Hard Times (A Sam Harlan Novel Book 2) (10 page)

“Elias,” he growled.

Elias’s jaw clenched, but he managed a clipped, “Tommy.”

“It’s Deputy Mueller.”

“Sure, Tommy,” Elias said. “
Whatever
you say.”

“You think you’re funny,” Mueller said, his scowl darkening. “How about we meet someplace later, just me and you, and we see how funny you are.”

Mueller easily outweighed Elias by twenty pounds and was almost a hand taller. Elias looked up into Mueller’s eyes. “I’m not
stupid
,” Elias said, snorting in the deputy’s face. “What’s your problem? I mean today, not just in general.”

“Where’s your sister?” Mueller asked.

Elias rolled his eyes. “Everyone is so concerned with my sister,” he said. “Why doesn’t anyone ever ask about me? Why doesn’t anyone want to know what kind of day
I’m
having?”

“Maybe nobody asks,” Mueller said, “because you’re a cocky little prick.” His eyes glanced over to us, finally acknowledging our presence. “I know you two. You were in Glick’s pawnshop yesterday. What are you doing here?”

“They’re also looking for my sister,” Elias said. “
Everybod
y is looking for my sister.”

Mueller’s eyes narrowed. “Really? Looking for your sister?” He frowned and eyed me intently. “What was your name again?”

I hiked my thumb at my chest. “I’m Sam and this is Callie. Mary Kate asked us to help Colden.”

Mueller blinked. “Colden? Why is he interested in Olivia?”

“Olivia?” Elias asked, surprised. “What are you talking about?”

Callie’s foot nudged mine under the table. “Wait,” I said. “Colden is looking for Elena. Why are you asking about Olivia?”

“That’s none of your damned business,” Mueller said before turning his attention back to Elias. “When was the last time you saw Olivia?”

“I don’t have to tell you anything, Tommy,” Elias said softly. “What do you want with Olivia, anyway?”

Mueller took a step toward Elias, who blanched at the deputy’s presence. “Just answer the question,” Mueller demanded. “When was the last time you saw Olivia?”

I turned to Callie, who watched the exchange with wide eyes.

Maybe I should defuse the situation.

“I’m sure Elias didn’t mean to be rude,” I said. “Nobody here is offering any resistance. I’m sure he would be glad to help if you just tell him why you’re asking.”

Mueller turned back to me, and this time his attention was like a spotlight shining into the nooks and crannies of my soul. “What was your name again?”

“Sam Harlan,” I said calmly.

“Well, Sam Harlan, this doesn’t concern you. Keep sticking your face where it doesn’t belong and maybe I’ll run the plates on the truck outside. I’m assuming it’s yours?”

I nodded. “Yup, that’s my truck. Knock yourself out. I’ve got nothing to hide.”

It wasn’t exactly true. The truck was still in Jack’s name, and my driver’s license still said Sam Fisher. The chances of him finding anything on Sam Fisher were low, but if he put enough effort into it, he might eventually track the name back to Arcanum, Ohio.

He might start asking questions, like how Sam Fisher was still alive even though Sam Fisher’s house had burned to the ground, killing his entire family.

A shiver ran down my spine, the lizard part of my brain trying to tell me something.

He may be young, but I best be careful around Deputy Mueller.

On the other hand, he was clearly interested in Olivia Mendoza. If I wanted to find out what was going on with Elena, I needed to find out why he was suddenly so interested in her younger sister.

During our exchange, I hadn’t noticed that Leticia had summoned Franco from the kitchen, but I felt the vibrations in the floor as Franco stomped around the corner, the ties of his white apron whipping madly behind him.

“Deputy,” Franco said with a sneer. “Decided to grace us with your presence? Don’t tell me, you’ve come for free chips and salsa to go with your free coffee.”

Franco got up in Deputy Mueller’s face and this time it was Deputy Mueller’s turn to step backward. “I was talking to your brother, Franco,” Mueller said. “This doesn’t concern you.”

Leticia Mendoza stood behind her oldest son, clearly agitated. “When you’re in our restaurant,” she said, “it concerns the
entire
family. Why are you questioning Elias?”

Mueller glared at Franco. “Where’s Olivia?” he asked, his face reddening.

“None of your damned business,” Franco said. “In fact, I have the right to refuse anyone service, and I’m refusing
you
. Get out.”

Mueller’s hand dropped to the gun on his hip and his fingers brushed against the strap that held it in place. “You sure that’s how you want to play it, Franco?” he asked quietly. “You really want to be on the bad side of local law enforcement?”

“We are not getting on the bad side of local law enforcement,” Leticia said, shaking her finger at the deputy. “We’re getting on the bad side of you. You heard Franco. Get out.”

Mueller stood, his face a splotchy red, and then he sighed wearily. “You’re making a big mistake.” He turned his glare at me. “You better watch yourself. I’ve got my eyes on you.”

Mueller left the restaurant, slamming the door behind him hard enough to make the glass in the nearby windows shake. The Mendozas watched him go, then Franco muttered under his breath, “Asshole.” He pointed at the door and asked Elias, “What was
that
all about?”

Elias shrugged. “He was asking about Olivia. You know how Tommy is.”

“Yeah, I know how Tommy is,” Franco spat out. “He better not lay
one
finger on Olivia.”

“Olivia would never have anything to do with that
pendejo
,” Leticia said to her sons. For the first time, she noticed that Callie and I still sat in the booth. She gave us her best fake smile but gave no indication she recognized us from the day before. “I’m sorry about that, folks. Your lunch will be free today. Sorry for the inconvenience.”

Before I could speak, she spun on her heel and returned to the booth near the kitchen where she went back to wrapping silverware. Franco stood glaring at Elias, then spun around and stomped back to the kitchen.

“Sorry about that,” Elias said, watching Franco go.

“When
was
the last time you saw Olivia?” Callie asked.

“After closing last night,” Elias said. “Like I said, I spent the night at my girlfriend’s.”

“Deputy Mueller seemed to think Olivia wasn’t where she was supposed to be,” Callie said. “Why would he think that?”

Elias’s eyes darted to the kitchen door and then back to us. “Olivia has always been a bit … contrary is probably the best word. She saw the way Tommy followed Elena around, like a lost puppy dog.”

I connected the dots. “You think Olivia is seeing the deputy.”

Elias shrugged. “When we moved to Marshalltown, there weren’t a lot of Latinos here. We had to depend on ourselves. It brought the family together. But, a funny thing happened. The people here were nice. Accepting. Pretty soon, we all went our separate ways.” He ran his fingers through his spiky black hair. “Man, I try to stay out of my family’s business. There’s a lot less trouble that way.”

* * *

Elias placed my steak burrito and Callie’s chorizo tacos on the table. “Lunch is on the house, like Mom said.”

He left us to eat in peace. I took a bite of my burrito. I was pretty sure it wasn’t the kind of cooking the Mendozas did at home, but a watered-down, Americanized version of Mexican food. The steak was bland, the tortilla soggy from queso sauce. Callie’s tacos looked more appetizing, but she barely nibbled on one.

“What do
you
think is going on?” I asked.

Callie looked up from her taco, her expression somber. “The vampire has wormed its way into this family. Did you notice the mother didn’t seem to recognize us from yesterday?”

I nodded. “Almost like yesterday didn’t happen. Only Elias remembered us.”

Callie dropped her taco onto her plate. “The vampire might have Olivia as well as Elena. We have to do something before it kills the entire family.”

“Or worse,” I said. “It could turn them.”

Callie’s eyes widened. “That would be disastrous. The last thing this town needs is a nest of vampires.”

I understood what she meant. A freshly turned vampire—a youngling—was a creature of wanton need that hungered, bled, and killed. It was like a shark, always moving, desperate to feed. An entire family of younglings wreaking havoc throughout the town was enough to make me shudder.

I took another bite of my burrito. I was already feeling my own hunger rising, and the burrito wouldn’t even begin to satisfy me.

I could always tear into that bag of jerky that Callie brought with us.

I was still thinking about food when I felt an oily presence claw its way up my spine and settle into the back of my head, a gut-wrenching sense of nearby evil that befouled everything it touched.

I recognized that sensation. It was the same as the night before. The vampire was near.

I dropped my fork and turned to stare at the entrance as the door opened. The vampire caught my eye and his mouth quirked up in a smirk before he turned and stepped back out, closing the door behind him.

“Speak of the devil,” I said to Callie, “and the sonofabitch appears.” I stood, removed a twenty from my wallet, and tossed it on the table.

Callie spoke up. “Sam, wait. I don’t think this is a good idea.”

I was already heading for the door. “Come on, it’s daylight. It’s weaker in the daylight.”

Elias was coming back from the kitchen with a pitcher full of cola to refill our glasses. He gave me a quizzical expression and started to speak.

“We are just leaving,” I said hastily. “I left your tip on the table.”

I hustled out the door and onto the street. The October sun painted the street in a harsh light, a dull glow against the red and brown of the brick buildings up and down the street. It had warmed since we entered the restaurant, but there was still a bite to the air.

I glanced right, then left, and saw the vampire had already reached the end of the block and was turning west. My Colt slapped reassuringly against the side of my chest as I pursued the vampire in a fast walk. With the sun almost overhead, the vampire would be at its weakest, and a few well-placed silver bullets would take the vampire down in the noonday sun until only a greasy stain of black ash remained.

Ahead of me, the vampire turned into an alley nestled between two brick buildings at the end of the block. Callie was almost running to catch up, and I heard her call from behind. “Wait!”

I wasn’t about to slow down. A vampire, running at top speed, could easily outrun me on foot. I figured the only thing keeping the vampire from taking off was the possibility of being seen. As I turned the corner and headed down the alley, I realized that there hadn’t been any pedestrians on the street.

In fact, except for a single yellow SUV heading east, the streets were mostly empty. The kids were still in school, and the farmers were busy finishing up the last of their fall business in preparation for winter.

There was nary a soul around.

I reached an inner courtyard, a place between the brick buildings where the alley opened up and the backs were peppered with steel loading doors.

It was all the detail I had time to absorb before the vampire struck.

It didn’t speak—it just bared its fangs and swung its fist, a cross-body blow with the power of a freight train that sent me flying ten feet across the courtyard and smashing into one of the loading doors. My head exploded with pain as it slammed against the steel, then I rebounded and fell forward, my head cracking against the unyielding asphalt.

I was momentarily knocked senseless, all thought of fighting the vampire dispelled. I watched the vampire stalk forward through blurry vision, then tried to reach inside my trench coat to pull my Colt, but it was too late.

The vampire yanked me to my feet by my shoulders, slamming the back of my head against the loading door. There was an explosion of pain and my vision started to go black as I struggled uselessly against the vampire.

It yanked open my trench coat and grabbed my Colt from its holster, holding it six inches from my face. “Trying to shoot me with this?” it hissed in heavily accented English. “Big mistake.”

It squeezed the Colt in its inhumanly strong grip. There was a squeal of metal as the handgun was reduced to a fistful of broken pieces that clinked when they struck the asphalt below.

I was in
serious
trouble.

“Where are the girls?” I asked.

The vampire regarded me with a derisive grin. “I know what
you
are,” it said. “I
smell
it on you. Did you come to save the girls? Or to kill me?”

I was reaching for my Bowie knife when it drew back its fist to strike. Luckily for me, Callie rounded the corner at the same moment, lifted her crucifix, and yelled, “Get away from him!”

The overhead sun had nothing on the pure white light that blasted from the Sister’s crucifix. The vampire shrank back, releasing its hold on me, then took a running leap and jumped twenty feet straight up, onto the roof of the brick building. I took a shaky step forward, then collapsed onto the pavement.

I heard Callie’s shoes clattering against the asphalt as she approached. It sounded like she was running down a tunnel, then I felt her hands on my arm, gently rolling me over. “Sam, are you okay?”

I looked up into her face. Her brow was furrowed and her eyes were full of concern. “Where did it go?” I asked. “We’re not safe here.”

Callie ran her fingers through my hair and pulled them back, showing me a sticky red mess. “You’re bleeding from the back of your head. Don’t worry about the vampire. I may not be able to kill it, but the crucifix and my faith will surely keep it away.”

I started to argue, but suddenly felt chills coursing through my body and my stomach started doing backflips. I barely managed to roll to my side before vomiting my steak burrito all over the asphalt. Callie held my head up as I heaved, until there was nothing left but bile and long strings of spittle. The rotten smell hit me like a fist and a sudden wave of nausea threatened to start the vomiting anew.