Page 75 of Dark Obsession

“Yeah.”

Cody turned the knob and pushed the door open. The hinges squealed just like before, the sound running down Demetrius’s spine like icy water. He squared his shoulders, held the water gun tighter against his chest, and followed Cody inside. They switched on the bright LED flashlights they’d brought and descended the wooden steps. Without saying a word, they stuck together, walking around the entire basement. The bright beams chased away shadows as they went, pausing now and then to wipe cobwebs off their heads or duck around dangling wires. When they reached the mattress, the tangled clothing was now stiff from the dried black blood. Cody played the beam of his flashlight over all of it, including the cowboy boots standing side by side at one end.

Claws skittered overhead through one of the ducts coming off the furnace, and they both jumped.

“Fucking vampires find the nastiest places to roost,” Cody said, shuddering. He squatted beside the mattress and pointed to a hole. “What do you think? Had this hole always been there, or was it left by the force of the stake someone put into him?”

“I didn’t notice that before.” Demetrius crouched beside him. “It doesn’t appear too frayed around the edges. I’d say it happened when he was staked.”

“Which tells me someone really let him have it. Come on, let’s check out the rest of the place.”

Cody straightened up, ducking his head as he walked under the ducts toward the stairs, and Demetrius followed.

The other rooms were the same as Demetrius remembered: newspapers and black trash bags covering the windows, the few pieces of furniture left behind, the layers of dust, and the oppressive heat of a sealed up house sitting under the blazing summer sun. They made quick work of the search before returning to the kitchen and leaving through the side door. Demetrius pulled it shut behind him.

“Still not clear who was here or who offed him,” Cody said.

“Right.”

Cody stared over Demetrius’s shoulder, and his expression hardened. When he followed Cody’s gaze, he saw Lucia and Gayle coming up the driveway, both in sheriff’s khakis and sunlight dancing off the lenses of their sunglasses.

“Doing a bit of B&E between critter catching?” Lucia asked.

“We were following up on a client call,” Demetrius said.

“One we heard about at The Rusty Screw,” Cody said.

Lucia went very still. Gayle looked between her and Cody before asking, “The Rusty Screw? Is that a place around here?”

Cody kept his eyes on Lucia as he replied to Gayle. “Yeah. It’s a bar out on Hemlock Way, right at the border with Lawrence County. Been there a long, long time. I’m surprised you haven’t heard it mentioned before.”

“I haven’t.” Gayle turned to Lucia. “Do you know it?”

“I’ve heard of it.” Lucia didn’t take her eyes off Cody. “But just recently. And I haven’t been there. I hear it’s a pretty rough place.”

“Yeah,” Cody said. “Pretty dead during the day, but it really comes alive at night.”

A long silence stretched out between them.

“How’d you know we were here?” Demetrius finally asked.

“Someone called it in,” Lucia said, finally turning to him. “There’s apparently been a lot of activity around this abandoned house.”

“They did?” Gayle’s brow furrowed. “I didn’t hear it.”

“You were in the gas station buying the drinks.” Lucia looked back at Cody. “What were you two doing in there?”

“Having sex,” Cody said. “Like hot yoga, only more intimate.”

Demetrius’s eyebrows went up.

“Public indecency,” Lucia said. “You trying to spend a couple nights in jail?”

Cody pressed his lips tight.

“What else do you know about The Rusty Screw?” Demetrius asked.

Lucia took a step closer to him. “After all these years, do you not understand the dynamic here?” She gestured between them. “Law enforcement asks the questions.”