name. Then she added Caucasian, average height, married. “Do you know what he does for a living?”
“Uh . . . road maintenance, I think. I remember he was once hurt in his job by one of the tools they use and couldn’t work for almost two months.”
Road maintenance. “Anything else you can think of?”
“They have two kids.”
Two kids. “Okay. Next one?”
“That’s Allen Swenson.”
That was who he was. The guy she’d seen in the church. She jotted him down in the notebook. “Job?”
“Accountant.”
“Married? Kids?”
“He was married. Divorced now.”
“Anything else?”
“Not that I can think of.”
“Next?”
“I don’t remember their first names, but their last name is Wilson.”
They didn’t matter. The Wilson couple were African American. The witness who had seen the men take Rhea had said both men were Caucasian. “Okay. Next.” She clicked for the next picture, taken in the church’s entrance. Catherine was talking to a tall man.
Albert reached out as if to touch the screen. Then he drew back and said, “This is Leon. Last name, uh . . . Farrell.”
Zoe tried not to look at the time. This was painstakingly slow, but she was getting somewhere. “Married?”
“No. He moved here from Nevada two years ago.”
They developed a rhythm. As the images went by, Albert seemed to become more focused, perhaps reliving a happier time. Zoe listed the members, cross-matched them with Patrick’s list. Did her best not to rush Albert. And hoped Rhea was still alive.
CHAPTER 51
They had only one bathroom in the house.
It hadn’t occurred to him before, but keeping the woman in the bathroom posed some difficulties. Daniel didn’t seem to care. If anything, he used the bathroom more now that the girl was in it.
But the man in control couldn’t do it, not with the woman there. Even though she looked away, he just couldn’t. For now, he peed in a jar inside his room, constantly eyeing the door. But he’d have to find a better solution soon.
The whole situation got to him. The tension between them was unbearable. And he worried about the girl; the gash in her forehead was inflamed. He suspected she needed to see a doctor, and that was out of the question, of course. But she couldn’t die, not yet. He still needed her.
He prowled in the apartment, going to the kitchen, the bathroom to look at the woman, and back to his bedroom. Daniel kept his own door shut most of the day, probably asleep.
The man in control had drunk the girl’s blood again, just a drop, from a small cut that he’d sliced into her right arm. He had to make sure he didn’t drink too much of her. He’d tried to research how much he could drink earlier but had found nothing.
Oh, but he’d asked that guy on the vampire forum, hadn’t he?
It frightened him, how hazy the past few hours had been, as if he was losing his hold on reality. He usually left home every day to live his other life. The life that now seemed remote and far away. He needed that life; it was what anchored him. Here, at home, with the woman, and Daniel, and the blood, he was floating away, like in a dream.
Tomorrow. Tomorrow he would go out again.
He sat down to check the forum. The admin, Abchanchu, was much nicer than he’d been last time they’d chatted. Now he saw Abchanchu had sent him a file. He wrote that the amount of blood could be found on those charts.
Clicking the file, he downloaded it to his own computer but didn’t open it. He could hardly focus on reading the chat, not to mention understanding a complex chart.
He answered Abchanchu, trying his best to sound casual. Can you give me a tldr version of this? Charts make my brain hurt LOL.
Abchanchu answered after a few seconds. Haha. It’s a really simple chart. It’s best if you have a look at it, to make sure you aren’t taking too much.
He gritted his teeth. Like, what would be a safe amount for the weight and height I told you earlier?
The chat window showed that Abchanchu had received the message, but he took his time answering. I wouldn’t take too much. But if you really want to play it safe, check the chart. I don’t want to be responsible for giving you the wrong info.
He sighed. He’d have to focus and read the chart.
A sudden sound drew his attention. At first he thought it was some sort of strange vermin. But it wasn’t—it was