"Vampire got him?"
He nodded.
Wallace stood up sort of slow. He arched his back just a bit, as if working the kinks out. "Nice shot," he said.
I shrugged. "It was my knee, not my fist."
"Still a good shot. I don't have any excuses good enough for what I just did."
"No," I said, "you don't."
He just looked down at the ground, then up. "I don't know what made me do it."
"Let's take a little walk." I started off into the dark without looking back, as if I had no doubt he'd follow me. This technique works more often than you think it would.
He followed me. He had stopped to pick up his flashlight, but bravely turned it off.
I stopped just short of the woods and stared off into the trees, letting my eyes adjust to the dark. I didn't look at anything in particular. I let my eyes just sort of see everything. I was looking for movement. Any movement. The tree limbs moved fitfully in the spring wind, but it was a general movement like ocean waves. The trees weren't what worried me.
Wallace tapped the darkened flashlight against his thigh. A soft whap, whap. I wanted to tell him to stop but didn't. If it comforted him, I could live with it.
I let the silence stretch between us. The wind picked up, filling the night with a rushing, hurrying sound. You could smell the rain on the wind.
He gripped the flashlight in both hands. I could hear his intake of breath above the wind. "What was that?"
"The wind," I said.
"Are you sure?"
"Pretty much."
"What do you want?" he asked.
"Is this the first vamp you've gone after since your partner's death?"
He looked at me. "Granger told you?"
"Yeah, but I saw your neck. I was pretty sure what had done it."
I wanted to tell him it was okay to be scared. Hell, I was scared, but he was a cop and a man, and I didn't know him well enough to know how he'd take a pep talk from me. But I had to know if he'd follow me into those woods. I had to know if I could depend on him. If he stayed this scared, I couldn't.
"What happened?" I asked. Maybe talking about it right now was the wrong thing to do, but ignoring it wasn't working very well.
He shook his head. "Headquarters says you're in charge, Ms. Blake. Fine, I'll do what I'm told. But I don't have to answer personal questions."
It was too much trouble to shrug out of the overall, and I really didn't want my arms trapped. I undid one button on my blouse and spread the cloth.
"What are you doing?"
"How good's your night vision?"
"Why?"
"Can you see the scar?"
"What are you talking about?" He sounded suspicious. Suspicious that I was crazy, maybe.
My night vision would have picked it up, but most people don't have my eyes. "Give me your hand."