Sunset Rising (Sunset Vampire Series, Book 5) (11 page)

“
Punishment,
coach?”

“
Let’s call it
constructive venting,” he said.

“
How about a vacation
instead?”

“
How about if I kick your
butt for you?”

“
Exercise Nazi,” I
muttered.

Later that day, I texted Chance Noble.

Let’s do lunch.

She replied:
Can’t.

Why not?

Trouble at home.

After reconsidering further texting, I
called her instead. When it went to her voicemail, I called her
again.

She picked up after the first ring.

“
Caleb, it’s not a good
time,” she whispered.

I heard men’s raised voices in the
background. One man, in particular, had a particularly New
York-sounding accent.

“…
gonna want me to do
about that now?” the man demanded. “That wasn’t part of the
deal.”

“
What’s wrong? Chance, are
you okay?” I asked.

“
My dad’s really upset
right now,” she whispered. “In fact, he’s arguing with some
other—”

“
Chance? Are you on that
goddamned phone again?” snapped someone with a gruff-sounding
voice.

“
I gotta go, Caleb,” she
insisted.

“
Call me when you can,” I
said just before the line went dead.

Just when I thought my own life was pretty
crappy...

I remembered her telling me that her
relationship with her father hadn’t been an easy one.

I made a mental note to try calling her
again in a few hours if I hadn’t heard from her. Then the day’s
events swept me up again, and it was during my early evening walk
home from the college before I thought of her again.

Oddly enough, that’s when my phone rang.

“
How about a little
privacy for this, Roman?” I asked.

“
Sure thing,” he
said.

He slowed down until he was a short distance
behind me.

“
Chance? Are you
okay?”

“
Hi, Caleb,” she said.
“Everything’s better now.”

“
What was that all about?
I mean, I heard arguing in the background.”

“
Yeah, that was my dad and
one of his business associates,” she said. “Listen, I know this is
going to sound crazy, but I think my father’s had people stalking
me in New Haven.”

“
What? Are you kidding?” I
asked. “Hey, where are you now? Are you safe?”

“
I’m fine, really,” she
said. “I couldn’t wait to get away from there. In fact, I just
arrived back to my apartment here in New Haven.”

Well, it was a relief that she was safe.

“
Listen, what’s going on
with you and your dad?” I asked.

“
I hate talking about this
over the phone,” she said. “Can you meet me for dinner?”

“
Yeah, sure,” I said. Then
I realized I’d need to clear that with either Roman or Paige. “Uh,
I might need a short time to reschedule something, but I should be
able to meet you. What time and where?”

“
Something? Caleb, you’re
always so charmingly mysterious,” she teased. “Okay. How about
Prime Time, say an hour from now?”

“
Sure thing,” I said. “You
know all my favorite places.”

“
Hey, what are friends
for?” she asked.

“
Burying a body?” I
countered.

“
Ew, that’s a really bad
reference after the day I’ve had,” she said.

“
Sorry. I’ll see you there
in about an hour.”

By the time I cleared my evening plans with
Paige, including convincing her to follow me from a discreet
distance, it was getting late. But I made it to Prime Time on
Temple Street only about ten minutes behind schedule.

Chance had already secured a booth for us.
As soon as she saw me walk in, she rose to give me a warm hug. She
looked like her usual self—the stylish young Hollywood
look—complete with designer jeans and leather jacket.

After we ordered our drinks, I couldn’t help
but delve into the topic at hand.

“
Chance, what happened
today?” I asked. “And you said that you think your dad is stalking
you?”

She took a deep breath and let it out
slowly.

“
Yeah, pretty screwed up,
isn’t it?” she replied. “Sometimes I think I just want to get into
my car and drive somewhere—anywhere—and start a new
life.”

“
Admittedly, very
tempting,” I said. “I get it.”

“
You do?” she asked, her
eyes wide with surprise.

“
Uh, yeah…I mean I can see
the appeal.”

“
Mister Perfect wants to
escape his life of luxury?” she asked. “Somebody get the smelling
salts for me.”

I scowled at her. “All right, Sally Sarcasm,
let’s just get back to your crazy father issues, shall we?”

She gave me a peculiar look. “Fine, but
we’re returning to your situation again very soon.”

I shook my head at her.

“
So, Dad calls me last
night and practically threatens me to come home immediately. I
texted Mom and she seemed to think it was important, so I went
home,” she began.

“
Your dad threatened
you?”

“
Yeah, he’s just being a
dickhead,” she said. “I’ve told you that I don’t get along with him
very well. Sometimes I can’t stand him.”

“
Sorry,” I said, motioning
with my hand for her to continue.

“
I no sooner get home and
Dad is all in a huff about what I’ve been doing and who I’ve been
seeing here in New Haven,” she said. “Honestly, it was like he was
an FBI agent grilling me over a crime or something.”

“
That was this morning?” I
asked.

“
No, that was last night,
barely ten seconds after I walked through the front door,” she
said. “This morning, some guy—hell, maybe some private eye that he
hired or something—shows up at the house and they start arguing.
Then Dad calls me into the den and this guy, who I don’t even know,
starts asking me a hundred questions. Half the crap he asked was
the same stuff my dad and I went over the night before.”

“
What sort of
stuff?”

She shook her head. “Like,
who do I hang out with on campus? Then he asked if I was dating
anyone, or how many men? Then he asks if I’m dating
women
, too! Like it’s
any of their damned business—”

Nearby patrons looked over at us, so she
fell silent.

“
Really? So, are
you?”

“
What?
No
,” she snapped. “I’m all about the
guys, thank you. I mean, carpet-munching is cool if you like that
sort of thing.”

I tried not to laugh aloud and she started
to blush.

“
Ah, but
you’re
a carpet-diving
sort of guy, aren’t you?” she said with a sly grin.

I felt the heat rising to my cheeks.
“Yeah-yeah, whatever. Back to your father and the stranger.”

“
Good for you. Anyway, so
I’m answering these questions and Dad finally smartens up and digs
into the guy for asking personal questions like that,” she said.
“That’s when you texted and called. By then, I was ready to just
walk out on both of them.”

“
Sounds intense. So, did
you?”

Chance waited until the waitress delivered
our drinks and then left before she continued.

“
Oh, how I should have.
Instead, it was another series of more stupid and prying
questions,” she said. “I’m not submitting myself to that again. My
dad can go screw himself.”

“
Does your mother know
that you hate him so much?”

“
She knows,” she replied.
“But hey, who am I to interfere. Mom seems fairly happy with their
arrangement, though I can’t say that I applaud her taste in men. It
seems as if it’s just so damned hard to find somebody that’s worth
having nowadays.”

I glanced across the room at a couple who
were holding hands across the table and staring lovingly into each
other’s eyes. It made me think of Kat, and how I wished that we
could get back to that stage again.

But with all of the clandestine vampire crap
happening around the globe, and with Alton nestled right in the
middle of it all, I doubted that I’d have Kat back to myself
anytime soon.

I loved Kat, but was it enough to get us
through all that was happening? Hell, I hardly even ever saw her
nowadays; unless, of course, I was at death’s door.

I wondered how much longer I could endure
our current arrangements. While I realized that it wasn’t Kat’s
fault, I couldn’t imagine enduring successive years of this.

“
Hey, are you listening to
me?” Chance asked, snapping her fingers once to get my
attention.

“
What? Yeah,” I
said.

“
Well, you sure looked
pissed off all of the sudden,” she said.

“
Huh? Sorry,” I
said.

“
Listen, if this is a bad
time for you, I can—“

“
Nah, it’s fine,” I said.
“I’m sorry. I’ve just been a little preoccupied with some things,
that’s all.”

“
Yeah? Well, I haven’t
seen much of you lately, either,” she said. “Enough about my
dickhead dad. Whatcha been up to?”

I shook my head. “Aw, just crap.”

“
C’mon, you just endured
my drama queen dissertation. It’s time to put the crown on your
head for a while,” she said.

I chuckled. “Is that what I am now, a drama
queen?”

“
Sure, we all are
sometimes,” she said. “The crown gets passed around a lot. It’s all
about the human experience; especially in college.”

I looked into her eyes.

The human experience…

“
What?”

“
Ah, yeah, you’re probably
right,” I said.

“
So, girlfriend problems?”
she pressed.

I paused to collect my thoughts.

“
Yeah, some,” I admitted.
“It’s like we never see each other much anymore. Not that with all
these damned research obligations and classes that I have any time.
Then all my spare time is filled with—”

Her eyebrows rose. “Yes? I’ve wondered what
it is that you do in your spare time. It’s not like you’re hanging
out with me or your other friends that much. Although I see you
hanging out with that slice of handsome who’s rooming in that big
house with you. What’s his story, anyway?”

“
Hey, have you been
stalking
me
or
something?” I asked, trying to keep my tone mild.

She gave a half-shrug. “I jog around the
campus a lot, and I’ve seen you two hanging out. I noticed that he
follows you back to your house a lot, so I just figured. That is,
unless you’re playing for both teams...”

My eyes widened. “What? No, it’s nothing
like that. He’s just a friend of a friend who needed a place to
share expenses. And what with Kat being gone so much and
everything, and it just being Paige and me.”

“
Oh, yeah, your
sister
Paige,” she said.
“I’m still perplexed with your family tree.”

Warning bells went off my head for some
reason.

“
Yeah, what about it?” I
asked. “We don’t get to pick our family, you know. I know a lot of
people with odd family circumstances.”

She held up her hands. “Hey, true,” she
conceded. “And hell, I’m hardly one to talk, am I?”

I decided to steer the conversation back
toward safer waters. “Speaking of which, where does that leave you
with your father? He sounds sort of controlling.”

“
Yeah, control is his
thing,” she said. “Though it comes off more like anal retention,
really. He’s a plus-sized A-plus personality.”

I had to laugh at that. “I know the
type.”

“
Oh, who’s your A-plus
pain in the butt?”

“
Not pain in the butt per
say,” I said. “I dunno. It’s complicated.”

“
How complicated can it
be? What sort of complicated?” she pressed.

“
It’s really not that easy
for me to explain.”

“
It’s Katrina, isn’t it?”
she asked. “Distance is supposed to make the heart grow fonder, but
I think that’s only true for occasional trips versus a lifestyle.
What is it about Katrina’s job that’s keeping her away so much? Do
you think it’s another guy?”

My heart ached over that possibility. “No,
at least, I’m fairly sure that’s not the case.”

“
For your sake, I hope
not,” she said. “Been there, done that. But still, how can you know
for sure if you’re always apart?”

I really didn’t suspect that Kat might be
seeing other people. If there was one thing that Kat was all about
it was fidelity.

“
Nah, it’s gotta be her
job,” I said. “It’s demanding right now; maybe more than ever,
actually.”

“
What is it she does
again? Corporate raiding or something?”

If she only knew how close to true that
moniker might be…

“
Just a lot of travel and
long hours spent on various projects,” I said.

“
Listen, Caleb, you need
to do what’s healthy for you,” she said. “I know I seem like one to
talk about that, given what’s happening, but I mean it. You’ve got
to sort it out in your head and decide if this is what you really
want in life.”