Chapter 153
Norman, Oklahoma, 1960
“Four tickets to Vegas,” Elliott mumbled, a smile on his face as he slipped the envelope into his pocket. Another trip for the family, and this one should be even better than the last one since it included airfare. Taking the kids to Florida by car last spring had been torture. Still, he wasn’t going to complain about winning another salesman award. Now that he knew how to use his special talents, his sales were off the charts, and his boss, Mr. Anderson, was considering opening up a brand new dealership in Oklahoma City where there promised to be an even larger market. Elliott would be his head salesman. While Nancy was adamantly against any move at all, Elliott thought this new trip might be enough to change her mind.
Life hadn’t been altered too much since he’d killed the intruders in his house the year before. He preferred to think of them in that light, not as Vampires, since the whole story still seemed absolutely ridiculous to him. He was faster and stronger, but he’d managed to find ways to keep that part of his Transformation hidden from view. The only thing he ever used was his power of persuasion, which worked on just about everyone—except for Nancy. She could see through his bullshit 99 percent of the time, and the other one percent he thought maybe she actually did want to sleep with him anyhow.
Janette’s people popped into his life a few times, nonchalantly, mostly just feeling him out, and he always dismissed them immediately. He was resolute in his decision not to join any team of crime fighters. His boys were getting older now, though they were still young, and he wanted to spend as much time with them as possible. It didn’t help that when Nancy got upset, she screamed that she’d caught him standing over his sons’ beds with a knife, and he wondered how long it might be before his children started to believe that story. If she ever left, he was certain she’d take Wally and Michael with her, and that was the last thing in the world he wanted, so he toed the line and did whatever she wanted, keeping the fact that she was obviously having an affair off of his radar so he didn’t have to think about it while he was completely loyal to a wife who seemed to detest him.
The train whistle blew, and he checked the time. Every afternoon, the train passed through town about the time he was supposed to go home, and sure enough, it was almost 5:30. His mom had invited them over for dinner since she didn’t get to see the boys too much now that Nancy was hostile to his entire family, and he’d decided he’d drive them over while Nancy went to play cards with friends—or screw her boyfriend, whichever it really was. It would give him a chance to check in with Jimmy as well. He’d been concerned about his little brother since he discovered Elliott had Transformed, and Jimmy still wasn’t old enough to do so. He’d been acting strange, and their mom was more than a little concerned that he was being reckless, out searching for Vampires on his bicycle instead of doing the things normal teenage boys did. He had no friends, no interest in finding a job and buying a car, and the only time he ever left his room was to ride off down to the woods by the creek and do who knows what.
Another whistle blew, this one angrier, somehow, which was strange, and Elliott and the other workers exchanged glances. By now, the engine was out of town a mile or so, but it sounded close by it was so loud, and then there was a screeching noise.
“That didn’t sound good,” Sheryl, the receptionist, noted.
“No, it didn’t,” Elliott agreed, grabbing his attaché case and fishing his keys out of his pocket.
“Probably some stupid kid putting a penny on the tracks again,” Peter mused. “One damn piece of copper can derail an entire train.”
Something about Peter’s comment caught Elliott’s attention. He scowled at his rival for a moment, wondering why that hit him in the stomach the way that it did, but he suddenly felt like something was very wrong. After a long moment, he shook his head to clear it and then turned back to Sheryl. “I’m headed out,” he said.
She wished him a good night, but Peter chuckled, “Yeah, have fun staying home with the kids while your wife goes out with… her friends.”
Again, his tone caught Elliott’s attention, and he turned to stare at the blond salesman. He had a knowing look on his face, and Elliott was of a mind to go and wipe the smug look right off of him. He silently wondered if Peter happened to know who Nancy was spending her evenings with.
Before he could interrogate him, the sound of police and ambulance sirens had them all on their feet rushing to the windows. One of each vehicle was headed out of town, toward the sound of the train’s screech, and once again, Elliott had the sensation that something was wrong. He shoved past the other employees and headed out to his car, the idea that the last time he’d chased an ambulance things had not turned out well stuck in the back of his mind.
He raced down the road that paralleled the train tracks, spying the emergency vehicles up ahead of him. The closer he got, the more he thought whatever was wrong was personal. Now more than ever, he wished he had one of those special telephones Janette and his mom had so that he could call Peggy and make sure Jimmy was okay. He knew how much his kid brother liked to play around down by those tracks. If anything were to happen to him….
He knew. Before he saw that the train had come to a complete halt a few dozen yards past the intersection with the road that led down to his parents’ place. Before he saw the emergency workers standing at the front of the train, staring down at the track and pointing, as if they were trying to determine the distance from impact to where the body lie, mangled, beneath the front of the train. Before he spotted the familiar blue ten-speed Schwinn. Before he saw the one Converse sitting back down the track a little way, closer to the point of impact.
