The knock at the door startled Danny. He was not comfortable receiving visitors during the daytime. What if they discovered where Amos slept in the daytime? He could handle most visits, but he did not like to receive them…
The woman in the professional suit was a stranger to him.
"Is Mr. Benchley at home?"
"He's off for the day. He had business to attend to"
"Oh, yes… business…" Heather could not hide her smirk. "When do you expect him back? How about tonight?"
"He might be back tonight."
"Will you give him my card? I have an interesting proposition for him."
-0-
"And Lawson was having a reckoning of sorts. Yes, he was very much like the forthright, compassionate character in the show… but he had a weakness… a bad decision he had made in the past, one that he regretted and tried to make amends for… only that he had gotten in deeper than he meant to.." Amos sighed "We all make bad decisions at one time or another and some of them we get over them, and some of them come back to haunt us… so it was with Lawson"
-0-
"You would not know anything about those shots fired last night? Sheriff Oates asked him.
Lawson shrugged "What happened?"
"It was in a secluded cove. There were a couple of bullet holes and some blood on the rocks.. Too bad that the place is covered in gravel and stones, so we could not get footprints nor tire tracks…
"Well you should look for the boat that was there."
"Yes. And for anyone with bullet wounds… you treated Frank Carruthers last night, did you?"
"Yes."
"And you did not tell me?
"Why should I tell you about a fishing boat accident? They are only too common."
"Yes, but not on dry land."
"They happen if you try to make repairs and you slip."
"Is that what happened? You would not have taken out a bullet out of him by any chance?"
"What makes you think that?
"John, we are friends but you are getting in too deep. If Frank is arrested you might well be also."
-0-
Amos was wary as he called on the hotel where Heather Mattox was staying Who was she? What did she want? She probably was selling something, but what? And why chose him?
She could not know… could she?
What he was… what he had to do… he still felt shame for it in spite of the encouragement he got from his friends.
"Mr. Benchley, nice of you to come… we have much to talk about…"
"You have something to offer me?'"
"Yes let us find a place where we will not be overheard."
"You room?"
"This is a respectable hotel. I cannot have gentlemen callers in my room without scandal… but there are spots in the garden where we can talk in privacy."
He wondered if he had to take action to silence here….A quick bite and she would leave him alone again.. Control her mind and let her believe she had been mistaken…
But first find out.
"I have a cure for your condition, Mr. Benchley."
"A cure for what?"
"Your vampirism."
"You… you are crazy."
She pulled out a glass orb with a strange sheen and showed it to Amos. Light reflected on it and when it hit Amos' eyes he had to turn away in pain.
"Crosses do not always work but this does, all the time. You are not the first vampire I dealt with. Now, sit down and let me tell you my proposition."
"You know…"
"I know a lot of things.. you are not the first vampire I met. There was this woman named Clare. She let me study her, so I learned quite a bit. She was interested in being able to return to human life."
"Did it work on here?"
"She had to get away before I could try my treatment. Seems someone was hunting her… I waited for her and perfected the treatment."
"But you need a guinea pig?"
"There are not many of you running around. But then don't you want to have a normal life? Stop lying to people as to what you do during the day? Seeing the sun again?"
He sighed. "If it were possible…"
"It might be."
It was tempting… but… for some reason he did not trust her… and he was only a guinea pig…
"I will have to think about it."
"I will be waiting"