Runaway Vampire (Argeneau, #23)(19)
“Your friends have dropped back so far I can’t even see their lights anymore,” she countered, and then added, “We have to stop, Dante. We’re almost out of gas.”
“What?” he asked with alarm and glanced to the gas gauge to see that it was nearly on empty.
“Why is it so low?” he asked, sounding shocked that she would let that happen.
“Because I didn’t get gas before leaving the truck stop as I intended,” Mary said dryly. “I didn’t get the chance. I wasn’t driving.”
When he merely stared at her, worry on his face, she said, “They’ve dropped back. I think they’ve given up on us. For all we know they’ve pulled off the highway and turned back to head to the house where you were kept,” she pointed out.
“But what if they are just feigning giving up?” he asked with a frown. “They could just be letting us think they have given up in hopes that we’ll stop somewhere and they can catch us unawares.”
Mary’s mouth tightened at the suggestion, and she glanced to the rear camera view, wishing it had telescoping abilities so that she could see if they were still back there or not. It didn’t, however, and after a moment she sighed and said, “We’ll have to take the risk. We need gas.”
Cursing, Dante stood and set her sandwich back on her plate, then glanced around as if for a spare gas tank they might use.
“According to the Garmin there’s a gas station not too far ahead. We should make it there,” she added hopefully and couldn’t believe she hadn’t noticed until now that they were so seriously low on gas. She usually kept an eye on it. Of course, this wasn’t your usual day, she excused herself. Besides, she wasn’t lying; she had intended to get gas at the truck stop. At least she had before she’d found Dante naked in her bedroom bleeding all over the place. After that she hadn’t thought of it once.
“You have no back windows,” Dante announced suddenly, as if that might have escaped her notice. “If you had back windows I could—”
“You could what?” she asked curiously when he paused. When he didn’t respond at once, she glanced around to see that he was poking at the air vent in the ceiling next to the dinette table. It looked like he was considering it as an escape route or something. She had no idea why. The man couldn’t possibly fit through it. Besides, where did he think he was escaping to?
“No good,” he muttered and moved back between the seats.
A glance showed her that he was now eyeing the passenger side window with interest. Even as she noted that, he settled in the passenger seat and then opened his window. The screen followed, sliding smoothly to the side.
Mary considered the hole it left and thought that he might very well fit through it. She just had no idea why he’d want to. Where did he want to go? He was safer inside than out . . . at least until his kidnappers broke in and shot them full of darts.
“How far until the gas station?” Dante asked suddenly.
Mary glanced to the GPS and frowned. “Maybe five minutes.”
Dante nodded and then turned to lean out the window and peer up.
“What are you thinking?” she asked with concern.
Dante settled back in his seat and glanced around to explain, “If they are feigning their lack of interest and do suddenly appear when we stop for gas, they could shoot me with their darts as soon as I opened the door,” he pointed out. “We would not have a chance.”
Mary bit her lip at his words, knowing he was probably right.
“However, they would not expect me to be on the roof of the RV,” he pointed out.
“The roof?” she squawked with amazement.
“Si. If I slip up on the roof now, I can watch for them while you get the gas. Then if they do suddenly appear, I can—”
“You are not getting up on the damned roof,” Mary interrupted with dismay.
“Mary,” he said solemnly. “We need to stop for gas, and for us to do so, I must get up on the roof.”
“How the hell is your being on the roof going to help us get gas?” she asked with disbelief.
He hesitated, but then sighed and explained, “If I can see them, I can take control of their minds and make them keep their distance or perhaps even capture them. But I must do so without their seeing me, else they will shoot me with one of their darts and all will be lost.” He glanced to the side mirror again and added, “It should be all right. They cannot possibly see me in the dark from as far back as they are now, and they will not be expecting this so I should have the time I need to slip into their minds and take control before they spot me and shoot.”
Mary tore her gaze from him and back to the road ahead, her mind filled with disbelief. After a moment, she heaved a sad sigh and shook her head. Of course, she’d run over the crazy guy. Gorgeous, but completely bonkers was her diagnosis. Such a shame.
Clearing her throat, she finally spoke in soothing tones. “Dante, I think maybe you hit your head when I ran you over. Why don’t we—Dante!” Mary gasped as she looked over to see his head and bare chest disappearing out of the window. The rest of his nakedness was following.
Mary reached instinctively toward him, but stopped and straightened the wheel when the RV swerved with her. Cursing, she shifted her gaze from the road, to each of the mirrors and then the rear camera view, but of course, none of them showed a view of the roof of the RV. Fortunately, none of them showed a naked-ass man rolling away from the RV after tumbling from the roof either, she thought and tossed a scowl toward the colorful afghan that was now pooled on the floor in front of the passenger seat.