Calvin grinned and shook his head. “Nah, I’m lucky. I love music. And when I get a good game going, well, that makes me happy, too. So, my work is play. How many people get to say that?”
“Not many,” Jon agreed. He looked at Kylie. “She’s tired.”
“Hey, you’re tired, too,” Kylie protested.
“I was thinking of a nightcap, but…well, we’ll get home. Not home—but back to the Brim House. Then we’ll decide if we’re getting a second wind, huh?” Jon said.
Kylie wasn’t sure what he was getting at, but she smiled. “Sure.”
“My floor,” Calvin said, smiling to them both as he started getting off the elevator. He paused then, his hand on the sliding doors so they wouldn’t shut on him. “Really, please. Solve this thing. I want Brenda to keep that place. She’s great. It will wind up being some rich guy’s toy that he may or may not play with the way this is going. Anyway, goodnight.”
Then, he was gone.
“I just want to see if he really goes home,” Jon said quietly. “And have an out for us to leave again.”
“To where?”
“Pub hopping, what else? It’s almost Halloween. It’s Saturday night…and we need to catch a werewolf clown.”
Kylie nodded. “Do you know how many pubs and bars there are in Salem?” she asked. “And this guy is probably luring his victims to his house or an apartment or a hotel room.”
“Exactly. No, Kylie, I don’t expect to simply walk into a pub and catch him poisoning a drink. I do want to see who is picking up people at the bars, though—and let them know that they’ve been seen.”
They returned to the car and headed out of the garage. Once again, Calvin wound up being right in front of them.
He drove straight to his parents’ house. Kylie and Jon went into Brim House and watched from the window. Calvin came out with Woof-Woof, walked him, and then went back in.
Jon stayed to the side of the window, looking out.
“Aren’t we being peeping Toms now?” she asked softly.
He nodded. “I see Mrs. Matheson and the girls. They’re making jack-o’-lanterns at the dining room table. I don’t see Mr. Matheson.”
“That doesn’t mean anything.”
“True. Next door…I see upstairs. Ginger is at her dressing table. I think she’s talking to someone. Maybe Kenny is on the bed? Then again, maybe she’s talking to herself. Who knows?” He turned to her. “We’ll hop a few bars in the tourist area only.”
“As you wish,” Kylie said.
As they drove, Jon called Ben. He wanted him to get another public announcement out to the local channels, warning visitors about the murders and asking single women to be extremely careful about accepting drinks from strangers.
Ben said it would be done.
And he was true to his word. The partiers were out. But on the TV at the bar at the Cauldron, Ben’s public service announcement played. He and Kylie didn’t stay long, and they didn’t see even one single woman, nor any pairs, actually—people were out in small groups.
It was the same when they traveled to the next pubs. After that, Jon looked at her and smiled grimly. “Ready for bed?”
“Is that a real question or a pick-up line?” she teased.
“Both,” he told her.
“Very ready.”
“For which?”
“Both.”
They returned to Brim House, and this time, when Jon stood by the side of the downstairs window to look out, their neighboring houses were dark.
Jon swore softly.
“What?”
“The Daily place has a garage. There’s no way to tell if Calvin went back out or not.”
“Jon—”
“It’s okay. We’re going to get some sleep. Tomorrow will be…longer.”
They headed upstairs. Kylie thought again that she’d crash into bed and it would be up to Jon to induce her to stay awake, but the shower once again beckoned her.
She headed that way, and he laughed.
“Remember last night?” he asked.
“Yep. Don’t hog all the room,” she told him.
He joined her and did an excellent job of convincing her to stay awake just a little bit longer.
But then, curled at his side, she slept. She thought that she would sleep deeply—she was so tired. The last days had been very long, and they had added some last-minute physical exertion into it all, so sleep should have come easily.
And it did. Sweet sleep, wonderful sleep, the kind that renewed the world.
Except it didn’t last.
Darkness, the sweetness of rest, became a soft, swirling mist, growing brighter and brighter.
Kylie was in a kitchen. A small one. The kind in some of the hotels, usually referred to as a suite in those extended stay type places.
A blender sat on a counter, and Kylie saw her hands as she picked it up—only they weren’t her hands. They were far larger, rougher, more bronzed. The nails were cut short, neat and masculine. Something trailed over the hands…little bits of fabric from what appeared to be an elegant shirt, perhaps something from a different age. But the hands…
Masculine. Beyond a doubt.
She was seeing through the eyes of a man.
She poured the mixed berry contents into two glasses and then added liberal portions of whiskey to each.
Strange. Her being fought her entrance into the man’s mind. It made no sense. She was now entering into people in social situations, and she didn’t want to be here…especially not in a man’s body, while he was on a…a date? A hookup?
Dread already filled her. No, this was no simple date.
He smiled. She knew, though, of course, she couldn’t see her face. She could feel what he was feeling.
Excitement, adrenaline rushing. This was planned. There would be a finale to make him proud and feel that he was godlike. That he had the power and was doing things that were just and right in the grand scheme of time and the universe.
No…
There was something of Kylie in this strange state. And she fought being there. He needed to seduce the woman—or what?
He called out to someone waiting on a sofa in a parlor/bedroom area.
“I’m so glad we left the bar. Much quieter. Much better here.”
“I know,” a woman replied. “I wasn’t even going to come out tonight. The town is so wild right now, and with everything that’s been going on…well, I’m glad that I met you with a friend.”
“First trip, right?” he asked. He was still busy with his hands, reaching for something…a little container. He emptied the contents into one of the glasses.
“But you have friends in town?” he called.
What had he put in the drink? An aid for a sexual conquest?
Or something far worse?
Kylie wondered what she was doing here. Seeing through his eyes, feeling his strange emotions?
“My family lived here decades ago. I’m one of five kids,” the woman said. “Between us…we have several friends still here, some just online, and others I see in Boston from time to time…which turned out to be great because we were introduced. Thankfully. I’d have walked around a bit, had that one drink at the bar, and headed back to my lonely room. I mean, we’ve been warned to be careful in the city.”