Page 75 of Dead & Breakfast
“There might be lots of reasons a vampire’s fang profile matches another’s,” Lore continued, staring at the floor now. “And it’s not like you’re the only two in the world.”
“What are you talking about?” Tension crept back into Arthur’s center and numbness began to spread down his arms.
“I’m trying to say…I’m sure it’s a mistake.” Lore looked up at Arthur. “At least, I hope it is. I don’t want to believe you could’ve done it.”
“Done what?” Sal asked.
But Arthur already knew. Dread settled low in his stomach and he barely heard Lore when she spoke.
“Salvatore’s fangs aren’t a match to Brody Young’s wound, but, Arthur…yours are.”
Chapter 19
Arthur almost laughed.He almost choked. Then he almost did nothing at all.
Finally, he turned slowly to blink at Salvatore, words failing him. Sal’s expression was inscrutable, brow furrowed, jaw set, eyes blank.
As if from a distance, Lore’s voice penetrated the fog. “I have to tell the sheriff now.” Her arm floated up, like she meant to pat Arthur on the arm, but then she let it fall to her side again. Maybe she didn’t want to comfort an alleged murderer. Maybe she thought he’d hurt her, too. “Just wanted you to find out without him staring at you.”
White noise flooded Arthur’s ears in the absence of her voice as she exited to the hall and closed the door behind her with a sharp click. For the first time, Arthur understood why dentists’ offices could be so terrifying. The room suddenly seemed all sharp edges and gleaming metal with no way out.
The dental records matched. And he had no alibi other than being out with his husband. McMartin wouldn’t take anything Salsaid for truth. He briefly considered whether Nora might vouch for him, but realistically, she had no more knowledge of his activities the night of Brody’s attack than he had of hers. Not to mention, the sheriff wasn’t wrong that their discovery of Brody looked suspicious from the outside.
And now Brody hovered on the brink of death in some hospital room, and there was nothing Arthur could do about it. The town would think him guilty. There was no way out of this mess. In seconds the sheriff would come in and arrest him. Tomorrow the FPI would show up and he’d go to prison forever—which was a very long time for a vampire.
“That’s it, I suppose,” Arthur said, words duller than all the wooden instruments in their house. It didn’t make sense. Arthur hadn’t bitten Brody. Which meant someone else had. There had to be something he hadn’t accounted for, something important, but he couldn’t shake off the fear enough to chase the thought.
An altogether unpleasant creaking sound jolted Arthur from his thoughts, and he turned to see Salvatore shoving the window behind them open farther.
“Out we go, then,” Sal said almost cheerfully, pointing below at the stretch of woods behind the building, the tree line reaching out to touch the parking lot like viridescent hands.
Arthur blinked and swallowed. “What?”
“I, for one, have seen quite enough of Sheriff McMartin for a lifetime.” Salvatore returned to where Arthur stood and took his hand, trying to pull him toward the window and the fresh spring air wafting in. “Let’s get out of here.”
“But they’ll find us at the inn.” Arthur didn’t move, didn’t let Sal drag him to the other side of the room. It seemed impossible that there could be any escape for them now. It was over.
“We’re not going to the inn.” A twinkle sparked in Sal’s eye.“Don’t make me defenestrate you. You know I’ll relish it and tell the story forevermore if you don’t get a move on.”
Normally, Arthur would have complained at the indignity of such an act. Salvatore had never shied away from recounting the many windows he’d escaped through over the years as well as the salacious situations he’d skirted, but Arthur had always preferred to face his problems head-on. He pleaded internally for his brain to spring into action, to concoct a plan so brilliant and dazzling that even Salvatore with all his glitter body paint would pale in comparison. But Arthur’s mind cycled over and over like a misaligned bike chain, rattling and going nowhere. Instead, there was only the old, familiar fear of villagers with pitchforks and torches, outdated though the imagery was.
“I’ll go first, then,” Salvatore said with a comforting pat on Arthur’s shoulder. “Show you how easy it is.”
His leg was halfway out when the door to the exam room burst open.
The sheriff spent only a moment taking in the scene, then he fumbled for his gun. “Stop right there!”
A moment after McMartin finally got his gun free from its holster, he seemed to remember Arthur and Salvatore were vampires, so unless he was going to shoot wooden bullets (or rolled-up Coexist bumper stickers), it wouldn’t do much good. He shoved the gun away and lunged at Sal.
Arthur should’ve stopped him, but he was still frozen with fear. Fortunately, Sal was a lifelong expert at being caught trying to climb out various windows to avoid angry people. He dodged the sheriff’s attack, coming back into the room completely, then actually rolled like some sort of action hero to get behind McMartin. When he stood up, he was beside the sink and cabinets. He pulled open a drawer, reached in, and withdrew something that hebrandished at McMartin like a weapon. It was a cheap paddleball toy with a cartoon molar printed on both sides and a speech bubble proclaimingBrush it off!
So, Dr.Young did have prizes after all.
“What are you going to do with that?” McMartin said, crossing his arms. “It’s over, bloodsuckers. You’ve been caught.”
The sheriff took a menacing step toward Sal. Arthur snapped out of his stupor.
“It’s me you want,” he said loudly, then jumped out the window. Unlike Salvatore, this was his first time leaving a room not through the usual means of a doorway. Fortunately, the building was only one story, so the drop wasn’t so bad. Even in his frozen mental state, he had the wherewithal to bend his knees as he landed on a patch of clover, crushing the pale pink blooms under his shoes before toppling forward onto his knees. The impact sure was something, though after the initial shock abated, Arthur ascertained he was unhurt.
