Page 31 of Big Enough to Bite
“And we don’t want that?” Chief Martinez gives the three of us a hard look. “I’m not in the habit of letting anyone suffer.”
“We’re going to need help for this one, Chief.” Officer Gant picks Pierre up and carries him over the wall as the EMTs bring the medical cart. Putting him down, he shrugs.
As much as I don’t want to be near Pierre, I force myself across my back lawn. I ask the EMT with bright red hair and freckles, “Do you have any duct tape?”
“Um. Yes.” Her blue eyes are wide.
Turning to Gant, I say, “Two sets of cuffs and tape over his mouth. You don’t want him biting anyone on the way over to jail.” I swallow my fears and address the chief. “He won’t die, and though he may suffer without blood, Sam says help is coming. You don’t have the resources to deal with a vampire as strong and evil as Pierre Brochet. Trust me, Chief. He held me captive for many years and has held this woman for over seven. He could destroy this town in a matter of days.”
Gant snaps the second set of cuffs on and presses a piece of tape over Pierre’s mouth. He uses a third set of cuffs to bind him to the cart before turning to Sam. “You’re gonna drive yourself over, right?”
Sam nods. “I’ll be a minute or two behind you, Max.”
Chief Martinez is a good man with a high moral code. He’s also smart enough to know when he needs help. “I trust the two of you. I expect you at the station tonight to give statements.”
“Miss Shepherd!” The screams of the Manning twins sound over all the commotion. They run straight for me and wrap their arms around my waist. “Are you okay?”
Out of breath, Lori Manning runs behind them. “I’m sorry. They saw the lights and heard the sirens. Once they saw it was your house, they ran out the door before I could stop them. They thought something happened to you.”
My chest tightens and my eyes fill with tears. I crouch down and hug the girls. “I’m fine. Someone else is ill. He’ll be fine.” I brush their hair from their faces and wipe away the tears they shed for me.
Lori hustles them away, apologizing to her boss for crossing a police line.
Sam grins at me.
Tilda looks as if she’s in shock.
I know just how she feels. Never in my wildest dreams did I believe I would be a part of a community. The love of those children means so much more than they can possibly know. I bite my lip to keep more tears from falling. My emotions are sky high, and I’m going to need to get them under control. I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I never get sentimental or overwrought.
Sam puts his arm around my shoulder. “Come on. We need to give statements, and I’ll have to stay at the station and make sure he stays put.”
That hadn’t occurred to me. I’d hoped to slip into my bed with my giant tonight. With a sigh, I nod. I hold my hand out to Tilda and am just a little surprised when she takes it.
“This town is different.” She walks with us to Sam’s truck, her attention fixated on Max as he monitors the loading of his prisoner.
She’ll get no argument from me.
Chapter Thirteen
Sam
I’ve been at the police station’s lockup for a day and a half. Mari brought me a change of clothes, and I showered here while Mari and Tilda kept an eye on Pierre. His recovery is progressing very slowly, but he’s sitting up and speaking nonstop since the chief insisted we remove the tape from his mouth.
It’s the whining that’s getting to me. Who knew a six-hundred-year-old man could whine so much like a four-year-old child? He wants blood. He wants to see a doctor, probably because he thinks he can bite the doctor and therefore get blood.
Not liking the idea of Mari being so close to the vampire who abused her all those years ago, I rush through my shower and pull on the fresh clothes. At least with a Bigfoot officer, the showers here have been adjusted for my height.
I rub the towel over my hair and look in the foggy mirror before wiping a space to see clearly. I could use a shave, but it will have to wait. I use the comb in my care package and put the towels in the laundry basket before heading back to lockup.
The door is made of wired glass, and Max stands on this side, looking in. His gaze is focused on the women. “I don’t know how they can sit there and look so calm. His blabbering drove me crazy after five minutes. I had to come out here and get away from it.”
I slap his back. “Yeah, maybe I should have done us all a favor and ended him.”
“Why didn’t you?” No reproach, just the straightforward question.
“Because I’m more than my ancestors, my friend. I don’t want to be like the giants in those old fairy tales. You don’t think that description comes without some events to back it up, do you? Giants were a vicious race. There aren’t many of us left because humans hunted us down to save themselves. Killing is not something I take lightly.”
Nodding, Max points to Pierre. “Still, that one is all bad. What he did to those women.” His gaze softens. “What is it about that one?” He points to Tilda. “She’s different.”
