Vampire Beach: Legacy by Duval Alex Read Free Book Online Page B

pier. It was empty now. Cautiously, he pulled himself up onto the rough planks. In the last bit of light from the sunset he saw a black Mercedes race away down the Pacific Coast Highway.
    When it was out of sight, he pulled out his cell and dialed Sienna.
    ‘Sorry. I couldn’t get there,’ Sienna’s voice filled his ear, low and breathless. ‘I’m helping Mom unload the floral arrangements for the auction. She’ll be back any second. I’m stuck here. She insists she needs my help setting up because someone got sick or something.’
    Jason’s galloping heartbeat began to slow. Sienna was OK. If Goatee was a hunter, he hadn’t found his prey. ‘You think your mom knows we were planning to meet?’ Jason asked, choosing not to tell Sienna about Goatee; he didn’t want to terrify her until he knew what was going on.
    ‘I guess it’s possible,’ Sienna whispered. ‘But I don’t know. She and Dad might just be trying to pack my schedule so full that there’s no way we can sneak off somewhere. My father actually signed me up to play in a father-daughter golf tournament this weekend. And I so don’t golf!’
    ‘Then when—?’
    ‘My mom’s coming back. I gotta go,’ Sienna muttered and hung up.
    Jason slowly folded his phone. Then he sat and stared at the sky until all the color had drained away and the beach and the pier and even the waves were all shades of gray.
Is this how it’s going to be?
he couldn’t stop himself from wondering.
Is this going to keep happening
?
    Is this the end for me and Sienna?

Six
     
    JASON HEADED UP to his car . . . and sat there, his mind shifting back and forth between the Sienna situation and the strangeness of Goatee showing up at the pier.
    Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a flash of movement down on the beach. Goatee guy? Had he circled back?
    Jason squinted into the shadows by the pier. The figure looked too tall to be either of the guys from the speedboat. The hair looked too dark . . .
    The figure moved out of the shadows. It was Brad.
    What was he doing down there? Nobody from school came to La Costa beach. That was the whole point of Jason and Sienna meeting there. Jason noticed that Brad was carrying fishing gear. The silhouette of the pole was pretty easy to make out. Jason hadn’t been fishing since he moved to Malibu. Maybe this was supposed to be a good spot for it. It kind of made sense, with the old pier and everything.
    He watched as Brad continued down the beach and then started cutting up the side of the cliff to the highway. Jason realized that Brad’s car was parked further down the road on the opposite side from Jason’s. It definitely hadn’t been there when Jason arrived.
    Jason put his key in the ignition and started the Bug. He wanted to get out of here. If Brad noticed him, he might come over. And Jason didn’t want to have to come up with a reason for what he himself was doing there.
    He started the car, then impulsively turned right on PCH instead of left. He wasn’t ready to go home. He’d only end up staring blankly at the tube or wasting time studying when his retention capacity was a complete zero. He’d drop by Adam’s instead.
    ‘Jason, hey,’ Adam’s father said when he opened the front door. ‘You came on the right night. I just made my ten-alarm chili.’ The guy was wearing an apron that said BACON IS A VEGETABLE on the front. Jason was starting to feel a little better already. ‘Adam’s eating in his room,’ Chief Turnball continued. ‘I couldn’t pry him away from his computer. Grab yourself a bowlful from the pot on the stove and go on up.’
    ‘Cool. Thanks.’ Jason obediently headed into the kitchen. Just the smell of the chili made his eyes and nose start to water.
What is this stuff gonna do to my stomach lining?
he wondered, serving himself up a big bowlful nonetheless. How could you turn down chow made by somebody with a BACON IS A VEGETABLE apron? Then he made his way to Adam’s room.
    ‘Oh,