Shiver (Night Roamers) (6 page)

I licked my dry lips. “Duncan?”

She gave me a puzzled look. “What about Duncan?”

“We…we were in his truck. It flipped…”

She shook her head in confusion. “No. Nathan found you near the bottom of that large oak tree just outside of your bedroom window.  He thought you might have tried climbing it and fell or something.”

My eyes widened in shock. “What?”

“Yes. Early this morning, he heard some kind of loud noise and found you unconscious, just lying there. Thank God Nathan found you when he did. You could have gotten hypothermia or something. It was pretty cold last night.”

I shook my head.
“No…no… no… Duncan stopped by late last night. We were talking in his truck and then…Ethan…”

She raised her eyebrows. “Ethan?”

I nodded. “He was there, mom. First he jumped on Duncan’s truck, and then tried blocking our path. We tipped over…and that’s the last thing I remember.”

Her cell phone began to ring.
She looked at the caller I.D.

“
Oh, it’s Nathan,” she murmured and then answered. I heard her relaying everything I’d told her and then she stared at me with deep worry lines etched across her forehead while he responded. “Okay,” she murmured into the phone. “I’ll let her know. We’ll be home soon.”

“What did he say?” I asked the moment she hung up.

She touched my hand, softly. “Um…Duncan’s… missing. I guess Sonny hasn’t seen him since Sunday afternoon. He didn’t show up for work this morning, either.”

“Oh
, my God,” I whispered in horror.

“
I guess Sonny is really concerned about him.”

“Mom,
” I said, trying to sit up. “Ethan must have done something to him. In fact, Duncan said someone was stalking him. That’s why he stopped over. He wanted to talk to me about it.”

She closed her eyes and put a hand to her forehead.

“Mom?”

She opened her eyes a
nd I saw tears. “There’s another possibility,” she said. “I think your father may have found us.”

I stared at my mother with alarm. “What do you mean?”

She walked over
to the window and looked outside. “Someone’s been following me, too. I’ve noticed a dark SUV tailing me a few times and yesterday, I could have sworn someone followed me through the mall.” She wrapped her arms around herself. “I just have this feeling it’s Galen.”

My father, Galen, went A.W.O.L. after attacking my mother back in June.
Although they’d been separated for over two years prior, he’d flipped out when she’d finally started dating other men, leaving her mentally and physically abused. He was the whole reason we’d left California for Montana. She was terrified he’d hurt her again, especially after pressing charges.

“Well, how do you think he found us?”

She turned around and sighed. “Honey, he’s a cop. I’m sure he has friends who could have helped.”

I wasn’t personally afraid of my father, he’d never hurt me or my brother
in the past, but now I was terrified for her. “Does Nathan know?”

“I told him this morning. He’s
quite upset, obviously.”

“What about Caleb? Did you tell him?”

She nodded. “Yes, he knows.”

I felt a cold chill run up my spine. Although I was worried about my father getting his hands on my mom, I was also nervous about Caleb. What would
he do to my dad? Was Caleb a murderer? I didn’t want my dad killed, just stopped and put away.

“Mom,
” I said. “Let’s go home.”

***

Nathan was still working at the marina when we arrived back at the cabin sometime after six. On our way home I hadn’t seen any sign of Duncan’s truck at the side of the road, either, which was very odd, because I distinctively remembered the accident.

“That tree right there,” pointed my mom. “You were lying there
, unconscious.”

I stared at it
in confusion. Things weren’t making sense, and for the first time since we’d moved, I wanted to talk to Caleb.

“Mom,” I asked. “Is Caleb stopping by
later tonight?”

“Not that I know of,” she said.

“Well, I’d like to talk to him,” I said.

She raised her eyebrows. “
I could call him.”

I nodded. “Yeah, if you could.”

“Sure. Are you hungry? I can make you something to eat.”

I went over to the sectional and sunk down. My wrist was sore and so was my head. “Yeah, that’d be great, thanks.”

“Okay. Don’t forget to let Rosie know you won’t be in this week.”

“That’s right,” I said, reaching for my cell phone.

First I called Duncan’s phone but it went to voicemail, then I called the diner to let them know what had happened.

“Well, I’m glad you’re
okay, honey,” said Rosie. “You just take it easy now and when you’re ready to come back, you give me a call.”

“Rosie,” I asked, “y
ou haven’t seen Ethan or any of his friends around lately, have you?”

“No, it’s been a couple of months since I’ve seen those boys. But there was a young man in last night
asking about you.”

I raised my eyebrows. “
A young man? Really?”

“Yes,
about your age, really nice looking, too. I’ve never seen him before. I figured it was someone from school. He just asked if you were working and I told him you’d be in tonight. Obviously, you won’t.”

“I doubt it’s
someone from school,” I murmured, wondering what that was all about.

“
Well, he may come around again and I’ll try and get more information. By the way, you haven’t seen Duncan around, have you?” she asked. “Sonny stopped by earlier, just frantic with worry. I guess he’s missing now.”

I sighed. “No, I haven’t, not since last night.”

She sighed. “Dear God, I hope nothing happened to him, he’s such a nice boy. First, those girls were murdered Friday night, and now he’s missing. There are some strange things going on in this town.”

Thinking
about the possibility of Duncan, who was so good and kind, being murdered made my eyes fill with tears. “There sure is.”

“Well, listen,” she said. “I’ve got to g
et going. Take care of yourself, and like I said, when you’re ready to come back, just call me.”

I brushed a
stray tear from my cheek. “Thanks, Rosie.”

I hung up with her and went into the kitchen where my mother w
as currently fixing me a tuna fish sandwich. I sat down at the counter and watched her, wondering if she’d even eaten lately. She was thinner than ever.

“I spoke to Caleb,” she said, smiling
brightly. “He said he’ll swing by around ten tonight.”

I nodded. “Thanks.”

She leaned forward and brushed a strand of hair from my eyes. “Don’t worry, honey,” she said softly. “They’ll find Duncan. I know how much you care about him.”

As far as finding him went,
I wasn’t so sure about that, but I also knew that Caleb was the only one who might have answers. I forced a smile. “I hope so.”

She
went to the fridge, grabbed the milk, and poured us each a glass. Then she slid one over to me and sat down. “Just don’t give up hope. That’s what you’ve always told me.”

I stared at my sandwich
and nodded. “Speaking of which, what are you going to do about dad?”

She looked at her milk and grimaced.
“I don’t know. I’m not even positive that he or anyone else is really following me. Maybe it’s my imagination?”

“Maybe it’s
Ethan. I told you he was here last night.”

She pushed her untouched
glass of milk away. “That’s what he mentioned when I filled him in on what was happening. In fact, he doesn’t want either of us leaving the cabin until he gets over here tonight.”

“Mom,” I said
, staring at her thin, bony cheeks. “When was the last time you ate?”

“I had some eggs for breakfast. I’ve just been kind of nauseated lately. Maybe I’m pregnant,” she said with a teasing smile.

I groaned. “No, don’t even say that. That’s cruel.”

Her eyes twinkled. “Oh, it wouldn’t be so bad, would it? The pitter patter of little feet, toys
strung out everywhere. Reruns of Barney playing, over and over…”

Bottles of blood, warming in the microwave…

I shivered. “Don’t even go there. Aren’t you, like, a little ancient to be having babies now anyway?”

Her jaw dropped
. “I’m not that old. Women are having babies in their forties all the time. I’m not
even
forty.”

“Well, whatever the case may be, you need to eat. You don’t look healthy at all.”

“I’m fine, just worry about yourself and keeping that wrist straight,” she said, looking at my bandage.

I moved my wrist
slightly and winced, it was pretty tender. “I will.”

She
stood up. “Listen, I’m going to take a shower and read for a while before Caleb gets here. Nathan should be home pretty soon.”

I nodded
and watched her leave. I was going to have a talk with Caleb about her, as well. She was obviously starving to death and I knew it had to be something related to whatever he’d done to her. My only consolation was that she didn’t appear to be a vampire yet.

After I was done ea
ting, I went upstairs with my cell phone, to try and reach Duncan again. I was terrified that Ethan had killed him, and I felt more than a little responsible. As expected, Duncan didn’t answer.

Sighing, I
checked the time and noticed it was after eight, so I decided to take a shower and then wait for Caleb, too. I carefully removed the bandage before getting in and it was a total pain in the ass, taking me almost forty-five minutes to finish my shower. When I was finally done, I wrapped my wrist back up, slipped on a pair of sweats and a T-shirt, then stepped back into my bedroom.

“What the hell?”
I hollered.

She looked up. “Oh, hi.”

Celeste was lounging on the bed, painting her perfect nails with
my
new copper nail polish.

“How did you get in here?”
I snapped.

She
smiled. “You left your balcony door unlocked. That’s very dangerous, you know. There are things out there….” She shuddered.

I crossed my arms under my chest and glared at her. I was still irritated that she was making herself at home.
“So, what… you fly, too?”

“
Not very often,” she answered, blowing on her tips. “Tonight, I drove. Flying is a killer on the hair.”

The image of
someone like her flying through the darkness was almost comical. Tonight, she was definitely dressed to party in a shimmery silver dress and dark stiletto heels. Her fiery red hair was piled high above her narrow shoulders and she wore silver cross earrings on her lobes.