Page 52 of Midlife Witch Unexpected

“There's a lot of people around here who don't know what supernaturals are.” Branson leaned in with his heavenly musky scent and whispered to me. “Maybe I could help out here.”

I already had a twenty in my hand to give to Ferndale, but it was worth saving the twenty and seeing what Branson could do.

He leaned in slightly, his energy filling up the space, sucking up the air, making it almost hard to breathe. Ferndale gazed up at Branson, his eyes wide. What sort of 'don't mess with me' vibe was that coming off Branson? It rolled through the room in waves practically blowing Ferndale's hair back.

“The lady just wants a receipt,” Branson said. “That’s your job, right? To give receipts to customers?”

“Yes,” Ferndale said, with a gulp of air, light beads of sweat breaking out on his forehead.

I grinned, watching Branson’s mojo do its trick. I wonder if I had capabilities like that. The kid was just going to give up the receipt for sure.

“What time did he come in?” The boy asked.

“How many customers have you had in the shop this morning?” I countered. "Surely you remember a gaunt, pasty-looking guy with long brown hair?"

“More people come in than you would think,” Ferndale said. “To get you the right receipt I just need to know the time.”

“It was at about ten-fifteen this morning.” I scrolled back through the texts from my daughter.

The kid pressed a few numbers on his cash register, waiting for the data to pull up. After a few whirs and beeps, the machine went silent and Ferndale hit a button to print the data. I scoured over it.

“He wasn’t buying gas,” I said.

“He was buying junk food?” Branson read the receipt.

“He was feeding Anita,” I said, pointing at the spicy Cheetos on the receipt that she was always eating.

“She was probably complaining about not having any food she liked,” Branson said

“He came down here to buy her food, so they’re somewhere near here,” I deduced.

"Did he drive or walk-in?" I turned and asked Ferndale.

The kid scratched his head. “I never saw a vehicle with him. He came from around the side of the building.”

“Which way?” I asked.

“He came from that direction and left the same direction.” The kid pointed left of the front door.

“Let’s go,” I said to Branson. There was a rush of energy sizzling in my blood, and I knew the vampire was near.

Chapter 31

“This is where I come in handy,” Branson said as we stepped out of the store and looked in the direction the attendant had pointed. A few cabins dotted the street with trees encroaching on the edges of town. He raised his head in the air as if he was taking a sniff of the breeze.

“Do you have smelling superpowers?” I asked.

“Something like that,” Branson growled before slowly starting to make his way around the corner of the building. He was watching the ground and I could see as I followed his gaze there were footsteps of about a size eleven male shoe. There was nothing on the concrete but when the vampire had dipped into the dirt off to the side of the road, you could see the footstep.

“Can’t vampires fly?” I asked.

“Yes, but they can leave a magic marking also,” Branson said.

“Right, and he wouldn’t want to be found,” I said.

“I’m not so sure about that.” Branson looked up the road suspiciously. “I wouldn’t be surprised if this was a trap. It’s too obvious.”

“A vampire kidnapping a twenty-something girl and hiding her out in small-town America is obvious?” I said. “Um, no. That’s a negative.”

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