The Reluctant Vampire Page 0,102

else s ll open to keep an eye out for her, and then coordinate a search party. Report in here if you see or hear anything."

Drina nodded and sat down to quickly don her boots. By the me she finished, Mirabeau, Tiny, and Anders had left, and Harper was straightening from donning his own boots in the entry.

"Ready?" he asked.

Nodding, Drina led the way outside and to Victor's borrowed car.

"Where do we start?" Harper asked as he started the car. "The gas station by the highway?"

Drina frowned and considered briefly, but shook her head. "Anders is probably heading back to the gas station, so there's no use trying there."

"I don't know," Harper said as he backed out of the driveway. "Stephanie might hide from Anders because he was going to take her to Toronto, but I don't think she'd hide from you. She might come out if she saw us driving around."

"Do you think so?" Drina asked, hoping it was true.

"Definitely," he said solemnly.

Teddy hadn't been kidding; the gas sta on was a hell of a distance out of town. It seemed to take forever to get there, but Drina spent the whole journey scanning the streets and anybody they passed, growing increasingly desperate to find Stephanie as she considered what could happen to her on her own. Drina wasn't worried about perverts or mortal sickos a acking the girl. With her increased strength and speed, Stephanie was pre y much mortal proof. Actually, any mortal foolish enough to look at the pe te blonde and see her as a vic m, would find they were very much mistaken. But someone had been attacking them, and if it was Leonius . . .

The thought of what might happen to the girl if he got his hands on her was worrying Drina sick. They saw Anders at the gas sta on, but no Stephanie, so set out to drive around the surrounding area, scanning fields and businesses, and then houses and yards as they got closer to town and a more urban area.

"Is there anywhere she would go? Somewhere she liked or . . . just anywhere you think she might go?"

Harper asked some two hours later. They were driving in circles now, recovering old ground and seeing nothing but the others out searching for Stephanie.

Drina started to shake her head, but paused, and murmured, "Beth."

"Beth?" Harper glanced to her with a frown. "Beth of the madam days Beth?"

Drina nodded. "I was just thinking that when Beth ran from Jimmy, she went straight back to the empty brothel. The last place she'd been safe and called home."

"Casey Co age," Harper said, ge ng it at once. He turned at the first corner, and Drina closed her eyes and sent up a silent prayer that they'd find her there, safe and sound and well. However, it appeared no one was listening to prayers that day because a thorough search of Casey Cottage turned up nothing.

"I guess it's back to driving around."

Harper frowned at the weariness in Drina's voice as he ushered her out of the house and across the deck. She sounded exhausted, and he wouldn't be surprised if she was. Surely she hadn't slept much on that stool of hers the night before while wai ng for the drugstore to open. But he suspected most of the exhaustion was caused from worry. She was beginning to lose hope.

"I need more gas, and the one by the highway is the only one open at this hour," he said, as they walked along the side of the garage to the driveway. "We'll head back there and start another circuit."

Drina nodded, not looking terribly encouraged.

Harper opened the car door for her, but when she went to get in, he caught her arm. "We'll find her, Drina. We won't stop looking until we do."

Drina let her breath out on a sigh, then leaned forward and kissed his cheek, whispering, "Thank you."

She looked just as calm and strong as she had all night, but there was something in her voice that told him while she appreciated his effort to encourage her, it hadn't really worked. Harper watched her slide into the car and wished he could do something to make her feel be er. But the only thing likely to do that was finding Stephanie.

Where the hell was the girl? he asked himself as he closed the door and walked around to get in the driver's side. Unfortunately, he didn't have a clue.

They were quiet on