The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires - Grady Hendrix Page 0,81

inside of her thigh. Destiny Taylor had something similar. James Harris must have injected something into them. We believe that if you examine Orville Reed’s body you’ll find the same mark.”

“That’s very interesting,” Carter said, and Patricia felt herself getting smaller with every word he spoke. “But I’m not sure it tells us anything.”

“The track marks link Destiny Taylor and Ann Savage,” Patricia said, remembering Maryellen’s advice during one of their rehearsals. “James Harris’s van was seen in Six Mile even though he says he’s never been to Six Mile. His van is no longer at his house, but he’s keeping it in Pak Rat Mini-Storage. Orville Reed’s cousin was killed because of what’s going on. Destiny Taylor suffers from the same symptoms as Orville Reed did before he killed himself. We don’t think you should wait for Destiny Taylor to follow his example. We believe that while this evidence is circumstantial, there is a preponderance of it.”

Maryellen, Kitty, and Slick all looked from Patricia to the men, waiting for their reaction. They gave none. Thrown, Patricia took a sip of water, then decided to try something they hadn’t rehearsed.

“Francine was Ann Savage’s cleaning woman,” she said. “She went missing in May of this year. The day she went missing, I saw her pull up in front of James Harris’s house to clean.”

“Did you see her go inside?” Ed asked.

“No,” Patricia said. “She was reported missing and the police think she went somewhere with a man, but, well, you have to know Francine to realize that’s—”

Leland’s voice rang out loud and clear. “I’m going to stop you right there. Does anyone need to hear more of this nonsense?”

“But, Leland—” Slick began.

“No, Slick,” Leland snapped.

“Would you ladies be open to hearing another perspective?” Carter asked.

Patricia hated his psychiatric voice and his rhetorical questions, but she nodded out of habit.

“Of course,” she said.

“Ed?” Carter prompted.

“I ran that license plate number you gave me,” Ed said to Maryellen. “It belongs to James Harris, Texas address, no criminal record except a few minor traffic violations. You told me it belonged to a man Horse and Kitty’s girl was dating.”

“Honey’s dating this guy?” Horse asked in a shocked voice.

“No, Horse,” Maryellen said. “I made that up to get Ed to run the plates.”

Kitty rubbed Horse’s back as he shook his head, dumbfounded.

“I’ll tell you,” Ed said. “I’m always happy to help out a friend, but I was pretty damn embarrassed to meet James Harris thinking he was a cradle robber. It was a cock-up of a conversation until I realized I’d been played for a fool.”

“You met him?” Patricia asked.

“We had a conversation,” Ed said.

“You discussed this?” Patricia asked, and the betrayal made her voice weak.

“We’ve been talking for weeks,” Leland said. “James Harris is one of the biggest investors in Gracious Cay. Over the past months he’s put, well, I won’t tell you how much money he’s put in, but it’s a substantial sum, and in that time he’s demonstrated to me that he’s a man of character.”

“You never told me,” Slick said.

“Because it’s none of your business,” he said.

“Don’t be upset with him,” Carter said. “Horse, Leland, James Harris, and I have formed a kind of consortium to invest in Gracious Cay. We’ve had several business meetings and the man we’ve gotten to know is very different from this murderous, drug-dealing predator you describe. I think it’s safe to say that we know him significantly better than you do at this point.”

Patricia thought she’d knitted a sweater, but all she held in her hands was a pile of yarn and everyone was laughing at her, patting her on the head, chuckling at her childishness. She wanted to panic. Instead, she turned to Carter.

“We are your wives. We are the mothers of your children, and we believe there is a real danger here,” she said. “Does that not count for something?”

“No one said it didn’t—” Carter began.

“We’re not asking for much,” Maryellen said. “Just check his mini-storage.