Page 31 of Starved Until Sunset

After all they’d done for Parson’s Hollow, the fucking Wolek family had, in a matter of months, taken away everything they’d worked so hard to build. Now they had to make a choice. Did they just turn a blind eye to the possible supernatural happenings in town and enjoy their day to day blissful ignorance? Or did they put hurt feelings behind them and step up to do what they knew was right and necessary?

Hell. He wasn’t paid nearly enough for this kind of bullshit.

CHAPTER SIX

Cody knew he shouldn’t be drinking coffee after eight in the evening, but it tasted surprisingly good. And it injected a little zing into his system, which he absolutely needed as he sat listening to Otis talk about golf. The caffeine would most likely keep him up late, but right now it was helping him act interested.

He liked Otis quite a bit. More than he liked a lot of other people. But he could only think of so many encouraging responses to a stroke by stroke breakdown of Otis’s latest game.

As he half-listened to Otis rhapsodizing about something called an albatross, Cody’s attention shifted to a spot over Otis’s shoulder. Zenona Baldwin stepped into his line of sight, carrying a tray toward the register. She looked good, of course. Her dark hair was up in a precise knot on the back of her head. Her back was straight and expression serious. She was pale, but maybe that was a washout brought on by the bright white of her lab coat.

“She’s a looker.”

Otis’s words brought Cody out of his thoughts. “What?”

“Dr. Baldwin.” Otis tipped his head slightly in her direction. “You had a thing with her before you and Demetrius got together, right?”

Cody sat back, flustered at the heat in his cheeks. “Yeah, Zenona and I dated a few times over the years.”

“Why didn’t it work out?”

“Have you met me?” Cody said, startled by Zenona coming up to their table. “Hi there, Doc.”

“Hi.” Zenona fixed him with a serious look. “Is Demetrius okay?”

Cody had been studying her expression, noting she appeared even more serious and intense than usual, so her question surprised him. Was Demmy okay? Had something happened in the ER while he and Otis had been in the cafeteria? A vision of some nightmarish creature tearing through the ER, claws and fangs ripping and slashing. Or a flock of bats getting in through the doors and swarming the ER, biting and scratching and causing havoc. Adrenaline flooded his system and his heart pounded. Sweat slicked his back and armpits.

“Demmy?” He pushed back his chair and put a hand flat on the table, ready to push to his feet. “Why? What’s happened?”

“I don’t know. Why are you here at the hospital?”

“Oh.” Cody slumped back down. His heart started to slow, but it still beat faster than normal. He hated being so quick to jump to the worst conclusion over a simple question. Monster PTSD anyone?

“We’re here for Amelia,” Otis said. “She was in a car accident.”

“Oh, no. Is she okay?” Zenona stepped in a little closer to Otis. “Are you okay?”

“We’re both fine,” Otis assured her. “Amelia was driving by herself.” He glanced at Cody. “She, um, got distracted and went off the road. She’s a little bumped and bruised, but the doctor thinks she’ll be okay.”

“That’s good. Which doctor is seeing her?” Zenona looked between them. Cody noticed her fingers had tightened so much on the edges of the tray they’d gone white.

“I don’t know, I wasn’t allowed back.” Cody looked at Otis. “Do you remember the doctor’s name?”

“I don’t, I’m sorry. He’s a young man with dark, sort of curly hair.”

“Might be Dr. Manner,” Zenona said with a single nod. “He’s good.”

Behind Zenona, Dr. Graham, the medical examiner they’d talked with during the water sprite shape-shifter killings earlier that year stepped up to the register. Cody still didn’t know what to think about him. He was pale, which made sense since he worked in the basement morgue, and his face was made up of sharp angles with a thin, pointy nose and a narrow, pointed chin. He had a British accent that made him sound even smarter when he talked about all the trauma that had been inflicted on a body.

Zenona looked over her shoulder. She nodded to Dr. Graham, and then looked back at Cody. In a lower voice, she said, “Are you guys working on anything?”

Cody frowned. “If you mean water main breaks and scraping up roadkill, then yeah.”

“Nothing else?”

Tension thrummed through Cody. “No. Nothing else.” He could hear the definitive and I don’t want us to be in his tone.

“Okay.” She gave a single nod then looked at Otis. “I hope Amelia can be released soon. Let me know if either of you have any questions.”