Suspenseful Tales Part 7

"I have a high metabolism. So does Daddy. We eat like wolves and don't gain a pound."

"I see."

"If you hang around me long enough, maybe you'll pick it up, like by osmosis." She gave me that enchanting smile again, hinting at things I could only imagine.

I excused myself to visit the washroom. In the bathroom, I took care of business and went to the sink to wash up. As I stood there soaping my hands, Mr. Payne exited one of the toilet stalls.

I froze. "Uh, hi, Mr. Payne."

He glared at me as he walked to the sinks. "Have you been treating my little girl well?"

"We're having a great time," I said. What was he doing here? Had he followed us? I couldn't ask him those questions, so I said, "She sure enjoys steak."

"She takes after me." He washed his hands. "I love meat. The bloodier, the better." He stared at me. "Nothing tastes as delicious as the blood."

"Yeah," I said. The strange look in his eyes made me wonder if he'd like to slit me open and sample my blood. Quickly, I grabbed a towel from the dispenser and began to dry my hands.

Mr. Payne came over to me. He s.n.a.t.c.hed the towel out of my hands.

I gaped at him. I was suddenly aware of how big he was, and painfully aware that we were the only ones in there; the sounds coming from the dining room seemed to be miles away.

Did he know the truth about me? Was that why he was confronting me like this?

Towering over me, he grinned. It wasn't a friendly grin. It was a mouth-wide-open, predatory grin, letting me see the long, sharp canines, teeth that no normal man would have ... teeth that belonged in the mouth of an animal.

I backed up against the wall.

"I'm watching you," he said. Saliva gleamed on his teeth. "You try anything with my little girl, and you'll wish you'd never met her."

Tension had squeezed my throat like a garrote. I couldn't speak.

No ordinary man could have teeth like that.

Then Mr. Payne shut his mouth with an audible clap. He turned away as if nothing had happened and began to pick his Afro.

"Do you plan on keeping my daughter waiting much longer?" he said. "Or are you as thoughtless and rude as I figured you are?"

Without a word, I got out of there.

Either Mr. Payne was on to me and was attempting to scare me off my investigation, or else he was only trying to scare me away from his daughter. Well, it wouldn't work. I had a job to finish, and I'd stick to it, regardless of how much he made my palms sweat.

Back at the table, Stacy had finished eating. Her plate was so clean it might have come right out of the dishwasher.

"Your father's here," I said. "I saw him in the washroom."

She sighed. "That figures. He's following me again."

"He's done this before?"

She nodded. "With other guys. I'm daddy's little girl, remember? He doesn't want to let me out of his sight."

At the back of the dining room, the bathroom door opened. Mr. Payne emerged, staring at me. He sat at a table across the room, but his location gave him a direct view of us. I could feel his glare boring like a drill into my brain.

"Take a look over there," I said to Stacy. "He's got a perfect view of us."

She didn't look. "I'll take your word for it. It's typical of him."

"Have you asked him to stop doing this?"

"All the time. But it doesn't matter, he does it anyway. He does it whenever he thinks I'm with the wrong guy, which is all the time."

"This is crazy," I said. "You're a grown woman."

"I know how we can get him off our backs, Nathan," she said. "Be patient, okay?"

"What are you going to do?"

But she would not answer; she only gave me that secretive smile.

On our way out, we had to pa.s.s by Mr. Payne's table. He had a huge cut of prime rib in front of him. The juicy meat oozed dark blood.

Nothing tastes as delicious as the blood.

Stacy, thankfully, didn't stop to converse. She only said h.e.l.lo. I gave him the same brief greeting. But as I held open the door for her, I looked at him. He watched me, of course, a warning in his savage eyes.

You try anything with my little girl, and you '11 wish you 'd never met her.

You can't scare me away, I thought. I'm not quitting until I learn the truth.

Mr. Payne didn't say a word, but he held my gaze. Held my gaze as he raised a b.l.o.o.d.y chunk of meat to his long, sharp teeth.

At the theater, on Stacy's insistence, we took seats on the far left side, against the wall. We wouldn't have a great view of the screen. But we would have a great opportunity to get closer to each other. The feature film was a romantic comedy, and though I didn't plan on paying much attention to the story, I went to get popcorn for us.

Mr. Payne was in the lobby. He stood at the box office, buying a ticket.

This man was relentless. I understood what he had meant when, before we had left the house, he'd said to me, I'll be watching you. He was literally going to tail us all night.

He was messing up everything. I'd thought that I could gradually insinuate myself into Stacy's lifea"and, by extension, his lifea"and pick up all the clues I needed to complete my investigation. But Mr. Payne wasn't letting me take that path. He was committed to driving me away before I resolved anything.

I dashed back to Stacy. The theater had darkened; a preview of an upcoming film flashed on the screen.

"Where's the popcorn?" Stacy said.

"I didn't get any. Your dad's here. I saw him buying a ticket."

"Oh, no." She covered her face with her hands.

"If he comes in for this movie, we're going to see something else," I said. "I couldn't stand having him in here."

She sucked in air. "Daddy has never gotten on my nerves this badly. I think he knows there's something special between us. He's scared of what it might lead to."

I frowned. "And what might it lead to?"

"Later, " she said. "I'll explain later. Please trust me."

"Why don't you just tell me what's on your mind?"

But she had raised a finger to her lips, motioning behind us.

I turned. I saw a tall, hulking silhouette in the doorway at the back of the theater. There were two aisles, and we were near the left one; slowly, the figure marched down the right aisle, head swiveling back and forth, looking for either a seata"or for us.

"That's him?" I said in a whisper.

"I think so."

I grabbed her hand. "Come on, let's go see something else."

Masked by darkness, we slipped out of there. I did not look back to see if Mr. Payne saw us leave. I had the bizarre notion that if I glanced in his direction, he would be watching me. Like a creature of the night, he seemed to have heightened, almost extraordinary senses.

We entered the theater at the end of the hallway. It was a horror flick, and it was dark inside. Luckily for us, the opening credits had just begun.

We found seats in the same area as before. Far left corner, against the wall. Stacy took the seat near the wall, and I sat beside her. I put my arm around her. She snuggled closer.

"I forgot to ask you," I said, "do you like horror movies?"

"I love them," she said. "Especially monster movies. This is one of those, isn't it?"

"Yeah, something about a werewolf." I recalled the lurid poster beside the movie entrance.

She grinned. "Ooooohh, that's perfect. I only hope it's realistic."

I was about to ask how a film about a werewolf could possibly be realistic, but then she kissed my lips, no, tasted my lips, and I didn't care about asking her questions. I didn't even care about her father. I cared only about being with her.

She lay her head on my shoulder. I stroked her l.u.s.trous hair.

Maybe we were falling in love. The idea worried me. How could I resolve my case if I were in love with her? Love would make it difficult, if not impossible, to carry out my a.s.signed task.

Rather than mull over the situation, I immersed my attention in the movie. It was a gory show about a pack of werewolves that tore through a quiet Illinois town. The acting was terrible, the dialogue was stilted, and the plotting was choppy, but it nonetheless got a huge response from the audience, especially Stacy. Every time a werewolf ripped out someone's throat, she whooped, and she sighed with something approaching ecstasy at every drop of spilled blood. I got the weird feeling that she rooted for the werewolves to prevail over the humans.

But I didn't complain. We explored each other's bodies quite a bit during the show. At several points, we become so entangled that I wasn't sure whose limbs were whose. We might never have done any of that if she hadn't been so engaged by the film. Not only was I curious to see if this new level of intimacy would loosen her tongue on family matters. I also, I admit, looked forward to becoming better acquainted with her body.

As the closing credits rolled down the screen, the theater lights brightened. Hands entwined, we stood. I led the way to the crowded aisle ... and then I glimpsed a familiar shape in the corner of my eye. I spun.

It was Mr. Payne. He stood two rows behind us. He glared hatefully at me. I realized, with despair, that he had witnessed every kiss, every forbidden touch that I had shared with his precious daughter.

Mr. Payne pointed a long finger at me. "You!"

I shrank back. People around us looked, curious and alarmed.

Stacy gripped my hand. "Daddy, you shouldn't have followed us!"

"I'm only looking out for your best interests, sweetheart," he said. His eyes burned into me. "I should kill you."

"Will you relax?" I said. "We only watched a movie!"

"Bulls.h.i.+t. I saw you. You were all over her!"

The crowd snickered. Heat flushed my face. I hated that he had chosen this place to make a scene.

Mr. Payne charged toward us. The crowd fled out of his path like antelope fleeing a lion. Indecision, disbelief, and fear had rooted me in place. I stood there holding Stacy's hand, while fury seethed in her father's eyes. His hands clenched and unclenched, as if in eagerness to crack my neck.

Spurred to move, I pulled Stacy backward. As though she weighed no more than a Barbie doll, Mr. Payne grabbed Stacy by the arm and yanked her toward him. She cried out, her hand slipping out of mine. Using one huge arm to cradle his daughter against him, he thrust his other arm toward me.

"Stay away from my little girl!" He shoved me. I flew backward, tripped on something, and hit the floor.

I lay sprawled in the aisle, gazing at the ceiling.

Agreeing to this a.s.signment had been a mistake. Mr. Payne was too volatile for me to get close enough to him to learn the truth. The safe, slow-moving course of action sanctioned by my superiors was not going to work. If I were to succeed in my mission, I'd have to break protocol.

I was more certain than ever that Mr. Payne was a killer. With his tendency toward violence and fiery temper, I could believe that he had slaughtered several men, as the rumors indicated. All in the name of protecting his lovely daughter.

By the time I got out of the theater, Mr. Payne was roaring out of the parking lot in a silver Cadillac. Stacy was mashed against the rear winds.h.i.+eld, mouthing my name.

I raced to my car. I was about to jam the key in the ignition, when I noticed the front of my s.h.i.+rt, in the area of my chest that Mr. Payne had pushed. A couple of b.u.t.tons had been torn off. Dark blooda"my blooda"stained the cotton. The blood had clotted and the small wound didn't hurta"in fact, I hadn't noticed the injury until now, maybe due to my dazed shock. But I thought of Mr. Payne's long, sharp nails. Nails like claws. Mr. Payne had left me no choice. I opened the glove compartment. Inside, a revolver gleamed. It was already loaded.

With silver bullets.

When I arrived at Stacy's house, she answered the door. She ushered me inside.

"I'm so glad you came," she said. "I'm sorry about what happened."

"Your father went nuts," I said. "Is he here?"

"He's out running."

"Running? At this hour?"

"He does it all the time," she said. "I usually go with him, especially when there's a beautiful full moon like there is tonight. But I was mad at him for what he did to you, so I stayed in." I nodded. "When will he be back?"

"Later." She smiled seductively. "Relax, Nathan. We have plenty of time to pick up where we left off."

She led me to the sofa. She sat on my lap, put her arms around my neck, and leaned toward me. I put my finger on her lips.

"Not now," I said. "We have to talk." "What's wrong?"