Vampire Games by J. R. Rain Read Free Book Online Page A

leave?”
    Mary Lou explained that Tammy had been grumpy all day, irritable. I nodded to myself as Mary Lou spoke. Yes, I’d been noticing this lately, too, although I had chalked it up to her going through some life changes. My sister had assumed Tammy was in her guest room all day, either reading or on the phone. Later, Anthony came out of the very same room and asked where Tammy was. They searched the house and called her cell phone. Her phone was turned off. And that’s when Mary Lou called me.
    “ Did anyone see her leave?”
    “ No, but we’re pretty sure she went out the back door, then through the side gates.”
    “ Did she take a bike?”
    “ All the bikes are here.”
    “ Did you hear a car pull up front?”
    “ No, but we weren’t paying a lot of attention to the front of the house.”
    Shit.
    Although I didn’t have access to my own children’s thoughts, that didn’t mean they completely escaped my extra-sensory perception, which was why I had sensed something was wrong, and why I had seen the dark halo around Anthony last year, when he had been critically ill.
    As my minivan’s speedometer climbed past 110 mph, I told Mary Lou I would be there soon and hung up. I focused on keeping the minivan from flipping over.
    And keeping myself together.
     
     
     
    Chapter Fourteen
     
     
    On my way to my sister’s house, I called three of Tammy’s closest friends. No one had seen her or heard from her, although everyone pledged to do all they could to help me find her.
    I also made another call, to an investigator who had a reputation for tracking down the missing, and as I pulled up to my sister’s house in Fullerton, a nondescript Camry was pulling up just behind me.
    Spinoza was a small man with a heavy aura. Not a dark aura. Just heavy. Something was eating away at him, making his life a living hell. I didn’t need to be psychic to know that he’d lost something important to him.
    Spinoza parked on the street behind me and got out. He was a small man. The complete opposite of Kingsley or the beast, Knighthorse. And as Spinoza came toward me, concern creasing his pleasantly handsome face, I suddenly had a whiff of something that made me nearly vomit.
    The scent of burned flesh.
    Sweet Jesus, I thought, as I saw in my mind’s eye a burned hand and twisted metal and broken glass.
    His son’s hand. There had been an accident. Mixed with the smell of burnt flesh was alcohol. Spinoza, I was suddenly certain, had been driving. Drunk.
    Sweet Jesus, I thought again.
    Spinoza took my hand and as he did so, the psychic vision and smell of burning flesh disappeared. He next gave me a small, awkward hug. The look in his eyes was one of only concern. I suddenly suspected why Spinoza was known for finding the missing, especially missing children.
    “ How you holding up?” he asked.
    “ Been better. Thanks for coming out on short notice.”
    He nodded. “We’ll find her, Sam. Don’t worry.” And his quiet strength and assuredness spoke volumes. It also calmed me down. Somewhat.
    I led the way into my sister’s house, where Detective Sherbet of the Fullerton Police Department was already inside. No, I wasn’t too concerned that a homicide investigator was there since I had called him, too. Detective Sherbet had become a good friend. So good, in fact, that he and I now shared a deepening telepathic link. Granted, the good detective wasn’t exactly thrilled by our telepathic link, but he seemed to be getting the hang of it.
    We’ll find her, Sam, he thought, nodding, his words appearing softly just inside my ears.
    Thank you, Detective.
    Mary Lou came over next with tears in her eyes, looking so distraught that I was the one doing the reassuring. “Not your fault,” I said over and over as she completely broke down.
    Once she’d gotten control of herself, I planned our course of action with the detectives. At ten years old, Tammy would have fewer choices available to her. She couldn’t drive and she