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“Then you pay up.”
“I take it you’ve invited Cargill and his nest to come down and have taste?”Rhyne pressed.
“They’ll be here tomorrow to taste her wares,” Welsh confirmed.The man scratched his chin.“Which means I gotta figure out a way to get her.”
“To get her?”Rhyne stared at the man.
“Where are we gonna keep her?”Nash demanded.
“We got a nice basement we’re not using,” Welsh remarked.“Yeah, I know it’s a bit dark and musty, but she can yell all she wants while she’s down there, and we won’t have to worry about her being heard.”
Frustrated, Rhyne went over to the back door when Welsh yelled at him.
“Where are you running off to with your tail between your legs?”
“I’m hungry.I want a hamburger and some fresh air before I lose my temper and try to punch your lights out.Do I have your permission,Mama?”
He didn’t wait for an answer, if Welsh even intended to give him one.Slamming the door behind him, he hit the garage opener, grabbed his bicycle, and left the house.
But he didn’t head for the nearest Burger Barn.
* * *
“Something’s up with him,” Welsh observed.
“He’s upset,” Nash responded.“Give him a little time and some room to cool down.”
Welsh vehemently shook his head as he watched Nash open the back door to hit the remote to close the garage door.“No.This is different.”He shook a finger.“He’s hiding something.Can’t you feel it?Can’t you sense it?”
“Hiding what?From what I observed, he was pretty clear on his stance,” Nash argued.
“That’s not what I’m talking about.”Welsh rubbed his hands together as he contemplated.“What could he be hiding?”
Brushing past the man, Nash retrieved another blood bag from the fridge.“Well, let me know when you’ve solved all the problems of the world.I’m going to go watch a horror movie and relax.”
Welsh watched his roommate leave but he didn’t move from where he stood.“You know he’s been acting weird these past couple of days!”he yelled back into the living room.“I tell you, something’s up with him!”
“I don’t heeear youuu!”Nash called back and raised the volume on the TV.
Snorting in part amusement and part disgust, Welsh snagged a bag for himself and went to join the guy.
CHAPTER16
Warning
While he’d been trying to talk some sense to Welsh, an ugly possibility had occurred to him.A thought that became the real reason why he had to leave the house and go straight back to the hospital.
He’d regained his color vision after cleaning out that blood bag of AB negative.Welsh had licked a droplet from her hand.An ounce or two versus a few molecules.Rhyne’s vision had reverted back to black and white after three days, but what if Welsh’s changed in less time?
What if the amount of blood consumed determined how long the change would be in effect?
If his hypothesis held true, that meant Welsh’s sight could change back at any moment.Which was why it was of utmost importance he get Grace to someplace safe as soon as possible.
Rushing into the emergency room again, Rhyne discovered the same woman sitting inside the small office.She looked up when he approached her but didn’t speak until he stopped on the other side of the glass partition.
“Yes?Do you need to see Mr.Burch again?”
Rhyne filed the last name to memory.“Yes.It’s urgent.”
