Keep Me Close Read online

  Vinny shook her head. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”

  “Try me.”

  Then Vinny sighed. “The reason I wanted to surprise Em is that we kind of had a big fight the last time we saw each other. And I don’t know if she’ll be happy to see me. But I have to be there. I have to.”

  “Why?”

  She sighed, looking frustrated and fearful, an expression Dom had seen on clients pretty often. “I think she is in trouble,” Vinny said, her voice low, confessional. “I had a dream where…where she died.”

  “Okay.” Dom took another sip of beer. This was something he could focus on. “Go on.”

  “I know how it sounds,” she said, sitting on her bed and turning partly away. Hiding. “But it was vivid. Way too vivid. And I kept having the nightmare, night after night.”

  “What exactly happened in the nightmare?” he asked.

  Vinny’s free hand clenched into a fist. “She gets eaten by a spider. And before you say anything, no, I don’t believe that she’s actually going to get bitten by an actual spider and die of its venom. It’s more how the dream felt.”

  “How did it feel?” he asked. He didn’t know if there was a supernatural element to Vinny’s dream—there were plenty of other possibilities—but Dom knew fear when he saw it, and Vinny was scared when she thought about this dream.

  “Desperate,” she said quietly. The beer was forgotten in her hand. “Emma was desperate for help, and I felt desperate to get to her, and when I woke up, the only thing I could think was that I needed to be there. To see her. That maybe the only thing that could stop Emma from dying was me being there.”

  “I can see why you’re in a hurry, then,” Dom said.

  She looked over her shoulder, her eyes big. Her whole attitude was vulnerable, the exact opposite of earlier, when she’d been totally in charge of herself, despite being half-dressed. “You don’t think I’m nuts?” she asked.

  “I’ve heard weirder,” he said with perfect honesty. “And obviously I don’t know what the nightmare means, if anything. But I bet a visit from her best friend would cheer her up.”

  “I hope so.” Vinny gave a little shrug, and then smiled tentatively at him. “It had better. I don’t have a lot of friends I’d hitch cross country for.”

  Good, Dom thought. The idea of Vinny hitching on the regular did not sound safe to him.

  “If you can’t call her, could you call someone else for help? Friend or family, someone on the West Coast?” Who would Vinny actually take a loan from?

  She was still for a moment, her hand toying with a few of her silver necklaces. Then she said, very quietly, “No. No one who could help without going out of their way. And I don’t like to owe people.”

  “Yeah, I got that.”

  She looked over to him, her cheeks going red. “I will pay you back. In money.”

  “Whatever.” Dom wasn’t rich, but the last thing he cared about was settling up with Vinny. God, he was stupid. He never should have kissed her.

  Sure, it had been a while since he had a girlfriend, and yes, it had even been a while since he’d had a date that led to post-sex breakfast talk. But Vinny did a number on him just by standing there, and they were still technically at the pre-sex beer talk stage.

  What was happening? Vinny wasn’t exactly his preferred type of girl. He didn’t even know what type of girl she was, other than tough as hell and way too self-sufficient to tolerate him for longer than she needed to. And anyway, she was going to be out of his life soon. Maybe tomorrow, if she found a more direct route to her friend. Which he should be happy about. The faster he got her out of his system, the better.

  Problem was, he wasn’t sure how to do that.

  They each took a bed. The space between them felt achingly wide to Dom. He couldn’t possibly have gotten used to sleeping next to Vin after a night. But sleeping alone suddenly felt…lonely.

  When she’d muttered a goodnight at him, Vinny warned him that she might have the nightmare again. However, Piewicket cuddled close to Vinny all night, and in the morning, she seemed rested and reluctant to part…with the cat.

  “I was going to say bye when we checked out of the room,” Vinny told him. “But this little bugger here is so sweet.”

  “Well, if you’re hitching again, I am going in the right direction,” Dom said, sure that Piewicket was up to something. “You can ride with me a while longer.”

  She bit her lip. “You sure?”

  “I wouldn’t have offered otherwise.” Like he would leave Vin stranded at this point. And her story about the repeated nightmare was sort of up his alley, professionally speaking. Maybe he could help her out with some information before they had to part ways.

  He drove all morning, but his low gas tank finally forced him to stop. He picked a small, isolated place to gas up, primarily so Vinny wouldn’t bolt. Judging by the look she gave him, she knew exactly what he was doing.

  A few hours later, they stopped again to grab some lunch. Vinny ordered black coffee and fries, then stared at the menu like she was deciphering cuneiform.

  Okay, so she wasn’t feeling chatty. Dom fidgeted with the toothpick dispenser, popping little sticks out one after the other. He started forming some sacred symbols with them, realized what he was doing, then stopped abruptly. He put the toothpicks in his jacket pocket.

  “When we get to Seattle—” he began to say.

  “We are not going to Seattle,” Vinny interrupted. “Not together. Look, thanks for driving me as far as you did. But I’ll get a new ride at the next stop.”

  “And maybe end up with the sort of ride that left you on the side of the road where I found you.”

  “That was a fluke. I’ll be fine.”

  “You’d be fine with me too.”

  “No offense, Dom, but there is no way I’m going through yet another awkward night with you. It was one thing the first time, because circumstances. But after last night…” Vinny shook her head quickly, her hair partially obscuring her face. “It’s for the best. And I am the one in charge of my life. Not you.”

  “Hitchhiking with some new person is not safe.”

  “Not any more dangerous than getting on your bike in the middle of nowhere. I can really take care of myself.” Vinny rustled around in her bag. She didn’t meet his gaze. Was she embarrassed? Or maybe she regretted starting something with him, because she thought he’d push for more tonight.

  Dom tried another tactic. “Just stick it out till the next city, okay? I will pay your ticket on whatever. I’ll drive you to an airport. You can fly the rest of the way.”

  She frowned. “Run up my bill even more? No thank you.”

  “Vin, I just want to know you’re safe. You can pay me back, whenever you want. I’ll let you know where to send it. But let me help you.”

  “I don’t know.” She chewed on her lower lip, obviously unhappy with her choices.

  After the meal, they went back outside. Piewicket was awake, though mostly hidden from the average person.

  “Hey, Pie,” he said dully. “More driving. Enjoy it, ‘cause Vinny’s leaving us for real when we reach civilization.”

  Pie reacted to that news by turning big, innocent eyes on Vinny, mewing piteously.

  Vinny smiled, the first time she’d done so all day. “Oh, Pie, you charmer. Don’t think you’re fooling me.” She picked the cat up and nuzzled her.

  Dom watched, feeling Pie’s words in his mind.

  She is strongminded.

  He sighed, not able to answer her out loud. Vinny was strongminded, and her mind seemed totally focused on getting away from him.

  Chapter 7

  They rode on.

  Vinny kept an eye on the needle of the gas tank, so she knew Dom didn’t have forever. She didn’t want to find a new ride. Hitchhiking was dicey, and Dom would certainly be better than some stranger. But then Vinny would have to stay near him, with all the weirdness of a failed seduction and her own less than clear mo
tives. She really should extract herself, if only to save her sanity.

  Just after sunset, Dom was forced to pull into a gas station at a rest stop. This was one of the new ones—bright and shiny and busy with truckers and travelers.

  Vinny got off the bike as soon as it stopped. “I’m going to stretch my legs.”

  Dom hadn’t even gotten to the pump yet. “By running away?”

  “I didn’t say anything about running away.”

  “No, which makes me suspicious. Besides, Piewicket’s in your bag. So please don’t take off with her.”

  Vinny was about to call him on trying such a blatant lie, but then felt her bag shift. “Damn it, Pie. You are in there. How’d you do that?”

  Dom pointed to a few picnic tables nestled under a massive tree. “Wait over there while I gas up. You can coax her out and we can both take a rest before we move on.”

  After walking briskly over to the picnic tables, she sat on top of the nearest one, her feet on the bench. Pie was already wiggling out as she put the bag down. The calico stretched luxuriously, cast an inscrutable look at Vinny, and then leapt down to the ground, dashing off for a stand of tall grass. She wasn’t worried about the cat at all—Pie seemed pretty wily. But part of her wanted to say goodbye.

  But she didn’t believe in goodbyes. They tended to get schmaltzy, or tense, or awkward, and who needed that? She liked to get out before things got weird. Her dad was a master of the Irish goodbye. When it came to ducking out, he was unparalleled.

  Vinny shook her head, pulling herself back to the present. She had to decide if she was really going to stick with Dom until Seattle, or if she should just take off. It might be better if she left now, without a scene. She actually liked Dom, and to Vinny, that was a danger sign. Liking people led to connections, and connections led to broken connections. It was just a fact…

  “Excuse me, miss.”

  Vinny swiveled. A slight, middle-aged man stood near her table. She didn’t even hear him walk up. “Can I help you?”

  He scratched nervously at his short beard. “I really hate to ask, miss, but you look like a smart young lady, and I’m in a bit of a crisis.”

  Vinny looked him over more carefully. He didn’t set off any obvious red flags. He was shorter than her by an inch or so, and thin in a wiry sort of way. He had sad eyes, like someone who’d been through one heartbreak after another. He seemed agitated, and she felt bad for him. “What’s your crisis?”

  “My daughter is in a state, and I can’t talk to her…She’s just thirteen, and she says she can’t tell me…” He paused.

  Vinny instantly pictured a poor teen having some emotional meltdown, the image of an awkward, blond-haired girl swirling into her mind as if it had always been there. She’d been that girl at one point in her life. She knew how awful it was. “What’s wrong?”

  “If you could just talk with her. For a minute. I know it’s so much to ask…”

  “No, it’s fine,” Vinny said, already sliding off the table. She wanted to help this poor girl. Why not? Vinny wished someone had done the same for her so many years ago.

  “I’m parked that way,” he said, gesturing vaguely. “It’d mean a lot to me. I just don’t know…”

  “It’ll be okay,” she reassured him, despite not being entirely sure what was wrong in the first place. A little niggling unease told her that she should be doing something else right now, but what? She couldn’t remember. Her mind actually felt a little fuzzy, like she’d been awake for too long. “It’ll be okay,” she repeated

  “Yes, ma’am. I’m Mike, by the way.”

  “Vinny,” she said.

  “Funny name for a girl,” he said. “Not that it’s any of my business. This way.”

  Vinny looked over her shoulder toward Dom, who was facing away from her, hunched over the bike as he checked something. She felt a qualm. Was she supposed to tell him something? She glanced toward the grass where the cat disappeared. Piewicket would find Dom all on her own.

  And the girl needed her. The girl who looked like Vinny when she was younger.

  They walked toward the other end of the parking lot.

  “That red truck down at the end,” he said, pointing. “I don’t like parking close. Bad drivers ding the paint every time.”

  Vinny nodded, not really listening, her thoughts lost in when she was thirteen and everything felt so rough. The red truck was all the way at the end, and no one else was around here. The night felt darker than before, far away from the main hub of the rest stop.

  As she got close to the truck, she heard a weird yowling that interrupted her mental trip back to her own past. “What’s that sound?” she asked.

  Mike was looking around for the source too.

  The yowl came again. Vinny saw a familiar streak moving toward her. “Pie!” she called out. She felt a jolt, as if she’d been sleeping and the cat woke her up.

  “Damn cats,” Mike growled.

  Vinny glanced over at him. “It’s not a feral cat. I know her.”

  Piewicket hissed at the man.

  “Pie,” Vinny chided. She reached to scoop the cat up. “It’s okay, sweetie. Did you want to say goodbye?”

  “Might as well,” Mike said, still in that growl.

  Vinny frowned. “Hey, dude…”

  She trailed off, confused as she looked at the man who called himself Mike. The guy no longer looked…nice. His face was paler, for one. Bloodless. Dead. And his teeth were longer. Vinny blinked, trying to clear her vision.

  Piewicket jumped free from her arms, hissing again as she stood between Vinny and the guy. Oddly, Mike looked at the cat as if it was an actual threat. And Pie spat at the guy like he was a monster. Which maybe he was.

  “Okay.” Vinny found her voice. She stood up, her legs feeling way too shaky all of a sudden. “I’m going to leave now.”

  “No, you ain’t, cause you’re my dinner tonight,” Mike said, his words sounding odd past the fangs. “Gotta love a girl who hitches.”

  Vinny stepped back, and hit something solid.

  She started to scream, but then heard Dom’s voice over her shoulder. “It’s me, Vin.”

  “Dom,” she gasped as she turned to face him. “This dude…”

  “Get on the bike,” Dom said. He didn’t meet her eyes. His attention was locked on the thing that called himself Mike. “I’ll deal with this.”

  “Deal with this? He’s…” Vinny looked back at Mike, hoping that she’d been wrong and there was a really good reason why he looked so scary before. Trick of the light. Some perfectly rational explanation.

  When she saw the fangs again, Vinny froze up.

  “Two for one deal?” Mike laughed, then lunged toward Vinny.

  Dom seized her by the shoulder, pushed her behind him, and literally put himself on the front line, just as the thing was rushing forward with its mouth wide open, fangs gleaming in the cold light of the parking lot lamps.

  But before the thing reached them, a streak of cat crossed its path, yowling in fury. Piewicket—sweet, tiny Piewicket—had launched herself at the thing, and slashed at it with her claws.

  Vinny stared in astonishment as whatever the thing was hissed in pain. Thin streaks of red appeared on his face and arms…then almost instantly faded.

  “Oh, shit,” Vinny breathed.

  Dom used the second of distraction caused by Pie’s unexpected attack to push Vinny firmly toward the bike, and out of range of the thing.

  “Dom…” she mumbled, not sure what to even ask. Her brain was short-circuiting.

  “I’ll deal with this,” he repeated. “Vinny, please get on the bike.”

  “Why?” She hadn’t even heard him drive it up.

  “Listen,” he said. “Get on the bike and say there’s no place like home. Don’t argue, don’t ask why. Just do it. Now.”

  Propelled by a hard shove from Dom, Vinny half-ran, half-stumbled to the bike. Dom would be running just behind her. Right?

  She swung
herself onto the seat. What did he want her to do? Oh, right.

  “There’s no place like home.” As she spoke the words, Vinny could feel something happening in the air around her. A bending of light, or something like the waves of heat that caused a desert mirage. It was strange but somehow reassuring. She exhaled.

  Looking back, she saw Dom standing exactly where he’d been before, blocking the thing’s path to her.

  “Pie! Get over by her!” Dom ordered harshly. Amazingly, despite being a cat, Pie did so, bounding to the bike. She stopped at the rear wheel, looking quite calm as she sat facing the two men. She lifted one paw and began to wash her face.

  Mike peered past, eyes narrow. “What the hell, man? What’s happening?” The monster looked very put out that his dinner was suddenly not being delivered.

  “Basic home security spell,” Dom said. “So you won’t be able to pass the threshold uninvited.”

  What? Vinny thought. Did he just say spell?

  The thing’s eyes narrowed further, shifting back to Dom. “What threshold? That’s a fucking bike.”

  “It’s also my home, at the moment. And it’s protected.”

  “Not from me.” Mike growled. His face twitched, and the little remaining humanity in it faded away. The thing’s—the vampire’s—eyes glittered with a cold, shrewd intelligence. “I’m going to suck your girlfriend dry.”

  Dom said, “She’s not my girlfriend.”

  “Still gonna kill her.”

  Vinny felt sick. A cold, clammy sensation crept up her legs and into the pit of her stomach. She fumbled in her jacket pocket for her knife.

  Just as she got her fingers around it, she noticed that Dom also had a serious-looking knife in his hand.

  The vampire moved into a fighting stance.

  “No,” Vinny gasped. She did not want Dom, or anyone, to get hurt because some crazy dude thought he was a vampire and wanted to suck her blood. “Dom, don’t do this. We can leave. Please.”

  Dom barely glanced at her, and just said, “It’s too late for that.”

  Chapter 8