Bite Me if You Can (17 page)

A glance at the clock told Leigh she’d been on the phone for more than an hour, and she grimaced to herself. She was in Canada, it had been long distance. She’d have to make arrangements with Lucian to pay for the call. She had no intention on sticking them with the bill when these people had rescued her from Morgan’s house and were caring for her through the turn.

Making a mental note to herself not to forget about the two calls to Milly in Kansas City, or the call to Bastien in New York, she ripped off the top page of the phone pad. Leigh copied Bastien’s number from it onto the fresh sheet of paper left behind, then folded the original and slid it into the tiny front pocket of the joggers she wore. He’d said to keep his number in case she had any more problems, and she intended to do that.

A whimper from Julius drew her attention then, and Leigh glanced to where he sat on his haunches, staring at her from across the room. The moment she looked his way, the dog stood and nosed the door beside him. It was wood with a window in the top half. Fortunately, the sunlight outside was blocked by a dark blind.

When Julius whimpered again and continued to nose the door, Leigh raised her eyebrows and walked toward him. “What’s the matter, fella? Do you have to go outside?”

Pausing at his side, she used one finger to lift one of the flaps on the blinds and found herself looking out on the backyard bathed in sunlight. Releasing the blinds, she glanced down at Julius.

“Are you a mortal dog, or an immortal?” she asked, then felt stupid. Not once had anyone mentioned the possibility of turning a dog. He was most likely mortal.

Shaking her head at herself, Leigh unlocked the door and pulled it open, relieved to see there was an awning outside the door that kept the sun from creeping in to touch her. Reaching for the handle of the screen door, she opened it as well and held it while Julius slid outside.

Once he was clear of the door, she let the screen close again and watched him run around the yard, sniffing here and relieving himself there. The backyard was huge, stretching the distance of a small football field, but Julius didn’t move more than twenty or thirty feet away from the door at any time. Even so, he spent a long time jaunting about the yard, and she leaned against the door frame and simply watched, her thoughts drifting over the events of the last day or so and how her life had changed.

When a scratching at the door caught Leigh’s attention, she shook her thoughts away and focused on the dog standing on the other side of the door. It seemed Julius was finished relieving himself on every available bush and was ready to come back in.

Smiling faintly, Leigh opened the door, then closed and locked both the screen door and the wooden inner door behind him. She then crossed to the cupboards to take another look for food. Her stomach was actually beginning to cramp with hunger. Leigh supposed she’d need more food than usual as her body adjusted to all the changes it was going through.

She’d just opened the cupboard doors when the doorbell chimed. Leigh stiffened with her hand on the cupboard door, briefly frozen. When the sound came again, she recalled Lucian sleeping in the library. Afraid the noise would wake him, she turned away from the cupboard and hurried out of the kitchen.

Julius stuck by Leigh’s side as she hurried up the hall to answer the doorbell’s summons. She patted him gratefully as she reached the door. Her recent experiences had made her somewhat nervous, and she appreciated whatever support she could get.

Leigh shifted the curtain aside and peered out. Two women stood on the front stoop; a full-figured blonde who couldn’t have been more than twenty or so, and a thin, older woman with faded red hair, speckled with gray. The redhead was reaching to press the doorbell again, but paused when she spotted Leigh looking out and offered an encouraging smile.

“Hello, Mrs. Argeneau,” the woman greeted her as soon as the door swung open. “I’m Linda and this is Andrea. We’re from Speedy Clean. Mr. Argeneau called to have someone sent out to clean up the house.”

“I’m not Mrs. Argeneau,” Leigh said. She forced a smile before glancing uncertainly back up the hall to the closed library door. Should she wake Lucian up?

“Oh.” The redhead’s voice drew her gaze back. “Is Mr. Argeneau in, then?”

Leigh bit her lip and briefly considered the matter, then stepped back out of the doorway for them to enter and explained, “He’s asleep in the library at the moment and I’d rather not wake him. I’m sure he’ll wake up before you leave, though.”

“Well, that’s all right then.” The redheaded Linda led the younger Andrea into the house. “He told our dispatcher that he wanted—” She stopped abruptly as she spotted Julius. Her eyes widened at the size of him.

“It’s okay. Julius is friendly,” Leigh assured her, reaching out to slip her hand under the dog’s collar just to be sure.

Both women nodded, but she couldn’t help but notice they didn’t look all that convinced.

“I’ll just take Julius in the living room while you clean. I don’t think he got in there with the garbage so you probably don’t have to clean that room.”

“The garbage?” Linda echoed, and the two women exchanged a glance.

“Yes. I’m afraid Julius was in the kitchen with the garbage and tore it apart. He somehow got the bag tangled around his back paw and dragged it through the house,” she explained, frowning as the women exchanged alarmed glances.

“It’s all right,” she said quickly. “Lucian cleaned up the worst of it. I think he just expects you to go over what he’s done.”

When the women didn’t look much reassured, Leigh gestured to the hall floor, which wasn’t as streaky as the kitchen floor but showed signs of a less than perfect cleanup job. “He already washed the floors and picked up the garbage, as you can see. It all just needs a proper going over.”

“Okay,” Linda said, looking a little more relaxed. “So what does he want cleaned?”

Leigh hesitated, then asked, “Didn’t he say when he called?”

“He said a complete run-through,” Linda replied.

“Right, well then that’s what you should do,” she said with a nod, then added, “Just bypass the library until he wakes up.”

“All right, if you’ll point us toward the kitchen, we’ll get started.”

After a hesitation, Leigh opened the door beside her. It led into a games’ room, she saw, as she urged Julius inside. She’d just leave him there until she got the women started, then find somewhere out of the way for both of them to wait.

Pulling the door closed, Leigh started to move past the women to show them to the kitchen, but slowed as she slid by the older woman. The redhead was standing so close, she could smell her perfume and found herself slowing to a stop and inhaling deeply. It was intoxicating.

Realizing Linda was staring at her wide-eyed, Leigh flushed and said, “Sorry, but that’s a lovely perfume. What is it?”

“I’m not wearing perfume.” The redhead sounded amused.

“No?” Leigh murmured, but hardly heard her answer. She was having trouble concentrating on much more than the smell taunting her nose. Her vision grew fuzzy and she found herself leaning forward, inhaling again as her stomach cramped and reminded her of its hunger. For some reason the redhead’s perfume made her think of food.

“Uh, ma’am?” Linda’s voice intruded on her thoughts. “Ma’am, the phone’s ringing.”

Leigh blinked as she became aware of the strident sound of the telephone. Frowning, she straightened away from the cleaning woman and peered around with confusion, then moved to the phone on the hall table.

“The kitchen’s through that door,” she said distractedly as she picked up the phone.

“Leigh?” a man said as she watched the women move off into the kitchen.

“Yes?” She frowned at the receiver, not recognizing the voice. “Who’s this?”

“Bastien.”

“Oh.” Leigh relaxed and even smiled, her hunger temporarily forgotten. “I’m sorry. I didn’t recognize your voice.”

“That’s all right. I just called to let you know that everything has been taken care of.”

“Already?” she asked with surprise. “Surely you couldn’t get from New York to Kansas City and handle everything this quickly?”

“No,” Bastien said. “I’m still in New York. I had one of our men in the area do it. My man went to see Milly and the others at your restaurant. He altered their memories. As far as everyone there is concerned, Donny quit work a week ago and you’re on a well-earned vacation in Canada.”

“Oh, I see,” Leigh said.

“He handled the police, too. He got your purse back, removed all files pertaining to you and Donny, and completely erased the two of you from their memory. As far as they’re concerned, they’ve never heard of either of you.”

“Wow,” Leigh breathed, impressed with the speed and efficiency used in dealing with the matter. It hadn’t been that long since she’d called him. Had it?

Her gaze dropped to the digital face of the phone and she saw with surprise that it had actually been almost three hours since they’d talked, then she recalled that she’d been on the phone with Milly for more than an hour, and stood by the door lost in thought for a good while as Julius ran about outside. The time had passed swiftly.

“I’m having your purse couriered to you,” Bastien informed her. “You should get it tomorrow morning. My man says there are a couple of credit cards and even cash in the wallet, so he doesn’t think anything was taken before it was handed in to the police.”

“Oh good, thank you.” Leigh twisted the phone cord around her finger, her gaze drifting to the kitchen door. She could hear the tap running; the women were obviously setting to work.

“He said your ID appears to all be there as well, but if there’s something else you think you’ll need during your stay, he can use your keys and go to your house and collect it before he sends you your purse.”

Leigh briefly considered asking to have some clothes packed and sent up, but the idea of someone she didn’t know pawing through her closet and panty drawer wasn’t an appealing one. She’d rather go shopping tomorrow when her purse arrived. “No. Thank him, though, for offering.”

“Okay.” There was a pause, then Bastien said, “I heard you talking to someone as you picked up the phone. Is my uncle awake?”

“No, that was the cleaners,” Leigh explained.

“The cleaners?” Bastien asked, and much to her surprise, he sounded concerned.

“Yes. Julius broke open a garbage bag and dragged it through the house. Lucian cleaned up the worst of it, but called a service to have someone come and do a more thorough cleanup job,” she explained.

“My uncle cleaned?” Bastien sounded stunned. Leigh smiled faintly at his reaction. She opened her mouth to respond, then paused as he said, “Er... wait. Uncle Lucian is sleeping?”

“Yes.”

“And there are cleaners there with you?” he asked carefully.

Leigh’s eyebrows rose. His tone seemed to suggest this was a bad thing, though she couldn’t think why. They seemed a perfectly nice pair of women and hardly a threat.

“Maybe you should wake up Uncle Lucian,” Bastien suggested, and a disbelieving laugh slipped from her lips at the idea.

“There’s no reason to wake Lucian. I’m perfectly capable of overseeing a couple of cleaning women. Although I suppose I’ll have to wake him before they finish, since I’m not sure what arrangements he made to pay them.” She frowned as she considered that, then added, “But I see no reason to wake him up before then. I don’t think he’s had a lot of sleep in the last couple of days.”

“Yes, but—”

“Bastien, I appreciate your helping out with the police and Milly and I’m quite impressed with how quickly and efficiently you handled it, but please don’t make the mistake of thinking I’m some defenseless little twit who needs to be sheltered and taken care of. I’m perfectly capable of directing a couple of cleaning women on my own. I’m also safe. Linda and Andrea seem perfectly nice, and even if it turns out they aren’t, Julius is here with me and Lucian is only a shout away.”

“Yes, but—”

“No buts,” Leigh interrupted firmly. “Everything is fine and I thank you very much for your help. Now, you should go back to sleep. I know I woke you up when I called the first time. I’m going to go grab something to eat. I’m having hunger pangs like crazy.”

“Oh, damn,” Bastien breathed, then said urgently, “Leigh—”

“ ’Bye, Bastien.” She hung up and shook her head with mingled amusement and exasperation. While it was nice of him to worry, she’d taken care of herself, and even run a business, for years all on her own. This experience had temporarily left her off kilter, but that was to be expected. Being kidnapped, bitten, force-fed blood, and then finding out you’d been turned into a vampire—a creature you previously thought was mythical in nature—would knock anyone off balance. However, she was starting to feel more like her old self again.

Leigh thought it was probably the second phone call to Milly that had done it. Talking shop and giving instructions had returned some of her self-confidence and made the world feel more its old self. It had reminded her of who she was, who she’d fought to become—a strong, independent woman with her own business.

Moving away from the phone, she headed for the kitchen in the hopes that another look around would turn up some food. She already knew the cupboards and refrigerator were bare of anything edible, but she hadn’t checked the freezer and was hoping there would be something in there, even if only a microwavable meal. Otherwise, she would be forced to do what she could with the flour and sugar and other staples in the cupboard and make some cookies or something. Not a very wholesome meal, but filling enough to stop the cramps in her stomach, she hoped.

The blonde, Andrea, was on her knees scrubbing the kitchen floor when Leigh entered, but Linda was nowhere to be seen. Leigh supposed the redhead had gone upstairs to start cleaning there. She’d apparently been so distracted with her telephone call from Bastien, the woman had slipped by without her even noticing. Leigh hoped she hadn’t been saying anything the woman might have found questionable when she’d passed.

“Sorry,” Leigh said when the blonde glanced her way as she entered. “I’m just a little hungry. Actually, I’m starved,” she corrected herself with a laugh. “I wanted to see if there was anything in the freezer to heat up.”