.”

“Let go of my arm.” Gary said suddenly. “Let
go of my arm right now or I’ll –”

“You’ll what?” Judd raised his eyebrows. “You
think because you go to the gym every day and lift some weights
that you’re tough?”

Gary took a quick look a Jill. Her eyes were
huge and the colour had faded from her skin leaving her pale and
washed out.

“
I’m going to ask you once more to let go
of my arm, you ignorant redneck.” He said quietly. “I’m not
–”

Jill yelped in surprise when Judd hissed
loudly and, with a smooth, hard gesture, tore Gary’s arm from his
body. Blood splattered across the counter and Billy yodeled loud
laughter as Jill stared blankly at the bright red liquid splashing
on to the grimy floor.

Judd bent his head and opened his mouth,
lapping at the spray of blood from the gushing stump as Gary turned
his head slowly toward her.

“Gary?” She whispered as his hand tightened
around hers.

“Jill?” His face was white and his eyes round
with shock as he stared at her. “Jill – run.”

She whimpered his name again as Billy hopped
over the counter with surprising ease for a man his size. He
grinned at her, his fangs glistening in the fluorescent lights and
a soft, moaning gasp escaped her lips.

“
Run.” Gary whispered weakly before
releasing her hand. With the last of his strength he gave her a
hard shove and Jill stumbled backward, her hands clutching at the
hem of her t-shirt as she backed up against the door.

Gary turned back to Judd. The man’s face was
covered in his blood and he grinned at him as Gary sank to his
knees. His vision was darkening and he blinked in confusion at the
vampire standing above him.

Judd licked his lips before sucking at the
blood on his fingers. “City folks taste awful.” He told Billy
conversationally. “I think it’s all that damn tofu they
eat.”

Billy snorted as he moved slowly toward
Jill. “Just because they’re from the city, don’t mean they eat
tofu. Christ, Judd, you
are
an
ignorant redneck.”

“Fuck you.” Judd said without malice before
grabbing Gary’s hair and yanking his head back. “You still with me,
Gary?”

The dying man stared blankly at him and Judd
reached out and sliced his throat open with one dirty fingernail.
Blood trickled out of his throat and Judd frowned.

“Well, shit. There ain’t nothin’ left.”

“
Of course there ain’t! You let most of it
drip on to the floor, you jackass!” Billy smiled at Jill as she
reached behind her for the door handle.

Judd eyed her thirstily. “We can share
her.”

“No fucking way. She ain’t very big and it’s
not my fault you lost your temper and wasted half your meal.” Billy
snapped.

He grinned in delight when Jill clawed
open the door and, with a loud shriek, tumbled out into the
darkness.

“
I love it when they run, Judd.” He
sauntered slowly out of the store.

* * *

Jill, her heart thudding painfully in her
chest, yanked viciously on the door handle to the car. It was
locked and she screamed shrilly. Gary had the keys in his pocket
and she pulled uselessly again as the door to the store opened and
Billy peeked his head out.

“Hey there, princess. Having trouble getting
into your car?” He grinned.

She screamed again and fled across the
parking lot, darting around the store and running toward the house
and barn. Panic clawing at her insides, her breath tearing in and
out of her chest, she fled past the house and bolted for the
dilapidated barn. She stumbled in the dark, falling to her knees
and tearing her jeans. Blood was dripping down her leg and she
whimpered in pain before climbing to her feet and staggering
forward. She could hear nothing but the sound of her own ragged
breathing and her heartbeat thundering in her ears, and she eased
open the door of the barn and slipped inside.

Gasping and sobbing, she ran forward and
barked harshly in pain when she ran into something smooth and
metal. It was a car and she stared blankly at it for a moment
before trying the driver door. It was locked and she bit back her
sob of fear as she glanced behind her at the barn door. It stayed
closed and she took a few deep breaths before staring around her.
Her breath caught in her throat in a ragged moan and she clamped
her hand over her mouth. The barn was filled with cars and she
realized with sudden, horrifying clarity what it meant.

Billy was going to hunt her down. He was
going to hunt her and hurt her and when she was dead like Gary, he
would simply drive their car into the barn and park it with the
others. There were at least a dozen cars in the barn and as she
hurried deeper into the barn, she glanced into the window of a
mini-van. A child’s stuffed animal was lying on the back seat and
she moaned loudly as the door to the barn opened.

“
Come out, come out wherever you are,
princess.” Billy’s voice, mocking and full of black humour, drifted
to her and she dropped to her knees behind the van. Arms shaking
madly, her hair hanging in her face, she crawled silently across
the dirt floor. Her bloody knee left small prints in the dirt and
she wondered briefly how long it would take for the vampire to
smell her.

She crawled faster as Billy, whistling
cheerfully, shut the barn door with a loud bang. She leaned against
a car, trying to slow her breathing and the pounding of her heart
as she listened to Billy’s footsteps grow closer.

Her mind jabbering useless half-formed
thoughts, she flattened
her body to the ground and slid on her belly under the car.
Tears streaming down her cheeks, she held her breath and listened
carefully. There was no sound at all and the sudden silence
frightened her more badly than the vampire’s whistling.

She screamed hoarsely when an ice cold
hand wrapped around her ankle and she clawed frantically at the
dirt. She screamed again when one perfectly manicured fingernail
peeled back sending a throbbing bolt of pain through her hand, as
Billy dragged her easily out from under the car. He lifted her to
her feet and chuckled when she kicked at his shins.

“You’re a feisty one, aren’t you?” He crooned
before wrapping his hand in her hair and whipping her head
back.

“
Please don’t! Please, please, please -
”

“Shh, now. I don’t want to listen to you no
more.” He grinned at her. “Keep that pretty mouth of yours shut or
I’ll –”

She screamed again when he was pulled away
from her, his hand taking a fistful of her hair with it. She fell
to the ground and stared dazedly at the large dark-haired man
standing above her. He was holding Billy by the throat, and the
vampire hissed and snarled at him as a look of distaste crossed the
man’s face.

“
You’re pathetic.” He said
softly.

Jill watched wide-eyed as the man’s nails
lengthened and he sliced across the
throat of the struggling, writhing vampire in his
grip. Billy’s eyes widened in surprise and he clutched at his neck
as he made a harsh, gargling noise of protest.

The man sneered at him before wrapping his
hand around Billy’s hair and ripping his head from his body. As the
vampire’s body burst into ash, the dark-haired man dusted his hands
off before crouching and holding out his hand. “Stand up, lovely
one.”

She scooted backwards on her butt and a brief
look of irritation crossed the man’s face before he snagged her by
the wrist and lifted her easily to her feet. He stroked her cheek
soothingly and smiled down at her.

“There, there. It’s alright now.” His voice
was deep and thick with a German accent.

There were another dozen men behind him,
each of them just as powerful and large as the one standing before
her, and she gave them a dazed look of incomprehension. They were
wearing dark suits and red ties, and she moaned in terror when the
one holding her wrist smiled again and his fangs flashed in the dim
light.