nothing to weaken his libido. The contrary, even.
"There's nothing out here but mileposts, Ric. I know this is the Big Nowhere, but I need a hot shower, some food, and a comfy bed right now."
"It's all right back there," he said. "In a unique way." He swung Dolly into a U-ey on the deserted two-lane that her Queen Mary turning circumference shouldn't have been able to make without hitting the shoulder gravel.
I winced for her vintage everything, but most guys have some freaky car mojo going. Dolly spun the one-eighty in a disciplined, ladylike fashion, no squealing brakes or unseemly spray of road grit ruining the polish on her black-satin chassis.
I felt my right wrist getting heavy under the weight of a single handcuff dangling a broken chain. No, not this time. I was wearing a charm bracelet again, loaded with tooth-sharp, tiny icons I couldn't see in the dark. Even the silver familiar was going along for the ride.
"I'm getting to love this babe of a boat," Ric said, turning her up an asphalt-paved two-lane road I'd missed spotting in the rapidly descending twilight.
I still was in the dark about the meaning of the sign, especially as Dolly's headlights scanned no sign of human habitation except barbed wire fencing along the small but oddly smooth road.
"It gets really dark out here without any lights for miles," I pointed out. Again.
"So what? We're not afraid of vampires, are we?"
"Out in the heartland, vamps are not major tourist attractions, or hidden empires, or mere mob muscle, like in Vegas," I said. "They're plain and simple bloodsuckers, and always hard at it."
Ric just laughed.
Frankly, his laughter was worth as much to me as my non-vamp-perforated skin these days.
Staring into the dark for a sign of civilization, I spotted a large silvery pale expanse with faint lines forming interior squares, like a concrete wall. And we were heading right for it.
Quicksilver whined and braced his long-nailed front paws on my leather seat back. He knew that was a no-no. At least he knew enough to plant them and stop, with no overexcited canine churning that would damage the leather, but he wanted a good view of our eerie destination as much as I did.
And then I spotted ...
"Cars. That's a parking lot in the middle of nowhere?"
"Yup." Ric sounded smug.
"I don't see any motel cabins or buildings. Or showers."
"I wasn't really looking for rain while driving a convertible with the top down."
"Food."
"See that blocky little building in the middle of the parked cars there?"
"Looks like an animal shelter in a very small town. Ish. Sheets?"
"Red leather not turn you on?"
Ric eased Dolly into a vacant area up against what looked like a parking meter. Then he buzzed up the driver's window a few inches and clamped the parking meter head onto the glass.
"Ric. Why is that thing abusing my vintage window? Those fifty-six Biarritz Caddy windows are hell to replace. I know, because Quicksilver smashed through one to defend me against the Lunatics the day that I adopted him in Sunset Park."
"Relax," Ric said as the hovering white alien ship dead ahead produced a vaguely colored glow and tinny music blared into the Cadillac.
"Are we going to be abducted, or what?" I shouted, hands over ears and body braced for instant levitation. "I've got enough 'missing time' in my personal history already."
Ric remained calm. "Guess you never had a chance to patronize a restored twentieth-century drive-in movie theater. Me neither."
He stretched his arm over my seat back.
"What do you want from the food shack, Date?"
Chapter Seven
WE HAD OUR first "discussion" while the giant screen showed inane cartoon characters and animated boxes of candy and popcorn. If I never saw another Dancing Milk Dud, it would be too soon. And the music was the sappiest I'd ever heard in my life.
"Ric, I'm not sure this whole trip is a good idea. Happiness was Wichita, Kansas, in Dolly's wide-screen rearview mirror. And this side trip is creepy. I know I wasn't really abducted by aliens as a kid, but that scenario is way too close for comfort to what might have actually happened. The closer we get to Wichita, the jumpier I get."
"Hey, Delilah." He pulled me across the bench seat to lay my head on his shoulder. "Not many restored drive-in movie screens survive in the country. I thought you were a vintage film buff. Anyway, the girl is supposed to get a little scared and snuggle up, right?"
"Drive-ins were dead before I was